ABSTRACT
The welfare system which began to emerge during our period was greatly influenced by the bundle of factors grouped under the umbrella term modernization. During the years which separated the Reichsgrundung from the French Revolution, the functions of the state had undergone a transformation which differentiated the old preindustrial form of government from its modern counterpart. Under Bismarck state intervention supplied a sophisticated back-up system on which big business or big agricultural concerns could rely. The social legislation which Bismarck introduced during the 1880's marked a subtle but distinct departure from anything the state had done in the past for the labor force. Workers were insured against physical inability to perform work, but they were not protected against an economically-induced inability to find jobs. The efforts which individual areas made to cope with their unemployed residents were too numerous to catalogue separately but some of the more significant innovations merit at least passing reference.
