United Kingdom |
Germany |
Germany – United Kingdom relations also Anglo-German relations are the bilateral relations between Britain and Germany.
Before the unification of Germany in 1871, Britain was often allied in wartime with Prussia. The Hanoverian kings of England (from George I through William IV) were also the rulers of the German state of Hanover. Queen Victoria married Albert, the German prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and their grandsons included the rulers of Britain, Germany and Russia in 1914.
Britain and Germany fought two wars--World War I and World War II--and since 1955 have been military allies in NATO. Trade relations have been very strong since the late middle ages, when the German cities of the Hanseatic League traded with England. Both nations are active in the EU.
Nowadays the countries have a very strong relationship of economic and political co-operation.
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| Germany | United Kingdom | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 81,757,600 | 62,041,708 |
| Area | 357,021 km2 (137,847 sq mi) | 244,820 km2 (94,526 sq mi ) |
| Population Density | 229/km2 (593/sq mi) | 246/km2 (637/sq mi) |
| Capital | Berlin | London |
| Largest City | Berlin – 3,439,100 (4,900,000 Metro) | London – 7,556,900 (13,945,000 Metro) |
| Government | Federal parliamentary constitutional republic | Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy |
| Official languages | German (de facto and de jure) | English (de facto) |
| Main religions | 67.07% Christianity, 29.6% non-Religious, 5% Islam, 0.25% Buddhism, 0.25% Judaism, 0.1% Hinduism, 0.09% Sikhism |
71.8% Christianity, 15.1% Non-Religious, 7.8% Unstated, 2.8% Islam, 1% Hinduism, 0.6% Sikhism, 0.5% Judaism, 0.3% Buddhism |
| Ethnic groups | 91.5% German, 2.4% Turkish, 6.1% other[1] | 92.1% White, 4% South Asian, 2% Black, 1.2% Multi-racial, 0.4% Chinese, 0.4% Other |
| GDP (nominal) | US$3.66 trillion ($44,660 per capita) | US$2.674 trillion ($43,875 per capita) |
| Expatriate populations | 266,000 German-born people live in the UK | 250,000 British-born people live in Germany |
| Military expenditures | $46.8 billion (FY 2008)[2] | $65 billion (FY 2009–10)[3] |
According to myth, before the consolidation of England, British king Locrinus took a German wife named Estrildis. Later, so too did Vortigern take Rowena, which led to the invasion of the Kingdom of Britain by Hengist and Horsa, through their colony in the Kingdom of Kent.
England's first diplomatic relations with Germany were through the dynastic alliance pursued between Æthelberht of Kent and Charibert I, and were significantly augmented later under Offa of Mercia and Charlemagne. Until the late 17th century such marriages between the two nations were only sporadic, due initially to the largely French preference of the House of Wessex, when both the Anglo-Saxons and Franks continually had to contend with severe Danish and Norman Viking attacks and colonisations. Another reason for estrangement was Germany's increasing preoccupation with Italy: the two nations together formed the core Holy Roman Empire. Empress Matilda, the daughter of Henry I of England, was married between 1114 and 1125 to Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor but they had no issue. She then married Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou and tried to usurp the kingdom of Stephen of England; her son became Henry II of England. In 1256, Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall was elected King of Germany and his sons were surnamed Almain. Throughout this period, the Steelyard of London was a typical German community in England. German mercenaries were used in the Wars of the Roses.
Subsequently Anne of Cleves was the consort of Henry VIII. The Habsburg Philip II of Spain in 1554, was another consort of the English monarch of German stock. It was not until William III of England that a king of German origin came to reign, from the House of Nassau. The consort of his successor Queen Anne was Prince George of Denmark from the House of Oldenburg, who had no surviving children, yet a cadet dynastic successor in Mountbatten-Windsor today. Philip, William and George each failed to provide heirs for England and Britain.
In 1714, succeeding Queen Anne, George I, a German-speaking Hanoverian prince of mixed British and German descent, ascended to the British throne, founding the House of Hanover. This was descended from the Wittelsbachs who descended from Elizabeth of Bohemia. For over a century, Britain's monarchs were also rulers of Hanover (first as Prince Electors of the Holy Roman Empire, then as a separate Kingdom). This was a personal union rather than a political one, with the two countries remaining quite separate. Hanover was occupied during the Napoleonic wars, but some Hanoverian troops fled to the United Kingdom to form the King's German Legion, a unit within the British army made up of ethnic Germans. The link between the two kingdoms finally ended in 1837 with the accession of Queen Victoria to the British throne: under the Salic Law women were ineligible for the throne of Hanover.
Every British monarch from George I to George V in the 20th century, took a Royal German consort (the consort of Edward VII was Alexandra of Denmark); George VI chose a Scotswoman but his daughter Elizabeth II married a Prince of Greece and Denmark who is of German heritage and is a patrilineal relative of Prince George of Denmark mentioned above; a further indication of German heritage is the name Mountbatten. The British Royal family retained the German surname von Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha until 1917, when, in response to anti-German feelings during World War I, it was legally changed to the more British "Windsor". In the same year, members of the British Royal family members gave up any German titles they held, whilst their German relatives were stripped of any British titles they held by an Act of Parliament.
The interwar period was a period of appeasement, especially under Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. Previously Britain had been involved in both the Locarno Treaties and Kellogg–Briand Pact which helped reintegrate Germany into Europe after the Treaty of Versailles.
Nazi Germany and the United Kingdom fought each other during World War II, and this confrontation continues to loom large in the British public consciousness. War was brought to British skies in the Battle of Britain, but after their aerial assault was repulsed, the Germans postponed the planned invasion of Britain. Following D-Day, British forces contributed substantially to the defeat of Germany, and occupied part of it.
Since 1945 Germany hosts several British military installations in Western part of the country as part of British Forces Germany. Both countries are members of the European Union and NATO, and share strong economic ties. In 1990, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher opposed German reunification, but eventually accepted the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany under American pressure.
Nowadays the countries have a very strong relationship of economic and political co-operation, especially within the EU.
David McAllister, the present minister-president of the German state of Lower Saxony, son of a Scottish father and a German mother, holds British and German citizenship.
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