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((Hello everyone, I have created, with the blessings of Dieu AKA Syriana, the strictly unofficial Coldfront channel of #France for use in discussing the game. Just FYI.))
 
September 1791: The Collapse of Consensus​


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Two years after the outbreak, and just as its fiery zeal was beginning to smoulder, the Revolution finally bore fruit. At last, France had a new Constitution, one that entrenched the rights of the people, proscribed monarchical absolutism and upheld popular representation. The labour of the National Constituent Assembly was finally complete, and it disbanded. Its last act had been to pass an ordinance, proposed by Maximilien Robespierre, that none of its members would be able to stand for the new Assembly. This act, well-intended as it was, would have great consequences. In the next parliament, there would be no Mirabeau, no Necker, no Lafayette, no Sieyès – no Robespierre himself. There were those who argued that, bereft of its leadership, the revolutionary camp would fall apart. They were right, but for the wrong reasons.

The reality is that the revolutionary consensus was already collapsing. At the outset of the Constituent Assembly, there had been three main factions: Monarchical, Constitutional and National. Only the former was ardently opposed to reform; the Constitutionals favoured a popular monarchy bound by parliament. But the Left was a broad church united by nothing but its opposition to the royalist regime; there was no agreement on what form the revolutionary state should take, or who should lead it. The populist base of the Revolution – the sans-culottes and the enragés who had stormed the Bastille and plucked the King from Versailles, represented in the Assembly by their intellectual allies – began to despair of the Nationals' moderate leadership. On their own part, Mirabeau and Lafayette were fearful of the revolutionary forces that they had unleashed, and reconciled themselves to the Monarchy. The two sides confronted each other at the Champs de Mars in June 1791, which ended in a massacre of the republican protestors by Lafayette's National Guard. The schism was made permanent; the Party of the Nation was no more.

As the revolution fractured, so did the political clubs that had become its idiosyncratic feature. The Society of the Friends of the Constitution, popularly known as the Jacobin Club, had been an open forum for revolutionary dialogue. But the divisions had grown too strong. The moderate Nationals fled into the arms of the royalist democrats to form a society of the same name (the Feuillant Club), which supported constitutional monarchy and representative democracy. This left the Jacobin Club in the hands of the radical republicans who desired the overthrow of the King and direct democratic rule. They were not alone; on the Left rose the Society of the Friends of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, a rugged republican outfit that derived the name "Cordeliers" from the infamously radical district of Paris; and the Society of the Friends of Truth, which based its principles on Rousseau's Social Contract and so came to be known as the Social Club, espousing a people's dictatorship as the best remedy for the Revolution. Even the reactionary Right formed their own society, the Club Monarchique, and pressed its ideals upon the Parisian people. The First, Second and Third Estates who had so recently cooperated in the Constituent Assembly parted ways, as the aristocracy and the high clergy – disturbed by the radicalism and anticlericalism of the old Assembly – united with the King's men to curb the Revolution, while the populist radicals of the bourgeoisie coalesced to defend it.

It was in such an atmosphere that France went to the polls in September 1791. The rewards were greater than mere representation in the Legislative Assembly. King Louis XVI – staying quiet and inconspicuous since his failed flight to Varennes in June – had dismissed the government at the request of the Constituent Assembly. Whichever party triumphed at the ballot box would surely seize the Cabinet, as well. In short, the corps-état was up for grabs. The election would determine not just who ruled in France, but the fate of the Revolution itself.


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Player Actions Needed:

You may now declare your allegiance to a faction:

[Monarchical/Feuillant/Jacobin/Cordelier/Social]

These declarations will form the initial composition of the Assembly.
 
Our objective is, and always has been, the establishment of a Popular Republic free from tyrants and Kings!
[Jacobin]

- André Bouchard, Deputy and Citizen

((I made a quick research on the Socials, they are basically Girondists right?))
 
Feuillant for a better and united France.

~Sous-lieutenant Vincent Parént
 
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His Most Christian Majesty, Louis XVI by the grace of God, King of the French; is above such petty cliques and rivalries that besiege the Kingdom of France. If he was, however, to declare some sympathy for any current faction it would decidedly be for the Feuillants. His Majesty feels that their ideals of following the popular will, to which he has always been most sympathetic, and yet acting in accordance with the cherished traditions of France and the will of Almighty God, would indeed be ones to which he would be most amenable. The ideas of the Monarchique society are of course also held in regard by His Majesty, who is taken kindly by their noble and filial loyalty.

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It is my firm belief that the Feuillants are simply the most pragmatic choice for the preservation of French order and peace, without the cessation of liberty.

~ Paul-Aurelien de St Sebatien, former Baron d'Harfleur ((QQ))
 
While the spirit of reform has done well for the people of France, I fear the radical tinge of other associations may seek to destroy certain ways of life that should be bound forever to the people. The Feuillants offer stability and moderation, of which, I agree with.

- Per Le Goff
 
I name myself one of the Feuillants. A moderate course is the way to prosperity and stability.

