1906: Alternative Divergence [AH][OOC-DEAD]

[Tracian Empire]

Reservation

Nation Name: Dutch Republic
Territory: Netherlands, Flanders, Guinea Bissau, German Kamerun
#AltDiv (do not delete this, it's for keeping track of the apps)

Tell me if this is okay, cause I ain’t gotta clue

Accepted, a part of what I believe is Cameroon is part of the Breton app though.

[Tracian Empire]

Reservation

Nation Name:Lìog na Gàidhlig, The Gaelic League
Territory:Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall, isle of man, labrador, Anticosti, and Nova Scotia.
#AltDiv (do not delete this, it's for keeping track of the apps)

Is this acceptable? I'm still reading through the other apps and I don't want to cause strife.

Yeah, unfortunately the board has decided that we'll respect the currently existing Great Britain claim. You could stick around, if SCP won't be able to come up with a proper concept you could claim those territories then (minus Cornwall, as that would be a bit too unfair to a potential England player), otherwise you're more than free to try to app for something else.

Sorry for any inconveniences, we are working on updating the list and the map.

[Old Tyrannia]

(Image)

Full Nation Name : Res Publica Francorum. formal/legal; La République Française, French; The French Commonwealth (not the "French Republic"), English. France, colloquial, or "la République." There is a strong political antipathy toward the idea of empire, and so France's overseas possessions are usually euphemized as Greater France, or La Plus Grande France.

Majority/Official Culture: "Metropolitan," or European, France is united by a shared French culture, though this embraces myriad regional subcultures from the Basque Country to Wallonia; notably, the homogenizing influence of Paris is much less pronounced than in our timeline, and so French regional dialects and traditions remain vibrant. Nor is the Commonwealth's French culture identical to the culture of the France that we know. True, this France is characterized by many familiar features: a love of fine food and wine, a devotion to art and literature, an appreciation for beauty and a care to nurture it, a proclivity for argument and controversy, and a demanding commitment to good taste in all matters. As in our world, French culture is seen internationally as a benchmark for sophistication and elegance.

But strong identification of French identity with the Reformed faith has given French culture a number of features that are unfamiliar in our timeline. The French are reflexively suspicious of absolute authority of any kind, political or religious. They are deeply committed to a Protestant vision of egalitarianism in which all people are equal in their sin, and therefore no man can regard himself as better than another. They are heirs to a cultural tradition in which bourgeois virtues are identified with Christian virtues - hard work, efficiency, progress, literacy, sobriety, piety, moderation - and both paupers and aristocrats are therefore regarded with suspicion. And finally, the French have long regarded themselves as a bastion of Protestant purity and democracy surrounded on all sides by ancient superstition and despotism; they are taught that they were chosen by God to light the world's way to progress, liberty, and moral redemption. And so French culture inculcates an intense national pride, a deep sense of national destiny, and a fiery commitment to the defense of both.

France's overseas colonies, on the other hand, are home to dozens of indigenous cultures ranging from the bazaars of Morocco to the jungles of West Africa to the ancient citadels of Bombay. Most of these colonies also host small populations of French settlers - except for Algeria and the Cape, where this population is quite large. French policy for the last century has been to encourage the formation of fusion cultures in its colonies, rather than demanding complete assimilation to French customs, and so most French colonies are creole cultures characterized by a mixture of cuisines, fashions, languages, and even families. The one exception concerns religion, because adherence to the Reformed Church - though not required by law - remains a requirement for advancement throughout Greater France.

Territorial Core : Metropolitan France, including Wallonia but not including Brittany; Hispaniola; Algeria, Morocco, and Mauretania; the West African coast from Senegal to the Cote d'Ivoire; the Cape Province (constituting roughly the southwestern half of RL modern South Africa); the city of Bombay and environs; a number of small islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans that function solely as naval bases.

Territorial Claim: France regards itself as possessing a European sphere of influence comprising more or less all territory west of the Rhine, including the Low Countries and Switzerland, and extending into the Po Valley and Catalonia. It has never been able to make good on this notion. It also regards itself as the preeminent colonial power in northwest Africa, and the primary naval power in the western Mediterranean.

Capital City: Paris. The medieval city on the Seine was comprehensively renovated between 1850 and 1870, creating a modern, "scientifically" designed metropolis of tree-lined boulevards and elegant plazas, concert halls and libraries. Notably for Europe, Paris is devoid of neoclassical structures, which are too closely associated with Roman tyranny; instead, it has a considerable amount of very modern architecture, with many of the world's first steel-framed, glass-fronted buildings - of the sort that will soon become known as skyscrapers. The last ten years have seen one of the world's first citywide subway systems constructed. Paris is self-consciously and proudly the city of the future, a place of elegance and good taste mingled with industrial ambition and technological audacity.

Population: About 59 million in Metropolitan France; this is considerably higher than in our timeline because, in our timeline, France had by far the lowest birth rate in Europe for most of the nineteenth century. In this timeline, France's comparatively more comprehensive industrialization and its less restrictive inheritance policies encouraged a more typical rate of population growth. An additional 27 million live in Greater France around the world.

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Government Type: Federal parliamentary constitutional religious republic. The most distinctive features of French democracy include the role of the Senate, which represents not the general public but instead interest groups like rural départements (states/provinces), labor unions, the Reformed Church, and the military; and the aggressive and extensive judicial review of the national courts, which apply a hybridized form of civil and common law that has evolved over time in a reaction against the perceived authoritarianism of Roman jurisprudence.

Government Ideology/Policies: The French Commonwealth is strongly ideological and moralist in character, and rooted in the political theory of the Reformed Church. It is vehemently anti-monarchist, believing that God alone can be sovereign. All political power, therefore, is illegitimate unless it is wielded to godly ends; this creates a right of revolution against immoral rulers, and therefore a deep progressive impulse toward positive social change. Because power can corrupt even good men, the best way to ensure godly - and therefore legitimate - government is to place final political power in the hands of the public as a whole, through regular elections; the virtue of the many can check the corruption of the few. Since the final safeguard of the state is therefore the virtue of the common people, everything possible must be done to ensure that the French people remain godly and principled; this can be achieved through public education and public welfare as well as through national service and religious observance. Liberty and religious virtue are two sides of the same coin; only the godly have the strength to be free, and only the free are at liberty to be godly. This core conviction is the essence of the French Reformed democratic tradition.

Government Focus: The French Commonwealth, as an ideologically motivated state, is committed to a global moral mission as well as to its own self-interest: it is an exporter of democratic revolution. But it is also the lone Protestant republic on a continent of Chalcedonian empires, and so it is focused first and foremost on its own survival: the extensive militarization of French society and industry is a rational response to being horribly outnumbered in a bad neighborhood. The Commonwealth is committed to providing a decent standard of living for its citizens, but not at the cost of its financial stability; similarly, it takes pride in its colonial empire, but treats its colonies more as sources of income than as opportunities for investment. Its top priorities are to defend and export its democratic and Protestant principles, no matter the cost.

Head of State: In theory, none; the Constitution asserts that the head of the French state is God. In practice, the Chancellor.

Head of Government: Chancellor of the Commonwealth Paul-Henri Maturin.

Government Description:

The French Commonwealth is governed according to a written constitution that dates back to 1598, though it has been subject to amendment nearly every twenty years. In its essence, it is a parliamentary government of limited powers. It is an avowedly Christian and Reformed state, in which membership in the Reformed Church is required in order to hold office and for many forms of public employment.

Parliament is bicameral. The lower house, the National Assembly, has exclusive powers of the purse and is therefore regarded as the more powerful of the two; it is directly elected by the whole adult public, including (since 1894) women. Elections for the National Assembly are held in single-member districts, by instant-runoff voting. The party that possesses a majority or coalition in the Assembly then appoints the Council of Ministers and its Chancellor, who together constitute the executive. They govern until the next general election, which occurs either after a five-year term or after a vote of no-confidence by the Assembly. At present, the main divide in Parliament is between the Reformed Party (which supports a strong social safety net, an aggressive foreign policy, high taxes, a European focus, and the Army) and the Commonwealth Party (which supports a more laissez-faire approach, a diplomatic foreign policy, lower taxes, a colonial/global focus, and the Navy).

The Senate is an idiosyncrasy of the French Constitution's early era, adopted for the modern world. Originally, it was intended to ensure representation for the nobles and the Reformed Church. As French society grew more democratic, rather than abolish this institution, the nation adapted it: today, the Senate is used to represent all those whose virtue entitles them to a greater voice, or whose interests might be neglected by the majority. Its members are appointed by the nobility, the Church, labor unions, rural départements, the armed forces, and - most recently - even women's groups. Because of this, and because it does not choose the Council of Ministers, the Senate tends to be less focused on party politics than the National Assembly. It cannot originate legislation, but its consent is required for all legislation passed by the Assembly.

Unlike in our timeline, this France did not emerge as the result of a centralized monarchy; rather, it was an alliance of Protestant nobles and cities. As a result, the Commonwealth is a federal republic, though it has grown more centralized over time. Its 35 départements, ranging in size from the vast and rugged massif of Limousin to the city of Marseille alone, have the constitutional right to collect their own taxes, run their own schools, maintain their own roads, and generally handle local day-to-day administration in any way they see fit.

France is also notable for its court system. Its civil and criminal courts are insulated almost entirely from political pressure: judges are chosen by the French Bar Association and must meet demanding academic standards. Judges on administrative and constitutional courts, by contrast, must be appointed by a two-thirds majority of the Senate - ensuring that they are acceptable to a wide cross-section of society instead of just to a political majority. They have sweeping power of judicial review, which permits them to strike down laws that conflict either with the Constitution or with the "Scriptural principles" that are supposed to justify it; on these grounds, the courts have even sometimes required Parliament to address neglected social problems for which the Constitution does not make Parliament directly responsible.

Finally, France's Constitution does not effectively acknowledge that the Commonwealth now possesses a fairly extensive overseas empire. Some parts of the empire - mainly in North Africa - are simply organized into new départements; in these Muslim-majority areas, the fact that only Reformed Christians are permitted to hold elected office ensures the continuation of colonial rule. Other colonies - like Hispaniola, where the majority of the population is Reformed but not "French" - are excluded from representation entirely, because they are technically still organized as joint-stock limited-liability companies in which the Commonwealth owns a controlling interest; consequently, these colonies are legally private property rather than public land, and are responsible for their own administration so long as they continue to turn a profit for the French West India Company, the French West Africa Company, or the French East India Company.

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Majority/State Religion: The French Reformed Church (Église Réformée de France), sometimes called the Huguenot Church, is both the state church and the majority religion. Protestantism is widely regarded as a prerequisite for true French identity, and the Reformed Church has an immensely influential role in government and politics.

Religious Description: The Reformed Church is the direct descendant of the earliest forms of Protestantism that took root in France in the sixteenth century in response to the writings of Jean Calvin. It represents a sharp break from Chalcedonian orthodoxy in which Scripture alone is permitted as a sufficient justification for doctrine.

The Reformed Church emphasizes man's absolute and inescapable sin and God's irresistible and all-sufficient grace, which leads to a belief in predestination: God saves and purifies those whom He will, whether they like it or not. These, his godly elect, are then freed to live virtuous and holy lives. Churches should be organized at the most local level possible, with ministers chosen by congregations and representatives to regional and national synods elected democratically. Education is a priority, because there can be no mature faith without a personal relationship to the Scriptures and the ability to think deeply about them for oneself. Religious art, while permissible, is suspect, lest it lure men into idolatry. The Roman churches are regarded as entirely corrupt, because they have been appropriated by oppressive governments to crush the godly; the Reformed Church, on the other hand, is strongly associated with republicanism, since it teaches that there can be no king but God, and all others are equal before His law.

At a cultural level, the Reformed Church is a staunch defender of bourgeois values: it sees nothing wrong with making money, celebrates hard work and innovation, and is surprisingly progressive in its attitudes toward women and the family. Most strikingly, by contrast to its Chalcedonian neighbors, the Reformed Church believes that its faith is and should be constantly evolving as it comes to a better understanding of the Scriptures. This idea of semper reformanda is at the root of the remarkable spirit of innovation and creativity that informs French culture, art, science, industry, and military power.

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Economic Ideologies: France is, especially by European standards, a broadly free-market capitalist economy that allows considerable space for individual entrepreneurship and innovation, as required by the principles of the Reformed Church. However, France's besieged strategic position has required it to create a massive military-industrial complex, which is largely privately run but funded with public contracts, and this gives the government a great deal of economic influence over the largest industrial companies. Its colonies in Hispaniola, the West African coast, and Bombay are also run as the private property of joint-stock corporations in which the state owns a controlling interest, a peculiar and increasingly outdated arrangement that essentially creates a mercantilist state monopoly on colonial revenues. Despite these issues, France is substantially the easiest place in continental Europe to do business: blessed with reasonable tax rates, sensible and streamlined regulations, strong labor unions that produce highly skilled workers, and a culture that values entrepreneurship and innovation.

