You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly. You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
alternatehistory.com
Heiliges Römisches Reich
Stadt Paris
23 März 1606
Holy Roman Empire
City of Paris
March 23 1606
Conciergerie - French Royal Palace
A prestigious man sat as his chair. He held a nominal position that he inherited, a position his family had secured for nearly two hundred years. He rarely did anything. But today was going to be quite different. A man walked in.
"You know why I'm here," the man said in perfect French.
"You shouldn't be here," responded the duke.
"You can call the guards if you want. However I am sure that you know that if there was a time to do this, this is the time. Rudolph II is arriving tomorrow. Our people are ready. You must know that. All I need is your approval; God has already given us our blessing."
"God dammit, you need to do this for to long our people have struggled, I am tired of bleeding for the German race. You have my support. I shall aid you in any way I can.
The next day Rudolph II arrived in Paris. He was surrounded by a few dozen of the most elite guards Europe had to offer. However when an entire city is determined, it means little. In one instant Paris surrounded around him. Thousands of peasants, artisans, and even the wealthy came out to attack. Rudolph was murdered. Every German in Paris was executed or expelled by the end of the day. The following day a new Kingdom was proclaimed. A new war had begun.
At the beginning of the 12th century in France the population was around fifteen million the highest in Europe, the most populous country in Europe. The 12th century will also forever be remembered as a prosperous time for France, even though it was called the Kingdom of the Franks, not the kingdom of France in the 1100's. Agricultural output was at an all-time high. This could be attributed to several reasons. The weather was just right. In addition for the most part the political scene was stable. All of these conditions allowed the population of France to swell. By the year 1200 the population was around 20 million. This put the population density of France similar to that of the urban regions of China and India. Before the era of industrialization, in the 1800's, that amount of people in such a small area was unsustainable. The created a phenomenon that historians would later call "The Great Dispersal." French speaking people migrated throughout a large portion of western continental Europe. This migration is akin to how the Germans expanded into the Baltics, Poland, and Hungarian dominated regions in the 17th century. The vast majority of the migrants came from the most densely populated regions in France, near Orleans and Paris. The immediate effects of this was slow decline of Occitan in the Southern regions of France. In additional largely German and Flemish speaking regions also experienced a large amount of French speaking immigrants. The majority of the migrations took place from 1150 to 1400.
Dialects of the French Language and Locations
However during 1223 something happened that changed France forever. Louis VIII, Le Lion, took control of the Kingdom of the Franks. One of the first things he did was to change the name of the country officially to the Kingdom of the French. He was the King of France. This simple change foreshadowed what he would accomplish. He saw an opportunity to expand not only his power, but the power of the French people. Louis VIII launched several invasions throughout his reign. He quickly proved himself on the fields of battle. By 1230 he conquered Navarre and Aragon in the name of French. In the mid 1230's he decided to be more bold. He invaded regions of the Holy Roman Empire. While he himself was a conqueror, he was often considered a liberator. He liberated many people that spoke romance languages. However he also conquered regions that spoke German dialects. These included modern day Alsace and Lorraine and many Flemish speaking regions. However after his death in 1243 there were no territorial acquisitions for a hundred years.
Europe before the conquests
However French migration continued to grow. Many churches also joined the cause of educating the population about French. If you lived in France and did not speak French, you were a second class citizen. You were practically an outcast. From 1243 to 1348 the political affairs of France were mostly concerned with isolationism. France was particularly interested in preventing England from gaining continental concessions, especially Calais. However France was able to prevent a war during those 100 years, and England was unable to acquire any holdings, France was France. However in 1348 the Plague came. The Plague killed a fourth of the people in France. It was devastating. In desperation, in order to distract his nation Charles V decided to attempt to repeat the success of his predecessor by establishing French domination of the lands West of the Rhine. Charles reasoned that the Rhine was the border of the Roman Empire, so why not France? By 1351 he actually succeeded. However Europe was not ready for an imbalance of power. In 1353 England and the Holy Roman Empire launched a counterattack. The aim of the counterattack was to weaken France.
The war lasted nearly 22 years and would be remembered as the twenty years war. At first France looked poised to win. They crossed the Rhine and marched throughout German lands. By 1356 French men were a mere 150 kilometers away from Vienna. However France was overstretched. British landings near Bordeaux compounded the problem. The next 15 years was just a long French retreat to the interior of the country. The war was not easy for the Holy Roman Empire and England However, it has been estimated that millions died, civilians and soldiers alike in the bloody French retreat. However France finally surrendered on July 27th 1375. The terms were extreme. England was to receive large chunks of Eastern France and Calais. In the South an independent Occitan state was to be formed, still attached to the regions of Navarre and Aargon. Northwestern France was annex as a region of the Holy Roman Empire. The King of France was allowed to keep a royal position as a duke of the French Holy Roman Empire
The Enlightenment came early for France. Starting in the late 1500's there was a growing sense of French nationalism. It was subtle at the beginning, with only the Elites discussing it in close circles. However support grew. Tensions increased. By 1600 a reunification of France was being called for. A revolution was in the making.