A very short history of the German anti-nuclear movement and a few of its groups

The second chapter provides a brief history of the anti-nuclear movement in Germany with a focus on the political situation in the years before the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in March 2011 and immediately afterwards. After the anti-nuclear movement had experienced a significant setback, the disaster lead to unprecedented successes and the shutdown of eight nuclear power plants. The chapter describes a situation in which the movement had been successful, but activists also knew from experience that such successes may not last. The chapter also introduces the two informal groups and the network studied in the book and describes how their meetings are organized, as well as sketching the protest activities of the German anti-nuclear movement.