Yes I love small little details like that really brings the world alive.
TL: Children of the Plains of Abraham Revised (A New France & more timeline)
There isn't a specific reason for it. It's just something I thought of outside of the timeline and included. The French word for a bishop is "fou" which means fool. And when you ask me a piece that can move any number of squares in its diagonals sounds too powerful for a piece literally called the fool. I realize that this is very much a me thing, but thought it would be a neat aside.
As far as playing it, it does seem to make the game slightly harder (when playing against a computer anyway). As you have to rely entirely on the queen and pawns for your diagonal moves increasing their value. It also makes the game harder if you try using traditional defenses, like a fool.
But there are ways to use it to your advantage.
Edit: {just adding this]
French Chess is also going to inspire a few (2-5ish right now) variants down the line that other nations will actively promote for a their national variant.
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IV-1: "New" French Reforms
Part IV: The French Civil War
Chapter 1: "New" French Reforms
—c. AD 1783 – AD 1789—“New France was safe again, but it still had not prospered.”
Children of the Plains of Abraham
Château Saint-Louis [xxxi]
Children of the Plains of Abraham
Château Saint-Louis [xxxi]
While the cod fishing industry had taken off in New France, the colony was still growing slowly. The colony’s low population prevented it from functioning at full capacity, especially since it needed such a large military presence to defend itself. Most families were quite large so the colony would eventually reach its capacity on its own, but that was taking a long time. There were also very few immigrants to New France. The cod fisheries attracted some, but most of these were seasonal workers not settlers. Louis XVI eventually concluded that he needed to encourage more settlers. What he did was open settlement to Catholics of other nations. His intent was to pull unwanted Catholics from protestant countries and naturalize them as good New French citizens. A few émigrés from Great Britain and Ireland did come, but most of the new settlers came from the various German states. Almost half of the German immigrants came from Bavaria even though it was still ruled by a Catholic duke. Most of them lost all they had in the Five Years’ War or disagreed with being traded to Joseph II on principle. Upon arrival the immigrants formed isolated communities with others from the same country. Overall, the plan did bolster New France’s population was not nearly as effective as Louis XVI had hoped.
The Edict of Versailles [11] did remove many of the restriction France’s non-Roman Catholics faced. But it still did not allow them to settle in New France. Several of the king’s ministers suggested it, but Louis XVI still would not allow it.
§
Back in France proper, the Five Years’ War had drained the kingdoms treasury, and the countries archaic tax code was not up to the task. Under the direction of the Controller-General of Finances, the Count of Hannonville [a], Louis XVI implemented a series of reforms, such as:- Spending cuts,
- Replacing the vingtième with a universal land tax,
- Instituting a nationalized salt tax,
- Instituting a nationalized tobacco tax,
- Allowing the sale of Church property,
- Instituting free grain trade,
- Abolition of internal tariffs,
- Instituting a nationalized property tax (in addition to the new land tax).
Unsurprisingly, these reforms did not make the Count of Hannonville or Louis XVI very popular. Both the First and Second Estates voiced their grievances at any opportunity, but they had no power to fight the changes. The Count of Hannonville stood his ground saying that the reforms were necessary for the health of the country.
§
The question of Columbian taxes was still not solved either. An agreement was reached where the debt was proportionally divided amongst the provinces and the provincial governments were to raise the money and pay Great Britain directly. This arrangement looked good on paper but did nothing but move the problem down the road. The provincial governments did not like raising taxes to send overseas so they raised the money by asking for donations. The amount donations were never enough. Since the parliament of Great Britain had bigger issues to deal with during the war, this arrangement was left in place. With the war over they demanded that the Grand Council of Columbia fix the issue, parliament even began to draft plains to dispose of the grand council if necessary.Footnotes
a. Charles Alexandre de Calonne
b. fra: a type of income tax
Endnotes
11. Basically, the same as OTL
xxxi. (L'Opinion Publique, 1881)
L’Opinion Publique. Saint Louis Castle of Québec (1620-1834).3 March 1881. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chateau_Saint-Louis.jpg. Accessed 25 November 2021.
