France (French: France), officially the Kingdom of the French (French: Royaume des Français), is a country located in Western Europe. It borders the Netherlands to the north-east, Germany, Switzerland and Italy to the east; Spain to the west. It also shares a maritime border with the United Kingdom The country's capital and largest city is Paris.
| Kingdom of France France Timeline: Domus Iagiellonica
OTL equivalent: France, Wallonia | ||||||
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| Motto: Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité |
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| Anthem: La Marseillaise |
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| Capital | Paris | |||||
| Official languages | French | |||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | |||||
| Demonym | French | |||||
| Government | Constitutional Monarchy | |||||
| - | King | John IV | ||||
| - | Prime Minister | Emmanuel Macron | ||||
| Legislature | Parliament | |||||
| - | Upper house | Senate | ||||
| - | Lower house | National Assembly | ||||
| Currency | Royal Franc | |||||
| Time zone | UTC | |||||
| Internet TLD | .fr | |||||
Various Celtic tribes known as Gauls have inhabited the metropolitan parts of the country since Iron age. The region was later conquered by Rome in classical antiquity. Following the fall of the Roman Empire the area was established by the Franks. In 843 the Treaty of Verdun partitioned the Carolingian Empire in three parts. The western part,West Francia, becoming the Kingdom of France in 987.
In the High Middle Ages, France was a powerful but highly decentralized feudal kingdom. Philip II successfully strengthened royal power and defeated his rivals to double the size of the crown lands; by the end of his reign, France had emerged as the most powerful state in Europe. From the mid-14th to the mid-15th century, France was plunged into a series of dynastic conflicts involving England, collectively known as the Hundred Years' War, and a distinct French identity emerged as a result. The French Renaissance saw art and culture flourish, conflict with the House of Habsburg, and the establishment of a French colonial empire, which by the 20th century would become the second-largest in the world. The second half of the 16th century was dominated by religious civil wars between Catholics and Huguenots that severely weakened the country. France again emerged as Europe's dominant power in the 17th century under Louis XIV following the Thirty Years' War. Inadequate economic policies, inequitable taxes and frequent wars (notably a defeat in the Seven Years' War and costly involvement in the American War of Independence) left the kingdom in a precarious economic situation by the end of the 18th century. This precipitated the French Revolution of 1789, which overthrew the Ancien Régime and produced the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which expresses the nation's ideals to this day. In the 19th Century, France endured a tumultuous succession of governments until the reestablishment of the French Kingdom during the Franco-Hanoverian War in 1870. Subsequent decades saw a period of optimism, cultural and scientific flourishing, as well as economic prosperity, known as the Belle Époque. France was one of the major participants of World War I, from which it emerged victorious at a great human and economic cost. It was among the Allied powers of World War II. Algeria and most French colonies became independent in the 1960s, with the majority retaining close economic and military ties with France.
A major economic and military power, the Kingdom of France is a member of the United Nations and of the European Confederation. After many reforms and revolutions, the Kingdom is experiencing a period of peace and prosperity.
A constitutional monarchy led by King John IV of France and ruled by Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron (Ren), the kingdom is growing steadily.
Flag of the Kingdom
History[]
18th Century[]
King Louis XVI is deposed by the revolutionaries on August 10, 1792. The Republic is proclaimed on September 21. The king is arrested and sentenced to death.
European nations gathered and formed a Coalition to restore the monarchy. The Republic declares war against the Coalition on April 1792. After initial losses, the French gathered a massive conscription and pushed back the Royalists.
Several campaigns were launched against the Low Countries, and in Rhineland and Italian Peninsula. The front will end in a prolonged stalemate, without decisive victory from both sides.
Peace is finally signed in Campo Formio in 1797. The Republic is recognized along with its territorial gains in Rhineland and Low Countries. The Batavian Republic, sister country of the French Republic, is also recognized.
In the country, the bloody Terror led place to the Directoire in 1795.
Pacified, the country still knew some political unrest. The Directoire is finally overthrown in 1802.
19th Century[]
King Louis XVIII, brother of the late king, is crowned in 1802.
After a short liberal period, the King, pushed by the nobility, tried to revert to the laws of Ancien Régime, without success.
He finally abdicates in 1820.
The abdication of king Louis turns the country into unrest. Tensions rise between the loyalists led by Charles of France, brother of the deposed king, and the Reformists led by Louis-Philippe of Orleans.
The latter is elected king by the National Assembly in 1821. He was crowned King of the French on October 1, 1821 in Notre-Dame Cathedral.
Poland-Lithuania, anxious not to lose its French ally, recognizes the new king. The European courts, in order not to risk entering into unnecessary conflicts, recognize him in turn, thus depriving the royalists of support.
Charles of France, let loose by the European powers, goes into exile in Austria.
The kingdom continues its reforms despite still real opposition from the conservatives.
After a failed insurrection in Paris in 1831, the liberal government is gradually replaced by a more conservative one. Republicans start to organize in societies and begin to question the monarchy.
The king, increasingly authoritarian, was deposed by the Assembly on February 23, 1848.
The Republic was proclaimed in the process and General Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was elected president by the Assembly on March 1.
Poland-Lithuania broke its alliance in the wake, leaving the country at the mercy of foreign attack.
At the end of his term, President Bonaparte retained power and proclaimed himself Emperor of the French on December 2, 1852.
