Abstract

The modern international humanitarianism has its roots in the period between the two world wars. Starting from this premise, the essay highlights how the impact of the Great War, particularly in terms of the waves of refugees and the persistence of undernutrition in some parts of Europe, engendered an international humanitarian effort based on the interplay of non-governmental organizations and the League of Nations. The essay explores the ideas, practices and skills developed in the interwar period as constitutive conditions of the rise of a new international humanitarian regime after the World War II.