French Empire

> "Impossible is a word only to be found in the dictionary of fools." - Napoleon I the Great
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### Motto

Liberté, Unité, Ordre(Liberty, Unity, Order)

### Government

Unitary Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy

### Population

68.19 Million (Core)143.98 Million (Total)

The **French Empire**, a powerful but lethargic superpower, is a country in Western Europe with colonies around the world. In Europe they border their subject states in the Entente Impérial and the Anglo-Scottish Commonwealth across the channel. France begins in a precarious situation as their continental empire is overstretched and weaker than ever: independence movements, ambitious leaders and the recovery of her enemies in the Great War offers a threat greater than what France may have ever faced before.

## Briefing

#### Emperor Napoleon I, 1804 - 1821

The **French Empire** was formed by first Emperor **Napoleon the Great** in 1804 after he humbled all his enemies by decisively beating Austria in the **War of the Second Coalition**, because of how the Anglo-Scottish Commonwealth feared another Seven Years' War where they'd end by losing everything once again they decided to stay out of it. By 1812 Europe was dominated by the Absolute Alliance of France and Russia, with only his bleeding ulcer in Iberia providing any difficulty to him whatsoever - the brutal guerrilla war ended in **1814** with the **Fall of Lisbon** during the final invasion of Portugal and is generally considered the end of the **Napoleonic Wars** despite the de facto ongoing war between the **Portuguese monarchy** that was in exile in Brazil. In **1821** he died of what is theorised to be stomach cancer, after months of declining health, leaving the Earth as one of the greatest leaders in history - up with the likes of Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan.

#### Emperor Napoleon II, 1821 - 1848

**Napoleon II** had large shoes to fill and he filled them semi-successfully - his reign began with a 6 year long **regency council** as he ascended to the throne at 10 years old, this would've been concerning to any other Empire of France's size but thankfully Russian Emperor **Alexander I** kept true to his word and guarded the **Young Emperor** and his alliance with France and to his death in 1825. The Russian Emperor after Alexander, **Nicholas I** saw the alliance between the two as Russia kow towing to the French and quickly tried to distance the two nations which resulted in the **Great Diplomatic War** that consumed most of the 19th century. Internally, Napoleon II reformed the Empire to function less like the tyrannical monarchy that had preceded the Republic with the goal of making the Empire a constitutional monarchy to ensure its survival. He didn't live long enough to see this come to fruition though, as he became terminally ill in late 1847 from tuberculosis and died shortly after in 1848, having no direct heir he left the throne to **Louis-Napoléon I**.

#### Emperor Louis-Napoléon I, 1848 - 1873

Louis-Napoléon I's reign was marked mostly by grand infrastructure projects and what's considered the start of the **second French Colonial Empire**. His reign began on a high note, with the **liberalisation** **of France** and increased autonomy given to her continental subjects - giving him immense popularity that he ridden on for the rest of his rule. Paris was rebuilt into the grandest of cities in the world and every corner of the vast empire was connected by road and rail and at the same time he made conquests in Algeria and Indochina, among other things he's also considered the **Father of Egypt** for his involvement in aiding the Egyptians rebel against the **Ottomans** during the **Armenia War**. In his last few years his health drastically got worse and worse, he gained weight and began to walk slow because of his gout, afterwards suffering from gallstones that eventually killed him in 1873 despite the best efforts of his doctors. He's widely remembered as the **Liberal Emperor** who truly carried the torch of the revolution.

#### Emperor Louis-Napoléon II, 1873 - 1920

Louis-Napoléon II has a very mixed reputation, with his reign seeing some of the highest and some of the lowest points in the Empire's history. His decisive leadership in the Great War is what's told by propaganda, but in reality France was subject to a military junta for most of the War. When France emerged victorious from the Great War she was left in a far weaker state than before and he seemingly didn't do a lot about it. Of course, his reign did have many other feats - like the great expansion of the colonial empire or the revigoration of French military tradition; he will still always be known as the "Great War" emperor and that will likely stay. After the Pyrrhic victory in the Great War he suffered a stroke which killed the 64 year old Emperor and nearly resulted in a succession crisis.

#### Emperor Louis-Napoléon III

idely known to be terminally ill by the time he ascended to the throne of France and many expected him to not even try ruling France in the first place, not wanting to leave the Empire in a regency after Louis-Napoléon II's death he begrudgingly taken the throne despite his knowledge that he would not hold the title for long. During his reign he mostly spent his time stabilising the Empire, with the goal of a full recovery by the time his heir takes power - he did meet quite a lot of his goals but he failed to fully bring France into a full recovery by the time of his death. In his reign a large amount of the military was disbanded and the economy was largely reformed - creating prosperity and a boom in French culture and patriotism in the process.

## 1936 Situation

France is in a precarious situation as she is a vast but overstretched empire that has yet to fully recover from the Great War despite being the premier world power on the surface. The French economy can be described as a powderkeg, and a single spark may be all that's needed to topple France from her position as sovereign of Europe - such an event would be disastrous as Prussia, Russia and the Commonwealth stare at her weakening state with hungry eyes. On top of this, there's the concern of large-scale subject disloyalty empowering the fading Entente Impérial. No matter what's true or false, it's clear that the century of French dominance over the continent is about to come to an end.

## Politics

#### Parti Constitutionnel - PC

##### Ideology: Democracy (Liberalism) | Leader: Édouard Daladier

The Parti Constitutionnel is a monarchist party