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Chieftain
Local Time: 10:10
Local Date: October 31, 2010
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: near Seattle
Posts: 80
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The Napoleonic Dynasty, or How I Met My Waterloo
Dictated in exile by Jérôme Napoleon Bonaparte XXXIV
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What is the last of a dynasty of Regents to do, but write his memoirs? My commercial and industrious nation had thrived in spite of numerous challenges and held a commanding place in the pantheon of nations, yet ultimately failed. I leave this record for history to decide a better course.
A Lucky Start
France had the good luck of starting its civilization in the largest portion of grasslands on the world's major continent. It is said that the first Napoleon crowed with glee when his warriors brought back word of the expanse of clear grazing lands, with land for cattle and low hills for mining ore. That story inspired his court to add the gamecock to the royal crest. We can only imagine his shock at discovering he shared the continent with several proto-civilizations bent on grabbing land he considered France's.
Tribute for survival
We new generations do not well understand what it was like in those early days, with militaristic Zulu forces parading to the southwest, Germans to the far west, and THE world power for most of recorded history, Russia, sitting at the top of the known world. From the beginnings of our civilization, France was forced to pay insulting tributes to these powers to keep their superior forces from French doorsteps. French gold and territorial maps were traded for continued existence. Lucien Napoleon III felt safe in refusing England's demands, due to her resource-poor position in the far south of the continent and low rank in country position. History proved him and his successors right in that respect.
Expansion
Paying the tributes gained time for settlers to erect several French cities in areas of rich grassland and near iron ore deposits. Horses were found in the valley of Tours, and Besançon was established just before Zulu settlers from the mostly arid southwest could lay claim to the horses and iron (and later, coal and uranium) in that area. The lust for that area and anger in being denied it would ultimately lead to the downfall of the Zulu nation.
Broker to the World
Eventually, Chinese galleys reached the eastern shore of the continent. France's command of those eastern approaches made it natural for her to broker contact and technology transfer between her neighbors and the overseas civilizations of China, Japan and India. France gained in scientific knowledge, wealth and power during those days. The founding of the first French marketplace heralded a golden age for Louis Napoleon VIII.
The Great War
At the dawn of the Middle Ages, the warlike Zulu forces gathered in an obvious attempt to wrestle resource-rich Besançon from France's grasp. Demands to remove the Impi forces were refused and war declared. Roland Napoleon XIV hammered together a worldwide coalition to defeat the aggressive Zulu and to dismember their empire. Although the second continent powers of India, Japan and China provided no troops and fought no battles, their declarations of war and refusal to trade with the Zulu contributed greatly to the eradication of that nation.
Triumph and Treachery
French knights made easy work of the pathetically outmoded Impi warriors. City after city fell, although it is not to France's credit that it sometimes allowed the allies to soften up a city, only to take the weakened city for her own.
Creditor to the World
Perhaps the coalition members were miffed that a lion's share of the former Zulu cities sported French banners after the Great War. Perhaps they were jealous of France's position as the world's science broker, since every nation was making yearly payments for scientific advances, bought at dear price by France, but resold dearer. Overseas 'clients' were becoming cautious, although the Japanese were, as ever, polite. France's continental neighbors continued to be annoyed with her climb in world ranking. They resumed their practice of demanding concessions, hoping, it is commonly believed, to provoke war and erase their debt to France in the process. As before, national teeth were grit and Russian, German, and even English, demands were met. If France were to be forced to war, it would be at a time of her choosing and for a cause worth fighting.
A Fateful Discovery
Two events led Pierre Napoleon XXV to the decision for an industrial war, although he had no idea of the consequences at the time. The discovery of rubber was quickly followed by a survey of the empire and the certain knowledge that France had none. Further, three of the four deposits on the main continental mass were within the borders of Frankfurt, a German coastal city that refused to succumb to French influence, in spite of being surrounded by French cities. Long before the discovery of rubber, the French capital had been re-established at nearby Besançon in the hopes of enticing Frankfurt into the French Empire. Even that had failed. The German Bismarck was woefully unaware of his prize and for once, France refrained from selling scientific knowledge.
The Cause Worth Fighting For
Finally, the French populace had had enough of toadying to the Germans, and the government saw the strategic importance of acquiring Frankfurt. Body and head in agreement, France mobilized for war. The next German demands were coldly refused and war was promptly declared.
The War for Rubber
Frankfurt was quickly overwhelmed by France's numerous cavalry, quickly followed by Lepzig and Cologne on the northwest border and Hlobane on the southwest. French generals thought that the Bismarck could not fail to sue for peace at this point, but he steadfastly rebuffed our representatives. Had we known of his diplomatic abilities in creating coalitions, we might not have encouraged the war. On the other hand, lack of rubber and the galvanizing war for it might have left France with a second-class status as a world power.
The Wolves Gather
Soon our western opponent was joined by his Japanese ally from the smaller continent. He convinced his southern neighbor, England, to join and England induced their overseas Chinese allies to also commit to the cause. The increase in French power and world standing must have upset world-leading Russia to Germany's north or perhaps they had also harbored designs on the rubber plantations at Frankfurt. They joined the escalating war and soon a motley horde of spearmen, archers, knights, riflemen, infantry and Cossacks flooded through the northern mountain ranges. When France's single island was invaded by Russia's Indian ally, France was at war with the entire world!
