View source for Gott strafe England

{{Short description|German anti-British slogan during World War I}}
{{italics title}}
{{verification|date=April 2024}}
[[File:Soldiers and locals outside a German grafittied building, during World War I (3011964973).jpg|thumb|British soldiers and French civilians next to the slogan painted on a wall, 1 January 1918. The slogan was graffitied onto the wall by German troops.]]

{{lang|de|'''Gott strafe England'''}} ({{lit|May God punish England}}) was an [[Anti-British sentiment|anti-British]] [[slogan]] coined by German poet [[Ernst Lissauer]] in 1917 during [[World War I]]. The slogan immediately gained widespread popularity in the [[German Empire]], which had been at war with [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] since 1914, and was widely reproduced in Germany's [[popular culture]]. The [[Imperial German Army]] also adopted the slogan as a motto for its soldiers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hschamberlain.net/kriegsaufsaetze/hassgesang.html |title=Hassgesang gegen England — Hymn of Hate, by Ernst Lissauer |publisher=Hschamberlain.net |date=1914-10-15 |accessdate=2013-07-12 |url-status=usurped |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529135342/http://www.hschamberlain.net/kriegsaufsaetze/hassgesang.html |archivedate=2013-05-29 }}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Ernst Lissauer.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Ernst Lissauer]], who coined the slogan]]

In August 1914, after the outbreak of [[World War I]], German poet [[Ernst Lissauer]] published the [[Anti-British sentiment|anti-British]] poem ''Hassgesang gegen England'' ("Song of hate against England"), which in the words of Austrian writer [[Stefan Zweig]] "fell like a shell into a munitions depot". The poem became an instant success in the [[German Empire]] as a result of "the rhetorical power with which it encapsulated a national emotional response to the outbreak of war". [[Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria]], the commander of the [[Imperial German Army]]'s [[6th Army (German Empire)|6th Army]], ordered copies of the poem to be distributed to his troops, and [[Wilhelm II]] conferred the [[Order of the Red Eagle]] upon Lissauer.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Millington |first1=Richard |last2=Smith |first2=Roger |title="A Few Bars of the Hymn of Hate": The Reception of Ernst Lissauer's "Haßgesang gegen England" in German and English |journal=Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature |date=15 June 2017 |volume=41 |issue=2 |doi=10.4148/2334-4415.1928 |url=http://newprairiepress.org/sttcl/vol41/iss2/5 |accessdate=3 September 2018|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Three years after writing the poem, Lissauer coined the slogan ''Gott strafe England'' ("May God punish England"), which achieved similar levels of popularity in Germany, appearing in [[popular culture]] such as [[cufflink]]s and [[postcard]]s and being adopted as a motto by the German army. The slogan, which was commonly chanted by [[Jingoism|jingoistic]] crowds in German cities, was met with disapproval among some in the German intelligentsia, with [[John Heartfield|Helmut Herzfeld]] anglicising his name to [[John Heartfield]] in protest. The German government was accused of issuing a stamp with the slogan, which they denied, though a number of unofficial stamps bearing the slogan were produced by [[Non-governmental organization|non-governmental organisations]] such as the [[Federation of the Germans in Lower Austria]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/RC02377 |title=Gott Strafe England Cinderella Stamp &#124; Australian War Memorial |publisher=Cas.awm.gov.au |accessdate=2013-07-12 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910205907/http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/RC02377 |archivedate=2012-09-10 }}</ref>

The slogan was humorously adopted by English-speakers to create the term "[[strafing]]", which refers to the military practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using [[automatic weapon]]s; [[British Army]] officer [[William Gott]], who served in World War I and [[World War II]], was nicknamed "Strafer" by his [[Comrade|comrades]] after they were exposed to the slogan.<ref name="askoxford">{{cite web|url=http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/strafe?view=uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312211442/http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/strafe?view=uk |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 12, 2007 |title=Oxford Dictionaries – Dictionary, Thesaurus, & Grammar – "Gott strafe England" as origin of "to strafe" |publisher=askoxford.com|access-date=4 September 2015}}</ref><ref>Richard B.H. Lewis, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120316234800/http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2007/July%202007/0707strafing.aspx The Art of Strafing]}}, July 2007, airforce-magazine.com</ref><ref name="Merriam-Webster 2023 f253">{{cite web | title=Definition of STRAFE | website=Merriam-Webster | date=2023-10-10 | url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/strafe | access-date=2023-10-12}}</ref>

