I've been fleshing out some aspects of my multi-part TL "A Shot Heard Around the World" and thought I'd post it here while I get round to updating the website. This particular extract details the Europaisches Zollverein or ECU, the closest thing this TL has to an EU (although the two are very different, at least at first). Next up, a post concering the British Commonwealth. The whole timeline can be found at http://www.quarryhouse.free-online.co.uk/ed/ASHATW.htm, by the way 
(Taken from 'The ECU; a brief introduction' by Johannes Petersen, Star Press 1984)
"...The Europaisches Zollverein (or European Customs Union) appeared in its first incarnation in the mid 1910's, as part of the post-war order that Germany imposed on Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Baltic. Taking as its model the customs union that progressively unified the German confederation in the 19th century, the Zollverein in its post-European War stage was little more then a means for Germany to exploit the economies of its newly acquired satellite states... When the Union was established in 1915, the membership of the Baltic States, Finland and Poland was non-negotiable; indeed it was enshrined in Article VII of the Russian section of the White Sulphur Springs treaty. What was less inevitable however was the inclusion of first Austria-Hungary, then the victorious states of the Balkan League. The extension of the ECU southwards was made possible by a combination of factors; namely Austrian determination to suborn Albania, Greece and Bulgaria into dependency the same way as Germany had with the Baltic States, and secondly the Balkan League's desire to play Germany and the Hapsburgs off against each other..."
"...The disturbances of 1925 are generally credited with triggering the descent of the original Zollverein into moribund obsolescence, but several member states of the organisation had been increasingly only paying lip-service to its stipulations even before the crisis. Finland in particular had been engaged in attempting to assert both its economic and diplomatic independence from Germany almost since its separation from Russia, and the Reich's inability to protect it from the Tsar's troops led to the Kingdom's simultaneous withdrawal from the Union and creation of the Baltic League in December 1925. The formation of the League further diluted Germany's economic influence in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, although not to the same degree as in their northern neighbour..."
"...The events of 1925 saw another member officially leave the Union; Albania , never a prominent or cooperative component of the ECU system slipped away from the Austro-German sphere of influence with the deposition of King Wilhelm and subsequent intervention of Italian troops. The Hungarian crisis effectively allowed both Greece and Bulgaria to re-assert their independence from the 'Central Powers' and while neither state officially repudiated the treaty their obligations were ignored in their entirety. Even in the areas still covered by the Zollverein the agreement became largely theoretical after 1925, replaced by a series of bilateral treaties between Germany and the countries that remained in her sphere of influence..."
"...by the late 1930's, the Zollverein was effectively dead, although the German government still maintained an office devoted to its affairs. The concept remained undiscussed and unmourned for almost a decade, until the outbreak of war changed the political situation and allowed a rebirth of the project..."
"...The first stirrings of political support for a resurrection of the Customs Union came as early as the beginning of 1941, when representatives from the increasingly war-damaged states of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia agreed with Danubia a common reconstruction policy to be implemented on the cessation of holstilities. This approach received an enthusiastic welcome from Kaiser Karl, a long-time supporter of the ideal of European integration. Realising that the post-war reconstruction could best be accomplished by inter-state cooperation, the Kaiser devoted his considerable energies to forging a consensus amongst the continental Allies for a revived Zollverein, based this time not on German domination but rather on the principles of Free Trade and peaceful cooperation..."
"...The primary obstacle to the formation of a revived Union was ironically enough, Germany, where Chancellor Von Stalhein saw the project as a Danunbian attempt to undermine the Empire's traditional sphere of influence. While Von Stalhein remained secure in his post any movement on the subject was impossible, for even the scheme's most enthusiastic supporters in Poland and Danubia realised that German non-participation would render the Union unworkable. Faced with German opposition then, the prospect of a revived Customs Union languished as an unlikely option until the summer of 1942..."
"...With the collapse of his conservative coalition after the badly misjudged dismissal of Finance Minister Kummer in September 1942, Von Stalhein was forced to approach Konrad Lange's Social Democrats and forge a broad-based government of 'national unity' to stay in power. Lange was an enthusiastic pan-Europeanist, and famously requested German acceptance of the revived Union as his price for participation in government. An enraged but desperate Von Stalhein acquiesced to the bargain, and met with representatives of the other five powers later that month to reach an agreement on the Union. The resulting 'compact of Konigsburg' was officially adopted by the six member states' legislatures over the course of the first week of October, although the agreement remained ad-hoc and temporary. The seventh member of the revived ECU joined less then a week after the original agreement; faced with a devastated but liberated country, the newly-returned Belgian government indicated its willingness to join the restored union after Von Stalhein reluctantly promised economic aid..."
