What was the role of adversity,or hardship, in the devlopment of nation states?

Not sure I totally understand the question, but here goes. I suppose you could say that the need to take care of the public's welfare led to an increasingly centralized governing body, a necessity for the development of the nation state. Could look at the Poor Laws in Britain duing the Tudor era. Or maybe Bismarck's social reforms following unification in Germany. A welfare state needs a bureaucracy and those seem to go hand in hand with nation states. Unless I am totally misunderstanding the question.