Major Production: First and foremost, France is an industrial power oriented toward defense; it has very high output of high-grade steel, industrial chemicals, mass-produced textiles, aluminum, locomotives, and other industrial products. It also manufactures huge quantities of arms, primarily for domestic consumption but sometimes for export to trusted partners, and tends to be at the forefront of military innovations like the use of the internal combustion engine and poison gas. French agriculture, though no longer as central as it was fifty years ago, also remains important, and produces world-famous wines, cheeses, charcuterie, and other traditional goods, as well as a considerable amount of grain. From its colonies, France receives large quantities of sugar, gold, ivory, petroleum, rubber and spices, among other exotic goods.

Economic Description: France is an industrial powerhouse more by necessity than by choice: the imperatives of national defense, for a Protestant republic surrounded by Catholic empires, required early, rapid, and massive industrialization in order to sustain an army capable of fighting multi-front wars against powerful enemies. Its economy is dominated by about a dozen large industrial companies, most of which specialize in related fields of military and civilian manufacturing; Rhône-Poulenc produces both industrial solvents and mustard gas, and Bloch Industries makes both machine guns and home appliances. France is a major exporter of high-quality consumer goods and industrial machinery. French companies are blessed and cursed with a workforce organized by powerful unions, which keeps the cost of labor in France quite high, but which also provides highly trained workers that greatly improve production efficiency. Despite the central role of government contracts in this industrial economy, France's biggest companies are mostly publicly traded, and so France has a very sophisticated financial sector that allows capital to move fairly quickly in response to market demands. This gives France greater economic flexibility and inventiveness than its more dirigiste neighbors; it makes it easier for new companies to access capital and turn good ideas into profits. French agriculture has substantially reduced in importance: its grain production remains adequate to feed the nation with minimal imports, and it still produces more wine than any other country in the world, but it is no longer Europe's breadbasket; most of its proceeds are consumed domestically, not exported. France's colonies are treated largely as sources of raw materials and as markets for French consumer goods; West African rubber and Algerian oil help to keep the French industrial engine running smoothly.

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Development: Modern (Metropolitan France); Semi-Industrialized (the Empire)

Development Description: France industrialized early and intensely because of the need to out-produce hostile neighbors. This necessitated efficient production of military supplies and rapid movement of large numbers of troops. These needs were met by massive public investment in canals, railroads, modern ports (especially at Toulon), telegraph lines, and paved roads, which mean that France's transportation infrastructure is now more dense than almost anywhere else in Western Europe. The French government is also more willing to embrace new technologies on a large scale than many more conservative regimes; for example, in the 1890s, public funds helped to construct hundreds of Pelton wheel hydropower stations along France's rivers, greatly increasing the electrification of rural light industry. The French Empire, by contrast, remains much less developed, since most French colonies are run with the primary goal of maximizing resource extraction: they tend to have a few carefully planned railroads and canals, but they lack the dense transportation network of Metropolitan France. The crowning jewel of Greater France's infrastructure is the Trans-Saharan Railroad, which runs from Algiers to Abidjan by way of the Ouargla oilfields and Bamako, with a spur line currently under construction to Dakar.

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Army Description :

The French Army is a legendary fighting force, renowned around the globe for its centuries of wars against Spain, Zentraleuropa, and the Western Roman Empire. For a Reformed republic born in war and surrounded by hostile powers on every land border, a strong army has been an existential imperative throughout the Commonwealth's history. Many aspects of France's economy, society, and government have been deliberately structured in order to create the most effective possible land force.

Unlike in most other countries, where war is the province of social elites, the French Army is a resolutely middle-class institution. This lies at the heart of its success: it has an institutional culture that prizes innovation over tradition, independent thought over dogma, education over seniority, and efficiency over glory. It suffers from none of the social-climbing or stubborn traditionalism associated with most officer classes. France was the first nation in Western Europe to create a professional general staff: a meritocratic institution guarded by stringent entrance examinations, specializing in the study of war as a practical and industrial undertaking, and responsible for the planning of operations from start to finish. It was the first nation to develop a theory of mission-type tactics, in which every officer is expected to understand the goal of the mission well enough to be able to improvise in the field in order to achieve it - a military approach that has deep roots in the Reformed Church's emphasis on individual education and moral responsibility. And it was the first nation to develop a holistic Plan of National Defense for total war: an hour-by-hour timetable thousands of pages long that set out exactly which troops would be mobilized, which factories retooled, which bridges destroyed, and which passenger or cargo trains run, from the moment when mobilization was declared to the moment when the Commonwealth reached full war footing. This is the French Army's greatest strength: it has a strong claim to be regarded as the most innovative, professionally organized, and systematically planned fighting force on Earth - an industrial army for an industrial age.

Accordingly, France uses a highly organized levée en masse conscription system: all able-bodied men between the ages of eighteen and twenty serve a two-year term in the Army. In peacetime, this service is usually spent half in training and half in the construction of infrastructure, which helps to explain France's dense network of canals and railroads. Upon finishing this service, most Frenchmen enter the reserves until they reach the age of forty. All active-duty officers are career professionals, and active-duty units mix together young men from all over the country; reserve units are organized from specific communities and are required to train together one weekend per month (one day per week for reserve officers). There are thirty active-duty divisions and just over three hundred reserve divisions. Part of the Plan of National Defense is a detailed mobilization schedule intended to allow the organization, armament, and deployment to the frontier of at least three million men in one week.

Like many French national institutions, the French Army is notably innovative and unrestricted by military convention or tradition. The General Staff's constant wargames test new technologies and strategies for practical applications, and weed out relics of the past. Accordingly, in 1906, the French Army has already theorized the use of the creeping barrage, and invested heavily in the manufacture of poison gas shells and individual gas masks; it has also begun to increase platoon-level tactical training and individual marksmanship, and to deemphasize the bayonet. The overriding French military philosophy, strongly conveyed in the training that every young man receives, is that the French citizen-soldier is intelligent, virtuous, and godly enough to exercise independent judgment, aim, and thought in the heat of battle. French doctrine places a great deal of trust in the capacity of ordinary citizen-soldiers, and then attempts to provide the education, equipment, and training necessary for them to rise to meet those high expectations.

The French Army's equipment reflects this approach. It uses a magazine-fed, straight-pull bolt action rifle intended to maximize individual firepower, since French soldiers are trusted to be sober enough not to waste ammunition. The Army has taken the unusual steps of integrating machine gun teams at the platoon level, rather than treating them as a form of light artillery; conversely, it has concentrated its artillery at the battalion level, with the goal of maximizing intensity of indirect fire. The influence of the General Staff's obsessive attention to detail has paid off in one more notable way: French troops are generally acknowledged to have the best boots in Europe.

Finally, despite being a conscript army in which the only career professionals are officers and NCOs, the French Army has notably strong morale. Active-duty divisions have traditions and battle honors dating back centuries, with their own hallowed hymns and flags. And the French soldier is trained to regard himself as the exemplar of the Reformed Commonwealth's highest values: discipline, hard work, education, godliness, sobriety. He may not be as fanatical as some of his foes, but he is as resourceful, creative, and unflinchingly tough as any fighting man on Earth.

Army Weakness : The French Army's primary weakness is strategic. Paris is under 200 miles from the Zentraleuropan border; Marseille is just 150 miles from the Roman border. Accordingly, the French Army's first move in any war must be to attack, in order to create greater strategic depth. This has led to many of the French Army's distinctive strengths. But on the other hand, it makes the Commonwealth strategically predictable: France will always seek to take the offensive, because it must. This imperative has also led to a "cult of the offensive" in the General Staff, in which defensive thinking is largely neglected. Other weaknesses proceed from this: French strategic thought, based around the Plan of National Defense, emphasizes bringing overwhelming manpower and materiel to bear offensively as quickly as possible, with the goal of ending any major war in its first year. Should this fail, the Commonwealth is not as well-prepared to sustain a multi-front war, and especially not one that might have to be fought on French territory with minimal strategic depth or room to maneuver. Finally, the Army's love of innovation sometimes backfires. For example, the General Staff discovered in its war games that cavalry were ineffective on a modern battlefield that included machine guns and barbed wire; accordingly, the French Army dismounted almost all its cavalry in 1902. This has left French divisions calamitously short of dedicated reconnaissance personnel, so much so that most French reconnaissance is now conducted by bicycle troops, and it has caused logistical issues due to the lack of trained muleteers and coachmen to handle oxcarts and wagons. After all, no one ever said that progress comes easily.

Naval Description : The French Navy, while a respectable middleweight force, is very much the second child compared to the famous Army. It is generally felt to be sufficient to control the Western Mediterranean - and therefore the crucial sea route to Algiers, the terminus of the Trans-Saharan Railroad - where its main challenger is the Spanish Navy; it is also a very even challenger to the Eastern Roman Navy. Unlike the Army, the Navy is an all-volunteer force that draws heavily from areas of France with a strong maritime tradition, like the Basque Country and Normandy; it is better-paid than the Army, and the naval academy at Toulon is highly selective and demanding, creating an officer corps that is distinctively detail-oriented and technically proficient. The Navy has chosen to focus on the Mediterranean as its main theater of operations, rather than seek to challenge the British or Japanese on the high seas, and so its ships tend to be somewhat slower, heavier-armored, and heavier-gunned than those of most other nations - because speed is less essential in a Mediterranean fleet. French ships are also, unusually, all oil-powered, thanks to France's limited coal reserves and the wealth of the Ouargla oilfields; this meaningfully improves ship survivability. The main French fleet is based at Toulon, and includes fourteen pre-dreadnaught battleships, twenty-five cruisers, forty-nine destroyers, and eighty-one oceanworthy torpedo craft; other, smaller battlegroups made up of a few cruisers and torpedo craft are based at Port-au-Prince, Dakar, Capetown, and Bombay. Finally, while it currently does not own any submarines, the French Navy has invested millions in research and development, with an eye to using submarine warfare to attack commerce on the high seas where the surface fleet is unlikely to be successful.

Naval Weakness: The French Navy is not intended as a high-seas fleet. It is believed to be able to hold the Western Mediterranean even against substantially superior forces, but if war came with a dedicated naval power, it is unlikely that the French Navy would even attempt to venture past the Straits of Gibraltar. This means that the Commonwealth could use the Toulon-Algiers sea route and then the Trans-Saharan Railway to defend its empire in North and West Africa, but that Hispaniola, the Cape, and Bombay would likely be cut off entirely from the homeland as soon as war broke out. It also means that France's Atlantic trade could be throttled by a blockade in the event of war, which would cause grinding economic pain to a country so reliant on commerce and entrepreneurship.

Further Military Description : The troupes coloniales are the final part of the French military. The French Army has responsibility for the protection of Algeria and Morocco, and indeed includes three reserve divisions of native personnel from those départements. But the rest of the French Empire - including the joint-stock company colonies in Hispaniola, the Cape, the West African Coast, and Bombay - is protected by colonial troops who answer to the local administrations, not to the government in Paris. They overwhelmingly comprise white or creole officers commanding native troops, and vary substantially in quality and discipline. But their one distinctive feature is that they know, in wartime, that the French Navy will not be able to reach them; there will be no relief from Europe. And so most colonial troops are specifically trained for unconventional warfare: the goal is not to defend the frontiers of French colonies, but to take to the hills and jungles and slums, and from there to wage a preplanned guerrilla war of attrition that will eventually cost any occupier more than the colony is worth to hold. They are the most creative and ungentlemanly members of an already innovative and ruthless military establishment.

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National Goals: France intends, first and foremost, to survive as a forward-looking Reformed republic on a continent dominated by backward-looking Chalcedonian monarchies. In order to do this, it sees a need for greater strategic depth, and will look to create a buffer zone or sphere of influence in the Rhineland, Catalonia, and the Po Valley. In the largest sense, the French generally believe that they have a special world-historical destiny, which is to spread republican government and the Reformed religion around the globe. This sense of holy mission informs most aspects of the nation's policy, often in unpredictable ways.

