I agree. But probably not with a Imperial France, as I don´t think the Germans would like to have another Napoleon next to them
Great AAR, I am looking forward to the next update!
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I agree. But probably not with a Imperial France, as I don´t think the Germans would like to have another Napoleon next to them
Great AAR, I am looking forward to the next update!
I agree. But probably not with a Imperial France, as I don´t think the Germans would like to have another Napoleon next to them
Great AAR, I am looking forward to the next update!
My main thinking is that it doesn't seem logical when the germans set up a french monarchy puppet state with a german on the throne while there's another french monarchy state right next door. Apart from anything else, what would they call the two different countries?
I've just about finished the next update and all I need to do is upload the screenshots. I'm at work (on my lunch break) at the moment though so it'll probably have to wait until this afternoon.
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.
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.
I've decided not to count Napoleon IV, if that's who you're referring to, given that the title was one only ever given to him by his supporters rather than something he can be legitimately said to have held. At least Napoleon II was technically emperor for fifteen days - the so-called Napoleon the IV wasn't. In any event, Louis Napoleon is deemed by the game to be Napoleon IV - and I don't want to argue with the mod makers
Download HD films
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Oh no, you're correct, I misread the last paragraph as you crowning him Napoleon III.
Nope, that comes in the next update
Time to conquer them Syndies, eh Napolean? I'll get your horse ready.
First the Communards, then the Arabs, then the Syndies, then the Germans and then the Syndies again
I'm going on a long car journey to visit relatives tomorrow so hopefully I'll be able to get The Imperial Restoration written and posted by then
Okay, obviously I wasn't able to get the update posted. Maybe I'll have some better luck tonight.
Preparing for the Restoration
Once news of Delestraint's victory in the south reached his superiors in Algiers, they began to consider more seriously the question of the security of southern French Africa.
The only reason National France had been able to triumph in the Liberian Campaign was through the pre-emptive decision to dispatch a motorised division to the Liberian border as a precautionary measure in case the Second American Civil War created disturbances. As it was, the Liberian Campaign had been a close run thing.
If Delestraint had been delayed by a week, or if the Liberians had shown slightly more competence then the entirety of the army's motorised forces could have been lost - and with it potentially much of the southern part of the country as it would have taken months to march regular infantry through the Sahara to defeat the Liberians. Furthermore, unrest amongst the natives had been steadily rising and the risk of revolts in the more lawless parts of the country was one which could not be ignored.
With arrangements already being made for the coronation of Louis Napoleon, the military were determined to ensure that the Emperor would be crowned the ruler of a secure and stable country. To that end it was obvious that two major problems needed to be addressed.
The first was that National France had no means to transport large numbers of troops to the south other than through marching them through the Sahara. The second was that there were too few white Frenchmen in North Africa to form an army capable of properly defending the country, let alone defeating the Commune of France.
The solution eventually reached was to begin the conscription of the natives into the army. To allow them to serve alongside white forces, however, was deemed to be certain to cause unrest amongst the white French soldiers and so the decision was made to conscript them as a separate colonial force for the defence of the southern part of the country.
The two new militia divisions and two new cavalry divisions were placed under the command of French officers and dispersed throughout southern French Africa in order to be able to respond rapidly to unrest wherever it might occur.
At the same time, the decision was made to begin planning for the construction of a fleet of troop transport ships in order to enable forces to be moved rapidly from one end of the country to another.
Additionally, in order to combat growing unrest, state controlled industries were refocused on the production of consumer goods in order to lower prices and to extend throughout the country the improvements in living standards that the inhabitants of the cities on the Algerian coast had enjoyed since the establishment of the Fourth Republic.
In order to pay for these new programs, however, new taxes would be necessary.
By the end of July, teams of geologists, anthropologists and statisticians had completed the Algeria-Central Africa Inventory. Originally the brain child of a minor bureaucrat unknown to posterity, the idea of a survey of the resources of the mostly unexplored Sahara region had slowly made its way up the chain of command until it had finally been authorised. The survey mostly revealed deposits of oil and rare metals that would not prove commercially viable to exploit until the 80s but it also revealed a great deal about the nomadic Tuareg tribesmen. Though mostly herders and caravan drivers, it was decided that taxation of the Tuareg caravans could form a small but significant revenue which would go some way towards meeting the increased financial commitments of the government.
Though this tax proved immensely unpopular with the Tuaregs, the resentment it caused was dismissed out of hand at the time.
With the issue of security seemingly solved, the Marshal's government began the preparations for the coronation of the new Emperor.
Once news of Delestraint's victory in the south reached his superiors in Algiers, they began to consider more seriously the question of the security of southern French Africa.
The only reason National France had been able to triumph in the Liberian Campaign was through the pre-emptive decision to dispatch a motorised division to the Liberian border as a precautionary measure in case the Second American Civil War created disturbances. As it was, the Liberian Campaign had been a close run thing.
If Delestraint had been delayed by a week, or if the Liberians had shown slightly more competence then the entirety of the army's motorised forces could have been lost - and with it potentially much of the southern part of the country as it would have taken months to march regular infantry through the Sahara to defeat the Liberians. Furthermore, unrest amongst the natives had been steadily rising and the risk of revolts in the more lawless parts of the country was one which could not be ignored.
With arrangements already being made for the coronation of Louis Napoleon, the military were determined to ensure that the Emperor would be crowned the ruler of a secure and stable country. To that end it was obvious that two major problems needed to be addressed.
The first was that National France had no means to transport large numbers of troops to the south other than through marching them through the Sahara. The second was that there were too few white Frenchmen in North Africa to form an army capable of properly defending the country, let alone defeating the Commune of France.
The solution eventually reached was to begin the conscription of the natives into the army. To allow them to serve alongside white forces, however, was deemed to be certain to cause unrest amongst the white French soldiers and so the decision was made to conscript them as a separate colonial force for the defence of the southern part of the country.
The two new militia divisions and two new cavalry divisions were placed under the command of French officers and dispersed throughout southern French Africa in order to be able to respond rapidly to unrest wherever it might occur.
At the same time, the decision was made to begin planning for the construction of a fleet of troop transport ships in order to enable forces to be moved rapidly from one end of the country to another.
Additionally, in order to combat growing unrest, state controlled industries were refocused on the production of consumer goods in order to lower prices and to extend throughout the country the improvements in living standards that the inhabitants of the cities on the Algerian coast had enjoyed since the establishment of the Fourth Republic.
In order to pay for these new programs, however, new taxes would be necessary.
By the end of July, teams of geologists, anthropologists and statisticians had completed the Algeria-Central Africa Inventory. Originally the brain child of a minor bureaucrat unknown to posterity, the idea of a survey of the resources of the mostly unexplored Sahara region had slowly made its way up the chain of command until it had finally been authorised. The survey mostly revealed deposits of oil and rare metals that would not prove commercially viable to exploit until the 80s but it also revealed a great deal about the nomadic Tuareg tribesmen. Though mostly herders and caravan drivers, it was decided that taxation of the Tuareg caravans could form a small but significant revenue which would go some way towards meeting the increased financial commitments of the government.
Though this tax proved immensely unpopular with the Tuaregs, the resentment it caused was dismissed out of hand at the time.
With the issue of security seemingly solved, the Marshal's government began the preparations for the coronation of the new Emperor.
I had originally planned this update to be the details of the crowning of Napoleon IV and the form of the empire but there were so many important events happened beforehand that I decided to split them into two. Hopefully the next update won't be as long in coming as this one.
It's getting more and more interesting, good job Why won't you join new DH LibrAARy?
Why won't you join new DH LibrAARy?- Status