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World War I
Germany defeated France in six weeks during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, and did so again in 1940. Professor Chris Andrew poses a similar outcome at the outset of World War I in 1914.
The hardship of life in the trenches, and the enormous loss of life that accompanied the war of attrition in Flanders became an iconic image that has haunted us ever since. It's almost inconceivable to imagine that the generation of young men who died during the 1914-18 war might have been spared had Germany enjoyed a lightning victory.
Speaking to historians who specialise in World War I Professor Chris Andrew imagines a very different world. Dr Chris Clarke, author of a recent biography of Kaiser Wilhelm, imagines a triumphant German army marching down the Champs Elysees.
The postwar conditions that led to the rise of Adolf Hitler would have been utterly transformed. Far from paying reparations to France, as it did after 1918, a victorious Germany would have exacted penalties from France and even Russia. Indeed, it's quite conceivable that the Russian Revolution could have taken a different course entirely. Neither would there have been the hyperinflation in Germany that led to the devaluation of the Deutschmark.
Dr Bob Tombs, a specialist in 20th century French history imagines the creation of a collaborationist French government, rather like that of Marshal Petain in Vichy, only 25 years earlier. He imagines the Modernist art movement fleeing to New York, and even Pablo Picasso becoming a safe, traditionalist portrait painter.
Further reading
Christopher Clarke
Kaiser Wilhem
Longman
ISBN: 0582245591
Robert Tombs (ed)
Nationhood and Nationalism in France
Routledge
ISBN: 0044457421
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photo: Jerry Bauer
Professor Christopher Andrew of Cambridge University asks what if major turning points in history had taken a different turn. By altering a single plausible fact, he re-examines the events of the day. The result is always thought-provoking, and refreshes our memories of what did actually happen. In suggesting an alternative history, we can reflect on how extraordinary it is that things did indeed happen in the way they did. |
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Audio Help
|
|
|
|
|
LISTEN AGAIN |
|
|
|
Listen to the latest programme. |
|
|
PREVIOUS PROGRAMMES |
|
|
|
Visit the What If archive for a chance to hear previous programmes.
|
|
|
|
RELATED PROGRAMMES |
|
|
|
|
This Sceptred Isle
|
|
|
|
|
USEFUL LINKS |
|
|
|
|
www.bbc.co.uk/history
|
|
|
|
HISTORY NEWSLETTER |
|
|
|
|
Subscribe to the BBCi History Newsletter
| |
|
|
|
|
PRESENTER |
|
|
|
|
photo: Jerry Bauer
Professor Christopher Andrew of Cambridge University asks what if major turning points in history had taken a different turn. By altering a single plausible fact, he re-examines the events of the day. The result is always thought-provoking, and refreshes our memories of what did actually happen. In suggesting an alternative history, we can reflect on how extraordinary it is that things did indeed happen in the way they did. |
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to the 11 April 2002 programme