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In 1066, Norman invaders lead by William the Conqueror crossed the English Channel and invaded England. It was to be nine centuries before the feat was repeated, but In 1909, another Frenchman, Louis Blériot, flew his small custom monoplane from Calais to the cliffs of Dover, effectively ending England's "island impregnability."
And it's been downhill from there.
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For most of her modern history, England's channel guarded her shores from the military and cultural influences of France and the greater continent. Patrolled by the greatest navy in its day, the Channel was more than a mere physical barrier; it was a political and social barrier.
The invention of the airplane changed it all. What would have previously required a naval crossing and beachfront invasion could be accomplished by aeronautical vessels unfettered by terrestrial impediments. As soon as 1910, foreign nations set about deciding how to carve England up; for her fall was all but inevitable. Though the tide was turned in World War I and England's destiny as a Deutsches Schutzgebiet was set aside for the moment, it was to be a temporary respite. The Battle of Britain in 1940 showed exactly how death could be rained from the air. The military and civilian casualties of the Blitz need no elaboration. And the advent of the V1 and invincible V2 rockets foreshadowed an era when foreign militaries would no longer have to invest human capital in their bombardments. Though England eventually defeated Germany with the help of Canadians and Americans, the lesson had been learned. The legacy of Blériot's voyage had come home to roost. Since then, the Channel has seen innumerable insults to its once proud heritage. Commercial ferry crossings became routine, and in 1994, construction was completed on the Channel-Tunnel ("Chunnel"), connecting Paris to London by train. Fears of convoys of French soldiers arriving at night had delayed the tunnel's construction for more than a century, as had the acumen of the visionary Thatcher administration. But at last, the Channel no longer presented even a barrier to terrestrial vehicles; cars and trains carrying Frenchmen and other nationalities pour onto the shores of England today unimpeded. It is clear what must be done. The Channel must be again restored to its proper role: dividing England from the Continent and such deleterious influences as monetary union and federal police-state jurisdiction. All aeronautical intercourse between England and the Continent must be stopped, lest another Blériot give way to a Napoleon. Drawing from the architectural genius of American presidential candidate Patrick Buchanan, England must build a sea wall against the waves of immigration rolling over our shores". An enormous cement wall twenty kilometers tall and resting on pylons driven deep into the chalk of the Channel floor would deter the approach of uninvited aircraft. All naval vessels docking at England would be first diverted to the United States in a form of reverse colonial mercantilism, ensuring that all Continental vessels be first defused by the diligence of England's chief ally. The Chunnel would be severed without fanfare or apology. It's just that simple. How many more Englishmen must be lost to the meddling of European forces before these most sensible of steps be taken? In a mockery of Rupert Brooke's triumphant verses, will our grandchildren find nary a corner of an English field that is forever England? Will the assimilationist forces of the European Union at last extinguish the final breath of Anglo-Saxonry dating back to the Norman invaders and beyond?
Blair! Put up that wall! |