Fortunately, Bismarck chose to state his position directly, opposing the restoration of internal tariffs. That cleared up the misunderstanding. Once Prussia openly voiced its opposition, the Austrian Empire had no reason to keep watching from the sidelines.
If it truly continued to stand by and watch, it would instead give people the impression that the Austrian Empire wanted to split the entire Confederation apart. That would be a serious problem.
In fact, when it came to opposing secession, Prussia and the Austrian Empire shared the same interests. Bismarck did not want a direct clash with Austria over such a matter.
Being tough did not mean being overbearing.
Within the German Confederation, if Austria and Prussia both opposed the same thing, then that thing had no chance of passing.
Moreover, the benefits the Zollverein had brought to the various states over the years were plain for all to see. The most direct benefit was increased revenue, something every country's fiscal reports could attest to.
It had also reduced administrative and commercial costs. In the past, every state had erected layer upon layer of barriers across its own territory just to collect taxes.
Likewise, merchants no longer had to grease the palms at every checkpoint and process complicated transit documents one by one. This greatly improved the timeliness of transportation.
In addition, the customs union had enabled a transportation network spanning the German lands to take shape. Otherwise, if every state still guarded its borders as tightly as it had in the past, development would have been out of the question.
Yet the customs union's most important role had been protection. At the most economically fragile point in the German region's history, it had shielded the various states from powerful economic entities such as Britain and France.
But this point had gradually