An Era of Revolutions (1780 Geopolitical RP) - OOC

[Scandinavia21]

I am switching my reservation to Spain since I can do more so if anybody wants any part of Scandinavia then feel free to take it.

[Union Princes]

I am switching my reservation to Spain since I can do more so if anybody wants any part of Scandinavia then feel free to take it.

Hey OP, can I have the rest of Schleswig Holstein now that Scandinavia is open?

[Dogutrakya]

*it's free real estate!*

Thinking if I should abandon South Africa and switch to South America instead. I'm thinking the Brazillian coast, Argentina, and Paraguay.

If you're gonna switch, consider being the third player in India. It might be a little lonesome in South America, but India already has 2 nations of its own plus British and French colonies. The region would be nice and lively.

Most likely, but someone needs to counter Germany, and a rebellious colony would play that part well.

I'm also claiming Namibia OP, since Scandinavian claim was withdrawn

[Union Princes]

Except South Africa would be independent since theres no way it would allow for so much autonomy

[Rodez]

Nation Name: The Kingdom of France
Culture(s): France is dominated by the French culture, who overwhelmingly dominate in the French metropole, although pockets of the Occitan culture and dialect remain in the south of France. Algeria is ethnically split between French settlers in some of the coastal cities (namely Algiers and Oran) and a substantial Arab-Berber population in other cities and further inland. The Caribbean colonies are overwhelmingly populated by black slaves, with a white French minority that runs the plantation economies in Haiti, Guadeloupe and St. Martinique. New France is an eclectic mix of French settlers, both first-generation and native-born, as well as indigenous tribes, African slaves, and immigrants from other parts of Europe.

Senegal is a directly-controlled crown colony which is overwhelmingly populated by the Wolof, Fula or Mandinka peoples, with a tiny minority of French merchants, soldiers and administrators based out of Dakar.

French India consists of the port city of Pondicherry and its hinterlands. The population is overwhelmingly Hindu and Indian, with a similarly small number of French based in Pondicherry for commercial, administrative or military reasons. French India has also recently opened to immigration from Ming, France's closest Asian ally and trading partner, and Pondicherry now boasts of a Chinese Quarter. French diplomats, advisors, merchants and adventurers are based out of Nanjing's French Quarter, which has become the epicenter for French commerce and exchange of culture and ideas in East Asia.

Territory:
Metropole and North Africa
Senegal
Caribbean
India
Capital City: Paris
Population: Metropolitan France - 27,000,000
French North Africa - 4,000,000
Senegal - 1,000,000
French Caribbean - 1,200,000
New France - 1,800,000 (see Khasinkonia's app)
French India - 2,500,000

*TOTAL: 37,500,000*

Government Type : Constitutional Monarchy
Head of State: King Henry VI Bourbon
Head of Government: Prime Minister Anne Robert Jacques Turgot
Government Description: The French Parliament consists of two houses; an upper house called the Assembly of Notables and the lower house, which is the Legislative Assembly. The former house, with 120 members, is designed to represent the interests of the upper aristocracy and clergy, and is a permanent version of the consultative body which French kings had occasionally called in the 16th and 17th centuries. It has little functional power except where annual budgets are concerned.

By contrast, the Legislative Assembly, with 375 seats, is meant to represent the interests of the Third Estate, or common people (although there are a few representatives from the nobility). Members are elected from all 84 departments of France, with one seat guaranteed for each department and the remainder apportioned according to population. 15 members are seated directly by the king, and are meant to ensure his voice in the body. The leader of the majority party or governing coalition becomes Prime Minister, and governs in tandem with the king. Elections must be held every four years, or otherwise when the Prime Minister loses a vote of no-confidence. The Legislative Assembly proposes and votes on all laws and budgets, and no bill may become a law of the kingdom without first passing the Assembly. The Constitution of 1766 guarantees the king a veto, but this may be overruled with a two-thirds majority (248 votes). In most other respects, the king is free to appoint his other ministers of the Conseil du Roi, but these may be removed by a majority vote in the Assembly.

Majority/State Religion : France is technically a majority Catholic state, but the peculiarities of the Gallican Church mean that its relations with Rome are poor. Making Catholicism the official state religion is an unpopular notion, since that would make the Pope the unquestionable head of religion in France, which paradoxically would challenge the authority of the Gallican bishops, who for all practical purposes have complete control of Catholicism in France. Therefore, France is in the peculiar position of being a secular monarchy by omission, and yet its religious affairs are dominated by the Gallican strand of Catholicism, which some observers consider to be its own separate church.

Economic Description: France is still an agrarian behemoth in 1780, although the reforms of the earlier Bourbon kings have placed it in a better position. The old regional taxes, imposts, and tolls have been eliminated in favor of a streamlined national system, and tax farming is a thing of the past. Most, though not all, of the seigneurial privileges that the nobility held over the peasantry have been done away with (such as control of the local bailiff). This is not to say that the peasants are not still mostly poor, but the situation for freeholders has improved, especially since the crown seized the estates of many Catholic loyalist nobles and clergymen after the Second Fronde. Some of this land was given to nobles allied to the crown, but much of it was also redistributed to nearby peasants.

French industry is growing, but still lags behind that of Britain. Shipbuilding is the major employer in Marseille and the coast of French Algeria, while coal from Ming helps to feed the handful of iron foundries across the country. Lyon is regarded as the industrial center of France, with its silk mills, printing houses, and emerging banking industry.

The crown depends on its network of overseas colonies for significant revenues. Algeria is the most important of these, but the Caribbean (sugar), Senegal (gold, ivory, slaves), Pondicherry (spices, cotton, gems) all play roles in the French economy. Just as important is the French presence in Ming, embodied by Nanjing's French Quarter, which serves as an entrepot for all the commodities of Asia.

Development: Pre-industrialized. Europe is on the precipice of industrialization, so no country is fully industrialized. France has significant manufactories in and around Paris, Lyon and Marseille, but the country in between them remains overwhelmingly rural.

Army Description: The French army is traditionally the envy of Europe, although it may be overshadowed now with the unification of Germany. It has relatively high standards for morale and discipline, and the War Ministry works hard to ensure that the supply problems of the Seven Years' War will not occur on the same scale again. Further, several ugly defeats suffered during that war have prompted the crown to remove the restrictions the promotion of commoners (except for Marshal of France) in a bid to have talent rise through the ranks.

Army Weakness: Some regiments suffer supply problems due to the small number of French foundries. The crown also holds more than a few officers suspect because of their "loyalist" Catholic sympathies. Although hardly a majority of army officers, any purge of such men is sure to hurt the army's cohesion to some degree. France must also worry about garrisoning its varied and distant colonies with at least some regular troops, in the event of colonial wars or uprisings.

