1815-1888: A History of the French Federal Union

The 1800s: Policeman France

                By the 1800s, the World had been flipped upside down by the string of revolutions within the great powers. However, following the French reforms in the late 1700s, the new France, the French Federal Union, remained the dominant world power.

                In 1815, as the third Prime Minister, Napoleon Bonaparte was elected.

Napoleon Bonaparte (1815-1827)

                In early 1815, two convoys of seventeen French Shipping Vessels, heading to Djibouti (OTL) Colony were intercepted off South Africa by a fleet of seven British Navy Battleships. As a third fleet of French Shipping Vessels sailed towards South Africa, they again were intercepted, but Napoleon had authorized a detachment of fifty French Marines onboard each vessel. The French Marines (and a detachment of Sailors to run the captured ships) onboard quickly overwhelmed the British, capturing the vessels. When these men were to return home, their country would be at war.

                In June 1815, 30 French Battleships and 34 British Battleships engaged in the first engagement of the war in the English Channel. At the end of the battle, seventeen British Ships had been sunk, to nineteen French Ships.

                In July, 35,000 French Troops of the Guards Infantry attacked British South Africa, punching a large hole in the North. By early August, the British had lost 13,123 Troops of their 45,000 stationed in South Africa, and the French had lost 10,000. On August 9, seventeen French Battleships and ten troopships, headed for South Africa to stab the British from the sea.

                On August 20, seven British Battleships engaged the French out to sea, but only one limped home. On August 21, 20,000 French Guards Marines landed in South Africa, stabbing the British from behind. On August 25, these French Marines meet their first resistance in the form of 17,000 British Soldiers.

                The French Marines swept aside the British, inflicting 6,000 Casualties at the end of the week-long battle. By September, the British surrender to the French in South Africa, resulting in a French takeover. This treaty also results in the loss of Australia and some Middle East territories.

                In 1817, France annexes Western Canada, something PM Bonaparte has been pushing for since July of the previous year. This annexation results in increased tensions with Mexico (one reason for these tensions is the support for Texas in the south), and even sporadic border skirmishes with Mexican settlers.

                In 1818, France grants statehood to Newfoundland and Quebec, and Algeria and The Midwest soon follow. By 1819, Bonaparte is a elected to a third and final term, but one where he will possibly have the most influence. In 1820, Bonaparte brokers a deal with the United States, selling Mississippi to the United States in return for larger amounts of American cotton. In 1824, Bonaparte purchases Alaska from the Russians. By 1827, the French Government officially recognizes Napoleon Bonaparte as the first great Prime Minister.

                Zacharie Courtemanche (1827-1835)

                Prime Minister Zacharie Courtemanche, the fourth Prime Minister of France, was a former American Revolution Colonel in the French Army. Courtemanche, often overshadowed by Bonaparte, would become the only French Prime Minister in the 1800s to have employed an isolationist policy effectively.

                Courtemanche, in 1829, created the French Secret Service, designed to protect key government officials. He would authorize the creation of the PM’s cabinet. His Cabinet, the first in the history of the New Union, was well chosen (Bonaparte and Durant Cartier serving as Secretary of War and Secretary of State) and employed. He also authorized the alliance between the United States and France, which had been trade partners for the past 40 years.

                Durant Cartier (1835-1847)

                Prime Minister Cartier ran against his boss, Prime Minister Courtemanche in the 1835 Prime Minister’s Election. Cartier’s Administration would weather the French through the First French and Mexican War (1837-1843).

                In 1836, Cartier was the first Frenchman to publicly declare his support for the Texan Liberation Movement. In early February, Cartier authorized the creation of the French Foreign Legion. In March, Cartier’s government officially recognized the Republic of Texas. By November, 15,000 French Troops under Major General Jacques Duncan were stationed in the Province of Louisiana, poised to strike out at the Mexicans.

                In 1837, as Mexican troops poured over the Texan border, 15,000 more French Soldiers enter Duncan’s command and by March, the French Troops have linked up with Texan Militia, 25,000 Troops under General Tommy Franks. As 65,000 Mexicans attacked the French and Texans in the Battle of San Antonio, a massive French Cavalry attack encircled 30,000 Mexicans and annihilated them. The attack demolished the Mexican forces, but by the end of the day, the French and Texans retreated to defensive positions.

