How Britain Unified Germany: Trade Routes and the Formation of the Zollverein

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Huning, Thilo R.; Wolf, Nikolaus
• 署名单位: University of York - UK; Humboldt University of Berlin
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0507
• DOI: 10.1017/S0022050725101083
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: Geography

摘要

Does the location of a state relative to others matter? We argue that a state's location can affect its bargaining power, and thus multilateral relations if trade costs depend on trade routes that pass through other states. This is an important, yet neglected aspect of economic history. We show how an exogenous border change-caused by Britain's intervention at Vienna in 1815-affected the location and trade routes of Prussia and other German states. We find that this border change led to the formation of the first customs union in history, the German Zollverein of 1834.