THE GREAT WAR AND THE ORIGINS OF HUMANITARIANISM, 1918-1924

摘要

In this scholarly monograph, Bruno Cabanes, professor of history at The Ohio State University, argues that the aftermath of the First World War marked "a decisive turning point in the redefinition of humanitarianism" from a form of charity work to an assertion of humanitarian rights. Previously, European and American humanitarians worked to ease suffering and were driven by a Christian-based ethic of empathy. In this effort, the nation-state often played a critical role in delivering aid. But the devastating consequences of World War I-hundreds of thousands of refugees, many veterans suffering from severe psychological or physical distress, famines and epidemics, and the collapse of the German, Habsburg, Russian, and Ottoman empires-were so severe that nation-states could no longer solve these problems themselves.