See also the article "The Role of Transatlantic Shipping Companies in Euro-American Relations" in the EHNE.

Defining transportation

Transportation refers to the spatial transfer of goods, people, or – in the case of communications – information. Yet this definition applies only to the present. Until about 150 years ago, the meaning of the word "transportation" was much broader; the narrowing of the concept occurred alongside the revolutionary changes in the transportation system beginning in the 19th century. Previously, in addition to spatial transfer, the term "transportation" also encompassed the area of economic exchange, such as trade, and "more frequently the word has a more general meaning, 'interaction, (social) contact'".¹ Today, this broader meaning has largely receded into the background. Over the past few centuries, not only have transportation processes themselves changed significantly, but the very concept of what they encompass has also undergone considerable transformation.

"Transportation," for example, is the terminus technicus that refers to (technical) spatial transmission – here, too, the meaning narrowed over the course of the 19th century. Since the 2000s, the term "mobility" has also gained increasing importance beyond academic discourse. Unlike transportation, the concept of mobility places greater emphasis on people as active participants. Mobility is understood not primarily as a technical infrastructure or economic process, but as a human practice shaped by individual and collective needs.² This perspective also highlights other forms of movement, such as walking.³ It makes clear the connection between spatial mobility and the changing relationships between people. Mobility is a fundamental aspect of social life and human culture, manifested in various ways across different times and places.

Transportation and mobility can be categorized in different ways. For instance, one can differentiate based on the objects of transport, whether freight, people, or communication. The diverse transportation routes (e.g., over sea, land) or modes of transport (using animal or man power, natural energy such as wind or water power, and finally mechanical engines) can also be differentiated, as can local and regional, regular and irregular transportation. From a historical perspective, distinct periods in transportation history can be identified, each separated by significant communication and transport revolutions.

The communication revolution around 1500

The emergence of the postal service, particularly the imperial postal system, was a significant innovation at the beginning of the modern era, leaving a lasting impact on the history of transportation and mobility in Europe. These new transportation systems, first introduced in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, made scheduled communications possible for the first time. They were primarily based on a transformed experience of space – which was divided into routes, distances, and daily travel itineraries. The fixed postal routes, which operated on a schedule, required postal stations for changing horses and staff, and later for providing food and accommodation to passengers. So it was mainly organizational innovations that began to appear around 1500. Subsequent developments in the transportation system, which affected the mobility behavior of larger groups of people, built upon these spatial structures established by the postal system in Central Europe. The expanding postal systems also spurred technological innovation, particularly in vehicle and road construction. The postal system played a key role in the development of state and local highway departments. Moreover, new media, such as printed timetables and maps, became essential tools for mail travel.⁴ For this reason, some scholars argue that a "communications revolution" occurred in the 15th and 16th centuries, at least in Central Europe, rather than only in the 18th century.⁵ Nevertheless, the group of people who actually became more mobile with this transportation system remained small, consisting primarily of government officials, scientists, and artists. But people who did not travel themselves were also exposed to these new mobility practices through travelogues, letters, etc.

The transportation revolution around 1800

In the 19th century, transportation and mobility systems underwent fundamental changes, first in Northwestern Europe and then globally. The technological innovations of the steamship and the railroad transformed not only the transportation system but society as a whole. It is, therefore, appropriate to speak of a transportation revolution.⁶ Pinpointing the exact timing of this transformation is difficult, however, as it occurred at different times and in varying ways across Europe. This complexity is due to the many sub-processes that converged to create a larger whole, with Great Britain at the forefront of this revolution. The British "transportation revolution" dates back to the final decades of the 18th century. The dramatic growth of coastal shipping and the expansion of canal construction fundamentally altered goods transportation in Great Britain, even before the advent of the railroad.⁷ The maiden voyage of the railway in September 1825 made contemporaries aware of the revolutionary changes in transportation. The advent of this new mode of transport, along with the technical, infrastructural, organizational, political, economic, and cultural changes it brought, marked the beginning of a new era in many regions of Central Europe.⁸ At this early stage, it is premature to speak of a European transportation system, however, as the railways mainly connected nation-states or territories. The introduction of the steamship and its integration into intercontinental maritime transport from the 1860s onward also played a significant role in the transportation revolution of the 19th century, fostering new types of connections between global centers and contributing to the globalization of the 19th century.⁹

