The thesis attempts to set sources broadly representative of the range of British attitudes to Germany and the Germans - from Spender, Low, Maxse and Dillon, to Bowse, Namier, Vansittart, Gollancz and Barraclough in a framework informed by multidisciplinary theory. There are five main themes: the classification of attitudes; the analysis of content; the identification of a relatively constant British self-image; the potential for attitudinal dilemmas and cognitive dissonance inherent in that self-image; national character as a concept and as a descriptor. Although dealt with in this order the themes interrelate. For example, the first phase of content analysis [chapters 4 to 8], where the emphasis is on the way in which sources differ, anticipates the discussion in chapter 10 of the differences in their approaches to the modal distribution of cultural and individual characteristics in Germany; the classificatory model proposed as an alternative to the Idealist-Realist dichotomy in chapter 2 [and 'tested' in a brief case study in chapter 3] is consistent with the definition of the self-image and facilitates discussion on cognitive dissonance. It is proposed that a classificatory system based on an Idealist-Realist dichotomy with respective pro and anti-German sub-sets does not adequately highlight the nuances and ambiguities which often informed group or individual attitudes toward Germany. It is argued that such a system cannot readily deal with the views of realists who were ideologically neutral [i. e. not ideologically anti-German] in their definition of Germany as the enemy, of idealists who were ideologically opposed to Germany, or of others who were equivocal. An alternative model is offered in the form of partially congruent parallel continuums of competition and cooperation, travelling in opposite directions in relation to respective minimum and maximum positions. In chapters 4 to 8 the content analysis of sources focuses on their different perceptions of Germany and the Germans: whether they made distinctions between Germans - and what form such distinctions took - or regarded them as 'all of a kind.' It is argued that underlying expressed attitudes to Germany and the Germans from the British side was a notion of self, incorporating two main components: a pragmatic component defining Britain as a material competitor in a competitive world, and an ideological component defining a package of traits and values associated with the cultural condition 'being British. ' The ideological component of the self-image was commonly validated and served as an assessment instrument for making judgements on Germans. It is argued that the intellectual and psychological need to maintain a consistent relationship between expressed attitudes and declared values, particularly when the values were central to the self-image, led to the use of dissonance reducing mechanisms. The ways in which one national culture may reasonably be said to differ from another, and the methodological requirements for tenable cross-cultural analysis, are explored through critical consideration of the concept 'national character.' A theoretical framework is devised for the critical analysis of the views presented by the sources on the national character of the Germans. This framework relates their perception of modal structure [unimodal, bimodal, multimodal] to their level of commitment - positive or negative - to propositions on cultural homogeneity, differential sharing, the causal autonomy of situational factors, the significance of international cultural influences, the innate nature of characteristics, and concern for methodological rigour. An image of the configurations and features in the German cultural profile is formulated. Recognition of the partial and provisional nature of this image, and discussion of what it omits and lacks in terms of texture, is used to demonstrate the deficiencies of the Schwarzweissmalerei approach to Germany and the Germans.

This thesis will examine the Electronic Warfare [EW] policies and subsequent Suppression of Enemy Air Defence [SEAD] postures of the Royal Air Force’s Bomber Command during the Second World War. It examines how EW was applied to the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) Integrated Air Defence System [IADS] so as to reduce Bomber Command aircraft losses, and determines whether EW policies were drafted in a proactive and/or reactive fashion vis-à-vis the Luftwaffe IADS. The thesis applies air power theory regarding the levels and methods of application by which SEAD was brought to bear against the IADS as a result of these EW policies. Ultimately, the thesis will argue that Bomber Command enacted both proactive and reactive EW policies at the Campaign and Localised SEAD levels using a combination of Manoeuvrist, Mass and Stealth/Surprise approaches.

The Battle of the Sambre was the last large-scale set-piece battle of the Great War. The German army was determined to hold a defensive line incorporating the Mormal Forest and the Sambre-Oise canal, hoping to buy time for a strategic withdrawal to the Meuse and thereby negotiate a compromise peace. This thesis analyses the battle at the operational and tactical levels: the BEF was no longer striving for a breakthrough – sequential ‘bite and hold’ was now the accepted method of advance. The difference between plan and reality is examined, highlighting the levels of tactical competence of units engaged and also the role of the Royal Engineers, whose tasks involved devising improvised bridging equipment to facilitate the crossing of the waterway. The competence of brigade and battalion commanders is examined: some proved capable of pragmatic flexibility in the face of stubborn enemy resistance and were able to adapt or even abandon original plans in order to ensure ultimate success. It was a decisive victory for the BEF, which irrevocably crushed the will of the German defenders, leading to the pursuit of a demoralised, broken and beaten army, whose means of continued resistance had been destroyed, and thus expedited the armistice.

This dissertation argues that the idea of a German Menace was not simply a product of concerns about the defence of the British Isles, but rather it was born out of the mentality of British imperialism. Over the period 1896-1903, imperial antagonism between Germany and Britain, in various contexts around the globe, inspired the popular perception of the German Menace as a distinctly imperial threat. Where the established historiography locates the beginning of the Anglo-German rivalry within the development of the naval armaments race after 1904, this study traces the British fear of Germany much earlier and, crucially, much further away from the shores of the North Sea. The Dreadnought Race was a product of pre-existing anxieties; this thesis will explain the context of imperial anxiety out of which the coherent concept of the German Menace developed. It reveals how specific imperial crises informed British popular beliefs and how the stereotypes of German covetousness, autocracy and efficiency coalesced to form a powerful force in British society and politics that had reached its peak by 1903. By 1903 Germany was widely regarded as a menace to the British Empire.

This thesis explores young women's relationship with feminism, contributing to an enhanced understanding of feminist dis-identification. Feminist research offers various explanations for young women's repudiation of feminism; this study adds a further dimension to current debates by adopting a performative approach which explores how difference, and particularly sexuality, mediates young women's responses to feminism. Employing and developing the broader theoretical frameworks of postfeminism, individualisation, neoliberalism, and difference, this thesis intervenes in current debates by highlighting the role of heteronormativity in negotiations of feminism. The study is based on forty, semi-structured qualitative in-depth interviews with a diverse group of German and British women, aged 18-35. A discursive analysis of the interviews provides an insight into young women's talk, thoughts, and feelings about feminism. Exemplifying a postfeminist logic, two broad patterns were discernable in the research participants' talk: feminism was either considered as valuable, but anachronistic and therefore irrelevant to the present, or fiercely repudiated as extreme and dogmatic. While most research participants reported they would not call themselves a feminist, their stance towards feminism shifted depending on the cultural resources they drew on to discuss feminist politics. Reflecting the broader cultural currents of neoliberalism and individualisation, the respondents frequently rejected the need for a collective movement by positioning themselves as individuals who were capable of negotiating structural constraints autonomously. The research participants were aware of persistent gender inequalities, but located them predominantly in the public sphere and/or 'other' parts of the world, claiming they had not personally experienced gender discrimination. Feminists were overwhelmingly portrayed and constructed as unfeminine, man-hating, and lesbian. Although the respondents could not name any concrete examples of feminists who corresponded to this stereotype, the construction of 'the feminist' haunted their accounts. As the performative approach illustrates, discussions of feminism gave rise to complex negotiations and performative citations of normative femininity. Performances of femininity were racialized and classed, intersecting with feminist dis-identification in multiple ways. The perception of feminism as inclusive or exclusive figured as an important theme in the interviews. This thesis adds to our understanding of feminist dis-identification by employing various theoretical tools, drawing on empirical accounts, and by revealing the structuring role of heteronormativity in negotiations of feminism.