The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1098: Chapter 96: German Customs Union

Standing on the embankment of the Paris street, gazing at the shimmering Seine River.

The street was filled with a constant stream of pedestrians, along with a variety of carriages weaving through.

Inside one inconspicuous carriage, two British diplomats were making final preparations for an imminent secret meeting.

Schneider took out a recently acquired document from the bag, extracted a few pages, and handed the remainder to Arthur.

”These are the newest updates we’ve received from various German states regarding the diplomatic maneuvering between Prussia and Austria. As the two most powerful countries in the Germanic Region, they’ve been vying for leadership of the German Confederation. Although currently Austria is the presiding nation of the Confederation, secretly Prussia has been plotting to overthrow its autocratic brother to become the sole big brother of the German States. Establishing the German Customs Union is a crucial part of this plan.”

Arthur was not hearing the term German Customs Union for the first time.

Though he was not a diplomat previously, the concept was not altogether unfamiliar; anyone who regularly read books and newspapers could know a little about it.

After the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815, during the Vienna Conference, countries unanimously decided to form the German Confederation to unite the German States left after the Holy Roman Empire was dismantled by Napoleon in 1806.

However, regrettably, compared to the German Confederation, although the former Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire, despite having over two hundred hilltop feudal lords, they at least maintained the semblance of a single state.

Yet, the German Confederation was different. Though thirty-six feudal lords remained in the Germanic Region after the Napoleonic Wars, following the Vienna Conference, these feudal lords were all established as completely independent and autonomous nations.

The member states only guaranteed to bear mutual defense responsibilities and jointly uphold military obligations for Mainz, Luxembourg, Rastatt, Ulm, and Landau Fortress.

Nonetheless, at least the German Confederation set up a Confederal Parliament, electing Austria led by Francis I, the last Holy Roman Emperor and the first Austrian Emperor, as the presiding nation of the Confederation.

However, although the Confederal Charter stipulated that the German Confederation Council was led by the Austrian Prime Minister, holding regular meetings in the Free State of Frankfurt, in practice, the Austrian Emperor often claimed ’the Prime Minister is too busy to attend, so I will preside over this meeting myself’ to personally take charge and control the Confederation’s power.

Some German States welcomed this, while others dared not speak against the Austrian Emperor’s actions due to power dynamics.

But the unwillingness of other states to speak does not mean Prussia dared not speak.

Being universally acknowledged as the second top country in Germany, resembling a military force disguised as a nation, Prussia was consistently displeased with Austria treating them as a little follower.

The King of Prussia, Frederick William III, thought: You, Franz, are an Emperor, I am also an Emperor. What you want, I can’t always comply. You cannot disregard my existence!

Thus, Austria and Prussia frequently performed political intrigue to vie for the ’leading position’ in the German Confederation.

And the German small states trying to survive amidst the two powerful German nations suffered tremendously, needing to be cautious even when speaking at the Confederation Council.

Prussia pondered, secretly proposing: If it doesn’t work, then let’s have dual leadership, Austria as one leader, and I as another leader, so there’s no need to fight.

But clearly, the ’sun doesn’t shine twice’, and Austria would never agree to dual leadership in the Confederation.

Their idea was categorically rejected, instantly infuriating the Prussians, who were skilled in farming and warfare, but nothing else.

Difficult?

If it’s difficult then damn it, let’s not do it!

Might as well engage in an honest-to-goodness fight!

If defeated, do not hand over the baton, do not hand over the account book, damn it, do not hand over anything.

Of course, although Prussia generally disliked thinking, when it was apparent they couldn’t overpower Austria, they didn’t necessarily have to resort to violence.

Though Prussia still mingled within the German Confederation, to resist Austria, they started organizing their own small group.

And how to win over other small states to their side required the art of politics.

Not long after, a message reached the capital of the Austrian Empire, Vienna. The ministers hurried to Schönbrunn Palace to report to Francis I, saying, ”Your Majesty, the Prussians have gone mad. Frederick William III says he wants to create a new Union of Victory!”

This so-called ’New Union of Victory’ was formally named the Northern German Customs Union.

Just by hearing the name, it is clear that Prussia’s method of drawing in small states could be summed up in two words—add money!

’Benefiting’ from the Holy Roman Empire being neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire, even by the 19th century, Germany was still riddled with checkpoints and diverse commercial regulations, measurement systems, and hundreds of local currencies. Even after the formation of the German Confederation, this situation turned for little better, seriously affecting the establishment of a unified market in the Germanic region and obstructing the development of commerce and industry.

