The nation-state promoted economic unity, first by abolishing internal 
customs and 
tolls. In Germany this process - the creation of the 
Zollverein - preceded formal national unity. Nation-states typically have a policy to create and maintain a national transportation infrastructure, facilitating trade and travel. In 19th-century Europe, the expansion of the 
rail transport networks was at first largely a matter for 
private railway companies, but gradually came under control of the national governments. The French rail network, with its main lines radiating from Paris to all corners of France, is often seen as a reflection of the centralised French nation-state, which 
directed its construction. Nation-states continue to build, for instance, specifically national 
motorway networks. Specifically trans-national infrastructure programmes, such as the 
Trans-European Networks, are a recent innovation. The nation-states typically had a more centralised and uniform 
public administration than its imperial predecessors: they were smaller, and the population less diverse. (The internal diversity of, for instance, the 
Ottoman Empire was very great). After the triumph of the nation-state in Europe, regional identity was subordinate to national identity, in regions such as 
Alsace-Lorraine, 
Catalonia, 
Brittany, 
Sicily, 
Sardinia and 
Corsica. In many cases, the regional administration was also subordinated to central (national) government. This process was partially reversed from the 1970s onward, with the introduction of various forms of 
regional autonomy, in formerly 
centralised states such as 
France. However, the most obvious impact of the nation-state, as compared to its non-national predecessors, is the creation of a uniform national 
culture, through state policy. The model of the nation-state implies that its population constitute a 
nation, united by a common descent, a common language, and many forms of shared culture. When the implied unity was absent, the nation-state often tried to create it. It promoted a uniform national language, through 
language policy. (When 
Italy was united as a political entity, the majority of the population could not speak 
Italian.)