Fiction:French Sixth Republic

"Liberty, equality, fraternity"

- Motto

France, officially the French Republic, is a federal semi-presidential republic located within the Milky Way Galaxy. Originally a country on planet Earth with a number of overseas territories, it has grown into a burgeoning Plazathian superpower with colonies in Andromeda, Mirus, the Quadrants, and Bunsen.

France, under its many incarnations and governments, was a major economic and political power in Europe and, by the 17th century, the world. At its apexes, the French colonial empires spanned a large part of North America and India, and then Northwestern and Central Africa, Indochina, and many Caribbean islands. In the latter half of the 20th century, France lost most of its overseas colonies and was essentially reduced to mainland France.

Despite it losing its position as a prominent world power, France continued as the world's fifth largest economy. Under pressure from polarized public opinion, France backed out from the European Union as it became the European Republic in 2089 and went off in its own direction. During the Scandinavian War that followed, the French Fifth Republic succumbed to widespread public unrest a new one had to be put in its place after a period of martial law.

Since then, France has aspired to the stars. It obtained its own colonies in the heavens and managed to hold on to them decently during the Human Colonial Wars while the colonial holdings of nations like the European Star Republic and POTATO had been smashed. This gave France a competitive edge that it held on to, eventually growing into a competitive diplomatic, economic, and military superpower on the intergalactic stage, and one of the primary representatives of Humanity. As a founding member of the Xonexi Allies, the French Colonial Empire wields an impressive amount of influence throughout the First Gigaquadrant.

Early history

 * Further reading: Early History

France finds its origins on Earth in a Germanic tribe which called itself the Franks. They rose in the wake of the collapse of the Roman Empire and set out to found a kingdom which would stand for centuries. France, in its many incarnations, was a strong nation surrounded by competitors, and often enemies, like the Spanish to the south, the English and British to the north, the Germans to the east, and the Austrians to the southeast. Its long history is riddled with conflict between it and these powers over the fate of Europe, France's armies and generals proving their competence again and again around the globe.

In times of peace, France was known as a beacon of the arts, culture, and philosophy, fielding such minds as Montesquieu, René Descartes, Jean de LaFontaine, Molière, among others. Though its power had faded by the turn of the twenty-first century after disheartening defeats during the Second World War and subsequent colonial wars, France remained as great nation, boasting the world's fifth largest economy and a strong political position within the European Union.

21st Century
The start of the century was marked by the September 11, 2001 attacks on America, which sparked a global war on terrorism into which France was drawn on multiple occasions. By the end of the century, the Earth had suffered terribly due to human abuses of the environment. A particular point of contention among nations was the scarcity of fossil fuels. As tensions threatened to boil over, Europe came together and began the formation of the European Republic. France was expected to join in, though it surprisingly did not comment on the motion as tensions rose within it between those that supported a united Europe and those that supported a united France. Eventually, France backed out of the European Union, which became the European Republic a few days later.

France largely stayed out of the war between the European Republic and the Scandinavian countries, though it faced great inner turmoil. Unrest threatened to boil over into full scale civil war between those who would have France support the Scandinavians, those who would want her to side with the Europeans, and those who wanted it to remain independent. Finally, as riots and counter-riots broke out in Paris, Parliament was torched and the French cabinet forced to flee the country.

Martial law was called in and the entire country put on lockdown until the end of the war. Armed resistance persisted especially through terrorist organizations like the France Libre, a splinter group from the Front National, and La Resistance. After the The Convention of 2099 (La Convention de 2099), The French Sixth Republic was instated on November 26, 2099.

22nd Century
France stood upon a shaky foundation entering the 22nd century. Its infrastructure was slow to recover from the turmoils of the Scandinavian War, and fossil fuels were becoming increasingly scarce globally. Though France got most of its energy from nuclear power plants and other sustainable power sources, they were hooked up to the European power grid which serviced European states which had not made as heavy an investment in sustainability.

Tensions between France and the European Republic arose when France threatened to withdraw from the power grid to keep up with energy demand. Though that never came to pass, an agreement was reached that rationed the energy France contributed to the grid, allowing it to make up the shortfall with a few adjustments.

In the mid 22nd century, World War III broke out and France became embroiled in the Balkans War against the Imperial Ottoman Directorate alongside the European Republic. The French fleet participated in a number of engagements in the Pacific and Atlantic theaters.