World War Two
France's future looked bleak. Russian forces were driving towards the rubber fields at Frankfurt, destroying fields, roads, rails, and mines, and blocking the Northern rail line. German holdouts at Nuremberg refused to give up the city, which endangered the Southern rail line and left a salient aimed at the heart of French empire. English Man o' Wars were bombarding the southeastern cities once acquired from the Zulu, reducing whole swaths of countryside to virgin territory, much as they must have existed at the dawn of time. Chinese and Japanese frigates were bombarding the eastern shores near the cradle of French civilization and endangering the harvesting of France's vital saltpeter deposits. The truly frightening war elephants of India threatened to overwhelm the single company of recently updated riflemen defending the island city of Intombe.
Victory on Land and at Sea
Soon, however, India's elephants had died, bravely but futilely. Anemic attempts to land Chinese and Japanese forces on the French mainland were easily defeated, although the overseas landings may have been blunted by French ironclad forces sinking many enemy frigates and galleons. The few Japanese samurai and Chinese riders that managed the landing were decimated by French horse. Russian forces created havoc in the north, but lacked the will or strength for a direct battle. They stayed in the mountains and hills for the most part, making forays to pillage the French countryside. It is believed they feared our defensive might and hoped to draw French defenders out of the cities and into the field for a fight against an overwhelming, albeit mostly outdated, Russian forces.
The Coalition Collapses
England was the first of the allies to leave the Coalition Against France. She sued for peace once Liverpool had fallen to French cavalry, and as destroyers closed on the outmoded English fleet that had wreaked such destruction on the countryside around Zimbabwe and Ulundi. More destroyers sank the remaining Japanese and Chinese frigates and began bombarding the landscape near Kyoto, starting with the lucrative dye fields. Giving up the fight as lost, these two Coalition allies signed peace agreements one after the other. Germany capitulated after Nuremberg fell and as newly manufactured tanks assembled in the hills outside Berlin. India sought peace quickly as the wind began to blow in France's favor. Only the world's superpower, Russia, remained. After her Cossacks had their fill of destroying French improvements in the north, she tired of war. The overthrow of mountainous Yakusk by dissidents who envied France's culture also deflated Russia's plans for victory. Jules Napoleon XXXI was able to assuage Russian pride and to secure peace for the French by means of a large bribe.
A Second Superpower
France had survived a long and bloody war against the world, increased her empire by half and held crucial oil and rubber fields (and later, uranium deposits) necessary for modern forces. Her world ranking had risen from that of a second-class power to become a true superpower, a close second to the Russian Bear. A single great leader, Joan D'Arc had emerged from the protracted war, held in reserve against the day when France would need to quickly recruit funding for a wonder of the world.
The Race for Space
The modern age dawned, and the industriousness of France's democratic monarchy was proving impossible to defeat. As the latest in a long line of successful Napoleons, I held power and knowledge unknown and unthinkable to my forefathers. A space race began as first Russia and then India discovered Space Flight and began assembling components for a great spaceship to Alpha Centauri. I had commanded French scientists to research Computers, and France was able to develop the SETI program in only 20 years! When we were well on the way to success in that program, we traded our knowledge of Computers and other advances for Space Flight and pressed our great leader into service to build the Apollo Program in one year. French cities were quickly assigned to create spaceship components, factories churning mightily. The highly productive French workers worked in teams of two to quickly clean up any resulting pollution.
Victory in Sight
Meanwhile, remembering past world animosity, I assigned our most productive city, Besançon, to begin creation of the United Nations. It was hoped that controlling the UN would allow us to postpone a vote for Secretary-General, allowing a French spaceship to launch before the rest of the world. Almost all the spaceship components had been assembled, work on the outer hull had begun, and Laser, having been recently discovered, allowed work to begin on the last component. Final assembly and launch was projected within 10 years. Our spaceship was thought to be well ahead of the Russians and Indians, but by how much was not known. My advisors urged me to infiltrate spies from our Intelligence Agency so that we could gauge progress, especially Russian, but I refrained. Russian relations had not been good throughout our long history and had worsened when France achieved the top ranking among nations early in the modern age. Since the Intelligence community could not guarantee that their operation could escape detection, I feared that a war might result which would take resources and production away from the space race.
So Close, and Yet...
The UN building in Besançon was only two years away from completion when disaster struck! Somehow, with only four cities remaining in their wretched rump-empire, the Germans completed the UN before France, and immediately called for the vote. France's aid in bringing the third-world nations into the modern age paid off, as China and India voted for France, but old hatreds ran deep for England, Germany and Russia. Of course, France voted for France, so the balance swayed on Japan's single vote. Perhaps the national vindictiveness engaged in by victorious France during World War Two had been a mistake - bombarding the dye fields around Kyoto and executing the company of samurai that survived the attempt to take Orleans must have deeply hurt Japanese national pride. In any event, Japan voted for the Bismarck and sealed the humiliating defeat of the near-glorious French nation, 4-3.
Conclusion
Members of my government argued long and heatedly about the blame for France's disgrace, and the debates were taken up in the streets by the common people. One argument held that France should have persisted in eliminating the Germans during World War II, but that could have led to a much longer war and further ill-will on the part of other nations. Another argument maintained that France should have sent a steady stream of small 'financial aid packages' to the world's other civilization to win back French goodwill lost during that war. A third argument claimed that it was a mistake to concentrate on the SETI program at the expense of the UN. Perhaps following any one of these courses or all together could have led to a glorious French victory. I am inclined to favor the third argument, since it lays the blame firmly with the regent at the time, myself, and does not stain the record of my predecessors who so ably brought France through decades of solitary struggle against the allied force of the world. In spite of the defeat, I console myself in knowing that France stood at the pinnacle and glimpsed the victory, if only for a short time.
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