ABSTRACT
The urban craftsman worked to order for customers who were known to him and not for middlemen who acted as distributors. It struck English travellers that there were no shops in German towns as there were in London and Paris. In the other German countries feudal privileges were removed partly before and partly after the setting-up of the Bund, although traces remained right up to the Revolution of 1848. When the German Bund was founded, it was hoped that agreements between its members would lead to a common customs area and other institutions beneficial to the economy. Napoleon’s troops were fed from local resources by means of levies and requisitions and this weakened the economy of the occupied countries, including Germany. Besides, trade and industry in Germany were still very far from being sufficiently developed to make her an economic world power.
