Origins of the German Welfare State [electronic resource] : Social Policy in Germany to 1945

The book is part of the 5-volume series 鈥淕erman Social Policy鈥? a unique multidisciplinary approach to the history of German social policy written by the doyens of their respective disciplines. The volumes expound the contribution of the German tradition to the rise of social policy in the Western world in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Germany pioneered modern social policy in the 19^th century when Bismarck introduced social insurance. After the Second World War, Germany鈥檚 Social Market Economy became a model of social integration. The volumes cover the history of ideas (volume 1), the legal and political history before and after 1945 (volumes 2 and 3), the German Democratic Republic (1949-1990) and the impact of German reunification (1990) (volume 4). Volume 5 embeds the German case in a major comparative study of European welfare states, complemented by a study of the USA and the Soviet Union.^