Curious about how this could happen-how could France, with a POD of no earlier than 1400 become a world hegemon by the 20th century?
The French hegemon must be based in a nation-state in a similar geographic location to OTL's France, speaking at least a language that is mutually intelligible with OTL's standard French
By hegemon, I mean that France must be able to project military power anywhere in the globe, and must be able to defeat any single opponent in standard warfare (and would probably have to be able to defeat multiple allied opponents if it wants to survive as hegemon in Europe). It must have the largest economic output per capita of any nation-so while a nation with a larger population could have a larger overall economy, France's economy must produce more money per person than any other nation. Cultural dominance would probably follow the other two.
I'm interested to hear your thoughts!