Roads not Taken - Or: Things Could Have Turned Out Differently. German Caesuras 1989-1848

"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 alternat ives. 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.

Inhaltsverzeichnis:

Preface
Raphael Gross

Roads not Taken
Oder: Es hätte auch anders kommen können
A Talk with Dan Diner on the Exhibition Concepts

1989
Stroke of Luck - Revolution
What If: The Protests and Demonstrations Are Brutally Crushed
Julia Franke

1972
Détente - Ostpolitik
What If: Willy Brandt Is Voted Out of Office as Chancellor
Stefan Paul-Jacobs

April 1972: Rainer Barzel Becomes Chancellor
Bernd Rother

1961
Fear - The Berlin Wall Goes Up
What If: The Berlin Crisis Triggers a Nuclear Disaster
Stefan Paul-Jacobs

In the Government Bunker- The First Days of the Third World War
Jörg Diester

1952
Lures - The Stalin Notes
What If: The Path Leads to Reunification
Stefan Paul-Jacobs

Pictorial Space and Pictorial Time in a Socialist Utopia: Walter Womacka's Mosaic Our Life on the Haus des Lehrers in Berlin
Oliver Sukrow

1948/49
Systems - Cold W ar
What If: The Berlin Blockade Leads to War
Stefan Paul-Jacobs

1945
Escaped - Atomic Bomb
What If: Ludwigshafen Is Struck by an Atomic Bomb
Stefan Paul-Jacobs

1944
Assassination Attempt - 20 July
Too Late! Attempted Coup and Holocaust
Julia Franke

1936
Va Banque - Rhineland
What If: France Prevents Hitler's Expansion
Stefan Paul-Jacobs

1933
"A Miracle" - 30 January
What If: Military Dictatorship Instead of Nazi Dictatorship?
Lili Reyels

The Avoidable Catastrophe: 30 January 1933
Heinrich August Winkler

1929
Hardship - Economic Crisis
What If: Brüning Succeeds in His Policy Change
Lili Reyels

Economic Policy Debate in the Journal Der deutsche Volkswirt during the Great Depression
Roman Köster

1918
Unstable? Weimar
What If: A Monarchy Provides the Footing for a Democratic Constitution
Lili Reyels

"But the Firm ... Can a nd Must Be Retained": The SPD and the Question of Monarchy versus Republic
Walter Mühlhausen

1914
Abyss - August
What If: Can the Social Democrats Prevent the War?
Stefan Paul-Jacobs

Street Protests against the War in July 1914
Stefan Paul-Jacobs

1866
Empire - In the Midst
What If: A "Third Germany" Rises
Stefan Paul-Jacobs

1848/49
Failure - Revolution
What If: A Dream Comes True
Lili Reyels

Karl Biedermann's Account of the Journey of the Frankfurt Deputation
Monika Wienfort


Appendix
Literature
Authors
Lending institutions and licensers
Thanks
Illustration credits
Credits