The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002. Geneva
City in southwestern Switzerland , lying on the western end of Lake Geneva, where the Rhone River leaves the lake. 1 ‡ Because of Switzerland’s strict neutrality, Geneva provides an impartial meeting ground for representatives of other nations. 2 ‡ The city housed the headquarters of the League of Nations in the Palace of Nations, which is now the European headquarters of the United Nations . 3 ‡ The International Labor Organization, the International Red Cross , and the World Council of Churches are also based in Geneva. 4 ‡ Under the leadership of John Calvin in the sixteenth century, Geneva was the center of Protestantism. 5 ‡ The Geneva Accords were a group of four agreements made in 1954, ending seven and a half years of war in Indochina . 6 ‡ The Geneva Conventions , signed first in 1864 and then in 1906, 1929, 1949, and 1977, provide rules for the humane treatment of prisoners and wounded persons during a war. 7
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
