An ‘Entente Cordiale’? The Anglo-German tours (1911-1914) and the lead up to World War One

On 28 June 1914, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian  throne, was assassinated by a Bosnian-Serb. A series of events followed which ultimately led to more than 30 nations being involved it what was often   called the Great War. The scale of the 1914-18 war was unprecedented. Fighting took place on the Western Front (in France and Belgium), in eastern and southeast Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Although the final trigger for war was the murder of Archduke Ferdinand, the underlying causes dated back much further. Imperialism, economic rivalries, militarism, nationalism and alliances between nations stretching back over 30 years all contributed to the tensions that would lead to conflict.

It was against this backdrop that, in 1911, King’s introduced a series of exchange visits to Germany with the hope of building better relations between the two countries.

‘Many attempts have from time to time been made to bring about a better understanding and closer relations between boys and girls of different countries. They have been encouraged to write letters to one another, and to visit one another's homes; just as their teachers are now being encouraged to meet in conference or to effect a brief interchange of methods and of duties. But one of the most novel, attractive and successful of these experiments has been initiated by King's College School in the Easter holidays just passed. Thanks to the senior German master at that school, and to the kindness of Professor Kuhne, Direktor of the Evangelische Paedagogium, a big boarding-school for boys at Godesberg, on the Rhine, arrangements were made and carried out by which some dozen or more K. C. S. boys of different ages and attainments, were enabled, under Mr. Koch's skilful management, to make the Godesberg School the headquarters of a delightful and thoroughly educational tour in the lovely Rhine district of which Godesberg is the Centre.’

 Surrey Comet, 1911

 'An interesting practical experiment...'

Between 1911 and 1914 four visits to Germany were organized for pupils from King’s; at least three return trips were made by German pupils to Wimbledon.

These Anglo-German school exchange trips were an exciting new venture for the school. They opened the eyes of King’s pupils and their German counterparts to various new things: cultural spaces, feats of engineering, geographical wonders and industry in action. Could they go further, however; could they also encourage peaceful relations between the two countries?

Travelling outside of Great Britain was still quite unusual at that time, and school trips abroad were pretty much unheard of. The journey from Wimbledon to Godesberg, where pupils on the first tour stayed at a boarding school, involved several trains and an overnight ferry crossing. The total time travelling would have been around 24 hours. It is not surprising that the Headmaster, Lionel Rogers, believed that they were the first school trip of their kind in England.

According to a newspaper report, it had been a pupil who first suggested the idea of visiting Germany. Why have only one visit when a whole group could go? The German master, Mr Koch, had taught at the Evangelische Paedagogium, a boarding school in Godesberg close to Bonn. He was well placed to make the necessary arrangements.

The visits all lasted around three weeks (including travel). Pupils saw sites such as castles, bridges, industrial centres and churches. They went wine tasting and discovered the joys of German patisseries. They walked in forests and journeyed on boat-trips along the Rhine.

The tours were ambitious, and not only in terms of the educational experience they offered. Lionel Rogers firmly believed they would develop empathy and a common understanding between the young people of the two countries and, in so doing, foster positive relationships based on mutual respect. As he said on Speech Day in 1911, if English boys –  

‘learned to know the customs, institutions, and ways of foreign nations; if they made friends with foreign boys, and lost their priggish estimate of others without forfeiting their legitimate pride in what was good at home, then… although they might not have universal peace they would be much more unlikely to be engaged in ignorant and senseless struggles.’ 

(H. Lionel Rogers, Headmaster of King's, Speech Day 1911)

His words suggest that Rogers was mindful of the political landscape–the tension between many European countries and the growing tendency to lean into nationalism in England and elsewhere.