National Issues: While France's political system is fairly stable - there are few riots, and no potential revolutionaries - its politics are not. The Commonwealth is structured so that the Senate and the courts can check the parliamentary majority and the government, and they do this regularly and enthusiastically, with the result that it is extremely difficult for the French government to attempt any policy that is remotely controversial without getting stuck in political gridlock. France is also diplomatically isolated - especially within Europe, where its religion and political ideology have long made it a bogeyman for its neighbors - but also globally, where even other democracies often find its Reformed vision of republicanism eccentric and distasteful. It has a few allies of convenience, but no true friends. France also is beginning to see birthrates decline, as widespread unionization catches up to industrialization and increases family incomes while eliminating demand for child labor; this is a problem, since France is already smaller than Zentraleuropa and Poland (though still larger than Spain or the Western Roman Empire). Finally, many of France's colonies are more or less restive. This is least the case in Hispaniola and the Cape; the latter has a French colonist majority, while the former hosts a centuries-old fusion culture that enjoys a great deal of autonomy. But it is quite pronounced in the central Sahara, where Touareg tribes have never acknowledged French authority, and where their raids have become a major annoyance for critical infrastructure like the Ouargla oilfields and the Trans-Saharan railroad.

National Figures of Interest: Jean Calvin, 16th-century religious reformer and founder of the Reformed Church; Ambroise Champion, 16th-century military and political leader who unified the Protestant French polities and led them to victory over the Catholic polities and the Western Roman Empire; Émile Fleury, primary author of the Union of Tours, the original document that became the French Constitution; Henri Guerin, early 19th-century military leader and then Chancellor who won France's greatest victories to date over Spain, the Romans, and Zentraleuropa before dying at 41; and a vast number of famous artists and painters, most of whom are familiar from our own timeline.

National Ambition/Aspirations : Ultimately, many Frenchmen believe that their nation is God's instrument to bring liberty - in the form of republicanism - and godliness - in the form of the Reformed Church - to the world at large. No one expects to see this mission fulfilled in his generation, but neither does anyone want to be the generation that abandoned such a sacred charge.

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History:

<Snip>

RP Sample: See my sig for my credentials.

#AltDiv (do not delete this, it's for keeping track of the apps)

ACCEPTED, with the caveat that those parts of your history that concern other players will need to be discussed and agreed upon with those players, particularly the parts involving the Western Roman Empire. In general, we found the tone of your app was a little triumphalist in tone. We didn't think this was a problem when it came to accepting your app, but it did raise some concerns about how you might chose to play France in the RP, so just bear in mind that we will be keeping an eye to make sure you don't skirt too close to godmodding.

[Benuty]

Just wanted to put out a notice I have a final exam, and two days of work coming up so I will try to get the app further down in progression sometime Monday night.

[Old Tyrannia]

Just wanted to put out a notice I have a final exam, and two days of work coming up so I will try to get the app further down in progression sometime Monday night.

No problem, thank you for keeping us informed.

[Tracian Empire]

Accepted! And if you do decide to go forward with that engagement we should talk about it, since there are a couple different princes that Woizero Zenebework could possibly be engaged to

It would be cool if my princess could marry your crown prince and a prince/princess of yours could marry my crown prince/princess, but that's far off in the distant future as my Empress is still pretty young. In any case, right now the Princess can be seen as a hostage to keep Ethiopian hands out of the southernmost territories of the ERE.

Well, the ERE doesn't really have the concept of a crown prince. The current Emperor, Michael, has just ascended to the throne a few months ago and he is unmarried, but it's unlikely that he would be considered for any marriage.

What you could consider to be a crown prince, the heir apparent and Despot of Morea is Prince Constantine, the Emperor's younger brother. Other than that, there is Prince Manuel, the younger brother of the two and the Despot of Trebizond, and there are also three princesses - Sophia, the twin sister of the Emperor, Maria, and Anastasia. All of the people mentioned here are purple born, so that would count as something pretty important. And this doesn't include the siblings of the previous emperor, though they might be too old - so I'm also playing around with the idea of the previous Emperor having married again after the death of his first wife, with whom he could have had a few more.

Yes, a lot of characters, but since I'm a character role-player at heart, that's what I do xD

But yeah, something could be done in the future, and most of these characters are going to be young - I'm still working on the exact ages of everyone.

We could have a character interaction once the IC starts if you want - a Roman prince/princess visiting Ethiopia. The old Byzantines considered the King of Axum to be equal in prestige to their Basileus and to the Sassanian Shah, which is a big thing considering the Eastern Roman outlook on the world, so the royal sent to Ethiopia might be there to reiterate that view.

[Old Tyrannia]

Full Nation Name : Grand Republic of Busang (Daebusang Minguk; 대부상민국, 大扶桑民國)
Majority/Official Culture : Although the founders of Busang were of Korean heritage and much of the culture were influenced by the cultures and tradition of Korea (such as hangul, which was used to write the founding documents of Busang's independence), there were already hundreds and thousands, if not millions, of those with non-Korean or mixed ethnicities, such as the Han Chinese or the various Native American groups etc. The Busangese cultural identity can perhaps be seen as a form of cultural nationalism in its view that there is no true Busangese race but a nation where men of different stock can be unified by a shared pride of the culture of Busang. This is not to say that Busang is a multicultural nation. While there are ethnic communities all over the country (but largely situated in the West Coast and in the Mississippi), immigrants are encouraged to take up Korean names, be versed in hangul, and observe Korean culture and holidays, including traditions original to Busang.
Territorial Core : Provinces of the Grand Republic
Territorial Claim : None so far
Capital City : Sinhan (Boise)
Population : 61 Million

Government Type : Federal Semi-Presidential Constitutional Republic
Government Ideology/Policies : Market liberalism, Social conservatism, National liberalism
Government Focus : Economic and territorial growth, improvement of relations among neighboring tribe and nations for expansion or for trade
Head of State : Chancellor Wang Jun-min
Head of Government : Vice-Chancellor Go Hui-song
Government Description : The government of the Grand Republic functions as a federal parliamentary republic. The bicameral General Assembly is lead by the Chancellor who is voted in by the lower house Chamber of Delegates. Delegates are directed elected by the public based on the districts. The National Court is the upper house consisting of representatives appointed by their provinces. The Chancellor’s Cabinet appointed by the Chancellor and confirmed by the National Court.

Majority/State Religion : No official religion
Religious Description : The people of the Republic practices a mixture of religions with the national government abstaining from having any state religion. The major religious organizations are Buddhism, Cheondoism, Christianity, and Taoism.

Economic Ideologies : Free market capitalism
Major Production : The vast lands of Busang is known for its agriculture, coal, gold, silver, lumber, and petroleum.
Economic Description : Busang is very resource rich with gold found in North Mansan and Daegok, coal in West Deolseong, and oil, silver, and fertile soil found in abundance all over the country. The General Assembly has taken a largely laissez faire approach to much of the economy, standing abide to the wu wei ideals for the sake of innovation and competition. That is not to say that the government has no involvement in the economy; regulations are put in place in addition to existing provincial regulations to ensure fair business practices
Development: Modern
Development Description : The Republic is blessed with the same technological base enjoyed by other Oriental empires along with an abundance of natural resources providing wealth to the nation.

Army Description : The Grand Republic Army is one of the most advanced military in North America, owing from competition with the Americans. Thanks to industrialization, the Grand Republic mass produces equipments for their military and the expansion of railroads allows them to transport troops quickly through the use of trains The creation of automatic weapons and mass production of weapons and ammunition created an army on demand. The Grand Republic Army is one of the largest in the continent with a standing army of 400,000 soldiers and field contemporary artillery, rifles, and squad support weapons.
Army Weakness : The reserved Provincial Forces, despite numbering in almost a million, is not as disciplined compared to the active force and with only putting down Native times American uprisings, have little experience in combat and may even rout. Reserve officers are not much better, most being graduates with family connections to the Grand Assembly or in state and local governments who use the easy opportunity of being an officer to climb social ladders, their ability to lead is doubted by many. In addition, many of the Provincial Guards have little access to the most recent of military equipments such as machine guns and bolt action rifles, still relying on repeating rifles and multibarreled guns of the 60s-70s.
Naval Description : While the Grand Republic Navy is by no means the greatest, the importance of the Navy is realized to the Grand Republic, who relies on the GRN to safeguard trade in the Pacific and in the Geong (Mississippi) River. The GRN is well funded with the use of contemporary vessels.
Naval Weakness : The navy is considered to be just adequate and ordinary compared to the navies of their neighboring states; there is really nothing to write home about for the Grand Republic Navy. Although officers in the Navy are selected by a competitive military examination and in theory, captains and admirals would advanced through merit and capabilities, most of those currently in the Navy have only seen combat experience against unruly bands of pirates rather than organized war fleets from other empires. In addition, it is not unheard of for some to receive officer position based on connection.
Further Military Description : While not part of any official military force, be it in the Army of the Grand Republic or the reserve Provincial Force, there is a tradition among the civilian populace which lies on the mass ownership of firearms, a tradition established by ambitious settlers to defend against the natives or to hunt animals and a tradition that won Busang’s independence from the Chuk-Jae-Do. While the military is well funded, there are plenty of everyday civilians willing to pick up their firearms to protect the Republic from invasions, must like the Righteous Army formed by their Joseon cousins.

National Goals : Consolidate the recently acquired Geunggang Provinces, strengthen trade access to Africa and Europe, and spread Korean cultural institutions throughout the New World, all under the values of the Cheonha Decree
National Issues : The eastern provinces are still filled with conflicts between the Busangin settlers and independent minded native tribals and European settlers.
National Figures of Interest : [[OPTIONAL]] [[Are there any Mother Teresas or Moses that we need to know about?]]
National Ambition/Aspirations : [[OPTIONAL]] [[Not really a set objective, but rather the big picture that your nation is drawing towards]]

History :
The 17th century was the time of colonization and it was never more true for Korea. Although the Koreans have already developed prosperous colonies in southeast Asia under the Chuk-Jae-Do system, interests were made eastward with the discovery of the North American coast by celebrated admiral Yi Sun-sin in 1610. Due to the Chuk-Jae-do being focused in Southeast Asia, a sub branch of the Chuk-Jae-Do called the Sae-Dael-Yuk was formed for establishing outposts and colonization of the new world, called Busang (after the mythological land of Fusang in Chinese legends). In 1631, the first Korean settlement in the New World was established at Gobuk, Cheonhae, and Punggaang. Daegok, Mansan, East and West Dolseong, and Inji were formed later in the early 1700s after Korean expansion eastward, initially treating the native tribes as tributaries before absorbing them (whether peacefully or violently) into the commanderies. The Commandery of Hongjeon (or Tejas by the Spaniards) was added as the result of the Chuk-Jae-Do's victory aganist Spanish forces in the mid 1700s.

The plentiful resources of the new continent were valuable to the Joseon government and efforts were made to develop the colonies with people from Joseon moving to the Commanderies of Busang for a chance of living a new life (or to pay off their debts). Industrialization took hold in the Commanderies of Busang, wealth reached the peninsula, and people from Asia flocked over to this New World. However, the Korean court has taken a “hands off” approach to governing the colonies and much of the colonies acted with near independence to the Joseon court and the Chuk-Jae-Do, regularly selecting their own officials from the populace to manage government functions for the colonies. The colonies that were given more liberty become more independent over time with a small but growing number of colonists seeing themselves identifying more with their colonies than with the Korean crown or the Chuk-Jae-Do as a whole. However, this was a minority view as much of the colonists still see themselves as dutiful subjects of Joseon.

In the early 19th century, the Chuk-Jae-Do was looking to expand its dominion over the colonies and set up new taxation systems and regulations. Most of the taxations were opposed by the colonists, who felt that the taxes they're burdened with only benefits the colonial authorities instead towards their colonial governments. During this period, the ideals of independence became widespread amongst a growing number of intellectuals, merchants, and officers living in the American colonies, forming an organization called the Independence Association that had members in the Ten Commanderies of the New World.

Later tensions between the Chuk-Jae-Do authority and the colonial governments had grown to which the commanderies sent delegates in Sinhan and formed the Provisional Assembly of the Five Commanderies to act as the greater representatives of the colonies. After months of debate and back-and-forth between Provisional Assembly and the Chuk-Jae-Do, the Provisional Assembly officially declared the commanderies’ independence from the Chuk-Jae-Do under the formation of the Grand Republic of Busang in 1832. The Provisional Assembly prepared for war, assigning Cheonhae delegate and experienced military officer Dae Song-su as the Supreme Commander of the Provisional Army.

War between the Chuk-Jae-Do and the Grand Republic lasted for five years, with much of the fighting taking place in the more populated areas of Cheonhae, Punggaang, North and South Mansan, and West Dolseong. Thanks to the political mastermind of Provisional Foreign Secretary Yang Hyun-jun (and the desire of the Korean Imperial Throne to curb Chuk-Jae-Do’s authority), the Grand Republic received backing from the Imperial Crown and eventually won its independence in 1839. The Provisional Assembly soon established political reforms, establishing a bicameral system of the reorganized General Assembly, institutionalizing the office of the Chancellor as an elected executive position, and with the support of the more influential liberals, a set of rights guaranteed to all men, including universal male suffrage. The General Assembly later appointed General Dae Song-su as the first Chancellor of the Grand Republic.