23rd Century
By the mid-2200's, France was a small interstellar colonial power at first, settling several planets around Earth including the resource-rich siberian planet Persephonie in 2199, which became a source of conflict when the South American superstate, Roreinia, colonized it in 2210. As wars broke out between human powers over colonial possessions in the 2250's, France endeavored to remain uninvolved, though tensions on Persephonie between Roreinian and French colonists boiled over. The Roreinian colony on Persephonie was seized by French militia forces in 2260, precipitating the Franco-Roreinian Colonial War. Roreinia responded by seizing French Guiana back on Earth, an act which might have led to full scale terran war between the two countries had the international community not pressured France into backing off. Intent on reclaiming their colony, the Roreinian fleet set out towards the planet and were intercepted by the French Starfleet.
 * Human Colonial Wars

In the Battle of Persephonie, the Roreinian fleet decisively defeated the French with help from American reinforcements. Shortly after, the POTATO-Roreinian force was destroyed in orbit of Persephonie when they were caught in the explosion of three nuclear warheads fired by the French supercarrier Minerve. With the loss of its entire stellar fleet, Roreinia was forced to surrender and handed over a good portion of its interstellar colonies, doubling the size of the French colonial empire.

After two decades of war, humanity convened in Brussels to sign the Colonial Wars treaty in 2270. It divided the space around Earth among the human nations, guaranteeing their access to it in order to avoid territorial disputes like the ones which pervaded the colonial wars. France gave up a significant portion of its gains during the Colonial Wars, but was awarded a large section of space containing Ottoman, Roreinian, and European colonies. Most notably, the Ottoman deep space Siranian Province became an autonomous state within France.

To enforce these territorial changes and to provide a common voice for humanity, the floundering United Nations was disbanded and replaced with the empowered Orion League that same year.

In 2281, the French made first contact with the Vulcans, a rigidly logical people with whom they quickly grew close despite their differences. To the frustration of the French, the technologically advanced Vulcans treated them as children and repeatedly chastised humanity for being so fractured. Regardless, the French swallowed their pride and endeavored to build strong ties with them. Soon after, first contact was made with the cautious Andorians who wanted little to do with France due to its relationship with the Vulcans. Relations between Andoria and Vulcan had recently broken down, and the two were about to enter into a long period of cold war, an France was caught in the middle.
 * New Acquaintances

In 2299, the Andorians began to accept French overtures and assurances that they wanted no part in the conflict. Rapprochement with the Andorians led to worse relations with the Vulcans, though many officials within France had had enough of Vulcan contempt and believed that a relationship with Andoria would be more fruitful. As a friend to both races, France attempted to mediate increasingly hostile disputes between the two with very limited success and could barely keep itself from choosing sides. While the government followed a strict policy of neutrality when it came to the Andorian-Vulcan Cold War, there were many on Earth who were pressuring it to sway towards one side or the other.

23rd Century
In 2304, tensions between the Andorians and Vulcans finally boiled over as the Andorian imperial commandos stormed the Vulcan sanctuary of P'Jem which was located right on the edge of Andorian space, believing it to be a listening post designed to spy on them. What they found confirmed their suspicions, and after having given the monks time to evacuate, they leveled the monastery with an orbital bombardment.
 * Vulcan-Andorian War

What followed was a rapid breakdown in relations between Vulcan and Andoria. Having had enough, the Vulcan High Command carried out a pre-emptive strike against known staging points of the Andorian Imperial Guard. Under the cover of the ensuing chaos, an attack against Andoria was attempted in order to put an end to the war quickly, though it failed due to the timely intervention of an Andorian fleet.

As the fighting continued, France was approached by both the Vulcans and the Andorians who were trying to get it to join the war on their side. President Jean-Réne Caillaud teetered as the public fought over what course of action should be taken: Should France remain neutral, or should she pick a side? If so, which? Finally, Caillaud declared in an address to the National Assembly that, under his direction, France would remain strictly neutral in the Vulcan-Andorian conflict with no bias towards either side. To that end, he called on Parliament to repeal agreements and pieces of legislation which favored trade with one belligerent or the other until fighting had ceased. He then went on to propose a plan by which an end could be put to decades of conflict between Vulcan and Andoria through territorial changes, agreements of trust on both sides, and an alliance that would bind France, Andoria, and Vulcan together.

Through multiple rounds of talks with the leaders of Vulcan and Andoria, an armistice was agreed upon and a delegation from these two species were dragged to a table at the French Élysée Palace on Earth. Negotiations began well as the delegations went through Caillaud's proposal point by point, though there was a heavy air of mistrust between the two sides. By the third day, the talks had devolved into a battlefield of accusations and threats which spiraled out of control. Both sides stormed out of the room and the armistice was soon broken by an aggressive move made by a Vulcan fleet.

