Land connection between England and Europe - Historum

civfanatic · November 27th, 2012, 05:30 PM

What if the ~40km between England and France in the Strait of Dover was land instead of water? How would this affect the history of England, Europe, and the World?

**Ancientgeezer** · November 27th, 2012, 06:05 PM

What period? They were connected until +- 8000BC

SNascimento · November 27th, 2012, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ancientgeezer

What period? They were connected until +- 8000BC

I'm sure he meant all throughout european history. So at least the last 25 centuries or so.

Paragonrex · November 27th, 2012, 08:37 PM

I would think it would hinge on the size of the land connection.

I think a good comparison would be the current Holstein/Schlesiwg connection between mainland Europe and Denmark.

I am sure my esteemed fellow Anceintgeezer could give a more detailed account of conflict over that region during the War Danish/German war.

But I think that is a very close marker for us to examine.

With that said the evolution of Britain as we know it would be very, very different as the Island unto itself mentality would be thrown out the window.

**Pacific_Victory** · November 27th, 2012, 08:48 PM

Britain would likely be part of France.

Mephistopheles · November 27th, 2012, 09:13 PM

Roman troop movements would have been considerably more simplistic from a logistical standpoint.

**Jake10** · November 27th, 2012, 09:48 PM

I guess the whole world would have changed. The Romans would have taken over the entire area, so there would never have been a Hadrian's Wall, Britain would have remained Catholic, because keeping the Spanish and French forces out would have been too difficult. Britain would never have ruled the seas, so France would have taken over North America while Spain would have taken South America. There would never have been a British Empire, so French and Spanish would be spoken throughout the world. China would have withstood European invasions. Japan would have been a lot weaker. The industrial revolution would probably have started in Germany, and the Germans would have taken over all of Europe in WWI. Without America to save the day, Germany would have become an empire. Germany would have invaded China...

amberroberts09 · November 27th, 2012, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jake10

I guess the whole world would have changed. The Romans would have taken over the entire area, so there would never have been a Hadrian's Wall, Britain would have remained Catholic, because keeping the Spanish and French forces out would have been too difficult. Britain would never have ruled the seas, so France would have taken over North America while Spain would have taken South America. There would never have been a British Empire, so French and Spanish would be spoken throughout the world. China would have withstood European invasions. Japan would have been a lot weaker. The industrial revolution would probably have started in Germany, and the Germans would have taken over all of Europe in WWI. Without America to save the day, Germany would have become an empire. Germany would have invaded China...

I agree!!

funakison · November 27th, 2012, 11:45 PM

[QUOTE=Jake10;1270661]I guess the whole world would have changed. The Romans would have taken over the entire area, so there would never have been a Hadrian's Wall, Britain would have remained Catholic, because keeping the Spanish and French forces out would have been too difficult. Britain would never have ruled the seas QUOTE]

Britain is swallowed by Napoleon....... after that it all gets a bit hazy until Churchill starts the British independence movement in the first part of the 20th Century

**Kevinmeath** · November 28th, 2012, 01:10 AM

Brittany would have been bigger