Screw France and the French empire

Last time, I made a thread about completely eviscerating the British empire and leaving it utterly in ruins. So, the same vein, can we do this to the French Empire? The conditions for what constitutes a screw are mostly the same as in the Britain thread, but lets recap anyway:

1. Loss of all colonies/overseas territories, and many chunks of the mainland like Brittany for example
2. Massively reduced military
3. Lot's of reparations
4. National and international prestige irreversibly damaged
5. Political, economic and military power projection beyond it's immediate area severely limited if not outright gone
6. Vassalized, puppetized, or dominated by another power. Ceases to have it's own sphere of influence

The pod I'll set is after 1800. Though, bonus points if it can be done after 1900. I imagine this will be easier than with Britain, because France is less geographically secure. I'm guessing a way to do this would be a join Anglo - German invasion of France, but how to do that is beyond me.

Maybe a world war following a victorious Napoleonic wars could do it? The other great powers of Europe would then have a valid reason to dogpile France.
 
#1 and #3 did happen with the 1815 treaty (also 1871 for #3). #4 could have if not for the clever work of Talleyrand to integrate France into the Concert of nations. #6 didn’t quite happen but France certainly was humbled by Germany in 1871, and with the very early demographic transition, France fell way behind Germany in population after that.

To totally achieve these you may need France to keep a stronger population growth as the OTL government became aware of the need for alliances due to its loss of a demographic advantage. There would never again be a « France vs everybody » war like under Louis XIV and Napoléon.
 
#1 and #3 did happen with the 1815 treaty (also 1871 for #3). #4 could have if not for the clever work of Talleyrand to integrate France into the Concert of nations. #6 didn’t quite happen but France certainly was humbled by Germany in 1871, and with the very early demographic transition, France fell way behind Germany in population after that.

To totally achieve these you may need France to keep a stronger population growth as the OTL government became aware of the need for alliances due to its loss of a demographic advantage. There would never again be a « France vs everybody » war like under Louis XIV and Napoléon.
How could we keep France from reaching sub replacement level of birth rates before the rest of Europe?
 
How could we keep France from reaching sub replacement level of birth rates before the rest of Europe?

The question comes up a lot, and answers tend to focus on factors like the political power of small farmers, which was bolstered by the Revolution, and thereby prevented enclosure from catching on in France like it did in Britain. That's not something easily reversible after 1800. That said, I don't think it's really necessary. Some flavor of Nazi victory, or even just something along the lines of CalBear's Anglo-American-Nazi War could easily result in France's ruin, and that's definitely a post-1900 situation. Hell, most of your conditions were met IOTL's 1940, including number 6. You just need it to stick.
 
The question comes up a lot, and answers tend to focus on factors like the political power of small farmers, which was bolstered by the Revolution, and thereby prevented enclosure from catching on in France like it did in Britain. That's not something easily reversible after 1800. That said, I don't think it's really necessary. Some flavor of Nazi victory, or even just something along the lines of CalBear's Anglo-American-Nazi War could easily result in France's ruin, and that's definitely a post-1900 situation. Hell, most of your conditions were met IOTL's 1940, including number 6. You just need it to stick.
Yeah, I figured having France as an aggressor would prompt everyone else to destroy it. But the question is how to get a France that is as threatening to the rest of Europe as otl Germany was.This is kinda cliche, but could some genocidal, Nazi like megalomaniac take power in France and start invading everyone? That would certainly get everyone to team up on them.
 
Yeah, I figured having France as an aggressor would prompt everyone else to destroy it. But the question is how to get a France that is as threatening to the rest of Europe as otl Germany was.This is kinda cliche, but could some genocidal, Nazi like megalomaniac take power in France and start invading everyone? That would certainly get everyone to team up on them.

But to really threaten everyone, they'd need an edge. Revolutionary France still had a favorable demographic position relative to its neighbors, as well as excellent officers and artillery, while Prussia and Austria especially were behind on reforming their militaries. The demographic advantage would slip away over the 19th Century, and like I said, that's not easy to reverse. Honestly, they might just need an ally like Russia. An especially nasty Integralist government sides with Russia in an alternate 1878 crisis, leading to war with the Turks, Britain, Austria, and maybe Prussia, and they commit heinous atrocities while invading Germany. They also get into a scrap with Italy for trying to infringe on the Pope's independence, and ransack northern Italy in the process. Still think the Nazi wank is simpler, though.
 
