Look at the Germany shelf of your local British bookshop and, if one exists at all, it will almost certainly be filled with tomes about the Nazis and the two world wars. To write a book about contemporary Germany, to write anything complimentary – as I have done – is to buck the trend, even now, after all these years. And it still rankles. Many Germans still remember the infamous Mirror headline during the 1996 Euro football championships: Achtung! Surrender!
Which is why today’s signing of the first UK-Germany friendship treaty, with defence and military cooperation at its heart, is so important. The accord is designed to smooth out post-Brexit problems, and forms the centrepiece of Friedrich Merz’s first visit to London as chancellor. The Germans will be happy that school trips to the UK will be made less tricky. Britons will be relieved that regular visitors, especially for business, may at some point be able to register for E-gate entry.