While the Vulcan and Andorian fleets fought themselves into a stalemate, an inactive Grox probe drifted into the space around Sol. It was discovered by an Andorian scout vessel and brought back to Andorian space, whereupon it was accidentally activated by the Andorian scientists who were examining it. It escaped and went on a rampage, destroying Andorian colonies left and right, utterly overpowering any attempt by the Andorian Imperial Guard to stop it. At first, the Vulcans took advantage of the disarray to press their advantage militarily, but then the probe crossed over into Vulcan space.
 * Grox Threat

Mediated again by the French, both sides accepted a ceasefire and combined forces to deal with the probe. Joined by the French Starfleet, they confronted it over a series of costly engagements until, finally, they managed to destroy it. This joint operation became the cornerstone for peace as negotiations began anew and agreements were reached to finally put an end to the fighting. With the help of the French, the wartorn sides began to rebuild. Two years later, France, Vulcan, and Andoria founded a three-way alliance which today remains one of the strongest France has ever forged.

Rise as a colonial power
The 2700's saw France's meteoric rise as a galactic superpower. It survived through such crises such as the War of Ages and the New Grox Wars, though its involvement as a member of the Orion League remain widely unrecognized by rest of the Gigaquadrant. Thanks to the enormous leaps in medical and genetic technology in the past centuries, the death rate in metropolitan French city-planets had fallen to nearly nothing. French humans had become immortal. This resulted in massive overpopulation and the size of the French territory increased at a speed which alarmed many of its neighbors.

In 2758, the French were attacked by extremists from the Kraal Province of the Greater Hal'Sk Empire, an event which triggered the short Kraal War in which France fought alongside the Hal'Sk monarchy to pacify the rebellious province. Though some tension existed on both sides, the French and Hal'Sk quickly grew close and formed an alliance which lasts to this day. That same year, French colonists arrived in Andromeda, founding France's first extragalactic colonies. After two decades of relative peace, the entirety of the Orion League rose to fight the Dominatus War in 2792. After participating in several campaigns in the Milky Way, the Orion League arrived in the Mirus Galaxy and fought alongside such powers as the Delpha Coalition of Planets, Draconid Imperium, and Tybusen Intergalactic Allied Federation in the brutal engagements that characterized the Mirus campaign. French commanders such as Jean-Baptiste Teindas and Lucian Chartier earned a reputation for competence and integrity among the anti-Dominatus coalition.
 * Dominatus War

When the fighting finally ceased in 2795, the French found themselves with a vast territory in the Godric Arm under their control. They consolidated these territories into the French Mirus Colonies and slowly repurposed the Tyranny's factories to produce French starships. French Mirus––isolated from the rest of the Gigaquadrant––soon eclipsed the Milky Way in terms of industrial power, becoming France's primary manufactory and the training ground of the French Starfleet.

France had made friends during the Dominatus War, and she intended to use them under the leadership of Laurene Maxime's administration. 2795 saw the signing of the Franco-Tybusen Accords, a treaty which granted the French access to the hyperspatial network of the Tybusen Intergalactic Allied Federation, allowing rapid travel between galaxies they would not have thought of visiting before. This led to renewed contact with French Andromeda and the foundation French Quadrantia in 2797 and French Bunsen in 2799.
 * Extragalactic colonization

Linked together by a network of foreign wormholes, trade routes, and treaties, this new French colonial empire grew in size and influence every year. As humanity recovered from the Dominatus War, a crisis emerged in 2796 in the East African Alliance. A rebel group supported by the Imperial Ottoman Directorate had risen up and taken over the country within a matter of weeks, fighting off any attempts by the Pan-African Economic Alliance to take it back. France called for international action in the Orion League, though their motion was stopped by an Ottoman veto. Undeterred, the French gathered together an international coalition of nations and led a counterinvasion of East African space, succeeding in defeating the rebel forces and handing back the territory to its original government.
 * East African Civil War

This series of events served to strengthen ties between the African states and France, leading to France joining the African Economic Alliance in 2797.

