Since 1945 Germany–United Kingdom relations

1 since 1945

1.1 occupation
1.2 cold war
1.3 reunification

since 1945

road sign delimiting british zone of occupation in berlin, 1984.


occupation

as part of yalta , potsdam agreements, britain took control of own sector in occupied germany. merged sector american , french sectors, , territory became independent nation of west germany in 1949. british played central role in nuremberg trials of major war criminals in 1946. in berlin, british, american, , french zones joined west berlin, , 4 occupying powers kept official control of city until 1991.

much of germany s industrial plant fell within british zone , there trepidation rebuilding old enemy s industrial powerhouse prove danger british security , compete battered british economy. 1 solution build strong, free trade union movement in germany. rely on american money, through marshall plan, modernised both british , german economies, , reduced traditional barriers trade , efficiency. washington, not london, pushed germany , france reconcile , join in schumann plan of 1950 agreed pool coal , steel industries.

cold war

with united states taking lead, britain royal air force played major supporting role in providing food , coal berlin in berlin airlift of 1948–1949. airlift broke soviet blockade designed force western allies out of city.

in 1955 west germany joined nato, while east germany joined warsaw pact. britain @ point did not officially recognise east germany. left wing of labour party, breaking anti-communism of postwar years, called recognition. call heightened tensions between british labour party , german social democratic party (spd).

after 1955, britain decided rely on relatively inexpensive nuclear weapons deterrent against soviet union, , way reduce expensive troop commitments in west germany. london gained support washington , went ahead reductions while insisting maintaining commitment defence of western europe.

britain made 2 applications membership in common market (european community). failed in face of french veto in 1961, reapplication in 1967 successful, negotiations being concluded in 1972. diplomatic support of west germany proved decisive.

in 1962 britain secretly assured poland of acceptance of latter s western boundary. west germany had been ambiguous matter. britain had long been uneasy west germany s insistence on provisional nature of boundary. on other hand, kept secret not antagonise britain s key ally in quest enter european community.

in 1970 german government under willy brandt, former mayor of west berlin, signed treaty poland recognizing , guaranteeing borders of poland.

reunification

uk foreign secretary william hague , frank-walter steinmeier, german minister foreign affairs in london, 3 february 2014.

in 1990, prime minister margaret thatcher @ first opposed german reunification accepted treaty on final settlement respect germany.

since 1945 germany hosts several british military installations in western part of country part of british forces germany. both countries members of nato, , share strong economic ties. david mcallister, former minister-president of german state of lower saxony, son of scottish father , german mother, holds british , german citizenship. similarly, leader of scottish national party in british house of commons, angus robertson half german, mother germany. robertson speaks fluent german , english.

in 1996, britain , germany established shared embassy building in reykjavik. celebrations open building held on 2 june 1996 , attended british foreign minister @ time, malcolm rifkind, , minister of state @ german foreign ministry, werner hoyer, , icelandic foreign minister halldór Ásgrímsson. commemorative plaque in building records first purpose built co-located british-german chancery building in europe .