The origins of the Union Francaise - a government-in-exile located in what was formerly French Guiana - lie with the defeat of the Third Republic by Nazi Germany and the formation of the puppet state of Vichy France. The French troops who continued to resist German usurpation were the forces of Free France, lead by the General Charles de Gaulle. Almost immediately, they faced challenges that would prove to be insurmountable. French West Africa would declare their loyalty to the Vichy regime, countered only by the defection of French Equatorial Africa to the Free French. The African war largely remained a stalemate, with the exception of a few small victories - Free French forces managed to seize Gabon, as well as Madagascar. In the Atlantic, the Vichy strongholds of St. Pierre and Miquelon, as well as Martinique, surrendered. However, these victories were only a small respite. The lack of American intervention and the fall of Britain to Germany would be a death knell for the Free French aspirations of retaking the mainland. As Charles de Gaulle relocated his government to Brazzaville, the native peoples of the French colony became increasingly restless. The failed Brazzaville Conference - an attempt to bridge the gap between the interests of the French administrators and the various local peoples - resulted in widespread protest. The primarily Chadian troops of the Free French defected, with one disgruntled soldier assassinating de Gaulle in early 1947.
The collapse of the Free French in Africa was not the collapse of the movement. Admiral Emilé Muselier - the liberator of St. Pierre and Miquelon - lead the remnants of the Free French fleet to French Guiana, where he established the Fourth French Republic. The early years of the Republic were shaky and uncertain. The impoverished region provided little resources and manpower for what was supposed to go towards the liberation of France. Muselier would essentially function as a dictator, having declared a period of national emergency and suppressing his political opponents, the weakened Gaullists. Continued poverty, economic stagnation, and the discrimination of non-French peoples fueled the rise of an Guyanese independence movement in the 1950s. This decade would be marked by terrorist attacks, government reprisals, and brutal atrocities. However, Muselier would continue to maintain power; the arrests and executions of many of the independence movement’s top leaders was the turning point in the conflict. By 1960, only small rebel cells existed, launching sporadic raids from the interior.
The death of Muselier in 1960 - the result of his declining health from stress and incessant drinking - sparked a crisis as to who would succeed him. The only political party that had been allowed to exist - the French Committee of National Liberation (CFLN) - had been divided into two ideological wings. The right - supporters of Muselier - advocated for the continuation of the “national emergency” as well as the main focus to be the immediate liberation of mainland France. On the other side of the spectrum, the left believed that the mainland was effectively lost for the time-being. Rather than wasting resources on supporting a general uprising that would never come, they favored developing French Guiana and the French Caribbean as a base for future opportunities. The succession crisis would be a victory for the left, as Justin Catayée became the President. In his first few months of office, he introduced a series of wide-ranging reforms. A new constitution, overwhelmingly approved by referendum in 1961, officially ended the period of national emergency, granted full rights to non-French citizens, and created the new Fifth Republic under a semi-presidential system.
Catayée’s socialist leanings would be a source of alarm for the recently-formed UCA. Fearful of the presence of a potential communist base, the UCA launched an operation to seize St. Pierre and Miquelon, along with imposing a blockade of the region. This, along with rumors of a Brazilian invasion of Guyana, prompted rightist elements of the CFLN to stage a coup, falsely believing that there would be foreign assistance. The coup was quickly crushed after popular backlash and decisive action by Catayée, who dissolved the CFLN. With the newly-formed Socialist Party firmly in control, he was free to enact a national development program and seek economic, technical, and military assistance from the USSR. As the Space Race was in full swing, the Soviets sought to gain the upper hand and financed the construction of a sprawling space port in Guyana. This would revive the ailing economy and the popularity of the Socialists soared, much to the consternation of the opposition National Party. By the time he retired from politics in 1973 (after serving 2 6-year terms), he left Guyane in a considerably better state than it had been in 1961.
His successors, Leopold Héder and Élie Castor furthered Catayee’s national development policies. However, they also sought to decrease their dependence on the USSR and distance themselves from the rising American Comintern Bloc. They encouraged domestic industries like tourism and achieved some successes in normalizing relations with the UCA. The Socialists, helped by the enormous economic growth under Catayée, maintained power throughout the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. These decades also witnessed the rise of a prominent, but peaceful independence movement in Guyane (Democratic Guyanese Rally) and several waves of immigration from neighboring Suriname, Brazil, the Caribbean, and even the French mainland. As Guyane entered the new millennium, however, it faced renewed challenges. Economic stagnation, income inequality, and high rates of unemployment and poverty led to the 2009 Caribbean riots, which devastated parts of Guadeloupe and Martinique. The National Party - for the first time in over 40 years - were swept into power under President Léon Bertrand. Bertrand negotiated an official end to the American blockade, reduced immigration, improved relations with Libya and lifted some travel restrictions between Guyane and German-controlled France. In 2020, however, economic problems, political scandals, and increased tensions between the French and non-French communities, would culminate into a new series of riots centered in Guyane (with smaller protests in the French Caribbean). While they were eventually suppressed after weeks of clashes with the police, it resulted in the collapse of the National Party government and the beginning of the Sixth Republic, as a referendum in 2021 approved amendments to the Constitution that greatly expanded the powers of the Presidency.
The return of the Socialists under Gabriel Serville would be marked by a recognition of the new communist state in Argentina, an increased focus on welfare and housing programs to address overcrowding and over population, and rollbacks on long-established political reforms. As the 2030s began, a group of pragmatists rose to prominence within the Socialist Party. Chief among their goals was to improve relations and trade with Brazil, as their economic prosperity could be a boon for the struggling Guyane. Renewed nuclear tensions in the 2050s, the looming energy crisis, and the fears of foreign invasion resulted in the construction of a series of bunkers in the Caribbean. Despite declaring neutrality the beginning of the Sino-American War, Guyane has become rife with political instability, tension, and social unrest. The 2075 elections witnessed the Guyanese nationalist party achieving their best results since its founding, surpassing that even of the Republican Union (the successor to the National Party). Following the splinter of the Independent Left, the Socialists have found themselves in a precarious position managing the affairs of what has become a deeply divided country.