Don't Mention the War to the Germans ... the Gulf War

More than 50 years after they stopped fighting one another, Britain and Germany remain divided by a war.

But the conflict in question is not the second world war. Tony Blair's support for the US in invading Iraq has prompted young Germans to say it is the British who are warmongers.

A survey yesterday showed that the British role in the Gulf, and its close relationship with America in general, is the aspect that most annoys Germans aged between 16 and 25.

Britain "swims in the wake of the US - they are eager for war," said one respondent. Another said: "The British government is the puppet of America."

More than 40% of the 1,000 questioned picked "politics" - including Iraq, attitude to the EU, and the conflict in Northern Ireland - as the most negative aspect of Britain.

Many derided the "food, frequent rain and English beer". Others complained of high prices and lingering prejudices. "English schoolchildren often insult German schoolchildren, mostly using the word Nazi," said one. There was praise for the landscape, sightseeing and London - "a world city full of different cultures".

Nearly half had a positive view of Britain. The language, monarchy and multiculturalism were highly regarded.

The survey, conducted for the British Council and its German equivalent the Goethe-Institut, questioned the same number of young Britons about their attitudes to Germany.

The responses were flavoured by familiar rivalries: "Starting two world wars and their football team," as one British respondent put it. The positive aspects of German life boiled down to "cars and sausages".