Force German into Midlands river in quiet surroundings (8)
I believe the answer is:
strength
'force' is the definition.
(I know that force can be written as strength)
'german into midlands river in quiet surroundings' is the wordplay.
'german' becomes 'g' (abbreviation).
'into' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'midlands river' becomes 'trent' (River Trent).
'in quiet' becomes 'sh' (both can be said to tell someone to be quiet. I am not sure about the 'in' bit.).
'surroundings' is an insertion indicator.
'g' placed inside 'trent' is 'trengt'.
'trengt' inserted within 'sh' is 'STRENGTH'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for strength that I've seen before include "Physical or mental capacity" , "Concentration" , "Beneficial attribute" , "Forcefulness" , "Fortitude" .)