Territory
Mainland France, where the vast majority of the French population lives, is located on the Orion Arm in the Milky Way Galaxy and spans many hundreds of thousands of systems around Sol. For administrative purposes, mainland France is divided into thirteen regions presided over by a regional government called a préfecture, composed of an elected General Council and a préfet. Regions have a certain degree of autonomy from the national government and are allowed to make laws which overrule federal law. However, these regional laws can in turn be voided by the French constitutional court if they are found to be in violation of the French constitution.

As a result of its extragalactic colonization efforts near the end of the 2700's, France also has extragalactic territories in Andromeda, Mirus, the Quadrants, and Bunsen. France's extragalactic colonies legally act as regions of Metropolitan France and have representation within the French Parliament, though significant areas of French law and methods of governance do not apply given their distance from the national government in Paris. The nature of these exemptions vary by colony, making the current colonial system a nightmare to navigate for French lawmakers.  

Regions

 * View: Region map of France
 * Further reading: French political parties

Government and Politics

 * ''Further reading: French Government

The French Republic is a federal semi-presidential republic with strong democratic traditions. The constitution of the Fifth Republic was approved by referendum on 28 September 1958 and was reaffirmed in the Convention of 2099 with minor adjustments. In comparison with previous French constitutions, this one greatly strengthened the authority of the executive in relation to parliament. The executive branch itself has two leaders: the President of the Republic who is head of state and is elected directly by universal adult suffrage for a 5-year term, and the Prime Minister, who is head of government and of parliament.

The French parliament is a bicameral legislature comprising a National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) and a Senate. The National Assembly deputies represent local constituencies and are directly elected for 5-year terms. The Assembly has the power to dismiss the cabinet, and thus the majority in the Assembly determines the choice of government. Senators are chosen by an electoral college for 6-year terms, and one half of the seats are submitted to election every 3 years. The Senate's legislative powers are limited; in the event of disagreement between the two chambers, the National Assembly has the final say.

Civil
The French boast a highly advanced knowledge of the universe that have allowed them to transcend poverty, war, disease, even death. Inventions like quantum replicators have made currency and material need irrelevant. Computers and networked devices have been integrated into every facet of human life. Buildings––often entire cities––are built by automated machines without intervention from a sapient.

Medicine has fully integrated nanotechnology. Intelligent nanites help in the defense of the body, adapt quickly to disease, and help doctors perform surgery when necessary. The gene responsible for aging in the human body has been found and neutralized, which means that humans can live indefinitely.

Computers have been integrated with the human body as well. Memory and processing power is often augmented by chips inserted into the human brain. It is illegal, however, to make these networkable given the danger of someone hacking into someone's implants and manipulating their actions and memory without their consent or awareness.

Military Technology
While the French have been developing technological wonders to extend human life, their arsenal of military weaponry has also seen formidable developments. They have worked on refining plasma and antimatter weaponry since the later years of the Human Colonial Wars, producing early turbolasers and high-yield antimatter torpedoes. Deflector technology is now second nature, casing starships in protective "bubbles" in combat. However, these fail if put under too much stress.

The hyperdrive transports vessels to a compressed dimension of space and thereby allows them to cross great distances in very little time. Warp drive and certain methods of transwarp are still in use, but are slowly dying as hyperspatial travel becomes increasingly practical.

These are common in their use and can generally be found on nearly every single starship in service of French Armed Forces. 

Energy
The French rely largely on self-regulating, self-deploying dyson swarms––arrays of mirrors that focus the radiation of a sun on collectors––for the bulk of their planets' energy demand. However, this is sometimes not enough on bustling planet metropolises. Alternate methods of obtaining energy, like black hole generators, are used in those instances.

Ancillary generators are all that new colonies generally have in terms of power. They must either build their own dyson swarm or reach the population required for the government to build one in their star system.

Society and Culture
When the French say they are proud of their "culture," they generally mean the customs and traditions that are alive and well in the large metropolitan worlds of the heartlands of France. These often include an appreciation of food, pastries, and grown wine. In an age of replicators and comfort, the French food culture has taken a hit, but it is still very strong when compared to that of others. If there is one thing that the French are convinced cannot be replicated, it is the taste of French wine. As such, wine grown in authentic French vineyards is highly sought after.

Once one leaves the metropolitan regions of France, that kind of culture is far less pronounced. Blends start to form with French culture mingling with indigenous customs and that of neighboring nations. There is a very strong mythology surrounding the ever-expanding frontier, a romanticism highlighting their heroism, independence, and sturdiness, much how the American Frontier became a cultural icon back on Earth in the 20th century.

