alternatehistory.com
Lower Louisiana
Viva la Louisiane!
Lower Louisiana parties
Commonwealth/Richesse Commune: Left-wing populism. Affiliated with Socialists, but not that loyal to the federal party, TBH. Still reeling from Governor Emile Eustis's scandal-filled governorship in the 1990s that permanently damaged its popularity.
Union Nationale ("National Union"): Francophone nationalists. Tends right on economics, but gets some Anglo votes as "the only party that can defeat the reds" due to being the primary right-opposition to the Commonwealthers.
Liberal Party/Parti Libéral: Once Louisiana's dominant party, it has shrunk drastically and is now the third party. Often swallows its pride and back UN governments due to a common interest in preventing Commonwealth from ruining the state.
Reform Party/Parti réformiste: The conservatives in Louisiana. One of the more right-wing variations.
Farmers' League/Ligue des Fermiers: Rooted in the agrarian disaffection with the Liberal/Reform duopoly, it shrunk massively as Commonwealth surged. The League, a party deeply rooted in agrarianism, currently struggles to redefine itself for a new, urban, audience.
The Nature of Francophone Nationalism in the ASB
The roots of the movement sprang from several issues.
1: The increasing centralisation of the ASB and the growth of the Anglophone-dominated State.
2: Immigrants. This is mainly a Louisiana concern, though. Anglo (and Hispanic?) immigrants make locals anxious about their culture's future.
3: Influence. This is mainly a Canada concern. Canada used to be big in the ASB, but finds itself boxed out by Anglo countries those days.
4: Nostalgia. The Francophone nationalists harks back to the days of an united New France which "was strong and proud" (it's a myth, so it's not really historically accurate). Thus the common history as part of New France is often invoked.
5: Finally, geography. If you notice, the Francophone areas tend to be close to the border. There are probably a view that the ASB doesn't care about its borders (which given it sprang out of a loose confederation and states jealously guard their local interests, is probably right).
When and where did the nationalists emerge? Well, it depends, but I think the state level nationalists emerged in the 1970s. Remember the arrest of state governors by Lindon Jordan? That caused some anxiety with the people concerned about their culture. Lower Louisiana is pretty much utterly mixed those days (placage system never died out and instead intensified, average Lower Louisianan looks like a lightish-skinned black person (albeit the nationalist politicians tend to be white-ish)), so it isn't something to do with segregation. It's something to do with states' rights. Jordan violated it to defend something they agree with, but what if a future CM violate it for something they treasure? Thus nationalist concern. Now, the federal level nationalists? They first ran in 1992 and took defectors from formerly Soc-Prog-Whig-Dem people (like OTL Canada had with Bloc being established from defectors). This was probably because of some sort of Constitutional thing that got their hackles up.
It's goals are many and varied and depends on the region, but in general, it wants better funding to Francophone states (the flood in Lower Louisiana received sub-par relief from the Harman government according to them) and more influence for Francophone states. Plus the Canadien ones sometimes entertain the idea of secession.
The voters who support the Francophone nationalists are unsurprisingly Francophone.
In Lower Louisiana, it tends to split the dominant mixed race voters with Commonwealth at the state level, but at the ASB level tend to dominate that demographic, and thus dominate the state. In Canada, it's mainly the rural areas (this is why the Greens are so urban there) and parts of the cities (basically think of OTL Parti Quebecois). At the federal level, it takes more prominence (think OTL Bloc) In Illinois, whatever nationalists there are tend to be concentrated in the mixed cities due to concern about Anglo immigrants silencing them.
Those who oppose the movement are Anglophones at both levels and cosmopolitan Francophones at the state level. The cosmopolitan Francophones who don't subscribe to nationalism may vote Commonwealth/Liberal/whatever at the state level, but at the federal, think that their state deserves more of a voice, so they turn to the only party guaranteed to give them that.
What changes did the nationalists achieve? Well, it has successfully made the ASB officialise the languages (English, Dutch, French, Spanish, whatever are now official languages), made multilingualism an official national policy (albeit not one fully followed through) and guaranteed their right to speak their native language in Parliament.
At a state level, the Nats has invested greatly in the French language in both Lower Louisiana and Canada. In the less nationalist Francophone areas, it has less influence, but it has successfully made learning of French compulsory instead of assumed universal.
Upper Louisiana is mostly French-speaking and on the border and so has a strong nationalist movement, but however it is markedly less powerful than in Lower Louisiana. Upper Louisiana is perhaps more "Americanized" and less open to nationalism than Lower Louisiana. Nevertheless, they do have a very strong presence.
The Acadias (aka the Maritimes) has a strong Francophone presence, but the nationalist movement there fizzled out due to the politics of the states being unfavorable to them and their Nationalist selling point receiving few supporters due to Acadia's historical dislike of Canada.
Huronia is also largely Francophone, but its culture is quite cosmopolitan. Toronto has a Dutch background; though its most prominent language is French, its culture feels more like New Amsterdam than Montreal. In the state, the nationalists are quite irrelevant.
Haiti is far away from the rest of the Francophone states but culturally has close ties to Lower Louisiana, and due to Lower Louisiana's somewhat unique racial status, the nationalists there decided to set up a branch in Haiti. However, Haiti had a history of rebelling from France, and so the nationalists there find that they have to redesign their appeal somewhat creatively in order to appeal to Haitians.
The Upper Country has more speakers of French than any other language. The states along the ASB's western border have many speakers as well, certainly in the cities. It is seen by many Nationalists as the "unifying state" of the two traditions of Francophone Nationalism as it united New France. In this state, the Mississippi and St. Laurent traditions heavily collaborate and mix together to create an unique, third, tradition.
