<P> Directly following the establishment of the Geneva Convention, the first national societies were founded in Belgium, Denmark, France, Oldenburg, Prussia, Spain, and Württemberg . Also in 1864, Louis Appia and Charles van de Velde, a captain of the Dutch Army, became the first independent and neutral delegates to work under the symbol of the Red Cross in an armed conflict . Three years later in 1867, the first International Conference of National Aid Societies for the Nursing of the War Wounded was convened . </P> <P> Also in 1867, Jean - Henri Dunant was forced to declare bankruptcy due to business failures in Algeria, partly because he had neglected his business interests during his tireless activities for the International Committee . Controversy surrounding Dunant's business dealings and the resulting negative public opinion, combined with an ongoing conflict with Gustave Moynier, led to Dunant's expulsion from his position as a member and secretary . He was charged with fraudulent bankruptcy and a warrant for his arrest was issued . Thus, he was forced to leave Geneva and never returned to his home city . </P> <P> In the following years, national societies were founded in nearly every country in Europe . The project resonated well with patriotic sentiments that were on the rise in the late - nineteenth - century, and national societies were often encouraged as signifiers of national moral superiority . In 1876, the committee adopted the name "International Committee of the Red Cross" (ICRC), which is still its official designation today . Five years later, the American Red Cross was founded through the efforts of Clara Barton . More and more countries signed the Geneva Convention and began to respect it in practice during armed conflicts . In a rather short period of time, the Red Cross gained huge momentum as an internationally respected movement, and the national societies became increasingly popular as a venue for volunteer work . </P> <P> When the first Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in 1901, the Norwegian Nobel Committee opted to give it jointly to Jean - Henri Dunant and Frédéric Passy, a leading international pacifist . More significant than the honor of the prize itself, the official congratulation from the International Committee of the Red Cross marked the overdue rehabilitation of Jean - Henri Dunant and represented a tribute to his key role in the formation of the Red Cross . Dunant died nine years later in the small Swiss health resort of Heiden . Only two months earlier his long - standing adversary Gustave Moynier had also died, leaving a mark in the history of the Committee as its longest - serving president ever . </P>

Who organized the american version of the red cross