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Abstract
In this article, I review the key research contributions written on the German financial crisis of 1931. After four decades, consent about the origins and course of the crisis has still not been reached, since a set of disentangled factors - reparations, short-term foreign bank debt, the design of the gold standard, and the behaviour of individual banks - all contributed to the crisis. It seems that the 1931 crisis was caused by the pressure of reparations in combination with substantial private foreign debt. Capital flight set in when the government announced it was unable to pay its reparations. The Reichsbank lost its reserves and was unable to act as lender of last resort when a bank failed shortly after the reparations crisis. As well as describing the literature, I also present some new insights from the archives. It seems that the Reichsbank thought the crisis to be over at the end of June 1931, that it was worried about the state of public finance, and that it was badly informed about the banks' short-term foreign debt.

In this review essay, I discuss two recent trends in Chinese constitutional theory and their influence on the field of legal historiography. The first of these trends is a methodological turn toward "conceptual realism." This notion implies that legal concepts should be able to adequately capture political reality, lest they (1) end up eroding China's illiberal political status quo — the neo-conservative agenda — or (2) fail to identify the deep-seated reasons for the repeated failure of liberal constitutionalism in modern China — the critical-liberal agenda. Terminologically, this realist turn manifests itself in a set of conceptual binaries, including that of "state body" (guoti 國體) vs. "form of government" (zhengti 政體), "absolute constitution" vs. "constitutional law," and "political" vs. "normative constitution." The second trend is a broader shift toward historicism and "imperial nostalgia," that is, the belief that, for better or for worse, the structural features of China's pre-modern imperial state continue to impact its present constitutional reality. A review of recent Chinese literature suggests that — while there is some agreement among "conceptual realists" on the legal-territorial implications of China's modern transition from empire to nation-state — there is substantial disagreement on the reasons for its subsequent failure to consolidate liberal constitutional democracy. This also indicates that, while "statism" has indeed emerged as a new methodological consensus in Chinese academia, this consensus does not translate into a shared normative vision beyond the undisputed territorial unity of the Chinese nation-state. The discussion focuses on two books: Gao Quanxi, Zhang Wei, Tian Feilong, Xiandai zhongguo de fazhi zhi lu [The Road to the Rule of Law in Modern China] (2012); and Zhang Yongle, Jiu bang xin zao: 1911-1917 [The Remaking of an Old Country: 1911-1917] (2016).

Contemporary History is always part of a historical culture, part of a society's mindset. This article reflects the rise, establishment and changes of this discipline in Austria in a "post-catastrophic" situation after 1945. It is shown what phases of politicisation and attempts of instrumentalisation there have been, how research topics have changed and what methodological turns can be identified. This article is structured as follows: 1. Contemporary History as "post-catastrophic" historical mindset; 2. The origins of Austrian contemporary history as "coalition historiography"; 3. Contemporary history as "political enlightment" program, 4. Contemporary history as historical social science; and 5. Postmodern parallelism: engagement and "historization", empathy and "visual turn".

'Die terminologischen Zugriffe auf Ereignisse, die wir heute als 'Naturkatastrophen' bezeichnen würden, sind für die Antike noch nicht systematisch untersucht worden. Der vorliegende Beitrag beschränkt sich aufgrund der Materialfülle auf die griechische Historiographie. Im Griechischen existiert zwar das Wort katastrophé, doch entspricht dieser nicht unserem Begriff 'Katastrophe'. Griechische Autoren tendieren stattdessen dazu, Ereignisse konkret zu benennen (Erdbeben, Flutkatastrophe, Seuche usw.), doch gibt es auch abstraktere, kategorisierende Begriffe. Der Befund zeigt, dass Ereignisse, die wir heute als 'Katastrophe' bezeichnen würden, zunächst einmal neutral betrachtet wurden und dann - abhängig vom jeweiligen Kontext - semantisch aufgeladen wurden, was durchaus auch positive Einschätzungen beinhalten konnte.' (Autorenreferat)

The author claims that agrarian historiography in Germany suffers from a deficit of innovations resulting from the dominance of particular traditions. The history of agrarian growth and crises put forward by Wilhelm Abel was taken up in English-language research rather than in Germany. The mainstream of German agrarian historiography focused on the peasantry and on the political relations between peasants and lordship and thus followed the approach of Günther Franz. Although results like the active role of peasants in power conflicts during the early modern period refuted Franz' dictum of the passiveness after the Peasants' War (Bauernkriege), social differentiation of rural class society remained underexposed in German historiography. ; The author claims that agrarian historiography in Germany suffers from a deficit of innovations resulting from the dominance of particular traditions. The history of agrarian growth and crises put forward by Wilhelm Abel was taken up in English-language research rather than in Germany. The mainstream of German agrarian historiography focused on the peasantry and on the political relations between peasants and lordship and thus followed the approach of Günther Franz. Although results like the active role of peasants in power conflicts during the early modern period refuted Franz' dictum of the passiveness after the Peasants' War (Bauernkriege), social differentiation of rural class society remained underexposed in German historiography.

