Make England hold Calais as long as possible

History of Calais on Wikipedia

So anybody have ideas how Calais can be kept in English hand for the coming centuries?

What if the defense of Calais, considered "an integral part" of Kingdom of England, is not neglected, and the French cannot take over the city in the coming decades? Its habitants will become more and more English, and aligning themselves with London instead of Paris over time.

So how would it react with OTL events? Can Louis XIV won his wars of reunions in the north against Spanish Netherlands with Calais on his flank? If not, the northern border of France would be longer, lying further? to the south and less defendable, which may have a long-lasting effect.

More Huguenots may choose to take refuge in Calais and then England across the channel instead of Holland and Germany as in OTL. So, would England's economy benefit from this influx of labour? Or, the defense of Calais would deplete the English Treasury and in fact hinder the English economy?

And, how would the French Revolution be affected?

Please discuss.
 
What about if Henry V survives and France and England are unified into a single country? Butterfly out the whole Joan of Arc situation and have Henry V live to a ripe old age and then Calais becomes an essential port in the middle of England-France.

Then, as time passes, Scotland and Ireland are annexed into SuperEngland, and Burgundy, Flanders and Navarre solidify on the southern and Western Borders of SuperEngland.

If SuperEngland forges a solid national identity throughout its territory and isn't torn apart by nationalism in the 1800s, Calais could well remain part of England to this day.
 
Calais

I see the region as too small for England to hold onto indefinitely. If Mary had not lost it, I see it falling during the civil wars between Cromwell and the Stuarts.
 

That, my friend, is thread hijacking.

At some point an English government would deem it necessary to enlarge it slightly.

Boulogne (actually ruled by Henry VIII for a while), Dunkirk (held for a few years a century after Calais was lost), Etaples, Montreuil, St-Omer, and Gravelines. For good measure, also give the English Le Havre, Ushant and a Breton client state. But this would require things to go quite badly for France in the early 16th century.
 
So would the POD have Henry VIII taking more after his little war with France?

Actually I was wrong, the city was held by both Henry VIII and Edward VI (AFAIK in 1544-1550). England was at that time fighting both France and Scotland. Someone more knowledgeable about this conflict could tell you what it would take to keep Boulogne English.

Another interesting possibility is an English intervention in the early French Wars of Religion, after the loss of Calais. Le Havre was occupied in 1562-1563 on behalf of the Huguenots, but it seems Elizabeth's true purpose was to either keep the port or trade it for some other, preferably Calais.
 
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