The Hanseatic League (the “Hanse”) was a regional alliance of northern German cities and towns that operated to control trade along the Baltic and North Seas and prospered during the Late Middle Ages. Historians point to the Hanse as an early example of regional integration within Europe. In fact, the Hanse was the largest and most powerful of the regional economic associations within Europe until the rise of the European Union (EU) in the second half of the 20th century. Similar to the EU, the Hanse evolved over time into a more extensive and integrated union to more effectively control the economic, commercial, and political forces that threatened individual cities in the region. And, like the EU, the Hanse experienced strong centrifugal forces that limited the degree of integration achieved.
Ultimately, in the 17th century, this division among German cities, coupled with unstoppable global political and economic changes, doomed the Hanse as a viable economic powerhouse in northern Europe. Economic historians trace the origins of the Hanse to the mid-14th century, when the first mention of the league’s existence appears in trade documents. The expanding reach and influence of the Hanse was, in fact, not an isolated development, but rather part of a more general penetration of German influence into northern, central, and eastern Europe during the Early and Late Middle Ages. That the Hanse was formed in the region in which it was formed is not a fortuitous development. In other parts of Europe, such as England and France, the rise of the centralized nation-state limited the ability of cities to form separate regional alliances independently. With no central government within German lands, the commercially important cities of the north practically governed themselves.
The economic history of Germany in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries is, in fact, nothing less than the history of its important cities. Consequently, these cities enjoyed great freedom to do as they pleased, including organizing among themselves as they saw fit, especially with regard to the protection of their regional business interests. The initial impetus for the formation of the “Hanse” was the self-protection of merchants who were engaged in trade along the Baltic and North seas. At that time, the German kings were virtually powerless to enforce laws and regulations important to the smooth running of growing commercial interests. For the most part, this trade consisted of shipping bulky, low-unit-value raw materials sourced from the unindustrialized lands bordering the Baltic. A particular concern of North German merchants was the disruption of this movement of goods by pirates and highwaymen.
The Hanse was first formed as an alliance between the cities of Lübeck and Hamburg for the purpose of policing the rivers and roads in that part of Germany. Over time, other northern German cities joined the alliance. By the 1350s, membership numbered 50 cities and towns. While the number of towns and cities that were in the Hanse continually fluctuated (as they could join and withdraw from the league at will), by 1375, the size of the Hanse averaged nearly 100 members. The geographical presence of the Hanse also extends. By the end of the 13th century, the activities of the Hanse spread from Flanders and England to northern Russia. In the mid-14th century, he established his merchants in Latin Christian territory (Bruges, London, Bergen, Stockholm) and in the pagan lands of Eastern Europe and Russia. As the Hanse expanded in membership and geographic reach over time, its functions extended beyond simple law enforcement activities to include far-reaching business deals.
The first of these involved reciprocal trade agreements between member cities, and eventually included mutual agreements to secure members a monopoly on trade in Baltic and North Sea products, including herring and naval stores. Through such arrangements, Hanse effectively coordinated the activities of its members for economic purposes, and thus operated as a de facto cartel within the region.
Although commercial interests remained central to the Hanse throughout its existence, it eventually took on the character of a politico-military union. He created his own flag, diplomatic and personal agenda, and naval fleet. He also set up a kind of parliament (or diet) to create and pass laws and executive orders applicable to all member towns and cities. The most serious political decision the Hanse faced was to go to war with Denmark in 1379.
The close interdependence between Hanse political goals and commercial interests is embodied in the peace terms demanded by the Hanse (Peace of Stralsund, 1379): free trade for the league cities in Danish territory and free passage for merchant shipping from the Hanse. northern Germany through Danish waters. . In the century that followed, the Hanse selected economic boycott over war as the most effective and least destructive means of gaining the upper hand in geopolitical disagreements. The decline of the Hanseatic League began to take place at the end of the 15th century and in the 16th century. Internally, the weakening of the Hanse’s coherence began with growing dissension and business rivalry among members. Then, too, events in the world in which Hanse operated made the group’s position untenable. The Hanse could not oppose the rise of capitalism in Europe.
In fact, the commercial operations of the Hanseatic League were quite rudimentary compared to the more sophisticated capitalist instruments and mentality that were taking over other parts of Europe; the strict regulations imposed by the Hanse on its members seriously hampered the acceptance of the most innovative capitalist methods. Critically, the effective support (financial, commercial, and military) of their central governments gave England, France, and the Netherlands the means to break the centuries-old Hanse monopoly in the Baltic. In any case, the rise of the lucrative Atlantic trade in the 16th and 17th centuries, which ushered in the early modern period in world history, relegated trading activity in the Baltic to the background.
