Welfare state as one of the principal factors driving post-war European integration process

Abstract

The modern welfare state, as it is understood today, has become a topical issue in many Western European countries, especially after the worldwide economic depression of the 1930s and World War II, the most destructive armed conflict in the history of humanity. The presented study offers several perspectives on the welfare state model in the Western European environment at the beginning of the process of European integration. Although after the war, influential Western European politicians have accepted the importance of the welfare state, there is no single welfare state model in Europe. The study has no ambition to provide a detailed analysis of social models in Europe. It deals with several models of the welfare state, paying particular attention to Germany and France, whose relations became the engine of the integration process in Europe, which was, from the start, both a political and an economic project.

Full text

WELFARE STATE AS ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL FACTORS
DRIVING POST-WAR EUROPEAN INTEGRATION PROCESS
1
Milan KATUNINEC
Professor, Department of Political Science
Trnava University, Slovakia
E-mail: milan.katuninec@truni.sk
Lenka DIENER
Research Assistant, Department of Sociology
Trnava University, Slovakia
E-mail: lenka.diener@truni.sk
Abstract
The modern welfare state, as it is understood today, has
become a topical issue in many Western European countries,
especially after the worldwide economic depression of the
1930s and World War II, the most destructive armed conflict
in the history of humanity. The presented study offers several
perspectives on the welfare state model in the Western
European environment at the beginning of the process of
European integration. Although after the war, influential
Western European politicians have accepted the importance
of the welfare state, there is no single welfare state model in
Europe. The study has no ambition to provide a detailed
analysis of social models in Europe. It deals with several
models of the welfare state, paying particular attention to
Germany and France, whose relations became the engine of
the integration process in Europe, which was, from the start,
both a political and an economic project.
Key words: Europe, Welfare state, social model, the Federal
Republic of Germany, France, post-war European integration
1
This paper is an outcome of the VEGA scientific project No. VEGA 1/0131/18
entitled Europe in Movement. Multicausality of Present Democracy Crisis and
the Rise of Extremism in Europe.

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222 Balkan Social Science Review, Vol. 17, June 2021, 221-239
1. Introduction
The World War II (1939-1945) brought unprecedented destruction and
loss of lives and it caused a deep-seated trauma in both Eastern and Western
Europe. This trauma in Europe was also associated with the negative effects of
the Great Depression, which in some European countries lasted until the
beginning of the War. Post-war poverty, hunger, and enormous damage done
to the infrastructure, industry and agriculture influenced the political shift to the
left not only in Eastern Europe which fell under the influence of the Soviet
Union but also in Western European countries. The negative consequences of
the economic crisis and war have forced Western European political parties to
develop strategic plans and social models providing a safety net for everyone.
Although several Western European countries had negative experiences with a
policy of not interfering in a free-market environment and influential Western
European politicians have accepted the importance of the welfare state, after
the war they did not create one common welfare state model in Europe. Despite
the fact that the attraction of left-wing ideas was real in many countries of
Western Europe, the driving forces behind the post war process of European
integration became the Christian Democratic politicians of France and the
Federal Republic of Germany, whose political strategy was linked in particular
to the recovery of social and economic conditions in their own countries.
2. Material and methods
The proposed study seeks to point out some Europe’s social models
that had the ambition to provide a safety net to all their citizens. Although
Western European countries did not adopt a single welfare state model, they
had to pay close attention to many of the same social problems after the war.
The main aim of the study is to highlight that the welfare state has become one
of the main factors driving the post-war European integration process. The
sources in our research are predominantly documents, books and studies of
internationally recognized authors. In the study a historical, comparative and
analytical research method is used. We also tried to combine chronological and
thematic approaches.
2.1 Results and discussion
The process of European integration is associated with several (often
divergent) attempts to promote a single European social model. Interest in this
issue in the post-war period was influenced by experience with the policy of
non-interference in the free-market environment and with the deepest economic
crisis in modern European history. After World War II, many regions in Europe
were destroyed, and politicians, along with respected theorists, offered citizens
their ideas on how to prevent a repeat of the Great Depression and how to pave
the way to European integration. In particular, the negative social and economic
impact of World War II on the European population influenced the political
shift to the left in many European countries. Some leftist concepts of the
European social and political integration raised concerns in the West about the
growing popularity of communist parties. Therefore, American political

