FRANCE
A look at the Palace of Versailles, which now houses the European Parliament
Patrice de MacMahon had had a wonderful close to his presidency. First he saw a peaceful end to the Basque rebellion, and then he saw the transition to a new government. The industrial output of the nation reached new highs. But most importantly, in 1886, the Basques laid down their arms and rejoined the Spanish Republic. With that out of the way and the country reunified, he set about gaining a new constitution for the Republic.
In 1887, the European Republic was formed, a federation of the various states throughout Western Europe. The French Parliament could suspend the European Parliament and take it's role in case of a national emergency. The President of France would gained the title of President of the Republic, and still was only elected in France. The other states that were members in the Republic were the Lowland Republic, the Republic of Naples, the Roman Republic, the Republic of Aragon, the Madrid Republic, the Republic of Portugal, the United Republic of England and Wales, the Scottish Republic, and the Republic of Ireland. They all elected officials to parliament, based on population, however, the presidential
The Parliament of France maintained most of the power to make foreign policy, but the European parliament would be responsible to direct most social policy, and provide general direction for the Economy. The yearly central budget is created by the Parliament of France, but each state has a high degree of control over their own spending, as well as a high degree of control over their own economic policy.
The world was shocked when the Emperor of Tawansitsuyo was disposed by communist revolutionaries, and the Communist party began to be repressed by the government. However, when communism turned into war in Asia, the first "Red Scare" began, public hysteria began over the possibility of a communist takeover in Europe, and in 1888 the communist party was outlawed.
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President Jules Simon
In 1888, shortly after the European Republic was formed, Patrice de Mac-Mahon decided that he had had enough of the presidency and all it's baggage, and he resigned. An election was quickly held in two months. The National Liberals made a surprising comeback when they elected Jules Dufaure, however, despite taking a huge lead in Parliament after losing it for several years due to the Red Scare and unhappiness with the governments non-interventionist policy when the world began to erupt in war, Felix Faure decided to run independently again, and managed to once again give the vote to the conservative candidate, Jules Simon.
His powerful speech skills soon began to convince the population that neutrality was indeed the best policy, and but he also convinced them that France must continue to build up her tools for war, and that the only way to keep her freedom was by though the Accord.
The Accord had become mostly irrelevant to French Policy ever since the Afghanistan dispute, as it had obviously divided into two factions, ATK on one side, and the western nations remain loyal to the Accord. However, with the rise of Communism, the Accord suddenly became relevant again. Although President Simon refused to enter the war, Frances close ally, Swaziland, entered to fight Tawansitsuyo. France in fact could not enter the war, as she had obligations.
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Members of the Irish Liberation Guard
Most people in Europe had never seen the horrors of Slavery first hand. French economics were progressive to say the least, and most "wealthy" people had very little more then the poorest. Although people knew that Slavery existed in Ireland, the British had done a good job of convincing the world that here slaves were treated
well. However, when Ireland was liberated by Swaziland during the Channel War, news of the horrendous conditions the Irish slaves soon became known to the world. Upon hearing news of the conditions, orders were sent out for the British King to be taken to Dublin to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. Other British officials were simply executed on the spot.
Although Swaziland gave the Irish their freedom from the British oppressors, they could not provide much to help them, and most were forced to return to sharecropping, barely a step above Slavery. The Irish only made up about 70% of the islands population, due to British rule and immigration. However, when the French gained total control of the island in 1886, educators soon came to the land, and within two years, the Socialist Party, providing the former slaves with total control over their production, became the most popular thing in Ireland after potatoes and leprechauns. In 1888, the Socialist Party was elected to power in the Irish Republic, with a landslide election of 73%. Although when the French gained control over the island there were no factories, they had build a thriving industrial base on the island, and to show support for the liberated Irish, they turned over the factories, and promised to build more for them in the coming years. In 1889, the Irish Liberation Guard was formed in an act of the Irish Parliament, to secure the freedom of the Irish in case the British population on the island would try to seize power, something the Grande Armee would never allow to happen anyway.
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When the European Republic was formed, the Grande Armee became the military force of it, instead of just France. Each state was required to provide a certain number of forces for the Armee. The French Army was formed to cover the French requirement, although the military was to be mixed, to promote unity. The Irish and English Armies were allowed to be separate, for obvious reasons, but they were planned to also be joined together under one command also. This meant that no longer did France alone have total control over the military, although they did retain a considerable degree of influence. This meant that Europe was one step closer to unification.