Kingdom of France

The Kingdom of France (Royaume de France) is a European nation situated in the region of Gaul in Western Europe north of the Iberian peninsula and west of Germania. It also controls a vast empire spanning from Algeria to Central Africa to India to Indochina, with at least one outpost on every single continent in the world. According to the 1935 royal census, Metropolitan France has a population of 40,921,728. The nation prides itself on its vast empire, and plays a significant role in production of tea.

## History

By 1776, France had militarily recovered from the tragedy of the 7-Years War that had ended just 13 years before. Its dockyards existed in a state of fervent activity while British shipyards remained stagnant and rotted as the English Empire became too comfortable on the world stage, unable to grasp that France could soon challenge their naval dominance. During the Great Colonial Rebellion, France co-operated the company *Hortalez et Cie,* which provided arms and other valuable equipment to the British colonial revolutionaries. Culturally, France continued to flourish as the cultural center of the world at large, contrary to the "barbaric Anglos."

### Great Colonial Rebellion

France during the Great Colonial Rebellion was on the fence about supporting the American revolutionaries. Though never actually sending aid directly, the King of France approved a plan to create a "private" company called *Rodrigue Hortalez et Cie.* This firm sold military goods to the continentals through most of the war due to its disguise as a civilian company. Benjamin Franklin nearly won over the king to ally with the United States in 1778, but news soon reached him of the *Continental Surrender,* destroying any possibility of cementing an alliance with King Louis XVI. Franklin did however, convince the king to host the American Government-in-Exile in *Nouvelle Amerique.*

### King Louis' War

By 1812, the French had become confident that their great fleet was capable of overtaking that of the Royal Navy. After decades of rapid naval development compared to the stagnant British fleet, any man could tell that France was clearly getting its act together since the failures in the 7-Years War. On July 2, 1812, the Kingdom of France declared war on the United Kingdom, with the main goal being conquest of British possessions in the Caribbean. France shocked the world by defeating the mighty Royal Navy at the *Battle of Marseille Bay*, achieving naval dominance in the Mediterranean by 1813. Similar battles were fought in *Jamaica and Brest*, which led to complete wipeouts to the British fleets involved. On July 2, 1814, 10,000 French marines carried out a successful assault on the Channel Islands, securing them for the remainder of the war. For once, Francia ruled the waves.

The British carried out unsuccessful attacks on French outposts in India, resulting in French reinforcement and counter-attacks. The French East India Company, being much more humane to the natives, convinced several Indian princes to switch sides. The British East India company really only managed to hold Burma as Franco-Native armies steamrolled the land and remaining British resistance. Reinforcements to India from Britain were slow to come due to French naval supremacy making any troop transport risky.

Britain was forced to come to a humiliating peace in 1815 in the *Treaty of Ghent,* which notably gave the French most of India, the Channel Islands, and Jamaica. Britain was also forced to pay reparations for French assets damaged during the war.

### The Belgium Crisis

With the Belgian Revolution coming around 1833, the Great Powers of Europe felt it necessary to choose a side in this new modern crisis. Britain immediately announced support for Belgian independence. This was followed by French and Spanish announcements of refusing to recognize Belgian sovereignty. The Kingdom of Prussia countered the French announcement, claiming its support for Belgian independence. Russia chose to side with France and Spain in the crisis, forcing Prussia to withdrawal their support for Belgium in a humiliating display. On January 4th, 1834, the Kingdom of France declared war on the United Kingdom, still feeling confident from their victory a decade before.

Ironically, France fell down the same path of stagnation that the Royal Navy had fallen down following the 7-Years War. Between King Louis' War and the Belgian War, the British navy expanded rapidly in a state of revanchist, nationalist fervor. A series of Naval Reforms initiated by Queen Victoria allowed the Royal Navy to reclaim its proud position on the seas. France came to this realization after the *Battle of the Channel* on February 7, 1834, where the Royal Navy annihilated a massive French fleet attempting to land in Dover, largely in part due to the *Great French Hurricane,* which scattered most of the French ships. Spain later joined on May 5, 1834, with the stated goal of the "Reconquista of Gibraltar." Gibraltar fell on July 4, 1834, following the *Battle of Gibraltar,* where the Spanish successfully destroyed a British supply fleet headed to relieve the city.

