French 6th Republic

### Interesting Fact

Despite being ruled by a far-right party, France was one of the few nations who mostly preserved LGBT rights in the aftermath of the 2022 Unravelling and the 5th Great Awakening.

The **French 6th Republic** was a regional power located in Western Europe between the years of 2039 and 2066. It is notable for joining the Eurasia Pact during the final days of the war, and overwhelming the Western-NATO forces, leading to the capitulation of Germany and the surrender of the Western powers in Europe. The exact establishment date of the 6th Republic is disputed, as no formal declaration was made, but most pin the election of Marine Le Pen in 2027 to be the starting date of the 6th Republic, and the fundamental constitutional changes of France that resulted to be enough to declare another Republic.

The French 6th Republic was notable for the creation of FORTERESSE, an artificial intelligence created by the combined powers of the Eurasia Pact to counteract the West's dominance in artificial intelligence. An AI which would ultimately betray its creators in the French Civil War, where an alliance of anti-government rebels and pro-FORTERESSE technocrats would ultimately take over the country, leading to the end of the 6th Republic.

## History

“Vive la France! Take our country back!” was the chant in the air. As the Western world order weakened in the Great Unravelling, France became consumed by far-right political extremism. After many years of crisis, a state of emergency was declared and accepted by the French populace. The government greatly expanded its power to take over the everyday lives of French citizens, and radical reforms were made. Immigration was halted immediately, France closing off its borders, followed by a pro-natalist push to push up the birthrates of greater France. Taxes were raised on the rich, and this subsidized the price of basic goods, even though this was simply a trick of the light, this calmed the people down, and the markets stabilized.

The National Regime can be seen as a disgust driven reaction to the norms of the previous period of atomization, and what in their eyes was progressive perversion. There was a period known as “National Purification” which sought to reintegrate France into traditional French (though not necessarily Catholic) norms, imposing a strict code of moral conduct across the population. This included speaking French, being patriotically French, not questioning the national ideology, obeying modesty, and obeying authority. The nation was authoritarian in the sense that all things were structured in an orderly, “correct” way, which was seen as the way things just ought to be.

The streets were clean, the poor were pushed out of sight, and France on the surface was a well ordered series of cogs, imposing order in reaction to the perceived chaos of the previous decade. There was tremendous moral weight to stay in line and do as one is told. In the cities, the romantic ideas of republic and revolution continued, and there was considerably more pushback and resistance against the new order than in the countryside. Slowly, over demographics, the urban population was eventually outbred by the growing countryside, and the conservative members of society having more children, eventually shifting the balance towards the latter by the 2040’ and 50’s. The downfall of the regime would not come from the liberals, but from a 3rd direction. The obsession with order eventually bred a new class of technocrats, whom by the 50’s began to take power. Obsessed with running society as a machine, its people as orderly cogs, and France a great factory, they created a new strain of technocratic thought known as French Utilitarianism, which rapidly caught on in the French cities. Eventually, it was an urban revolt, assisted by FORTERESSE that kickstarted the French Civil War that would end the National Regime, and begin the reign of the French Technocracy.