The Chancellorship of Dae Song-su from 1839 to 1854 were focused on territorial growth and major population increase. The Dae Song-su government promoted immigration, advertising its vast lands across Busang as ways for folks to come and settled eastward. Although this had brought large amounts of immigrants from East Asia, major increase in migration occurred during the North Mansan Gold Rush from 1848 to 1855 where hundreds and thousands of people scrambled to the trade focused North Mansan in hopes to gain wealth from the valuable mineral. This had quickly made North Mansan, already moderately populated, to the largest province in the Republic. New developments in Daegok brought forth a silver rush in the province, bringing more attention to the landlocked province, even while the North Mansan Gold Rush was still in full effect. Dae Song-su, after leading the country for 15 years, stepped down from his position, believing that he had accomplished his goal as the Republic's caretaker. He was succeeded by Vice-Chancellor Choe Kwang-jo, setting an unofficial guideline for future Chancellors in the country.

Choe Kwang-jo's chancellorship was from 1854 to 1866. Choe Kwang-jo's administration continued the policies of then-Chancellor Dae Song-su with using its wealth of resources and vast lands to encourage immigration. His administration, however, was known for his expansionist policies, diverting troop resources eastward to gain access to the Mississippi River. Coupled with the mobility of the Grand Army along with the implementation of newer weapons such as the gatling guns and the repeating rifle, the Republic was able to consolidate lands right near the Mississippi, although sporadic fighting were still common, taking years for the strip to die down. The lands near the Mississippi River ended up forming the provinces of North Geunggaang and South Geunggaang. Choe Kwang-jo's chancellorship ended in 1866 after the ruling Federalist Party lost to the opposition People's Party lead by In Seong-hyun, ending the 27 year domination of the Federalist Party and the rise of the People's Party as one of the major party besides the Federalists. In Seong-hyun's chancellorship lasted for nine years from 1866 to 1875. His administration was seen as being unnoteworthy, despite some legislative achievements such as implementation of civil rights for Native Americans and high tariffs. This has been the defining factors for successive Chancellors as many did not have such impact compared to the first two Chancellors.

As Busang enters the new century, a sense of optimism rises among the general populace. There were plenty of good reasons for the optimism: the Hongjeon province (Texas/Tejas) experienced a massive oil boom and trade running smoothly in the Pacific Ocean and along the Mississsippi and the Gulf Coast. Through its strong economy and previous military success, Busang has affirmed itself as one of the major powers in North America. With the election of Federalist leader Wang Jun-min as Chancellor in 1906, only the future could tell for this world whether or not the Grand Republic's fortune would continue.

RP Sample:
- It's like Alternate Divergence but made by the Cobalt Network and has set nations (Tales of Two Horizons II)
- War, what is it good for? (Back to 1935)
- Rednecks and post-apocalyptic America (Fallout: Damn Dirty South)
- Red Dawn but Asian (Crane Ascendent)
- Generic late 19th century Alt-history RP (Voice of a New Age)
- War, war never changes (Fallout: Republic of Dusts)
- Alternate history taken all the way (1900: Alternate Divergeance)
- Anime Vietnam Flashbacks (Operation Gatelord)


#AltDiv (do not delete this, it's for keeping track of the apps)

ACCEPTED. I look forward to contesting the Pacific with you.

[Tracian Empire]

You can review my app, but basically the French Reformation occurred in the sixteenth century, when France in this timeline was a bunch of disunited city-states and duchies under Roman suzereinty. Calvinism caught on with the bourgeoisie, initially as a way of justifying tax refusal, and then became the ideology that defined modern French national identity as all the little states came together to resist Roman invasion. So by the time France existed as a nation, it was uniformly Protestant, because Protestantism was responsible for the concept of France.

So if France colonized Brazil, it would definitely have created a Reformed colony with a republican government. Either or both of those things could have changed since independence, but that would be the cultural root stock.

Definitely going to look into your history. I say France because it's in the middle of Spain and Brittany.

You should probably try to make an official reservation

[Danceria]

> Much of America is owned by the Koreans
frggin wat

[Reverend Norv]

(Image)

Full Nation Name : Res Publica Francorum. formal/legal; La République Française, French; The French Commonwealth (not the "French Republic"), English. France, colloquial, or "la République." There is a strong political antipathy toward the idea of empire, and so France's overseas possessions are usually euphemized as Greater France, or La Plus Grande France.

Majority/Official Culture: "Metropolitan," or European, France is united by a shared French culture, though this embraces myriad regional subcultures from the Basque Country to Wallonia; notably, the homogenizing influence of Paris is much less pronounced than in our timeline, and so French regional dialects and traditions remain vibrant. Nor is the Commonwealth's French culture identical to the culture of the France that we know. True, this France is characterized by many familiar features: a love of fine food and wine, a devotion to art and literature, an appreciation for beauty and a care to nurture it, a proclivity for argument and controversy, and a demanding commitment to good taste in all matters. As in our world, French culture is seen internationally as a benchmark for sophistication and elegance.

But strong identification of French identity with the Reformed faith has given French culture a number of features that are unfamiliar in our timeline. The French are reflexively suspicious of absolute authority of any kind, political or religious. They are deeply committed to a Protestant vision of egalitarianism in which all people are equal in their sin, and therefore no man can regard himself as better than another. They are heirs to a cultural tradition in which bourgeois virtues are identified with Christian virtues - hard work, efficiency, progress, literacy, sobriety, piety, moderation - and both paupers and aristocrats are therefore regarded with suspicion. And finally, the French have long regarded themselves as a bastion of Protestant purity and democracy surrounded on all sides by ancient superstition and despotism; they are taught that they were chosen by God to light the world's way to progress, liberty, and moral redemption. And so French culture inculcates an intense national pride, a deep sense of national destiny, and a fiery commitment to the defense of both.

France's overseas colonies, on the other hand, are home to dozens of indigenous cultures ranging from the bazaars of Morocco to the jungles of West Africa to the ancient citadels of Bombay. Most of these colonies also host small populations of French settlers - except for Algeria and the Cape, where this population is quite large. French policy for the last century has been to encourage the formation of fusion cultures in its colonies, rather than demanding complete assimilation to French customs, and so most French colonies are creole cultures characterized by a mixture of cuisines, fashions, languages, and even families. The one exception concerns religion, because adherence to the Reformed Church - though not required by law - remains a requirement for advancement throughout Greater France.

Territorial Core : Metropolitan France, including Wallonia but not including Brittany; Hispaniola; Algeria, Morocco, and Mauretania; the West African coast from Senegal to the Cote d'Ivoire; the Cape Province (constituting roughly the southwestern half of RL modern South Africa); the city of Bombay and environs; a number of small islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans that function solely as naval bases.

Territorial Claim: France regards itself as possessing a European sphere of influence comprising more or less all territory west of the Rhine, including the Low Countries and Switzerland, and extending into the Po Valley and Catalonia. It has never been able to make good on this notion. It also regards itself as the preeminent colonial power in northwest Africa, and the primary naval power in the western Mediterranean.

Capital City: Paris. The medieval city on the Seine was comprehensively renovated between 1850 and 1870, creating a modern, "scientifically" designed metropolis of tree-lined boulevards and elegant plazas, concert halls and libraries. Notably for Europe, Paris is devoid of neoclassical structures, which are too closely associated with Roman tyranny; instead, it has a considerable amount of very modern architecture, with many of the world's first steel-framed, glass-fronted buildings - of the sort that will soon become known as skyscrapers. The last ten years have seen one of the world's first citywide subway systems constructed. Paris is self-consciously and proudly the city of the future, a place of elegance and good taste mingled with industrial ambition and technological audacity.

Population: About 59 million in Metropolitan France; this is considerably higher than in our timeline because, in our timeline, France had by far the lowest birth rate in Europe for most of the nineteenth century. In this timeline, France's comparatively more comprehensive industrialization and its less restrictive inheritance policies encouraged a more typical rate of population growth. An additional 27 million live in Greater France around the world.

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Government Type: Federal parliamentary constitutional religious republic. The most distinctive features of French democracy include the role of the Senate, which represents not the general public but instead interest groups like rural départements (states/provinces), labor unions, the Reformed Church, and the military; and the aggressive and extensive judicial review of the national courts, which apply a hybridized form of civil and common law that has evolved over time in a reaction against the perceived authoritarianism of Roman jurisprudence.

Government Ideology/Policies: The French Commonwealth is strongly ideological and moralist in character, and rooted in the political theory of the Reformed Church. It is vehemently anti-monarchist, believing that God alone can be sovereign. All political power, therefore, is illegitimate unless it is wielded to godly ends; this creates a right of revolution against immoral rulers, and therefore a deep progressive impulse toward positive social change. Because power can corrupt even good men, the best way to ensure godly - and therefore legitimate - government is to place final political power in the hands of the public as a whole, through regular elections; the virtue of the many can check the corruption of the few. Since the final safeguard of the state is therefore the virtue of the common people, everything possible must be done to ensure that the French people remain godly and principled; this can be achieved through public education and public welfare as well as through national service and religious observance. Liberty and religious virtue are two sides of the same coin; only the godly have the strength to be free, and only the free are at liberty to be godly. This core conviction is the essence of the French Reformed democratic tradition.

Government Focus: The French Commonwealth, as an ideologically motivated state, is committed to a global moral mission as well as to its own self-interest: it is an exporter of democratic revolution. But it is also the lone Protestant republic on a continent of Chalcedonian empires, and so it is focused first and foremost on its own survival: the extensive militarization of French society and industry is a rational response to being horribly outnumbered in a bad neighborhood. The Commonwealth is committed to providing a decent standard of living for its citizens, but not at the cost of its financial stability; similarly, it takes pride in its colonial empire, but treats its colonies more as sources of income than as opportunities for investment. Its top priorities are to defend and export its democratic and Protestant principles, no matter the cost.

Head of State: In theory, none; the Constitution asserts that the head of the French state is God. In practice, the Chancellor.

Head of Government: Chancellor of the Commonwealth Paul-Henri Maturin.

Government Description:

The French Commonwealth is governed according to a written constitution that dates back to 1598, though it has been subject to amendment nearly every twenty years. In its essence, it is a parliamentary government of limited powers. It is an avowedly Christian and Reformed state, in which membership in the Reformed Church is required in order to hold office and for many forms of public employment.

Parliament is bicameral. The lower house, the National Assembly, has exclusive powers of the purse and is therefore regarded as the more powerful of the two; it is directly elected by the whole adult public, including (since 1894) women. Elections for the National Assembly are held in single-member districts, by instant-runoff voting. The party that possesses a majority or coalition in the Assembly then appoints the Council of Ministers and its Chancellor, who together constitute the executive. They govern until the next general election, which occurs either after a five-year term or after a vote of no-confidence by the Assembly. At present, the main divide in Parliament is between the Reformed Party (which supports a strong social safety net, an aggressive foreign policy, high taxes, a European focus, and the Army) and the Commonwealth Party (which supports a more laissez-faire approach, a diplomatic foreign policy, lower taxes, a colonial/global focus, and the Navy).

The Senate is an idiosyncrasy of the French Constitution's early era, adopted for the modern world. Originally, it was intended to ensure representation for the nobles and the Reformed Church. As French society grew more democratic, rather than abolish this institution, the nation adapted it: today, the Senate is used to represent all those whose virtue entitles them to a greater voice, or whose interests might be neglected by the majority. Its members are appointed by the nobility, the Church, labor unions, rural départements, the armed forces, and - most recently - even women's groups. Because of this, and because it does not choose the Council of Ministers, the Senate tends to be less focused on party politics than the National Assembly. It cannot originate legislation, but its consent is required for all legislation passed by the Assembly.

Unlike in our timeline, this France did not emerge as the result of a centralized monarchy; rather, it was an alliance of Protestant nobles and cities. As a result, the Commonwealth is a federal republic, though it has grown more centralized over time. Its 35 départements, ranging in size from the vast and rugged massif of Limousin to the city of Marseille alone, have the constitutional right to collect their own taxes, run their own schools, maintain their own roads, and generally handle local day-to-day administration in any way they see fit.

France is also notable for its court system. Its civil and criminal courts are insulated almost entirely from political pressure: judges are chosen by the French Bar Association and must meet demanding academic standards. Judges on administrative and constitutional courts, by contrast, must be appointed by a two-thirds majority of the Senate - ensuring that they are acceptable to a wide cross-section of society instead of just to a political majority. They have sweeping power of judicial review, which permits them to strike down laws that conflict either with the Constitution or with the "Scriptural principles" that are supposed to justify it; on these grounds, the courts have even sometimes required Parliament to address neglected social problems for which the Constitution does not make Parliament directly responsible.

