Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité (French) ("Liberty, Equality, Fraternity") | |||||
| Anthem | "Veillons au Salut de l'Empire" | ||||
| Capital (and largest city) |
Paris 
| ||||
| Other cities | Nantes, Marseille, Bordeaux | ||||
| Language official |
French | ||||
| others | Occitan (in Occitania), Breton (in Brittany), Arpitan (in Arpitania), Gascon (in Gascony), Norman (in Normandy), several others in the colonies | ||||
| Religion main |
Catholicism | ||||
| others | Islam (in French Equatorial Africa, French West Africa, Mayotte, French India and the Comores), Hinduism (in French India) and Mauritius), Buddhism (in the Indochinese Union), traditional beliefs (in New Caledonia and French Polynesia) | ||||
| Demonym | French | ||||
| Government | Unitary Constitutional Monarchy | ||||
| Emperor | HIM Napoleon V de Bourbon-Bonaparte | ||||
| Established | 843 AD | ||||
| Currency | French franc | ||||
The French Empire (French: Empire Français), colloquially known as France, is a country in Western Europe, although its colonial empire extends to all continents of the world. The metropolitan area of France borders with the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Italy to its east, the Mediterranean Sea to its south, Spain to its southwest, the Atlantic Ocean to its west and the English Channel to its north.
The current French Empire is a constitutional monarchy estabilished during the Great War; as the German and allied troops entered the country and were rapidly advancing, the republican government attempted to flee Paris. This triggered a popular insurrection, which led to a coalition of several right-wing parties, supported by several generals of the French army, to take control of the city within a few days, estabilishing martial law and summarily executing most members of the old government. After a brief period under a provisional government, the new government decided to crown Jean Napoleon III as Emperor of the French. Afterwards, France entered the final stages of the War on the German side.
France has long been, and still is, a worldwide centre of culture, art, philosophy and science. As one of the protagonists of the Industrial Revolution, the country still has a strong and highly diversified industry, aided by materials imported from the colonies; it is also one of Europe's leading agricultural producers and exporters. Despite the tumultuous period during and immediately after the war, marked by political instability in several of its overseas possessions, France remains a great power, and its colonial empire, the largest in the world, is organized into several colonies controlled directly by the motherland and four federations (French Equatorial Africa, French West Africa, the Indochinese Union and Polynesia). France is also in a crown union with Algeria, and while the latter is formally independent, several treaties and pacts bind it strongly to the Empire.
Recent History[]
The Third French Republic, estabilished after the Franco-Prussian war, was one of the first nations to enter the Great War against Germany. Immediately, the war on the French front degenerated into three long years of attrition warfare, which was extremely taxing on the French people. In 1917, at the onset of the Russian Civil War, the belligerent nations agreed to a truce, initally proposed by German diplomats, which would be needed to coordinate anti-Communist interventions in Russia.
At this time, several French political parties, both left-wing and right-wing, demanded that the country be dragged out of the war, with the aim to sign a separate peace treaty with Germany. During the years of the truce, German troops retreated behind the border, and it seemed that the German government was open to negotiate a peace treaty which would return both countries to the status quo ante bello. With the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the subsequent annexation of Austria by Germany, Great Britain demanded the immediate German retreat from Austria, threatening to restart hostilities if the demand wasn't met. When the German government refused to renounce Austria, Great Britain declared war, and so did the French government.
Several right-wing political parties (including, among others, Action Française and Croix-de-Feu) were openly against the war with Germany, arguing that France was being used by Great Britain to further its goals, being forced to go to war when the latter ordered it. Seeing the rising political instability as way to gain power, they united under the aegis of the Front National. The situation became critical in late 1927, when, after a period of initial calm, the German forces, employing revolutionary blitzkrieg tactics, smashed through French defences at Verdun, rapidly advancing towards the capital. Immediately, rumors spread in the city that German troops were already about to besiege Paris, and that important members of the government were attempting to flee. Already exasperated by the many years of war, the population of the city rose up in insurgency, which was immediately fostered and aided by militants of the Front National.
As the rebels took control of the capital, most members of leftist and centrist parties present in Paris were rounded up and executed. A provisional government was set up, with the explicit aim of negotiating a peace treaty with Germany and its allies. With the Peace of Bruxelles, Germany accepted to maintain the pre-war borders, with the clause that France would have to enter the war with Great Britain if and when Germany requested it. A few months later, in a council among the highest hierarchs of the Front National, it was decided that France would become a monarchy, and Jean Napoleon IV, of the house of Bourbon-Bonaparte, was chosen to be Emperor of the French. This choice was motivated by several factors, including that the new regime needed a strong symbol to solidify their power.
The years immediately after the war were troubled by disorders and attempts to revolt in several French colonies. Several reforms were implemented to centralize and reorganize the colonial government, granting more autonomy to some colonial authorities: French West Africa and French Equatorial Africa were both reformed, and the new federations of Indochina and Polynesia were created.
Government and Politics[]
Constitution and Laws[]
The country is ruled by the Emperor of the French and his cabinet, representing the executive branch, and by a Parliament (French: Parlement) composed by a Senate (French: Sénat) and a Legislative Body (French: Corps Législatif), which embodies the legislative branch. Members of the Legislative Body are elected by universal suffrage, while members of the Senate are appointed by the Emperor and by vote of the Legislative Body: finally, ministers are chosen by the Emperor and the Prime Minister, who is in turn elected by the Parliament.
Metropolitan France has two types of first-level subdivisions, called "governments" (French: gouvernements, singular gouvernment): provinces (French: provinces, singular province) and countries (French: pays). Countries are more independent than provinces in several ways, and have control over areas of administration which, in provinces, are controlled directly by the central state. Similarly, colonies (with the exception of the four colonial federations) are divided into overseas provinces (French: provinces d'outremer) and overseas countries (French: pays d'outremer). Many French colonies are grouped in a total of four colonial federations (French: fédérations coloniales, singular fédération coloniale), which function as autonomous bodies within the country and are encharged with governing the colonies. Finally, Algeria is a technically independent country but is partially governed by the French motherland.
Subdivisions[]
Metropolitan France is divided in a total of 19 provinces and 12 countries; its colonial empire consists of 6 overseas provinces, 6 overseas countries and the 4 French colonial federations.
Metropolitan Provinces[]
- Angoumois
- Anjou
- Artois
- Aunis
- Auvergne
- Berry
- Bourbonnais
- Champagne
- Foix
- Île-de-France
- La Marche
- Limousin
- Lyonnais
- Maine
- Nivernais
- Orléanais
- Picardy
- Poitou
- Saintonge
- Touraine
Metropolitan Countries[]
- Béarn
- Brittany
- Burgundy
- Dauphiny
- Franche-Comté
- Gascony
- Languedoc
- Lorraine
- Normandy
- Provence
- Savoy
- Seven Cantons
Overseas Provinces[]
Overseas Countries[]
- Comores
- French India
- French Louisiana
- Mauritius
- New Caledonia
- Réunion
Colonial Federations[]
- French Equatorial Africa
- French West Africa
- Indochinese Union
- French Polynesia