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representatives who came with an offer an economic recovery to the devastated
European economy put pressure on several countries to strengthen the position
of conservative parties. With the support of the Marshall Plan, the concept of a
social market economy had begun to be promoted in many Western European
countries (Katuninec, 2020: 176-177).
The purpose of this study is not to provide a detailed analysis of post-
war social models in Europe, but to point out that Europe's rebirth after World
War II and the beginning of European integration is linked to the building of a
modern welfare state. The Study deals with several models of the welfare state,
paying particular attention to Germany and France, whose relations became the
engine of the integration process in Europe, which was from the start both a
political and an economic project. Franco-German reconciliation was
undoubtedly important for all of Europe because it provided the initial
condition for the organizational structure of Europe (Gerbet, 2004: 70). The
basic idea of the integration process became an effort to preserve the peace and
security of European countries by connecting their interests in political,
economic, social and cultural areas with the aim of strengthening Europe’s
influence and competitiveness in world affairs and rejecting policies that revive
past disputes and evoke national passions in neighbourhood relations of
European countries.
3. ‘Golden Age’ of welfare state
Although the first pillars of social protection developed in Western
Europe already at the end of the nineteenth century, the modern welfare state,
"as it is understood today, originated in the early 1940s and developed
especially in the post war period" (Ştefan, 2015: 26). The post-war social
system of many Western European countries was influenced by the British Plan
for Social Security developed already during the war by a team of experts
chaired by the economist William Beveridge. The Beveridge system, funded
primarily from the state budget, provided a summary of principles necessary to
banish poverty and its ambition was to include all citizens (see Beveridge
Report, November 1942; Social Insurance and Allied Services, 1942). After the
election victory in July 1945, the Labour Party in Britain focused on the slogan
“the third force” and now entered the pre-election match with the slogan a
“United Socialist States of Europe”. The Movement for the Socialist United
States of Europe was formed in Montrouge, near Paris, in June 1946. However,
the Cold War rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union
significantly weakened all post-war ideas and plans for a socialist program for
an independent united social Europe. In the Western European environment,
political attention has focused mainly on the reconciliation between France and
West Germany, which has become the engine of the integration process in
Europe. Nevertheless, the welfare state remained one of the most important
topics in almost all Western European countries. Western European politicians,
who took responsibility for their countries in the difficult post-war period, were
well aware that "the social rights, income security, equalization, and eradication

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of poverty that a universalistic welfare state pursues are a necessary
precondition for the strength and unity that collective power mobilization
demands” (Esping-Andersen, 1990: 16).
3.1 The post-war idea of a socialist Third Force
After the war, communist parties gained a relatively strong position in
the political life of several European countries, which Stalin tried to use to
influence political events in Western Europe. The initial political influence of
the communists, who became popular in particular thanks to their active
involvement in the internal resistance, also came from their alliance with the
social democratic parties, which likewise strengthened their own positions and
took part in government coalitions. The Soviet Union, in an effort to take
advantage of the popularity of communism, wanted to get the global trade union
movement under its influence through the World Federation of Trade Unions.
The first step towards establishing its headquarters was the formation of the
Anglo-Soviet Trade Union Committee in 1941. In February 1945, an
international trade union conference took place in London, at which it was
agreed that a trade union of all ideological currents should operate in the new
World Trade Union headquarters. Christian-oriented trade unions expressed the
opinion that such a headquarters had no hope of long-term existence.
Nevertheless, at the First World Trade Union Congress on 3 October 1945 in
Paris, a headquarters called the World Federation of Trade Unions was
established, in which, however, contradictions gradually began to appear
between social democratic organizations and the efforts of communist-oriented
trade unions to promote accents of class antagonism and the anti-capitalist
struggle. The tensions that escalated within the World Federation of Trade
Unions ended in a split during the Cold War, but in Western European
countries, communist trade union headquarters maintained an influential
position in the trade union movement.
As we mentioned, after the war, the left-wing politics grew in
popularity. During this period, communism became a global phenomenon.
Also, moderate left-wing politicians who sought to prevent the division of
Europe emphasized that the future in Europe belongs to the Socialists. The
president of the Movement for the Socialist United States of Europe, André
Philip (1902–1970), was a member of the French Section of the Workers'
International (Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière, SFIO), French
socialist party founded in 1905, which was replaced in 1969 by Socialist Party
(Parti socialiste). During the war Philip cooperated with General Charles de
Gaulle and served in 1942 as Interior Minister under the Free French
provisional government in London and Algeria. In the legislative elections of
1945, SFIO emerged as the second largest in the country, and it entered a
coalition government with the French Communist Party (Parti Communiste
Français, PCF) and the Christian Democratic Popular Republican Movement
(Mouvement Républicain Populaire, MRP). In 1946 and part of 1947, Philip
served in the French governments as Minister of the Economy, Finances and
Industry. At the Conference of European Socialists held in London in February

