came to be, it is still clear that the single states within the Zollverein were not neccessarily
diplomatically linked, monetarily linked, or any such thing. This was seen clearly in 1866, when
the Southern States rallied to aid Austria, despite their membership of the Zollverein.
It is also possible to say that, left alone, the Zollverein would have had no major effect. But like
with so many areas of German government, Bismarck used it to achieve his ends, along with his
predecessors who knew that a Zollverein without Autria's involvement would give Prussia
economic power in the Confederation, to match the political and military sway of Austria. After
1848 (after the many uprisings across the Austrian Empire, which left her cripplied
economically) it became even more important to stop Austria from joining, as Prussia's power
within the Confederation continued to increase, and Bismarck did this the most actively, through
a series of trade agreements with Belgium, England and Italy, which were based on the French
traty of 1862. Bismarck used the Zollverein as one of the many tools in his foreign and domestic
policy, to achieve his aims, yet remaining constantly under the spotlight as some National
Liberal, who it became harder and harder to doubt or question, as time went on.
The battle for the Zollverein, and thus economic control of Germany, was also important when
looking at the build-up to the Austro-Prussian War. Bismarck convinced France to agree that
any negotiations on the extension of the Franco/Prussian Free-trade agreement, in reference to
the smaller states, would have to go through Berlin. This, Bismarck thought, would increase their
dependence on Prussia, and thus allow Bismarck to renegotiate terms when the Zollverein was
renewed in 1865, getting rid of the smaller states' veto powers and suchlike. The other German
states voted him out on this, making it impossible for him to use the Franco/Prussian treaty
against them, and thus he switched tack. Still using the Zollverein, Bismarck threatened to
dissolve it in 1865, and only renegotiate with the individual states, on acceptance of the
Franco/Prussian treaty. He knew that there was no other choice, and watched in amusement as
the Austrian attempt to form some kind of trading union failed, and on 12th October 1864
Bavaria, Wurrtemberg, Hesse-Darmstadt and Nassau all agreed toPrussia's conditions for
renewal of the Zollverein. And once again Austria was excluded, despite unrealistic promises to
look into the matter in 1872, allowing Prussia to have a stronger power-base than it had ever
had before. It is no chance that within two years, Austria and Prussia were to be at war, the
growing economic power of Prussia clearly unsettling Austria's claim to lead the German states.
Yet once again, it must be pointed out that the states of the Zollverein did not stick together
miltarily. Many turned against Prussia, deciding to fight alongside Austria, and the Northern
states that did (or just didn't let Prussia in, such as Frankfurt) were annexed or heavily fined at
the end of it all. And the Southern states, although allowed to keep their independence, were
forced to join the Zollverein, thus increasing Prussia's overall power within the Confederation -
one could even go as far to say that it was the Zollverein that, indirectly, knocked Austria out of
the running for leadership of Germany.
In conclusion, I don't think one can over-estimate or under estimate the extent to which the
Zollverein unified Germany. It certainly played a part in drawing up the future extents of the
German Empire, and allowed for greater intergration within the separate states, but its years of
most effectiveness ended in 1865, after the addition of the Southern states, who returned
members of the Zollverein Parliament who were ready to rebuff any of Prussia's plans. It was
not only that, but also the fact that Bismarck found other tools to use to his advantage (such as
the Ems telegram, to steer Prussia and Germany in the direction he wanted).