Commonwealth/Richesse Commune: Left-wing populism. Affiliated with Socialists, but not that loyal to the federal party, TBH. Still reeling from Governor Emile Eustis's scandal-filled governorship in the 1990s that permanently damaged its popularity.
Union Nationale ("National Union"): Francophone nationalists. Tends right on economics, but gets some Anglo votes as "the only party that can defeat the reds" due to being the primary right-opposition to the Commonwealthers.
Liberal Party/Parti Libéral: Once Louisiana's dominant party, it has shrunk drastically and is now the third party. Often swallows its pride and back UN governments due to a common interest in preventing Commonwealth from ruining the state.
Reform Party/Parti réformiste: The conservatives in Louisiana. One of the more right-wing variations.
Farmers' League/Ligue des Fermiers: Rooted in the agrarian disaffection with the Liberal/Reform duopoly, it shrunk massively as Commonwealth surged. The League, a party deeply rooted in agrarianism, currently struggles to redefine itself for a new, urban, audience.
The Nature of Francophone Nationalism in the ASB
The roots of the movement sprang from several issues.
1: The increasing centralisation of the ASB and the growth of the Anglophone-dominated State.
2: Immigrants. This is mainly a Louisiana concern, though. Anglo (and Hispanic?) immigrants make locals anxious about their culture's future.
3: Influence. This is mainly a Canada concern. Canada used to be big in the ASB, but finds itself boxed out by Anglo countries those days.
4: Nostalgia. The Francophone nationalists harks back to the days of an united New France which "was strong and proud" (it's a myth, so it's not really historically accurate). Thus the common history as part of New France is often invoked.
5: Finally, geography. If you notice, the Francophone areas tend to be close to the border. There are probably a view that the ASB doesn't care about its borders (which given it sprang out of a loose confederation and states jealously guard their local interests, is probably right).
When and where did the nationalists emerge? Well, it depends, but I think the state level nationalists emerged in the 1970s. Remember the arrest of state governors by Lindon Jordan? That caused some anxiety with the people concerned about their culture. Lower Louisiana is pretty much utterly mixed those days (placage system never died out and instead intensified, average Lower Louisianan looks like a lightish-skinned black person (albeit the nationalist politicians tend to be white-ish)), so it isn't something to do with segregation. It's something to do with states' rights. Jordan violated it to defend something they agree with, but what if a future CM violate it for something they treasure? Thus nationalist concern. Now, the federal level nationalists? They first ran in 1992 and took defectors from formerly Soc-Prog-Whig-Dem people (like OTL Canada had with Bloc being established from defectors). This was probably because of some sort of Constitutional thing that got their hackles up.
It's goals are many and varied and depends on the region, but in general, it wants better funding to Francophone states (the flood in Lower Louisiana received sub-par relief from the Harman government according to them) and more influence for Francophone states. Plus the Canadien ones sometimes entertain the idea of secession.
The voters who support the Francophone nationalists are unsurprisingly Francophone.
In Lower Louisiana, it tends to split the dominant mixed race voters with Commonwealth at the state level, but at the ASB level tend to dominate that demographic, and thus dominate the state. In Canada, it's mainly the rural areas (this is why the Greens are so urban there) and parts of the cities (basically think of OTL Parti Quebecois). At the federal level, it takes more prominence (think OTL Bloc) In Illinois, whatever nationalists there are tend to be concentrated in the mixed cities due to concern about Anglo immigrants silencing them.Those who oppose the movement are Anglophones at both levels and cosmopolitan Francophones at the state level. The cosmopolitan Francophones who don't subscribe to nationalism may vote Commonwealth/Liberal/whatever at the state level, but at the federal, think that their state deserves more of a voice, so they turn to the only party guaranteed to give them that.
What changes did the nationalists achieve? Well, it has successfully made the ASB officialise the languages (English, Dutch, French, Spanish, whatever are now official languages), made multilingualism an official national policy (albeit not one fully followed through) and guaranteed their right to speak their native language in Parliament.
At a state level, the Nats has invested greatly in the French language in both Lower Louisiana and Canada. In the less nationalist Francophone areas, it has less influence, but it has successfully made learning of French compulsory instead of assumed universal.
Upper Louisiana is mostly French-speaking and on the border and so has a strong nationalist movement, but however it is markedly less powerful than in Lower Louisiana. Upper Louisiana is perhaps more "Americanized" and less open to nationalism than Lower Louisiana. Nevertheless, they do have a very strong presence.
The Acadias (aka the Maritimes) has a strong Francophone presence, but the nationalist movement there fizzled out due to the politics of the states being unfavorable to them and their Nationalist selling point receiving few supporters due to Acadia's historical dislike of Canada.
Huronia is also largely Francophone, but its culture is quite cosmopolitan. Toronto has a Dutch background; though its most prominent language is French, its culture feels more like New Amsterdam than Montreal. In the state, the nationalists are quite irrelevant.
Haiti is far away from the rest of the Francophone states but culturally has close ties to Lower Louisiana, and due to Lower Louisiana's somewhat unique racial status, the nationalists there decided to set up a branch in Haiti. However, Haiti had a history of rebelling from France, and so the nationalists there find that they have to redesign their appeal somewhat creatively in order to appeal to Haitians.
The Upper Country has more speakers of French than any other language. The states along the ASB's western border have many speakers as well, certainly in the cities. It is seen by many Nationalists as the "unifying state" of the two traditions of Francophone Nationalism as it united New France. In this state, the Mississippi and St. Laurent traditions heavily collaborate and mix together to create an unique, third, tradition.
- Turquoise Blue
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