Establishment and early history

Romania became a signatory to the First Geneva Convention of 1864 and ratified it in 1874. Two years later, on July 4, 1876, the Romanian Red Cross Society was founded in Romania and began work in the present headquarters of the Colțea Hospital in Bucharest.

Some of the people who signed the founding document of the Romanian Red Cross include Nicolae Cretzulescu, George Gr. Cantacuzino, C.A. Rosetti, Ion Ghica, Dimitrie Sturza, Gr. G. Cantacuzino and Dr. Carol Davila.

The first president of the Romanian Red Cross was Prince Dimitrie Ghica, who served between 1876 and 1897.

On July 20, 1876, less than three weeks after it was established, the first Romanian Red Cross ambulance went on a humanitarian mission on the Serbian-Turkish front, south of the Danube. This mission provided medical help to wounded soldiers on both sides of the conflict, regardless of nationality.

Romanian War of Independence and First Balkan War

During the War of Independence of 1877–1878, the Romanian Red Cross provided medical personnel, ambulances, and sanitary trains in supporting the campaign. In addition to the hospital founded in Bucharest, medical settlements were founded in different cities across the country. Red Cross Societies from Germany, Italy, Belgium, Sweden and France sent material aid and medical personnel. On the front near Rahova, the Red Cross volunteers worked to prevent the spread of typhoid fever.

During the First Balkan War, the Romanian Red Cross proposed to the governments of two countries –Bulgaria and Serbia – to accept an ambulance to carry the wounded. After receiving the agreement, two Romanian Red Cross ambulances left the country and provided medical assistance to a total of 625 wounded and sick. Romanian sanitary formations deployed in Serbia consisted of three hospitals with a total of 110 beds. Material effort of the Romanian Red Cross amounted to 40,000 lei at the time. ^[1]

Between 1888 and 1892, the Romanian Red Cross expanded its activities by organizing special courses to prepare nurses. In 1891, a permanent school for nurses was established, with a teaching hospital founded a year later. During this brief period of peace, the Romanian Red Cross prepared both supplies and personnel to be able to act effectively in case of necessity.

Second Balkan War, cholera epidemics in Romania

In 1913, during the second Balkan War, the Romanian Red Cross mobile hospital staff provided assistance to soldiers suffering from a cholera outbreak in Bulgarian territory.

With the return of troops in the country, cholera spread in Romania, affecting a large number of people in the counties of Romanati, Teleorman and Dolj. The Red Cross intervened after it was requested by national authorities. The medical teams saved thousands of cholera infected patients. In a letter to the President of the Romanian Red Cross Alexandru Marghiloman, Dr. Laugier, chief physician of the county of Dolj, wrote: "With gratitude I find that the cholera epidemic was completely extinguished in the shortest possible time, giving conscientious and skilled care to patients". The Red Cross medical teams had mobile units as well as a bacteriology laboratory, where they were performed more than 7,000 medical tests. The teams reached out to 44 communes with people infected with cholera.

By the statute of the Red Cross adopted in 1876, women were not part of the leadership of the Society. In 1906, the Ladies Red Cross Society in Romania was established. Its first elected president was Irina Campineanu. The society was operated in parallel with the Romanian Red Cross and dealt with raising funds and preparing volunteers. In 1915, the General Assembly of the National Red Cross Society approved the merger of these two entities. On this occasion, patron of the Red Cross, Queen Marie, sent the following message: "The Red Cross, our hope in case of peace as in war, should not perish. Everyone of us, small to large should support it with devotion, enthusiasm and infinite love."

The Romanian Red Cross after the First World War

With the support of a large number of volunteers, the Romanian Red Cross passed the fire test of the First World War. The mission of the RNRC was to assist the military by organizing 58 hospitals in Romania. At the call of the Red Cross National Society, women belonging to various social groups volunteered to work in hospitals and canteens run by the organization. Queen Marie herself was involved in operations.

During these difficult years for the country, the Romanian Red Cross assisted more than 150,000 wounded in its own hospitals. It provided food for soldiers, refugees and people affected by conflict, facilitated the exchange of correspondence between the POWs and their families, and supported Romanian prisoners held in enemy camps with food and clothing. Funds for these operations have been mobilized by the Red Cross from public donations.

After stopping the cholera outbreak, an epidemic of typhus broke out during the armed conflict. In early 1917, the Romanian Red Cross cared for the wounded evacuated from the front and patients affected by these two infectious diseases. The occupying army requisitioned the best supplies and medical establishments of the Red Cross. In the occupied capital, over 7,000 patients were cared for. The RNRC branches were active in over 40 cities and took care of thousands of wounded and sick.