A modern day British Calais?

The port town of Calais in northern France was held by England for centuries and was an incredibly wealthy center of trade. It was finally lost in 1558, but what if England had managed to hold onto it until modern day? What would the city itself be like, and what effect would a British holding on the mainland have on the rest of Europe?
 
The only way to get that is either as part of an Anglo-french empire or if France somehow fails to form. In most cases, a pre 1900 PoD

The first could be as a result of the 100y war or as a result of Richard kiling the Marshall ( so Louis is King of England and France ) - or, obviously with a PoD in 1940:D

The second requires that Burgundy/Netherlands(+Lorraine ) and Toulouse/Provence become souvereign states. Definitely a pre-1900 PoD
 
The only way to get that is either as part of an Anglo-french empire or if France somehow fails to form. In most cases, a pre 1900 PoD

Yes, wrong place to post.

The first could be as a result (...) obviously with a PoD in 1940

But that would not be "England managing to hold onto Calais until the modern day", would it?

This should be moved elsewhere.
 
But that would not be "England managing to hold onto Calais until the modern day", would it?
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No, it would be ENgland gets back control of Calais in the XXth century.

Of course, there's another possibility. A fascist England ( Mosby? ) allies with Hitler and gets Calais back as it's 30 pieces of silver, ala Mussolini getting Nice.
 
I don't think there's a problem with the thread being here, because the poster wants to discuss what it would be like today

It would look very odd to ask that question in the pre-1900 forum

Sure, in order to get to today would need a pre-1900 POD, but I think its one of those times when dogmatically forcing the thread to move would mean that many of those who might engage with it won't see it

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Gibraltar on the Channel

IMHO, Gibralter can be supplied from sea while some-what protected from land-guns, can only be attacked across the narrow, flat 'Neck', and has the eponymous Rock to overlook attackers...

Unless you can re-arrange Calais' geography to provide a natural fortress, you must create a star-plan trace extending many miles-- Like Antwerp ?? By 1940, it might resemble the Belgian Forts or Maginot Line.

FWIW, there's ATMahan's 'Rule Britannia' on new HP&CA site with one possible consequence of a 'British Calais'. Um, I don't know if you must register to read, but linky follows. Beware wrap...

http://www.tboverse.us/HPCAFORUM/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=15&sid=55e69ac9a60142844bf7c4d9aa7263fd

Wild, wild thought: A Channel Tunnel was begun in 1880 --Go Google !!-- then abandoned over concerns about security. But if Calais was a fortified British holding, that's a different ball-game...
 
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