Economy
France fields a centralized Command Economy, with the vast majority of the means of production consolidated in the hands of the state. Furthermore, it has little need for a currency on a domestic level since it provides its citizenry the necessities of life for free. For international exchanges and commerce, France officially uses the gilo as part of its membership of the Orion League, though it has holdings in many other currencies such as the Drodoian Colonial Dollar.

Most of France's monetary wealth is consolidated into the National Treasury which is administered by the Minister of Economy and Industry.

Armed Forces
A military with a rich and proud history, the French Armed Forces consist of the French Army, French Starfleet, and National Gendarmerie. They are under the command of the President of the Republic through the French Marshalship, a corps of France's greatest and most proficient commanders entrusted with the highest echelons of command.

French Starfleet

 * ''Further reading: French Starfleet

With burgeoning interests throughout the Gigaquadrant, France fields a powerful and professional stellar navy to defend them. The doctrine of the French Starfleet has changed considerably in recent years to focus heavily on hyperspatial warfare. With the invention of France's first feasible hyperspatial anti-ship missile, the Angelfire, most engagements no longer happen in realspace. Instead, warfare has been transformed into dizzying missile exchanges at mind-boggling ranges in hyperspace. In such an engagement, the victor is often the combatant who can bring the most missiles to bear at once.

The New-Age French Starfleet revolves around the use and effective deployment of different kinds of Angelfire carriers like the Torrent, Mirage Roi, Adrianne-class heavy corvette, Exeter-class light corvette, and Charlemagne-class frigate. The French Starfleet's greatest technological strength is very well known to be strike craft, and it continues that tradition with the release of the groundbreaking Torrent omnirole fighter and its carrier, the Archange-class battlestar.

French Army

 * ''Further reading: French Army

Unlike in most militaries, the French Army is still its own entity within the French Armed Forces. It possesses its own starships, strike craft, and chain of command optimized to the conduct of orbital, atmospheric, and terrestrial warfare. On the ground, the French Army places emphasis on mobility and speed. Its C-41 Ulysse A3 main battle tank is lighter than most, while the infantry ride around in fast VAB's (véhicule de l'avant blindé) derived from the Australian F-22 LAV.

However, the French Army's main strength is in air power, as it fields one of the best strike craft fleets in the Orion Spur. It uses POTATO's excellent SEAD aircraft to clear the way for Super Mirage 3 bombers which will utterly devastate ground forces if left unopposed. Throughout every stage of an operation, the Torrent A and Mirage Roi A omnirole fighters provides support to ground and air forces alike.

Marshalship of France

 * Further reading: Marshal of France

Binding the French Army and French Starfleet together are the French Marshals, the high command within the French Armed Forces. They organize the army on the strategic and theater levels and report directly to the chef des armées, the President of the Republic. There are two ranks within the marshalship: sous-marshal and marshal. There is little ceremonial distinction between them, as they are heralded with equal respect, but on the battlefield, the difference is evident: The sous-marshals command a smaller force over a smaller amount of territory and often report to marshals in neighboring sectors.

Diplomacy

 * Further reading: Foreign relations of France

Foreign Policy
France is generally open towards communication with other nations and responds to new acquaintances well unless their intentions are clearly hostile or are too full of themselves to carry on a proper conversation. They will not shrink down from open confrontation, and will defend their assets, citizens, and personnel if threatened.

The French are generally very willing to work with other humans and near-humans towards the betterment of humanity, and have opened their borders to many such nations.

Multinational Organizations

 * Further reading: French participation in multinational organizations

* only French Andromeda ** only French Quadrantia

Protectorates
"Should the need arise, our armies and fleets will be at your disposal."


 * Green face.png French Quadrant Colonies
 * Green face.png French Bunsen Colonies
 * Green face.png French Mirus Colonies
 * Blue face.png French Andromedan Colonies
 * Yellow face.png Heer Stekeevel Confederation

Allies
"We are bound to do great things together."


