Living with the enemy – German immigrants in Nottingham during the First World War

Abstract

This article uses primary sources to examine German immigrants and their descendants in Nottingham during the First World War. This review is placed in a British context with the aid of secondary sources. It finds that a major provincial city with a relatively very small German population replicated what happened across Britain, but with fear for repercussions contributing to an almost total lack of local support and a failure of the migrants to speak out. It also establishes that the business boycott and exclusion that occurred all over Britain came much later in Nottingham, while anti-German violence was less severe and sustained than elsewhere. In Nottingham well-connected migrants in the lace industry continued to prosper. However, many working and lower middle class migrants were interned and deported or left the city, which resulted in a remarkable decline of the German population of Nottingham.