Naval Description: The French Navy acquitted itself well in the last war, and was largely responsible for keeping the French colonial empire together in one piece, though it paid a grievous price for doing so. The last fifteen years have been spent rebuilding the force, with a new recognition that it will probably always be inferior to the British, despite being one of the strongest navies in Europe, if not definitely the second-strongest. Naval thinkers have tended towards a preference for lighter, faster ships, both to cover the vast distances between colonies and to better facilitate commerce raiding.

Naval Weakness: The French Navy will always play second fiddle to the army. The geographic position of France and the unification of Germany make this inevitable. There is no way that the admirals can secure equal or greater funding than the army, and so they will have to do more with less, as usual. Although French naval officers have a reputation for discipline and bravery under fire, the same problems with the loyalties of ultra-Catholics that plague the army, also haunt the navy. Similarly, the necessity for an Indian Squadron, Caribbean Squadron, African Squadron, Mediterranean Squadron (the largest) and the Atlantic Squadron mean that France's assets are far-flung, and need to be concentrated more to be truly deadly in a peer conflict.

National Goals: Develop Algerian and Indian possessions and trade with Ming, make France the premier power of the Mediterranean, constrain Germany, industrialize the country, resolve religious questions

National Issues: Papal loyalists: France has three broad religious groups: the Huguenots, Gallican Catholics, and traditional or "loyalist" Catholics. While the first two have largely bought into the Bourbon regime, the last makes significant trouble for the crown, especially where they predominate in northwestern France. The crown may soon have to decide whether it wants to reach an accommodation with the Catholics who wish for the country to return completely to the Roman fold - or move to cut them out of power forever.

Trouble in New France: I only have a rough idea of what Khasinkonia has planned, so I will refer you to his app here.

Corsicans be Like: The French conquest of Corsica only took place in 1769. Eleven years later, the government's control of the island is spotty. Nationalist guerrillas keep up an on-again, off-again campaign from the hills that hinders tax collection and other efforts to bring the newest department fully into the fold. The Army will have to be sent in to crush them for good, and immediately. This is the first order of business for France in 1780.

Britain or Germany?: With German unification under the aegis of Prussia, France now feels hemmed in from the north as well as the east. The recognition that France likely cannot counter both has led to a lively debate among the notaries of French diplomacy - should France make nice with the new state in order to isolate Britain, or should it do the unthinkable, and approach its traditional rival in the hopes that they can constrain the abomination of a united Germany?

History:

On May 14th, 1610, a Catholic fanatic named François Ravaillac attempted to stab Henry IV of France to death while the king's coach was held up in Paris congestion. The would-be assassin was spotted just in time, however, and was arrested by guards.

As a result, Henry continued to rule for a further twelve years before his death in 1622. In the intervening years, his son and heir Louis, although raised Catholic, (as Henry, though born a Protestant, had been compelled to accept Catholicism in 1593 in order to win the French throne) was brought up in an environment where many of his father's counselors, including his chief minister Maximilien de Bethune, were Protestants. The court became dominated not only by the pro-Henry Huguenots but also by a faction of moderate Catholics who called themselves the Gallicans. Although they conceived of France as a Catholic state, they looked to the king as the equal if not the greater authority than the pope in French spiritual matters. This was a line of thinking not dissimilar to the Anglican Church. Importantly, the Gallicans did not contest the primacy of the pope's place in the church, but only his supremacy over national matters. This also meant rejecting the doctrine of papal infallibility. The Gallicans were led by such thinkers as Edmond Richer, the syndic of the Sorbonne, who also played a role in tutoring young Louis.

Gallicanism came to be the dominant religious current in France during the last years of Henry IV's rule and the first years of young Louis XIII's rule. It was a convenient doctrine - it increased not only the power of the crown, but also of the French bishops, who found themselves with newfound independence from Rome. Guided by Bethune, Richer and his older cousin, Henri Prince of Condé, Louis XIII not only upheld the Edict of Nantes but in fact expanded it, making the office of Marshal General of France open to Protestants and removing any geographic restrictions on Calvinism in France, which had been legally confined to certain provinces by the original edict.

The new regime authorized the free exportation of grain and wine, removed the authority of provincial governors to raise money on their own personal authority, and removed many of the abuses of French tax collection. Tax farming was abolished in 1638, and the many competing regional tax regimes were simplified into a single national system. The settlement of New France, which had been proceeding slowly, accelerated with the establishment of several debtors' colonies in the new territories. The monarchy also instituted a policy of l'exonération for colonists: Frenchmen that committed to settling in the New World would be exempt from all forms of taxation for a period of five years. This helped to spur the population of New France.

In foreign affairs, France successfully intervened in the Thirty Years' War against the Habsburg monarchy. The success of France's armies and allies established it as a leading European power. Between 1648 and 1697, France annexed Alsace, Lorraine, Artois and Franche-Comte, giving the state its approximate eastern borders of today.

Concurrent to French involvement in the Thirty Years' War and the Franco-Spanish War, the crown also had to deal with the aristocratic rebellion known as the Fronde. Royal power had been increasing steadily for fifty years, and with it the power to tax. Facing extraordinary costs from France's involvement in the continental wars, the crown for the first time decided to levy the taille, or land tax, on the aristocracy. This provoked massive resistance from the powerful noble families of France, and began the several years of disorder and civil war which came to be known as the Fronde.

Gradually, despite great destruction in the countryside, the royal party was able to reassert control. Spain had been beaten back, and divisions later emerged in the rebel faction, between hardliners who wanted to fight at any cost and those that favored negotiation with the new king, Louis XIV.

However, because of the continuing religious divisions between Huguenots, Gallicans, and hardline Catholics, tension remained. The same financial issues persisted during the reign of Louis XIV, as he prosecuted the Franco-Dutch War, the War of the League of Augsburg, and the War of Spanish Succession. Hardline Catholic nobles rose up against the crown again in 1702, forcing Louis to call the Estates General in order to squeeze further revenues from the country.

*Estates General, alliance between crown and 3rd estate, National Assembly*

Colonial and commercial involvement in North America and the Caribbean, India, China, Senegal, Maghreb

The French colonial empire had its origins in Jacques Cartier's first expedition to Canada in 1534, which he claimed for the French crown. Settlement began with Montreal, but proceeded slowly.

Indeed, France fell somewhat behind the other colonial powers due to the distractions of the French Wars of Religion in the late 16th century. Once these were resolved and Henry IV secure on the throne, the French were able to capture Algiers (1608) in retaliation for a vicious Barbary pirate raid against Marseille.

Martinique and Guadeloupe were first settled in 1635, and sugar cane plantations based on slave labor developed rapidly, reaping huge profits for the landowners and the crown. Settlement of New France accelerated when Louis XIV established a number of debtors' colonies and distributed the virgin land to veterans of the Thirty Years' War and Franco-Spanish Wars.

The Treaty of Ryswick in 1697, which ended the Nine Years' War, divided Hispaniola between Spain and France, with France receiving the western third of the island, a region that would come to be known as Haiti. French settlers were already present in Haiti, and with royal control now assured, slave plantations also developed on the model of Martinique. Haiti became the most profitable French colony of all within a decade.