Man would expect that Louis XVI, ITTL still having a big colony in America, would decide to allow Huguenot settlement there, to: a) promote French settlement there, b) to reduce number of Huguenots in France.
Also, IIRC, by this time number of Huguenots wasn't so big anyway.
Also, IIRC, by this time number of Huguenots wasn't so big anyway.
Like you said the Huguenots numbers weren't "that" big. So if he did it wouldn't make too much of a difference.
Louis XVI also still wanted New France to be the "model" society it was set up to be. His intent was for the Germans and English the be Francized in a generation or two. Instead of forming insular communities similar to American China Towns.
Allowing Huguenots settlement was discussed at ATL Versailles, leading to one of the officials saying, "[t]hey can settle in New France, after they convert."
Addendum: That's is not to say that if won't happen, it will happen before OTL Irish Emancipation did (relatively soon actually). But it won't have too much of an affect at the time and won't be much more than a footnote in history. (Sorry for all the double post, I should spend more time before responding.)
Don't know, with British population of N. America 10x larger and in the last war British troops besieging Quebec, not French troops New York, I would expect that any settler there would be worthy for France. And basicaly, with not many Huguenots in France by 1780s, why not do it- it will not cause some big problem for France.
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Ideology mostly, this is still pre-revolution. Not only would having non-Catholics in New France "mess-up" New France's "perfect" society experiment but they would have also been viewed it as a liability. Thinking that the Huguenots would cause unrest in the colony. And to be honest, they probably would have cause some, even if it was justified. Especially, with a more powerful neighbor to the south that would have an interest in drafting non-Catholics for their cause.
I'm guessing the Germans and English will eventually be assimilated, as Germans in the United States were (Pennsylvania for example used to have a lot of German speakers, but now the only German* speakers are the Amish)
*The Amish speak Pennsylvania Dutch, which isn't standard German. I called it German because it's close enough.
Many will, eventually. But the spoiler describes what they will be known for, even to the 21st century.
IV-2: A Third Fronde
Chapter 2: A Third Fronde
—c. AD 1789 – AD 1790—“Vive les balles de la Fronde !” [a]
Parliamentarian Rally Cry
Tuiles Day of the Tiles on June 7, 1788 in Grenoble [xxxii]
Parliamentarian Rally Cry
Tuiles Day of the Tiles on June 7, 1788 in Grenoble [xxxii]
Talk about the Count of Hannonville’s reforms filled the country, and none of it good. While most of the lower commoners were content to just grumble and continue as usual; this was not the case for everyone. There were a select few clergymen that felt that they needed to do their part for the kingdom but most felt threatened by the reforms. And while Pope Pius VI did not denounce the reforms by name many of the individual clergy took every opportunity to voice their dissatisfaction. By far the most discontent came from the nobility and the higher commoners, particularly the bourgeoise. The anger filled every coffeehouse in every city and sometimes spilled into the streets. With the most notable riots eventually happening in and around Paris.
It did not take long for the anger over the economic reforms to turn into anger over not being able to do anything about it. The higher nobility directed the protests to a call for restoring the parliaments. In July of 1789, the Bastille Riot [12] was the first major riot in Paris. The bourgeoise and higher nobles used pamphlets and public protests to whip the lower commoners into a frenzy. The resulting mob was directed towards the Bastille where the riot took place. This tactic proved to be quite effective in the short term. In October, the same year was the March on Versailles [13]. This brought King Louis XVI and the royal family to the Tuileries Palace in Paris. The move to Paris was supposed to be a show of solidarity with the people of Paris and of France as a whole. But the move did not stop protests.
In 1790, Louis XVI agreed to restore the parliaments, though he was warned not to. Even though it was not often stated it was well known that they main goal of having the parliaments restored was to revoke the economic reforms in their region, which would place France back into economic crisis. And to the surprise of no one the first thing that every parliament did was declare that all the new reforms except the sale of Church property were illegal in their respective regions, and the tax exceptions back to the clergy.