"In December the outlines of the Union were began to be established at a conference in the Austrian city of Linz- While in official and legal terms the Customs Union would remain the same organisation, it would receive a new constitution and be organised wholly differently. The organisation's headquarters was moved from its previous location near the Reichstag in Berlin to a new purpose-built complex in the Bohemian capital of Prague, and after a heated discussion presided over by Kaiser Karl, a complex series of arrangements were introduced to ensure no one member could force its will against the others. Chancellor Von Stalhein was irrevocably opposed to such a system, and his refusal to accept the compromise offered by the conference lead to a month-long deadlock, something only resolved by his resignation in January 1943 and the appointment of Lange to the Chancellory...
"...The revived Zollverein was officially established in Linz on January 14th 1943, and consisted of its traditional core of Germany, Danubia, the Baltic States and Poland plus the new member Belgium. In the other original members, little enthusiasm could be found for the project- the Finnish government discerned an attempt to re-establish the German predominance of the pre-1925 period and ruled out entry outright, while the Greeks and Bulgarians both supported the idea in theory but objected to the presence of their arch-rival in the union. Other countries that had no history of Union membership were interested in joining however, most notably Germany's former arch-enemy France. The newly established Sixth Republic was keen to re-integrate itself back into the European order, and desperately needed the economic benefits that ECU membership would bring. While many in Danubia and the east were keen for such an arrangement, France's first attempt to join was vetoed by the Germans and Belgians, who had bitter memories of wartime atrocities and saw no need why France had to be included in the New Europe..."
"...In the event France would join, but only after five years of occasionally acrimonious negotiation and the "Laval scare" of 1946. As it turned out, the Union's eighth member would not be the Sixth Republic, but rather the kingdom of Denmark. The Danes had been tempted by the prospect of continental Free Trade ever since the revived ECU was first proposed in 1941; however, the desire to remain neutral had won over the enthusiasts until the treaty of Stockholm, after which Danish dependence on British markets became the primary disincentive to join. In February 1945 however the newly formed British Commonwealth signed the treaty of Warsaw, cementing economic cooperation between the two blocs. This directly led to Denmark's application to join the organisation in May; with access to her two major export markets secured by the treaty there was no reason for the Danes not to take advantage of Europe's new Free Trade zone..."
"By the early 1950's, the ECU had not only established itself, but more then doubled in size since it's re-foundation a decade before. The accession of Catalonia in 1953 and of Euskadi the next year meant that the Union now stretched from the Ebro to the Bug, and from Lappland to the Adriatic. The decade also saw the development of the associate membership system, whereby countries unwilling to make the commitment to full cooperation within the Union could nonetheless receive some of the benefits, and perhaps be induced to full membership in the long term..."
(Taken from 'The ECU; a brief introduction' by Johannes Petersen, Star Press 1984)
"...The Europaisches Zollverein (or European Customs Union) appeared in its first incarnation in the mid 1910's, as part of the post-war order that Germany imposed on Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Baltic. Taking as its model the customs union that progressively unified the German confederation in the 19th century, the Zollverein in its post-European War stage was little more then a means for Germany to exploit the economies of its newly acquired satellite states... When the Union was established in 1915, the membership of the Baltic States, Finland and Poland was non-negotiable; indeed it was enshrined in Article VII of the Russian section of the White Sulphur Springs treaty. What was less inevitable however was the inclusion of first Austria-Hungary, then the victorious states of the Balkan League. The extension of the ECU southwards was made possible by a combination of factors; namely Austrian determination to suborn Albania, Greece and Bulgaria into dependency the same way as Germany had with the Baltic States, and secondly the Balkan League's desire to play Germany and the Hapsburgs off against each other..."
"...The disturbances of 1925 are generally credited with triggering the descent of the original Zollverein into moribund obsolescence, but several member states of the organisation had been increasingly only paying lip-service to its stipulations even before the crisis. Finland in particular had been engaged in attempting to assert both its economic and diplomatic independence from Germany almost since its separation from Russia, and the Reich's inability to protect it from the Tsar's troops led to the Kingdom's simultaneous withdrawal from the Union and creation of the Baltic League in December 1925. The formation of the League further diluted Germany's economic influence in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, although not to the same degree as in their northern neighbour..."
"...The events of 1925 saw another member officially leave the Union; Albania , never a prominent or cooperative component of the ECU system slipped away from the Austro-German sphere of influence with the deposition of King Wilhelm and subsequent intervention of Italian troops. The Hungarian crisis effectively allowed both Greece and Bulgaria to re-assert their independence from the 'Central Powers' and while neither state officially repudiated the treaty their obligations were ignored in their entirety. Even in the areas still covered by the Zollverein the agreement became largely theoretical after 1925, replaced by a series of bilateral treaties between Germany and the countries that remained in her sphere of influence..."
