Our Fair Country: The Commonwealth of New England

[CosmicAsh]

A very interesting alternate history for France - the Third Republic ITTL seems to have died with even less dignity than ours.

A few questions, then:

How stable is French governance in Algeria? Do Algerians now enjoy the same rights as other Frenchmen? Is the situation improving or degrading?

The current French president is OTl a centre-right French politician - has this seen any regression with regards to French overseas policy? I note that French Algeria is medium on the HDI, though France is also listed on the world map as a Liberal Republic.

What is the current state of Franco-British relations?

How are the French Foreign Legion doing, especially with their homeland of Algeria still under French control?

Algeria seems to have a much smaller population than OTL, as well as roughly 1/4 of the population being made up of Pieds Noirs - is this just due to Algeria's smaller size, or was their another cause of the population loss in comparison to OTL?

The French government in Algeria is pretty authoritarian, but it is able to be mostly stable, due to strong military support. Algerians... have... rights. Err.

France is a liberal Republic and has free elections, just ownership of Algeria is one of the things considered "necessary" in French politics.

Franco-British relations are strained, but Britain has strained relations with pretty much everyone on the continent.

The reason Algeria's population is smaller is... something I will touch on later.

Thanks. I came into this TL rather late so I am not always caught up with the lore. My apologies if I ask dumb questions again.

No worries!! Totally understandable, I don't care if you were here from the beginning or just joined! No such thing as a stupid question!! <3

 

[Danishbro]

France is 53% Irreligious? IOTL France is 51% Christian. For some reason I thought that in OFC the US is 'less Christian' than OTL, but Europe is 'more Christian'?

 

[Analytical Engine]

France is 53% Irreligious? IOTL France is 51% Christian. For some reason I thought that in OFC the US is 'less Christian' than OTL, but Europe is 'more Christian'?

I guess the Fourth Republic was too far in bed with the Catholic Church, in a Franco-style Clerical Fascism?

 

[CosmicAsh]

With all the destruction in Vietnam, how the heck is vietnam a developed nation today? Also, I have a horrible feeling about why Algeria's population is smaller, and perhaps the larger Morocco can be 1 of 2 scenarios:

1. A democratic and developed state, with a HDI of 0.862 (about the same as OTL Poland), a population of 58,963,216, and a GDP of $1.76 trillion nominal ($29,849 per capita) and $2.058 trillion PPP ($34,903 per capita). It would mainly hate France due to what they're doing to poor, poor Algeria as well as what France did to them. Since French would be a business language in Morocco, some crazy French politicians (I'd say 25-40% of them) would want to annex it like they did Algeria.

2. An authoritarian yet still "very high" developed nation, with 48,125,516 people, a HDI of 0.827, and a GDP of $694.451 billion ($14,430 per capita) and $1.139 trillion PPP ($23,660 per capita). Like the other one, it'd hate France and some crazy French people would want to annex it.

For either one, they'd buff their army in fear of a French invasion.

I'm really not sure if you missed it or not - but the printing of the world map finalised all populations, HDIs, and economic indices (which I will roll out at some point).

Morocco has a population of 40.2 million people. Morocco is also a close ally of France. There is no one in France who wants to annex land. Period.

 

[Israel_Dan the Man]

I'm really not sure if you missed it or not - but the printing of the world map finalised all populations, HDIs, and economic indices (which I will roll out at some point).

Morocco has a population of 40.2 million people. Morocco is also a close ally of France. There is no one in France who wants to annex land. Period.

Got it. Though didnt morocco fight to get free of France? Also, how is vietnam developed when France wrecked so much (nothing against Vietnam).

 

[Analytical Engine]

Also, how is vietnam developed when France wrecked so much (nothing against Vietnam).

Maybe someone (like, say, the UK) has been throwing development money at them. Might explain why (IIRC) Vietnam wants to join the Commonwealth.

 

[Israel_Dan the Man]

Maybe someone (like, say, the UK) has been throwing development money at them. Might explain why (IIRC) Vietnam wants to join the Commonwealth.

