The Economic Consequences of the War: West Germany’s Growth Miracle After 1945

294 Pages·2018·21.06 MB·English

by  Tamas Vonyo

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The Economic Consequences of the War

The ‘German Question’ dominated much of modern European history.
In 1945, Germany was defeated and conquered, yet World War II did
not destroy the foundations of her economic power. Dr Tamás Vonyó
revisits Germany’s remarkable post-war revival, tracing its roots not to
liberal economic reforms and the Marshall Plan, but to the legacies of
the war that endowed Germany with an enhanced industrial base and
an enlarged labour force. He also shows that Germany’s liberal market
economy was in reality an economy of regulated markets, controlled
prices, and extensive state intervention. Using quantitative analysis
and drawing on a rich historiography that has remained, in large part,
unknown outside of Germany, this book reassesses the role of economic
policy and the importance of wartime legacies to explain the German
growth miracle after 1945 and the sharply contrasting experiences of
East and West Germany.
Tamás Vonyó is Assistant Professor of Economic History at Università
Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, Milan. He has written extensively on eco-
nomic growth in post-war Europe and Germany’s economic develop-
ment during World War II.
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Cambridge Studies in Economic History
Editorial Board
Paul Johnson
University of Western Australia
Sheilagh Ogilvie
University of Cambridge
Avner Offer
All Souls College, Oxford
Gianni Toniolo
Universita di Roma ‘Tor Vergata’
Gavin Wright
Stanford University
Cambridge Studies in Economic History comprises stimulating and acces-
sible economic history which actively builds bridges to other disci-
plines. Books in the series will illuminate why the issues they address
are important and interesting, place their findings in a comparative con-
text, and relate their research to wider debates and controversies. The
series will combine innovative and exciting new research by younger
researchers with new approaches to major issues by senior scholars. It
will publish distinguished work regardless of chronological period or
geographical location.
A complete list of titles in the series can be found at: www.cambridge
.org/ economichistory
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The Economic Consequences

of the War
West Germany’s Growth Miracle after 1945
Tamás Vonyó

Bocconi University
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www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/ 9781107128439
DOI: 10.1017/ 9781316414927
© Tamás Vonyó 2018
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2018
Printed in the United Kingdom by Clays, St Ives plc
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Vonyó, Tamás, 1979– author.
Title: The economic consequences of the War : West Germany’s
growth miracle after 1945 / Tamás Vonyó.
Description: Cambridge, United Kingdom; New York, NY: Cambridge
University Press, 2018. | Series: Cambridge studies in economic history |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017046242 | ISBN 9781107128439 (hardback)
Subjects: LCSH: Economic development – Germany (West) |
Germany (West) – Economic conditions. | Germany (West) –
Economic policy. | Germany – History – 1945–
Classification: LCC HC286.5.V65 2018 | DDC 338.943–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017046242
ISBN 978- 1- 107- 12843- 9 Hardback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy
of URLs for external or third-p arty internet websites referred to in this publication
and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain,
accurate or appropriate.
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To my father, Édesapámnak
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