It was thus a combination of several new technical developments that led to entirely new transportation connections and mobility experiences. Unprecedented volumes of goods and passengers could now be transported regularly over long distances in a cost-effective, rapid, and comparatively safe manner. In addition to technological advancements, changes in operation and organization also played a crucial role; large private and state-owned transport companies emerged, drawing public interest and attention. Government regulation of transportation began much earlier than in other industries, as transportation companies were deemed socially relevant. Technical and economic experts collaborated across national and corporate boundaries, forming networks unprecedented in European history.¹⁰ From an economic history perspective, this marked an important turning point, establishing key conditions and drivers for industrialization. The transportation revolution also holds great significance for social history: large segments of the population became mobile, and the rise of Europe's metropolises, along with commuting between urban and rural areas, would have been inconceivable without the development of modern mass transportation in the 19th century. The railroads also triggered major cultural changes. More people were able to travel, and perceptions of space and time shifted.¹¹ Within a few decades, not only was the European transportation system transformed, but these changes also had far-reaching effects on many other aspects of life.

The mobility revolution around 1900

While the transportation revolution of the industrial age was still unfolding, and innovations continued to reshape the railroad and steamship systems, other changes around 1900 initially went relatively unnoticed. The development of "mobility machines," such as airplanes, dirigibles, early (sports) automobiles, and bicycles – primarily for leisure rather than economic purposes – ushered in a cultural shift. This shift laid the groundwork for the profound changes in mobility systems and behaviors that would define the 20th century. Mobility machines introduced a new style of vehicle design, placed different demands on transportation users, and created new forms of usage. They also altered the physical and emotional experiences of individuals in motion. Movement through space became individualized, allowing people to travel independently of large systems like the railroad.¹² Contemporary transportation professionals often overlooked these innovations, a trend that persisted for a longer period in both historical and economic research.

Mass motorization since the 1950s

The automobile finally established itself as a dominant mode of transportation in Europe around 1950. This process, which in hindsight seems deliberate and successful, was actually quite "bumpy."¹³ Several decades passed between the invention of the automobile in the late 19th century and its widespread adoption on Europe's roads, marked notably by the much-debated "struggle between rail and road." In the interwar period, various national governments attempted to regulate the motorization of freight transport to prevent competition between road transport and the railways – efforts that ultimately met with very little success.¹⁴ The mass adoption of the car as the preferred mode of transport profoundly impacted many aspects of society: it transformed tourism (ushering in the age of mass tourism), reshaped urban development (through suburbanization), and altered everyday mobility (leading to the de-differentiation of transportation spaces). Additionally, the automobile industry itself drove far-reaching changes, with a single car brand even lending its name to an entire production regime: Fordism. From the 1950s onward – and even earlier in the United States – the private automobile became the central model for mobility policy, gradually began to replace traditional notions of "transportation." Mobility was now to be enabled, rather than restricted, with mobility and freedom becoming closely intertwined.¹⁵

While this periodization of transportation and mobility history offers a useful overview, it also produces a problematic idea of clearly distinguishable phases of mobility that cannot be sustained. The history of mobility is rather one of simultaneities and heterogeneities. Furthermore, this chronology of revolutions is elusive because it implies that people in Europe have become increasingly mobile throughout history and that travel opportunities have continuously diversified. This is not entirely inaccurate, but it overlooks the fact that certain forms of mobility have been lost, regulated, or abolished. Moreover, it is essential to distinguish between various social groups and regions – not all Europeans have become more mobile, or they had been forced to do so[]. To illustrate this complexity, the following discussion examines the changes in freight transport since 1450, and then explores the mobility of people in both local and long-distance transportation.

Mobile goods

European freight transport did not begin in the modern era. Nonetheless, it underwent significant changes. New routes and methods were adopted, and the variety of goods that could be economically transported over long distances increased considerably. In the early modern era, the types of goods transported were still relatively limited. It is still worth examining freight transport before the 19th century, as it was more than just the movement of specific products across distances. What Peter Frankopan (born 1971) has demonstrated for the Silk Road(s) in ancient times also applies to other freight transport systems: They comprised not only the technical infrastructure of routes and vehicles but also complex cultural systems of languages, communities, cultures, and practices.¹⁶ Freight transportation was – and continues to be – a complex and highly diverse system.