But to really threaten everyone, they'd need an edge. Revolutionary France still had a favorable demographic position relative to its neighbors, as well as excellent officers and artillery, while Prussia and Austria especially were behind on reforming their militaries. The demographic advantage would slip away over the 19th Century, and like I said, that's not easy to reverse. Honestly, they might just need an ally like Russia. An especially nasty Integralist government sides with Russia in an alternate 1878 crisis, leading to war with the Turks, Britain, Austria, and maybe Prussia, and they commit heinous atrocities while invading Germany. They also get into a scrap with Italy for trying to infringe on the Pope's independence, and ransack northern Italy in the process. Still think the Nazi wank is simpler, though.
Do you think there would be increased solidarity between Poles and Germans if they are squished between the warmongering pair of France and Russia?
 
Do you think there would be increased solidarity between Poles and Germans if they are squished between the warmongering pair of France and Russia?

Poland has a bit of a reputation for switching sides between the two willy-nilly. And Integralism isn't something that'd have much appeal in Russia, since it's very much rooted in Catholicism. So I'd guess their regime would stay as OTL's and not be as bloodthirsty as the French. So all things considered, probably not much would change in German-Polish relations in the long run.
 
The aftermath of the French Revolution is much worse. The government is even more unstable and a series of civil wars break out in France. France is in a series of civil wars between 1802-1822 as one government after another rises and falls. It makes 19th century Chile look like a rock of stability. The city of Paris is partially burned down at least 4 times. Trade almost halts and the inflation rate soars to 80% a month at its peak. It takes two generations for France to climb out of the hole it got in.
 
If the French empire utterly crashed down in flames, who will pick up the pieces? Obviously Britain will take the lion's share, but I think Italy may try taking Tunisia and Djibouti (if France collapses at a time when Italy is unified that is).
 
If the French empire utterly crashed down in flames, who will pick up the pieces? Obviously Britain will take the lion's share, but I think Italy may try taking Tunisia and Djibouti (if France collapses at a time when Italy is unified that is).

Depends on where/when/why. My Integralist 1870's rampage could butterfly OTL's Scramble for Africa, for one example. Maybe nobody colonizes OTL French Africa. Or the Naziwank I suggested earlier might result in Francophone Africa just going its own way, maybe under informal British influence.
 
Depends on where/when/why. My Integralist 1870's rampage could butterfly OTL's Scramble for Africa, for one example. Maybe nobody colonizes OTL French Africa. Or the Naziwank I suggested earlier might result in Francophone Africa just going its own way, maybe under informal British influence.
I think if an integralist France was rampaging across Europe but was then beaten, I think the other great powers would punish it harshley. Britain likely gets the bulk of French Africa, with Spain, Portugal, Italy or Germany getting pieces of their own depending on their roles in the war. It Italy was an ally, I could even see them getting Savoy and Corsica.
 
Last time, I made a thread about completely eviscerating the British empire and leaving it utterly in ruins. So, the same vein, can we do this to the French Empire? The conditions for what constitutes a screw are mostly the same as in the Britain thread, but lets recap anyway:

1. Loss of all colonies/overseas territories, and many chunks of the mainland like Brittany for example
2. Massively reduced military
3. Lot's of reparations
4. National and international prestige irreversibly damaged
5. Political, economic and military power projection beyond it's immediate area severely limited if not outright gone
6. Vassalized, puppetized, or dominated by another power. Ceases to have it's own sphere of influence

The pod I'll set is after 1800. Though, bonus points if it can be done after 1900. I imagine this will be easier than with Britain, because France is less geographically secure. I'm guessing a way to do this would be a join Anglo - German invasion of France, but how to do that is beyond me.

Maybe a world war following a victorious Napoleonic wars could do it? The other great powers of Europe would then have a valid reason to dogpile France.
Maybe Napoleon wins Waterloo and his reign once again leads to a longer war ? Otherwise maybe a Anarchist Revolution takes power in France during Industrialization.
 
I think if an integralist France was rampaging across Europe but was then beaten, I think the other great powers would punish it harshley. Britain likely gets the bulk of French Africa, with Spain, Portugal, Italy or Germany getting pieces of their own depending on their roles in the war. It Italy was an ally, I could even see them getting Savoy and Corsica.

My point was that there might not be much of a French Africa to divvy up depending on time frame. The Berlin Conference was 1884. The OTL Russo-Turkish War I was thinking of was 1877-78.
 
My point was that there might not be much of a French Africa to divvy up depending on time frame. The Berlin Conference was 1884. The OTL Russo-Turkish War I was thinking of was 1877-78.
Oh. So what would there be then? There is the new world territories, and maybe some ports in various places.
 
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