§
Individual nobles saw their chance to advance their positions. The realized that they can manipulate the king through protests and riots. So, the riots continued. After the restoration of the parliaments, they wanted control in the national government. Louis XVI was not, in principle, against creating a constitution and legislature. In July of the same year, Louis XVI revealed his plan for a constitutional monarchy and ended the Ancien Régime . Most of the plan was created by the Marquis of Lafayette, and an elected unicameral National Assembly was created. A plan was made to write a constitution soon was created.Chaos erupted in the streets of France. The National Assembly claimed that its role as part of the national government meant is superseded the regional parliaments. While the parliaments claimed that they ancient rights superseded any national government. While everyone was pretty much united against the economic reforms now divisions were everywhere. Political clubs come to dominate the landscape and they congregated into several factions:
- Ultraroyalists: This faction was more Ultraroyalist than the king, they advocated for a complete return to the Ancien Régime.
- Royalist: This faction was technically two factions that just had very similar goals; the first was supporting King Louis XVI, second was supporting a more British influenced constitutional monarchy.
- Federalist [14]: These progressives wanted a more liberal constitutional monarchy and wanted each region of France to operate as its own state in a larger federation. They also called for the abdication of Louis XVI; many Federalists had ties to the Duke of Orléans (they are sometimes referred to as Orléansts).
- Republicans [14]: These radicals called for the complete dissolution of the monarchy in favor of a republic.
In Paris, the Federalists and Republicans were the dominate two factions. The riots in Paris now focused directly at the king himself. Feared seemed to paralyze the king and most of the decisions were left to the Marquis of Lafayette, the new legislature, or the queen.
***
Figure 1: Ultraroyalist & Royalist Banner [xxxiii]
Figure 2: Federalist Banner [xxxiv]
Figure 3: Republican Banner [14], [xxxv]
Footnotes
a. fra: “Long live the bullets of the Fronde!”
b. fra: “Old Regime”
Endnotes
12. Despite taking place in the same location the Bastille was not demolished later in ATL
13. Not lead women in ATL
14. Most groups that made up these two factions mostly developed out of the Parliamentarians
15. In ATL there is no shortage of conspiracy theories trying to explain why the Republican Banner looks so like the Sons of Liberty Flag
12. Despite taking place in the same location the Bastille was not demolished later in ATL
13. Not lead women in ATL
14. Most groups that made up these two factions mostly developed out of the Parliamentarians
15. In ATL there is no shortage of conspiracy theories trying to explain why the Republican Banner looks so like the Sons of Liberty Flag
Debelle, Alexandre. Tuiles Day of the Tiles on June 7, 1788 in Grenoble. 1889. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Journée_des_Tuiles_(Alexandre_Debelle),_Musée_de_la_Révolution_française_-_Vizille.jpg. Accessed 28 November 2021.
self-made. Flag of France (1790–1794). 7 May 2018. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_France_(1790–1794).svg. Accessed 1 December 2021.
Slege. Catholic and Royal Army Flag of Vendée3. December 2019. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File
rapeau_Armée_Catholique_et_Royale_de_Vendée3.svg. Accessed 1 December 2021.
rapeau_Armée_Catholique_et_Royale_de_Vendée3.svg. Accessed 1 December 2021.
Hmm, without the US example of OTL, not so sure that there would be Federalists and Republicans in France.
Not many strong and sucessful republics and federations at the time.
Not many strong and sucessful republics and federations at the time.
Quite arguably there were no powerful republics in otl at that time either, especially from the French point of view.
Republicanism as a concept was no stranger to enlightenment thinkers prior to the United States.
As for federalism, ATL federalism isn't the same as otl French federalism, is very hard to find good sources on them though. Atl federalism is mostly made up of what was the more conservative parliamentarians.
