Seven men are seated at a large semicircular oak table in the middle of a large rather sterile looking room. Behind the table is a large group of chairs behind an oak guard rail with swinging doors. In front of them is an impressive oak desk which seems to tower over the table. On either side of the desk is a French Tricolor Flag. To the far left of the desk in an imposing looking door with a stern faced young man standing at attention in front of it. The man declares in a large voice "The Voice of the Proletariat; Maurice Thorez," after which a middle aged man in a black suit enters, taking his seat at the desk. "Thank you Charles, such formality will not be necessary during private meetings such as this one" Maurice says in a soft but stern voice. Charles then walks to the other side of the room, through the doors of the guard rail, & to the entrance of the room.
Looking around Maurice declares "the first meeting of the Board of Trustees in now in session," after which all of the men, whom had rose upon Maurice's arrival, reclaimed their seats. These men make up the core of the French Communist Party. They are (from right to left), Jacques Duclos, Marcel Cachin, George Levy, Lucien Micol, Waldeck Rochet, Andre Marty, & Marcel Gitton. "I look around, & I notice there is something missing, does anyone else here?" The men all look around in a rather wonderingly way, & express their ignorance in various way. "There is three empty seats to Mr. Gitton's left, am I to assume the constitution has been amended without me?" Jacques stands up, an older man with a small mustache & think glasses, & exclaims "we felt it best that we decide as a body whom the other members should be." Maurice gives Jacques a piercing look "Did you? I was not aware it was within this bodies authority to decide such matters. Is it not me who is supposed to decide upon the members of this body in the event that the previous member is not allowed?"
Jaques looks as if he is about to speak when Lucien Micol, a man of his thirties with a handle bar mustache & an expensive suit, interrupts in order to defuse the situation. "I feel that as long as there are no objections it would be all right if you where to nominate the other members, this is a one time occasion after all. However this body should have the right to accept their nominations, just as it would be where a man to die or be unanimously thrown out." Maurice looks kindly at Lucien & states "I would have it no other way"
Marcie looks around & shouts loudly "Marcel Cachin!" then after leaving a small quiet in order to draw more attention to himself "tell me how our attempts to draw the Soviets closer to us are going?" Marcel was a slight man with intense eyes & pronounced cheekbones. He leaned back in his seat & stated calmly "Just fine, the Soviet ambassador has been very kind in offering support to our regime, & has even offered to help make up for the lost trade which we incurred after the revolution & denouncement of the Western Democracies." At this Rochet, a balding man of his forties with thick glasses & a thin face, begun to laugh. "Is there anything funny Mr. Rochet?" Marcel asked still not changing the tempo of his voice. "Stalin is a pig who would butcher his own mother given half a suspicion. I hardly think men like this should be allowed the privilege of being called communist. He has done nothing more than slaughter his own people until they are whiling to obey his own will, & lie about the productivity of an impoverished land. To me he is little better than Hitler. He wishes nothing more than to make us his agents, bleeding France dry of her wealth. I doubt the Soviet Union has much choice than to deal with us in light of his actions."
The room grew tense as they contemplated Rochet's words, only his agents in Russia gave any validity to his words. Maurice would be the first one to break the silence by proclaiming "Stalin maybe miss guided, if what you say is true, but he is still the only choice we have at present & I am sure he is well aware of it Waldeck." Micol then remarked "I would not believe Rochet's either, had it not been for the Russian students recently brought to this country," stopping to take a deep breath before proceeding "I have encountered a number of them recently, who have voiced distress about Stalin's actions over the past decade" Maurice interrupted Lucien before he could go any further into detail by stating "I would watch my tong Mr. Micol," then jokingly adding "you never know who is a Soviet spy" After this all the men begin to laugh. Suddenly Maurice's face becomes very stern as he states in an even toned voice quite dissimilar from that he had just been joking in "Seriously, I will not tolerate such acts of treachery against this state, & will personally hang any man I find guilty of such acts against France," all men stop laughing as the President goes on "I would rather unleash a second terror upon France than see us lapdogs to men such as Stalin, & none of you would like to realize how dead serious I am in this matter, now shall we move on. Lucien, how are things going in the countryside?"
Lucien leans with his elbows against the table & begins his report "Things seem to be progressing nicely. The peasants are being taken in by the cadres in the field, & apparently many are beginning to create collectivized farms on their own. The cadres say it will be some time before they would suggest such an order of collectivization be forced upon the people, & that given enough time they might be able to convince the people it is in there best interest to do so without coercion. Ironically the guerrilla troops have been only a credit to our cause, & many report home that things would not be nearly as easy had they not been active. The miners too are joining the Union of Minors in droves. I do not think it will be long until we are able to begin a five year plan of our own"
Maurice declares "All of this is good news, however, I was very disturbed to hear that the Nazi's had entered the Rhineland. It seems that mad man is truly bent on dragging us into war, does it not Mr. Rochet?" Waldeck once again begins to speak "Yes sir, but it was not an entirely unforeseen move on our part. We had, after all, just renounced all treaties & revoked our place in the League of Nations. It was to be expected of a powerhungy beast like Hitler that he move to consolidate more strength in Germany after such turmoil in our own country. While volunteers have been sent to give the appearance that our army has not been sent home, & I am attempting to limit knowledge of this outside of the country, I am almost sure he knew of the incident when he decided to make this move." Maurice says "all of this was necessary, but I must stress the need to recreate our armed service just as quickly as possible"
Upon hearing this Mr. Marty, a small man with a big nose & odd shaped ears, stand up & proclaims "Sir, the first divisions of the People's Liberation Army will be completed within the year, & we are currently entering negotiations for both our air force & navy to begin rearmament's by next summer." Maurice smiles & thinks to himself, Andre is a good man, a bit to formal, but nonetheless an efficient leader. "The People's Liberation Army? Tell me Mr. Marty, did you think that up all on your own?" Jacques ask. "Yes, in fact, I did, does anyone disapprove of the name?" No one speaks up.
Training of the People's Liberation Army, & emergency economic aid given to the South of France
Maurice looks across the room & then ask "Does anyone have any other business which needs urgent care?" since no one is going to speak up he moves on "then I will call the first meeting of the Board of Trustees to a conclusion, all of you have a nice day & I will see you at the next meeting." All of the men clamor out the front door as Charles holds it open for them.
Board of Trustees & President
Although I might take my "share" of the MR pact out of Belgium (making me an imperialist pig as well), but I have not decided on that yet. Right now, I am working on building two serials of three mountaineers to man the line, & buy me time in case the German AI is hardcoded to attack me. Other than that I am going to keep the empire in tact until I am able to pay "reparations" by giving them a portion of the "Five Year Plan" I am going to start in '37. 
