A customs union to abolish trade and economic barriers between the German states. The Prussian Zollverein was founded in 1833 by merging the North German Zollverein with smaller customs unions, thus increasing Prussian influence. After the Austro-Prussian War (1866) the newly formed North German Confederation entered the Zollverein, and by 1888 the union, which excluded Austria, had largely achieved the economic unification of Germany.