Perfidious Albion

For the magazine, see Perfidious Albion (magazine).

A WW1-era German propaganda history magazine invoking the "Perfidious Albion" trope

"Perfidious Albion" is a pejorative phrase used within the context of international relations diplomacy to refer to acts of diplomatic slights, duplicity, treachery and hence infidelity (with respect to perceived promises made to or alliances formed with other nation states) by monarchs or governments of the United Kingdom (or Great Britain prior to 1801, or England prior to 1707) in their pursuit of self-interest. Perfidious means not keeping one's faith or word (from the Latin word perfidia); Albion is an ancient and now poetic name for Great Britain.