Although made in the wake of the 2011 disasters at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Germany’s decision to phase out its nuclear power industry has deep historical roots. After a building permit was issued in 1976, protests of one project—the Brokdorf reactor—eventually grew into numerous civil-war-like standoffs between police and marchers. As police clashed with protesters, the violence escalated, and about a month later, some 30,000 protesters gathered at Brokdorf, presaging a halt in construction ordered in the fall of 1977. When, in 1981, construction was set to restart, 100,000 protesters faced off with more than 10,000 police, including these riot-gear-wielding officers outside the Brokdorf plant which, despite the protests, opened in 1986. (Photo credit: Günter Zint/panfoto.de)