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1947, the International Committee for the Socialist United States of Europe was
founded. In the second phase, marked by the International Conference for the
United Socialist States of Europe, held in Montrouge, on 21 and 22 June 1947,
delegates of the Labour Party and the French Socialists were also present. And
the delegation from the Union of European Federalists (UEF), together with
sympathizers from several European countries, declared their support. They
submitted a demand to include Germany as an equal partner in the new
organization of European. According to them, only in this way could Germany
be “pacified” and its population “re-educated” and returned to European values
(Veber, 2012: 188). A united Europe without the participation of the Kingdom
of Great Britain and the Scandinavian countries and without a German presence
seemed unthinkable to the Socialists. The Second International Conference for
the United Socialist States of Europe promoted the idea of a socialist ´Third
Force´ between the United States and the Soviet Union. Jacques Robin, General
Secretary to the Conference and Member of the International Executive
Committee, said in this regard: "... we think that the normal standard of life in
Europe, its historic past, its comprehension of the problems, will allow it, on a
sound economic basis, to examine courageously the synthesis between this
planned Socialist economy which the United States refuses to accept and the
fundamental liberties of mankind which the U.S.S.R. neglects. We do not say
a 'Third Bloc'; we would say rather a 'Third Force'. But we insist that this is not
in opposition to the two others, but is a result of a synthesis between these two
major terms" (Brief summary of the Second International Conference for the
United Socialist States of Europe, 21–22 June 1947: 3)
The Soviet Union was the first to open up space in its occupation zone
for the creation of political parties in post-war Germany. Creating political
party centres in the eastern part of Berlin provided the conditions for
influencing the politics of these parties. The Social Democrats from Eastern
Europe were often encouraged by their Western European counterparts "to
merge with the Communists, either in the innocent belief that everyone would
benefit, or else in the hope of moderating Communist behaviour" (Judt, 2010:
133). The Social Democratic Party of Germany (Sozialdemokratische Partei
Deutschlands, SPD) also resumed its activities and the leadership of SPD joined
the action union with the communists in the Soviet zone in 1946. Voting on
the question of the unification of both parties was prevented by the Soviet
military authorities and took place only in the western sectors of Berlin, where
unification clearly met with a negative opinion. The new party, whose founding
was forced by the Soviet occupying power, was given the name the Socialist
Unity Party of Germany (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, SED).
Among the most popular of post war German politicians was Kurt
Schumacher, who had spent ten years in concentration camps. Schumacher was
an opponent of the East German Socialist Unity Party and became Chairman of
the revived Social Democratic Party (SPD) for the three western zones of
Allied-occupied Germany. In June 1947, in a long address delivered at the party
conference, Schumacher declared: "For us in Europe, despite all national and
national economic excesses, the common social and economic content of the

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European countries with its clear tendency towards socialism can only be
decisive". Schumacher called on the SPD to fight for socialism and emphasized
that “in the future, democracy in Germany must be socialist or not at all” (see
Schumacher, 1947). He was certain that his right to lead Germany would be
recognized by both the Allies and the German electorate. However, the idea
that the SPD under his leadership would take over governing responsibility in
German post-war policy did not come to fruition.
The establishment of communist dictatorships in Eastern Europe has
forced many socialists to distance themselves from doctrinal positions as well
as from the idea that they may become a bridge of cooperation with the Soviet
Union. The United States of America feared the expansion of the influence of
communism and therefore was becoming more and more active in political life
in Western Europe. In an effort to avert the threat of the possible accession of
Greece and Turkey to the Soviet sphere of influence, US President Harry
Truman announced in March 1947 the new direction for US foreign policy. The
US intervention in Western European life was aimed at reducing the influence
of the communist parties and within it the US government also took steps to
ensure the exclusion of the communist parties from provisional governments in
France and Italy.
2
The exclusion of communists from government coalitions
deepened in both countries divisions and tensions on the left-wing political
scene and especially the French communists began to pursue a more militant
policy. With the onset of the Cold War between the United States and Soviet
Union, the idea of the Socialist United States of Europe weakened its dynamics
and in the left-wing political environment of Western Europe, some concerns
arose about the possible limitation of the growth of a socialist parties.
The social-democratic model, which had abandoned orthodox Marxist
ideology, was seen as a compromise between the left and the right, or socialism
and capitalism. This model is associated with cultural heritage, emphasizing the
Lutheranism of the Scandinavian countries, with the concept of free peasants
and local democracy and above all with the concept of social policy of Sweden,
whose industrial development did not feel the impact of wars, because Sweden
has not taken part in any war since 1814 and acted as a neutral state. An
2
In France, in the first post-war elections, held on 21 October 1945, more than 5 million
people cast their votes for the communists, who finished in first place with
26.1 percent of votes and 159 seats. As in France, the communists in post-war
Italy were very popular. They gained strong support in the Italian general
election and referendum held in 1946. The Italian Communist Party (Partito
Comunista Italiano, PCI) finished in third place, behind the Christian
Democracy (Democrazia Cristiana, DC) and the Socialist Party, gaining
almost 19 percent and in a referendum 54 percent of Italians voted in favor of
a republic. The communists in Italy also served in a governing coalition, which
was led by the Christian Democrat Alcide de Gasperi. The United States
played a significant part in the fact that in 1947 the communists were expelled
from coalition governments in France and especially in Italy.The CIA, which
financially supported the election campaign of the Christian Democrats, were
also involved in the parliamentary elections held in 1948 in Italy.

