interesting that the article doesnt mention the Zollverein/German customs union of 1833; Wasn't that the role model for EU integration, where they argued that

interesting that the article doesnt mention the Zollverein/German customs union of 1833; Wasn't that the role model for EU integration, where they argued that political union would follow an integrated economy? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zollverein https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zollverein also asking 'was X inevitable?' can be rephrased as 'what are the objective reasons that would make X a likely outcome?', that sounds better to me.