"To what extent was the political unification of Germany due to a) the growth of the Zollverein, b) Bismarck's diplomacy and wars?"

... IB History - Bismarck and the Unification of Germany "To what extent was the political unification of Germany due to a) the growth of the Zollverein, b) Bismarck's diplomacy and wars?" Unification was a fervent desire amongst the Germans, and with or without the Zollverein, Germany was predisposed to unification. However, once the Zollverein came into being, it played an immensely important role - Whilst the political unification of Germany was being secured by military force of the unshakable Prussian army, the basis of the unification had been laid down years before 1871. This basis was neither military or political, but economic. Bismarck provided the role as the facilitator and the Zollverein was a catalyst towards unification; it showed the people the benefits, thus paved the path for unification and stirred the German national feelings and common cultural threads. The Prussian new enlarged Custom's Union, the Zollverein, was the

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