Thread:Ecoraptor3339/@comment-5496489-20160524151005/@comment-25309944-20161004030558

French Menento was a territory of little importance, a holding which most Frenchmen were not even aware existed. Yet the rapidity with which it surrendered, the helplessness of its defenders, the the blindness and disorientation of the French response, and the damage caused during the DEC surprise attack, resulted in humiliation for a country which had thought itself absolutely secure just a week prior.

The backlash against existing French policy was ferocious and unforgiving. How had the Anan administration not known that this double betrayal was coming? Why had they allowed the Persan Descendants to leave the Covenant without even making the slightest effort to reel them back in? Why had it given the Persan permission to build up forces on the border while neglecting Menento's defenses? Why were French forces caught so off guard that they could not defend themselves against a second-rate navy? How incompetent, lax, and weak had France gotten that this series of catastrophes was possible?

Though in reality nothing had changed in France's strength, the blow to its confidence and prestige was severe. France had appeared much weaker and vulnerable than it actually was, though this in itself posed an extreme danger. With the myth of invincibility subverted, France's rivals were much more likely to challenge its power and much less likely to listen to it. As a result, both the French public and political elites across the political spectrum demanded action. The French Empire needed to get out there, think big, jam its foot down on the gas, spare no expense, leave no idea untried, and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was still one of the universe's greatest hyperpowers. The Anan's difficulty in communicating just what had happened, and the Gorge Crisis with Rambo Nation just a few weeks later, only served to reinforce this urgency.

Overnight, the shackling impetus for restraint in foreign policy was gone. Anan, who had entered office hoping to make demonstrations of military power obsolete, signed into law the first increase in France's military budget since the end of the Great Xonexian Schism while attempting to restrain the most radical of the hawks who sought to force him into direct confrontation with the UPD, the DEC, the Siranian Directorate, and Rambo Nation all at once––at a time when France's military had atrophied and was in no state for great power ambitions. Baako made peace with the UPD (on the terms that we should probably discuss) almost immediately, and after a brief naval campaign into East Mirus also signed an end to the war with the DEC to generalized bafflement within the Empire.

Knowing from the UPD that Page would return sadistically with another army in five years if left to his own devices, but unwilling to overextend his resources, Baako had forced the DEC to pay heavy reparations to severely hamper their ability to recover their military power. The Persans can perhaps appreciate this assessment, given that there is no peace with Norman Page––just the quiet between two wars.

The issue of French prestige and vulnerability––especially in Mirus––was still real and pressing, and it grew increasingly clear that the Empire could no longer postpone a policy of confrontation in the Quadrants. It is to shake the atrophy of ten years of peace and miserly spending, to train the forces of key allies, to stress test the ability of the components of the Grand Navy to operate as a single unit, and to demonstrate its enduring strength and capabilities that France will begin the largest naval exercises since the Great Xonexian Schism. They will take place in the unclaimed space under French Mirus, spanning hundreds of thousands of lightyears. All of the Mirusian powers will be invited to bring their own forces to participate in training and exercises alongside their French counterparts, and to observe the Grand Navy at work. French forces stationed at critical points throughout the Empire will be cycled out so that the vast majority of the Grand Navy will participate.

French industry will also be going to work once again for the Grand Navy, most critically the planned and gradual expansion of France's capital ship fleet.

France is most definitely not planning on waging an offensive war against anyone anytime soon. The rage against the UPD and DEC will be quick to subside as events with Rambo Nation monopolize the public's attention. France will be extremely active in soliciting the concerns of other states around it, and to do their best to accommodate and reassure. With the exercises going on, the vast majority of the France's Giaquadrantic armed forces and that of its member states will be present in southern Mirus, remaining there for about six months––the window of vulnerability. It is unclear, however, how many of these forces will be remaining in Mirus once the exercises are over. This is a subject of debate among the French leadership, and will depend in great part on how other Mirusian powers are acting during this period.

Simultaneously, French diplomacy would strongly encourage the Waptoria to go ahead with their intended reforms, and would be very glad to see the Persan returning to the galactic scene with plans to bring back the UAE.