In 1946, [[British occupation zone in Germany|British occupational authorities]] in [[Hamburg]] issued [[eviction]] orders to make room for a new headquarters. In response, 4,000 residents of the city gathered in protest, singing the outlawed ''[[Deutschlandlied]]'' and knocking the hats off fellow Hamburgers who kept their heads covered. The crowd chanted a variety of slogans, including "We’re not [[Indian people|Indians]], not [[coolie]]s, we must be treated like Germans", [[Antisemitism in Europe#Germany|antisemitic slogans]] and "Gott strafe England". The final slogan led the [[Royal Military Police]] to arrest eleven members of the crowd.<ref>[http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,778709,00.html "Foreign News: Gott Strafe England"], ''Time'', July 08, 1946</ref>

== In popular culture ==
[[File:Gott Strafe (Gott Strafe England) SAAM-1983.90.8 1.jpg|thumb|''Gott Strafe (England)'', an anti-German painting by American artist [[George Bellows]]]]

Czech writer [[Jaroslav Hašek]] made derisive references on the phrase several times in his 1921 novel ''[[The Good Soldier Švejk]]'':<ref>{{cite web | url=https://svejkmuseum.cz/new/slovnik/r_gott_strafe.htm | title=Slovníček }}</ref> 

{{quote|
In the meantime the baroness drew presents out of the hamper: a dozen roast chickens wrapped up in pink silk paper and tied with a [[Flag of the Habsburg monarchy|yellow and black]] silk ribbon, two bottles of a war liqueur with the label: ''′Gott strafe England′''. On the back of the label was a picture of [[Franz Joseph]] and [[Wilhelm II|Wilhelm]] clasping hands as though they were going to play the nursery game: ′Bunny sat alone in his hole. Poor little bunny, what's wrong with you that you can't hop!′<ref>{{cite book |last=Hašek |first=Jaroslav|date=2005 |title=The Good Soldier Švejk |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-JEttAEACAAJ|publisher=Penguin Publishing Group|page=71|isbn=978014044991-4}}</ref>
}}

English poet [[J. C. Squire]] satirizes the phrase in his poem "God Heard the Embattled Nations":

{{quote|<poem>
God heard the embattled nations sing and shout
"Gott strafe England" and "God save the King!"
God this, God that, and God the other thing –
"Good God!" said God, "I've got my work cut out!"<ref>{{Cite web |last=Squire |first=J. C. |title=God heard the embattled nations sing and shout "Gott strafe England"… |url=http://www.quotesstar.com/quotes/g/god-heard-the-embattled-nations-109531.html |url-status=dead |website=Star Quotes |accessdate=2010-08-03 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308170250/http://www.quotesstar.com/quotes/g/god-heard-the-embattled-nations-109531.html |archivedate=2012-03-08}}</ref>
</poem>}}

American artist [[George Bellows]], who made several anti-German works during the war, created a lithograph titled ''Gott Strafe (England)'' depicting German troops [[The Crucified Soldier|crucifying Allied soldiers]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=1757 |title=Gott Strafe (Gott Strafe England) by George Bellows / American Art |publisher=Americanart.si.edu |date= |accessdate=2013-07-12}}</ref>
[[Louis Raemaekers]] created a cartoon titled "Gott strafe England".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=0Aeev1QQOeYC&dq=Gott+strafe+England&pg=PA233 ''Raemaekers' Cartoons''], BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2009, {{ISBN|978-0-559-12667-3}}</ref>

== See also ==

* ''[[Gott mit uns]]''
* ''[[Ten German Bombers]]''

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1917 quotations]]
[[Category:Anti-British sentiment]]
[[Category:German Empire in World War I]]
[[Category:German words and phrases]]
[[Category:Germany–United Kingdom relations]]
[[Category:Quotations from military]]
[[Category:Slogans]]
[[Category:World War I propaganda]]

[[de:Liste geflügelter Worte/G#Gott strafe England!]]