The Importance of the Zollverein in the Movement for German Unification

Instead of revolutions, much of their reforms came from “above” – from the ruling class. They did not have a party system. The fellowship of being German was depicted in the photograph of Suddeutcher Verlag at the beginning of the World War I in Munich. Germans were very proud to belong to this nation. A particular class of the German people that strongly contributed to the Sonderweg theory were the “elites”. The control of the elites stood in the way of liberal democratization and a truly representative government. The elites included the Junkers, the large agrarian landowners who possessed much power and influence because of their wealth.

Germany and why it has gone through First World War has been subject of debate among scholars, academics and historians. Several documents have been analyzed in order to understand the subject and aims of Germany were when it went on war. Wide ranging literature is available on the subject, which concentrates on discussing the start of World War I. History is based on evaluation and examination of facts. The

Germany started out as a divided nation fighting for dominance in Europe. Otto Von Bismarck was able to take this struggling complexity and unify it. During this process Bismarck turned the small country of Prussia into a powerhouse, growing the population from 11 to 18 million. Bismarck sprung from a landlord class and moved his way up the political ladder as realpolitik, realistic Politician. He was a man of simple ideals; he stressed duty, service, order, and the fear of God. These ideals along with manipulative tactics are what lead Bismarck on his journey of the unification of Germany, proving that without Bismarck’s diplomatic efforts between 1871 and 1890 Europe would not be the stabilized continent it is today.

On the other hand, there were many factors outwith Bismarck's control which were very important in the unification of Germany, for example, the Zollverein. The Zollverein was a voluntary customs union, which encouraged trade between the German states by removing customs duties. It drew the German states closer together and supplied economic unity. Twenty-five of the thirty-nine states were members of the Zollverein - Austria was not a member. As Prussia

In addition to the damaging consequences of the First World War with the requirements of the Treaty of Versailles, certain features of Germany caused the state to be susceptible to the influence of this dangerous ideology. Along with the damage to the national ego as a result of the First World War, Germany had co-existing and conflicting highly modern strands of development forced to integrate with powerful remnants of archaic values and social structures, and had a deeply fractured parliamentary political system, and the weaknesses of this system reflected the social and political differences within the population. This shame and failure after World War I was superimposed onto a modern country which once had an advanced economy, a sophisticated state

Despite the fact that Italy was unified, it wasn’t as nearly as strong as Germany was becoming. Bismarck joined both authoritarianism and nationalism to increase Prussia’s power. He was a very clever diplomat and used whatever means possible to work towards his goal. Bismarck’s Realpolitiks, the pursuing of realistic goals by any available method instead of the pursuit of an ideology. Bismarck never wanted to have enemies for long and hoped to pacify the Liberals with foreign policy achievement, notably the unification of Germany. He wanted to exclude Austria from the unification process. This led to the Austria-Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars. His plan was successful. Even with the fact south German states were reluctant to join in his unification because of strong religious and political traditions. After the overpowering of France in 1871 the southern states finally joined. This was the defeat the brought them together.

Germany became a unified country in 1871 under the leadership of Otto Von Bismarck. The separate states up until this time were independent, Prussia being the strongest and most influential, followed by Austria. There are several contributing factors to the unification of Germany, the most influential of which being the leadership of Otto Von Bismarck. The three wars that Prussia fought with Denmark, Austria and France also played significant roles in the unification of the German states. Another factor to consider is the increase in support of nationalism around Western Europe at the time, and the changes in German society. Through an evaluation of these factors and relevant sources one can

The German states realized it was futile to live in industrially and commercially segregated communities. The German states put together the Zollverein. The Zollverein is another name for the German Customs Union. It came into existence in 1834. It was the most important free trade agreement of the 19th century.

Between 1815, the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and 1850 the German states experienced a growth of nationalism and the desire for unity. The obstacles to German unification were religious divisions, rulers’ fear of losing power, and the opposition from Austria. The tension and rivalry that existed between the two largest German states intensified and the existing religious divisions and made the possibility of unification more difficult.

However, some historians argue that Bismarck was a catalyst and he simply sped up the process of German unification. Prussia gained land in the Rhineland, which was many miles away from Prussian mainland. German States prompted the Prussian authorities to abolish all internal taxes within Prussia itself in 1818. This led to the creation of a large free trade area. Prussia’s control of the rivers of the Rhine and Elbe encouraged other German states

The nationalist power-politics in Germany were promoted heavily. There were strong advocates for imperialism who also pushed for advancing Germany's weapon's technology and strong army.

Jens George Reich stated, “People imagine the reunification will be the answer to all their dreams.” While reunification marked the official end of communism within Germany, in reality problems were arising from the processes that were unexpected by the people of Germany. The reunification was implemented ineffectively by incompetent management amidst unfavourable economic and social circumstances which resulted in political, economic and social consequences as problems associated with the East far outweighed the advantages that could be provided by the West. Indeed, German citizens dreamed that the West could provide a degree of peace and economic stability that would reinforce a cohesive German identity.

According to Yael Tamir, author of The Enigma of Nationalism, “a nation.., may be defined as a community whose members share feelings of fraternity, substantial distinctiveness, and exclusivity, as well as beliefs in a common ancestry and a continuous genealogy” (4). During this period, many classic liberals used this idea of a nation to support change throughout all of Europe. By insisting that nations come together, they achieved huge social upheaval and reform, of which the aristocracy and conservatives were completely against. However, the use of this unifying force had its consequences. For example, the creation of the first Prussian constitution at a National Assembly in 1848 granted a larger, unified Prussia (the German empire) built on a somewhat democratic model. However, along with the democracy came the development of a three-class system. This ensured that the Junkers, the wealthiest men who paid the most taxes,

On the other hand, the German bourgeoisie viewed the concept of Zivilisation as superficial and vain. There are two important aspects that contributed to this view. First, the bourgeoisie were denied social access into the German court society because they spoke German and represented a different class; and second, the bourgeoisie were denied political access into the German court society which rendered them politically powerless (Fletcher, 1997). In order to distinguish themselves from the German nobility, the bourgeoisie developed the concept of Kultur which represented their inner pride and achievements in art, literature, science, and other pursuits which characterised their identity (Fletcher, 1997; Mennell, 1998; Elias, 2012; Dunning

Bismarck was the man who did the most to unify Germany. It was clear that unification was one of his major objective which he announced in his famous ‘Blood and Iron speech’. I was fascinated by how he managed to unify the so many divided states. Thus, my historical investigation examines the question, to what extent was the Franco-Prussian war Bismarck’s final step to unify Germany? To assess whether the Franco-Prussian war was Bismarck’s final step for unifying the loose net of 39 German states or not, the investigation analyses the previous steps made by Bismarck to unify Germany. It investigates the events between 1962, when Bismarck became Minister president of Prussia and 1971, when Germany became officially unified. The events analyzed are the Danish war, The Prussian Austrian war and the Franco Prussian war.