Culture Libre (Napoleon's World)

The culture libre (English: free culture) was a French cultural and political movement in the 1980's and early 1990's which saw a gradual liberalization of French media, political speech, business practice and a transition towards a partially constitutional monarchy from the totalitarian state that had existed in the 1950's through the late 1970's. In particular, the movement inspired a renaissance of creativity and freedom of expression, as well as allowing significant amounts of foreign entertainment and ideas into France.

The denationalization of many industries and resources - in particular the 1990 firesale of the French transportation infrastructure to the "chosen monopolies" - is regarded as a major factor in the 1990's French ecconomic boom. While his foreign policy was considerably more hawkish and aggressive than his father's, the culture libre led to Emperor Albert II being referred to as "the Great Liberal." The swelling of social conservatism in the late 1990's in France is also often attributed to the decadence of the culture libre and the "Wild Nineties."