I understand what you want to say about federalism- they are nobles that want more authonomy for old provinces and their parlaments? But maybe the name Federalists isn't the best?
About republicanism, not so sure, they were the fringe opinion, here with France more sucessfull, not sure that they will be too important.
About republicanism, not so sure, they were the fringe opinion, here with France more sucessfull, not sure that they will be too important.
I used the name federalist to allude to the OTL faction in the French Revolution (not the American one) as even though they are not the same they probably share many of the same people. Also (and I apologize if this sounds blunt it's not my intent) stronger regional governments is what a federation means.
As far as republicanism, it will become more clear next update.
No problem at all, I understand that. But the name for similar thing in say Spain was Carlists (for fueros of regions), not federalists. So, imho without US ITTL the name might be anachronous.
So I looked it up (not in a I have to be right way, but in you raised a legitimate concern and I checked it out way).
"Federation" was first used in English in 1721 from the Preexisting corresponding French word. And "federal" was first used in English in a political sense back in 1707 again coming from the preexisting French word. I couldn't find anything on the French words though I didn't spend a whole lot of time looking for them.
While you are right that in OTL the term didn't gain much popularity until the USA I would argue that this was partly because it wasn't needed.
If the term was anachronistic in the. political sense, I would have changed it. But since it isn't and I already used it throughout my notes I don't see it worth the trouble.
Sorry if it is distracting for you. Very very slight spoiler: Once Part IV is over there shouldn't be a need to distinguish between different French factions in this sense.
IV-3: Flight of the King
Chapter 3: Flight of the King
—c. AD 1790 – AD 1791—“All Children spurn their father at some point.”
Attributed to Louis XVI
Arrival of Louis XVI and Family, 1791[15], [xxxvi]
Attributed to Louis XVI
Arrival of Louis XVI and Family, 1791[15], [xxxvi]
During the conflict between the National Legislature and the parliaments, many political treatises and propaganda was printed. The Federalists and the Republicans dominated the printings, spinning the narrative that the kings had always repressed the French people. And that it was up to the nobility or the people themselves, respectively, to throw off the chains of tyranny.
All the treatises, propaganda, and riots came to fruition on the 14th of July AD 1790. The Prince of Broglie with the support of many other nobles and some bourgeoise accused Louis XVI of treason by undermining the ancient rights of the parliaments. While the government took the Prince of Broglie’s accusation seriously no one new how to proceeded. It was decided that the royal family would remain under house arrest until the proceedings could be decided on. Knowing that any trial in Paris would have been controlled by the Federalists and Republicans, Marie Antoinette made plans to flee the country with her family. She had been in secret contact with her brother, Leopold II of the Holy Roman Empire. Leopold II had been quite worried about the unrest in France, both for his sister’s safety and the consequences an unstable France would have on the empire. And the Emperor pledged aid if a full-scale rebellion ever broke out. After the royal family was placed under house arrest, he issued a threat to government of France that if any harm came to the king and his family that they would have to suffer the “consequences”. This threat was successful in delaying any action taken by the government, though it did not release them from their arrest.
The king’s arrest effectively removed the royal family out of any policy decisions. Without Louis XVI as common enemy, the National Assembly and the parliaments began to directly attack each other. The parliaments consisted almost entirely of Federalists, while the National Assembly consisted mostly of Republicans and a few Federalists, with only a few royalist members. The National Assembly declared itself as temporary sole government of France under the presidency of Abbé Sieyès [a]. The parliaments did not recognize this declaration and began to administer their regions directly as if they were actual legislative bodies. A few major cities tended to favor listening to the National Assembly, while other parts country followed their own parliament (the exception were those areas that refused to recognize the legitimacy of the king’s arrest).
