German Anglophobia and the Great War, 1914-1918

by Matthew Stibbe

Overview

This major study of German attitudes toward England during the Great War, 1914-18, continues the story of Anglo-German antagonism where previous studies have ended. It shows how German propaganda sought to portray Britain as the main enemy of the German people, and focuses on the decision to launch unrestricted submarine warfare against Britain in January 1917, thus bringing the United States into the conflict. The book concludes by examining the contribution of anti-English feeling to the growth of right wing extremism in Germany after the war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521782968
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	05/03/2001
Series:	Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare , #11
Pages:	282
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.75(d)

Table of Contents

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.

Editorial Reviews

"German Anglophobia is full of interesting snippets and insights. It represents much productive labor in German newspaper archives." Journal of Modern History

"This is a well-written book boasting a great breadth of research and assiduously documenting evidence of powerful wartime sentiment concerning England ... This book is interesting and smart." Central European History

"Matthew Stibbe, a lecturer in history at Liverpool Hope University College, has produced a scholarly yet accessible account of German attitudes toward Britain during World War I. The lineament of xenophobia are skillfully dissected, with valuable attention to Anglophobia in poetry, prose, and cartoon...Stibbe is to be congrantulated on a major contribution to the professional literature that should also interest general readers." History Review of New Books

"Stdies of WW1 German propaganda often focus on Russophobia and territorial ambitions in eastern Europe. Stibbe argues that his examination of the development and dissemination of German Anglophobia during the Great War necessitates a reorientation of this historiography.... Of particular interest are Stibbe's assertion[s] that there was a significant linkage between Anglophobic grous and anti-semitic ideology (although this point is not always clear), and his investigation of the relationship between the Anglophobes and the "stab in the back" ideology to the development of the Nazi movement." Choice

From the Publisher