Initially, overland routes (via paths, military, and trade routes) and waterways[] (sea, coastal, river, and canal shipping) were available for the transportation of goods. Overland transportation, in particular, was often arduous, as goods had to be hauled by horses or oxen on wagons over often unpaved roads that became soaked during the rainy season. From today's perspective, it is indeed remarkable how far goods were transported before the age of highways: By 1500, a four-wheeled cart carrying nearly two tons of goods could travel an average of 30 kilometers per day, and up to 50 kilometers under optimal conditions.¹⁷ Regions accessible by ship, however, were more conducive to economic development, such as England ¹⁸ For inland waterways like rivers and later canals, the direction of travel was significant – upstream travel was labor-intensive, while downstream travel was more suited to large quantities of goods. This was especially true for rafting and drifting, which allowed large amounts of timber to be transported along natural waterways. Yet canals and waterways required regular maintenance, and towpaths had to be kept clear of vegetation.¹⁹ The difficulty of transporting goods was often not the only challenge. Border crossings frequently incurred customs duties, which, given the many small territories in Europe, greatly increased freight costs. Additionally, the use of waterways was often subject to tolls, particularly on canals constructed from the 16th century onward. The political situation was also decisive in the choice of transport routes: Which routes were safe, and where could shipments be delayed or even lost due to military conflicts? Challenging transport routes, such as those across the Alps, could thus become attractive, if only temporarily.²⁰

During the mercantilist period, French and Prussian rulers, in particular, built canals to improve the transport of goods within their territories. These canals were mainly used for inland, often regional transport, and were not part of larger European networks.²¹ By constructing these waterways, these states sought to boost trade and commerce, compensating for geographical disadvantages in regions lacking natural waterways. From the 18th century onwards, state construction efforts shifted focus to a new area: chaussées or artificial roads designed to serve trade and industry. Chaussées, however, were not only built by the state but also by associations of merchants and tradesmen. In Great Britain, for instance, the turnpike trusts – organizations responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of toll roads (turnpike roads) – experienced significant growth during the 18th century.²²

The improvements in overland transportation, brought about by these newly constructed roads, also influenced transcontinental freight transportation. This sector had already seen significant growth in the 15th and 16th centuries, spurred by European expansion and technical and scientific advancements in shipbuilding and navigation.²³ For much of the 19th century, sailing ships remained the dominant means of transcontinental transport. Conversely, in the second half of the 19th century, steamships began to prevail on the world's oceans, making the movement of goods and people between continents more predictable and regular.²⁴ Moreover, bulk commodities were now being transported by ship. An efficient overland transportation system was necessary to move the transported goods to merchants for further processing or to consumers. It was not until the 18th and, especially, the 19th century that transportation links to the hinterlands of major seaports were sufficiently developed.

Freight transportation throughout Europe benefited significantly from the innovations of the transportation revolution around 1800. It was only in the 19th century that modern transportation infrastructure – comprising road, canal, and rail networks – reached a level of quality that enabled land transportation to thrive in many parts of Europe.

The railroad, in particular, is often credited with driving the pace of industrialization and trade.²⁵ On the one hand, the new technology demanded ample industrial capacity, not only for locomotive construction but also for the railway infrastructure, which soon relied on mass-produced components. On the other hand, the railroads alone were not able to manage the freight transport of Europe's rapidly industrializing societies, causing it to rely on other types of haulage. As a result, road traffic did not decrease with the expansion of the railroads, but rather increased dramatically, albeit primarily over shorter distances.²⁶ For heavy bulk goods such as coal, ore, and building materials, waterways remained crucial across Europe – except in Great Britain, where the canal system of the 18th century largely succumbed to the expansion of the railways. By the beginning of the 20th century, the system of branch lines for freight transportation had been greatly expanded. Thus, within European countries, inland transportation systems developed in which various means of transport and infrastructures interacted.

Cross-border transport posed a major challenge. This was largely because the new transport infrastructures were typically built under state supervision, encouragement, or even direct control, with the primary aim of serving domestic needs. At the start of this new era of transportation, few considered how it should operate across political borders, aside from technical and economic visionaries like Michel Chevalier (1806–1879). Such figures ultimately had little influence on the decisions of transport companies.²⁷ In the early 19th century, European railways were constructed with different track gauges, though after a few decades, at least the main lines in Central Europe (with Russia opting out) adopted the 1435 mm standard gauge. Even the smallest synchronization measures required years of negotiations in dedicated expert committees – one such body being the Union of German (later Central European) Railway Administrations. One notable achievement was the standardization of locks for freight cars, ensuring that the doors could be opened by staff from different railway companies, even across national borders. Thus, the idea of a pan-European transport network was far from reality in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Nevertheless, there was a growing awareness that agreements, standardization, and synchronization could bring improvements for all parties involved.