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important milestone in the development of Sweden’s political system (and
Norway’s, too, since 1814) was the constitution of 1809. Representative power
had existed until 1866 in the form of four chambers, but a parliamentary
democracy can be spoken about only as of 1917, after overcoming the old
feudal system and establishing a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral
parliament (see Beyme, 2011: 50-51). In Denmark, the constitution of 1849
limited the powers of parliament and extended freedom of the press and
religion. In Finland, since 1907, i.e. still during the period of its autonomous
position within Tsarist Russia, active suffrage (the right to vote) and, for the
first time in the world, passive suffrage (the right to run for office) for women
was introduced into practice. The inclination of Scandinavian countries towards
the policy of a welfare state is connected with the enormous problems, the deep
economic crisis and high unemployment in the 1920s and particularly in the
first half of the 1930s, when the citizens of these countries decided to resolve
their difficult situation by supporting social democratic parties. In Sweden,
which in this period began building its welfare state, an agreement was reached
in 1938 between the trade unions and the Social Democratic government, which
arranged the autonomy of labour and capital bargaining on the basis of “strong
interest groups as the best guarantee for social reconciliation”. The further
development of relations between the social partners was derived from this
agreement, which can be considered as the basis of the Scandinavian social
model. According to historian Mary Hilson, "the ´social democratic welfare
state´ may be understood in two ways. "First, it describes welfare systems that,
in their de-commodification of social relations and their emphasis on
universalism and redistribution, embodied the social democratic ideological
commitment to social equality and solidarity. Secondly, it suggests that the
welfare state was the realization of the ideological programme of the social
democratic parties that dominated Scandinavian politics during the second half
of the twentieth century. As such, the Nordic welfare state should be
acknowledged as the major political achievement of the organized working
class. It was not, however, the sole achievement of the working class acting on
its own but was instead a testament to the ability of the Scandinavian labour
movements to form cross-class alliances with other social groups ..." (Hilson,
2008: 91-92). By expanding social services and employment in the public
sector, the welfare state also directly shares in strengthening the middle class,
which enjoys a privileged position on the labour market and was relatively
successful in enforcing its social requirements. The Nordic Council, established
in 1952, is the official body for formal inter-parliamentary co-operation among
parliamentarians from its member nations. In 1954, the countries of
Scandinavia created a passport union, and since that same year they have had a
common labour market, which has enabled the citizens of any Scandinavian
country to work freely within the entire region. There were also plans for a
single market, but they were abandoned in 1959 shortly before Denmark,
Norway and Sweden joined the European Free Trade Area. It was founded by
seven countries: Denmark, Norway, Portugal, the UK and neutral Austria,

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Switzerland (including Liechtenstein) and Sweden. Later, Finland, Ireland and
Iceland also became members. The association set the goal of achieving in its
Member States sustainable economic growth, full employment, financial
stability, and trade development by gradually eliminating mutual tariffs.
3
3.2 The social market economy
The economic revival of Europe was to be accelerated by the Marshall
Plan. This plan bears the name of US Secretary of State George C. Marshall,
who in a speech at Harvard on 5 June 1947 stated that the United States had
decided to provide organized assistance to post-war Europe. Marshall said in
this speech: "Aside from the demoralizing effect on the world at large and the
possibilities of disturbances arising as a result of the desperation of the people
concerned, the consequences to the economy of the United States should be
apparent to all. It is logical that the United States should do whatever it is able
to do to assist in the return of normal economic health in the world, without
which there can be no political stability and no assured peace. Our policy is
directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty,
desperation, and chaos. Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy
in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in
which free institutions can exist" (The Marshall Plan Speech, the State
Department’s handout version of June 4, 1947). The Marshall Plan was
presented at a conference in Paris held from 12 July to 22 September 1947 and
was approved by the US Congress on 3 April 1948. It contributed to a
significant extent to speeding up the healing of war wounds and reviving the
economy of Western Europe. This was component of American policy and
definitively divided Europe into two power blocs.
Ideas about how to deal with Germany also formed in US political
circles largely along with how the relations between Washington and Moscow
developed. During the war, under the influence of US Secretary of Commerce
Henry Morgenthau’s opinions on Germany, President Roosevelt tried to push
the hard line against Germany. He justified such an approach by saying that the
entire German nation must understand that it had “led an illegal conspiracy
against the rules of decency of modern civilization” (Manák, 2011: 150).
Morgenthau’s plan, which even focused on artificially reducing the living
standards of Germans, was extremely drastic and at its core depraved. Secretary
of War Henry Stimson in particular stood against this plan, saying that only a
stabilized and economically strong Europe could withstand the influence of
3
Although the cooperation among Scandinavian countries is no longer as it was in the
past, and all of them have experienced some form of identity crisis, they are
still typified by a participatory political culture that has a significant impact
on effective performance of the state and the formation of anti-corruption
policies. The United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark were admitted to the
European Community (EC) in 1973, which opened the door for closer
cooperation and accession to the EC for other European Free Trade
Association countries.

