The world’s ten ‘Great Powers’ plus alignment: Green-Arab League, Blue-Royalist Entente, Red- Communist International, Yellow-Neutral, Grey-Mitteleuropa
Gentlemen, welcome to the Reichs...err, I mean National Assembly. Let’s do politics.
Many of you have requested a more comprehensive report on the state of France and the world. After consulting our various Foreign offices, I am educated enough to inform you that the situation is bad.
The Orléans Peace twenty years ago took a heavy toll. Following the terms of the peace treaties we were forced to disband most of our army, and what was left of our navy now lies at the bottom of the Northern Sea, after OAMs highly debated sailor’s revolt against the German Empire. In any case, any ship we don’t have is a ship they never took.
While Germany grew to be the surpreme world leader, France sunk into isolationism, her economy struggling behind as the world’s powers surged forward. Stripped of our colonies as mining base, we are facing an impending resource crisis: The Ministry of Economy reports a lack of favourable trade deals and foreign contacts, and the country is running an increasingly large deficit of oil, rare materials and raw coal.
Luckily, our isolationist and mercantilist policies have allowed the French economy to run it’s course independent from Germany’s greedy stock markets, and, unlike most of the world, the Berlin stock crash barely affects us. Although on a decline, Germany’s economy has allowed her to build a superior navy and military, and control a vast global empire from it’s Kaiserreich. Many criticise the Kaiserreich for it’s inability to stop the spread of communism and other global rebellions, after a hilariously failed attempt at subdueing the French colonies, and a failed intervention in Italy and India. Germany’s main partner, Austria-Hungary, is in the ropes both economically and politically: It’s member-states are striving for independence, and only through mediation from Germany is Austria still capable of holding her empire together.
Production. The running government has ordered an ambitious industrial expanse plan, even though a resource crisis is looming. It is obvious finding new trade partners is going to be a number 1 issue in the next elections. Without it, our economy faces the same fate as the Polish and Dutch nations: Industrial collapse.
Research. For now, our research departments are focussing on industrial and infantry techs, but several high-ranked members of the Military Staff have demanded that France shifts to a new military doctrine, with plenty of infighting between proponents of the German-invented tank-based ‘Blitzkrieg’-doctrine and the proponents of the MOT and MEC-based ‘Mechanized Warfare’-doctrine.
One of the main results of the revolutionary 1920’s is the spectacular rise and expanse of communism. After the Great War, the Russian Empire pretty much collapsed under the weight of the October Revolution. Four years of civil war and two German interventions later, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was born. Today, the USSR is a force to be reckoned with: Although dammed in from all sides by German-supported buffer states, many analysts fear the USSR is on the verge of smashing through it’s geographic prison, reclaiming the lost lands of the Russian Empire and eventually, putting an end to their German nemesis.
The Germans, naturally, are spooked. They hold strict control over Central- and East-Europe, and their borders with the Soviet Union are tightly guarded. The question is, how long will the ‘Eastern Dam’ hold? And what of the USSR’s allies in Italy and the United Kingdom? It seems Germany is encircled by Communist nations, and the Kaiser is growing increasingly nervous due to that fact.
In Asia, two more Communist superpowers – or potential superpowers – bide their time. India, the successor state of victorious Bengal in the Indian Civil War (1925-1927), has thrown off the yoke of foreign opression, and despite much effort from the German Empire, is growing stronger by the day. With a powerfull economy at it’s feet, a conscript army of millions at it’s belt, and the Marxist Chairman Bardhan at the head, India is a force to be reckoned with. And what of the rest of Asia? In Central-China, Mao’s communists bide their time, surrounded by an increasingly hostile Qing, an expansive Japan, and a reckless Mongolian Empire. The Great Asian War, predicted for many years, seems not too distant now – But who will come out victorious?
The most volatile region at the most – The Middle East – is on the brink of war. Egypt, a rising African tiger, has allied with the arab states of Heyaz, Oman and Iran, and has vowed to finally put an end to ‘the terminally ill man of the balkans’. The ottoman Empire is mobilising everything it’s got, and Greece and Bulgaria are both eyeing Istanbul in the event of a possible Turkish collapse.
And North-America. Well... I wouldn’t pick it as a holiday destination if I were you
Gentlemen, that is all for today. There is only one issue facing the parties: the impending elections. Analysts are already saying the 1936 elections will be a turnpoint in France’s history, and whoever comes in charge will decide the fate of this country in this dystopian world. You are free to campaign and gather members. Good luck!