Britain's best friend in Europe

Dr. Jürgen Ruhfus had been the German Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt's right-hand-man before he came to London in 1980. Unassuming, natural, a typical Westphalian, he did not find it difficult to establish good contacts in the British capital where the May 1979 election had resulted in the arrival in 10 Downing Street of Britain's first woman Prime Minister, Mrs. Margaret Thatcher. Bilateral Anglo-German relations seemed, apart from the new Conservative Government's increasing doubts about European Community policies, on an even keel; in fact, it was a matter of concern to some that these relations appeared to lack an inner drive, that the absence of any quarrel was as bad as the antagonism of the past because it tended to lead to indifference.

During Dr. Ruhfus' five years in London, Anglo-German trade relations improved considerably. The Federal Republic became the United Kingdom's top trading partner. While British exports to Germany in 1974 were only little more than half of the goods imported from Germany, they reached 82 per cent in 1979. In 1982, German investment in Britain, which had previously lagged behind British investment in Germany, advanced considerably so that for German investors Britain was second after the United States. However, this investment was as yet concentrated somewhat one-sidedly in the North Sea oil exploration sector. In providing 23,4 per cent of the total oil imports of the German Federal Republic, Britain was just behind Saudi Arabia, the Federal Republic's major oil supplier. Ambassador Ruhfus frequently stressed the common Anglo-German economic interests in free trade and opposition to protectionism.

In that period a notable difference in national attitudes could be detected. According to a MORI-poll, commissioned by the German Embassy in 1982, about the views on the Federal Republic of young British people, 64 per cent said that they had "friendly" feelings and only 7 per cent described their attitude as "unfriendly". The poll indicated a change in the British image of present-day Germany and the discarding of old attitudes towards the past, not least in the many popular war and Nazi-films which frequently had caused anxiety in Germany. An overwhelming majority of this sample of British opinion, however, saw that the Germans shown in the films "are not what they really are", suggesting that these productions were just a sort of escapist entertainment. Nevertheless, how important television has become is shown by the fact that, according to this poll, 55 per cent described television as the source of their knowledge about the German Federal Republic (lesser sources were "teachers" - 39 per cent, "books and magazines - 26 per cent, "parents" - 21 per cent). At the same time, ignorance about Germany and the Germans among 15- to 20-year old Britons was considerable, although it was no less so in the case of other Continental countries: 49 per cent did not know what form of Government existed in the Federal Republic of Germany, only 15 per cent knew that it was a parliamentary democracy.

According to a Gallup-poll taken in August 1983, the Germans were regarded in the eyes of the British as their best friends in Europe - well ahead of all other nationalities. And these attitudes were confirmed indeed by a higher percentage in a MORI-poll taken in 1985. And in that year of the 40th anniversary of the end of the War, a majority of 52 per cent disagreed when asked whether West Germany was still too much influenced by its past; 20 per cent agreed and 4 per cent strongly agreed with the proposition.

When Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and Mrs. Margaret Thatcher met at Chequers for their regular consultations, on 2 May 1984, the 15th of these bilateral meetings, they expressed "particular satisfaction" on the very close consultations and alignment of policies on bilateral, multilateral and European political cooperation levels. According to their statement, "an active and varied partnership, marked by openness and mutual trust" had been established. The two stressed the importance of the unofficial and semi-official institutions such as those organising the Königswinter Conference, or the Anglo-German Foundation, and the town-twinning and youth exchanges whose aim it is to supplement the work of the two Governments in encouraging contacts and increase mutual understanding. And they recognised the vital importance of involving the younger generation in Britain and Germany in each other's culture and activities for the work of stimulating dialogue and building bridges between the two nations.

Enlarge image Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and Prime Minister Mrs Margaret Thatcher during the Anglo-German Summit talks in Bonn, October 1979.