French traders had also long taken an interest in West Africa, and in 1677 they took direct control of Dakar with the navy's help. Louis XIV established direct control over the city itself, after which France gradually expanded its indirect rule by forging alliances and tributary relationships with nearby chiefs, in the area which came to be known as Senegal.

The French East India Company competed for imperial influence with the English equivalent, and continues to do so to this day. Pondicherry, the capital of French India and a major trading center, was founded in 1640. However, some merchants and explorers displeased with encroaching royal control continued east to Ming, where they established the first trading ties with Nanjing. This was the beginning of a special relationship between France and the Ming, with the growth of the French Quarter in Nanjing and the presence of French missionaries and advisors (of both military and civil nature) complimented by Ming exports of coal and iron to France, accompanied by many Chinese visitors who brought back aspects of French culture to the Ming. The French East Asia Company, an adventurous splinter faction from the French East India Company, expanded this relationship further still in the 1750s, with the founding of the Maritime Academy in Shanghai. In addition, it also funded the expansion of dockyards, canon foundries, and coastal forts within the port cities of the Ming. This has firmly established the Ming as the dominant maritime power in East Asia. Recently, a small delegation of advisors from the Royal Army have traveled to the Imperial Court with similar designs (taken from Burgenreich's app).

Meanwhile in North Africa, Marshal Turenne's last campaign before retirement saw the French expand their zone of control from Algiers out into the mountainous region called Kabylia (1680), as well as the conquest of Tunis (1682). From the coastal regions, France has enlarged its North African holdings piecemeal and typically through its alliance with local Berber clans, although the direct involvement of Paris in the governance of this colony is growing.

Seven Years’ War, de facto secular state, and constitution of 1766

RP Sample:

#AER (Do not delete this, it is used to keep track of the apps)

[Scandinavia21]

[Remove my instructions from your app, including this one]
Nation Name: The Kingdom of France
Culture(s): What is the dominant culture/ethnicity of your nation? If it's a multinational empire, what are the major ethnic groups?
Territory:
Capital City: Paris
Population: Metropolitan France - 27,000,000
French North Africa - 4,000,000
Senegal - 1,000,000
French Caribbean - 1,200,000
New France - 1,800,000 (see Khasinkonia's app)
French India - 2,500,000

*TOTAL: 37,500,000*

Government Type : Constitutional Monarchy
Head of State: King Henry VI Bourbon
Head of Government: Prime Minister Anne Robert Jacques Turgot
Government Description: The French Parliament consists of two houses; an upper house called the Assembly of Notables and the lower house, which is the Legislative Assembly. The former house, with 120 members, is designed to represent the interests of the upper aristocracy and clergy, and is a permanent version of the consultative body which French kings had occasionally called in the 16th and 17th centuries. It has little functional power except where annual budgets are concerned.

By contrast, the Legislative Assembly, with 375 seats, is meant to represent the interests of the Third Estate, or common people (although there are a few representatives from the nobility). Members are elected from all 84 departments of France, with one seat guaranteed for each department and the remainder apportioned according to population. 15 members are seated directly by the king, and are meant to ensure his voice in the body. The leader of the majority party or governing coalition becomes Prime Minister, and governs in tandem with the king. Elections must be held every four years, or otherwise when the Prime Minister loses a vote of no-confidence. The Legislative Assembly proposes and votes on all laws and budgets, and no bill may become a law of the kingdom without first passing the Assembly. The Constitution of 1766 guarantees the king a veto, but this may be overruled with a two-thirds majority (248 votes). In most other respects, the king is free to appoint his other ministers of the Conseil du Roi, but these may be removed by a majority vote in the Assembly.

Majority/State Religion : France is technically a majority Catholic state, but the peculiarities of the Gallican Church mean that its relations with Rome are poor. Making Catholicism the official state religion is an unpopular notion, since that would make the Pope the unquestionable head of religion in France, which paradoxically would challenge the authority of the Gallican bishops, who for all practical purposes have complete control of Catholicism in France. Therefore, France is in the peculiar position of being a secular monarchy by omission, and yet its religious affairs are dominated by the Gallican strand of Catholicism, which some observers consider to be its own separate church.

Economic Description: France is still an agrarian behemoth in 1780, although the reforms of the earlier Bourbon kings have placed it in a better position. The old regional taxes, imposts, and tolls have been eliminated in favor of a streamlined national system, and tax farming is a thing of the past. Most, though not all, of the seigneurial privileges that the nobility held over the peasantry have been done away with (such as control of the local bailiff). This is not to say that the peasants are not still mostly poor, but the situation for freeholders has improved, especially since the crown seized the estates of many Catholic loyalist nobles and clergymen after the Second Fronde. Some of this land was given to nobles allied to the crown, but much of it was also redistributed to nearby peasants.

French industry is growing, but still lags behind that of Britain. Shipbuilding is the major employer in Marseille and the coast of French Algeria, while coal from Ming helps to feed the handful of iron foundries across the country. Lyon is regarded as the industrial center of France, with its silk mills, printing houses, and emerging banking industry.

The crown depends on its network of overseas colonies for significant revenues. Algeria is the most important of these, but the Caribbean (sugar), Senegal (gold, ivory, slaves), Pondicherry (spices, cotton, gems) all play roles in the French economy. Just as important is the French presence in Ming, embodied by Nanjing's French Quarter, which serves as an entrepot for all the commodities of Asia.

Development: Pre-industrialized. Europe is on the precipice of industrialization, so no country is fully industrialized. France has significant manufactories in and around Paris, Lyon and Marseille, but the country in between them remains overwhelmingly rural.

Army Description: The French army is traditionally the envy of Europe, although it may be overshadowed now with the unification of Germany. It has relatively high standards for morale and discipline, and the War Ministry works hard to ensure that the supply problems of the Seven Years' War will not occur on the same scale again. Further, several ugly defeats suffered during that war have prompted the crown to remove the restrictions the promotion of commoners (except for Marshal of France) in a bid to have talent rise through the ranks.

Army Weakness: Some regiments suffer supply problems due to the small number of French foundries. The crown also holds more than a few officers suspect because of their "loyalist" Catholic sympathies. Although hardly a majority of army officers, any purge of such men is sure to hurt the army's cohesion to some degree. France must also worry about garrisoning its varied and distant colonies with at least some regular troops, in the event of colonial wars or uprisings.

Naval Description: The French Navy acquitted itself well in the last war, and was largely responsible for keeping the French colonial empire together in one piece, though it paid a grievous price for doing so. The last fifteen years have been spent rebuilding the force, with a new recognition that it will probably always be inferior to the British, despite being one of the strongest navies in Europe, if not definitely the second-strongest. Naval thinkers have tended towards a preference for lighter, faster ships, both to cover the vast distances between colonies and to better facilitate commerce raiding.

