In 1834, Bavaria and Wurttemberg joined Prussia in the German Customs Union, in other words, the Zollverein. It was an economic unit comprising of 18 states to begin with, increasing gradually until 1844, when states such as Hanover, the Hanseatic towns, but more importantly Austria were excluded from it. Rejecting the idea of free trade, Austria further weakened her stance with her protectionist policies. The Zollverein was marked as the beginning and what tradionalist historians label as a “mighty lever” towards German unification. There was increased communications between Prussia and several small north German states, which made mobilisation during the war in 1866 significantly more efficient, than that of the Austrian army. Whilst Austria possessed only one single-track railway that ran from Vienna to Bohemia, Prussia had the upper hand, seeing as she had the opportunity to use five lines, essential to bring Prussian troops southwards. Thus, this increase in military power, accompanied by the strengthening of Prussia’s economy by the investment of money in the army, together with Austria’s economic isolation from the Zollverein, drastically weakened her position. Regardless of her maintained political leadership of the confederation, Prussia was emerging as the economical leader and this was seen as nothing but mounting Prussia’s dominance over her fellow German states.
Some historians have argued that Prussia’s ascendancy over the other German states is supported by the fact that many states joined this economic union, not by their own free will but were arguably forced into the Zollverein. It is possible that it is because of Prussia’s growing dominance that the rivalries between the states remained widespread and a reason for why so many of the German states retained a sense of affinity towards Austria. The smaller states of Germany were far too weak to stand against to the size and strength of Prussia. Essentially, the establishment of the Zollverein was crucial for the states of Germany because it had significant economical advantages for them to join. Ultimately though the Zollverein was a way for Prussia to flex its own muscles, as she achieved a position of economical leadership within the Confederation, which no other German states had attained.
Whether or not the German states were forced into this economic union, Prussia’s superiority over the Confederation was certainly the foremost issue from 1858-62.With the help of the Zollverein, Prussia was united with her distant Rhineland territories, which in effect assisted with her authority over the other German states. Indeed the Zollverein was a force for unity in the 1840s, but more importantly, Prussia was regarded by many northern states as the natural leader of a united Germany, in spite of her reactionary political sympathies. It could be seen however, that Prussia perhaps would not have achieved such control over the states had it not been for Austria so reluctant to join the Zollverein. Austria gave Prussia the opportunity to establish her economical position of leadership, and this can certainly be seen as a stepping-stone towards political leadership for Prussia. Prussia clearly had a long way to go in order to achieve political domination, yet the Zollverein enable Prussia to dominate the other German states even if it was economical.
When Bismarck was appointed in 1862 as a result of the constitutional crisis, Prussia’s dominance grew significantly. Many revisionist historians, however have argued that unification would have occurred without Bismarck, thus questioning how far Bismarck was able to encourage Prussian control over the German states in 1862. The Zollverein predominantly facilitated Prussia’s superiority during the period 1849 to 1862, where it could be seen that the balance of power was reversed between Prussia and Austria. The Zollverein demonstrated to the states that they could work collectively for the common good, and this was supported by the fact that the states were allowed to make their own trade agreements. But it could be argued that it was only Prussia who was able to govern the agreements made, because she was in possession of superior economic resources that ultimately allowed her to preserve her supremacy over the other German states.
It can be argued therefore that even though the Zollverein was merely an economic union, it was still a fundamental basis for Prussia to advance her own leadership over the other German states. It had the outcome of escalating Prussia’s dominance in Germany whilst destabilizing Austria’s political authority. The Zollverein ultimately increased communications and relations between the states but it was Prussia who eventually triumphed over the smaller states of Germany.
