The Anti-German Sentiment In British Society,1900-1919

The years in Britain between late 19th century and early 20th century can be seen as a transitional period because it witnessed the appearance of the anti-German sentiment in British society. The Germanophobia was based on specific background and created by subjective factor. The interest dispute between Germany and Britain contributed to the end of friendships, which lasted for more than 200 years. The more fierce competition can easily lead to the rise of anti-German sentiment. In the meantime, the attitude towards aliens changed dramatically. The anti-alien concept shared by the public, media and political elites made the government review its liberal policy and finally became the main discourse in the alien problem. On the one hand, it provided the environment of public opinion for the emergence of anti-German sentiment. On the other hand, the background of anti-alienism offered a model about how public opinions influenced government policy in alien problem. The prosperous economy in Victorian era attracted lots of German people to come to Britain and their new life here. The German community went into its golden age. From the other perspective, the large German population in Britain also means they can be the direct target of anti-German sentiment.The anti-German sentiment went through three periods:starting, on-going and exploding. The public, media and political elites are all the followers of this mentality, which transferred into public opinions and public actions. The power from the public forced the government to change its decision and started to intern German males in the autumn of 1914. Before the First World War, the widespread spy-mania made the public become to be skeptical of the Germans in Britain as the spies of the Kaiser. The pressure produced by the spy fever compelled the government to establish two sub-committee under the Committee of Imperial Defence to investigate the’enemy alien’ problem. The liberal policy on aliens seemed to go to the end. The first turning point of the anti-German sentiment is the First World War. Although the quick pass of the Alien Restriction Act,1914 was a proper response to the war, it could not satisfied the needs of the public. It was apparent that all of them lost their minds. On the one side, media and political elites advocated the threats from Germans in Britain. On the other side, the mass people began to use violent anti-German movements to express their feelings. Facing the callings from the public, the first internment policy was introduced to military age German males. The lasting of the war gave the government a chance to release the interned Germans. However, the sinking of Lusitania became the second turning point in the development of anti-German sentiment. The hatred spread to the whole nation and caused nationwide riots of Lusitania, which pushed the Germanophobia to the highest point. The result was the government decided to implement the wholesale internment and repatriation policies.The psychological harm and financial loss of German individuals were inevitable results of the anti-German campaign. In addition, more than 30,000 German males lost their freedom and German community kept silent for a long period after the War. The anti-German sentiment also gave a negative influence on the attitude of government towards the treatment of aliens. The legacy of anti-German sentiment also inherited by the right-wing concept and continue by the anti-alien thoughts, besides, it also linked to the hostility on Jewish refugees from Germany.The anti-German history in Britain makes us recognize the danger of irrational moods on society. The anti-German opinions and movements had a great impact on the policymaking process, which directly caused the incorrect decision at the end. From this point of view, the internment policy was originated from the anti-German sentiment. From the lens of Peace Studies, we also need to pay attention to the ’invisible violence’. Discrimination as a structural violence was institutionalized by the governmental policy and transformed into direct violence, both of which were legitimized by irrational nationalism as cultural violence. That is the reason why the anti-German history had been forgotten for years.