Activities of the Hilal-i Ahmer Society (1915-1923)

Wars, epidemics and natural disasters from past to present have had devastating effects on human life. The first attempts to alleviate the effects of these destructive effects on human life began when Henry Dunant witnessed the war in an area close to Solferino on June 24, 1859. Henry Dunant made a great impact on time by presenting this event to the whole world with his work "A Memory of Solferino". As a result of these effects, the Geneva Convention was signed on June 22, 1864 with the participation of various countries and the Red Cross was established. The Ottoman approach to the Red Cross was concluded on July 5, 1965, and the Geneva Convention was signed. However, it took time for the Red Cross to gain a corporate identity in the Ottoman Empire and it became evident with the establishment of the Ottoman Hilal-i Ahmer Society on April 14, 1877. Although the rebel actions that took place in the Balkans after the foundation of the Society exhibited remarkable activities in the Ottoman-Russian War and the Ottoman-Greek War that took place in 1897, its importance was not fully understood. As a matter of fact, the fact that the importance given to the society was revealed only in wartime negatively affected and delayed this process. On the other hand, II. After the declaration of the Constitutional Court, the Ottoman Hilal-i Ahmer Society, which took on a more organized structure, began to branch over time in various regions. One of these branches became the Branch of the Eskişehir Hilal-i Ahmer Society on February 27, 1915. The Eskişehir Branch, which started its activities immediately, was initially planned as a warehouse that sent aid to other branches located in Istanbul and Anatolia. However, the fact that Eskişehir is located on the railway tracks in a logistical sense and is close to the fronts due to its natural location has increased its importance. In this regard, I. In World War II and the War of Independence, the Eskişehir Branch served both its hospital and its region, and was a place of refuge for the Çanakkale and Istanbul regions facing the danger of invasion. This process has been an important factor in enriching the Eskişehir Branch's warehouse and becoming the epicenter of new aid.