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Opposition to the C hannel T unnel, 1882–1975: Identity, Island Status and Security
Author(s) -
Redford Duncan
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.12
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 1468-229X
pISSN - 0018-2648
DOI - 10.1111/1468-229x.12046
Subject(s) - opposition (politics) , channel tunnel , period (music) , identity (music) , political science , political economy , law , sociology , history , economy , politics , engineering , economics , aesthetics , philosophy , civil engineering
This article will discuss the defence arguments that were used to oppose the channel tunnel, the relationship between these arguments and Britain's island status, the perceptions of British insularity, together with how and possibly why these changed in the period 1882–1975. The opposition to the C hannel T unnel project, especially in the period 1880 to 1945, can provide historians with a valuable insight into the British relationship with the sea. In particular, the opposition to a channel tunnel provides a way of analysing concepts of island status within Britain and what being an island meant to the British sense of self and identity, as they were expressed in the media as well as in official papers. At the same time, the changing attitudes to a channel tunnel, notably in the inter‐war period and the post‐1945 era, also show how the British understanding of what being an island state gave them in terms of security and identity changed. Such a change was as a result of new or improving technologies, particularly the aircraft, and the resulting impact it had on conceptions of security that being an island provided.