Naval Weakness: The French Navy will always play second fiddle to the army. The geographic position of France and the unification of Germany make this inevitable. There is no way that the admirals can secure equal or greater funding than the army, and so they will have to do more with less, as usual. Although French naval officers have a reputation for discipline and bravery under fire, the same problems with the loyalties of ultra-Catholics that plague the army, also haunt the navy. Similarly, the necessity for an Indian Squadron, Caribbean Squadron, African Squadron, Mediterranean Squadron (the largest) and the Atlantic Squadron mean that France's assets are far-flung, and need to be concentrated more to be truly deadly in a peer conflict.

National Goals: Develop Algerian and Indian possessions and trade with Ming, make France the premier power of the Mediterranean, constrain Germany, industrialize the country, resolve religious questions

National Issues: Papal loyalists: France has three broad religious groups: the Huguenots, Gallican Catholics, and traditional or "loyalist" Catholics. While the first two have largely bought into the Bourbon regime, the last makes significant trouble for the crown, especially where they predominate in northwestern France. The crown may soon have to decide whether it wants to reach an accommodation with the Catholics who wish for the country to return completely to the Roman fold - or move to cut them out of power forever.

Trouble in New France: I only have a rough idea of what Khasinkonia has planned, so I will refer you to his app here.

Corsicans be Like: The French conquest of Corsica only took place in 1769. Eleven years later, the government's control of the island is spotty. Nationalist guerrillas keep up an on-again, off-again campaign from the hills that hinders tax collection and other efforts to bring the newest department fully into the fold. The Army will have to be sent in to crush them for good, and immediately. This is the first order of business for France in 1780.

Britain or Germany?: With German unification under the aegis of Prussia, France now feels hemmed in from the north as well as the east. The recognition that France likely cannot counter both has led to a lively debate among the notaries of French diplomacy - should France make nice with the new state in order to isolate Britain, or should it do the unthinkable, and approach its traditional rival in the hopes that they can constrain the abomination of a united Germany?

History:

On May 14th, 1610, a Catholic fanatic named François Ravaillac attempted to stab Henry IV of France to death while the king's coach was held up in Paris congestion. The would-be assassin was spotted just in time, however, and was arrested by guards.

As a result, Henry continued to rule for a further twelve years before his death in 1622. In the intervening years, his son and heir Louis, although raised Catholic, (as Henry, though born a Protestant, had been compelled to accept Catholicism in 1593 in order to win the French throne) was brought up in an environment where many of his father's counselors, including his chief minister Maximilien de Bethune, were Protestants. The court became dominated not only by the pro-Henry Huguenots but also by a faction of moderate Catholics who called themselves the Gallicans. Although they conceived of France as a Catholic state, they looked to the king as the equal if not the greater authority than the pope in French spiritual matters. This was a line of thinking not dissimilar to the Anglican Church. Importantly, the Gallicans did not contest the primacy of the pope's place in the church, but only his supremacy over national matters. This also meant rejecting the doctrine of papal infallibility. The Gallicans were led by such thinkers as Edmond Richer, the syndic of the Sorbonne, who also played a role in tutoring young Louis.

Gallicanism came to be the dominant religious current in France during the last years of Henry IV's rule and the first years of young Louis XIII's rule. It was a convenient doctrine - it increased not only the power of the crown, but also of the French bishops, who found themselves with newfound independence from Rome. Guided by Bethune, Richer and his older cousin, Henri Prince of Condé, Louis XIII not only upheld the Edict of Nantes but in fact expanded it, making the office of Marshal General of France open to Protestants and removing any geographic restrictions on Calvinism in France, which had been legally confined to certain provinces by the original edict.

The new regime authorized the free exportation of grain and wine, removed the authority of provincial governors to raise money on their own personal authority, and removed many of the abuses of French tax collection. Tax farming was abolished in 1638, and the many competing regional tax regimes were simplified into a single national system. The settlement of New France, which had been proceeding slowly, accelerated with the establishment of several debtors' colonies in the new territories. The monarchy also instituted a policy of l'exonération for colonists: Frenchmen that committed to settling in the New World would be exempt from all forms of taxation for a period of five years. This helped to spur the population of New France.

In foreign affairs, France successfully intervened in the Thirty Years' War against the Habsburg monarchy. The success of France's armies and allies established it as a leading European power. Between 1648 and 1697, France annexed Alsace, Lorraine, Artois and Franche-Comte, giving the state its approximate eastern borders of today.

Concurrent to French involvement in the Thirty Years' War and the Franco-Spanish War, the crown also had to deal with the aristocratic rebellion known as the Fronde. Royal power had been increasing steadily for fifty years, and with it the power to tax. Facing extraordinary costs from France's involvement in the continental wars, the crown for the first time decided to levy the taille, or land tax, on the aristocracy. This provoked massive resistance from the powerful noble families of France, and began the several years of disorder and civil war which came to be known as the Fronde.

Gradually, despite great destruction in the countryside, the royal party was able to reassert control. Spain had been beaten back, and divisions later emerged in the rebel faction, between hardliners who wanted to fight at any cost and those that favored negotiation with the new king, Louis XIV.

However, because of the continuing religious divisions between Huguenots, Gallicans, and hardline Catholics, tension remained. The same financial issues persisted during the reign of Louis XIV, as he prosecuted the Franco-Dutch War, the War of the League of Augsburg, and the War of Spanish Succession. Hardline Catholic nobles rose up against the crown again in 1702, forcing Louis to call the Estates General in order to squeeze further revenues from the country.

*Estates General, alliance between crown and 3rd estate, National Assembly*

Colonial and commercial involvement in North America and the Caribbean, India, China, Senegal, Maghreb

The French colonial empire had its origins in Jacques Cartier's first expedition to Canada in 1534, which he claimed for the French crown. Settlement began with Montreal, but proceeded slowly.

Indeed, France fell somewhat behind the other colonial powers due to the distractions of the French Wars of Religion in the late 16th century. Once these were resolved and Henry IV secure on the throne, the French were able to capture Algiers (1608) in retaliation for a vicious Barbary pirate raid against Marseille.

Martinique and Guadeloupe were first settled in 1635, and sugar cane plantations based on slave labor developed rapidly, reaping huge profits for the landowners and the crown. Settlement of New France accelerated when Louis XIV established a number of debtors' colonies and distributed the virgin land to veterans of the Thirty Years' War and Franco-Spanish Wars.

The Treaty of Ryswick in 1697, which ended the Nine Years' War, divided Hispaniola between Spain and France, with France receiving the western third of the island, a region that would come to be known as Haiti. French settlers were already present in Haiti, and with royal control now assured, slave plantations also developed on the model of Martinique. Haiti became the most profitable French colony of all within a decade.

French traders had also long taken an interest in West Africa, and in 1677 they took direct control of Dakar with the navy's help. Louis XIV established direct control over the city itself, after which France gradually expanded its indirect rule by forging alliances and tributary relationships with nearby chiefs, in the area which came to be known as Senegal.

