Special Issue – Military and Welfare State: Conscription, Military Interests, and Western Welfare States in the Age of Industrialized Mass Warfare (ed. Herbert Obinger)
The emergence of the welfare state is mainly attributed to the negative social repercussions of industrialization, the related rise of the labour movement, and mass democratization. However, there is a dark but widely neglected side to the story: Governments’ ambitions for international power and influence have also played an important role in shaping public social policy. This nexus is at the heart of this special issue, which examines the impact of the military, conscription, and warfare on the development of the welfare states. Its roots can be traced back to the late 19th century, when significant advances in military technology and the spread of conscription fundamentally changed the nature and conduct of war. The resulting rise of industrialized mass warfare and increasing tensions between nation states contributed to a growing interest of policymakers and the military in social policy. Faced with concerns on the quantity and quality of the population as well as the necessity to enhance political legitimacy and to secure mass loyalty in times of war and military threat, they came to embrace sociopolitical solutions. Additionally, war and its aftershocks forced governments to provide social protection for the numerous war victims and to address the tremendous social needs created by total war.
SPECIAL ISSUE
Herbert Obinger Conscription, the Military, and Welfare State Development: An Introduction. doi: 10.12759/hsr.45.2020.2.7-26
Nikolas Dörr, Lukas Grawe & Herbert Obinger The Military Origins of Labor Protection Legislation in Imperial Germany. doi: 10.12759/hsr.45.2020.2.27-67
Nikolas Dörr “As far as Numbers are concerned, we are beaten” Finis Galliae and the Nexus between Fears of Depopulation, Welfare Reform, and the Military in France during the Third Republic, 1870-1940. doi: 10.12759/hsr.45.2020.2.68-113
Delia González de Reufels Health, Education, and General Conscription: Chilean Social Policy and the Military in the Second Half of the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century. doi: 10.12759/hsr.45.2020.2.114-142
Lukas Grawe The Influence of Military Considerations on the 1869 Reichsvolksschulgesetz in Imperial Austria. doi: 10.12759/hsr.45.2020.2.143-163
Klaus Petersen The Welfare Defence: Military Security and Social Welfare in Denmark from 1848 to the Cold War. doi: 10.12759/hsr.45.2020.2.164-186
Pierluigi Pironti Warfare to Welfare: World War I and the Development of Social Legislation in Italy. doi: 10.12759/hsr.45.2020.2.187-216
Carina Schmitt The Warfare – Welfare Nexus in French African Colonies in the Course of the First and Second World War. doi: 10.12759/hsr.45.2020.2.217-238
Olivier Burtin The History of Veterans’ Policy in the United States: A Comparative Overview. doi: 10.12759/hsr.45.2020.2.239-260
MIXED ISSUE
Hubert Knoblauch & Martina Löw The Re-Figuration of Spaces and Refigured Modernity – Concept and Diagnosis. doi: 10.12759/hsr.45.2020.2.263-292
Cas Wouters Have Civilising Processes Changed Direction? Informalisation, Functional Democratisation, and Globalisation. doi: 10.12759/hsr.45.2020.2.293-334