(a) Zollverein was a custom union, formed in 1834 at the inititives of Prussia and joined by most of the German states.
(b) The aim of zollverein was to bind the Germans economically into a nation. The Union abolished the tariff barriers and reduced the number of currencies from over thirty to only two. It helped to awaken and raise national sentiment through a fusion of individual and provincial interests. The German people realised that a free economic system was the only means to engender national feeling.
