German Conferderation
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Background of German Industrialization Flag of German Confederation the Zollverein Ⅰ Politics: German Confederation (德意志邦联) 1. Definition: The German Confederation (German: Deutscher Bund) was the loose association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to coordinate the economies of separate German-speaking countries. It acted as a buffer（缓冲）between the powerful states of Austria and Prussia. Britain approved of it because London felt that there was need for a stable, peaceful power in central Europe that could discourage aggressive moves by France or Russia. Most historians have judged the Confederation to be weak and ineffective, as well as an obstacle to German nationalist aspirations. 2. Establishment: Between 1806 and 1815, Napoleon（拿破仑）organized the German states into the Confederation of the Rhine（莱茵联盟）, but this collapsed after his defeats in invading Russia in 1813. The member states, drastically reduced to 39 from more than 300 under the Holy Roman Empire（神圣罗马帝国）(dissolved on 6 August 1806), were recognized as fully sovereign. After Napoleon's（拿破仑）final defeat in 1815, the surviving member states of the Holy Roman Empire（神圣罗马帝国）joined to form the German Confederation (Deutscher Bund) — a rather loose organization, especially because the two great rivals, the Austrian Empire and the Prussian kingdom, each feared domination by the other. 3. Collapse: The dispute between the two dominant member states of the confederation, Austria and Prussia, over which had the inherent right to rule German lands ended in favor of Prussia after the Austro-Prussian War（奥普战争）in 1866. German Confederation collapsed due to the rivalry between Prussia and Austria (known as German dualism), warfare, and the inability of the multiple members to compromise. This resulted in the creation of the North German Confederation（北德意志邦联）, with a number of south German states remaining independent, although allied first with Austria (until 1867) and subsequently with Prussia (until 1871), after which they became a part of the new German state. Ⅱ Economy: Economic integration ── Deutscher Zollverein（德意志关税同盟） 1. Establishment: Further efforts to improve the confederation began in 1834 with the establishment of a customs union, the Zollverein. 2. Goals: In 1834, the Prussian regime sought to stimulate wider trade advantages and industrialism. Historians have seen three Prussian goals: as a political tool to eliminate Austrian influence in Germany; as a way to improve the economies; and to strengthen Germany against potential French aggression while reducing the economic independence of smaller states. 3. Content: The customs union opened up a common market, ended tariffs（关税）between states, and standardized weights, measures, and currencies within member states (excluding Austria), forming the basis of a proto-national economy（原国民经济）. 4. Development: By 1842 the Zollverein included most German states. Within the next twenty years the output of German furnaces（熔炉）increased fourfold. Coal production grew rapidly as well. In turn, German industry introduced the steel gun（钢炮）, and a breech loading rifle, exemplifying（证明） Germany's successful application of technology to weaponry. Germany's security was greatly enhanced, leaving the Prussian state and the landowning aristocracy（贵族） secure from outside threat. German manufacturers also produced heavily for the civilian sector. Economic integration, especially increased national consciousness among the German states, made political unity far likelier（可靠的）. Germany finally began exhibiting all the features of a proto-nation. 5. Significance: While relative stability was maintained until 1848, with enough bourgeois elements still content to exchange the "right to rule for the right to make money", the landed upper class found its economic base sinking. While the Zollverein brought economic progress and helped to keep the bourgeoisie at bay for a while, it increased the ranks of the middle class swiftly - the very social base for the nationalism and liberalism that the Prussian state sought to stem. Inadvertently, these reforms sparked the unification（统一）movement and augmented（扩张）a middle class demanding further political rights, but at the time backwardness and Prussia's fears of its stronger neighbors were greater concerns. The Zollverein was a move toward economic integration, modern industrial capitalism, and the victory of centralism（中央集权制）over localism, quickly bringing to an end the era of guilds（公会）in the small German princely states. 本文来源：https://www.wddqw.com/doc/0dff7e1114791711cc7917f1.html