[presidio9]

British-German relations have been largely antagonistic in character:

• 1714: Georg of Hanover becomes King George I of England. He speaks no English.

• 1914: World War I breaks out.

• 1917: King George V drops German last name, Coburg, and adopts the name Windsor.

• 1939: Britain declares war on Germany.

• 1940: Churchill calls on Britons to resist Germany's "Blitz" bombing campaign.

• 1960-62: In Hamburg, the Beatles develop what becomes a pop-culture revolution.

• 1966: England beats West Germany in soccer's World Cup final.

• 1989: Berlin Wall falls; Thatcher opposes German unification.

• 1990: British trade minister calls planned euro "racket to take over Europe."

• 1994: BMW buys Rover.

• 1996: Daily Mirror apologizes for its "ACHTUNG! SURRENDER" headline before a Euro '96 soccer match.

• 1999: German parliament moves into Reichstag rebuilt by Britain's Norman Foster.

• 2001: David Beckham leads Britain to a sensational 5-1 victory over Germany in World Cup qualifier.

• 2002: Two German youths are called Nazis and beat up in a London suburb.

• 2003: Daily Mail runs anti-German piece titled "Sour Krauts."

[rrrod]

i think i had read an article not long ago concerning germany trying to under cut the brits economy....any one remember ?

[TheBigB]

A favorite joke making the rounds in Germany:

GERMAN #1: "How many Poles does it take to screw in a light bulb?"

GERMAN #2: "I do not know! Let's invade and find out! Ha!"

[STFrancis]

1966: Last time England wins a football match of any meaning against Germany
1990: Germany beats England in the semi-finals to then go on and win World Cup
1996: England looses to Germany in the semi-final in a penalty shoot-out to Germany who ends up winning it all
2002: England chokes in the World Cup only to see Germany becoming Runner-Up

[Salman]

In his office, Mr. Matussek keeps a stack of pink and blue postcards from a campaign encouraging Britons to learn German. They carry catchwords designed to evoke a positive image of Germany -- including "Autobahn," "Einstein" ...

"Einstein" evokes a positive image of Germany, does it? Didn't Einstein have to leave there in a hurry?

Einstein had such a positive image of Germany that he urged Franklin Roosevelt to develop the atomic bomb.

[RJL]

The German ambassador… wants to change that. "It is in Britain's own interest to know what is happening on the Continent,"

I think the little dust-up in Iraq showed Britain exactly where they stand. Germany chose Saddam Hussein over Britain.

[FreepOnTheBorderlands]

1994: BMW buys Rover.

2000/2001: BMW makes even bigger mess of Rover, then dumps everything except the one vehicle of value (MINI) causing a massively odd ownership battle. BMW becomes a 4 letter word amongst many british motor enthusiasts.

2003: British race fans go nuts when german owned british marque (Bentley) beats sister company's german marque (Audi) at LeMans.

2003: British race fans go even more nuts when anglo-americian team (Dyson MG/Lola) beats aforementioned german marque (Joest Audi) in ALMS event @ Infenion raceway (sears point)

=)

[ellery]

I've just about had it with hearing Germans whine about stereotypes and "getting past Hitler." It's not about Hitler in a vacuum -- it's about the fact that the Germans elected that monster. It's about Germany starting three wars in Europe within 100 years, two of which engulfed the world.

Sixty years is not a long time by history's standards. There are still Holocaust survivors alive today who experienced unimaginable horrors with the "avert-your-eyes" complicity of the German people. Are they supposed to get past it too? Obscene.

[AnAmericanMother]

Favorite true British-German story:

The German air traffic controllers are a pretty nasty bunch. They expect all pilots to have a mental map of the airport in their heads and not to dawdle on the taxiways.

A British Airways jet was hesitating at an intersection when the impatient controller came on ground control and said, "British Airways flight 303, have you ever been to Berlin before?"

"In 1944," replied the pilot, "but I didn't stop . . . "

:-D