The French East India Company competed for imperial influence with the English equivalent, and continues to do so to this day. Pondicherry, the capital of French India and a major trading center, was founded in 1640. However, some merchants and explorers displeased with encroaching royal control continued east to Ming, where they established the first trading ties with Nanjing. This was the beginning of a special relationship between France and the Ming, with the growth of the French Quarter in Nanjing and the presence of French missionaries and advisors (of both military and civil nature) complimented by Ming exports of coal and iron to France, accompanied by many Chinese visitors who brought back aspects of French culture to the Ming. The French East Asia Company, an adventurous splinter faction from the French East India Company, expanded this relationship further still in the 1750s, with the founding of the Maritime Academy in Shanghai. In addition, it also funded the expansion of dockyards, canon foundries, and coastal forts within the port cities of the Ming. This has firmly established the Ming as the dominant maritime power in East Asia. Recently, a small delegation of advisors from the Royal Army have traveled to the Imperial Court with similar designs (taken from Burgenreich's app).

Meanwhile in North Africa, Marshal Turenne's last campaign before retirement saw the French expand their zone of control from Algiers out into the mountainous region called Kabylia (1680), as well as the conquest of Tunis (1682). From the coastal regions, France has enlarged its North African holdings piecemeal and typically through its alliance with local Berber clans, although the direct involvement of Paris in the governance of this colony is growing.

Seven Years’ War, de facto secular state, and constitution of 1766

RP Sample:

#AER (Do not delete this, it is used to keep track of the apps)

Hey want to team up against Britain?

[Arvenia]

Currently WIP

Nation Name: Kingdom of Egypt
Culture(s): Arabic
Territory: Egypt, Libya, Sudan, South Sudan, Israel, Jordan, Hejaz and Crete
Capital City: Cairo
Population:

Government Type : Absolute Monarchy
Head of State: Name and title
Head of Government: If same as HoS, simply repeat the name
Government Description: I expect at least a (1) paragraph. You do not have to describe all ministries, departments and provinces of your country but I want to know A) how your country is administered, B) how local governments function.

Majority/State Religion: Sunni Islam

Economic Description: I expect at least one (1) paragraph. Explain how advanced your economy is, how your economy works (free-market capitalism? heavily regulated economy?) and the major products of your country.

Development: Industrialized, pre-industrialized or primitive? Remember to be realistic, and that if you choose 'industrialized' you will have to justify it in your history.

Army Description:
Army Weakness:
Naval Description:
Naval Weakness:

National Goals: What are the objectives your nation aims to follow?
National Issues: State which problems plague your nation. I expect at the very least two problems.

History: I expect at least two (2) paragraphs of history. If your nation does not follow RL historical development, I expect your history to be more detailed but even if your country is a carbon copy of its RL equivalent, I still expect two paragraphs.
RP Sample: Link. If you are new to the forums and do not have a sample, write a short paragraph so I can check your RP abilities.

#AER (Do not delete this, it is used to keep track of the apps)

[Scandinavia21]

Nation Name: The Spanish Empire
Culture(s): Castilians, Catalans, Basques, Galicians, Valencians
Territory: All territories Spain controlled in 1780 minus the Louisiana Territories plus Angola, Mozambique
Capital City: Madrid
Population: 40 million

Government Type: Absolute Monarchy
Head of State: King Charles the 3rd
Head of Government: King Charles the 3rd
Flag: Spanish Flag
Government Description: Although the institutional framework of the colonial legal system clearly originated in Iberia, the degree to which the formal and customary laws governing the colonies reflected Spanish political and legal hegemony is disputed by historians. Rather than being an absolutist system, throughout the Hapsburg and much of the Bourbon reigns, the legal system in Spain's colonies was a patchwork of laws and overlapping jurisdictions.

COUNCIL OF THE INDIES
At the apex of the institutional hierarchy was the Spanish Crown. Its policies were informed by reports from the Consejo Real y Supremo de las Indias (Supreme and Royal Council of the Indies), which was established in 1524, shortly after the conquest of the Aztec Empire. From its founding until the eighteenth century, the Council of the Indies possessed supreme legal, administrative, military, trade, finance, and, by way of royal patronage over the church in the colonies, religious authority. It was the primary executive and lawmaking body, as well as the final court of appeals. Immediately below the Council of the Indies, and located in the American and Asian kingdoms, were the archbishops, viceroys, and judges of the royal courts (audiencias).


THE VICEROY
Throughout the reign of the Hapsburgs, from 1521 to 1700, the colonies had two viceroyalties: New Spain and Peru. Between 1580 and 1640, when the Portuguese and Spanish crowns were united, the viceroyalty of Brazil was integrated into the imperial bureaucracy. Under the Bourbons, who ruled since 1713, two additional viceroyalties were created: New Granada (1717, 1739) and La Plata (1776).

As the alter ego of the crown, viceroys possessed broad executive and lawmaking powers, and they acted as the vice-patron of the church and the president of the viceregal audiencia. Predominately aristocrats without juridical training, viceroys could influence decisions and proceedings of the tribunal as its president, but could not decide the outcome of legal cases.

In addition, as the secular protectors of Indians, viceroys were ordered to designate at least one day each week to hear cases and to receive petitions brought by native subjects. Responding to the growing numbers of cases initiated by native subjects and the economic hardship of litigation, in 1585 the viceroy of New Spain, Don Luis de Velasco, the younger, Marqués de Salinas (1534–1617) established the General Court of the Indians (Juzgado General de Indios). As a specially designated court for the protection of native people, the Juzgado guaranteed that native people received abbreviated legal processes, summary judgments, and reduced or free legal services.


AUDIENCIA
Despite the legal protections proffered by the Juzgado, natives in New Spain recognized that having their case heard by judges or appealed to the audiencia could provide legal advantages, in certain cases. Similarly, native people in outlying provinces recognized the impracticality of bringing their cases before either the audiencia or the Juzgado in Mexico City, or the audiencia in Lima and relied on provincial audiencia judges to decide their cases. In the frontiers and outlying provinces, the provincial audiencia judges were generally the highest royal officials with whom the local population interacted. In addition to their judicial powers, audiencia judges generally possessed extensive executive and administrative authorities—being the first royal bureaucrats to arrive in newly conquered territories.

The earliest audiencias, or royal courts, were established in Santo Domingo (1511) and Mexico City (1527, 1530) to rein in the conquistadors. Thereafter, they were founded as need dictated to assert royal authority and to resolve disputes between crown subjects—Spaniards, Africans, and Indians alike—in outlying regions; in the viceroyalty of New Spain, including the Audiencia of Mexico and the lesser courts of Santo Domingo, Guatemala (1544), New Galicia or Guadalajara (1549), and Manila (1583); and in the viceroyalty of Peru, including the Audiencia of Lima (1542) and the lesser courts of Panama (1538), Santa Fe de Bogotá (1549), La Plata or Charcas (1559), Quito (1563), and Chile (1565, disbanded in 1575, reinstated in Santiago in 1609). Under the Bourbons, the Audiencias of Buenos Aires (1661), Venezuela (1776), and Cuzco (1779) were also established.


