(CNN) -- In Europe, the English have a reputation. They are notorious for prodigious drinking at Mediterranean resorts, a complete inability to master other languages and the habit of recalling World War Two every time England plays Germany at football -- or when it's time to remind the French of their spineless defeatism.





In turn, the words "perfidious Albion" have for centuries been part of a deep-seated French distrust of the English. "The English lie at mid-point between men and beasts," wrote the French author Robert-Martin Lesuire in 1760. Much more recently, French politicians have railed against "Anglo-Saxon" free-market capitalism as being responsible for the global financial meltdown. Just two weeks ago, French President Nicolas Sarkozy complained that globalization and free trade were at the root of the Eurozone crisis.





For their part, Germans are puzzled by the endless fascination of the British with the wars of the 20th century. "The older generation in particular see it as the last great act of national collective effort and self-assertion, the final episode in the history of the Empire before its imminent dissolution," writes the philosopher Gunnar Beck. He's not making it up. In 2010, an astonishing 850 books about the Third Reich were published in Britain.





Germans are relieved that the French don't have such visceral memories of war but wish they'd have more financial rectitude and a little less flamboyance. The Germans have fond memories of the deutsche mark, which rose out of the ashes with West Germany and was sacrificed for the euro. Chancellor Angela Merkel is conscious of a growing resentment among Germans that they must constantly open their wallets to support the more profligate Europeans.





This strange triangular relationship is often played out in the councils of Europe. But frequently Britain is the odd man out -- the semi-detached and half-hearted member of the European Union. The United Kingdom has always looked across the Atlantic as much as across the Channel to pursue its interests -- a sentiment only reinforced by memories of wartime Atlantic convoys that resupplied Britain and by the allied landings in Normandy.





By contrast, visionaries like Jean Monnet of France and Konrad Adenauer of West Germany, looking out at the ruins of Europe in the late 1940s, sought ways to bind together former enemies. The First World War had supposedly been the "war to end all wars." But this time, when they said "never again," they meant it. "Make men work together. Show them that beyond their differences and geographical boundaries there lies a common interest," Monnet said.





Last week, both Merkel and Sarkozy have summoned the ghosts of conflict to galvanize support for the European ideal, with Merkel warning the continent faces its gravest hour since 1945.





The ideal they are trying to save began modestly enough, with the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952: a single market for the coal and steel of six countries. But that common market was soon extended to become the European Economic Community (EEC), and gradually more aspects of national sovereignty were pooled. It was a Franco-German dream. Britain was too busy divesting itself of empire.





And when it turned from colonies to Europe, it bumped up against Charles de Gaulle, who dominated French politics for much of the post-war period. De Gaulle was innately suspicious of Britain and its "special relationship" with the United States. He twice vetoed British applications to join the evolving common market; and pulled France out of NATO's military command.





Once de Gaulle was gone, Britain -- under the leadership of the pro-European Conservative Edward Heath -- was finally accepted into the EEC. But Heath was in a minority among Britain's Conservatives, who would spend the next generation arguing over Europe.





The centrists saw Europe as essential to Britain's trading and financial future in a world of titans. The "Little Englanders" as they were often scornfully described, thought Europeans elitist, given to endless bureaucracy and determined to undermine a millennium of English self-rule.





And the Germans and the French were usually
What kind of relationship does Britain, Germany, and France have? Explain how has Britain been the odd man out?
strange triangular the semi-detached and half-hearted member of the European Union.
question: What kind of relationship does Britain, Germany, and France have?, answer: strange triangular | question: Explain how has Britain been the odd man out?, answer: the semi-detached and half-hearted member of the European Union.