France (Cromwell the Great)

Article 1. - La République française est une et indivisible. Article 2. - L'universalité des citoyens français est le souverain. (First two articles of the French Constitution) France, officially the French Republic (French: République française), is a state in Western Europe with several overseas colonies, territories and islands located in Africa, Asia and Australia and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. The territories outside Metropolitan France are part of the French Overseas Territories.

History
The history of France is mostly the account of its political regimes from the failed constitutional monarchy to the various republican regimes it had.

National Assembly
European Revolutionary Wars - End of monarchy after monarchical parliamentarism failed -- Proclamation Republic

National Convention
The National Convention (Terror - Jacobins) - European Revolutionary Wars. Adoption adopted republican calendar, metric system. universal male suffrage.

Directory
The Directorial Constitution sought to remedy the worst of the terror and excess of power from either the legislative or executive and also the dangers from Jacobin extremism and royalist restauration. For that purpose the new constitution established a separation of powers between the executive, legislature and judiciary. The executive had no had no voice in legislation or taxation, nor any of its members sit in the legislature either house. To assure that the executive would have some independence, each would be elected by one portion of the legislature, and they could not be removed by the legislature unless they violated the law.

The Directorial Constitution established a five-man Directory that function as the executive chosen by the legislature in a complicated process and one Director, chosen by lot, was replaced each year. Ministers for the various departments of State aided the Directors. These ministers did not form a council or cabinet and had no general powers of government. A bicameral legislature with Council of Five Hundred and a Council of Ancients with two hundred fifty members. Election were by means of cantonal and departmental electoral assemblies. The members of the legislature had a term of three years, with one-third of the members renewed every year. The Ancients could not initiate new laws, but could veto those proposed by the Council of Five Hundred.

The judicial system was reformed, and judges were given short terms of office. They were elected, and could be re-elected, to assure their independence from the other branches of government.

Under the new Constitution to be eligible to vote in the elections for the Councils, voters were required to meet certain minimum property and residency standards. In towns with over six thousand population, they had to own or rent a property with a revenue equal to the standard income for at least one hundred fifty or two hundred days of work, and to have lived in their residence for at least a year.

The immediate goals of the Directory were to continue the War and secure a victory and peace, solve the economic crisis that was continual under the Directory despite its efforts to control inflation, secure revenues and solvency of french currency. Bur this caused caused a new crisis; prices and wages fell, and economic activity slowed to a standstill. Despite a serie of military triumphs and diplomatic approaches from Britain to arrange a permanent peace. Also the middle and moderate curse of the Directory did not fully solved the constant political crisis.

Grand Electorship
The Coup of Brumaire saw the dismissal of the Directory and the installation of a provisory three men executive under Emmanuel Sieyès supported by the Army. Once again attacking the infectives of the previous regime in this case also by wide corruption, the electoral manipulation in order to purge its rivals and the constant economical crisis. The new authorities promised only order and triumph. That is to say economic and social order and victory in the Revolutionary Wars that had become an escape valve for internal dissent and military rivals.

This time a constitutional commision drafted a the new Grand Elector ship constitution and had it approved in plebiscite. The new constitution provide for a strong executive and limitation of participation of citizens in government. The Grand Elector (Grand Electeur) is to be named for life by the Senate, which is composed of life members recruited through cooptation (based on lists submitted by the Legislative Corps, the tribunat and the council of state). The Senate could revoke the Great Elector's position if he was found to have acted against the country's best interest. The Grand Electorship marked the change from collective executive to an unipersonal one, breaking the previous constitutional arrangements since the installation of the National Assembly of a collective executive.

Legislative power belongs to the Legislative Corps (composed of members taken from the National List) but could only act when submitted a project by the Council of State (the government) or by the Tribunat (representing the people). The executive power was held by the Ministers from the Government Council of Foreign Affairs (army, navy, diplomacy, etc...) and the Government Council of Internal Affairs (administration, roadworks, religion, etc...).

Elections were done by means of electoral assemblies as accustomed since the revolution.

Consultate
The Coup of Floreal organized by Napoleon Bonaparte and several republican officers and troop did away with the increasingly unpopular Grand Electorship. On installing the provisional government it called for a constituent assembly to draft and vote a new constitution that was later approved by plebiscite. To make clear its republican credentials it proceeded to open elections to all citizens over 21 years old, in effect universal male suffrage.

The Constituent Assembly established the Consulate, a moderation of strong executive of the Grand Electorship (but more effective than Directory), a fully elected bicameral legislative as return to normalcy and the proclamation to continue with the more moderate gains of the Revolution. Its First Consul Bonaparte along his fellow vice-consuls inaugurated a period of economic recovery.

Heads of State

 * President of Executive of the National Convention
 * Directory (a five member executive)
 * Great Elector Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès
 * Consulate - First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte
 * President of the Republic

Administrative division
The territories of France are administratively divided in departments (political chief Prefect), districts (later arrondissement, under the direction of a subprefect), cantons and communes.

The Governor-generalships are the basic autonomous or non autonomous administrative division of the colonies. These are also divided in departments, arrondissements, cantons and communes.

The former self governing provincial states were established as a means to give local autonomy and help in the war effort. However, they were rapidly done away when Haiti and Louisiana became independent against the rule of the metropolis.

Colonial Empire
The French colonial empire consisted: In the Americas
 * French West Indies (including Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Martin, Saint-Barthélemy, La Grenade, St. Croix, St. Vincent, Saint-Christopher, Tobago and other smaller islands) until it was departalized
 * French Guyana. Initially a department later administered as semi autonomous Governor-generalship
 * Louisiana. Given self government as Provincial State - Later proclaimed itself an independent republic,
 * Saint-Domingue. Given self government as Provincial State- Later proclaimed itself an independent as the Republic of Haiti

In the Indian Ocean
 * Île de Réunion - Department
 * Île de France - Department

India after the Carnatic Wars.
 * French Carnatic Coast (capital Pondichéry)
 * French Malabar-Kerala Territory (Capital Mahe)
 * French Northern Circars (Capital Yanaon)

Protectorates and suzerainties after the Carnatic Wars:
 * Flag of Mysore.svg Kingdom of Mysore (French suzerainty)
 * Asafia flag of Hyderabad State.png State of Hyderabad (French suzerainty)
 * Flag of Kingdom of Travancore.svg Kingdom of Travancore (French protectorate)
 * Kingdom of Coorg (French protectorate)

In Australasia and Oceania
 * Cygnes (French colony). Administered as a non autonomous Governor-generalship
 * Nouvelle Brabant (former Dutch colony, seized by France) Administered as a non autonomous a Governor-generalship
 * Flag of Modern New Zealand (King of America).svg Aotearoa (Joint Britain-France-Dutch)
 * New Caledonia or Kanaky (disputed by France and Britain, later assigned to France) Administered as a non autonomous Governor-generalship