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Soviet communism. Washington definitively abandoned Morgenthau’s plan
after Roosevelt’s death and the arrival of Harry Truman as president in April
1945. "After taking the Oval Office, Truman "surrounded himself with advisors
who blamed Versailles, not the German people or German culture, for
Germany's aggression. Mere important, members of the Truman administration
relied on the notion of totalitarianism to link Germany´s part with the Soviet,
not the German, present. Still, Truman and his advisors remembered
Germany´s rise during the interwar period and ought to maintain control and
limit its growth" (Etheridge, 2016: 64).
The strategic foreign policy pursued by the Truman administration was
focused on the Containment of Communism, and therefore the involvement of
defeated Germany in the European integration and post-war welfare consensus
became a strong motivation against the increase of the Soviet influence in
Europe. The first chancellor of the Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal
Republic of Germany, FRG) was Konrad Adenauer, a representative of the
Christian Democratic Union (Christlich Demokratische Union, CDU), who was
elected federal chancellor on 15 September 1949 with a majority of only one
vote. His political line found its closest partner in the Christian Social Union
(Christlich-Soziale Union, CSU), which originated as the successor to the
Bavarian People’s Party. Adenauer, who held the position of Federal
Chancellor until 1963, succeeded in pushing important treaties through the
Federal Assembly during the first election period, ensuring the Western
orientation of West Germany. The Social Democratic Party, which at the time
was promoting neutrality, criticized Adenauer for insufficiently representing
German interests, and its chairman, Kurt Schumacher, called him “the
chancellor of the allies”. Adenauer considered achieving the full sovereignty of
West Germany and later unification with East Germany as the main goal of his
policy. He was operating from political reality, however, and was convinced
that the United States would be Germany’s best ally.
Even after the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany how the
long-term relations between France and Germany would evolve remained
unclear. French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman was called upon by political
representatives of the US and UK to submit a proposal for Germany’s
involvement in cooperating with Western European countries. American
politicians advocated a policy that would allow the FRG, and thus its economic,
political, and military relations, to become part of the Western bloc. Schuman
chose not to support traditional French policy, in which the priority of the
winners should be revenge towards a defeated Germany. He rather promoted
new relations based on forgiveness over hatred and retaliation and did not reject
the efforts of the US to offer economic aid to Germany.
When the Christian Democratic Union was founded in 1945, there was
a demand that a system based on "true Christian socialism would need to be
created" (Lienkamp, 2001: 204). Christian socialism became the basis of the
Ahlener Programm, which was approved by the CDU on February 3, 1947 in
the British zone. This Programm was critical of the capitalist economic system
and supported the nationalization of key areas of industry as well as the

