ABSTRACT
The historical evolution of the humanitarian idea is represented not by a steadily progressing line but by sudden upward surges followed by temporary losses of momentum, plateaus, and sometimes backpedaling. With colonization of "unclaimed" lands and peoples and the Industrial Revolution came an increase in the speed of transmission and the geographical coverage of the idea of humanitarian action. Historically, new institutional responses or creations tend to follow conscience-shattering cataclysms as much as they follow transformations in the configuration of world power; and the events following World War are no exception. Discussion of basic human rights was blocked by the interests of states and individuals in continued imperialist holdings. The purpose of the U. N. military was to interpose itself between belligerents and to monitor cease-fires after the warring parties had come to an agreement. In the U. S. Civil War, 95 percent of casualties were soldiers; in Bosnia, Rwanda, and Somalia, perhaps as many as 95 percent were noncombatants or civilians.