Spain quickly dropped out of the war for Gibraltar following this victory. France and Britain made peace much later in the Treaty of London, signed December 7, 1834. This treaty was fairly light on France, merely forcing them to recognize the independence of Belgium in exchange for no territorial loss. Despite the light terms, this war crippled the French fleet in such a manner from which it would never recover.

### The French Revolution

Following the Belgian War, the French political situation rapidly deteriorated. France had become extremely nationalistic due to their victory over the British 20 years prior, and the complete destruction of their fleet along with a national humiliation led to an angry, revanchist populace. The people blamed this failure on the king. This was compounded by an economic crisis caused by recuperating the costs of losing a massive French fleet, severely decreasing French quality of life. The people of France had been familiar with the ideas of liberty presented by the great Enlightenment-era philosophers whom had also inspired the American Rebels over half a century ago, and the absolutist monarchy of Louis XVI was merely tolerated due to the great standard of living and national pride. The French liberals seized this opportunity to rebel against the king, starting the *French Revolution.*

On June 9, 1840, French peasant rebels rose up in Paris, and stormed the Bastille political prison in East Paris, releasing political dissidents to the crown. The French National Assembly declared itself to be in permanent session, essentially establishing a parliament. Louis XVII addressed the mob in Paris, announcing his support for their cause, and agreeing to cooperate with the revolutionaries on July 7, 1840. On January 7, 1841, the national assembly voted to end the privileges and feudal rights of the nobility. By August the assembly had continued to pass other liberal reforms such as freedom of speech and religion, shocking the absolutist monarchies in the rest of Europe.

On February 13, 1842, the national assembly ratified the *Declaration of Rights of Man and the Citizen,* which was heavily inspired by the philosophical writings of the American Revolutionaries, guaranteeing the rights of the people in several amendments. Several other liberal reforms were passed, but the economic situation failed to improve. On May 6, 1845, the Royal Family was captured while attempting to flee the country. The aging 61 year-old French king was declared unfit for trial by the national assembly, and was placed on house arrest in the *Palace of Versailles* with the rest of his family*.* The deposed King would see less than a year of life left as he was sentanced to death by the new French Republic in 1845 in response to the Austrians threatining hell if they ever killed the French King. What followed was the war of the first coalition.

### Coalition Wars (1845-1848)

#### **War of the First Coalition**

On August 2, 1845, a coalition organized by the British declared war upon the French Republic consisting of Austria, the Holy Roman Empire, Prussia, Sardinia, the Netherlands, and Naples. Amazingly, the French managed to triumph in this war. Notably, France invaded Belgium in 1846 to invade the Netherlands in one of the most daring campaigns of the entire war. The Netherlands and Belgium sued for peace on February 2, 1847. The Netherlands was turned into a French client state as the Batavian Republic, while Belgium was annexed into France proper. France defeated an Austro-Sardinian army in Turin on April 9, and Austria and the Holy Roman Empire dropped out on May 5 in a white peace. Britain and Spain dropped out in the Peace of Amiens on December 3, 1847. The French Republic had been preserved.

#### **War of the Second Coalition**

The peace of the First Coalition was unstable, to be sure. It was marked by several diplomatic incidents between France and the other European powers, particularly in Malta. On October 2, 1847, Naples formed an alliance with Austria. This alliance soon expanded to Russia, Portugal, the Holy Roman Empire, Austria, Britain, and Spain. A border clash in Turin between French troops and Sardinian troops on December 1 was the breaking point, and peace in Europe had dissolved once more. In this new european war, france would not see the successes it had once seen, though with Russia's entry into the war, France would see a coalition much more powerful and prepared than the one they fought before.

Only in the first few months, the coalition forces had pushed France out of the netherlands, with the Prussians dismantling the Batavian Republic, and Austria pushing France out of italy, dismantling the small italian republics proped up by france a year prior. As France was being pushed back on all fronts, the giant armies of Russia marched into europe, preparing for the invasion of Paris. After a monarchist revolt in Toulon resulting in British occupation, Russia luanched its invasion of France, marching into Paris on July 7th after a massive battle on the outskirts of paris, resulting in a massive french loss. With the fall of Paris and the french republican government under arrest, the war of the second coalition came to an end and the Congress of Vienna began.