JURISDICTIONAL CONFLICTS
Jurisdictional disputes were common among the secular and religious authorities of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries because officials held overlapping authorities. Despite being structurally subordinate to the viceroy, for example, the audiencia judges who lived away from the viceregal capital were able to exercise their executive and administrative powers in relative autonomy, while those closer to Mexico City and Lima frequently challenged the executive and administrative authority of the viceroy.

Additionally, while archbishops were responsible for overseeing the evangelization of and upholding religious orthodoxy among the native population, and viceroys for the good governance and treatment of the native population, their respective interpretations of how to administer the native population brought them into frequent conflict with one another. On one hand, as colonial officials brought their disputes to the Council of the Indies, it allowed the council to assert royal authority in the colonies. On the other hand, recognizing the overlapping jurisdictions, native people learned to manipulate the tensions in the system, often to their advantage, as they appealed their cases from lower courts or challenged the legal interpretations and powers of parallel authorities.


LAWS
At the imperial level, laws derived from royal and viceregal provisions, mandates, and ordinances. In general, crown laws addressed specific concerns of particular petitioners and litigants and, therefore, generally were narrow in scope rather than universal. Moreover, generally responding to the initiative of petitioners and litigants, crown laws reflected the concerns and issues of Africans, Indians, and castas (mixed-raced people), as well as Spaniards.

As the imperial period progressed, the crown increasingly promulgated universal laws for common problems and aimed to standardize laws. The earliest bodies of laws issued were the Laws of Burgos (1512–1513) and the New Laws (1542), both of which aimed to establish standards for governance as well as conduct for Spanish colonists in their dealings with the native population. In addition, many jurists recognized the need to compile the laws and legal decisions that had been issued, and they attempted to collect the royal provisions, mandates, and ordinances into single texts, as reflected in Recopilación (compilation) of Juan Ovando; Cedulario (royal mandates collection) of Vasco de Puga (1563); Compilación para las Indias de general (general compilation of the indies) of Alonso de Zorita (1574); Cedulario para las Indias en general, gobernación espiritual y temporal de las Indias (general collection of royal mandates of the indies, the spiritual and temporal governance of the indies); Recopilación para las Indias en general (general compilation of the indies) of Diego de Encinas (1596); Autos, acuerdos, y decretos del gobierno real y supremo consejo de Indias (decisions, agreements, and government decrees of the royal and supreme council of the indies) of León Pinelo (1658); and the Recopilación de leyes de los reynos de las Indias (1680) (compilation of the laws of the kingdoms of the Indies). Although most laws remained particular, as the legal system developed, royal officials increasingly aimed to universalize and standardize laws, and to have laws to mediate between the various communities under crown authority.


At the communal level, laws were based on the customary laws, traditions, and ordinances of the particular community. In issuing laws that addressed concerns or issues of a particular community, Castilian practice necessitated that royal law and legal decisions not ignore the rights, traditions, and practices of the community. Thus, each community had its own legal tradition, whether it was a locality, such as a village, town, or city; or a religious, political, or economic community, such as the body of friars, nobles, merchants, or military orders. Likewise, according to colonial legal practices with Castilian tradition, in 1530 the crown mandated that its officials protect native customs and traditions in their legal decisions—as long as the indigenous laws did not contradict Catholic doctrine or natural law.

LOCAL AUTHORITIES
In civil disputes involving persons from other communities or sojourners, Spanish officials—governors, corregidores, and alcalde mayores—adjudicated the cases. In the early sixteenth century, and later in frontier areas, when royal officials were not present, friars often adjudicated civil and criminal cases. Likewise, being charged with tutoring native people in Spanish political, legal, and religious norms, zealous friars, parish priests, and royal officials sometimes punished native people for practices that contradicted Catholic doctrine or natural law.


Nonetheless, according to law, within communities, local native authorities maintained their right of first instance and decided criminal and civil cases—using native customary law and practice. Ultimately, similar to the viceregal level, local authorities frequently disputed over jurisdictional authority, and asserted their autonomy from each other and those above them.

LAW AND NATIVE SOCIETIES
Despite royal protection of native custom, every aspect of native traditions and customary law was transformed during the imperial period. For example, although the authority and wealth of the native elite was explicitly protected, much of their political tradition was infused with practices, such as polygamy and belief in the elite's relationship to traditional deities, that contradicted Catholic doctrine. In prohibiting one aspect of native tradition, most elements of native tradition were impacted. Contributing further to the shifts, sometimes Spanish judges misunderstood native traditions and other times native people intentionally misrepresented their traditions (as part of a legal strategy). When decisions were rendered on these misunderstandings and misrepresentations, new legal and cultural practices emerged.

Majority/State Religion:

Economic Description: Because of the money coming from their colonies, Spain was considered one of the top economic powerhouses in Europe and possibly the world. It took Charles the 3rd to finally get some economic reforms going to speed up the economy. In 1773, Spain began to industrialize itself and help outdistance the British economically. However, despite the valuable importations of cacao, sugar, cotton, hides, dyewoods, tobacco and other American produce, current 'bullionist' economic theories caused the nation's main interest to focus upon the gold and silver, the pearls and emeralds, the so-called 'riches' of the New World.

Development: Semi Industrialized

Army Description: Each Tercio or Regiment consisted of 10 companies of 300 soldiers each led by captains, in which 8 were companies armed with Muskets and 2 were calvary companies. There are 50 of these Regiments in the Royal Spanish Army and armed with weapons primarily of Spanish and French origins.
Army Weakness: Due to the friendly relations between France and Spain, the Spanish Army isn't as well trained but is currently being fixed.
Naval Description: 25 First Rate Warships, 45 Second Rate warships, 105 Third Rate Warships, 55 Fifth Rate Warships and 35 Sixth Rate Warships. Due to the ongoing threat from the British, King Charles has been putting money into the Navy since he took the throne.
Naval Weakness: Training has been one of the key weaknesses plaguing the Spanish Navy since Spain became a nation back in 1492 but that has changed in 1759 when Charles the 3rd became king.

National Goals: Curb British power in Europe and around the world, aid the 13 British Colonies in gaining their independence (Only known by the King and his most trusted advisors.), expand the Spanish Empire into Asia and Africa.
National Issues: Growing tensions in the American colonies, Hostile relations with the British which could at anytime turn into another war in Europe. State which problems plague your nation. I expect at the very least two problems.

History: Spanish History essentially stays the same as RL up until 1759 when King Charles the Third becomes King of Spain. That year Charles begins initiating economic, political and military reforms to bring Spain up to par with the other major European power. The main economic reform would help Spain become an industrialized nation and help one day create a middle class. The main political reform was telling the Catholic Church that they no longer had any political power anywhere in the Spanish Empire and expelling the Jesuit Order from Spain. While this angered the Catholic Church, there wasn't anything they could about it plus Catholicism remained the majority religion all across the Empire.