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economic planning. With the support of the Marshall Plan, the idea of a social
market economy began being promoted in the FRG. With the adoption of the
Düsseldorf Guidelines (Düsseldorfer Leitsätze) in 1949 the planned economy
was corrected to the concept of a social market economy (Soziale
Marktwirtschaft).
The system of Soziale Marktwirtschaft is theoretically associated with
economists and lawyers of the Freiburg School and the origin of the term
'Soziale Marktwirtschaft' is attributed to Alfred Müller-Armack, professor of
economics at the University of Münster and the University of Cologne, who
used it in his publication Wirtschaftslenkung und Marktwirtschaft published
shortly after the World War II (see Müller-Armack, 1990). However, in
connection with Müller-Armack, his Behavior during the National Socialist
dictatorship should also be mentioned. Already during Heinrich Brüning's
reign, he criticized political pluralism and expressed his sympathy for Italian
fascism. In 1933 Müller-Armack published his work Staatsidee und
wirtschaftliche Ordnung im Neuen Reich, in which he welcomed the Nazi
regime in the same year he became a member of the party. In the early 1940s,
Müller-Armack met economist Ludwig Erhard in discussions of post-war
concepts of economic order. And it was probably Erhard who mentioned the
term "Soziale Marktwirtschaft" during these discussions. Ludwig Erhard, who
stood the social market economy up against the socialist economy and the free
market economy, is considered to be the “father of the economic miracle”
(Wirtschaftswunder). He had the courage to push for monetary reform. By
introducing the concept promoted by Erhard, the Federal Republic entered into
a phase of active and successful interconnection of economic and social steps.
He presented the social market economy as an economy that placed emphasis
on its own initiative in the social field, while the care of society was to be
focused mainly on those who would not be able to cope without help.
“Prosperity for All” was what Erhard set out as his goal, and he therefore tried
to motivate the citizens of the Federal Republic to take action with a challenge:
“I want to prove myself on my own initiative. I want to bear life’s risks myself,
be responsible for my own fate. You, Country, should ensure that I am able to
do so” (Erhard, 1958: 189-191). Ludwig Erhard was cautious towards the
promotion of the Welfare State. In this regard, Erhard stressed: "My criticism
about the disastrous pressure for a Welfare State must not be misunderstood as
a wish to change social security as we know it. I believe that a further extension
of social security is perfectly possible. But what I consider as totally wrong is
that people who, having acquired freedom as a result of their profession and
their position in the national economy, should wish to move into a collective
scheme, or worse still, to be pushed into it" (Erhard, 1958: 191). The state’s
particular role, according to the social market economy concept, was to create
the legal framework for creativity and for ensuring a suitable environment in
which competition was of central importance. In a relatively short period of
time the social market economy brought a high standard of living and a
relatively high measure of social security to a broad spectrum of society. Of
course, the SPD could not ignore that either. However, The West German

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Social Democratic Party especially in the period when it was led by Kurt
Schumacher harshly criticized not only the economic and political development
of Germany but also the Schuman Plan, which Schumacher described as the
"biggest gamble" (Schumacher, March 31, 1951). Repeated defeats in the
Bundestag elections forced the SPD to set out to change its image. And under
the pressure of this fact an extraordinary SPD party congress in Bad Godesberg
ratified on 15 November 1959 a new program by which the SPD changed itself
from a socialist workers' party to a people's party. Central elements of the
Godesberg program include the commitment to the social market economy.
3.3 "Prosperity for the States of Europe and the social developments that
must go with it..."
As for the start of Western European integration, this is linked with the
name of Jean Monnet. After the outbreak of World War II, Monnet was
chairman of the Franco-British Coordinating Committee for Economic
Coordination. He also advocated the creation of a Franco-British political union
to combat Nazism. In the end, however, he did not succeed with this proposal.
Monnet therefore offered his diplomatic experience to the British government
and Winston Churchill sent him on a special mission to the United States, where
he became one of the trusted advisers of President Roosevelt, even before the
US entered the war. In 1943, Monnet went to Algiers, seat of the French
Provisional Government and became its member. In the same year, Monnet
presented its ideas on the possible peaceful future of Europe. From a historical
point of view, this was a fundamental statement, as evidenced by the following
words: "There will be no peace in Europe if the States are reconstituted on the
basis of national sovereignty, with all that that entails in terms of prestige
politics and economic protectionism. If the nations of Europe once again adopt
defensive positions, huge armies will once again be necessary. ... Fear will once
more be the dominant factor in European reconstruction. The countries of
Europe are too small to guarantee their peoples the prosperity that modern
conditions make possible and consequently necessary. They need larger
markets. It is also important that they do not devote a substantial share of their
resources to maintaining supposedly ‘key’ industries to meet the requirements
of national defence, industries which are rendered obligatory by the form that
States take, with their ‘national sovereignty’ and protectionist reflexes, such as
we saw before 1939. Prosperity for the States of Europe and the social
developments that must go with it will only be possible if they form a federation
or a ‘European entity’ that makes them into a common economic unit" (Jean
Monnet’s thoughts on the future, August 5, 1943). Monnet is considered the
Architect of post-war Planning for the French Economy. In 1945, he convinced
President De Gaulle of supporting the Plan de Modernization et d´Équipement,
and on January 3, 1946, the Commissariat général du Plan was established,
with Monnet at its head. Like the British, post-war France has strengthened the
state's position in the production system. Economic development as well as tax
policy and price controls were influenced by the central power. However, these
activities were to be implemented without disrupting a private initiative. "The

