Richard Cobden, the German States and the Zollverein

Richard Cobden was one of the main representatives of economic liberalism in the 19th century. He put through the fundamental changes in British economic policy which helped Great Britain become the strongest economic state in the world during the 19th century. The author concentrates on the analysis understanding and perception of the German Lands in the work of Richard Cobden. On the basis of Cobden's diary entries he gives attention not only to British-German economic relations but also for example to the comparison of school systems in which the German one's apprehended as more modern than the British one. Cobden went to the German Lands reveral times and he can be considered one of the main supporters of British-German co-operation in the 19th century.