Germany–United Kingdom relations
Bilateral relations / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The bilateral relations between Germany and the United Kingdom span hundreds of years, and the countries have been aligned since the end of World War II.
Germany |
United Kingdom |
---|---|
Diplomatic mission | |
Embassy of Germany, London | Embassy of the United Kingdom, Berlin |
Envoy | |
Ambassador Miguel Berger since March 2022[1] | Ambassador Jill Gallard CMG since November 2020 |
Relations were very strong in the Late Middle Ages when the German cities of the Hanseatic League traded with England and Scotland.
Before the Unification of Germany in 1871, Britain was often allied in wartime with German nations, including Prussia. The royal families often intermarried. The House of Hanover (1714–1837) ruled the small Electorate of Hanover, later the Kingdom of Hanover, as well as Britain. Queen Victoria, known as the grandmother of Europe, married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and further diplomatic marriages would result in their grandchildren occupying both the British and German thrones.
Historians have long focused on the diplomatic and naval rivalries between Germany and Britain after 1871 to search for the root causes of the growing antagonism that led to World War I. In recent years, historians have paid greater attention to the mutual cultural, ideological and technological influences.[2]
Germany, as the German Empire, fought against the United Kingdom and her allies in World War I between 1914 and 1918; and, as Nazi Germany, against the United Kingdom and allied forces in World War II between 1939 and 1945. Germany was defeated by the United Kingdom and its allies in both wars. Following the defeat of Nazi Germany, Germany was occupied by the allied forces, including the United Kingdom, from 1945 to 1955, after which she was divided into West Germany and East Germany.
The United Kingdom became close allies with West Germany during the Cold War, through West Germany's integration into the 'Western world'. Contrastingly, relations between East Germany and the United Kingdom were poor owing to the former’s alliance with the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
West Germany was a founding member of the European Communities, later to become the European Union, which the United Kingdom joined in 1973. West Germany and the United Kingdom were among the most powerful countries in the organisation, both having significant influence on its development. Germany broadly favoured European integration, whereas the United Kingdom generally opposed it.
East and West Germany reunified following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, which marked the end of the Cold War, hence an improvement of the relationship between East Germany and the United Kingdom, with which she had developed along with West Germany.
Through membership of the European Union, trade and cooperation with the United Kingdom significantly increased in many areas, particularly in research and development which has created enduring links between the science and university communities of Germany and the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is the second largest consumer of German motor vehicles after Germany herself.
In a referendum on continued membership of the European Union in 2016, the United Kingdom voted to withdraw from the European Union and left the bloc on 31 January 2020 after 47 years of membership. Despite a slight reduction in trade afterwards, the amity between the countries remain strong in many areas, which has been reinforced by their joint response to the current war in Ukraine.[3]
UK Government data reports 126,000 German nationals were living in the United Kingdom in 2013[4] and German Government data reports 107,000 British nationals living in Germany in 2016.[5] Both countries are members of the Council of Europe and NATO. Germany is a European Union member and the United Kingdom is a former European Union member.