Good point. Seriously though, 99% of Hanoi destroyed. This may seem blunt, but TTL's France can go to hell.

 

[CosmicAsh]

France is 53% Irreligious? IOTL France is 51% Christian. For some reason I thought that in OFC the US is 'less Christian' than OTL, but Europe is 'more Christian'?

It's a bad reaction to what happened during the 4th Republic, along France's uh... religious policy... in Algeria

 

[Analytical Engine]

It's a bad reaction to what happened during the 4th Republic, along France's uh... religious policy... in Algeria

Well, that doesn't sound ominous at all.

Were they in the business of...removals*?


*At gunpoint, that is

 

[Sunstone77]

I do t know if this has been talked about before, but how has an independent New England affected comicbooks? Are comic preferences split along geographical lines?

And how has New England influenced the UK culturally, if at all?

 

[JanSmuts321]

It's a bad reaction to what happened during the 4th Republic, along France's uh... religious policy... in Algeria

That's interesting, I assume the older generations are less religious on average than the younger generations then?(although the younger generations would probably be pretty secular too)

 

[Gonzo]

As someone who is for lack of a better word obsessed with French politics, this new update was a joy to read over. My only little qualm is that I can't really see de Gaulle pushing for such an authoritarian regime, though he would naturally want himself at the head of whatever was the new system in France, or at the very least having one last in the long term. De Gaulle also had a general aversion to forming a party behind him, so he'd probably like having a 'movement' around him comprised of people from across the spectrum. Regarding Poujade, he only really came to prominence due to a certain set of circumstances, for de Gaulle's initial PM, a Gaullist lackey at the time - Jacques Soustelle - would be a great idea.

I really like the list of leaders, Bouchardeau is a criminally underused figure and I'm curious as to what the current governing entities are like, based on the current PM and President presented here. Would I be correct in assuming that Algeria would probably have the most conservative politics outside of Alsace in TTL's France? Great work as usual with this, I'd like to say once again!

 

[ST15RM]

@Kanan you mind if I steal your idea of “country’s history in wikiboxes” for the Yankee Dominion? I’ve got something cooking up for New Guinea.

 

[Silicon]

You may have posted about this at some point but I can’t seem to find a reply, why do some of the developed countries like France have much lower gdp per capita’s (ppp) than OTL? And does this have a large effect on their standard of living?

 

[Israel_Dan the Man]

You may have posted about this at some point but I can’t seem to find a reply, why do some of the developed countries like France have much lower gdp per capita’s (ppp) than OTL? And does this have a large effect on their standard of living?

If I had to guess for France, it’d be due to them having an authoritarian regime until the 1970’s along with having a bigger population.

 

[Gladsome]

Well, my print of the world map is here, and I must say I am quite delighted with how well it's turned out. Looking forward to hanging this one up.

 

[CosmicAsh]

Well, that doesn't sound ominous at all.

Were they in the business of...removals*?


*At gunpoint, that is

Yeah.... pretty much ....

As someone who is for lack of a better word obsessed with French politics, this new update was a joy to read over. My only little qualm is that I can't really see de Gaulle pushing for such an authoritarian regime, though he would naturally want himself at the head of whatever was the new system in France, or at the very least having one last in the long term. De Gaulle also had a general aversion to forming a party behind him, so he'd probably like having a 'movement' around him comprised of people from across the spectrum. Regarding Poujade, he only really came to prominence due to a certain set of circumstances, for de Gaulle's initial PM, a Gaullist lackey at the time - Jacques Soustelle - would be a great idea.

I really like the list of leaders, Bouchardeau is a criminally underused figure and I'm curious as to what the current governing entities are like, based on the current PM and President presented here. Would I be correct in assuming that Algeria would probably have the most conservative politics outside of Alsace in TTL's France? Great work as usual with this, I'd like to say once again!

Oh no, I'm glad I was able to at least give something presentable, my knowledge of French politics is... poor to say the least.

Re: de Gaulle, there really was no party ever established. The military simply ran the show which may or may not have been fully in his control as time progressed. This isn't to say this was a right-wing fascist/nationalist dictatorship like say, Italy under Mussolini was or the Regime in Spain, but he was at the head of it and people across the spectrum did join in. Think of the "one-party" portion an anachronistic term applied to that era in French history.

