Liberalism, as previously mentioned, was important in making unification come about, because it gave way to nationalism. It is almost as if liberalism and nationalism were a single cause. For example, students (mainly the middle class, thus they were mostly liberals) joined Burschenschaften societies which campaigned for German unification. Similarly, it is important to note that the first of these nationalist festivals, the Wartburg Festival, was a gathering of 500 students that believed in a demonstration against the princes, and a united Germany. It was this festival that led to grander, nationalistic festivals such as the one in Hambach with 25,000 people.
Economic development made unification come about in Germany as well. While the economic developments did not unite Germany politically, it united them economically. The Prussian Customs Union of 1815 was one such example. Instead of 39 German states having independent economies, there was one economic union. The benefits of the member states were that there were no internal tariffs, and there was a common external tariff. This united Germany economically, because many of the trade barriers were removed- as if it were one nation. The Prussian Customs Union led to the Zollverein in 1834. It also united most of Germany economically- 18 states and 23 million people. It was similar to the Prussian Customs Union (no internal tariffs), but in addition, the currency, system of weights, and measures were unified in the Zollverein States (such as Bavaria and Wuerttemberg.) This economic unity made nationalism and liberalism seem plausible. German railways also contributed to German unity. In ten years, from 1840-1850, Germany had grown from 600 miles of track to 4,000 miles of track. The German economist Friedrich List explains that the railways were 'the firm girdle around the loins of Germany, binding her limbs together in a forceful and powerful way.' This means that the railways, a result of economic development and industrialization, united Germany as well, because it made Germany one individual force. (Farmer, page 148, line 33) As the evidence above shows, economic development is linked to liberalism and nationalism, and gave rise to the ideologies- thus it is also an extremely important factor in unification.
To conclude, all of the reasons were important, and a result of causation. Nationalism was a result of growing liberalism, and liberalism was was a result of the rapid economic development. This is because nationalism was mainly supported by the middle class, and the middle class was composed of liberals who believed that a united Germany would support a more liberal approach to politics. As the above information states, the final explanation is that nationalism was important to German unification because it made unification a desire among the German people, but economic development and liberalism made it happen.
