Continental sword
As continental sword were designated in history and journalism especially the 18th and 19th century buzzwords are exposed defenders of the power-political interests of the United Kingdom on the European mainland .
Classic use
So you saw z. B. Prussia as a continental sword during the Seven Years' War , which was supposed to keep political opponents at a distance like a sword . Napoleon Bonaparte saw in Russia the continental sword of Britain.
The background to this perspective was the historically determined relative neglect of the English land forces compared to the naval construction of the naval power England from the last third of the 16th century. Anyone who could not be directly present on the territory of the potential enemy in times of impracticability of an invasion by sea therefore needed a continental sword in order to be able to emphasize his power politics.
Even in the 20th century this term was still used when France was used as the mainland sword of Great Britain during the First World War , e.g. B. by Erich von Falkenhayn , and in the course of the Second World War the German side described the Soviet Union as Great Britain's mainland sword, which one had to "knock out of the hand."
Change of concept
The Federal Republic of Germany and Turkey have recently been referred to by right-wing conservatives as the continental swords of the USA . This also illustrates the fact that Great Britain adopted its world power or sea power status at the latest since the Second World War , which is now itself transferred to the United States in the catchphrase. What is unusual, however, is the designation of Croatia as a potential continental sword of the USA.
Occasionally, the linguistic image was also transferred to individuals: According to the taz, Christoph Stölzl was " suddenly suspected in Berlin as the 'historical political mainland sword of the conservative Federal Chancellor' Kohl " . In this very crooked picture, neither the transcontinental addressee nor the power-political object fit into the historical tradition.
literature
- Jörg Femers: German-British options. Studies on international politics in the late Bismarck era (1879–1890). VT, Trier 2006, ISBN 978-3-88476-834-1 .
Web links
- German maritime interests yesterday and today , Hans Frank, President of the Federal Academy for Security Policy and Vice Admiral ret. D. on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of the German Naval Museum, April 2003 (PDF file; 93 kB)
Individual evidence
- ^ The end of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna , in: Neuzeit. From the Peace of Westphalia to the First World War. An approved work and textbook for history and social studies by Herbert Hasenmayer and Walter Göhring, with scientific advice from Adam Wandruszka, Vienna Verlag Ferdinand Hirt ( Memento of the original from September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ( MS Word ; 37 kB)
- ↑ www.dradio.de - Feldpostbriefe - Lettres de poilus
- ^ Rolf-Dieter Müller , Gerd R. Ueberschär : Hitler's War in the East 1941–1945. A research report. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2000, pp. 1-55, especially p. 30; Lothar Gall, Klaus Hildebrand: Encyclopedia of German History, The Foreign Policy of the Third Reich. Oldenbourg, Munich 2006, p. 89.
- ↑ Karl Galster: Middle East: “With Yilmaz and Netanyahu, Washington is stabilizing its influence in the region. The US search continental sword " , Junge Freiheit , October 30, 1998th
- ↑ USA mainly rely on the Croats. Macedonia and Albania supplement containment of the Serbs as “southern bar” , Welt Online , April 6, 1996.
- ^ I am apolitical , taz.de , April 18, 2006; Gustav Seibt: World revolution is more beautiful than the middle class , Die Zeit , No. 15/2000.
