It was Just a Pizza Parlour

In a recent debate on Britain's place in the European Union held at Bloomberg's London headquarters Luke Johnson, famous for having created the Pizza Express brand, decided to show that he should have stuck to pizza and not politics by announcing that "the European Union was 'built on German guilt' after World War Two".

No Mr Johnson, Germany has many things for which its sense of guilt associated with the Second World War "directs" it choices, but the creation of the EU is not one of them.  

Germany was indeed involved in the creation of the EEC.  But it was not out of guilt.  It was corralled into the EEC out of fear by the victorious allies.  A fear that Germany would once again, despite an unconditional surrender and a complete collapse, physically, politically and economically, rise up and once again wreak havoc in Europe.

Now if you want to twist things and say that it was guilt that made Germany  provide the bulk of troops to NATO second only to the US, you can.

If you want to twist things to suggest that it was guilt that made Germany  pay more into the European Economic Community than it received, you can.

If you want to twist things to suggest that guilt was the driver behinds Germany's  willingness to take a "backseat" at the table, then you can.

But you would be wrong.

No Mr Johnson, I don't think your memory-if you ever took the time to look into the facts-is clear.  I think that you are forgetting that despite the integration of Germany into Europe by the victors it is once again becoming the dominant continental power-a thought which is anathema to 600 years of English geopolitical strategy.

Granted, this time it is through economic rather than military prowess, it still stirs that underlying British fear of German hegemony in Europe.

And so it is not surprising that Mr Johnson would try and play the guilt card to try and squeeze Germany back into its box. 
                                                            
No not surprising.  

And not correct.