Development of the social assistance system in the russian empire during the world war i

Abstract

The article presents a comprehensive description of the main trends in the development of the social assistance system in the Russian Empire during the World War I (1914-1917) as a part of the fundamental problem of the evolution the role of the state in the management of social sphere. It is argues that the concept of "social policy" is applicable to the researched period, and charitable activities are considered as an element of a pluralistic model of social policy. The authors note that during the World War I, state social guarantees were established, detailed and legislated for certain categories of the population, which can be combined with the concept of "war victims". It were families of conscripts, soldiers ' orphans, refugees, and war invalids. The article describes the mechanism of social guarantees realization by the public organizations activity. It was peasant self-government, local self-government and their national units, major Russian charities semi-formal character, i.e. under the auspices of the members of the Imperial family, and numerous local charities. The authors concludes that the "supporting structure" of this system was the Supreme Council for the care of families of conscripts, which performed organizational and administrative functions and financed specialized committees and commissions subordinate to it, as well as charitable organizations and institutions. The all-Russian Zemstvo Union and the all-Russian Union of Cities, which were interested in expanding the participation of local governments in the implementation of state social policy, tried to create an alternative to it. According to the authors, the multi-subject nature of the social assistance system, typical of the Russian Empire, can mobilize society's resources for assistance to war victims more flexibly and effectively. © 2021 International Network Center for Fundamental and Applied Research. All rights reserved.