Fear of German Domination in Western Europe since 1945. A Comparison between the British and French Governments

Abstract

This thesis is about the fear of German domination in Europe. This fear derives from the memory of the country’s pre-1945 history. With both world wars, Germany had challenged the European balance of power and ultimately brought about the devastation of a continent. This has subsequently caused fear for a reprisal of German domination in Europe. This thesis focuses on Great Britain and France. Both countries suffered enormously from the two world wars. In less than half a century, the aggression of Germany took its toll twice on those countries. Throughout the years, this memory has fuelled the fear of German domination in these countries. Both countries have been very important and influential powers in the development of (West) Germany’s future in a Western and European framework after the defeat of the Second World War. The perception of fear is studied throughout three periods of time. Each chapter analyses what sort of domination both countries feared and what measures were taken to reduce this fear. The periods that are chosen for this research are periods of time in which Germany’s role in Europe was experienced as some sort of threat by the British and French governments. These periods are as follows: 1) 1945-55, the direct post-war period; 2) 1989-90, the period of German reunification; and 3) November 2009-June 2016, the period of the euro crisis. In this thesis, I argue that the fear of German domination changed from a deeply rooted fear of German military domination, which began in the first decade after the Second World War, to a very slight perception of fear of German economic domination through the EU in June 2016.