After the First World War, local freight transportation underwent dramatic changes. In the wake of demobilization, trucks that had been crucial for wartime deliveries were sold cheaply. Contemporary experts, politicians, and railroad administrators were critical of this development. Privately operated and lightly regulated trucks primarily transported goods that were economically profitable. Critics accordingly argued that profitable transportation was being diverted from the railways, which were obligated to carry goods under the burdensome legal regimes in force in most European countries. This was met with particular resistance in the Weimar Republic, where the Reichsbahn played an important role in paying reparations. The "railroad-road conflict" thus emerged, a dispute that would keep freight transportation experts occupied for several decades.²⁸

Mobile people: everyday mobility

Between 1450 and 1950, everyday mobility practices changed drastically with the rise of the bicycle, the streetcar, and eventually the automobile, all of which came to play an important role in everyday mobility. Still, even by 1950, many people relied primarily on walking for their everyday movements. The tension between such continuity and occasionally abrupt developments is a hallmark of European mobility history.

During the late Middle Ages, the early modern period, and much of the 19th and early 20th centuries, sidewalks were often unpaved, and few people, apart from the higher classes and adults, wore shoes. Walking long distances was primarily determined by social class rather than gender. Many men, whether craftsmen or agricultural workers, regularly traveled by foot. Church services and trips to nearby or distant markets were additional reasons for travel.

It was only with the increasing separation of work and home in the 19th century and the introduction of compulsory schooling that everyday mobility for much of the population became subject to a fixed temporal rhythm. With the growth of cities and their increasing interdependence with the surrounding countryside, everyday journeys became longer for many people by the 19th century, even though many continued to walk.²⁹ This began to change as the technological means of transportation became not only more accessible but also more affordable. Many of the urban mass transit systems that now shape our image of the metropolises of high modernism were originally designed primarily for the middle class. The first horse-drawn streetcar lines in Munich, for example, were specifically intended and designed for middle-class leisure outings, not for working-class commuting.³⁰ However, this gradually changed, with the underground and elevated railways became the backbone of commuter transport in major cities like London, Paris, and Berlin. Systems like these also became an infrastructure through which the rapidly expanding cities and their administrations could present themselves as modern and forward-thinking.³¹ In industrial cities, suburban railways played a vital role in organizing labor, as they were the only means of transporting large numbers of workers to the growing factories. This shift was made possible by infrastructure development and government regulation of ticket prices, as seen in Great Britain, where from 1844, there had to be at least one train on each route with affordable fares (a penny per mile), known as the parliamentary trains.³²

In the late 19th century, the bicycle emerged as an increasingly popular mode of transportation. Initially used mainly by (young) middle-class men, the bicycle was one of those "mobility machines" that blended exercise, adventure, physical fitness, and daring.³³ This social group primarily used the bicycle for leisure across various European countries. The working class soon began to adopt it as a means of transportation during the interwar period, as middle-class men shifted to automobiles. By the mid-1930s, Germany had about 15 million bicycles, Belgium two million, the United Kingdom nine million, and France seven million. There were approximately seven bicycles for every car.³⁴ The widespread use of bicycles and their increasing association with the working class led transport planning and road safety experts to critically examine the bicycle in the context of everyday transport. Bicycle traffic had to be regulated, and cyclists needed to be brought into line. This was partly because experts were convinced that the car would soon become the dominant mode of individual transportation. As a result, they sought to create spaces where cars had priority. Not only cyclists but also pedestrians were gradually pushed to the margins of public spaces.³⁵ Until the 1960s, however, the bicycle remained the most important mode of transport in Europe – more important than motorized private transport and even more central than public transportation.³⁶

What these figures do not reveal is that even in the 20th century, walking remained a key form of mobility for certain social groups. Yet the practice of walking had changed significantly from that of the 15th century. By the mid-20th century, pedestrians typically wore industrially manufactured footwear and often owned several pairs. They used paved paths, had to share space with other modes of transportation, and were often restricted in their freedom of movement, especially in large cities that were increasingly redesigned to prioritize cars.³⁷ In the context of everyday mobility in the modern age, clear social and gender differentiations also became evident. While men's mobility has increasingly been shaped by vehicles – technical artifacts – since industrialization, women's and children's mobility has often remained tied to the capacity of their own bodies. As a result, their radius of movement was still much smaller than men's in the mid-20th century, when men typically covered daily distances using suburban trains, bicycles, or (horse-drawn) streetcars.³⁸

Mobile people: long-distance travel

In addition to everyday mobility, long-distance travel played an important role not only in shaping individual experiences but also in contributing to the way certain regions of the world became interconnected. At certain points in their lives or on specific occasions, people became mobile, sometimes traveling great distances with the help of transportation infrastructures – or even beyond them.³⁹ In doing so, they made contacts, encountered different ways of life and cultures, and experienced unfamiliar landscapes. Ideas of the foreign and the familiar, as well as the realization that supposedly "other" cultures could be similar to one's own, often originated from such travels. But not all forms of mobility were voluntary – rather, compulsion, necessity, and voluntariness intersected in various combinations.

