Waztaskio wrote:Generic Info
Nation Name: 1st French Empire
Symbols:
Homeland Population: 27,000,000
Imperial Population: 33,000,000
Location/Claims: #2
Capital City: Paris, France
Government Info
Government Type: Absolute Monarchy
Brief Explanation of Government: After the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte took over as Consulate of France, to which he soon elevated to Emperor of France. There is officially a parliament opposed upon him with the will of the people, but only constitutes loyal politicians to Napoleon, making the total number of members 500. It is comprised of the Senate & Corps législatif.
Ideology: Absolutism, French Nationalism
Leader/s: Head of State & Head of Government is Napoleon Bonaparte.
Population Info
Brief Description of your people: The french people have been guaranteed rights by Napoleon himself, with the Declaration of Rights & political reforms that have never before been seen in history. They support & will die by Emperor Napoleon if they must, as they see him as one of the best men who have ever lived.
Religion: Roman Catholicism, Judaism
Ethnicity: French, American, Italians, French Egyptians
Main/Accepted Culture(s): French, Italian, Dutch.
Other Cultures: Egyptians & Americans, to an extent.
Military Info
Army: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolutionary_Army
Navy: The Navy is in a sad state of affairs, with the death & dismissal of notable navy admirals. It has a few capital ships, but ultimately limited to privateers & smaller frigates.
Other Info
Brief Description of your Economy: France experienced a slow economic and demographic recovery in the first decades following the death of Louis XIV, although monetary confidence was briefly eroded by the disastrous paper money "System" introduced by John Law from 1716 to 1720. In 1726, under Louis XV's minister Cardinal Fleury, a system of monetary stability was put in place, leading to a strict conversion rate between gold and silver, and set values for the coins in circulation in France.
Starting in the late 1730s and early 1740s, and continuing for the next 30 years, France's population and economy underwent an important expansion. Rising prices, particularly for agricultural products, were extremely profitable for large landholders. Artisans and tenant farmers also saw wage increases, but on the whole, they benefited less from the growing economy. Pivotal developments in agriculture, such as modern techniques of crop rotation, the use of fertilizers which were modeled on successes in Britain and Italy, began to be introduced in parts of France. It would, however, take generations for these reforms to spread throughout all of France. Farming of recent New World crops, including maize, potatoes continued to expand, and provided an important supplement to the diet.
The most dynamic industries of the period were mines, metallurgy and textiles (in particular printed fabrics, such as those made by Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf). The advancements in these areas were often due to foreigners. For example, it was John Kay's invention of the flying shuttle that revolutionized the textile industry, and it was James Watt's steam engine that changed industry as the French had known it. Capital remained difficult to raise for commercial ventures, however, and the state remained highly mercantilistic, protectionist, and interventionist in the domestic economy, often setting requirements for production quality and industrial standards, and limiting industries to certain cities.
The international commercial centers of the country were based in Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, and Bordeaux. Nantes and Bordeaux saw phenomenal growth due to an increase of trade with Spain and Portugal. Cadiz was the commercial hub for export of French printed fabrics to India), the Americas and the Antilles (coffee, sugar, tobacco, American cotton), and Africa (the slave trade), centered in Nantes.
In 1749, a new tax, modelled on the "dixième" and called the "vingtième" (or "one-twentieth"), was enacted to reduce the royal deficit. This tax continued throughout the ancien régime. It was based solely on revenues, requiring 5% of net earnings from land, property, commerce, industry and from official offices, and was meant to touch all citizens regardless of status. However, the clergy, the regions with "pays d'état" and the parlements protested; the clergy won exemption, the "pays d'état" won reduced rates, and the parlements halted new income statements, effectively making the "vingtième" a far less efficient tax than it was designed to be. The financial needs of the Seven Years' War led to a second (1756–1780), and then a third (1760–1763), "vingtième" being created. In 1754, the "vingtième" produced 11.7 million livres.
The later years of Louis XV's reign saw some economic setbacks. While the Seven Years' War, 1756–1763, led to an increase in the royal debt and the loss of nearly all of France's North American possessions, it was not until 1775 that the French economy began truly to enter a state of crisis. An extended reduction in agricultural prices over the previous twelve years, with dramatic crashes in 1777 and 1786, and further complicated by climatic events such as the disastrous winters of 1785-1789 contributed to the problem.
With the government deeply in debt, Louis XVI was forced to permit the radical reforms of Turgot and Malesherbes. However, the nobles' disaffection led to Turgot's dismissal and Malesherbes' resignation 1776. Jacques Necker replaced them. Louis supported the American Revolution in 1778, but the Treaty of Paris (1783) yielded the French little, excepting an addition to the country's enormous debt. The government was forced to increase taxes, including the "vingtième." Necker had resigned in 1781, to be replaced temporarily by Calonne and Brienne, but he was restored to power in 1788.
In these last decades of the century, French industries continued to develop. Mechanization was introduced, factories were created, and monopolies became more common. However, this growth was complicated by competition from England in the textiles and cotton industries. On the other hand, French commercial ventures continued to expand, both domestically and internationally. The American War of Independence had led to a reduction of trade (cotton and slaves), but by the 1780s American trade was stronger than before. Similarly, the Antilles represented the major source for European sugar and coffee, and it was a huge importer of slaves through Nantes. Paris became France's center of international banking and stock trades, in these last decades (like Amsterdam and London), and the Caisse d'Escompte was founded in 1776. Paper money was re-introduced, denominated in livres; these were issued until 1793.
The agricultural and climatic problems of the 1770s and 1780s led to an important increase in poverty: in some cities in the north, historians have estimated the poor as reaching upwards of 20% of the urban population. Displacement and criminality, mainly theft, also increased, and the growth of groups of mendicants and bandits became a problem. Although nobles, bourgeois, and wealthy landholders saw their revenues affected by the depression, the hardest-hit in this period were the working class and the peasants. While their tax burden to the state had generally decreased in this period, feudal and seigneurial dues had increased.
When Napoleon rose, he began to conquer much needed land during the Napoleonic War era, & disturbed the land to farmers, and conscripted people who couldn't find a job into the French Military. He also created the Committee on Economic Growth, to try and curb the problem, while fixing old deficits.
Goals: Reform the French Bureaucracy, set up Puppet Governments in America, secure vital sea lanes, and bring the French Empire to glory.
History: French revolution history, you know. We just gained more land.
RP Sample: You know me.
429 - Do not remove. This is for tracking purposes.
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