权益分类	功能权益	普通用户	{{item.name}}会员
{{category.name}}	{{benefitItem.name}}

A History of the Anglo-German Relationship, 1807-1952

英德关系史，1807 年至 1952 年

基本信息

批准号：
AH/J003042/1
负责人：
Jan Rueger
金额：
$ 8.46万
依托单位：
Birkbeck, University of London
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Fellowship
财政年份：
2012
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2012 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FJ003042%2F1
关键词：
History Anglo German Relationship 1807

项目摘要

In July 1950, the British government was questioned in Parliament as to whether it should give Heligoland, a small island in the North Sea, back to Germany. The answer was a resounding 'no'. As the minister responsible put it, the island represented everything that had gone wrong between the two countries: 'If any tradition was worth breaking, and if any sentiment was worth changing, then the German sentiment about Heligoland was such a one'.My project takes Heligoland as a prism through which to re-assess the Anglo-German relationship. Throughout the past two centuries the island has been a symbol of contact and conflict. While a British colony, it was frequented by German émigrés and writers. It was from here that national liberals propagated the idea of a unified Germany. When the UK ceded Heligoland in 1890, it was intended by both sides as a token of friendship, but became a symbol of rivalry. After the war, it was occupied by British forces. Under the Nazis the island was re-militarised and again styled as a national symbol. For Hitler and Goebbels it represented past German weakness and the need to be bold with Britain; for Himmler it was the mystic island from which the Aryan race had originated. Heavy bombardment in 1945 reduced it to ruins. When it was finally given to Western Germany in 1952, Chancellor Adenauer proclaimed: 'Set in the seas between Britain and Germany, Heligoland will be a token of peace and friendship between us.'Re-visiting the Anglo-German relationship from this site in the North Sea makes it necessary for us to step outside the traditional pattern of two parallel national historiographies. The British and German pasts have intersected in Heligoland for much of the past two centuries, suggesting that the two nations' boundaries were more blurred and permeable than the received national histories allow for. My research studies in detail the island's position between the two nations and its role in the many forms of Anglo-German contact and conflict.However, this will not be a mere microhistory of the two nations' entanglement. Using Heligoland as a case study, the project will re-assess key questions in British and German historiography. It will focus on three related issues. The first is the schism that has opened amongst historians of the Anglo-German relationship. On the one hand there are those scholars who have explained the rivalry between Britain and Germany in strategic and economic terms, creating a sense of inevitability: the rise of Germany was bound to lead, sooner or later, to conflict with Britain. On the other hand there are those who have explored the two countries' cultural exchange and transfer. In their analysis war between Britain and Germany appears as an accident rather than the logical outcome of long-term trends. My project will go beyond these conflicting schools of thought by bringing together political and cultural approaches, offering an account that is neither deterministic nor relativistic. Second, my research will suggest a fresh approach to the relationship between Britain and Europe. For too long, historians studying Britain's external relations have either focussed on the Continent as the main source of influence or emphasized British history as distinct from Europe and best understood in an imperial context. My research will demonstrate that the two perspetives need to be thought of in one context. Despite much rhetoric about 'splendid isolation', Britain was bound up with the Continent throughout the 19th century - in ways that escape categorisation as either 'imperial' or 'European'. Third, the project will offer new insight into the history of German nationalism. It will analyse, in particular, the link between the quest for national unity and ideas of naval expansion, which can be found throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. This will lead to new findings about the continuities and ruptures in German thinking about nationhood and the sea.

1950年7月，英国政府在议会上被质询是否应该将北海的一个小岛黑尔戈兰岛归还给德国。答案是一个响亮的“不”。正如负责人所说，该岛代表了两国之间出现的一切问题：“如果有任何传统值得打破，如果有任何情绪值得改变，那么德国对黑尔戈兰岛的情绪就是这样”。我的项目以黑尔戈兰岛为棱镜，通过它重新评估英德关系。在过去的两个世纪里，该岛一直是接触和冲突的象征。虽然是英国殖民地，但德国移民和作家经常光顾。正是从这里，国家自由主义者宣传了统一德国的思想。当英国在1890年割让黑尔戈兰时，双方都打算将其作为友谊的象征，但却成为了竞争的象征。战争结束后，它被英国军队占领。在纳粹统治下，该岛被重新军事化，并再次成为国家象征。对希特勒和戈培尔来说，它代表着德国过去的软弱和对英国勇敢的需要;对希姆莱来说，它是雅利安人起源的神秘岛。1945年的猛烈轰炸使它成为废墟。当它最终于1952年被给予西德国时，阿登纳总理宣布：“黑尔戈兰位于英国和德国之间的海域，将成为我们之间和平与友谊的象征。从北海的这个地方重新审视英德关系，使我们有必要走出两个平行国家历史编纂的传统模式。在过去两个世纪的大部分时间里，英国和德国的过去都在黑尔戈兰岛发生了变化，这表明两国的边界比公认的国家历史所允许的更加模糊和渗透。我的研究详细研究了该岛在两个国家之间的地位以及它在英德接触和冲突的各种形式中所扮演的角色。然而，这将不仅仅是两个国家纠缠的微观历史。以黑尔戈兰为案例研究，该项目将重新评估英国和德国史学中的关键问题。它将侧重于三个相关问题。首先是在研究英德关系的历史学家中出现的分裂。一方面，有些学者从战略和经济角度解释了英国和德国之间的竞争，给人一种不可避免的感觉：德国的崛起迟早会导致与英国的冲突。另一方面，也有人对两国文化的交流和转移进行了探索。在他们的分析中，英国和德国之间的战争似乎是一个偶然事件，而不是长期趋势的逻辑结果。我的项目将超越这些相互冲突的思想流派，将政治和文化方法结合起来，提供一个既不是决定论也不是相对论的解释。其次，我的研究将为英国与欧洲的关系提出一种新的方法。长期以来，研究英国对外关系的历史学家要么把欧洲大陆作为主要的影响力来源，要么强调英国历史与欧洲不同，最好在帝国背景下理解。我的研究将表明，这两个视角需要在一个背景下思考。尽管有许多关于“辉煌孤立”的言论，但英国在整个世纪与欧洲大陆联系在一起--以一种逃避“帝国”或“欧洲”分类的方式。第三，该项目将提供对德国民族主义历史的新见解。它将特别分析寻求国家统一与海军扩张思想之间的联系，这种联系贯穿于整个19世纪和20世纪。这将导致新的发现的连续性和断裂的德国思想的国家和海洋。