Yet Frederick William III of Prussia was a rare king in Prussian history who was equally adept at internal governance as he was at warfare. He not only championed the slogan ’no suffering for the children, no poverty in education,’ but also built schools in abundance domestically, actively promoting the campaign to ’arm Prussia with the mind.’

Moreover, he also issued decrees in Prussia, announcing the abolition of internal checkpoints, the cancellation of consumption and domestic tariffs, and declaring free flow of goods. Only a 10% ad valorem tax was imposed on imported industrial goods, while raw materials were allowed tax-free entry.

Although the impact of this decree wasn’t entirely positive, nevertheless, Prussia’s tariff policy brought them a vibrant capital market. It was under such conditions that Prussia took the lead in initiating industrialization among the German States.

Because of Prussia’s low tariff policy, the neighboring German States viewed Prussia as their most important export market, drawing even closer to Prussia through active economic and trade cooperation.

Under such conditions, Prussia, to counter Austria, played its trump card in 1826 by establishing the Northern German Customs Union, promising that all goods from member states would circulate freely without any tariffs.

Under such allure, as soon as the Northern German Customs Union was established, six neighboring states immediately announced their entry.

The two major Southern German states, Bavaria and Wurttemberg, seeing how well the Northern German Customs Union was doing, announced the formation of the Southern German Customs Union the following year, quickly attracting several smaller Southern German states to join.

The Central German states, upon seeing both North and South Germany establish customs unions, realized that if they remained passive, domestic industrial and commercial capital would continue to be drawn to the North and South.

Thus, in order to counter these two customs unions, Hanover, Saxony, Thuringia, and the free cities of the former Hanseatic League announced the formation of the Central German Customs Union in 1828.

Prussia then thought, if everyone is forming customs unions, how do I highlight my status as the big brother?

However, starting a war over this would make Prussia seem too unrighteous, and one of the leading states in the Central German Customs Union, the Kingdom of Hanover, even shared a king with Britain. If they were given a shot, explaining to the British wouldn’t be easy!

Therefore, Prussia, this time, chose not to resort to arms but to employ civilized means, using a divide-and-conquer strategy against the Central German Customs Union.

They privately established contacts with some states within, appealing to emotions and reason; failing that, adding money seemed to do the trick.

Thus, under Prussia’s relentless undermining, the Central German Customs Union declared closure just three years post-establishment.

Except for the Kingdom of Hanover, a German traitor clinging hard due to its trade agreement with Britain, viewing itself as superior Germanic people, the rest of the Central German Confederation members basically shifted to the Prussian-led Northern German Customs Union.

However, it’s not entirely their fault for betraying, as not everyone has conditions as advantageous as Hanover, with the capability to do business casually with Britain. Besides, British industrial capital very much enjoys investing in the culturally aligned and resource-rich Hanover.

It’s important to note that in terms of mechanical manufacturing, coal, steel, and other industrial technologies, the Brits have long been blocking and forbidding dissemination to European countries. However, the Kingdom of Hanover was an exception, with Anglo-Hanoverian joint ventures visible in banking, shipping, and resource extraction.

Moreover, owing to the dynastic union, Britain has consistently insisted on ensuring Hanover’s independence and territorial integrity in the realm of diplomacy.

During the Seven Years’ War and the Napoleonic Wars, these two countries always stood on the same side. Even when Hanover was extinguished by the French in the Napoleonic Wars, once Napoleon was defeated, it was immediately restored and elevated from an electorate to a kingdom, thanks to the British connection.

Therefore, as long as the Kingdom of Hanover remains a brethren ally of Great Britain across the water, it indeed could afford not to care much about Prussia, perhaps even daring to ignore Austria.

Had it not been to guard against Prussia, Hanover might have been indifferent in joining any Central German Customs Union, since doing business with poorer brothers could hardly compare to the comfort of dealing with old pals in Great Britain!

The document handed to Arthur by Schneider, however, revealed an even more intriguing piece of intelligence.

Arthur flipped through the document briefly, a slight smile unwittingly emerging on his lips. ”I finally understand why you’re negotiating with the Austrians. The Northern and Southern German Customs Unions are set to merge? If this succeeds, I suppose the Austrians will find their heads spinning? In my view, the German Customs Union should be renamed. German Customs Union (excluding the Austrian Empire) would be more apt.”

Schneider smiled broadly: ”Arthur, you overlooked one detail! In my opinion, how could you forget the Kingdom of Hanover? It should be the German Customs Union (excluding the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hanover)! Prussia’s move may not be solely targeting Austria.”

Arthur shrugged, resting one hand against the car window: ”Just afraid the Austrians don’t see it that way!”