 In 1834, the "Zollverein" ("customs union") was formed among the states of the Confederation, to create better trade flow and reduce internal competition.An extension of this customs union may have become the model for a unified Europe, as alluded to by Fritz Fischer in "Germany's Aims in the First World War".The then current ideas of geopolitics and a Mitteleuropa were also influential in providing an intellectual framework for European Union in Germany.