TIMELINE - Postwar British-French relations

(Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he wanted to build a stronger alliance with Britain and improve cooperation on illegal immigration, defence and the economy during a two-day visit starting on Wednesday.

Sarkozy is due to begin a two-day visit to Britain on Wednesday as guest of the Queen.

Here is a chronology on Britain and France's on-off relationship since the end of World War Two.

1957 - France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands sign Treaty of Rome creating the European Economic Community (EEC).

1960s - French President Charles de Gaulle vetoes British entry to EEC.

1973 - With de Gaulle gone, Britain joins EEC.

1979 - Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher demands a 1-billion-pound rebate on Britain's payments to Europe. She blocks a 1980 European summit when she fails to get what she wants. A month later, Britain's payments are slashed.

November 1990 - Thatcher says Britain should not be pushed into closer union "through the back Delors", a pun on the name of Jacques Delors, the French head of the European Commission who seeks closer political union among member states.

Her former cabinet minister and ally, Sir Geoffrey Howe, attacks her anti-European stance, opening the way to a party leadership challenge that ended in her defeat.