- Germany–United States relations
German-American relations are the
transatlantic relations betweenGermany and theUnited States and between the German and American people in particular.Today, the
United States is regarded as one of Germany’s closest allies and partners outside theEuropean Union . [http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/en/Laender/UnitedStates.html]Country Comparison
German immigration to the United States
During over three centuries of immigration history to the United States, immigration from
Germany accounts for a large share of the American people. More than 15% of all Americans today, and 25% ofwhite Americans , claim German descent. UnlikeItalians ,Greeks or Irish, German-Americans are a mostly assimilated group which influences political life in the US as a whole. They are the most common self-reported ethnic group in the northern half of the United States; only in the South are they relatively uncommon.1683 - 1848
First records of German immigration date back to the 17th century and the foundation of German town near
Philadelphia in 1683 (German-American Day ). Immigration from Germany to the US reached its first peak between 1749 and 1754 when approximately 37,000 Germans came to North America.1848 - 1914
In 1848, six million Germans immigrated to the United States. Three of their most favored destinations were the cities of Chicago, Detroit and New York. The failed German Revolutions of 1848 caused an immense wave of emigration from Germany, mainly to the US. Called the (
Forty-Eighters ), during the following years over one million Germans left for the United States.When the Germans travelled to the United States, two problems occurred. Firstly, the ships were overcrowded. Secondly, typhus fever: it spread rapidly around the ships due to the cramped conditions on the ships. It took the Germans six months to get to United States due to these hindrances.
By 1890 more than 40 percent of the population of the cities of Cleveland, Milwaukee, Haboken and Cincinnati were of German origin. By the end of the nineteenth century, Germans formed the biggest self-described ethnic group in the United States and their customs became a strong element in American society and culture.
Political participation of German-Americans was focused on involvement in the labor movement more than in government. Germans in America had a strong influence on the labor movement in the United States. Newly founded labor unions enabled German immigrants to improve their working conditions and, on a whole, to integrate into American society.
Since 1914
During
World War I andWorld War II , most German-Americans cut their former ties and assimilated into mainstream American culture. During the time of theThird Reich , Germany had another major emigration wave of mainlyGerman Jews and other political refugees.Today, German-American form the largest self-reported ancestry group in the United States [ [http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/c2kbr-35.pdf U.S. Census Bureau (2000)] ] with
California andPennsylvania having the highest number ofGerman American s.Common values in the two countries
Germany and the United States are civil societies.
Germany's philosophical heritage and America's spirit for "freedom" interlock to a central aspect of
Western culture andWestern civilization . Even though developed under different geographical settings, theAge of Enlightenment is fundamental for the self-esteem and understanding of both nations.It can also be observed that both countries have experienced the ideology of
white supremacy . When the Congress of theNazi Party met in1935 to pass theirNuremberg Laws , they were in many ways modelled on theJim Crow laws which were in place in the USA from1877 to1954 . [ [http://www.mtsu.edu/~baustin/nurmberg.html "The Nuremberg Laws" by Ben S. Austin] ]Both countries value each other's "sleeves up" attitude to work and respect each others sense for "right and order". An ineloquent image of an
Ugly American corresponds to the "Ugly German". ["'The Ugly German' and 'The Ugly American': National Stereotypes of the Modern Conformist,", by Todd Hanlin, paper delivered to theAmerican Association of Teachers of German andModern Language Association of Philadelphia and Vicinity, West Chester, 1979.] A high level of cultural exchange has led to relatively strong views of each other, both positive and negative. Americans tend to view Germans as efficient and orderly, yet routinely mock them for their Nazi past. German views of Americans on the other hand often resemble those of Canadians toward Americans. Nevertheless, both Americans and Germans visit each others' countries routinely, many on extended stays for business or study.The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq has also changed the perception of the U.S. in Germany significantly. A recent BBC poll shows that 20 % of Germans think the US has a mainly positive influence in the world, while 72 % think it is mainly negative. Both countries differ in many polical key areas, such as energy and military interventions.
