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19.5 1864 GWSThe Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Wounded in Armies in the Field ofAugust 22, 1864 (1864 GWS) was one of the earliest multilateral law of war treaties. 69The 1864 GWS provided for the use of the red cross as a distinctive emblem to helpidentify medical personnel. 70 It also provided for wounded and sick combatants to be collectedand cared for regardless of the nation of their armed forces. 71The United States acceded to the 1864 GWS on March 1, 1882. 72replaced by the GWS in relations between the Parties to the GWS. 73The 1864 GWS was19.6 1868 ST. PETERSBURG DECLARATIONThe Declaration Renouncing the Use, in Time of War, of Explosive Projectiles WeighingUnder 400 Grams Weight (1868 St. Petersburg Declaration) was promulgated by an internationalconference held in St. Petersburg, Russia on December 11, 1868. The 1868 St. PetersburgDeclaration prohibits Parties from, “in case of war among themselves, the employment, by theirmilitary or naval forces, of any projectile of less weight than four hundred grammes, which isexplosive, or is charged with fulminating or inflammable substances.” 74The United States is not a Party to the 1868 St. Petersburg Declaration.The language in the Preamble of the 1868 St. Petersburg Declaration that notes that the“employment of arms which uselessly aggravate the sufferings of disabled men” would “becontrary to the laws of humanity” is an early statement of the prohibition against weapons69 Convention for the Amelioration of the Wounded in Armies in the Field, Aug. 22, 1864, 22 STAT. 940.70 Refer to § 7.15.1.1 (Red Cross).71 Refer to § 7.5.2.2 (Affirmative Obligation to Provide Adequate Care).72 Chester A. Arthur, Proclamation Regarding the 1864 GWS, Jul. 26, 1882, 22 STAT. 940, 950-51 (“And whereasthe President of the United States of America, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, did, on the first dayof March, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-two, declare that the United States accede to the said Conventionof the 22d of August, 1864, and also accede to the said Convention of October 20, 1868; And whereas on the ninthday of June, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-two, the Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation, in virtueof the final provision of a certain minute of the exchange of the ratifications of the said Convention at Berne,December 22, 1864, did, by a formal declaration, accept the said adhesion of the United States of America, as wellin the name of the Swiss Confederation as in that of the other contracting States; And whereas, furthermore, thegovernment of the Swiss Confederation has informed the Government of the United States that the exchange of theratifications of the aforesaid additional articles of 20th October, 1868, to which the United States of America have inlike manner adhered as aforesaid, has not yet taken place between the contracting parties, and that these articlescannot be regarded as a treaty in full force and effect:”).73 Refer to § 19.16.2.1 (Relationship Between the GWS and Earlier Conventions).74 The Declaration of St. Petersburg, 1868, reprinted in 1 AJIL SUPPLEMENT: OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS 95, 96 (1907)(“The contracting parties engage, mutually, to renounce, in case of war among themselves, the employment, by theirmilitary or naval forces, of any projectile of less weight than four hundred grammes, which is explosive, or ischarged with fulminating or inflammable substances.”).1140