Finally, France's Constitution does not effectively acknowledge that the Commonwealth now possesses a fairly extensive overseas empire. Some parts of the empire - mainly in North Africa - are simply organized into new départements; in these Muslim-majority areas, the fact that only Reformed Christians are permitted to hold elected office ensures the continuation of colonial rule. Other colonies - like Hispaniola, where the majority of the population is Reformed but not "French" - are excluded from representation entirely, because they are technically still organized as joint-stock limited-liability companies in which the Commonwealth owns a controlling interest; consequently, these colonies are legally private property rather than public land, and are responsible for their own administration so long as they continue to turn a profit for the French West India Company, the French West Africa Company, or the French East India Company.

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Majority/State Religion: The French Reformed Church (Église Réformée de France), sometimes called the Huguenot Church, is both the state church and the majority religion. Protestantism is widely regarded as a prerequisite for true French identity, and the Reformed Church has an immensely influential role in government and politics.

Religious Description: The Reformed Church is the direct descendant of the earliest forms of Protestantism that took root in France in the sixteenth century in response to the writings of Jean Calvin. It represents a sharp break from Chalcedonian orthodoxy in which Scripture alone is permitted as a sufficient justification for doctrine.

The Reformed Church emphasizes man's absolute and inescapable sin and God's irresistible and all-sufficient grace, which leads to a belief in predestination: God saves and purifies those whom He will, whether they like it or not. These, his godly elect, are then freed to live virtuous and holy lives. Churches should be organized at the most local level possible, with ministers chosen by congregations and representatives to regional and national synods elected democratically. Education is a priority, because there can be no mature faith without a personal relationship to the Scriptures and the ability to think deeply about them for oneself. Religious art, while permissible, is suspect, lest it lure men into idolatry. The Roman churches are regarded as entirely corrupt, because they have been appropriated by oppressive governments to crush the godly; the Reformed Church, on the other hand, is strongly associated with republicanism, since it teaches that there can be no king but God, and all others are equal before His law.

At a cultural level, the Reformed Church is a staunch defender of bourgeois values: it sees nothing wrong with making money, celebrates hard work and innovation, and is surprisingly progressive in its attitudes toward women and the family. Most strikingly, by contrast to its Chalcedonian neighbors, the Reformed Church believes that its faith is and should be constantly evolving as it comes to a better understanding of the Scriptures. This idea of semper reformanda is at the root of the remarkable spirit of innovation and creativity that informs French culture, art, science, industry, and military power.

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Economic Ideologies: France is, especially by European standards, a broadly free-market capitalist economy that allows considerable space for individual entrepreneurship and innovation, as required by the principles of the Reformed Church. However, France's besieged strategic position has required it to create a massive military-industrial complex, which is largely privately run but funded with public contracts, and this gives the government a great deal of economic influence over the largest industrial companies. Its colonies in Hispaniola, the West African coast, and Bombay are also run as the private property of joint-stock corporations in which the state owns a controlling interest, a peculiar and increasingly outdated arrangement that essentially creates a mercantilist state monopoly on colonial revenues. Despite these issues, France is substantially the easiest place in continental Europe to do business: blessed with reasonable tax rates, sensible and streamlined regulations, strong labor unions that produce highly skilled workers, and a culture that values entrepreneurship and innovation.

Major Production: First and foremost, France is an industrial power oriented toward defense; it has very high output of high-grade steel, industrial chemicals, mass-produced textiles, aluminum, locomotives, and other industrial products. It also manufactures huge quantities of arms, primarily for domestic consumption but sometimes for export to trusted partners, and tends to be at the forefront of military innovations like the use of the internal combustion engine and poison gas. French agriculture, though no longer as central as it was fifty years ago, also remains important, and produces world-famous wines, cheeses, charcuterie, and other traditional goods, as well as a considerable amount of grain. From its colonies, France receives large quantities of sugar, gold, ivory, petroleum, rubber and spices, among other exotic goods.

Economic Description: France is an industrial powerhouse more by necessity than by choice: the imperatives of national defense, for a Protestant republic surrounded by Catholic empires, required early, rapid, and massive industrialization in order to sustain an army capable of fighting multi-front wars against powerful enemies. Its economy is dominated by about a dozen large industrial companies, most of which specialize in related fields of military and civilian manufacturing; Rhône-Poulenc produces both industrial solvents and mustard gas, and Bloch Industries makes both machine guns and home appliances. France is a major exporter of high-quality consumer goods and industrial machinery. French companies are blessed and cursed with a workforce organized by powerful unions, which keeps the cost of labor in France quite high, but which also provides highly trained workers that greatly improve production efficiency. Despite the central role of government contracts in this industrial economy, France's biggest companies are mostly publicly traded, and so France has a very sophisticated financial sector that allows capital to move fairly quickly in response to market demands. This gives France greater economic flexibility and inventiveness than its more dirigiste neighbors; it makes it easier for new companies to access capital and turn good ideas into profits. French agriculture has substantially reduced in importance: its grain production remains adequate to feed the nation with minimal imports, and it still produces more wine than any other country in the world, but it is no longer Europe's breadbasket; most of its proceeds are consumed domestically, not exported. France's colonies are treated largely as sources of raw materials and as markets for French consumer goods; West African rubber and Algerian oil help to keep the French industrial engine running smoothly.

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Development: Modern (Metropolitan France); Semi-Industrialized (the Empire)

Development Description: France industrialized early and intensely because of the need to out-produce hostile neighbors. This necessitated efficient production of military supplies and rapid movement of large numbers of troops. These needs were met by massive public investment in canals, railroads, modern ports (especially at Toulon), telegraph lines, and paved roads, which mean that France's transportation infrastructure is now more dense than almost anywhere else in Western Europe. The French government is also more willing to embrace new technologies on a large scale than many more conservative regimes; for example, in the 1890s, public funds helped to construct hundreds of Pelton wheel hydropower stations along France's rivers, greatly increasing the electrification of rural light industry. The French Empire, by contrast, remains much less developed, since most French colonies are run with the primary goal of maximizing resource extraction: they tend to have a few carefully planned railroads and canals, but they lack the dense transportation network of Metropolitan France. The crowning jewel of Greater France's infrastructure is the Trans-Saharan Railroad, which runs from Algiers to Abidjan by way of the Ouargla oilfields and Bamako, with a spur line currently under construction to Dakar.

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Army Description :

The French Army is a legendary fighting force, renowned around the globe for its centuries of wars against Spain, Zentraleuropa, and the Western Roman Empire. For a Reformed republic born in war and surrounded by hostile powers on every land border, a strong army has been an existential imperative throughout the Commonwealth's history. Many aspects of France's economy, society, and government have been deliberately structured in order to create the most effective possible land force.

Unlike in most other countries, where war is the province of social elites, the French Army is a resolutely middle-class institution. This lies at the heart of its success: it has an institutional culture that prizes innovation over tradition, independent thought over dogma, education over seniority, and efficiency over glory. It suffers from none of the social-climbing or stubborn traditionalism associated with most officer classes. France was the first nation in Western Europe to create a professional general staff: a meritocratic institution guarded by stringent entrance examinations, specializing in the study of war as a practical and industrial undertaking, and responsible for the planning of operations from start to finish. It was the first nation to develop a theory of mission-type tactics, in which every officer is expected to understand the goal of the mission well enough to be able to improvise in the field in order to achieve it - a military approach that has deep roots in the Reformed Church's emphasis on individual education and moral responsibility. And it was the first nation to develop a holistic Plan of National Defense for total war: an hour-by-hour timetable thousands of pages long that set out exactly which troops would be mobilized, which factories retooled, which bridges destroyed, and which passenger or cargo trains run, from the moment when mobilization was declared to the moment when the Commonwealth reached full war footing. This is the French Army's greatest strength: it has a strong claim to be regarded as the most innovative, professionally organized, and systematically planned fighting force on Earth - an industrial army for an industrial age.

Accordingly, France uses a highly organized levée en masse conscription system: all able-bodied men between the ages of eighteen and twenty serve a two-year term in the Army. In peacetime, this service is usually spent half in training and half in the construction of infrastructure, which helps to explain France's dense network of canals and railroads. Upon finishing this service, most Frenchmen enter the reserves until they reach the age of forty. All active-duty officers are career professionals, and active-duty units mix together young men from all over the country; reserve units are organized from specific communities and are required to train together one weekend per month (one day per week for reserve officers). There are thirty active-duty divisions and just over three hundred reserve divisions. Part of the Plan of National Defense is a detailed mobilization schedule intended to allow the organization, armament, and deployment to the frontier of at least three million men in one week.

Like many French national institutions, the French Army is notably innovative and unrestricted by military convention or tradition. The General Staff's constant wargames test new technologies and strategies for practical applications, and weed out relics of the past. Accordingly, in 1906, the French Army has already theorized the use of the creeping barrage, and invested heavily in the manufacture of poison gas shells and individual gas masks; it has also begun to increase platoon-level tactical training and individual marksmanship, and to deemphasize the bayonet. The overriding French military philosophy, strongly conveyed in the training that every young man receives, is that the French citizen-soldier is intelligent, virtuous, and godly enough to exercise independent judgment, aim, and thought in the heat of battle. French doctrine places a great deal of trust in the capacity of ordinary citizen-soldiers, and then attempts to provide the education, equipment, and training necessary for them to rise to meet those high expectations.

The French Army's equipment reflects this approach. It uses a magazine-fed, straight-pull bolt action rifle intended to maximize individual firepower, since French soldiers are trusted to be sober enough not to waste ammunition. The Army has taken the unusual steps of integrating machine gun teams at the platoon level, rather than treating them as a form of light artillery; conversely, it has concentrated its artillery at the battalion level, with the goal of maximizing intensity of indirect fire. The influence of the General Staff's obsessive attention to detail has paid off in one more notable way: French troops are generally acknowledged to have the best boots in Europe.

Finally, despite being a conscript army in which the only career professionals are officers and NCOs, the French Army has notably strong morale. Active-duty divisions have traditions and battle honors dating back centuries, with their own hallowed hymns and flags. And the French soldier is trained to regard himself as the exemplar of the Reformed Commonwealth's highest values: discipline, hard work, education, godliness, sobriety. He may not be as fanatical as some of his foes, but he is as resourceful, creative, and unflinchingly tough as any fighting man on Earth.

Army Weakness : The French Army's primary weakness is strategic. Paris is under 200 miles from the Zentraleuropan border; Marseille is just 150 miles from the Roman border. Accordingly, the French Army's first move in any war must be to attack, in order to create greater strategic depth. This has led to many of the French Army's distinctive strengths. But on the other hand, it makes the Commonwealth strategically predictable: France will always seek to take the offensive, because it must. This imperative has also led to a "cult of the offensive" in the General Staff, in which defensive thinking is largely neglected. Other weaknesses proceed from this: French strategic thought, based around the Plan of National Defense, emphasizes bringing overwhelming manpower and materiel to bear offensively as quickly as possible, with the goal of ending any major war in its first year. Should this fail, the Commonwealth is not as well-prepared to sustain a multi-front war, and especially not one that might have to be fought on French territory with minimal strategic depth or room to maneuver. Finally, the Army's love of innovation sometimes backfires. For example, the General Staff discovered in its war games that cavalry were ineffective on a modern battlefield that included machine guns and barbed wire; accordingly, the French Army dismounted almost all its cavalry in 1902. This has left French divisions calamitously short of dedicated reconnaissance personnel, so much so that most French reconnaissance is now conducted by bicycle troops, and it has caused logistical issues due to the lack of trained muleteers and coachmen to handle oxcarts and wagons. After all, no one ever said that progress comes easily.

Naval Description : The French Navy, while a respectable middleweight force, is very much the second child compared to the famous Army. It is generally felt to be sufficient to control the Western Mediterranean - and therefore the crucial sea route to Algiers, the terminus of the Trans-Saharan Railroad - where its main challenger is the Spanish Navy; it is also a very even challenger to the Eastern Roman Navy. Unlike the Army, the Navy is an all-volunteer force that draws heavily from areas of France with a strong maritime tradition, like the Basque Country and Normandy; it is better-paid than the Army, and the naval academy at Toulon is highly selective and demanding, creating an officer corps that is distinctively detail-oriented and technically proficient. The Navy has chosen to focus on the Mediterranean as its main theater of operations, rather than seek to challenge the British or Japanese on the high seas, and so its ships tend to be somewhat slower, heavier-armored, and heavier-gunned than those of most other nations - because speed is less essential in a Mediterranean fleet. French ships are also, unusually, all oil-powered, thanks to France's limited coal reserves and the wealth of the Ouargla oilfields; this meaningfully improves ship survivability. The main French fleet is based at Toulon, and includes fourteen pre-dreadnaught battleships, twenty-five cruisers, forty-nine destroyers, and eighty-one oceanworthy torpedo craft; other, smaller battlegroups made up of a few cruisers and torpedo craft are based at Port-au-Prince, Dakar, Capetown, and Bombay. Finally, while it currently does not own any submarines, the French Navy has invested millions in research and development, with an eye to using submarine warfare to attack commerce on the high seas where the surface fleet is unlikely to be successful.

