Germany, relations with

Germany, relations with. The German empire as established in 1871 was at first seen by Britain as a satiated power. Such views changed rapidly from 1905, when an attempt to break the Entente with France excited fears that Germany was bidding for hegemony in Europe. By 1909 the bulk of the British navy was concentrated in home waters to meet the challenge from the new German fleet. Not surprisingly Britain speedily entered the war against Germany (4 August 1914), and soon became committed to the total defeat of German militarism. This did not preclude discussion of Germany's future role in the balance of power, and although victory was purchased at a bitter price, emphasis on revenge was soon qualified by doubts concerning the wisdom of what was widely considered to be the excessively punitive peace of Versailles.

Many saw Germany as a necessary economic partner in the 1920s, but efforts at conciliation had made little progress when Hitler came to power in 1933. Although the possibility of revisionist policies under the Nazis was recognized, and small increases in Britain's armed forces followed, the National Government regarded war as a last resort. Controversy over efforts to conciliate Hitler reached serious proportions only from the Sudeten crisis in the autumn of 1938. Neville Chamberlain himself until late in the day was persuaded that he could negotiate a satisfactory settlement with Hitler. Only when Germany persisted with the attack on Poland did Britain declare war on 3 September 1939.

Hitler, it seems, had some hopes of peace with Britain after the fall of France in June 1940, but soon turned to other objectives when no speedy victory proved possible. Britain, while not an immediate major threat to Germany, was well placed to help with the later provision of western aid to the USSR, just as it was the indispensable base for American operations against Germany. Victory left the British burdened with an expensive occupation zone in Germany, and unsure of what sort of Germany they wanted in the future. Fear of the USSR, however, soon persuaded them that there would be no stability in Europe if western Germany were to slip into the Soviet orbit. The British supported the USA in the Berlin Airlift (1948–9), and assisted in the creation of the German Federal Republic. Despite initial reservations, they also played a major part in devising a satisfactory structure within which West Germany could be rearmed, and included in NATO in 1955. From the formation of the European Economic Community Britain was often troubled by Franco-German co-operation, and Mrs Thatcher was not alone in her reservations when the two Germanies were reunited at the end of the Cold War in 1990.

C. J. Bartlett