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World Wars and the Establishment of Welfare Ministries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2023

Klaus Petersen Open the ORCID record for Klaus Petersen [Opens in a new window] ,
Carina Schmitt Open the ORCID record for Carina Schmitt [Opens in a new window]  and
Herbert Obinger Open the ORCID record for Herbert Obinger [Opens in a new window]
Klaus Petersen*
Affiliation:
Danish Centre for Welfare Studies, Syddansk Universitet, Odense M, Denmark
Carina Schmitt
Affiliation:
University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany
Herbert Obinger
Affiliation:
University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
*
*Corresponding author. Email: klaus.petersen@sdu.dk
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Abstract

Welfare ministries are key institutions of modern nation-states. However, we still lack knowledge about when and why national welfare ministries were established. In this paper, we argue that both the First and Second world wars were major driving forces behind the establishment of independent welfare ministries. To test our argument, we introduce a novel dataset on the establishment of welfare-related ministries in 30 countries. Our empirical findings suggest that the establishment of independent welfare ministries was a product of wartime turbulence and the political, economic and social shockwaves set off especially by World War I, which affected many countries at the same time. Considering alternative explanations such as the Spanish Flu, the Bolshevik Revolution or the emergence of new nation-states, we argue that war triggered multiple, interrelated and chronologically staggered transnational events and transformations that had major effects on the social welfare systems of the countries involved. In this light, we conclude that World War I was ultimately the root cause behind the establishment of welfare ministries.

Keywords

welfare statewarwelfare ministrieshistorypublic policybureaucracyN3 History of Welfare
Type
Research Article
Information
Social Science History , Volume 47 , Issue 4 , Winter 2023 , pp. 543 - 564
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Social Science History Association

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