In the early modern period, journeymen's travels, often referred to regionally as "waltzes," were frequently necessary for gaining guild recognition. This practice contributed to the formation of a trans-regional network of journeymen and strengthened their position in relation to local employers.⁴⁰ Women were also part of this mobile subculture long before the 20th century, working as unskilled or self-employed laborers, and in some cases as trained artisans – such as weavers, gold or silk spinners, milliners, and hat makers. They traveled from place to place, sometimes over long distances, until they found a stable supply of goods.⁴¹ Itinerant traders and peddlers provided even remote households with scarce items that went beyond everyday needs. Beginning in the 18th century, itinerant traders and peddlers traveled long distances within Europe, such as from Italy to regions north of the Alps.⁴² They typically journeyed on foot, as did the vast majority of soldiers. This long-distance mobility was neither comfortable nor without danger, but for many people in Europe, it was a normal part of life. Besides walking, carts or simple wagons were used, primarily to transport baggage rather than people. Often, however, goods were carried on the person, as in the case of the "Kiepen" (a type of basket).

Beginning in the mid-17th century, stagecoaches began transporting people along fixed routes and according to a set timetable. This service was used by select groups, such as scholars, who built a European network through travel rather than just correspondence. The postal infrastructure also enabled the Grand Tour of Europe for nobles. Media aids played a crucial role in facilitating travel, including hostel directories, postal timetables, route guides, and topographical compendia.⁴³ Travelogues and travel literature further complemented this form of spatial mobility, extending the impact of travel experiences beyond those who were physically mobile and influencing broader cultural spheres, such as European salons. The speed of travel increased from the early 19th century with the introduction of express couriers. These couriers relied on a finely tuned system of stations for changing horses and made use of the expanding highway network and innovations in vehicle construction that had been evolving since the 18th century.

Before the 19th century, despite voyages of discovery, trade, and exploration, travel beyond one's own continent was rare. This changed with the onset of large-scale European emigration. Men, women, and children began leaving the continent aboard passenger ships, many of which specialized in transporting migrants, to start new lives in other parts of the world – most of them crossing the Atlantic to North or South America. Between 1824 and 1924 alone, approximately 60 million people left the European continent for the West.⁴⁴ The entire structure of the empires during the long 19th century depended on reliable intercontinental transportation routes.⁴⁵

Travel for pleasure also became more common during the 19th century, with Great Britain leading the way in this trend. What these new forms of touristic travel had in common was their reliance on technical means of transport. The bourgeois summer visitor no longer arrived by cart or on foot, but by steamship, railroad, and later by postal bus. Group tours, such as those offered by the Thomas Cook travel agency, helped expand tourist destinations, whether along the Rhine or the Irish Sea.⁴⁶ Public transport was adapted to meet these new mobility needs: special trains were run during holiday periods, and good transport links were a defining feature of a tourist destination. Mountain railroads were developed almost exclusively to meet this demand for transportation.

Until the mid-20th century, long-distance passenger travel remained heavily reliant on railroads. The railroad not only created new possibilities for mobility, but it also transformed perceptions of space and time, as well as influencing consumption patterns, architectural styles, and perceptions of the body. In this sense, the invention and implementation of the railroad must be seen as a key driver of change in the history of mentalities.⁴⁷ Since the 19th century, and especially in the 19th century, travel contributed to a changed perception of European geography. While the middle class, and members of the working class through hiking and cycling clubs,⁴⁸ visited destinations within their own country and developed a new sense of national identity,⁴⁹ it was the luxury liners that provided mobile aristocrats and upper-class representatives with a sense of Europe. The Orient Express was one such mode of transport, serving as an international meeting place with highly selective social access and closely tied to the colonial projects of European nations.⁵⁰

Long-distance mobility, however, was not always voluntary. The transportation system also served military purposes. Large troop movements required the construction of military roads as early as Roman times, and in the 20th century, railroads played a crucial role in the movement and supply of troops.⁵¹ The mass deportations of the 20th century, particularly during the Holocaust, were made possible only through the use of a modern and efficient transportation system. There is no question that the Deutsche Reichsbahn was partly responsible for the deportation of European Jews to the locations where they were murdered.⁵²

Higher frequency, lower fares, and faster travel since 1800

Since the 19th century, mobility structures and practices in Europe have undergone unprecedented change. The introduction of railroads and steam navigation as large-scale systems, supported by new feeder systems, radically transformed modes of transportation, affecting all areas of society.