"...by the late 1930's, the Zollverein was effectively dead, although the German government still maintained an office devoted to its affairs. The concept remained undiscussed and unmourned for almost a decade, until the outbreak of war changed the political situation and allowed a rebirth of the project..."
"...The first stirrings of political support for a resurrection of the Customs Union came as early as the beginning of 1941, when representatives from the increasingly war-damaged states of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia agreed with Danubia a common reconstruction policy to be implemented on the cessation of holstilities. This approach received an enthusiastic welcome from Kaiser Karl, a long-time supporter of the ideal of European integration. Realising that the post-war reconstruction could best be accomplished by inter-state cooperation, the Kaiser devoted his considerable energies to forging a consensus amongst the continental Allies for a revived Zollverein, based this time not on German domination but rather on the principles of Free Trade and peaceful cooperation..."
"...The primary obstacle to the formation of a revived Union was ironically enough, Germany, where Chancellor Von Stalhein saw the project as a Danunbian attempt to undermine the Empire's traditional sphere of influence. While Von Stalhein remained secure in his post any movement on the subject was impossible, for even the scheme's most enthusiastic supporters in Poland and Danubia realised that German non-participation would render the Union unworkable. Faced with German opposition then, the prospect of a revived Customs Union languished as an unlikely option until the summer of 1942..."
"...With the collapse of his conservative coalition after the badly misjudged dismissal of Finance Minister Kummer in September 1942, Von Stalhein was forced to approach Konrad Lange's Social Democrats and forge a broad-based government of 'national unity' to stay in power. Lange was an enthusiastic pan-Europeanist, and famously requested German acceptance of the revived Union as his price for participation in government. An enraged but desperate Von Stalhein acquiesced to the bargain, and met with representatives of the other five powers later that month to reach an agreement on the Union. The resulting 'compact of Konigsburg' was officially adopted by the six member states' legislatures over the course of the first week of October, although the agreement remained ad-hoc and temporary. The seventh member of the revived ECU joined less then a week after the original agreement; faced with a devastated but liberated country, the newly-returned Belgian government indicated its willingness to join the restored union after Von Stalhein reluctantly promised economic aid..."
"In December the outlines of the Union were began to be established at a conference in the Austrian city of Linz- While in official and legal terms the Customs Union would remain the same organisation, it would receive a new constitution and be organised wholly differently. The organisation's headquarters was moved from its previous location near the Reichstag in Berlin to a new purpose-built complex in the Bohemian capital of Prague, and after a heated discussion presided over by Kaiser Karl, a complex series of arrangements were introduced to ensure no one member could force its will against the others. Chancellor Von Stalhein was irrevocably opposed to such a system, and his refusal to accept the compromise offered by the conference lead to a month-long deadlock, something only resolved by his resignation in January 1943 and the appointment of Lange to the Chancellory...
"...The revived Zollverein was officially established in Linz on January 14th 1943, and consisted of its traditional core of Germany, Danubia, the Baltic States and Poland plus the new member Belgium. In the other original members, little enthusiasm could be found for the project- the Finnish government discerned an attempt to re-establish the German predominance of the pre-1925 period and ruled out entry outright, while the Greeks and Bulgarians both supported the idea in theory but objected to the presence of their arch-rival in the union. Other countries that had no history of Union membership were interested in joining however, most notably Germany's former arch-enemy France. The newly established Sixth Republic was keen to re-integrate itself back into the European order, and desperately needed the economic benefits that ECU membership would bring. While many in Danubia and the east were keen for such an arrangement, France's first attempt to join was vetoed by the Germans and Belgians, who had bitter memories of wartime atrocities and saw no need why France had to be included in the New Europe..."
"...In the event France would join, but only after five years of occasionally acrimonious negotiation and the "Laval scare" of 1946. As it turned out, the Union's eighth member would not be the Sixth Republic, but rather the kingdom of Denmark. The Danes had been tempted by the prospect of continental Free Trade ever since the revived ECU was first proposed in 1941; however, the desire to remain neutral had won over the enthusiasts until the treaty of Stockholm, after which Danish dependence on British markets became the primary disincentive to join. In February 1945 however the newly formed British Commonwealth signed the treaty of Warsaw, cementing economic cooperation between the two blocs. This directly led to Denmark's application to join the organisation in May; with access to her two major export markets secured by the treaty there was no reason for the Danes not to take advantage of Europe's new Free Trade zone..."
"By the early 1950's, the ECU had not only established itself, but more then doubled in size since it's re-foundation a decade before. The accession of Catalonia in 1953 and of Euskadi the next year meant that the Union now stretched from the Ebro to the Bug, and from Lappland to the Adriatic. The decade also saw the development of the associate membership system, whereby countries unwilling to make the commitment to full cooperation within the Union could nonetheless receive some of the benefits, and perhaps be induced to full membership in the long term..."
