The Rhine: backbone of Dutch-German economic interdependence 1919–1933

For a long time, it has been said that Rhine transport plays an important role in Dutch-German economic bonds. Nevertheless, these transport flows have never been the subject of statistical research. This essay aims to fill this gap for the period 1919–1933. To do so, it charts Dutch, German, Belgian and French freight traffic, both by Rhine barge and by train. This essay finds that Germany’s economic structure and international economic ties find a strong expression in the transport sector, with Germany’s economic heartland clearly being the Ruhr area. In fact, the Ruhr area can be identified as the production centre of a transnational economic region formed by the areas that encompass the Rhine river system. Although transport to and from Belgium and France was also concentrated on the (extended) Ruhr area, for both Germany as a whole and the Ruhr area in particular it was transport to and from the Netherlands – where the port of Rotterdam acted as the main distribution centre for this transnational Rhine economy – that was by a large margin the most important. Of all this transport, the vast majority was via Rhine shipping, truly making the Rhine the backbone of Dutch-German economic relations.