The most relevant comparative studies on the impact of war on the patterns and pathways of Welfare State development have emphasized the importance of demobilization, welfare benefits and educational programmes for veterans and refugees among the long-term policy repercussions of the World Wars.1 The relations between post-war policies, party politics and groups of victims, such as widows, orphans, disabled veterans and the unemployed, have been examined in depth especially for the post-WWI era. By contrast, the historiography on the aftermath of WWII has identified the role of Communist parties, the Europeanwide process of constitution-making, the integration of the labour movement into the active life of the state and a powerful commitment to welfare as the most important aspects of the post-war political transitions of 1945.2 The post-war period, notably the aftermath of the war, is a key moment in the construction of European welfare states: on the one hand, military occupations, the circulation and propaganda of foreign models, and the presence on the ground of international organizations allowed for the entanglement of national and international actors and policies; on the other hand, the widespread awareness of the inadequacies of the collapsed existing systems and the social crisis created by the war called for reforms. [First paragraph]