Naval Weakness: The French Navy is not intended as a high-seas fleet. It is believed to be able to hold the Western Mediterranean even against substantially superior forces, but if war came with a dedicated naval power, it is unlikely that the French Navy would even attempt to venture past the Straits of Gibraltar. This means that the Commonwealth could use the Toulon-Algiers sea route and then the Trans-Saharan Railway to defend its empire in North and West Africa, but that Hispaniola, the Cape, and Bombay would likely be cut off entirely from the homeland as soon as war broke out. It also means that France's Atlantic trade could be throttled by a blockade in the event of war, which would cause grinding economic pain to a country so reliant on commerce and entrepreneurship.

Further Military Description : The troupes coloniales are the final part of the French military. The French Army has responsibility for the protection of Algeria and Morocco, and indeed includes three reserve divisions of native personnel from those départements. But the rest of the French Empire - including the joint-stock company colonies in Hispaniola, the Cape, the West African Coast, and Bombay - is protected by colonial troops who answer to the local administrations, not to the government in Paris. They overwhelmingly comprise white or creole officers commanding native troops, and vary substantially in quality and discipline. But their one distinctive feature is that they know, in wartime, that the French Navy will not be able to reach them; there will be no relief from Europe. And so most colonial troops are specifically trained for unconventional warfare: the goal is not to defend the frontiers of French colonies, but to take to the hills and jungles and slums, and from there to wage a preplanned guerrilla war of attrition that will eventually cost any occupier more than the colony is worth to hold. They are the most creative and ungentlemanly members of an already innovative and ruthless military establishment.

---

National Goals: France intends, first and foremost, to survive as a forward-looking Reformed republic on a continent dominated by backward-looking Chalcedonian monarchies. In order to do this, it sees a need for greater strategic depth, and will look to create a buffer zone or sphere of influence in the Rhineland, Catalonia, and the Po Valley. In the largest sense, the French generally believe that they have a special world-historical destiny, which is to spread republican government and the Reformed religion around the globe. This sense of holy mission informs most aspects of the nation's policy, often in unpredictable ways.

National Issues: While France's political system is fairly stable - there are few riots, and no potential revolutionaries - its politics are not. The Commonwealth is structured so that the Senate and the courts can check the parliamentary majority and the government, and they do this regularly and enthusiastically, with the result that it is extremely difficult for the French government to attempt any policy that is remotely controversial without getting stuck in political gridlock. France is also diplomatically isolated - especially within Europe, where its religion and political ideology have long made it a bogeyman for its neighbors - but also globally, where even other democracies often find its Reformed vision of republicanism eccentric and distasteful. It has a few allies of convenience, but no true friends. France also is beginning to see birthrates decline, as widespread unionization catches up to industrialization and increases family incomes while eliminating demand for child labor; this is a problem, since France is already smaller than Zentraleuropa and Poland (though still larger than Spain or the Western Roman Empire). Finally, many of France's colonies are more or less restive. This is least the case in Hispaniola and the Cape; the latter has a French colonist majority, while the former hosts a centuries-old fusion culture that enjoys a great deal of autonomy. But it is quite pronounced in the central Sahara, where Touareg tribes have never acknowledged French authority, and where their raids have become a major annoyance for critical infrastructure like the Ouargla oilfields and the Trans-Saharan railroad.

National Figures of Interest: Jean Calvin, 16th-century religious reformer and founder of the Reformed Church; Ambroise Champion, 16th-century military and political leader who unified the Protestant French polities and led them to victory over the Catholic polities and the Western Roman Empire; Émile Fleury, primary author of the Union of Tours, the original document that became the French Constitution; Henri Guerin, early 19th-century military leader and then Chancellor who won France's greatest victories to date over Spain, the Romans, and Zentraleuropa before dying at 41; and a vast number of famous artists and painters, most of whom are familiar from our own timeline.

National Ambition/Aspirations : Ultimately, many Frenchmen believe that their nation is God's instrument to bring liberty - in the form of republicanism - and godliness - in the form of the Reformed Church - to the world at large. No one expects to see this mission fulfilled in his generation, but neither does anyone want to be the generation that abandoned such a sacred charge.

---

History:

<Snip>

RP Sample: See my sig for my credentials.

#AltDiv (do not delete this, it's for keeping track of the apps)

ACCEPTED, with the caveat that those parts of your history that concern other players will need to be discussed and agreed upon with those players, particularly the parts involving the Western Roman Empire. In general, we found the tone of your app was a little triumphalist in tone. We didn't think this was a problem when it came to accepting your app, but it did raise some concerns about how you might chose to play France in the RP, so just bear in mind that we will be keeping an eye to make sure you don't skirt too close to godmodding.

Ordinarily, I would much rather bow out than work under that sort of suspicion - especially since I've not heard such concerns from any of the players who would be most exposed to an overpowered France, and even more especially since I've made four rounds of changes to my app, at Trac's request, in order to allay exactly that fear. I don't know how much more I could have done to indicate that I don't have an attitude problem, and I'm never inclined to stay where I'm not wanted.

In this case, though, Finland SSR and Exil - both of whom are players whom I know and greatly admire - have already put a great deal of effort into apps that are deeply entwined with mine. Out of respect for their hard work, and out of a desire not to derail it, I'll accept your scrutiny as the price of remaining. But I want to make clear on the record, from the start, that I regard it as wholly unwarranted.

[Tracian Empire]

> Much of America is owned by the Koreans
frggin wat

As the title might indicate, this is an alternative history roleplay

[Danceria]

> Much of America is owned by the Koreans
frggin wat

As the title might indicate, this is an alternative history roleplay

It most certainly is... Just never would have thought such a thing possible. Chinese or Japanese colonization of North America, perhaps, but Korea...?
Still, good on 'em.

[Theyra]

I am done with my app.

App

[Remnants of Exilvania]

ACCEPTED, with the caveat that those parts of your history that concern other players will need to be discussed and agreed upon with those players, particularly the parts involving the Western Roman Empire. In general, we found the tone of your app was a little triumphalist in tone. We didn't think this was a problem when it came to accepting your app, but it did raise some concerns about how you might chose to play France in the RP, so just bear in mind that we will be keeping an eye to make sure you don't skirt too close to godmodding.

Ordinarily, I would much rather bow out than work under that sort of suspicion - especially since I've not heard such concerns from any of the players who would be most exposed to an overpowered France, and even more especially since I've made four rounds of changes to my app, at Trac's request, in order to allay exactly that fear. I don't know how much more I could have done to indicate that I don't have an attitude problem, and I'm never inclined to stay where I'm not wanted.

In this case, though, Finland SSR and Exil - both of whom are players whom I know and greatly admire - have already put a great deal of effort into apps that are deeply entwined with mine. Out of respect for their hard work, and out of a desire not to derail it, I'll accept your scrutiny as the price of remaining. But I want to make clear on the record, from the start, that I regard it as wholly unwarranted.

*chuckles nervously*

I appreciate the compliment even though I believe it to be misplaced in my case. Sad news on my end though, I got a call from my boss asking wether I could jump in and take some free shifts and being the dilligent worker I am I did and took shifts today, tomorrow and on sunday so my history is getting delayed.

[Insaeldor]

App should be finished by saturday, possible sunday at the latest. I want to talk to Finland SSR and Norv about thing regarding our shared and potentially shared history before i post my app.

[Reverend Norv]

App should be finished by saturday, possible sunday at the latest. I want to talk to Finland SSR and Norv about thing regarding our shared and potentially shared history before i post my app.

Sure, TG me with your thoughts anytime.

[Kazarogkai]

Full Nation Name : Free Guyana Folk State
Majority/Official Culture : Guyanese Maroon
Territorial Core : https://photos.app.goo.gl/XvH2sUNyQEGMPMoa6
Territorial Claim : https://photos.app.goo.gl/LVGvYuYoNaDsNSDL8
Capital City : Elamana (Kajana, Suriname)
Population : 3,114,880
1800 150,000
1825 300,000
1850 600,000
1875 1,200,000
1900 2,400,000
1905 2,880,000

Government Type :
De-jure Revolutionary Government
De-facto Parliamentary Single-Party Federal Theocratic Republic
Government Ideology/Policies : Militant, Siege mentality
Government Focus : Maintaining independence, the liberation of the america's from old world colonialism, the destruction of Monarchism, and finally but certainly not least fighting the good fight in the name of heaven.
Head of State : The Grand Committee and by extension the Speaker of the National Assembly who heads it
Head of Government : De-jure Grand Committee, De-facto a tossup between the Consul of War, the Premier Chairman of the Faction, The High Elder of the Phalanx
Government Description :
GENERAL HISTORY
At its most basic the government of the Free Guyana Folk State, simply known as Guyana by most, as explained in the constitution is simply titled a revolutionary government. The Formal Government of Guyana generally is traced all the way back to the revolutionary freeman's council set up by Solomon Day who traveled with his 24 companions companions deep into the interior in order to elicit the support of the various maroon tribes in what would become a general rising among the slaves and maroons. When him and his 24 companions arrived into the interior and were able to convince the local maroon elders in Elamana of his intentions and bring them into the fold from here he set up his first stronghold from which he would continue to expand from. At first he largely concerned himself with military matters delegating administration to local civilians in a hands off approach shaping civil policy only in the abstract. As his government's influence and by extension his army began to expand he would set up within each maroon village a small and large council with the former comprised of the villages various headman and elders of note while the latter was composed of the entirety of the villages adult inhabitants. When he felt the time was ripe, spurred on by a local slave rebellion near the cost around Georgetown, he led his army in what became known as "The March to the Sea". Along the way as his troops captured the various mostly sugar plantations that dotted the landscape he would set here to set up small local forums as they were called composed of the able bodied adult population of the former plantation and organize them into in effect a democratic commune tasked with organizing the provision of men material for the war effort. Up until wars end there was no really true central government other than himself, the army, and a personal civilian entourage consisting of the aforementioned companions plus 2 representatives derived from each maroon village and freemen commune who with time were organized into what came to be known as the National Assembly. The period from independence all the war until the death of Solomon was a rather anarchic time with the central government being a rather adhoc affair almost entirely consisting of and being concerned with the military and it's affairs due to the rather hostile surroundings with Solomon ruling largely by decree both in religious and temporal affairs. During this time it was largely the local units set up by Solomon in the form of the Maroon Village Councils and the Freeman Commune Forums who bore the brunt of day to day governance. This is also the time in which Solomon Wrote his magnum opus collectively called Solomon's twins the consisting of: The Golden Manuscript and The Manifesto of a Heavenly Revolution. The former was a codification of Solomon's Religious beliefs and ultimately would serve as a sort of Bible for what became the Phalanx of Heaven, while the Latter would as sorta implied be a political manifesto on his own beliefs of what he believed would be a revolutionary society and of the government necessary to run it. Upon Solomon's Death in 1820 at the age of 100 years his successors would go on making use of the aforementioned to create a society in what they believed he had personally Envisioned. The results were much more beautiful in theory than in practice like many such things.

GENERAL OVERVIEW
The structure in reality in it's fully encompassed form is best described as a Parliamentary Single-Party Federal Theocratic Republic. To break that down the overall government atleast in theory is meant to be centered around the National Assembly with the various other branches acting as pillars of support to uphold it and by extension the entirety of the nation. But the reality of the situation things play out a bit different.