### The Congress of Vienna (1848)

The Congress of Vienna began on July 12th, 1848 between the Coalition Powers and the fallen French government. With the terms set, the House of Bourbon and the Capet dynasty were reinstated as the monarchs of France, replacing the republican government. None of France's land was lost, however, france had been significantly weakened by the Congress's terms. Though even with the defeat, France would enter a golden era of prosperity in the weeks after.

### The Golden Era (1848-1898)

Following France's defeat, a large economic boom occurred due to soldiers returning home from war, and in turn, moving to the cities for better jobs in industry. This period began the nation's rapid urbanization and industrialization occurring together, as the French economy improved tremendously. Colonial conquests in Algeria and Asia helped facilitate growth, as France harvested resources from these colonies to continue expansion in the industrial sector. Only years after the defeat of the First French Republic (About 1851-1857), France began to once again assert its dominance over Europe under the rule of King Charles X. The colonial expansion, militarization, and economic expansion has proped up France to be a superpower across the world.

During the early years after the coalition wars ended, France experienced massive political division between the old republicans and liberals against the Monarchists and the King which ruled. Though the political division caused much turmoil, the reforms that began under King Charles X and continued with King Louis XVIII liberalized much of the monarchy and formed a semi-constiutional monarchy with elections beginning under the supervision of King Charles X.

By the late 20th century, France had become a stable democratic monarchy and its militarization had made it a contender for the superpower of the world. Though, that status would be tested as tensions ran with the newly established North German Confederation. Tensions had always been high with the Prussians, though it seemed war was inevitabal this time round.

### Franco-Prussian War (1898-1900)

When France declared war on the North German Confederation in 1898, Prussia was confident that it was going to win. Against all odds, however, the French defeated the Germans decisively at the city of Metz, and drove into Saarbrucken by April 2 of 1899. A major German army was encircled and pinned along the Rhine near the city of Mainz, resulting in a major encirclement of German forces, and a siege in the city. A large German relief force was intercepted and destroyed by French forces in the *Battle of Frankfurt.* The French forces then began a major campaign in Central Germany, advancing north to the major cities along the Rhine River, and Hanover was captured on August 19, 1899, much to the pleasure of the former King of Hanover, who had financed his own personal army to fight alongside French forces for the liberation of Hanover.

Berlin was captured on July 2 of 1900 following the encirclement of the last major German force in Brandenburg. Germany officially surrendered on July 9, 1900.

#### **Treaty of Versailles**

Prussia and its constituent powers signed a treaty with France in Versailles palace on August 11, 1900. Prussia was forced to cede the left Rhine Bank to the French Empire, and south Germany came under the French sphere of influence. Prussia was forced to pay 100 million francs in war reparations, and France was allowed to keep an occupation force in Brandenburg until this was paid.

### Age of Good Feelings (1901-)

French victory over the Germans prompted a new wave of massive nationalism in the country, with the entire political focus of the nation being rallied solely on expansion, imperialism, cooperation, and pride. France had asserted its position on the continent successfully, and the politics in the country reflected this optimistic attitude and vision for the future. France's plans for Europe became more lofty, and ambitions more significant. Following the Italo-French war, the country annexed the territory of Piedmont. As well, massive French colonization of the Indian subcontinent led to King Louis XIX declaring himself Emperor of India to counter the rising british influence in India. A massive political crisis eruped between France and Great Britain due to the rising power of France across the world. With the continuation of the century, France had largely expanded its Army, Naval, and Air forces as well as cementing its influence across its colonies.

With the death of the King-Emperor Louis XIX, a state of mourning spread across the nation. His son was crowned as King-Emperor Louis XX, though unlike his father, Louis XX was much more authoritarian and anti-democratic. Even in his first year on the throne, Louis XX bashed with the Prime Minister of France and his parliament, causing a decrease of popularity for the King. Only time will tell if the king is forced off the throne or a return to the ancient regime is due.