This is about a fictional representation of a real world event
History[]
The French Revolution of 1848 occurred at the height of the liberal revolutions spreading across Europe, and was simply the second phase of the earlier French Revolution of 1830. In the earlier uprising, King Louis-Philippe had been brought to the throne as the head of a constitutional monarchy, but growing dissatisfaction saw him deposed and the Second French Republic created. This new government was too conservative to solve the unrest, and after further rebellions in the latter half of 1848 Louis-Napoleon was elected President of France largely on the basis of wide peasant support. Three years later, facing the possibility of defeat in the next election, Louis-Napoleon suspended the elected assembly and established the Second French Empire in a coup d'état. This lasted until 1870, where amidst growing socialist unrest and after a defeat during the Franco-Prussian War, Emperor Napoleon was deposed and the Third Republic created.
The French Revolution in PDM and Vanilla[]
Considering its importance in the history of the era, the French Revolution isn't really represented in Vanilla in any way. There are events for the Liberal Revolution era, and it's possible that France could undergo a Jacobin rebellion and turn into a democracy in the course of it, but it's unlikely... and even more unlikely that such a rebellion would be followed up by the reactionary rebellion necessary to turn France back into an absolute monarchy. PDM has altered the Liberal Revolution events to hit a little harder in countries with an Equality or Liberty national value, and France in particular has a chain of events that make it possible for Napoleon to come into power. It doesn't always happen, and requires militancy in France to be quite high at the right time, but when it does the event chain will play out and has a chance of following the historical path.
The Revolution Event[]
France is very likely to get widespread liberal agitation during the Liberal Revolution event chain. It has an Equality national value, and thus gets the events more quickly than Prussia or Austria, and that combined with its central position and large size means it's going to be hit hard. A human player might be able to avoid the majority of the militancy that follows, but the AI is unlikely to manage it-- either way, the "French Revolution" event (id# 10222) is only going to happen if the conditions are right:
- Text: "Angry crowds have flooded the streets of Paris, shouting cries of 'Down with the King!' and 'Long live the Reform!'. They have erected barricades in the streets and fighting has broken out with the Parisian municipal guards. With the city having been completely closed off from outside help, these crowds have begun to march on the royal palace. Our king has had no choice but to abdicate and flee the country."
- Requirements:
- only occurs for France
- government is HMS Government
- the country either has the "Global Liberal Agitation" or "Springtime of Nations" country modifier
- either the country has an average militancy of 5+ (if prior to 1846), an average militancy of 4+ (if after 1846), 50% of the country is controlled by rebels or Paris is controlled by rebels
- MTTH: 1 month
- less the higher militancy goes above 5
- less the more of the country beyond 50% that is controlled by rebels
- Effects:
- country "2nd_republic" flag is set
- all modifiers and flags for the Liberal Revolution are removed
- -25 Prestige
- government changed to Democracy
- ruling party ideology changed to Liberal
- reforms: Universal Voting, Population Equals Weight, Yes Meeting, Secret Ballots
- all pops with over 20% literacy have +10% Liberal added
- liberal pops have militancy reduced by -8, anarcho-liberal by -4, conservative by -2 and socialist by -2
- reactionary pops have militancy increased by 4
- any country in Europe currently undergoing the Liberal Revolution has its liberal militancy increased by 6
Note that should France undergo a regular Jacobin revolution (as in the country is overthrown in the normal manner by having Paris occupied by Jacobin rebels), the effects will be roughly the same-- the "2nd republic" country flag is still set, so long as the revolution occurs while the Liberal Revolution event chain is still active.
Louis-Napoleon's Coup D'etat[]
Once the Second Republic exists, all that's required for the coup d'etat is for an election to occur and for Louis-Napoleon to have returned from exile in Switzerland. This latter event is "Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte" (id# 37208) and requires that France be a democracy. It should fire about a month after that happens. With that in place, the "Louis-Napoleon's Coup D'etat" event (id# 10405) can occur:
- Text: "Facing the prospect of losing the presidential election, the popular Louis-Napoleon has launched a coup d'etat and overthrown the French government. Loyal members of the army have locked down strategic locations in Paris, and the Assemblée Nationale has been dissolved, leaving Louis-Napoleon as the undisputed ruler of the country. He has been christened Napoléon III, regaining his uncle's throne as the Emperor of France."
- Requirements:
- has the "2nd_republic" country flag
- Louis-Napoleon has returned to France (event id# 37208)
- government is Democracy
- an election is underway
- year is after 1850 but before 1860
- owns Colmar (province id# 410)
- MTTH: 2 months
- Effects:
- +50 Prestige
- government changed to Absolute Monarchy
- Reforms: None Voting, Party Appointed, Yes Meeting, Secret Ballots
- sets the "2nd_empire" country flag
- all pops in Paris have 10% reactionary added
- all pops which are majority reactionary have 10% reactionary added
- -8 militancy to reactionary pops, -4 militancy to conservative pops
- +4 militancy to liberal pops, +4 militancy to anarcho-liberal pops
End of the Empire[]
It's not necessary for the Second Empire to be ended by event. It might come to a natural end with rebels, for instance... but should France lose control of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany then the "Emperor Napoleon Deposed" event (id# 10224) can occur:
- Text: "Angered by the inability of France to prevent the formation of Germany, as well as the humiliating loss of Alsace-Lorraine, the government has deposed Emperor Napoleon. We must choose what form our new government is to take."
- Requirements:
- has the "2nd_empire" country flag
- government is Absolute Monarchy
- not at war
- Germany exists
- does not own Colmar (province id# 410)
- the year is not later than 1885
- MTTH: 1 month
- Option #1: "Viva la 3rd Republique!"
- -25 Prestige
- government changed to Democracy
- government ideology changed to Liberal
- Reforms: Universal Voting, Population Equals Weight, Yes Meeting, Free Press, All Trade Unions, Secret Ballots
- -8 militancy to liberal pops, -4 militancy to anarcho-liberal pops, -2 militancy to conservative pops
- +4 militancy to reactionary pops
- 60% chance of AI selection
- Option #2: "Favor the Compte de Chambord!"
- +25 Prestige
- Reforms: None Voting, Party Appointed, No Meeting, State Press, No Trade Unions, Underground Parties
- 25% chance of AI selection
- Option #3: "Favor the Compte de Paris!"
- +50 Prestige
- government changed to HMS Government
- Reforms: Universal Voting, State Equals Weight, Non-Socialist Unions, State Press, Yes Meeting, Secret Ballots
- -6 militancy to conservative pops, -4 militancy to liberal pops
- +4 militancy to reactionary pops, +2 militancy to anarcho-liberal and socialist pops
- 15% chance of AI selection