The last couple days, I've been idly wondering what a French version of National Socialism would look like.
Cribbing slightly from Wikipedia's list of the central features of Nazism, we get: Economics, Nationalism, Militarism, Racism and Religion.
Economics - State control of the economy, theoretically to benefit the community over the individual, is a given.
Nationalism - France's great cultural and scientific achievements clearly make it a superior nation, far better than its minor or backwards European neighbors, to say nothing of the rest of the world.
Militarism - Charlemagne (adopted as an exclusively French figure), Louis XIV, Napoleon I... All nice role models for *National-socialisme's cult of the army. The armed forces will be expanded tremendously, of course, and all sorts of new projects will be bankrolled.
Racism - The ancient Celts, forefathers of the French race, ruled most of Europe. Clearly, a pan-European empire is France's birthright. France's Mediterranean neighbors are a step down in the racial hierarchy, while the people of the Low Countries and the Rhineland are 'forgotten French' - most Germans are considered rowdy barbarians, no matter how you dress them up. Non-Europeans are children, fit only to obey, at best.
Religion - I see two possibilities here. Either directly copying the pagan elements in Nazism, except with an emphasis on the ancient Celts (specifically the Gauls), or else harking back to the Cult of the Supreme Being from Revolutionary France.
In terms of a POD, maybe a 1905 WWI that ends in French defeat. The (seen as) pro-German *Fourth Republic is either otherthrown by a nationalist/military coup, or the Hitler analogue follows the same path as his OTL counterpart. France's smaller demographic and industrial base makes conquering most of Europe more problematic like the Third Reich, doesn't it? Perhaps a divided Germany will allow Nazi-France to expand quickly; it gobbles up the western states and then joins forces with Russia (or the USSR) to conquer Prussia... hm.
Any thoughts or suggestions?
Cribbing slightly from Wikipedia's list of the central features of Nazism, we get: Economics, Nationalism, Militarism, Racism and Religion.
Economics - State control of the economy, theoretically to benefit the community over the individual, is a given.
Nationalism - France's great cultural and scientific achievements clearly make it a superior nation, far better than its minor or backwards European neighbors, to say nothing of the rest of the world.
Militarism - Charlemagne (adopted as an exclusively French figure), Louis XIV, Napoleon I... All nice role models for *National-socialisme's cult of the army. The armed forces will be expanded tremendously, of course, and all sorts of new projects will be bankrolled.
Racism - The ancient Celts, forefathers of the French race, ruled most of Europe. Clearly, a pan-European empire is France's birthright. France's Mediterranean neighbors are a step down in the racial hierarchy, while the people of the Low Countries and the Rhineland are 'forgotten French' - most Germans are considered rowdy barbarians, no matter how you dress them up. Non-Europeans are children, fit only to obey, at best.
Religion - I see two possibilities here. Either directly copying the pagan elements in Nazism, except with an emphasis on the ancient Celts (specifically the Gauls), or else harking back to the Cult of the Supreme Being from Revolutionary France.
In terms of a POD, maybe a 1905 WWI that ends in French defeat. The (seen as) pro-German *Fourth Republic is either otherthrown by a nationalist/military coup, or the Hitler analogue follows the same path as his OTL counterpart. France's smaller demographic and industrial base makes conquering most of Europe more problematic like the Third Reich, doesn't it? Perhaps a divided Germany will allow Nazi-France to expand quickly; it gobbles up the western states and then joins forces with Russia (or the USSR) to conquer Prussia... hm.
Any thoughts or suggestions?