While Spain and France remained very close, Spain and Britain had very cold relations. This could result in another European war breaking out in the future. In the Americas, growing tensions between the colonists and the natives have been worsening year after year which could result in Charles having to send troops overseas to quell any native rebellion. In 1763, Spain established new colonies in the areas known in the OTL as Angola and Mozambique on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The natives in the area were watched warily and treated with caution.
RP Sample: Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
The Home of the Australian Prime Minister known as the Lodge
February 26th, 2025


Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison steps into his office with his Minister for Foreign Affairs, Marise Payne and his Defense Minister, Peter Dutton walking in behind him. Scott's security detail closes the office door when Scott begins the meeting, "Marise, Peter, it is very good to see you. The reason I called you in today has to deal with what is going on between the PRC and the ROC, Japan and South Korea, Russia's increased aggression towards Ukraine and the insanity overrunning the Ethiopian government. Marise, I will let you start first."

Marise cleared her throat before starting, "Well Mr. Prime Minister, we can start with the dispute between the PRC and the ROC. The PRC government must know that any military moves against Taiwan would cause the Western nations including us to openly support the ROC government. We can publicly state that we stand with our historical ally the United States in wanting a peaceful resolution to this dispute. As for Japan and South Korea, we can invite the Japanese Prime Minister and the South Korean President to Canberra to discuss a peaceful resolution to this dispute. We can even invite the President of the United States as his country does have troops in both countries and thus should be involved. Now for Russia, I plan on inviting the Russian ambassador to Australia to my office so we may discuss the massive troop buildup on the Russian- Ukrainian border. I have no clue what is going on with the Ethiopian government but they have gone clearly insane. They have legalized cannibalism, have clearly started a nuclear weapons program which is a clear violation of the NNT and they are putting troops on their border with Eritrea. Right now Mr. Prime Minister, we have the potential for 4 wars to break out on 3 different continents with 2 right on our front door step."

Scott thought for a few minutes about what he heard before speaking, "Marise, I want you to release a statement stating that Australia stands with the United States in wanting peace in the Taiwan Strait. I want you to issue an invitation to the Japanese Prime Minister, the South Korean President and the American President asking them to come to Sydney to discuss peace. I will be joining you when this meeting you will have with the Russian ambassador happens. As for Ethiopia, you will condemn their legalization of cannibalism and their aggressive posturing towards Eritrea. Peter, I want you to speak with the American Secretary of Defense, the New Zealand Minister of Defense and the British Defense Minister about planning some joint military exercises and Freedom of Navigation Exercises in the South China Sea. " The two ministers nodded before leaving.

Sky News Australia
February 26th, 2025

Sydney, Australia- In a statement released by the Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Australia stands with its partner and historical ally the United States in seeking peace in the Taiwan Strait and asks the PRC to stand down. We have also learned that Prime Minister Morrison is inviting the leaders of Japan, South Korea and the United States to Sydney to discuss peace and varying security matters. In the same statement, the Australian government is also a reason from the Russian government as to why they are moving so many troops near its border with Ukraine. As many have noticed, Ethiopia has made the news recently by legalizing cannabalism and threatening Eritrea by massing troops on the two countries shared border. According to the Australian Ministry of Finances, All Ethiopian assets in Australia will be frozen as well as all Australian assets both public and private will be withdrawn from Ethiopia. This will remain in effect until Ethiopia bans cannabalism and withdraws its troops from its border with Eritrea. The Australian Embassy in Ethiopia will be evacuated for safety reasons.

#AER (Do not delete this, it is used to keep track of the apps)

[Khasinkonia]

Though I was very excited to play as New France, I must regrettably withdraw my reservation, as I feel such a large polity is too much for me to handle. With that in mind, I am debating between several different, less ambitious options. Between the Kingdom of Middag (in Taiwan), a Sicilian Republic, and a Finnish polity, what would y’all prefer to see? I’m mostly changing my reservation because I wish to work with a country that will be less regionally important.

[Rodez]

snip

Hey want to team up against Britain?

I genuinely don't know. On the one hand Britain and France are always traditional enemies, on the other, a unified Germany is probably a bigger threat to France than Britain could ever be. And the fact that the Catholic Stuarts rule Britain could make burying the hatchet significantly easier. So I will let that play out, and plan on having a lively debate about it in parliament and in Henry's court.

Currently WIP

Nation Name: Kingdom of Egypt
Culture(s): Arabic
Territory: Egypt, Libya (minus French-controlled parts), Sudan, South Sudan, Israel, Jordan, Hejaz and Crete
Capital City: Cairo
Population:

Government Type : Absolute Monarchy
Head of State: Name and title
Head of Government: If same as HoS, simply repeat the name
Government Description: I expect at least a (1) paragraph. You do not have to describe all ministries, departments and provinces of your country but I want to know A) how your country is administered, B) how local governments function.

Majority/State Religion: Sunni Islam

Economic Description: I expect at least one (1) paragraph. Explain how advanced your economy is, how your economy works (free-market capitalism? heavily regulated economy?) and the major products of your country.

Development: Industrialized, pre-industrialized or primitive? Remember to be realistic, and that if you choose 'industrialized' you will have to justify it in your history.

Army Description:
Army Weakness:
Naval Description:
Naval Weakness:

National Goals: What are the objectives your nation aims to follow?
National Issues: State which problems plague your nation. I expect at the very least two problems.

History: I expect at least two (2) paragraphs of history. If your nation does not follow RL historical development, I expect your history to be more detailed but even if your country is a carbon copy of its RL equivalent, I still expect two paragraphs.
RP Sample: Link. If you are new to the forums and do not have a sample, write a short paragraph so I can check your RP abilities.

#AER (Do not delete this, it is used to keep track of the apps)

FYI, I haven't claimed any part of Libya. I think that is probably Tunisia you're looking at.

[Scandinavia21]

Though I was very excited to play as New France, I must regrettably withdraw my reservation, as I feel such a large polity is too much for me to handle. With that in mind, I am debating between several different, less ambitious options. Between the Kingdom of Middag (in Taiwan), a Sicilian Republic, and a Finnish polity, what would y’all prefer to see? I’m mostly changing my reservation because I wish to work with a country that will be less regionally important.

You could do a Kingdom of Naples as my king was their former king so we could be allies.

[Scandinavia21]

Hey want to team up against Britain?

I genuinely don't know. On the one hand Britain and France are always traditional enemies, on the other, a unified Germany is probably a bigger threat to France than Britain could ever be. And the fact that the Catholic Stuarts rule Britain could make burying the hatchet significantly easier. So I will let that play out, and plan on having a lively debate about it in parliament and in Henry's court.