A survey conducted on behalf of the Germany embassy in 2007 showed that Americans continued to regard Germany's failure to support the war in Iraq as the main irritant in relations between the two nations. However, the issue was of declining importance and Americans still considered Germany to be their fourth most important international partner behind the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan, although with only a minor influence on U.S. politics, especially as compared with the United Kingdom. Americans considered economic cooperation to be by far the most positive aspect of U.S.-German relations. [ [http://www.germany.info/relaunch/politics/new/2007_Magid_Survey.pdf Perceptions Of Germany & The Germans Among The U.S. Population (17 April 2007).] ]
Political relations
Pre-1871
In 1785 the United States concluded a trade agreement with
Prussia .German Empire and two World wars
During the
First World War German diplomats actively supported various movements such as theGhadar Party to overthrow theBritish Raj . This involved using the American shipSS Maverick to smuggle arms and inflammatory publications toIndia . Although British intelligence was able to thwart the plans, the United States judiciary organised theHindu German Conspiracy Trial following American involvement in the war against Germany. [ * [http://list.msu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9709d&L=aejmc&P=9031 The Hindu-German Conspiracy] by Karla K. Gower]Post war
Following the defeat of the
Third Reich American forces were one of the occupation powers in postwarpartition of Germany . In parallel todenazification and "industrial disarmament" (seeJCS 1067 andIndustrial plans for Germany ), American Forces and Americans for the first time fraternized with Germans (see War children andEisenhower and German POWs ) which was setting the foundation for a very close friendship; theBerlin Airlift from 1948 - 1949 and theMarshall Plan (1948 - 1952) further deepened German-American relations. See for exampleThe President's Economic Mission to Germany and Austria for a motive for U.S. partial change of policies.Further reading:
* [http://www.ndu.edu/library/ic1/L46-070.pdf U.S. Economic Policy Towards defeated countries] April, 1946.
* [http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,887417,00.html "Pas de Pagaille!"] ,Time magazine July 28 ,1947 Cold War
The emergence of the
Cold War made theFederal Republic of Germany (West Germany) the frontier of a democraticWestern Europe and American military presence became an integral part in West German society.During the following decades West Germany developed as Europe's biggest economy and West German-U.S. relations further grew together in a new transatlantic partnership. Germany and the U.S. shared a large portion of their culture, established intensive global trade environment and continued to co-operate on new high technologies. However, German-American co-operation wasn't always free of tensions between differing approaches on both sides of the Atlantic.
The fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent reunification of Germany marked a new era in German-American relations.
Post 1990
During the early 1990s the reunified Germany was called for a "partnership in leadership" at a high of German-American relations, with the U.S. emerging as the world's sole
superpower .Germany's effort to incorporate any major military actions into the slowly progressing
European Security and Defence Policy did not meet the expectations of the U.S. duringGulf War . After theSeptember 11 attacks , the German-American political relations were strengthened in an effort to combatterrorism , and Germany sent troops toAfghanistan as part of the NATO force. Yet, discord continued over theIraq War , when Germany refused to join the U.S.-ledmultinational force in Iraq .Military relations
German-American military relations date to the time of the
American War of Independence when German troops fought on both sides.Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben , a formerLieutenant General in the Prussian Army, was appointedInspector General of theContinental Army and helped form the rag-tagmilitia into a proper military force during the winter of1777 –1778 atValley Forge . To this day he is considered to be one of the founding fathers of theUnited States Army .Another German that served during the
American Revolution wasMajor General Johann de Kalb , who served underHoratio Gates at theBattle of Camden and died as a result of several wounds he sustained during the fighting.About 30,000 German mercenaries fought for the British, with 17,000 coming from
Hesse , amounting to about one in four of the adult male population of the principality. Generally referred to asHessians , these German auxiliaries swore allegiance to the British Crown, but without renouncing their allegiance to their own rulers.Leopold Philipp von Heister ,Wilhelm von Knyphausen , and BaronFriedrich Wilhelm von Lossberg were the principal generals who commanded these troops withFrederick Christian Arnold, Freiherr von Jungkenn as the senior German officer. [ [http://www.clements.umich.edu/Webguides/HK/Jungkenn.html Freiherr von Jungkenn Papers ] ]German American s have been very influential in the United States military. Some notable figures include Brigadier General August Kautz, Major General Franz Sigel, General of the Armies John J. Pershing, General of the Army Dwight Eisenhower, Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, and General Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.Germany and the United States are joint
