| |
| Official language | French |
| Capital | The Royal Domain |
| King | |
| Prime Minister | |
| Establishment | late 18th century |
| Currency | La Piastre |
| Gentilees | Pèrunien, enne (French), Peruano, a (Spanish), Uarpians (English), Neogalican (colloquial) |
| National Colours | black-white-green (mourning, royalty, hope) |
History[]
Many overseas possessions of France found themselves more and more alienated from the republican government following the revolution. However, it is not until the death in captivity of the King and the assumption to the vacant throne by the late king's brother that the colonists found a unifying factor. While their respective grievances were quite different (maintaining slavery for the Antilles, keeping the parish organisation in the northern Americas, etc ...), The new king promise of "Provincial Particularity" allowed him to convince those disgruntled provinces to come together against the Convention.
While they did manage to ensure their independence, the ultimate dream of retaking metropolitan France was officially abandoned after a few decades during the negotiation that led to the Treaty of Saint-Malo.
In following years, the URP saw the number of its provinces increase first by reconquering Acadia (with the help of local irredentists) and later by buying Rupert's Land from the English.
Besides descendants of French loyalists, the modern population of the URP benefited from a large immigration of Basques, Corsicans, Bretons, and Alsatians fleeing ethnic persecution.
Political System[]
The head of state of the URP is the King, defined legally as being the eldest descendant in the most direct line from the last king of France (Louis XVI, thus excluding the Spanish Bourbon). His powers have slowly eroded over the years but he is still by no mean a strictly symbolic figure. The constitution does give him the power to interfere in many provincial areas although out of pragmatism, he rarely does so.
Each province is rule by an Intendent on behalf of, and named by, the King (on the advice of local government). The citizens vote for representatives to the estate-generals who choose amongst themselves for a governor. Due to a system of proportional representation, the governor is sometime the leader of the majority but often is a compromise candidate.
Apart from the Royal Domain, there are no distinct status for any subnational entities of the URPs and any addition made over the years has always been treated as either a new province or as part of an already existing one. In other words, the URP does not have colonies, protectorates or autonomous territories.
While one of the founding principal of the URP was maintaining provincial particularities, various treaties have, over the years, leveled the distinctiveness of the various provinces to the point that nowaday, few differences exist outside of the cultural sphere. One such example is in linguistic regulations: while french is the official language of the URP, some provinces allow the use of other languages in official setting. In some case it is defined as "where the needs warrants it" (English in Acadia) while in other this is official bilingualism (ASpanish in Louisiana).
Partial list of Provinces[]
- Acadia: retaken by URP troops during the confusion of the English Revolution. The URP forces were originally well received by local anti-republican forces but in the following years, an homegrown separatist movement was developed which lasted (under various guise) to this day.
- Plaisance (Newfoundland): Annexed after the English Revolution to protect the entrance to the Saint-Lawrence River.
- Brittany: existed as a URP province only for a year or so. It was taken by an emigrés army that landed thanks to the help of Great-Britain at the onset of the war. It managed to push out the Republican forces and take control of a few cities but with Britain dealing with a local revolution, the army found itself cut off from reinforcement. After a year of fighting and retreats, Brittany was retaken by Republican forces. The treaty of Saint-Malo recognised French ownership of the former province.
- Canada: While at first following (if grudgingly) the edicts of the Republicans, the inhabitants became hostile after losing their priests during the dechristianisation of France as well as being forced to give away a large part of their harvest to feed the metropole. After the death of the king, rumours spread blaming the Republicans and some seigneuries turned to open rebellion. The militias and some of the companies of soldiers (who were partly composed of locals) joined the rebels and declared themselves against the Convention. After a few small battles, the Royalist forces managed to expel their enemies and the colony became a destination for noble émigrés.
- Guadeloupe: For years the island's merchants had demanded the right to trade with whoever they chose. By law, they could either trade directly with French companies or have to go through intermediaries who charged a hefty sum. While neither the Republican nor the Royalist side seemed to have made serious headway on the island, the fear of more stringent economical control as well as the threat of invasion from England made them chose to join the URP.
- Isle-du-Roi (formerly Mauritius, formerly Ile de France): The abolition of slavery by the Republicans posed a threat to the future of the island's plantation. While trying to stall for time (abolishing corporal punishment of escaped slaves), things came to a head when two emissaries from the convention tried the remove the current governor from his post. The two men were forcefully put on a boat and told not to return. When news of the king's declaration in regard to protection of "provincial particularism", the local landowners decided to join the Royalist camp.
- Île-Bourbon (formerly Île de la Réunion): The abolition of slavery by the Republicans posed a threat to the future of the island's economy. The local assembly cut off ties with the metropole and later joined the URP.
- Grands-Lacs: This previously largely empty land was occupied by URP troops to ensure a land connection between Canada and Louisiana. It was mainly settled by exiled Bretons and was awarded provincial status in the late 19th century.
- Louisiana: was given back to France by Spain in the last years of the 18th century. Thanks to a combination of URP backed agitators and local Anti-Republican French and Spaniards, the territory manage to achieve a certain level of independence from the central government and later joined up with the URP.
Symbols[]
Flag[]
The current national flag of the URP started out as a simple white flag used by the french ships loyal to the monarchs. To show they allegiance, many had taken to cover the republican tricolor in the canton with the Bourbon's heraldic emblem (white speckled with gold fleurs-de-lys).
Fearing that from a distance and in low winds the flag used by the monarchist forces would be mistaken with the republican one, it was eventually decided to add in the middle three golden stripes (symbolising the holy trinity) as a mark of distinction. In later years the flag came to be used on land also and has not changed since.