Gott strafe England

The poem became an instance success in the German Empire as a result of "the rhetorical power with which it encapsulated a national emotional response to the outbreak of war".

[3] The slogan was humorously adopted by English-speakers to create the term "strafing", which refers to the military practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using automatic weapons; British Army officer William Gott, who served in World War I and World War II, was nicknamed "Strafer" by his comrades after they were exposed to the slogan.

In response, 4,000 residents of the city gathered in protest, singing the outlawed Deutschlandlied and knocking the hats off fellow Hamburgers who kept their heads covered.

[7] Czech writer Jaroslav Hašek made derisive references on the phrase several times in his 1921 novel The Good Soldier Švejk:[8] In the meantime the baroness drew presents out of the hamper: a dozen roast chickens wrapped up in pink silk paper and tied with a yellow and black silk ribbon, two bottles of a war liqueur with the label: ′Gott strafe England′.

"[10] American artist George Bellows, who made several anti-German works during the war, created a lithograph titled Gott Strafe (England) depicting German troops crucifying Allied soldiers.