INFLUENCES OF AUSTRO-GERMAN CUSTOMS UNION UPON EUROPEAN INTEGRATION: REAPPRAISAL

The end of WWI marked the beginning of discussions concerning the renewal of European interstate economic integration, which had been suspended because of military action and economic nationalism between rival countries. Among the intellectual elite of that time, it was generally understood that tariff barriers and other obstacles, which hampered interstate trade, had to be removed, before the integration process could be resumed. But, the majority of European governments were not ready to abandon their protectionist economic policies. They were more concerned about guarding their independent national markets, than about creating a single European market. In the course of these events, some governments decided to act independently, by pursuing closer economic alliances with neighboring countries. This article is devoted to the Austro-German customs union – the economic alliance project – which was never fulfi lled. Suffi ce to say, in March 1931, Austria and Germany finalized the establishment of a customs union. At the same time, this project met with strong resistance from other European states, especially France, which effectively blocked the Austro-German initiative. It is worth noting, that France was not ready to accept any alienation of Austrian economic sovereignty on behalf of Germany, because France feared that Austria`s political independence could later be jeopardized