Vertrag und Geschäftsgrundlage im deutschen und italienischen Recht

Based on parallels in the recent history of Germany and Italy, the author describes the general idea of law in 19th century liberalism, in National Socialism and fascism and finally in the modern world and traces its effects on the law of contract. He focuses on the law of frustration of contract. The first theories attempting to solve the problem were developed by German legal experts and shortly thereafter adopted in Italy, where they were partially codified in the Civil Code. The author discusses both jurisprudence and case law and considers recent developments in German and Italian law.