European Empire (The French Alexander)

European Empire Empire européen (French) Europäisches Kaiserreich (German) Europees rijk (Dutch) Imperi europeu (Catalan) Timeline: The French Alexander OTL equivalent: France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Lichtenstein, Catalonia, western Poland, Andorra, Sicily, Sardinia, Malta
Flag Coat of Arms
Motto:  "Indivisible and Eternal"
Anthem:  "God Save the Emperor"
Capital		Aachen
Largest city		Paris
Other cities		Berlin, Vienna, Bern, Zurich, Geneva, Luxembourg, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, Barcelona, Reims, Lyon, Danzig, etc.
Official languages		French, German and Dutch
Regional languages		Catalan, Luxembourgish, Bavarian, Polish, Occitan, Breton, Italian, etc.
Ethnic groups		French (48%), German (39%), Dutch (7%), Polish (3%), Catalan (2%), other (1%)
Religion		Imperial Christian Church (state religion) Protestantism, Catholicism, Calvinism, etc.
Demonym		European
Government		Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy
-	Emperor	Orpheus II
-	Chief Minister	Marine Le Pen
Legislature		Imperial Diet
-	Upper house	Senate
-	Lower house	House of Deputies
Establishment
-	Edict of Aachen	13 September 1531
-	Alexandrine Code inaugurated	1 January 1542
-	Federalization	9 March 1869
-	Last constitutional amendment	23 July 1906
Area
-	Total	1,414,502 km2 (19th) 546,142 sq mi
Population
-	estimate	212,649,789
GDP (nominal)		estimate
-	Total	$24,956 trillion (1st)
-	Per capita	$117,357 (4th)
Gini		30,9 (low) (9th)
HDI		0,947 (high) (6th)
Currency		Euro (EUR)
Time zone		UTC+1 (Central European Time)
Drives on the		right
Internet TLD		.eu
Calling code		+33

The European Empire, commonly referred to simply as Europe, is a federal sovereign state in western and central Europa (the continent). Founded in the first half of the 16th century, it has been a world superpower ever since. Its capital is Aachen, while its largest city is Paris.

The empire was founded by Alexander I, known to historians as "Alexander the Great", who unified the Kingdom of France with his conquests in the Low countries and Austria as well as the fractious German states of the Holy Roman Empire in the aftermath of the Imperial Civil War, aka "the last Roman war". This unity formed a great power, unmatched in the European continent.

The new state ultimately inherited the conflicts of its two primary predecessors - the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of France. The main ones being Spain and the Ottoman Empire. Upon the formation of the empire, Emperor Alexander's seemingly eternal opponent - Carlos I of Spain, declared war on his empire in an attempt to break it up, realizing that should it work out, the new state would completely shut him out of continental affairs. The war ended in yet another victory for Alexander, who claimed Catalonia as well as Sardinia, Corsica and Sicily, the three largest Mediterranean islands and thus control over the western Mediterranean sea. The Empire ultimately led an expedition in the Balkans in the 1650s, when they successfully pushed out the Ottomans from Europe and Constantinople, establishing several Christian states in their wake.

As the dominant empire of the continent, Europe created several colonies all over the world, which increased its wealth and expanded its culture and influence throughout the globe. Throughout several wars in the continent, Europe has managed to retain the spot of the most powerful nation in it to the present day, despite constant conflict with the powerful Spanish Empire to the south and eventually the English Empire to the west.

Europe is a constitutional monarchy with a federal democratic structure. The monarch possesses vast constitutional powers such as full control of the military, dismissal and appointment of parliament and government and issuing of edicts, which automatically become law, etc., although in the present day, those powers are seldom used and the day-to-day government of the empire is generally left in the hands of the elected civil government. The monarch has always belonged to the House of Valois and the current emperor is Orpheus II. The head of government is the Chief Minister, currently Marine Le Pen of the leading Conservative Party.

Europe is a world superpower, one of only two countries being universally acknowledged as such along with the United States of America. It has a diverse economy, which is the largest in the world. A developed country, it ranks very highly on the world development index and studies show it is the world's most desired nation to live in.

