Social Support Organization in Russian Empire During World War I: Financial Aspects

Abstract

This study examines the interplay between state and public involvement in financing social support for the affected population during World War I (1914-1918). The research focuses on the income components of the budgets of the Supreme Council for the Care of Families of Enlisted Persons and the Moscow Committee of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna for providing charitable assistance to families of enlisted individuals. Quantitative data on charitable donations and government subsidies serve as sources. The total amount of collected charitable donations is disclosed for the first time, with a conclusion drawn regarding their stable dynamics. It is demonstrated that the volume of charitable donations was incomparable to the need for assistance. Despite measures to stimulate donation inflow (such as lotteries and rewards for donors), charitable contributions could not establish a reliable financial foundation for the social support system. The author concludes on the increasing significance of state funding. The institutionalization of social assistance required formalization and regulation of support measures, recipient tracking, and the establishment of uniform organizational structures, among others. Thus, the pre-revolutionary period of World War I marks an important stage in the genesis of state social policy.