"The article deals with the history of social Europe in its entirety and draws on the scattered research not only on the history of national welfare states in Europe but also on international social policy since the 1880s and on the social policy of the European Community and its successor, the European Union. It takes into account historical, sociological and political science research in English, French and German. It covers four topics: the general development of the welfare state in Europe, which often, but not always, contrasts sharply with global developments; the variations between European welfare states, which have changed considerably and decreased gradually after the Second World War; the transnational exchange on the welfare state, which was promoted by international organisations and carried by international experts, was by no means always free of tension; and finally, the social policy of the European Community and the European Union, respectively, whose beginnings date back to the period before the First World War and which has acquired its current, often underestimated significance since the 1980s."

Support: Digital