Ollie, thanks for such a comprehensive answer! I’ve obviously touched on a particular interest of yours. I am not very familiar with this particular era, so my views are very simplistic in comparison and are therefore not as detailed or well researched, but they go something like this:
Surly Germany in 1897 would not have been viewed as much of a threat to Great Britain since she only started building large battleships in 1898 and influenced the Boer war from 1899
http://www.friesian.com/dreadnot.htm.
Great Britain’s policy for hundreds of years up to 1945 was to maintain the balance of power by allying with the weaker group in Europe, thereby restricting any dominant power that could be a threat to Britain or her Empire. France challenged Britain’s position in the 18th and early 19th centuries, but she was usually defeated by Britain in alliance with Germanic states such as Austria and Prussia. It is therefore not surprising that Germany was viewed as an asset at that time. Even after WW1 France was seen as a natural enemy by some commanders e.g. "The French, they’re the fellows we shall be fighting next" (Haig 1919)
As you say, an anti German feeling was certainly much in evidence in America in WW1. This sometimes reached hysterical proportions. I understand there were ‘kick a Daschund’campaigns to remind these dogs of their Germanic roots!