The International Red Cross was founded in Geneva in 1864. In 1919 Geneva was chosen as the seat of the League of Nations. Ariana Park was the site of the spacious Palace of Nations, which housed the League. In 1945 Geneva became the European headquarters of the United Nations. In 1946 the League of Nations turned over to the United Nations its palace and other buildings.
Geneva is often the scene of world conferences.
The chief manufactures are precision machinery and instruments, watches, jewelry, electrical equipment, machine tools, and measuring devices. There are also chemical manufacturing and food processing. Geneva is known worldwide as a financial center. Like the rest of Switzerland, Geneva is governed by the Swiss Constitution of 1848, which was revised in 1874. It established a democracy that allowed men to vote.