German Anglophobia and the Great War, 1914–1918

The first major study of German attitudes towards England during the Great War, 1914–18.

Matthew Stibbe (Author)

9780521782968, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 3 May 2001

282 pages, 12 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.59 kg

'… impressively researched and trenchantly argued … this is a very good book …'. J. M. Bourne, History

This is the first major study of German attitudes towsrds England during the Great War, 1914–18, continuing the story of Anglo-German antagonism where previous studies have ended. In particular it focuses on the extremity of anti-English feeling in Germany in the early years of the war, and on the attempt by writers, propagandists and cartoonists to redefine Britain as the chief enemy of the German people and their cultural heritage. New material is also offered concerning the development of an extreme rightist network in Munich and Berlin during the war years, which used anti-English feeling as a focus for attacking the supposedly defeatist government of Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg. Such views formed the background to the disastrous decision to begin unrestricted submarine warfare against England in January 1917; and they also contributed to the ideological polarization of German politics at a crucial juncture in European and world history.

Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Unser gehasstester Feind: German Anglophobia and the 'spirit of 1914'
2. The cultural war: German intellectuals and England
3. German war aims and propaganda against England
4. 'U-boat demagogy' and the crisis of Bethmann-Hollweg's chancellorship
5. The submarine crisis deepens
6. The Anglo-American powers and the collapse of the German empire
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Propaganda [JPVN], First World War [HBWN], Social & cultural history [HBTB], European history [HBJD]