Myths of Nations. The Clash of Futures. 1914-1945

Myths of Nations. The Clash of Futures. 1914-1945.
George Orwell: ‘Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.’ George Orwell, 1984.
The centenary of the end of the First World War falls in 2018, though we can still feel the repercussions of this momentous event today. To mark the occasion, the Bundeswehr Museum of Military History in Dresden is planning an exhibition on the theme of ‘Myths of Nations. The Clash of Futures. 1914 – 1945’.
This will be the third (or in terms of historical chronology the second) in a series of thematic exhibitions on the subject of Nationhood. Whilst the first exhibition, ‘Myths of Nations. A European Panorama’ (1998) looked at nation-building in the 19 th century, in the period after the end of the
French Revolution and establishment of the new Napoleonic order, ‘Myths of Nations. Arena of Memories’ (2005) examined how the European nations, including Israel and the USA, created a peaceful world order after the great crisis caused by the two World Wars. ‘Myths of Nations. The Clash of Futures. 1914-1945’ is intended to provide the missing link between these two earlier exhibitions and will focus on the deep crisis for the concept of nationhood during this period.