NATO members. The U.S. currently has approximately 150,000 American troops stationed within southern Germany. During theCold War the number of U.S. troops based inWest Germany was significantly higher. Both nations have closely cooperated in theWar on Terror , with Germany providing more troops than any other nation. However, the two nations have opposing public policy positions in the War in Iraq. While Germany may have blocked US efforts to secure UN Resolutions in the buildup to war, they continued to quietly militarily support U.S. interests in southwest Asia. German soldiers operated military Biological and Chemical cleanup equipment at Camp Doha in Kuwait; German Navy ships secured sea lanes to deter attacks by Al Qaeda on US Forces and equipment in the Persian Gulf; and soldiers from Germany'sBundeswehr deployed all across southern Germany to US Military Bases to conduct Force Protection duties in place of Germany based US Soldiers who were deploying to Operation Iraqi Freedom. The latter mission lasted from 2002 until 2006. Today, nearly all the Bundeswehr have been de-mobilized. [Gordon, Michael and Trainor, Bernard "Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq" New York: 2006 ISBN 0-375-42262-5]Economic relations
The two economies are mutually important to each other both as places of investment and trade: 50% of German
foreign direct investment goes to the United States. German investment in the United States amounts to over 100 billioneuro s. The United States is the largest investor in the European Union with almost 50% of all investments and in Germany with total investments amounting to 100 billion dollars, of which about 10% are in the new Federal Länder (formerEast Germany ), making the U.S. the largest foreign investor there.German companies employ over 800,000 people in subsidies in the United States and US companies have the same number of employees in Germany. This makes Germans the third largest group of foreign employers (afterCanada and theUnited Kingdom ) and the US the largest inter-continental foreign employer in Germany.Cultural relations
Karl May was a prolific German writer who specialized in writingWesterns . Although he only visited America once towards the end of his life, May provided Germany with a series of frontier novels, which provided Germans with an imaginary view of America.Famous German-American architects, artist, musicians and writers:
*Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
*Paul Hindemith
*Philip Johnson German takes third place after Spanish and French among the
foreign language s taught at American secondary schools, colleges and universities. Conversely, nearly half of the German population can speak English well.Research and academic exchange
The contributions of German and American scientists to various fields of science are countless, as are the co-operations between academics from both countries. German scientists have provided invaluable contributions to American technological advancement, especially in the mid-20th century. For example,
Werner von Braun was important in helping to start the American space exploration program.Research at German and American universities run various exchange programs and projects, and focus among others on
space exploration and the ISS,environmental technology andmedical science . Import cooperations are also in the fields ofbiochemistry ,engineering ,information and communication technologies andlife sciences (networks through:Bacatec , DAAD).American Cultural Institutions in Germany
In the post-war era, a number of institutions, devoted to bring the characteristic aspects of American culture and society into the awareness of Germans, were established and are in existence today, especially in the south of Germany, the area of the former U.S. Occupied Zone. Today, they offer English courses as well as cultural programs. These institutions include the so-called "
d.a.i. 's" ("Deutsch-Amerikanische Institute", German-American Institutes) inTübingen [http://www.dai-tuebingen.de] ,Heidelberg ,Nuremberg andSaarbrücken and theJames F. Byrnes Institute inStuttgart [http://www.daz.org] (for the history of the establishment of these institutions seed.a.i. ).Diplomatic missions
*
Embassy of the United States in Berlin
*Embassy of Germany in Washington See also
*
List of famous German Americans
*German in the United States References
External links
* [http://www.americanacademy.de American Academy in Berlin]
* [http://www.amcham.de American Chamber of Commerce in Germany]
* [http://www.aicgs.org/ AICGS American Institute for Contemporary German Studies in Washington, DC]
* [http://www.acgusa.org/ American Council on Germany]
* [http://www.amerikahaus.de/english/english.html Amerikahaus in Munich]
* [http://www.aspenberlin.org/ Aspen Institute Berlin]
* [http://www.atlantik-bruecke.org/ Atlantik Brücke Berlin]
* [http://atlanticreview.org/ Atlantic Review]
* [http://www.daad.org/ DAAD New York]
* [http://www.gmfus.org/template/index.cfm German Marshall Fund of the United States in Washington, DC]
* [http://www.germany-usa.com Germany-USA Career Center for German American Trade]
* [http://www.securityconference.de/index.php?sprache=en& Munich Conference on Security Policy]
* [http://www.dai-tuebingen.de German-American Institute Tübingen]
* [http://www.daz.org German-American Center (James F. Byrnes Institute) Stuttgart (German)]
* [http://www.gahfusa.org German-American Heritage Foundation of the USA in Washington, DC];Embassies
* [http://www.germany-info.org/relaunch/index.html German Embassy in Washington, DC]
* [http://www.usembassy.de/ United States Embassy in Berlin]
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