In this article the author compares the state of historiography in the former East German territories after the elimination of the communist regime with the situation of German historiography after the defeat of Nazism on the one hand, and the development of historiography in both German states between 1945 and 1990 on the other hand. Considering the actual difficulties occuring during the exchange of personal and the reorganization of institutions in the former East German historiography the following problem is discussed: to what extent had the historians been able to maintain their scholarly integrity and responsibility, or had they been transformed into mere apologists of the regime? The author is convinced that the rupture of 1989 was deeper than that of 1945. For the emergence of a democratic and pluralistic historiography prohibited by the communist regime has gone further in the GDR today than it was after 1945 in Germany as a whole. This is due to the fact that the process of democratization also took place very late in former West Germany. Here, a radical denazification was not carried out and a critical reflection of history's methodological and theoretical traditions did not take place until the 60ies. The author expresses the opinion that a removal of the ideological supporters · of the old regime from leading positions is indispensable, but a reorganization of German historiography should result in an integration, not a segregation of the historians of Germany's "five new lands." ; In this article the author compares the state of historiography in the former East German territories after the elimination of the communist regime with the situation of German historiography after the defeat of Nazism on the one hand, and the development of historiography in both German states between 1945 and 1990 on the other hand. Considering the actual difficulties occuring during the exchange of personal and the reorganization of institutions in the former East German historiography the following problem is discussed: to what extent had the historians been able to maintain their scholarly integrity and responsibility, or had they been transformed into mere apologists of the regime? The author is convinced that the rupture of 1989 was deeper than that of 1945. For the emergence of a democratic and pluralistic historiography prohibited by the communist regime has gone further in the GDR today than it was after 1945 in Germany as a whole. This is due to the fact that the process of democratization also took place very late in former West Germany. Here, a radical denazification was not carried out and a critical reflection of history's methodological and theoretical traditions did not take place until the 60ies. The author expresses the opinion that a removal of the ideological supporters · of the old regime from leading positions is indispensable, but a reorganization of German historiography should result in an integration, not a segregation of the historians of Germany's "five new lands."

In a European perspective, the Alps form a region with an extraordinary density of national borders, and they belong to the few regions, which are defined on environmental criteria and, at the same time, politically sanctioned by an international treaty. These two issues – the state borders and the natural environment – are in the center of this analysis of the developments of Alpine agrarian historiography. One can use them to discuss problems and trends, which could be of interest for other regions, too. How does the international exchange of methodological approaches and empirical knowledge work, or fail to work, in the domain of agrarian historiography? And how do agrarian historians conceptualize the relationships of their subject matter to the environment? ; In a European perspective, the Alps form a region with an extraordinary density of national borders, and they belong to the few regions, which are defined on environmental criteria and, at the same time, politically sanctioned by an international treaty. These two issues – the state borders and the natural environment – are in the center of this analysis of the developments of Alpine agrarian historiography. One can use them to discuss problems and trends, which could be of interest for other regions, too. How does the international exchange of methodological approaches and empirical knowledge work, or fail to work, in the domain of agrarian historiography? And how do agrarian historians conceptualize the relationships of their subject matter to the environment?

Summary in English p. 682-3.

In this article the development of East German historiography is outlined and its author, a leading social historian of the former GDR, poses the question what is worth continuing from this historiographic tradition. In the GDR, social history had reached high standards already in the 60ies, but came to a halt with Karl Marx; thus it could no longer keep up with the accelerated process of innovation of social history in the Western countries since the late 60ies. Etatism and personalization in the GDR historiography had been the consequence. Only a small group of younger social historians displayed a critical and democratic attitude but did not discuss in public. The author maintains that three currents of social history might survive the end of the GDR: a "structural history" being mainly historical demography and computer aided economic and social history; the "history of everyday life" inspired by the history of mentalite and historical anthropology; and a "history of societies" as a histoire totale of small entities. Only in such a plurality, the author argues, social history could flourish in the territories of the former GDR. ; In this article the development of East German historiography is outlined and its author, a leading social historian of the former GDR, poses the question what is worth continuing from this historiographic tradition. In the GDR, social history had reached high standards already in the 60ies, but came to a halt with Karl Marx; thus it could no longer keep up with the accelerated process of innovation of social history in the Western countries since the late 60ies. Etatism and personalization in the GDR historiography had been the consequence. Only a small group of younger social historians displayed a critical and democratic attitude but did not discuss in public. The author maintains that three currents of social history might survive the end of the GDR: a "structural history" being mainly historical demography and computer aided economic and social history; the "history of everyday life" inspired by the history of mentalite and historical anthropology; and a "history of societies" as a histoire totale of small entities. Only in such a plurality, the author argues, social history could flourish in the territories of the former GDR.

Der transsektionale Ansatz ergänzt das Konzept der Intersektionalität um eine historiographische Perspektive. Der Ausgangspunkt von Transsektionalität ist, dass es vielfältige historische Relationalitäten von Diskursen und Einschreibepraktiken gibt, deren Bewegungen sich in ihrer körperpolitischen Bedeutung verfolgen lassen. Das zeigt der Artikel exemplarisch anhand der 1912 anonym veröffentlichten fiktionalen "Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man" vom Schriftsteller, Musiker und Bürgerrechtsaktivisten James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938). Darin bewegt er sich in Räumen, die zwischen den Grenzen des rassistischen Segregationsregimes liegen, zwischen Privilegien des Weißseins und transgender yearnings (Snorton 2012). Über die Quelle lassen sich transsektionale Fluchtlinien nachvollziehen, die sich aus der Intersektion von race, class und gender ergeben, sich aber unter Bezugnahme auf das Konzept des tracing (Mommertz 2015) historisch zwischen den Zeilen lesen lassen. In Johnsons Autobiography spiegelt sich nicht nur das Zeitraumregime der Segregation, sondern eine Körpergeschichte, die dieses Raumregime durchschreitet und es dabei wiederum transformiert.