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Lecture 15 Social Welfare in Germany: Bismarck to Kohl T he occupation of germany after world war ii had profound effects on the country’s postwar development, beginning with the creation of two new countries: the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) . This division, at least temporarily, undid the unification of Germany that Otto von Bismarck had accomplished less than a century earlier . Bismarck combined 39 independent states under his leadership in Berlin . He was also the founding father of the German social welfare system . In fact, he was the first political leader in the world to create national systems of unemployment insurance, old‑age pensions, and health care .