                In 1843, the war came to an end after a 5 year stalemate. In 1844, the Texans were brought into the French Federal Union. In late 1844, the Mexicans signed the Treaty of San Paulo, granting Panama Independence. The French, in 1847, began creation of the Panama Canal Shipping Route.

       Jacques Duncan (1847-1859)

                In 1847, Jacques Duncan ran against Blanche Cambronne, beating his opponent by a landslide. Duncan’s administration would weather the 1850s, discontinue the slave trade, and set French Foreign Policy for the latter half of the nineteenth century.

                In 1849, Duncan authorized the French Foreign Legion Canada Station in Quebec. This new station became the first of seven in the New World. In early 1850, Duncan’s Administration allowed Independence of the Native Tribe in the Great Lakes. The Huron Nation owned most of OTL Michigan. In 1851, Duncan’s administration ordered the British to cease Colonization in Africa, in the Duncan Doctrine, a near copy of the earlier Monroe Doctrine. The British, still weary of their 3 defeats to the French in the past century, decided to abide by the Doctrine, saving the French and British from another Colonial War.

                In 1852, following continually heated Slavery debates in the United States, Duncan rules that any ship carrying Slaves to the New World maybe subject to French Naval Interception and Annihilation. An illegal slave trade, although somewhat smaller, continues, although many of its ships are intercepted. Only two for every five ships make it to the United States and back.

                In 1853, Duncan’s Administration, feeling increasing pressure from the United States, Spain, Haiti, and Germany, set the Haitians free in an act of good will, one not received well at home, but very well on an international scale. Thankfully, this does not hurt him in the election of 1855.

                In 1854, Duncan hosts the Treaty of 1854 between Spain and their rebellious colony of Peru’s peace talks in Paris. Peru was considered the victor, gaining her independence. In 1858, France would start the first Legion Station in Peru.
 Blanche Cambronne (1859-1863)

In 1859, Cambronne is elected Prime Minister, and will broker a peaceful settlement to the United States during their troubled times as they are on the brink of Civil War. In 1860, the CSA and the USA agree to come back together after secession in 1859. Slavery is abolished; however Indentured Servants will remain for the next 40 years.

In 1861, Cambronne’s Administration narrowly avoided war with Germany during a diplomatic treaty over Belgium. The French got the French side in the end, the Germans the German side.

In 1863, Cambronne is ousted as Prime Minister by Darnell Janvier.

Darnell Janvier (1863-1875)

In Darnell Janvier’s time as Prime Minister, France undergoes vast changes domestically. In 1864, Janvier’s Administration begins official support for Suffrage, although the Parliament is still split on the issue of Suffrage.

In 1865, Janvier and his administration continue to support Suffrage movements in both France and foreign countries, despite negative responses he is getting from Anti-Suffrage movements. In 1866, Janvier gave Belgium Statehood, increasing support for the current Prime Minister by 30%. In 1867, Germany, France and Italy would annex Switzerland and split it upon linguistic lines. Austria would soon come under German power as well. In 1869, Janvier released South Africa to be independent, and the French Troops in South Africa supervised the annexation of Madagasgar in the early part of 1870. In 1871, Parliament’s Anti-Suffrage Movement finally relented to Suffrage, resulting in the right for Women to vote in the 1875 Election. Vietnam was annexed in 1874.

Arvin Lothaire (1875-1887)

In 1875, France’s Seventh Prime Minister, Arvin Lothaire was elected. Lothaire was a huge supporter of Suffrage. He had commanded the French North American Command from 1855 to 1875. He would lead France through a peaceful twelve years, without the constant threat of War as France had been for the past Eighty Years.

In 1876, in Lothaire’s first large movement as Prime Minister, he increased Government spending for the French Foreign Legion, seeing their promise.

In mid-1877, Lothaire increased Defense Spending at large. By late 1877, the Army, Navy, and other service branches were the best in the world. In 1879, France brokered the Paris Treaty of 1879 for the British and Australians following the Australian War for Independence. In 1880, Lothaire deployed 36,000 Troops to Alaska as part of Operation White Sprinkle, to reinforce France’s New World possessions.

In 1881, Lothaire gave Madagascar statehood. In 1882, Vietnam soon followed, and in 1883, Newfoundland, the last Canadian Colony to receive statehood. In 1884 and 1885, French Polynesia was incorporated. In 1886, French Foreign Legionnaires stationed in Haiti crushed a rebellion on behalf on the Haitian Government.