Currently WIP

Nation Name: Kingdom of Egypt
Culture(s): Arabic
Territory: Egypt, Libya (minus French-controlled parts), Sudan, South Sudan, Israel, Jordan, Hejaz and Crete
Capital City: Cairo
Population:

Government Type : Absolute Monarchy
Head of State: Name and title
Head of Government: If same as HoS, simply repeat the name
Government Description: I expect at least a (1) paragraph. You do not have to describe all ministries, departments and provinces of your country but I want to know A) how your country is administered, B) how local governments function.

Majority/State Religion: Sunni Islam

Economic Description: I expect at least one (1) paragraph. Explain how advanced your economy is, how your economy works (free-market capitalism? heavily regulated economy?) and the major products of your country.

Development: Industrialized, pre-industrialized or primitive? Remember to be realistic, and that if you choose 'industrialized' you will have to justify it in your history.

Army Description:
Army Weakness:
Naval Description:
Naval Weakness:

National Goals: What are the objectives your nation aims to follow?
National Issues: State which problems plague your nation. I expect at the very least two problems.

History: I expect at least two (2) paragraphs of history. If your nation does not follow RL historical development, I expect your history to be more detailed but even if your country is a carbon copy of its RL equivalent, I still expect two paragraphs.
RP Sample: Link. If you are new to the forums and do not have a sample, write a short paragraph so I can check your RP abilities.

#AER (Do not delete this, it is used to keep track of the apps)

FYI, I haven't claimed any part of Libya. I think that is probably Tunisia you're looking at.

The reason I asked was both France are both ruled by the Bourbon Dynasty.

[Theyra]

Though I was very excited to play as New France, I must regrettably withdraw my reservation, as I feel such a large polity is too much for me to handle. With that in mind, I am debating between several different, less ambitious options. Between the Kingdom of Middag (in Taiwan), a Sicilian Republic, and a Finnish polity, what would y’all prefer to see? I’m mostly changing my reservation because I wish to work with a country that will be less regionally important.

Would be nice to see someone else in Iltay besides the Papal States. Like the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, even though there is only one Sicily.

[Burgenreich]

Though I was very excited to play as New France, I must regrettably withdraw my reservation, as I feel such a large polity is too much for me to handle. With that in mind, I am debating between several different, less ambitious options. Between the Kingdom of Middag (in Taiwan), a Sicilian Republic, and a Finnish polity, what would y’all prefer to see? I’m mostly changing my reservation because I wish to work with a country that will be less regionally important.

Hey man, Taiwan is always there for you. I do not mind losing an island. While it would be fun just to have more people in the region, I know you would make it pretty dope.

[Khasinkonia]

Though I was very excited to play as New France, I must regrettably withdraw my reservation, as I feel such a large polity is too much for me to handle. With that in mind, I am debating between several different, less ambitious options. Between the Kingdom of Middag (in Taiwan), a Sicilian Republic, and a Finnish polity, what would y’all prefer to see? I’m mostly changing my reservation because I wish to work with a country that will be less regionally important.

Hey man, Taiwan is always there for you. I do not mind losing an island. While it would be fun just to have more people in the region, I know you would make it pretty dope.

Well I think I can provide fun then! Would Ming accept a chief styled as the Sun King, or would that be considered too arrogant for a tributary?

[Dogutrakya]

snip

I already claimed the southern and central parts of Mozambique. And Mozambique island itself. My claim from June 18th

[Scandinavia21]

snip

I already claimed the southern and central parts of Mozambique. And Mozambique island itself. My claim from June 18th

Then we can contest it then.

[Burgenreich]

Hey man, Taiwan is always there for you. I do not mind losing an island. While it would be fun just to have more people in the region, I know you would make it pretty dope.

Well I think I can provide fun then! Would Ming accept a chief styled as the Sun King, or would that be considered too arrogant for a tributary?

That's a good question. The way I think of it, the Ming's decision to embrace international trade has left the Wei as the sole practitioner of the traditional tributary system. I don't know how accurate it is, but I saw a video about the tributary system which claimed that Koreans, the Vietnamese, and the Japanese would refer to their monarchs as kings at the Ming/Qing court even though they were referred to as emperors at home. But ATL Ming are openly trading with Germans and probably the English to some extent, both of whom have heads of state with functionally equivalent titles, and they don't pretend otherwise.

So I don't think it would be a problem. Please, feel free to shape your country however you'd like. If you have any questions about the Ming or want to share your ideas, I'm always open. I'll fill you in later on some things Sao and I talked about to give you an idea about the region as a whole.

[Reverend Norv]

Nation Name: The Spanish Empire

Much of this is literally copy/pasted from Encyclopedia.com.

[Sao Nova Europa]

Though I was very excited to play as New France, I must regrettably withdraw my reservation, as I feel such a large polity is too much for me to handle. With that in mind, I am debating between several different, less ambitious options. Between the Kingdom of Middag (in Taiwan), a Sicilian Republic, and a Finnish polity, what would y’all prefer to see? I’m mostly changing my reservation because I wish to work with a country that will be less regionally important.

All three of them sound interesting and provide opportunities for interactions with other players.

Note: Expect review of finished apps shortly, and I will be fixing any map issues. I also hope to launch IC when we have the British and American apps finished, which hopefully will be later this week. Thank you for your understanding and patience.

[Ovstylap]

Reservation

Nation Name: Portugal
Territory: Portugal, Brazil, the Azores, the Moluccas, historical trading posts in Africa, India, China, and Japan which have not already been claimed or are incompatible with accepted histories.
The historical Portugese territories in Angola and Mozambique if the Spanish application does not provide the level of detail required by the OP and other player consensus to acquire these instead of Portugal.
I recognise that I will have to work extensively to hammer out the history alongside Spain.

Requested historical change from the British player Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States: The 1592 seizure of the Carrack Madre de Deus never occurs, perhaps due to that vessel sheltering in port due to poor weather, this will enable an important boost to the Portuguese economy over the long term, even if it will be relatively minor.

Please note that wherever I have made any territorial claims that are incompatible with accepted apps I will happily remove these, as I have not read every single one of the nearly 300 posts in full.
#AER (Do not delete this, it is used to keep track of the apps)

[Aegeonia]

Quick Question: do these have to be Real countries that existed?, or could I make one up (NOTE: I’m only asking this because I want to add my current country, aegeonia, to it, not make a African Spanning Empire)

[Sao Nova Europa]

Quick Question: do these have to be Real countries that existed?, or could I make one up (NOTE: I’m only asking this because I want to add my current country, aegeonia, to it, not make a African Spanning Empire)

No. They have to be either RL countries or countries that could have reasonably be formed.

[Aegeonia]

Quick Question: do these have to be Real countries that existed?, or could I make one up (NOTE: I’m only asking this because I want to add my current country, aegeonia, to it, not make a African Spanning Empire)

No. They have to be either RL countries or countries that could have reasonably be formed.

Ok, so I Can’t add Aegeonia?

[Sao Nova Europa]

No. They have to be either RL countries or countries that could have reasonably be formed.

Ok, so I Can’t add Aegeonia?

No, since I don't see how it could be reasonably formed. You are free tp app as a RL country though.