Germany – United States relations
 |
|
 Germany |
 United States |
|---|---|
| Diplomatic Mission | |
| German Embassy, Washington, D.C. | United States Embassy, Berlin |
| Envoy | |
| Ambassador Peter Wittig | Ambassador John B. Emerson |
German–American relations are the relations between Germany and the United States.
Before 1900, the main factors in German-American relations were very large movements of immigrants from Germany to the American colonies (especially Pennsylvania) and to the Midwestern United States and central Texas throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.
There also was a significant movement of philosophical ideas that influenced American thinking. German achievements in public schooling and higher education greatly impressed American educators; the American education system was based on the Prussian education system. Thousands of American advanced students- especially scientists and historians, studied at elite German universities. There existed little movement in the other direction: few Americans ever moved permanently to Germany, and few German intellectuals studied in America or moved to the United States before 1933. Economic relations were of minor importance before 1920. Diplomatic relations were friendly but of minor importance to either side before the 1870s.
After the Unification of Germany in 1871, the country built a world-class navy and began imperialistic expansion around the world. This led to a small-scale conflict over the Samoan islands. It was resolved in 1900 when the two nations divided up Samoa between them. In the early 20th century, the rise of the powerful German Navy and its role in Latin America and the Caribbean troubled American military strategists. However, relations were not seriously affected.
After 1898, the United States itself became much more involved in international diplomacy and found itself sometimes in disagreement but more often in agreement with Germany. The United States tried to remain neutral in the First World War, but it provided far more trade and financial support to Britain and the Allies, which controlled the Atlantic routes. German submarine attacks on British shipping, especially the sinking of the passenger liner Lusitania without allowing the civilian passengers to reach the lifeboats, outraged American opinion. Germany agreed to American demands to stop such attacks but reversed its position in early 1917 to win the war quickly. Berlin mistakenly thought that the US Army and Navy were so weak that they would not play a decisive role.
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Wikipedia