Otto von Bismarck was not simply a German politician of the nineteenth century. He was the architect of a strong state that sought to keep society under control during a period of rapid industrial growth. Germany was changing quickly: cities were expanding, factories were developing, the working class was growing, and socialist movements were gaining strength. The state understood that if working people were not given at least a minimal sense of future protection, they could begin looking for protection not from the state, but from revolutionary political forces.