Roads not Taken
Or: Things Could Have Turned Out Differently
Zusammenfassung
“It could have turned out differently” – from this perspective, the volume looks at fourteen caesuras in German history between 1848 and 1989. Here the real and crucial historical events are considered against the backdrop of other historical developments that were always possible – developments inherently present in decisive, often dramatic turning points. In this way new light is shed on what is already known, the essential openness of history made evident. What would have happened if the East German security services had violently turned on the demonstrators in 1989? If the USA had dropped atomic bombs on Germany in 1945? How would Germany have turned out if the effort to establish a constitutional monarchy had succeeded in 1848? This book accompanies the exhibition “Roads not Taken” in the Deutsches Historisches Museum, whose titel has a programmatic dimension: following a concept of the historian Dan Diner, he and the other authors focus on possible historical alternatives. What unexpected coincidences might have altered the real historical events? What role did the personalities involved play in their unfolding? Themes such as Germany’s Ostpolitik, the Berlin Wall, the Cold War, the Nazi rise to power, revolution and democratization in Germany are newly evaluated in this way.
- 22–41 1989 22–41
- 42–61 1972 42–61
- 62–81 1961 62–81
- 82–99 1952 82–99
- 100–113 1948/49 100–113
- 114–129 1945 114–129
- 130–149 1944 130–149
- 150–163 1936 150–163
- 164–179 1933 164–179
- 180–201 1929 180–201
- 202–219 1918 202–219
- 220–235 1914 220–235
- 236–249 1866 236–249
- 250–270 1848/49 250–270
- 271–286 Appendix 271–286
- 287–287 About the book 287–287
- 287–287 About the editors 287–287