~ René Leon
 
I declare my undying loyalty France and will return to Paris to help maintain order and allow for civil political discourse. I also call for the creation of the German Legion a cavalry unit which I will personally lead.

-Charles-Pierre-François Augereau
 
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Name: Count Jacques de Nogaret-Lefebvre
Born: 2nd of April 1749
Estate: Second
Culture: Parisian
Religion: Catholic​

Bio: Born to a French noble family originating back from the 14th century, Jacques spent his young years at the military academy of Saint-Cyr, only to join the officer corps a few years after the Seven Years warHis older brother, Dorian, was killed in Quebec by the British, leaving a burning hatred against this nation in Jacques’s heart. Luckily enough, Jacques was given the opportunity to fight his enemies during the American revolutionary wars as a colonel of cavalry. Unfortunately, Jacques was hit by a British sharpshooter at Yorktown, leaving him incapable of service. Instead, after returning home, Jacques used his free time to study law, politics, economics and military theory.

In 1784, Jacques worked as an advisor at the Ministry of War and became well known for his hawkish attitude against Britain, especially focusing on reconquering the lost Canadian territories and breaking the British rule of India. However, his plans, often featuring large scale invasions of said lands, were often described as “megalomaniac”. Still, his experiences, charm and excellent theoretical knowledge made him a valuable asset.

When the revolution broke out, Jacques was worried about the fate of France and, mostly, himself. Yet, he was opposed to basically anything that happened after the General Estates assembled, and remained a proponent of Absolute Monarchy as the only way for France to remain a superpower able to fight Great Britain and expand its influence in the world.

((Monarchical))
 
Name: Abbott Adolphe Beauchene
Born: May 2, 1738
Estate: Première
Religion: Catholic
Culture: Arpitan

Bio: A deeply pious man, heavily invested in the scripture and carrying out its bidding, Abbott Adolpe Beauchene was born into simplicity in the quiet hills of Château-Chalon. A dedicated Catholic from the youngest of ages he set out at age 21 to join the Les Feuillants Abbey near Toulouse. There he spent several decades contemplating on God and what his true bidding was. Now the Abbott of the Abbey, he sets out to save the historic Cistercian Feuillian Order whilst also sympathizing with the new ideological Feuillians. His respect as a humble compromising man, his unfaltering dedication to the Abbey and the Church, and knowledge of his deep interpretations spread as far as Parisian Theological Society. He sees the recent change brought about by the popular uprisings as good, but hopes to ensure that such change will not be rash or severe.

Declared a Feuillant.
 
To prosper going forward we must look to our northern friends, my native Britain, who has for an entire century now had at the heart of her governance a constitutional monarch. I shall defend liberty to my dying day, but a monarch gives a stability which can never be gleaned from a republican premier. I therefore feel that I should affirm my support for the Feuillant ideology.

Furthermore, I would request that, upon the formation of our next government, a cavalry regiment is formed in the south so as to allow us to defend ourselves against any opportunistic neighbours who may see fit to attempt to profit at our internal turmoil.

~Édouard-Alexandre Blair​
 
Name: Fernande Duveau
Born: March 4th, 1751
Estate: Third
Religion: Catholic
Culture: Parisian
Bio: The 1st son of a wealthy Parisian family, Fernande Duveau is a new face in the political scene. Influenced by philosophy of the enlightenment and republican ideals, he sides with the more radical face of the assembly.

((Jacobin))
 
((I made a quick research on the Socials, they are basically Girondists right?))
The Socials are the furthest Left, but in an abstract and intellectual way, which makes them akin to Girondists. The actual Girondists are still cohabiting with the Montagnards in the Jacobin Club; I would have reflected this in the game, but I didn't want there to be too many factions.

Feel free to set the wheels rolling for any legislative business while I wait for the last declarations to come through.
 
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Name: Jacques Nazaire Aulard
Date of Birth: 12 February, 1757
Estate: Third
Religion: Cult of Reason
Culture: Parisian
Biography: Born on 12 February, 1757 to a lawyer and his wife in Alençon the young Jacques grew up alongside Jacques Hébert. Both of them went on to study law at the College of Alençon, afterwards they also worked alongside each other as clerks under a solicitor in the city. However, after Hébert was ruined by a lawsuit against Dr. Clouet he fled the city. Jacques continues serving under the solicitor until 1783 when he started his own practice. When the revolution broke out in Paris in 1789 he quickly rushed to the city and was re-acquainted with his friend, who had become a writer supporting the Revolution. For the next two years he, Hébert and their supporters did their best to support the Revolution. When Hébert joined the Society of the Friends of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (Cordeliers) in 1791, Jacques followed suit and has shown himself an ardent supporter of his friend.
 
((Unofficial tally

Monarchical: 1
Feuillant: 7
Jacobin: 2
Cordelier: 2
Social: 0

This is going to be interesting and very ahistorical unless more people join))
 
((Don't worry, we'll kill all you Feuillants in no time.))

((Haha ha ... ha. Not if I can keep my head you won't. Viva la choosing the winning side! Also get back on IRC you big lug))