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232 Balkan Social Science Review, Vol. 17, June 2021, 221-239
Monnet Plan confined itself to providing government with a strategy and levers
for actively fostering certain favoured objectives. At the time this was a
strikingly original undertaking" (Judt, 2010: 71). This Plan assumed French
access to German raw materials and markets, and it was Monnet who came up
with a bold project proposal advocating that France and Germany’s coal and
steel production be “covered under the highest joint office in an organization
that will be open to the participation of other European countries”. Schuman
shared Monnet’s ideas about the development of Franco-German relations, and
these ideas also received a positive response from West German chancellor
Konrad Adenauer.
It is possible to agree that in his bold decision to support Franco-
German cooperation Schuman was also inspired by personalist philosopher
Jacques Maritain (1882-1973). His philosophical influence on post-war
Christian thought is connected primarily with the field of cultural development
and its quality on a democratic-personalistic basis (Maritain, 1946: 420). His
integral humanism is built on a theocentric foundation and “by its very nature
tends essentially to render man more truly human, and to manifest his original
greatness by having him participate in all that can enrich him in nature and
history” (Maritain, 1967: 10). In Maritain’s view, radical changes will require
the creation of new social structures and a new system of social life that does
not bow to humanity, but “really and effectively respects human dignity and
does justice to the integral demands of the person” (Maritain, 1967: 13-14).
Maritain places great importance on professional groups and unions of citizens
"who devote themselves to the development of democratic philosophy,
education of the people in matters of common law and intellectual struggle
against subversive political movements" (see Shestopal - Astakhova -
Astakhov, November 2015: 195-196).
According to Schuman, the clash of traditional national interests should
also become a thing of the past, which should contribute to opening up the
prospect of a new development of Europe, which could also be a herald for how
the world of the twenty-first century should be organized (see Mandelbaum,
2002: 374). The Federal Republic of Germany, France and Italy, together with
the Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg), created the
European Coal and Steel Community. Schuman, Adenauer and Alcide de
Gasperi in particular played major roles in establishing the common market for
coal, steel, coke, iron ore and scrap, managed by the High Authority. They all
came from the border areas of countries where identities had been “multiple in
the long-term” and where borders had also shifted. These politicians saw the
sense of cooperation in a joint project from both a cultural and a political and
economic point of view. As Tony Judt stated: "they could reasonably see it as
a contribution to overcoming the crisis of civilization that had shattered the
cosmopolitan Europe of their youth“ (Judt, 2010: 157).
The goal of the Treaty of Paris (signed on 18 April 1951) establishing
the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), which entered into force
after ratification by the parliaments of its Member States in June 1952, was the
gradual replacement of various national markets with a common market that

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Balkan Social Science Review, Vol. 17, June 2021, 221-239 233
would allow the free movement of goods, services, capital and labour within
these sectors of the Member States. Cooperation built not only on political but
also on value principles, however, recorded several critical situations from its
origin, suggesting that the transfer of some competencies to a transnational
level would not be so simple. Despite the positive response to the founding and
operation of the ECSC, various reservations about its operation arose in both
France and the Federal Republic of Germany.
Unlike the SPD, the French socialist party issued a statement
welcoming the Schuman’s plan in principle, but the central committee of the
SFIO wanted to take a clear position when it would be possible to see its details.
Many French socialists inspired by the Beveridge system, which was widely
used in post-war France, assumed that the future in France belonged to the
Socialists. Léon Blum, a long-term socialist leader and three times Premier of
France who returned from German imprisonment, also dreamed about it.
"Blum’s dream of Socialist ascendancy was never realized; instead of S.F.I.O.
had to suffer the indignities of a minor role in an unpopular and badly-knit
alliance” (Graham, 1965/91: 2-3). Despite the fact that French Socialism in the
years 1944-1947 passed through a period of turmoil and an internal crisis,
political representatives of the French Socialist Party actively participated in
the preparation of the economic and social reform program adopted on March
15, 1944 by the the Conseil National de la Résistance (National Council of the
Resistance) entitled Les Jours Heureux (The Happy Days). Several French
socialists were inspired by the Scandinavian welfare state model with universal
benefits and strong public services such as education, child-care and active
labor market policies. However, the political position of the French Socialists
was very weak. And it should also be mentioned that unlike the Nordic counties,
the French Socialists did not have a strong trade union partner on their side.
The General Confederation of Labor (Confédération Générale du Travail,
CGT), which was dominant in French trade unionism, became increasingly
influenced by the French Communist Party, which was clearly shown in 1947,
when communist ministers were expelled from the national government. After
a wave of strikes, the socialists left the CGT and formed a new federation, the
General Confederation of Labor-Workers' Force (Confédération Générale du
Travail-Force Ouvrière), in 1948 (see Katuninec, 2009: 77-78).
André Philip, one of the party’s staunchest supporters of trade
liberalization and European integration, argued already to the party’s National
Council in 1948 that a "customs union ought to be accompanied by the unity of
legislation as it concerns fiscal policy, salaries, social security and monetary
policy". Historian Brian Shaev, who focuses on the transnational relations of
socialist parties in Europe, emphasizes in this connection that "the demand for
the harmonization of social policies became a staple of French Socialist policy
towards proposals for European unity through the 1950s." The Schuman Plan
defined by Jean Monnet certainly gained support in the SFIO also because its
leaders enjoyed close, personal relations with Monnet. In connection with the
Schuman Plan and the post-war process of European unification, Catholic
politicians and thinkers have already played an important role. However, fears

