Was wäre geschehen, wenn Hitler 1938 gestorben wäre, der deutsche Bauernkrieg 1525 Erfolg gehabt hätte? Wenn Pontius Pilatus Jesus begnadigt hätte, Hannibal nach dem Sieg bei Cannae auf Rom marschiert wäre? Solche Fragen sind auch heute noch ungewöhnlich. Der Historiker erforscht, was war. Dieser Traktat führt vor, wie ergiebig Überlegungen über unverwirklichte Möglichkeiten sein können. Kritisch prüfend und genau abwägend entwickelt Alexander Demandt Regeln des Nachdenkens über ungeschehene Geschichte, das nicht zuletzt der Erkenntnis der geschehenen Geschichte dient.
Alexander Demandt entwickelt Regeln des Nachdenkens über ungeschehene Geschichte.
The question "What would have happened if . . ." is still seen by many historians as a useless dalliance. Alexander Demandt, however, recalls Friedrich Schiller's claim that culture unfolds only through playing games. If this is true, then it is also true for science. The playful occupation with possibilities is as important to science as controled and scheduled work according to tried and true methods. The core of this short volume consists not only of imagining and thinking up historical alternatives - what would have happened if Hitler had died in 1938? What would have happened if the Peasants' War of 1525 had succeeded? What if Pontius Pilate had set Jesus free? If Hannibal had marched on Rome after his victory at Cannae? In original and sometimes "brilliant diction" (Frank Schirrmacher, review in FAZ) Demandt points out that and how the thinking up of unrealized alternatives can be justified as part of the study of history.