BASIC STRUCTURE
I THE COMMITTEES AND DIRECTORS
- Starting from the top the executive is comprised of and appointed from members of the National Assembly and consists of small bodies that are known as Committees. These serve as the arms of the Legislative and handle the enforcement of laws and play an important part in the making of said laws too with the initial drafting and debating of laws beginning in the very Committees charged with that area of policy. Trade laws in the Committee of Diplomacy, education in the Committee of Culture, etc. All the various Permanent Committee heads known as consuls are organized into what is known as the Grand Committee whose membership consists of the aforementioned but also includes the Speaker of the National Assembly and a few officers of the government who have been empowered by the National Assembly notably the Premier Chairman of the Faction and the High Elder Marshal of the Phalanx of Heaven. Operating in a Parliamentary manner members of the executive, namely the consuls, are appointed by and consist of members of the National Assembly as mentioned before and serve at the pleasure of said body. Though technically they do have a official term length consisting of a single year at which they are individually required to face a mandatory confidence vote and by extension pass a budget, if either fails then a new consul(s) must be appointed and by extension a budget. If either is unable to occur then the Assembly can with a simple majority call for a snap election in which current incumbents are barred from running in.
II THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
- Continuing on from before the National Assembly serves as the Legislative body making and debating the laws of the land, appointing members of the executive, and determining a government budget. Though structurally a Unicameral body it is in effect divided into 3 coequal divisions known as colleges who all serve together. These colleges consist of representatives of local units, representatives of the guilds, and representatives for the Phalanx, each numbering 144 in total. All members serve a term of 4 years which while not term limited cannot be served consecutively. They are elected via Block voting from multi member districts whose representative numbers are based on population size, more specifically their number of voters. In the case of members of the first college said districts correspond with the aforementioned local administrative units, In the case of the second college this is done with each Guild(main economic units) functioning as a district, and finally the third college has it's own districts drawn up based on parish borders(known as regiments). Upon the completion of an election members are tasked with both forming a government, appointing the Consuls to the Permanent Committees and a speaker for the National Assembly, and finally making a budget. If unable to do either a vote for a snap election can be made with a simple majority, with the exception in times of war in which case it takes 2/3 of the body.
III THE TRIBUNES AND ARCHONS
- The Judiciary is an odd ball of sorts in part inspired by the French Commonwealth, atleast in terms of basic ideals of Judicial Liberty, but in many areas very different. The basic structural component of the Judiciary is the Tribunes who are organized into 3 types high, district, and judgement. High Tribunes are standing bodies consisting of multiple members known as Archons and also Clergy members who are chosen via lot from eligible members of the public and serve a fixed non-consecutive term of 8 years in total. Each High Tribune numbers a total of 12 members and consist of 2 sub types: Constitutional and Statutory divided based on their role in terms of the law with the former being concerned with Constitutional Law and the latter being the highest courts of appeal in terms of the regular statutory law as set forth by the various Law Codes of Guyana. District Tribunes in contrast are temporary lasting only the length of their formation, investigation, and formal trial function both as courts of first instance and of appeal and are unlike their High varieties have defined judicial districts and henceforth jurisdictions based on where the Archons in question live. Judgement courts like the aforementioned are temporary bodies but are only formed after a formal trial is complete and ones appeals of been either exhausted or expired and unlike District Tribunes are composed of Jurists instead. Specifically 1 jurist from the victim(s) and/or their family. 1 from the guilty party and finally 10, with exceptions, other jurists from neutral parties.
- Now defining the 3 different members of tribunes: Archons, Jurists, and Clergy. Archons are those of the public who have been recognized and declared themselves as law speakers and are considered experts of secular law in all it's forms. In order to become one one must achieve a doctorate equivalent degree in law in a Guyanese University and declare themselves as an Archon and be vouched on by other Archons upon doing so becoming a member of a local district judicial pool. Jurists are similar to Archons but instead members of the public chosen by them to represent them in judicial affairs and are by extension meant to represent the spirit of the law in contrast to Archons who represent the word of the law. To become a Jurist one must have at the least a university degree in law and or humanities and upon doing so gain followers who are willing to be represented by you on court. Finally their is the Clergymen who have their own standards and are chosen via lot. They are there to make sure the law and by extension the enforcement of said laws is done in a manner that corresponds with Phalangite religious principles.
IV THE FACTION
- Officially titled The National Heavenly Workers and Farmers Unity Faction, commonly referred to as simply "The Nationalists Faction" or more Informally "The Faction" in day to day parlance. Within the writings of Solomon Day he very much expected similar to France that political factions were an inevitably and would emerge regardless of the best intentions and desires. He had an old cynical bone within him admittedly. Said factionalism would in his eyes be a threat overall to the unity of the nation and could tear it apart in times of great national stress, namely war. Hence in order to preempt such a thing he believed that a single party state was necessary within his system and would avoid much of the excess that came with typical political factionalism ultimately aiding in keeping the country on the righteous and revolutionary path that he set fourth and while keeping out those who might seek to internally derail the whole thing. That or at the very least contain the whole thing and keep it from poisoning the rest of the nation. At least in theory.
- Functioning in a manner Similar to many other organized political factions it does though have a few weird quirks to keep in mind. Organized in a somewhat hierarchical manner with the most basic and lowest organizational level being known as the block consisting of multiple party members within a given neighborhood. Each Block consists of a Forum composed of said members who operate along Direct-Democratic lines and who elect both an executive council who run day to day affairs for the block and delegates who are meant to represent the block in the forum above themselves. From this point onward in a manner similar to council democracy delegates chosen from the lowest level represent and also elect delegates above them from local to regional to finally national. The highest level is the national forum composed of delegates from the regional forums who themselves are delegates from the local forums and so on. The national forum like all the forums below them chooses from among their members an executive council which functions as the highest level executive organ of the party and they themselves choose from among themselves the Premier Chairman who is the head of the Party.
- Though independents are technically allowed to run for election to public offices the vast majority of the competition for said offices comes from members of the faction who in order to do so must seek the approval of the Faction and by extension the Premier Chairman of the Faction who wields untold power within the nation as a whole due to his position and ability to make or break an individuals candidacy for office.
V THE VOTERS
- Within Guyana elements of Direct democracy pervade through much of society but by far the most important of these is in the form of referendums and technically the election of various public officials within the National Assembly and Local Forums. Referendums are used exclusively for constitutional amendments and for the creation of a new constitution which occur every 8 and 40 years respectively. In contrast the election of public officials atleast on the national level occurs every 4 years while at the local level it varies.
- In terms of how to become a voter one must first be a citizen, and two finished their national service. In order to become a citizen one must either having been born within Guyana finished ones mandatory education, and declared and signed an oath of allegiance to the nation and the constitution or if not gone through the naturalization process which takes on average about 4-6 for immigrants. After one becomes a citizen to become a voter and by extension a full citizen one must finish their national service and have reached the age of 24. In the case of men this requires them to fulfill military conscript service whose duration depends on education level but varies from 8-4 years, with those achieving a university degree required to serve at the low end while those who only completed primary school required to serve at the higher end, and finally those who completed secondary being somewhere in between. Women in contrast, who've technically been able to vote since the first Constitutional period thereby making Guyana one of the first with female suffrage, must fulfill their national service via having 4 live born children(defined as those who have reached the age of atleast 2 years of age)
- The in terms of the amendments and referendums for them the process works as follows: In a manner similar to how laws bills are made, a initiative as it is known must be created within the respective committee from which it pertains too(War, Economy, Diplomacy, etc) and be put up for debate and ultimately approved by the Consul who heads the Committee in question. This Initiative then goes to the Grand Committee who then must debate and must ultimately approve of it. If such occurs then the speaker will introduce said initiative at a scheduled point in the Legislative Calendar at which point it will face a debate and initial vote which must see to it that approval is atleast 2/3 of the body. When that is done it will be put up upon the referendum calendar. When the next national referendum occurs voters within the nation may vote yay or nay to the proposed initiative and add unto the constitution so long as said vote equals 2/3 of the vote in which case it becomes an amendment.
- When it comes to making a new constitution, for each constitution by law is required to have an expiration date of 40 years after its creation. this works in a manner similar to how the amendment process works but a bit more convoluted and complicated requiring the establishment of Constitutional Forums and the like in the last 8 years of a constitutions existence. As of now Guyana is currently on it's 4th constitutional period with the period preceding Solomon's death regarded as the first despite the technical lack of a real substantial constitutional instrument with law being more or less a factor of his personal decrees, commandants, and local ordinances done in part in response to the former.
Majority/State Religion : Phalanx of Heaven
Religious Description : It's a bit of a local thing but is atleast technically christian but maintains certain rather heretical tenets as set fourth by Solomon Day the prophets "Golden Manuscript". In some ways it's a weird cross between elements of Catharism believing that earth is hell and ruled over by Satan and his minion while heaven is separate and ruled by God and his own in a giant holy war esque situation, Unitarianism believing that Jesus was a prophet in a long line of ones, with elements of Voodoo believing in many other sorta minor deities like saints and and angels and demons and the proscribed battling alongside God and Satan in their cosmic battle for power. It is led by the High Elder and was founded and spread by Solomon Day in the period during and after the war of independence. It's a bit weird and is unsurprisingly considered an utter and complete heresy by the Romans and those living in general christian dome.

Economic Ideologies : Quasi-Socialist, Georgist, National-Syndicalist
Major Production : small arms, artillery, steel, textiles, raw rubber, glass, concrete, gold, aluminium, fish, tropical fruit, timber, livestock, agricultural implements, mining equipment
Economic Description : The overall system is a rather strange breed quite unique for the world they live in. The majority of the factors of production in terms of both the tertiary, secondary, and the primary sector are run along syndicalist/communal lines with all business organizations above the family being in effect required to be run on cooperative lines with all members benefiting more or less equally and running it as such along democratic lines. Said cooperatives range in size from a single factory all the way up to large nationally run federations known as guilds run via a council based delegate system in a manner along the lines of the aforementioned faction's political system. With delegates from below electing those from above. Said guilds receive direct representation and are technically incorporated into the national government to help create overall policy.

On the otherhand elements of state socialism do persist with certain strategic resources like precious metals and even whole industries like arms manufacturing being a state interest and being the principle element. These are meant to be used to help the nation as a whole but are also found quite significant sources of revenue especially the aforementioned arms manufacturing with said weaponry produced being typically sold to various government approved armed revolutionary groups that prove a menace to many nations present in the new world. This has earned them quite a bit of hate despite efforts to keep it on the down low. The socialist element also comes into play to some degree due to despite the fact that Guyana is technically a market based economy the government does provide a tremendous role serving as the main regulator of the whole chaotic morass and safe guarder of consumers and workers health. This is rather heavily exemplified by the incorporation of the various Guilds, national cooperative federations and major industries, into the government to represent their interests and providing the government a way to help influence and direct the overall flow of the economy.

One important factor to consider is natural resources namely Land, Water, and Air. These three are regarded as the providence of all members of the community and hence are organized and considered to be under community ownership though individuals and their families have the right to manage said resources so to speak. In effect this means that local governments, namely municipalities, are given the duty of administering said resources with said duty being their principle job and the rent derived from the use of it being a significant source of their revenue.

Elements of protectionism are at play primarily serving to protect from foreign competition who might flood the local market with cheap goods and thereby destroy the still rather fragile industries that comprise Guyana. Despite this the country is rather reliant on exports, most notably decent quality steel and alongside that weapons due to the rather small population and hence small market that is Guyana being insufficient to properly sustain the continuing industrialization of Guyana alone in spite of talk of and a desire for autarky by the government. This is kinda the dirty secret of the whole thing and hence the sever effect their isolation has had on their economy resulting in it being known as a rather poor country both in raw size and in per capita manners.

Development: Semi-Industrialized
Development Description : Though the elements of Industrialization came into play sometime in the post war period is didn't really hit off properly until the 2nd constitutional period sometime in 1840. Compared to most nations it was largely a state based initiative due to the rather weak capitalist class present. The initial focus was a two fold mix of the need for arms to equip the armed forces but also a need to feed and connect the growing population. The end result has been a rather excessively specialized system whose primary focus is centered on supporting the other 2 sectors of the economy the service and agriculture rather than being an independent and principle body of the economy in it's own right. One of the principle manufactured goods for example is agricultural and mining equipment to better allow for greater resource extraction(primary sector), another example is the arms manufacturing used to equip the military(service sector). Hence most of it's industry is categorized as being light rather than of the heavy variety and overall exports principally derive from the agricultural sector with only surplus production from the secondary sector being exported in rather sparing amounts. Still for a what is regarded as a rather small and poor new world nation it's still pretty good in areas where it does focus on namely being one of the premier arms manufacturers and producers of steel in the world with Guyanese guns and steel being found all over the place ranging from the bummest parts of non-colonial Africa to equipping the armies of other new world nations too poor to have their own significant development in that regard.

Army Description : In a manner of speaking the Land Command of the Black Revolutionary Brotherhood Phalanx of the Heavenly Crusade, known simply as the Black Phalanx the world over, operates in many manners despite the time more like an old guerrilla liberation army than that of a modern European fighting force. Ranks are simple and name wise are largely functional with officers being all known as Commander followed by whatever they lead. For example Contingent-Commander is the name for a leader of an contingent(corps equivalent) in contrast Column-Commander for a leader of a column(battalion equivalent). With the exception of the term Legion which is rather archaic and a reference to the name of the personal army of Solomon Day himself most names are different from what they would be in other countries. block for companies, line for platoons, front for armies, ext. In some ways the Land Command and by extension the Military is more political than functional having a whole host of important duties attributed unto it being for example the main gateway for males to vote.