As for Poujade and the initial PMs, I'll have to take a closer look at that. I will totally bow out to someone with superior knowledge of French politics!

I felt the same for Bouchardeau. I couldn't find much, and I even had to use the French wikipedia page to learn some stuff. Anyway - yes: Algeria is by far and away the most conservative place in France. The government is run by the Party of the Radical Centre which of course means its a far-right party. Hell, even Alsace is run by the Party of the Republic with help from the PCR. In general, France's loose coalitions are a bit more rigid - but the main dominant party is known to rise and fall.

@Kanan you mind if I steal your idea of “country’s history in wikiboxes” for the Yankee Dominion? I’ve got something cooking up for New Guinea.

Go for it! I can't claim credit to the idea of slapping wikiboxes together I do hope people like it, they are only supposed to be little peaks into the country's history and should let people know some of the biggest changes to these countries!

You may have posted about this at some point but I can’t seem to find a reply, why do some of the developed countries like France have much lower gdp per capita’s (ppp) than OTL? And does this have a large effect on their standard of living?

GDP/c is calculated with in-universe USD, which is different than OTL USD. Also - living standards are high in Metropolitan France, but much lower in say - Algeria where ~28 million (1/4th of France's population) live.

Well, my print of the world map is here, and I must say I am quite delighted with how well it's turned out. Looking forward to hanging this one up.

This is so awesome!! I'm so happy to see other people with it ahhhhhhhh!!! <3

 

[HongCanucker]

Threw together something to catch things up with more current events.

John Tory is the 25th Premier of Ontario, serving since August 10, 2018. Previously a lawyer, businessman, and political strategist who worked with the federal and Ontario Progressive Conservative Parties, he was first elected as a Member of the Provincial Parliament in the 2002 general election for the Toronto riding of Don Valley West. After serving as the party's critic for Municipal Affairs and for Finance during the PCs' time as Official Opposition from 2002 to 2010, Tory was chosen as Minister of Finance by Premier Vic Fedeli following the Cabinet reshuffle of 2012.

As Minister of Finance, Tory's tenure was marked with an expansion of Ontario's healthcare infrastructure, new transit investments, reorganisation of the Metropolitan Toronto Council, and a renewal of economic and trade negotiations with the Commonwealth of Nations. These developments have been cited by observers as continuing the tradition of Ontario's longtime Progressive Conservative dynasty of the 20th century, particularly the Big Blue Machine of Premier Bill Davis, whom Tory has been strongly associated with.

In the wake of Fedeli's resignation in June 2018 following sexual misconduct allegations brought to light by MPP Patrick Brown, himself also the subject of such allegations, Tory contested and won the party's resulting leadership election that August. Since becoming Premier, Tory inherited his predecessor's work to reorganise the PCs in light of the 2018 federal election and the formation of the federal Liberal-Progressive National government. On January 22, 2019, Tory announced the merger of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario with the Reform Party, a grouping of NDP MPPs disaffected with the leadership of NDP leader Giorgio Mammoliti, and the Commonwealth Loyalists, a party advocating a renewal of Commonwealth ties, to form the Ontario Progressive Party.

 

[Upper Canadian]

Threw together something to catch things up with more current events.



On January 22, 2019, Tory announced the merger of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario with the Reform Party, a grouping of NDP MPPs disaffected with the leadership of NDP leader Giorgio Mammoliti, and the Commonwealth Loyalists, a party advocating a renewal of Commonwealth ties, to form the Ontario Progressive Party.

This is really great. Who were the leaders of the Reform Party and the Commonwealth Loyalists before the merger?

 

[HongCanucker]

This is really great. Who were the leaders of the Reform Party and the Commonwealth Loyalists before the merger?

Reform was headed by Toronto-St. Paul's MPP Josh Matlow, and the Commonwealth Loyalists headed by former Liberal MP Peter Milliken, himself a United Empire Loyalist descendant.