The Death of the Republic
As Russia tore itself apart through civil war between Soviets and White forces and through war with Ukraine (and therefore the Mitteleuropa), Transamure (and therefore Japan) and the Sternberg Khanate, in National France the conflict was being reported with interest in newspapers as the first “modern war”. Any attempt there might have been to get involved with the war or to try and learn lessons from the tactics being employed there were swiftly derailed with the death, on the 21st of June, 1937, of Coty, Prime Minister of the Fourth Republic.
Most modern historians agree that the cause of death was exactly that reported by the Marshal’s government at the time: heart failure caused by the strain of a hot summer on a man with already frail health. Contrary to popular rumour at the time, there is no evidence whatsoever to support the allegation that the fatal heart attack occurred while in bed with his mistress thirty years his junior.
Interlude the Second
Georges and Leblanc sat outside a cafe overlooking a cafe, attempting to escape the summer heat through a mixture of the breeze off the sea and chilled white wine.
“So,” asked Fabien, “You normally know what’s going on. Any truth in the rumours about the circumstances of the late Prime Minister’s death?”
Georges snorted. “They’re not rumours, they’re fact. His mistress was the one who reported his death. The Prime Minister’s secretary’s brother’s nephew works in my department. The old devil was galloping away on top of her when his heart gave out! Scared the life out of her.”
Fabien laughed. “Well, it certainly sounds like a good way to go!”
Interlude ends
Following Coty’s death, Marshal Pétain began an urgent search for a replacement Prime Minister. Feeling the effects of old age himself, and tired of the struggle to hold the various factions of National France together, the Marshal found himself drawn to the arguments of Charles Maurras, a prominent figure who advocated the restoration of the monarchy.
Pétain’s papers reveal that he hoped that a monarch would become a unifying symbol for France who could use the influence of his position to force the various factions to work together and to allow the Marshal to finally retire from public life.
As the nation entered a period of uncertainty as the new choice of Prime Minister was announced, welcome news arrived from the south.
At the end of May, the Liberian army had attempted to outflank Delestraint’s forces, moving quickly north and then east, cutting the supply lines to the French forces stalled outside Monrovia.
With limited supplies and all communication with his superiors cut off, Delestraint took a desperate gamble and launched an all out assault on the Liberian capital. Out of the stupidity of the high command in sending a single, unsupported division south, came a remarkable victory.
In their overconfidence, the Liberian government had assumed that the cut off French forces would realise the futility of their position and surrender. As such, the attack by Delestraint came entirely out of the blue and met only token forces guarding the capital as most of the Liberian army had moved out of the city in order to prevent any attempts by Delestraint to escape.
The battle of Monrovia was swift and one-sided. Within a matter of hours, Delestraint had captured the Liberian government and forced them, quite literally at gunpoint, to agree to the annexation of Liberia by the Fourth Republic.
When the news of the victory arrived in Algiers it was greeted with joy by a government and a public that had, until that point, tasted nothing but defeat since 1917.
It was in this mood of uncertainty turned to celebration that Maurras made the key decision of his brief premiership. Committed to the restoration of the monarchy, the choice facing National France was between the heir of the French Royal dynasty or the heir of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Maurras had long tended towards support of the original, Catholic kings of France. Though not a religious man himself, he saw Catholicism as a powerful tool to strengthen national identity. As such, many expected him to invite Jean de Bourbon to assume the throne. However, Maurras’ famous pragmatism ultimately led him to what had seemed the more unlikely choice.
Napoleon had turned a republic divided by the aftermath of a bloody revolution into an empire that had stood alone against all the greatest powers of the world and which had reshaped the history and map of Europe. The symbolism of the return of his dynasty to the throne would be powerful and would act to inspire the nation and the armed forces to achieve their ultimate aim: the liberation of France and the defeat of the Communards.
Another practical reason to favour the Bonapartist claimant was that Louis Napoleon was a young man while Jean de Bourbon was a man of already advanced years. For most of its history the Fourth Republic had been governed by one old man after another. Maurras remarked to his closest friends that he felt it was time for “the energy of youth to guide the course of our struggle” and it is highly likely that this formed a major part of his decision.
And, finally, the Bonapartists had offered immense bribes to Maurras should he choose their man. Given the rather limited standard of living Maurras had enjoyed since the fall of France, it is probably safe to assume that this also played a part in his choice.
On July the 4th, after two weeks of consideration and negotiation with Pétain, Maurras made a public speech where he formally invited Louis Napoleon to reclaim the throne of Emperor Napoleon III. With Louis Napoleon certain to accept, this day is considered to mark the death of the fourth and final Republic of France and the dawn of the Imperial Restoration.