 * Green face.png Fjord League of Northern Europe (defensive pact, open borders, lasting friendship)
 * Green face.png Tybusen Intergalactic Allied Federation (Alcanti Triad Alliance, Franco-Tybusen Accords, alliance, declaration of friendship, access to hyperspatial infrastructure, trade route, trade agreements)
 * Green face.png Greater Hal'Sk Empire (alliance, defensive pact, declaration of friendship, trade agreements, trade routes)
 * Green face.png Australia-New Zealand Republic (defensive pact, open borders, lasting friendship)
 * Green face.png East African Alliance (defensive pact, military access, open borders)
 * Green face.png Mardvaeli Republic (military alliance, colonial ties, trade agreements)
 * Green face.png Drodo Empire (alliance, defensive pact, colonial ties, trade agreements)
 * Green face.png Draconid Imperium (Alcanti Triad Alliance, entente, trade agreements, trade routes)
 * Green face.png Farengeto Trade Coalition (colonial ties, trade agreements, trade routes)
 * Green face.png Southern Africanus Dominion (defensive pact, military access)
 * Green face.png Central African States (defensive pact, restricted military access)
 * Green face.png Pacific Overseas Territories and American Treaty Organization (trade agreements, defensive pact)
 * Blue face.png Eldarisian Empire (military alliance, defensive pact, military access, trade agreements)
 * Blue face.png Corsican Republic (alliance, trade agreements, trade routes, open borders)
 * Blue face.png Allied Terran Republic (declaration of friendship, trade agreements, limited open borders)

Neutral
"Hm?"


 * Blue face.png Aekite Union (trade agreement, declaration of friendship)
 * Blue face.png Unified Alliance of Enlightenment
 * Blue face.png East Asian Coalition (part of technological organization, trade agreements)
 * Blue face.png State of Kuwait
 * Blue face.png Allied Terran Republic
 * Blue face.png Roreinia
 * Blue face.png Yamato Intersolar Commune
 * Blue face.png Imperial Siranian Directorate (trade route, trade agreements)
 * Yellow face.png The Divinarium (trade route)
 * Yellow face.png Union of Afghanistan
 * Yellow face.png Cyrannian Imperial State
 * Yellow face.png Republic of Texas
 * Yellow face.png Galactic Empire of Cyrannus
 * Yellow face.png Kingdom of Aztlan
 * Yellow face.png Imperial Ottoman Directorate
 * Yellow face.png Regellis Star Empire
 * Yellow face.png Ecclessoth Convocation
 * Yellow face.png Great Empire of Sun and Sand
 * Orange face.png Sovereign Caribbean Federation

At War
"You have made an enemy of the French. That is not a wise move."


 * Red face.png Drakodominatus Tyranny † (2792-2795)
 * Red face.png Delpha Coalition of Planets

Quotes
"Caesarius, have you visited France? Nevermind the hundreds of different types of French––metropolitan, Near-African, Oanese, Karonese, Near-European, and so many more I can't even keep track of, most of them as alien as you––the French population also consists of Spanish, English, Breton, East African, South African, Central African, Portuguese, South American, North American, Nosec, Flibeer, Corsican, Kraal, Prahe, Chulan, Android... The list goes on, Grand Mandator. And you know what we all have in common? We're all French. French in our blood, in our hearts, and in our words. Does that diversity make us stronger as a whole? Hell yes. Now, I don't give a damn about what you think about humanity, but just like I don't know shit about the finer points of Imperial history, don't pretend to know jack about how not-varied our demographics are. Because I know. That's my constituency out there, and they're capricious as hell."

- Deputy René Merle to Grand Mandator Caesarius during the East African Crisis in 2796

"The French, in a word, are resilient; These people have beared witness to and have participated in countless wars and revolts, seen prosperity and depression, and have both ruled empires and have been oppressed by them. Yet, in both the golden ages and darkest hours, they have managed to hold onto their identity, what makes them French, and march on, unwavering. In this way, they have truly earned their place in the Gigaquadrant, and serve as an example to all as to what constitutes a proper, and great state."

- Premier Furrak Harponis of the Drodo Empire

"At first glance, the "French" are another branch of the fragmented human race looking to cement their place amongst the stars, another group of a divided race looking to grasp at the immortality of a stable civilisation. When one looks deeper however, they may very well be one of the most ambitious empire builders of the many human factions of this modern age. As I visit their metropoli I see a fire that reflects the passion and pride within my own home Imperium. Perhaps the stories of our guidance worked, or perhaps there is something about these particular humans that drives them above many of their peer nations. One thing I can say with confidence: They are ascending quickly."

- Anaias Tenfiem, diplomat of the

"Their independence, nationalism and identity is respectful, they are without a doubt one of the most influential Human empires known to the universe. Heck, right now I'm sipping some French Wine right here while I dip my French Fries in my French Cheese. Or are fries a Belgian thing? I don't know."

- Marton Gracuscae, 2798, President of the

Trivia

 * Angrybirds is, in fact, French in real life.
 * France won featured fiction in February of 2014.