Los mitos del crecimiento aleman. La modernización económica y social de Alemania en la historiografía reciente (1975–1991)

This paper adresses some of the most important trends in economic and social German historiography in the last fifteen years. The study focuses on the period of industrialization and analyzes and elaborates on six theses which traditional interpretations have postulated to explain the singularity and success of German modernization: the fast industrialization process; the existence of a «labour surplus»; the decisive role played both by Zollverein and railways; the rise of «organized capitalism» and the favourable influence of burgeoisie and entrepreneurship. Two main ideas —economic backwardness and Sonderweg— which underlie most research are also analized. The paper concludes that, although the six traditional dieses are shown to be controversial in most comparative, regional and econometric recent studies, German historian's work is still based on diem.