ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors analyses the development until the foundation of the nation-state in 1871 with a focus on the interplay between three aspects: first, the strategic interests of governments; second, the national movement as a carrier of national identity; and third, changes in economic integration across Germany. Three structural aspects were crucial for the forthcoming decades. First, geographical and social mobility increased again in the wake of Germany’s initial phase of industrialisation. A second factor was the expansion of schooling and higher education and the emergence of a public sphere. At the same time, however, the governments themselves continued to nurture the underlying technological, institutional, and economic changes. This leads the reader to the third factor: the formation of the Zollverein in 1834, a customs union that abolished the manifold internal barriers to trade, set common external tariffs, and helped coordinate the development of transport infrastructures.