The emperor begins the industrialization and modernization of the country.
Tensions rose in Europe and France returned to its former Polish-Lithuanian ally in 1860.
The War of 1870 saw the fall of the Empire and the restoration of the Orléans to the throne.
Philippe VII, returning from exile, was crowned King of the French on January 1, 1871, in Notre-Dame Cathedral.
The king undertakes to continue the policy of industrialization and liberalization of the country pursued by his predecessor.
The kingdom engages in a policy of colonial expansion in Africa and Asia.
The French colonies (like those in OTL) are recognized on the international scene during the Treaty of Berlin of 1885.
20th Century[]
The beginning of the 20th century saw rapid growth in industry, as well as the electrification of the kingdom.
This prosperous period, known as the Belle-Epoque, a period of relative liberalism, saw the rise of the arts and culture. The 1900 Paris Universal Exhibition was a real success and propelled the capital onto the world cultural scene.
The country continues to evolve and has a national rail network.
Industries are in full swing, despite the loss of the Alsace-Lorraine mining regions in 1871.
The country believes in renewed peace and the rise of science. Alas, the war will soon catch up with the country.
World War I[]
The death of the Archduke of Austria in Sarajevo as well as the game of alliances precipitated France into war in 1914. The country suffered the advance of the German army with full force, despite the help of the British ally.
The fighting stabilized in 1915 and soldiers took refuge behind lines of trenches along the entire length of the front.
Battles follow one another on both sides, without much success. It was not until 1917 and the resumption of the war of movement on the eastern front and the arrival of the Americans since October for the offensives to resume.
The border was reached in early 1918 and the Entente forces began to penetrate German territory.
The Kaiser abdicates March 12, and the German capitulation is signed in Rethondes for the western flank on the 15.
The country recovers Alsace-Lorraine and obtains war reparations in the order of several million gold marks.
Interwar period[]
The country, victorious but not unscathed, mourns its dead and rebuilds itself.
The Versailles agreements of 1919 saw the Rethondes agreements reinforced. The German colonies are shared between the Kingdom and Great Britain. The country recovers Alsace-Lorraine lost in 1871 and its rich mineral deposits.
The 1920s saw the launch of the royal reconstruction plan. Kings Philippe VIII and Jean III engage the country in an unprecedented wave of modernization, boosted by war reparations.
The country is stabilizing and is seeing the appearance of new carefree years, the Roaring Twenties.
The 1930s, especially because of the Great Depression that hit the country in 1929, were darker. Socialist and nationalist movements thrive.
The kingdom signed the Matignon Accords in 1936 under Leon Blum’s left-wing government. Social gains, the first paid leave of two weeks, see many French people invade the coasts of the country every summer.
Unfortunately, the peace will not last. The king looks worriedly at his German neighbor and begins to mobilize troops.
World War II[]
After the annexation of Austria and the Munich agreements in 1938, the king initiated the mobilization and deployment of troops at the border.
After the attack on the Kingdom of Poland-Lithuania on September 1, 1939, the French and English allies declared war on Germany on September 3.
The troops engaged in combat and entered German territory on the 4th. The advance, initially rapid, is suddenly stopped. The fighting stabilized around a Cologne-Freiburg line. Allied troops attempted to break through the enemy front several times, but nothing helped.
It was not until the Kingdom of America entered the war in 1941 for the front to unblock.
The massive arrival of fresh troops allows the resumption of the Allied advance. Hanover, then Hamburg, are quickly reached. Berlin and Munich are besieged by Western allies at the end of the year.
Munich fell on February 1, 1942, and Berlin on March 3. Kaiser Wilhelm III surrendered unconditionally on the 5th.
The war is over in Europe, but peace is difficult.
The Warsaw Accords sees the partition of Germany and Austria into four zones of occupation: American, British, French, and Polish.
After war[]
The country, victorious, began the occupation of the defeated countries on April 1, 1942.
The end of the decade saw the start of a wave of decolonization. The country lost Indochina in 1946 and then the African colonies in the 1950s and 1960s.
The country, cut off from its colonial wealth, is changing. The great king Henri VI, helped by his ally the Polish king Michael IV, launched the European construction.
The European Confederation was founded by the Brussels Treaty of 1980. The countries undertake to help each other economically and to uphold democratic values in Europe and in the world.
The end of the reign of King Henry VI saw the culmination of several major scientific projects. The Ariane project was crowned with success in the 1980s.
The Concorde, inaugurated in 1976, saw supersonic flights open to a wealthy audience.
Finally, the TGV, inaugurated with great fanfare by the king in 1981, has since been an economic and commercial success.
King Henry VI died in 1999, at the dawn of the 3rd millennium in a peaceful country proud of its economic and scientific success.
Rulers[]
- Louis XVI: 1774 – 1792
- Republican Governments: 1792 - 1801
- Louis XVIII: 1801 – 1820
- Louis-Philippe I: 1821 – 1848
- Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte: 1848 – 1852 (as President)
- Emperor Napoleon I: 1852 – 1870 (as Emperor)
- Philippe VII: 1871 - 1894
- Philippe VIII: 1894 - 1926
- John III: 1926 - 1940
- Henri VI: 1940 - 1999
- Henri VII: 1999 - 2019
- John IV: 2019 – incumbent
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