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With Europe but Not of It: Difference between revisions
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(Import from TV Tropes TVT:Main.WithEuropeButNotOfIt 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:Main.WithEuropeButNotOfIt, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license) |
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{{quote|''We are with Europe but not of it. We are linked but not combined. We are interested and associated but not absorbed.''|[[Winston Churchill]]}}
{{quote|FOG IN CHANNEL; CONTINENT CUT OFF|[[Beam Me Up, Scotty|Probably apocryphal British newspaper headline]]}}
{{quote|At the moment, Britain isn't even ''in'' the European car. We're outside the car at the traffic light going, "we're going to clean your windows, alright?"|[[Eddie Izzard]], ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{=}}dd5x3zp1QL0 Dress to Kill]''}}
The UK's rather odd relationship with the rest of Europe and the rest of the world. Not to be confused to the similar, though fiercely independent approach of Switzerland.
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British television can be picked up in Ireland, although few RTE programmes have come our way.
'''[[Cheese
The English have fought at least 20 wars against the French since the Norman Conquest. Before the Germans started seriously arming in the lead-up to [[World War
Today the British have a rather complex relationship with the French. They've had many differences over foreign policy, especially over the [[European Union]] (de Gaulle stopped British entry a couple of times). However, they fought together in both World Wars, signed the ''Entente Cordiale'' over a century ago and are in [[NATO]] together. In June 1940, an Anglo-French Union was seriously considered but overtaken by events. The two have recently signed a historic defensive and cooperation act, to save government military spending.
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Hostility between nations can probably be traced back to the Spanish Armada and the colonising of the Americas and such things eventually led to the popularity of somewhat "Spanish" villains in Renaissance fiction (notably in Shakespeare's "Othello"; Iago being named for the country's patron saint). For a long time Spain represented a Catholic Europe that Britain (specifically Protestant England; the Highland Scots didn't mind them so much) had been firmly sceptical of.
Modern relations with Spain are fairly pleasant. Like with France, many Brits will have holiday homes in the country and enjoy the culture. In fact, it is common to see characters in British television talk of clubbing in Ibiza or [[London Gangster|big bad crime lords]] going to Spain to disappear for a while (although there is now an extradition treaty with Spain, it is not retroactive).
There is of course, [[
'''Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll: The Dutch'''
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Over a million Brits visit Amsterdam every year. Note that they rarely want to visit ''the Netherlands''; [[Just Here for Godzilla|it's just that Amsterdam happens to be in the country]]. [[Freestate Amsterdam|Given the cheap and easy access in the city to virtually any sexual fetish (prostitution is a legal and, for the most part, well regulated business complete with its own union), the plentiful bars and clubs where one can buy an astonishing variety of legal soft-drugs such as cannabis and mushrooms]], and the fact that Amsterdam has had a thriving underground music scene for decades, it is perhaps unsurprising that it's a common weekend trip for many of them.
Some Brits also visit the rest of the country, but they are in such a minority as to be not worth mentioning.
'''The European Union'''
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Somewhat strangely, the SNP, who want Scottish independence, are also pro-European integration. They believe that Scotland will be more autonomous in a unified EU. Evidently having failed to notice that the EU constitutional treaties would [[Did Not Do the Research|automatically boot an independent Scotland out of the EU, probably causing economic collapse]]. This also applies to other EU member states with secessionist parts, such as Spain.
As of 2016, the prospect of "Brexit" (the eventual departure of the UK from the EU altogether) can have long-reaching consequences even across Europe. This is especially the case in light of the Brexit vote in the 2016 referendum, which defied many expectations and is already beginning to leave a lasting impact as the UK begins the process of departing from the EU.
'''Special Relationship: The Colonials - Americans'''
While the UK-US relationship was one of mutual animosity and resentment up until [[World War
The relationship can occasionally be strained, particularly when an American utters the [[Stock Phrase]] "We saved your asses in World War Two" (the civil response is usually something along the lines of "When you ''finally'' got round to it..."). It's not as hostile as Hollywood would like you to believe, though; it's not like the UK's still fighting the Revolution against the traitors.
The United Kingdom was, and still is, a valuable power projection place for the United States, considering it "an unsinkable aircraft carrier" (''The Unsinkable Aircraft Carrier'' was the name of a 1984 investigative work into US bases in the UK). This is probably the reason why Britain is called Airstrip One in ''[[Nineteen Eighty
They also share ''another'' unsinkable aircraft carrier, Diego Garcia, in the British Indian Ocean Territory.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Useful Notes/Britain]]
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