All this leads to as kinda stated a quote on quote "functional albeit not necessarily smooth machine" of a system which for the most part serves its main purpose keeping the enemies of the state off their back. A role from which it has done rather decently for most of it's history. The overall system Is quite heavily based around defense and keeping others out due to the all pervading fear of both real and imagined potential enemies that lie on the proverbial horizon. This hasn't been helped due to the multiple post war attempts at reconquest done by the Spanish State and it's continued refusal to recognize the Independence of Guyana leaving said nation being a rather isolated one with few friends and making it feel that peace is only an illusion and simply preparation for the next war. This in part explains the rather excessive military spending of the government regularly equaling about 50% of the national budget or around 15-20% of the nations raw GDP. With the Land Command receiving the Lions share of that. Not even taking into account the extensive fortification systems prevalent along the coast and with their principle access points to the east and west.

The use of legions is used in a manner similar to how other countries use a regimental system with legions maintaining long lines of history

Army Weakness : Probably the biggest problem in general has to do with as mentioned the military being so political. In order to keep control and in general prevent a coup certain precautions have been made especially towards the officer corps that could be argued have resulted in a severe issue in terms of efficiency and competence. Things like Political commissars and the use of civilian courts to try military personnel in peace time and in some circumstances wartime and the tremendous emphasis placed on civilian control of the armed forces leads to much of the officers being barely above that of political cronies who are more interested keeping their necks and hence are lacking in terms of things like personal initiative, lest they be seen as a nail that needs to be hammered down, and are rigidly procedural leading to a force largely devoid of much in the way of innovation outside weapons procurement to some degree. In terms of equipment though regarded in many areas as being brilliant by foreign observers from the legion level downward most of their weapons tend to be previous generation and they have a tendency to fall behind other nations while only barely keeping up at the best of times. Troops though well trained and discipline patriot fervor is sometimes emphasized to a detriment. Soldiers in battle are known for holding their ground and refusing to retreat or surrender even when it would be best to do so, and their commanders tend to place a too great emphasis on mass infantry tactics which can lead to heavy losses which honestly they can't really afford too much.
Naval Description : A rather small force more for show than anything else. Their is little to no reasonable expectation that in any large scale war with a conventional that it would last particularly long. This in part is a factor of previous experience seeing so many ships get destroyed whenever the Spanish came back or another power tried to strong arm them. The hope is they can take down a few and atleast provide some relief and time for the land forces to get ready to repel the enemy back.
Naval Weakness : It kinda got stated already but in a nutshell the Sea Command is more or less the ugly step child that they sorta want and need but only sorta. Being that is the case it is almost purely a brown water force being concerned primarily with coastal defense and patrolling interior water ways like rivers. It always ends up at the bottom of the bucket in terms of funding and gets only the scraps of whatever the Land Command has taken in terms of the conscription pool. Hence it tends to be were the rejects and loosers of society end up and has a reputation that is accordingly as such.
Further Military Description :

In relation to conscription: Going into the nitty gritty the backbone of the whole thing is more or less reliant on conscription with all males upon finishing their education being required to serve in form or another effectively until they either have reached the age of 70 or have achieved 48 years of total service, whichever comes first. Upon first completing mandatory education and depending on what level they young men will enter their first conscription period lasting from 8-6 years. The first 2 year of which is basically spent in training, the first in camp the second on the field. For those who pass Secondary School and during so went through the Gymnasium making them eligible for university they can take a temporary deferment until they complete it upon doing so they will be inducted into service for 4 years. The system makes use of conscription classes which more or less determine ones place when they do get conscripted. Those who passed primary school are made regular enlisted, those who pass secondary school usually become regular enlisted but are usually used for certain specialist positions pertaining to their education like combat engineers, those who passed Secondary school and during so went to Military Academy can become NCOs and later field officers if they apply themselves, while finally those who finished university go on to become staff officers. This allows for a rather functional if not always smooth system to be maintained with everyone kinda from the get go having their place. Now for conscripts upon completing the initial period of conscription males go into the first reserve whereby they will be subject to the allotment system whereby they will be organized into groups of 12 who over a period time will be required to return to serve for 120 day periods of time in one by one for the next 12 years serving in active or A-type legions alongside those in the first conscription period. Upon finishing this up they enter the second reserve who are organized into reserve legions and are required to train every 60 days or so for the next 12 years but in turn are only subject to serving when war mobilization takes place. Finally their is the 3rd and final reserve lasting until they turn 70 or have completed the last of their 48 years of required service. Those who are within the second and third reserve are able to gain deferments of service relating to occupation but those are rather rare.

In terms of Organization, The Black Revolutionary Brotherhood Phalanx of the Heavenly Crusade consists of the following distribution of forces:
144,000 active personnel(115,200 conscripts,28,800 allotment troops)
144,000 second line reservist
144,000 3rd line reservist

A Land Command 120,000 + 120,000
- 12 A-Type Infantry Legions
- 12 B-Type Infantry Legions
- 4 A-Type Cavalry Legions
- 4 B-Type Cavalry Legions
- 4 A-Type Artillery Legions
- 4 B-Type Artillery Legions

B Sea Command 12,000 + 24,000
- 6 Coastal Defense Columns = 120 Guns
- 6 Reserve CD Columns = 120 Guns
a Warships = 30 + 120
- 5 Destroyers
- 10 Frigates
- 100 Light Vessels(Gun Boats,Torpedo Boats)
- 35 Other vessels(Mine layers, Tug boats, etc)
C Capital Guard 6000
- 1 Guard Legion
D War Department Staff 6000
a Division of Logistics
b Division of Personnel Affairs
c Division of Planning
d Division of Operations

National Goals :
- Do something about Swedish Venezuela, having a colony next door feels a little insulting in their eyes.
- Get the economy in a better place somehow
- Secure their independence from Spain, a more permanent solution is necessary.
National Issues : Being a rather isolated land of ex slaves that remains largely unrecognized by much of the civilized world is a rather huge one. The economy i also rather poor and struggling to keep up with their neighbors
National Figures of Interest :
- Solomon Day, Founding Father, Prophet, Statesmen, Educator, Deceased
- High Elder Amon Brian Head of the Phalanx
- Premier Chairman Abraham Taylor
- Consul of War Samson Herald
- Speaker of the National Assembly Lot Tyler
National Ambition/Aspirations : The general hope is to bring an end to old world dominance of the new world and see to it the independence of the entirety of the continent and with that spread the good word of the Phalanx of Heaven if at all possible and with it their revolutionary ideals.

History : [[Can be in paragraph or bulletpoint timeline.]]
RP Sample:
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=348283&p=25335065&hilit=Cornelius+%22Cannibal%22+Willow#p25335065
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=326874&p=23421024&hilit=Cornelius+White#p23421024

#AltDiv (do not delete this, it's for keeping track of the apps)

Sorry for the wait everybody, I know it's taking a while, been working on it since 9 in the mourning.. All I gotta really finish honestly is the history section and maybe do a few edits here and there and we will be good. Gotta head off but I will be back tomorrow. Thank you for your patience and have a good day.

Very much so

Leetus yeetus. Who are my neighbors in South America? Mad that Brown Splotch stole the sugar trade but hopefully I can still bank on Brazil's other resources.

Brazil has plenty of sugar, the Guyanese shield wasn't that massive of a component of the trade. Your thinking of the Antilles which are all Imperial Americas.

I mean, I can have Spain have one if you want.

Frankly don't really care because it saves me from writing my own history allows me to sync up better with other players. I would think that the French/Wherever the Guyanans came from would have de-jure claim, or colonised it first.

If not, I could be a real Chad and make an empire near a lake in Chad.

My general way of how I was doing things was that Guyana used to be a British territory alongside parts of the Caribbean until it all got got by Spain sometime during the Atlantic war in the early 1700s. Around 1777 Guyana rebels and fights on until about 1800-1805 when the Spanish give it up. Not long after Imperial america get's formed after a civil war breaks out splitting it apart from Spain due in no small part as an aftershock of the french invading ala Napoleon style which led to certain.... issues popping. and so ended the Spanish empire more or less in the new world. At least that's how it seems from my perspective atleast. I'm not terribly great with the whole story.

[The Isle of The Webb]

Reservation

Nation Name:Lìog na Gàidhlig, The Gaelic League
Territory:Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall, isle of man, labrador, Anticosti, and Nova Scotia.
#AltDiv (do not delete this, it's for keeping track of the apps)

Is this acceptable? I'm still reading through the other apps and I don't want to cause strife.

Yeah, unfortunately the board has decided that we'll respect the currently existing Great Britain claim. You could stick around, if SCP won't be able to come up with a proper concept you could claim those territories then (minus Cornwall, as that would be a bit too unfair to a potential England player), otherwise you're more than free to try to app for something else.

Sorry for any inconveniences, we are working on updating the list and the map.

No Problem I'll look about at other potential places as I said I don't want to cause any undo strife.

[SCP Institution]

Yeah, unfortunately the board has decided that we'll respect the currently existing Great Britain claim. You could stick around, if SCP won't be able to come up with a proper concept you could claim those territories then (minus Cornwall, as that would be a bit too unfair to a potential England player), otherwise you're more than free to try to app for something else.

Sorry for any inconveniences, we are working on updating the list and the map.

No Problem I'll look about at other potential places as I said I don't want to cause any undo strife.

I can leave Scotland or Ireland for you, if you want me to :0

[SCP Institution]

Reservation

Nation Name: Dutch Republic
Territory: Netherlands, Flanders, Guinea Bissau, German Kamerun
#AltDiv (do not delete this, it's for keeping track of the apps)

Tell me if this is okay, cause I ain’t gotta clue

Accepted, a part of what I believe is Cameroon is part of the Breton app though.

But... Netherlands is included in my application ?

[Reverend Norv]

Accepted, a part of what I believe is Cameroon is part of the Breton app though.

But... Netherlands is included in my application ?

Check the list in the OP.

[SCP Institution]

But... Netherlands is included in my application ?

Check the list in the OP.

Fine then

[Danceria]

Brazil has plenty of sugar, the Guyanese shield wasn't that massive of a component of the trade. Your thinking of the Antilles which are all Imperial Americas.

Frankly don't really care because it saves me from writing my own history allows me to sync up better with other players. I would think that the French/Wherever the Guyanans came from would have de-jure claim, or colonised it first.

If not, I could be a real Chad and make an empire near a lake in Chad.

My general way of how I was doing things was that Guyana used to be a British territory alongside parts of the Caribbean until it all got got by Spain sometime during the Atlantic war in the early 1700s. Around 1777 Guyana rebels and fights on until about 1800-1805 when the Spanish give it up. Not long after Imperial america get's formed after a civil war breaks out splitting it apart from Spain due in no small part as an aftershock of the french invading ala Napoleon style which led to certain.... issues popping. and so ended the Spanish empire more or less in the new world. At least that's how it seems from my perspective atleast. I'm not terribly great with the whole story.

Seems very concerning, while we may share things in common politically, Solomon's cult of personality disturbs any good Christian resident of my realm.

[Reverend Norv]

Brazil has plenty of sugar, the Guyanese shield wasn't that massive of a component of the trade. Your thinking of the Antilles which are all Imperial Americas.



My general way of how I was doing things was that Guyana used to be a British territory alongside parts of the Caribbean until it all got got by Spain sometime during the Atlantic war in the early 1700s. Around 1777 Guyana rebels and fights on until about 1800-1805 when the Spanish give it up. Not long after Imperial america get's formed after a civil war breaks out splitting it apart from Spain due in no small part as an aftershock of the french invading ala Napoleon style which led to certain.... issues popping. and so ended the Spanish empire more or less in the new world. At least that's how it seems from my perspective atleast. I'm not terribly great with the whole story.

Seems very concerning, while we may share things in common politically, Solomon's cult of personality disturbs any good Christian resident of my realm.

Pretty much the French perspective too. With so few republics in the world, why does one of them have to be run by a crazy cult? The waste.

On a different note, so to speak, I have found the French national anthem. Historically, this psalm was sung before the Battle of Coutras; hearing it, the Catholic forces joked that the Huguenots feared immanent death, and were confessing their sins. A scarred veteran turned to the Duc de Joyeuse and warned him: "Sir, when the Huguenots sing thus, they are ready to fight to the death." A few hours later, the duke was dead and his forces routed. I'm going to recycle this story for the Battle of Pavia, which ended the Forty Years' War in a victory against both Roman armies and secured France's independence; ever since, the 118th psalm has been the national anthem.

[The Fascist Waffle Empire]

Reservation

Nation Name: Dutch Republic
Territory: Netherlands, Flanders, Guinea Bissau, German Kamerun
#AltDiv (do not delete this, it's for keeping track of the apps)

Tell me if this is okay, cause I ain’t gotta clue

Accepted, a part of what I believe is Cameroon is part of the Breton app though.

That is fine, I simply wanted whatever remained