In popular narratives, which often emphasize contemporaries' changing perceptions of transportation, it can seem as though speed was the only factor that permanently altered transportation behavior. "Speed, more speed" appears to be the motto of modernity.⁵³ In reality, transportation processes accelerated steadily rather than suddenly, as the necessary infrastructure had to be developed first. In addition, the first trains traveled at relatively modest speeds, barely faster than express stagecoaches.

The impact of steam transportation, particularly railroads, on freight costs has been a topic of heated debate for some time.⁵⁴ The consensus seems to be that freight costs for bulk commodities changed less than often assumed. But when considering the 19th century as a whole, freight costs actually declined sharply. Passenger transportation also became markedly more affordable. The introduction of different classes of coaches allowed for the same speed of travel with varying levels of comfort, offered at very different prices, all using the same means of transportation. At the same time, however, this meant that the travel experience varied widely depending on the fare – even when it was the same landscape that passed by the window.

Based on numerous detailed studies, Roland Wenzlhuemer (born 1976) has emphasized that the biggest difference was not just higher speed and lower costs. It was the regular availability of transportation options, made possible by new technical and operational structures. The stagecoach, with its regular schedules, had already been a major innovation in transportation, but its impact was limited to carrying messages and serving small groups of people. By the end of the 19th century, cross-continental transportation could be conducted according to largely reliable timetables, allowing trade, commerce, and industry to plan more effectively. This also applies to passenger transportation, whether local or long-distance.⁵⁵

Mobility and transport since 1450

Transportation and mobility patterns in Europe were completely transformed in the 500 years between 1450 and 1950. Technological advances and political and economic initiatives drove this change. On an individual level, both the needs and the reasons for mobility underwent radical change.

Nonetheless, these changes did not lead to a standardization of transportation experiences and practices. Rather, there were significant social, gender, and, to some extent, national differences in mobility behavior. Access to transportation infrastructure varied by location, as did the economic means to afford transportation options, whether through tickets or the purchase of private vehicles. In addition, different forms of mobility were and are valued differently by society. For example, the mobility of European colonial officials was viewed positively, while other forms of mobility, such as that of nomadic groups or movement outside controlled pathways (such as smuggling), were often viewed negatively. Moreover, certain forms of mobility were enforced to resolve conflicts or establish order – not only in colonial contexts, but also in the "resettlement" of population groups, as seen in the 20th century.⁵⁶

Thus, it is necessary to closely examine the social contexts of transport and mobility, considering not only the technical possibilities and economic effects, but also the social inequalities and cultural values involved. Only with this broader perspective the history of transportation can be understood as more than a success story of expanding spatial mobility during modernization. Only then do contradictions and conflicts, as well as interrupted and forced mobilities, come into focus.

The history of European transport and mobility is also marked by shifting tensions between closure and openness, between nationalization and Europeanization. Even in the early modern period, different political systems established their own postal systems for internal exchange and administration. Simultaneously, these systems facilitated the development of broader European networks, such as the exchange of letters between scholars. The promotion of freight transport through large-scale projects such as canals and highways was primarily aimed at boosting trade within national territories, yet these efforts also facilitated cross-border exchange.

The era of railroads and steamships was similarly shaped by national construction projects and planning. Experts and other actors working to enable cross-border traffic – primarily of goods, but also of people – have often needed a great deal of patience.⁵⁷ New European transport areas were created through efforts at standardization and harmonization, such as the Central European Railway Administrations. The creation of a unified European transport area was not a straightforward or linear process but rather a contingent one, fraught with numerous setbacks and detours.⁵⁸ By the mid-20th century, further developments were influenced by the rise of new modes of transport. With mass motorization and the growing dominance of air travel new possibilities for connections were created and intensified. On the other hand, the Cold War and the confrontation between the blocs in Europe led to the severing of many transport links, which had a long-term impact on European transport networks. These disruptions caused deep rifts in the transportation infrastructure that shaped the movement of goods and people for decades.

Anette Schlimm