The Zollverein

The Zollverein or German Customs Union was a coalition of German states formed to
manage tariffs and economic policies within their territories. Organised by the
1833 Zollverein treaties, the Zollverein formally came into existence on 1 January 1834.
However, its foundations had been in development from 1818 with the creation of a variety
of custom unionsamong the German states. By 1866, the Zollverein included most of the German
states. The foundation of the Zollverein was the first instance in history in which independent
states had consummated a full economic union without the simultaneous creation of a political
federation or union.[1]
Prussia was the prime motivating force behind the creation of the customs union. Austria was
excluded from the Zollverein because of its highly protected industry and also because Prince
von Metternich was against the idea. With the founding of the North German Confederation in
1867, the Zollverein included approximately 425,000 square kilometres, and had produced
economic agreements with several non-German states, including Sweden-Norway. After the
founding of the German Empire in 1871, the Empire assumed the control of the customs union.
However, not all states within the Empire were part of the Zollverein until 1888. Conversely,
although it was not a state in the German Reich, until 1919 Luxembourg remained in
the Zollverein.

The Frankfurt Parliament

The Frankfurt Parliament (German: Frankfurter Nationalversammlung, literally Frankfurt
National Assembly) was the first freely elected parliament for all of Germany,[1] elected on 1
May 1848.
The session was held from 18 May 1848 to 31 May 1849, in the Paulskirche at Frankfurt am
Main. Its existence was both part of and the result of the "March Revolution" in the states of
the German Confederation. After long and controversial debates, the assembly produced the
so-called Frankfurt Constitution (Paulskirchenverfassung or Paulskirche Constitution, actually
Verfassung des Deutschen Reiches) which proclaimed a German Empire based on the principles
of parliamentary democracy. This constitution fulfilled the main demands of the liberal and
nationalist movements of the Vormrz and provided a foundation of basic rights, both of which
stood in opposition to Metternich's system of Restoration. The parliament also proposed a
constitutional monarchy headed by a hereditary emperor (Kaiser).
The Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm IV refused to accept the office of emperor when it was
offered to him on the grounds that such a constitution and such an offer were an abridgment of
the rights of the princes of the individual German states. In the 20th century, however, major
elements of the Frankfurt constitution became models for the Weimar Constitution of 1919 and
the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany of 1949.

Treaty of Olmutz
The Punctation of Olmtz, also called the Agreement of Olmtz, was a treaty between Prussia
and Austria, dated 29 November 1850, by which Prussia abandoned the Erfurt Union and
accepted the revival of the German Confederation under Austrian leadership.
The treaty was the result of a conference held in Olmtz (Olomouc) in the Austrian
Margraviate of Moravia. It is also known as the "humiliation of Olmtz", as the treaty was seen
by many as a capitulation of the Prussians to the Austrians. The reason for the treaty was a
conflict between Prussia and Austria about the leadership in the German Confederation. The
confederation, dominated by Austria, had been dissolved in the Revolutions of 1848 and
partially succeeded by the Frankfurt Assembly. After the Frankfurt Assembly failed, Prussia in
early 1850 had taken the initiative of the Erfurt Union, a Prussia-led federation of most
German states.
A conflict between the Elector of Hesse and his subjects was the cause for the Austrian
chancellor Felix zu Schwarzenberg to further isolate Prussia. Austrian and allied armies
advanced into the Electorate of Hesse. On 8 November 1850, the Prussian army had come close
to war with Bavaria (an ally of Austria) near Fulda-Bronnzell. Prussia decided thereupon to give
in. This development had occurred also because Czar Nicholas I of Russia had chosen the side
of Austria in the Warsaw negotiations in October 1850. In the Punctation, Prussia gave up its
claim for the leadership of the German states. At the same time the German Confederation was
restored. Prussia submitted to Austrian leadership of the confederation, agreed to demobilise;
agreed to partake in the intervention of the German Diet in Hesse and Holstein; and renounced
any resumption of her union policy (abandoning the idea of the Erfurt Union).

The Efurt Union

The Erfurt Union (German: Erfurter Union) was a short-lived union of German states under a
federation, proposed by the Kingdom of Prussia at Erfurt, for which the Erfurt Union
Parliament (Erfurter Unionsparlament), lasting from March 20 to April 29, 1850, was opened.
The union never came into effect, and was dealt the fatal blow in the Punctation of Olmtz
(November 29, 1850; also called the Humiliation at Olmtz) under pressure from the Austrian
Empire.