History

Pre-history

Before the creation of the European Empire, there existed only one state, from which its founder Alexander I "the Great" took inspiration in his ambitions - the Frankish Empire. Ruled by the Merovingian and later, and most importantly, the Carolingian dynasty, the Franks conquered virtually all of western and central Europe and became the dominant power on the continent, replacing the collapsed Western Roman Empire. Its most famous ruler - Charles the Great, most commonly called Charlemagne - would even be crowned Roman Emperor by the Pope. This empire would collapse however in the aftermath of the civil war between Charlemagne's grandsons, who split the empire into three parts - Western, Middle and East Francia. Western Francia would eventually become the Kingdom of France. East Francia would absorb Middle Francia and eventually form the Holy Roman Empire. Both structures would struggle through the following centuries due to gradual decentralization of authority and the strengthening of the nobility's autonomy at the expense of royal authority. France would improve this situation by the early 16th century, while the Holy Roman Empire would devolve into hundreds of mostly German principalities who often disobeyed imperial authority. Upon the extinction of the Carolingian dynasty, the House of Capet would go on to rule France but upon the extinction of the main branch, it would eventually come to be dominated by the currently reigning House of Valois. The Holy Roman Empire would become an elective monarchy, with the dynasties being relatively short lived and becoming less powerful. By the early 16th century, the Austrian House of Habsburg would have established itself as the latest dynasty, unknowingly also its last dynasty.

Foundation

The foundation of the European Empire happened at the hands of its first emperor - Alexander "the Great". Born in 1499 as the son of King Louis XII of France and Anne, Duchess of Brittany, he became the heir of the Kingdom of France upon birth and its king at age 16.

In 1519, Alexander I of France would manage to get himself elected the new Holy Roman Emperor in succession of Maximillian I of Austria, thus ending the short lived imperial reign of the House of Habsburg. Its current head - Charles - had recently also inherited the thrones of Castile and Aragon, thus ruling the rising Spanish colonial empire. Charles, feeling threatened by Alexander's growing power and feeling his destiny as "universal emperor" stolen from him, would go on to fight several wars against France/the HRE, all of them unsuccessful due to Alexander's unconventional and extraordinary military skill. Often compared to his namesake, Alexander III of Macedon, the French King and Holy Roman Emperor would go on to win every war he has ever fought as well as introduce freedom of religion (Christian only) in his dominions, choosing to allow the spread of Lutheranism and other sects of Christianity which had sprung due to disagreements with Rome.

Alexander would go on to centralize the Holy Roman Empire in preparation for its permanent unification with France. These actions ultimately led to the Imperial Civil War, or more romantically known as "the last Roman War", when in its aftermath Alexander declared the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and the creation of the European Empire, a unified and centralized state, comprising all of his dominions. This resulted in the formation of a new power in Europe, which came to dominate the continent.

Internal situation and international relations

The new empire changed the balance of power in Europe. France was already considered one of the strongest states on the continent but the creation of a centralized and enlarged state vastly changed the playfield. The dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire did not go uncontested either. While Emperor Alexander's vision of a new order and getting rid of the "decrepit ancient and inefficient Roman Empire" was well accepted by the French themselves as well as his German vassals (apart from the ones who had opposed him during the Imperial Civil war and had been deposed), the international community was not so eager. The peasantry of the Holy Roman Empire couldn't believe what was happening and hysteria spread throughout the German principalities. For more than a year, the people were heard telling it was the End of Days. His English allies as well as the Pope and Spain were critical of his actions. The Pope contested the legitimacy of the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, arguing that it was illegal since there was no precedent of something like this ever being done before. Henry VIII of England felt once again outshined by his ally, to whom he felt inferior and was jealous of Alexander's triumphs. The European-English relationship further deteriorated, when Emperor Alexander accepted the request of the Scottish regency to renew the Auld Alliance between France, now Europe, and Scotland and Prince Robert, grandson of Emperor Alexander, was betrothed to the infant Queen Mary of Scots. Mary of Guise, mother of the child queen of Scots, was sent with a sizeable European army to maintain order in Scotland in the name of its queen. Spain, already battered after multiple unsuccessful wars with Alexander, did nothing but protest the emperor's "crimes".

Alexander arguably spent the rest of his life centralizing the new state and codifying laws for all his subjects, which resulted in the inauguration of the Alexandrine Code in 1542, as well as putting down minor revolts throughout Germany and ultimately decreasing the vast number of German states from approximately 1800 down to 89.