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234 Balkan Social Science Review, Vol. 17, June 2021, 221-239
that this was a Catholic activity were unfounded. Andre Philip, who advocated
an alliance between the center-left and the center-right parties, was not only a
prominent post-war socialist politician, but also actively served as chairman of
the Commission for on International Affairs of the Federation Protestant of
France he had created in 1943, and "some churchmen claimed that the Schuman
Plan followed Phillip´s ideas" (Leuștean, 2014: 24).
If we want to talk about important pro-European socialist politicians
who have not given up even in the most difficult situations and have shown
how important political figures were in practical politics, we must mention the
Belgian Paul-Henri Spaak. This influential Belgian Socialist politician,
diplomat and statesman, had as early as 1944 as the Belgian Foreign Minister
in exile in London, proposed the creation of an alliance between Belgium,
Luxembourg and the Netherlands (Benelux), which took place in September of
the same year with the signing of the Common Customs Union. Spaak was
convinced that the integration of countries through binding treaty obligations is
the most appropriate means of guaranteeing peace and stability. He has been
active in several international organizations and has also played an important
role in the negotiation of the Treaties of Rome. In March 1956, at a special
session of the European Coal and Steel Community, Spaak submitted a
document that was approved by the Council of Ministers after multiple
discussions. Not quite one year later, after the elaboration of several comments,
the Treaties of Rome, which can be considered an important milestone in
European integration, were prepared for signing. Upon their entry into force in
January 1958, the Treaties of Rome formed the basis for the existence of the
European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy
Community (EURATOM). Together with the Treaty of Paris (1951), the
Treaties of Rome remain the most important legal basis in what is now the
European Union (EU).
4. Conclusion
Although there has never been a coherent model of the welfare state in
a democratic Europe, trust in democracy and its institutions is closely linked to
social rights, income security, eradication of poverty and other issues defining
social policy as a central entity (see Esping-Andersen, 1990: 16; Martinkovič,
2016: 50). The process of European integration from the beginning has been
led by the idea of the need to strike a balance between the economic and social
dimensions. Increasing the living standards and working conditions of
employees was the common goal of all its members. In this context, they also
emphasized the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity on the ground. The
welfare state was characterized by its stability and up until the mid-1970s it was
manifested in relative peace in economic and social stability. Under changed
conditions, however, it was hit by several shocks (see Fisch, 1996). The ending
of an era of extraordinary economic and social development was due primarily
to the unexpected rise in oil prices. The period of the oil crisis, in which the
world economy fell into a deep recession, revealed the weaknesses of the post-

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Balkan Social Science Review, Vol. 17, June 2021, 221-239 235
war dream of sustainable economic growth and social stability. “Western
Europe’s thirty glorious years ’gave way to an age of monetary inflation and
declining growth rates, accompanied by widespread unemployment and social
discontent” (Judt, 2010: 453). The change in the social climate took a relatively
long time. Several Western European countries tried to resist by increasing
debt, but they could not escape the crisis of the “welfare state” and had to
contend with rising inflation, unemployment, poverty and economic recession.
The European Union has since overcome many crises and the welfare state had
to face battles for survival on various fronts. “Despite constant discussions
about the ´crisis of legitimacy´ of the welfare state, as well as the need and
universality of social reforms already implemented or intended, which
increasingly reduce it, support for the meaning and function of the welfare state
and its social policy remains relatively strong among citizens of all European
countries“ (Čambáliková, 2020: 139).
Even today, there are various opinions about the future of the welfare
state in continental Europe. In EU, the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic again
has raised new questions but forecasting the course of welfare state has proved
supremely difficult already many times. Several theorists and politicians say
that the pandemic can be considered a turning point, or the beginning of a
fundamental transformation of the whole European project. We don't know
what kind of surprises the future holds for us, and it is very difficult to predict
today how a pandemic will affect the development of our continent. These days,
however, we can better realize what is truly essential, important and
irreplaceable in life. Despite the difficult times, this is a crisis thanks to which
society can find out how closely connected it is and how highly people are
dependent on each other (see Krastev, 2020: 93).
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