French Commune (AOR)

Flag of the French Commune.

The **French Commune (French: Commune de Français)** is a Eurocommunist One-Party Socialist State in Western Europe. It is the leader of the European Eurocommunist Community (EEC), and the most prosperous nation in all of Europe outside of the USSR. The French Commune is led by Georges Marchais, who has been in power since 1970. They border the Dutch Republic to the North, the German Democratic Republic to the north-east, Switzerland to the East, the Italian Empire to the south-east and Spain to the south-west of the Nation. They also border Oceania to the north-west via the English Channel.

The French Commune is locked in a cold war against the Soviet Union, who controls the Warsaw Pact, although recent developments in Soviet politics have cooled down the tensions. The French Commune is also the only country alongside Germany to have a space station in 1984, with the joint Marx-Jaures Europa Space Station completed in 1982. The French Commune is seen by many Westerners as one of the most liberal communist states, and the French Commune maintains strong ties with the United States despite their opposing ideologies.

## History

Unlike other Western European countries, the French Commune was formed not by a Soviet takeover, but by the hardships that gripped France following World War II. As part of the Treaty of Leningrad, France lost all of her land east of the river Meuse to the new Soviet Administration of Saarland, and while they received the rest of Belgium and all of the Netherlands south of the Rhine, many French civilians felt not only betrayed by the new Republic, but a disgrace to France as a whole, as they failed to make any change to lift French civilians out of poverty. This is when the French Communist Party (PCF) saw a perfect opportunity to strike. Their leader, Maurice Thorez had studied how the Nazis managed to seize control of Germany and planned to do similar things to ensure that the PCF will rise to power.

In the 1951 Legislative Election, the PCF became the largest party in the National Assembly, though failed to gain a majority. Thorez's reforms of making the country more socialist as the Prime Minister helped to significantly increase the popularity of the PCF, and with the collapse of French Indochina in 1954 along with the start of the Oceanian Rebellion in America, many civilians suffered even greater hardships with the total collapse of the French economy. When the 1956 Legislative Election rolled around, the PCF gained over 60% of the seats, effectively putting them in charge of the country. Over the next four years, the opposition would be slowly strangled out, with reforms coming in slowly over the next few years. The transition to the Marxist-Leninist state was completed in 1958, as Rene Coty resigned as the President of France, putting Thorez in charge. With that, the French Commune was established on July 18th, 1959.

After the takeover was complete, Thorez began a series of communist policies, and repressed the freedom of speech immediately, with the first five-year plan activated in 1962. He also stripped the wealth of the monopolies, and basically copied what the USSR were doing. Thorez was also able to negotiate the merging of the SAS to become a part of France, led by a certain Georges Marchais. However, Thorez's time in office was cut short in 1964 however, when he suddenly died on a foreign visit to Bulgaria. The French Politburo then chose Waldeck Rochet as the next National Secretary, and continued Thorez's Marxist-Leninist policies. Although Rochet was technically the Head of State, many saw the Premier Jacques Duclos as the real one calling the shots behind the scenes. Combined with the Commune still being heavily influenced by the USSR, many from both within the Politburo and beyond believed that Duclos' form of communism was too far, and unsuitable for France.

Tensions came to a head in 1968, when, after the Paris State University closed down through months of conflict between Gaullist students and the school authorities, mass strikes and riots broke out across Paris, and later across the entirety of France. The strikes to improve work conditions became calls for revolution against the Commune itself, while Rochet was forced to flee to the neighboring Dutch Republic for asylum. France came close to a full-on revolution, but before Duclos issued the order to send troops to violently suppress the protests, the rest of the Politburo ousted him from office to prevent a total regime collapse. Following the chaos, both Charles de Gaulle and Georges Pompidou for attempted insurrection, but both of them were eventually pardoned (de Gaulle posthumously) by the new National Secretary, Georges Marchais, along with his hand-picked Premier, Francois Mitterrand.

With weeks of him becoming the National Secretary, Marchais relaxed censorship, and allowed for some form of private industry, most notably in the manufacturing sector, where factory workers were given greater autonomy. This displeased the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, and soon enough, a massive banner reading "Citoyens de France, unissez-vous contre l’oppresseur! (Citizens of France, unite against the oppressor in French)" was hung onto the Arc de Triomphe on July 14th, 1971 at the start of the Semaine Nationale. Whether this is by the French government or by citizens, it became the catalyst for the Hexagon Crisis, as Brezhnev directly sent troops to the French border, threatening to invade France like what they did with Czechoslovakia in 1968. Then, in what seems to be a show of power, the French detonated a hydrogen bomb in their Pacific colony on July 18th, proving that France does have nuclear weapons, and can easily destroy the USSR if they dare to invade and subdue France. After an intense standoff between France and the Soviet Union, Brezhnev reluctantly let France leave the Warsaw Pact on August 10th, before kicking them out of the Comintern on December 31st, 1971.

After the Franco-Soviet Split, Marchais began his reformist plan to transform France into a Eurocommunist state, which also resulted in long time Premier Jacques Duclos being replaced by the less radical Francois Mitterrand. In 1972, France founded the European Eurocommunist Community, and began converting different nations to Eurocommunism, while also guaranteeing their independence from the Soviet Union. France also supported the Italian communists during the Second Italian Civil War, led by the very popular Enrico Belinguer. This proved highly effective, and France was able to drag most of Western Europe to their cause by the late 70's. Towards the late 1970's however, the French economy began to stagnate as well, and Marchais began to propose that France and the EEC should re-unite with the Soviet Union, a decision which wasn't welcomed by many. Initially. the Soviet Union refused to collaborate with the French, but after Brezhnev's death in 1982, Yuri Andropov re-started travel and communications between the EEC and the Comintern, initiating a détente period.

