This thesis is about Anglo-German relations in Bradford and Huddersfield from 1830-1930. This century saw the rise and fall of a strong German presence in the West Riding of Yorkshire built primarily around the region’s textiles industry. The thesis begins by discussing German migration to Bradford and Huddersfield during the nineteenth century, started by a group of German Jews who saw Britain as a more liberal place to practice their religion. Later, groups of Germans moved who were more interested in trade, and brought European business connections to a geographical region with an expertise in the textiles industry. During the war, Anglo-German relations declined domestically across Britain, with many German communities being attacked or having their properties destroyed. Unique to certain communities in Bradford and Huddersfield, though, was a much more positive, sympathetic treatment of their local German neighbours. This thesis places local stories into a national historiographical context: whilst previous historical texts have discussed this topic on a local level, none have delved deep into the historiographical arguments that take place about the First World War. This thesis aims to do that. This thesis also discusses both Bradford and Huddersfield in detail, instead of just one, or focusing on a wider region such as Yorkshire as a whole. By discussing two regions with a similar industrial growth during the nineteenth century, it creates an opportunity to analyse how and why Anglo-German relations in this region developed based around the involvement of the German merchant class in contributing to the growth of the region. It is well known that Germans played a huge role in the region, but what has been less discussed is how this role changed over time, what, if any, impact this had in reducing anti-German sentiment in the First or Second World Wars, and why German merchants saw the West Riding region as being of such importance. This thesis has discovered that larger trends in the British Home Front during the First World war were reflected in a similar manner locally, within the areas of Bradford and Huddersfield, and their surrounding regions.
| Date of Award | 14 Oct 2025 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | Rebecca Gill (Main Supervisor) |
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