I can sympathize the with the cynicism, because I also see the bombing of Ukraine and Gaza in the daily news, which nobody seems to be capable or willing to stop.

Unlike Solferino, there are children dying on a daily basis, which breaks my heart. Yet it remains true that what Dunant has established is a better state than the world would have been in if he had done nothing.

Solferino was a big and cruel battle by the standards of its time, but not by today's standards - in stats: 150,000 men against 150,000 men, 24 km battle front fighting through one night, resulting in 6,000 dead, 2,000 wounded and 12,000 missing [1] (but note Solferino today has less than 2,600 inhabitants today). So a joke if compared to WWII stats. But the point here is a single individual made a difference, and beyond their lifetime, and that should give us some hope.

[1] https://www.kvwuerzburg.brk.de/das-brk/selbstverstaendnis/di...

>but note Solferino today has less than 2,600 inhabitants today

Solferino (like other places nearby where battles have been fought or where armies marched) has always been a very small town with "vast" extensions of cultivable area or pastures around. That (uninterrupted plain ground) explains a battle front so extended.