Western Civilization II / Unit 9 WC2 0809 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Why the Continent Lagged: Belgium First, France Slow, the Zollverein 1834
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The idea
Belgium, with waterways, coal and skilled artisans, industrialized by the eighteen thirties, alone before the forties. France lagged: skeptical elites, thin banking, costly transport, independent peasants, luxury artisans. Germany's Zollverein customs union of eighteen thirty-four and then railroads made the Ruhr by eighteen fifty.
In practice
Northern Italy and western Russia late; Spain later.
Where people slip
Unit 11 uses the Zollverein for unification.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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