Though the French economy was booming in the mid 70's and their success in the space race thanks to the Europa Space Station being finished in 1982, by the early 80's, the economic growth had been slowing down, and French citizens are increasingly disgruntled by the relatively poor life quality they have to endure compared to Spain or Scandinavia, due to the severe corruption issues in the French Communist Party. Within the Palais Travailleurs, Marchais and Mitterrand argue with each other a lot over the day-to-day running of the country, with Mitterrand becoming too popular for Marchais to remove without causing a civil war. Vice Premier Jacques Chirac is also gaining in popularity with his ideas of Socialist Conservatism, and due to a constitutional amendment, Marchais cannot fire either Mitterrand or Chirac to secure his future. The fate of France has never been more uncertain...

## Politics

### Overview

The French Commune operates under a Marxist-Eurocommunist Directorial Dictatorship under Georges Marchais. In 1984, many consider the French Commune to be the regional power in Europe, rivaling the Soviet Union, while also having a better, albeit still poor economy than the USSR. The French Commune also leads the European Eurocommunist Community and has recently ramped up their effort to take Oceania down.

As Marchais' regime began to falter in the early 80's, students and more elder people who remembers the times of the French Republic began to protest, culminating in the Nantes Incident in 1983, when a group of hardline Commune Loyalist soldiers shot a bunch of student protesters, killing 8 of them. The event resulted in 4 new factions with radically different ideologies: Marchais' loyalists just wanted some reforms; Mitterrand's socialists want France to become more of a Democratic Socialist state; Chirac's Republicans believes that the Commune is failing horribly, and the only way to save it is via revolution; while Hue's hardliners believed that Eurocommunism isn't working, and they must return to the Marxist-Leninist model.

While nothing bad has happened yet to the French Commune internally, tensions are high between different factions, and when Marchais inevitably dies, chaos will rain down upon France...

## Foreign Relations

France is a very divisive nation in the European political theater, and as Marchais himself put it: "For the Europeans, it's basically "you're either with us or against us" type of mentality. That's what being a continental power brings you." France and Spain shares a love-hate relationship, as Spain supported the Nationalist Rebels during the Portuguese Civil War, and is leading the Mediterranian Axis, who aims to stop France and the USSR from dominating the politics of "the Roman Sphere". At the same time however, France and Spain has many trade deals with each other, and citizens from both sides have relaxed border controls as part of France's plan to strengthen the EEC's sense of a common European identity. After the Portuguese Civil War, Portugal became a Eurocommunist state, and France are also allies with Portugal by 1984, with them both sharing a love-hate relationship to Spain together.

France in 1984 still hates the Soviet Union, due to their Marxist-Leninist ideology, which the Commune saw it as being too authoritarian and conservative. The two are locked in an ideological Cold War against each other, with France leading the EEC, and the USSR leading the Comintern. To further spread their influence across Europe, they managed to steal Yugoslavia to their side after Tito found themselves isolated from the rest of Europe. France even attempted to recruit Romania to their side in 1979 after their de-satellitzation in the mid-60's, but the Romanian leader Nicolae Ceausescu turned down the offer, as they wish to not become too attached to either the USSR or France in order to maintain the independent status of Romania. Despite this, France and Romania still share a great relationship, and citizens from both sides regularly travel to both nations for business and pleasure. The fractured Italy is also a major area for concern, as France directly borders the fascist Italian Empire, and they have been planning to invade it with the Italian Peoples' Republic in the center of Italy, who is also a part of the EEC. France is also in another Cold War against the Mediterranean Axis, although that has been dying down due to a détente period led by Marchais' "peaceful coexistence" policy.

One of France's closest allies is ironically, the United States despite their opposing ideologies. This is due to Marchais' desire to help the United States against the Oceanians, and in turn, restore their former glory to face the Soviet Union. France has sent voluteers to America, and to secure the continued supply of goods from the Commune to America, the Americans leased the Panama Canal to the French in 1977, with an obligation from the French to return the canal back to the United Communes of Central America (UCCA) in 1999 or any successor of the UCCA that borders both sides of the Panama Canal. France also shares good relations with the IRA and is their biggest supporter in terms of weapons and supplies. France does not recognize Oceania at all, and instead deem them to be merely an occupation from the United Kingdom. Over the years, France has launched numerous air raids against Oceania to prepare themselves for when their liberation of the British Isles will come, and in 1984, these efforts have intensified. Yet, France has never directly invaded Oceania, but Marchais and his generals might do it soon...

## Society

The French Commune, as a Eurocommunist state has implemented both a centrally planned economy and a semi-autonomous capitalist system. France under Marchais has redesigned five-year plans into essentially just economic targets, with different companies constantly in competition. Most industries are completely nationalized however, and for some industries like healthcare and basic services, it's all under just one company controlled by the government. Citizens enjoy free healthcare and education, and despite the regime being somewhat oppressive, citizens are allowed to go about in their daily activities in the same way they have done before the communist takeover. Some of France's largest exports are from their massive aviation industry from the nationalized Airbus and cars.