Philanthropy vs. welfare state: Great Britain's and Canada's response to military dependants in the Great War

This thesis is an investigation of the provisions made by the governments of Great Britain and Canada for the dependants of soldiers fighting in France and Flanders during the Great War. Both nations' governments provided separation allowances to these dependants, and philanthropists and common citizens alike undertook the supplementation of these allowances by private funding. By the end of the first year of war, however, voluntarism had failed in Britain, and philanthropic support of soldiers' dependants was dramatically curtailed, causing great hardship. This thesis explains the reasons for voluntarism's failure in Britain and for its success in Canada. In so doing, some previously accepted notions about these nations Great War military welfare systems, the role and relationship of private and public measures within the systems, and the changing responsibility of the state in regards to public welfare have been reexamined, and a new interpretation offered.