H-NET BOOK REVIEW
Published by H-German@msu.edu (September, 1995)
Panikos Panayi. GERMAN IMMIGRANTS IN BRITAIN - 1815 TO 1914.
Oxford: Berg Publishers, 1995. $52.95 (cloth)
The Germans in Britain
Reviewed by Don Heinrich Tolzmann, University of Cincinnati, for
H-German <don.tolzmann@UC.edu>.
Although immigration history in general and German-American
history in particular have reached relative stages of
sophistication in the U.S., the study of immigration and of
particular ethnic groups in Europe is relatively unexplored.
However, largely due to migration movements, as well as to the
realities of population statistics, European scholars are moving to
questions dealing with increasingly multiethnic populations.
Britain, for example, needs to examine the peoples in her midst.
Historically, it has attracted peoples as the center of a now-lost
empire, as well as immigrants from Europe on their way to America.
This work deals with a significant group in Britain, the German
element. Only since the 1970s has the study of the Germans in
Britain attracted attention, at first, focusing primarily on the
refugees from the Third Reich, but later on, on the 19th and 20th
centuries. Hence, we have a field of study here, which is "im
Werden."
Panayi's fine work can be characterized as an introductory
history, not mainly primary source-based, but resting on a wide
range of secondary sources, and drawing heavily on the field of
German-American Studies, thus leading to numerous interesting
comparisons and conclusions between German-American and British-
German history. Additionally, the author has drawn on primary
materials in Britian and Germany. As such, the work is of concern
to those interested in the topic of the German immigration and
settlement in Britain and America, as well as to those who are now
dealing with the question of European societies becoming evermore
multicultural.
In chapter I, "The Pre-Nineteenth Century Period," Panayi
discusses the migration of Germans to Britain before 1815. Here, we
see that the post-1815 period was an obvious continuation of an
older chain-migration, and that the German communities owed their
origins and institutions to earlier migrations. Indeed, the
nineteenth century German communities "did not appear out of
nowhere but expanded on previous settlements." (p. 2) Already in
the period of the Roman Empire German migration to Britain had
begun, but the first massive wave came in the 5/6th centuries with
the migration of 50/100,000 Angles and Saxons.
Migration increased during the period of the Hanse and the
rise of the German merchants, so that several of the early German
communities in Britain were actually Hanseatic in nature. Other
migrations followed as a result of the Reformation and the Thirty
Years War. A major push factor was that southwest Germany was
subjected to French aggression after the Thirty Years War,
especially in 1674 and 1709. This left the region devastated, with
the result that mass migration took place, and became known as the
Palatine Exodus In America, these immigrants became the ancestors
of today's Pennsylvania Germans, but some of them didn't make the
trip to America, but remained in Britain. The Hannoverian
connection to England (1714-1837) is traced, focusing on Haendel
and the other German musicians who came across the channel in that
period.
In chapter II, "German Migration to Britain in the Nineteenth
Century," the author examines the reasons Germans came, so that by
1914 they formed the largest non-English element after the Irish.
He deals with the complex web of push, enabling, and pull factors,
and the concepts of underlying, short-term and personal reasons for
migration. In terms of push factors, he points to large population
growth and the patterns of land ownership, but does not adequately
deal with the basic problem of German disunity and the related
socio-economic and political problems ensuing therefrom. As a push
factor, he focuses on the advanced industrial development in
Britain, which pulled many, but no so many as the at that time
greatly advancing U.S. economy. Short-term factors are identified,
such as harvest failures and upward trends in the American economy.
Personal factors were the pressures of family and friends in
Britain, which formed links in chain migration process. Immigrants
arriving in the nineteenth century were coming from the same places
that immigrants to the U.S. originated from. Enabling factors
coming into play were the growth of shipping routes which stopped
in Britain, and which led to migration decisions to remain in that
country.
Chapter III, "Residential, Age, and Gender, and Occupational
Distribution," deals mainly with the first and last factors of the
chapter title. In terms of distribution, Germans concentrated on
the Greater London area, so that 50% of them resided there. Within
their communities, Germans divided along class lines, as it did in
the British population as well. Age and gender distribution reveal
that males predominated in the migration, whereas families did in
the case of German migration to the U.S. In terms of class, the
author identifies the following strata: an underclass, the poor and
working class, and the bourgeoise.
In chapter IV, "Ethnic Organisations" are discussed. Panayi
bases his definition on that of Floya Anthias, who states that
ethnic groups are "premised on the development of solidary bonds
and consciousness and an imaginary origin (often called myth of
origin) which may be located in diverse ways, historically,
culturally, or territorially." (p. xvii) This also takes into
consideration class divisions within ethnic groups. In this
chapter, the author demonstrates how German ethnicity was
maintained via German ethnic organizations, which revolved around
religion, philanthropy, culture, and politics. Chapters III-IV
demonstrate that the Germans in Britain were a diverse group in
terms of class and origin. In short, they represented a cross-
section of society.
In the final chapter, "British Attitudes Towards Germany,
Germans and German Immigrants," Panayi argues that there was a
positive image based on a variety of images of the German
countryside, German learning and culture. This positive and
romanticized image was transformed in the Edwardian Era due to the
deteriorating relations with Germany, as the latter was
increasingly viewed as a threat to Britain and its Empire. The
positive image, hence, was replaced by that of a negative one.
In conclusion, the work provides a general introduction to the
history of the German element in Britain, and one which sets the
stage for further studies. Indeed, it is hoped that the author will
follow up with a study of the Germans in Britain during the period
of the world wars. Also, the pre-nineteenth century of the Germans
in Britain is one which is in need of greater exploration.
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