Come June 23, the UK could well find its ties with Europe diminishing in the wake of the Brexit referendum. This island nation's relationship with the continental mainland has always been fraught, and conflict between the major powers has punctuated European history, from the Spanish Armada and Napoleon to the Great War and the rise of fascism. Despite - or perhaps because of - this almost ever-present tension, plans to connect the UK to mainland Europe have been around for centuries. In March 1876, The Engineer compiled an extensive round-up of concepts from the time, including tunnels, tubes and bridges. But according to that same edition, proposals to create a link between Britain and France go much further back. "The first proposition to unite England and France was made in 1802 by Monsieur Mathieu," wrote our predecessors, "whose plans were laid before the First Napoleon, then First Consul, and were afterwards exhibited at the Luxembourg and public galleries in Paris. They have, however, long since been lost, and with them the proposed method of carrying out the work".
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