On the 20th of June AD 1791, under the cover of night, the royal family escaped the Tuileries Palace. Dressed as commoners and riding in a large, but unadorned, carriage the royal family began their journey to Montmédy, a royalist stronghold. Their flight was not a secret as they had hoped. While their route was still unknown, their absence was discovered and the Marquis of Lafayette sent scouts out to find them. After several close calls, some cause by Louis XVI’s trust in the common people, the family arrived in Montmédy. By the time they had arrived, soldiers from both the National Assembly and the Parliament of Paris were following them. But the royalist militia were able to drive them away from the city without incident.
Upon hearing that Louis XVI had fled his arrest, the National Assembly dissolved itself. In its place, they formed the French Republic. In truth, the French Republic had just a provisional government. The republic was led by the Committee of Public Safety. The Republicans who created the committee knew that there would be difficult times to come. So, they did not attempt to create a full government yet, the safety of the republic was most important.
Footnotes
a. Abbot Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès
Endnotes
15. OTL: Arrest of Louis XVI and his Family, Varennes, 1791
xxxvi. (Marshall, 1854)
Marshal, Thomas Falcon. Arrest of Louis XVI and his Family, Varennes, 1791. 1854. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Arrest_of_Louis_XVI_and_his_Family,_Varennes,_1791.jpg. Accessed 18 December 2021.
IV-4: The Paris Commune
Chapter 4: The Paris Commune [a]
—c. AD 1791—“Liberté, égalité, fraternité”
Motto of the French Republic
La liberté [xxxvii]
Motto of the French Republic
La liberté [xxxvii]
The French Republic was created directly by the former National Assembly to serve as the new government of France. While there were plenty of ideas thrown around for a fully functional republic, the former National Assembly did not create one right away. The republic had very little influence outside of Paris itself. So, they knew that there was going to be a great deal of fighting to come. A provisional government was created and called the Committee of Public Safety. In addition to reforming France’s government, the republic sought to reform France’s culture. The Roman Republic became the new basis for the republic’s culture.
The Committee of Public Safety was an elective body, but the committee controlled virtually all aspects of government. Because of this the committee had unlimited and unchecked power (at least within in Paris). The Committee of Public Safety was made of Republicans and only one or two of Federalists. As soon as the Federalists assembled their own government, they placed the city of Paris under siege. Fear of spies and traitors was everywhere. The republic declared martial law in the city of Paris. Anything was sufficient to have someone tried as a traitor to the republic, especially have strong ties to the Catholic Church. There was only one punishment for traitors and that was execution by guillotine.
The Committee of Public Safety’s martial law was soon very unpopular among the common people of Paris. For a long time, the only thing prevented riots was fear and the Federalist army outside the gates. When a riot did breakout, it was followed by an increase in executions and stricter laws.
§
While mainland France was in the grips of a three-way civil war, Corsica tried something different. Led by Pasquale of Paoli, Corsica began a war of independence. While all three French factions would be at war with Corsica the Federalists would do most of the fighting. This was because they had the majority of the Mediterranean Fleet and most French supporters on Corsica were Federalists.***
|
|
| |
| Motto: | “Liberté, égalité, fraternité” (fra) (Liberty, equality, fraternity) |
| Anthem: | “It’ll Be Fine” |
| Capital & largest city: | Paris |
| Official language: | French |
| Religions: | Cult of Reason |
| Demonym: | French |
| Government: Head of State: | Unitary Authoritarian Republic None |
| Legislature: | Committee of Public Safety |
| Declared: | from the Kingdom of France 7 Fruitidor, Year I |
| Population: | 650,000 (estimate) |
| Currency: | French centime (¢) [19] |
When the French Republic was proclaimed, heraldry was abandoned as a symbol of the monarchy and of nobility in general. But having a symbol to represent their government was useful. The stylized monogram that would come to symbolize the republic would form the basis for state marks. These emblems would also draw inspiration form house marks and mason marks and would come to be used by most anti-noble governments. While stylized monograms are common, they are not limited to them. They are intentionally left undecorated to differentiate them from heraldry. And while they are generally colored, these colors have no value and are only there for artistic effect. |
Footnotes
a. A contemporary informal name for the French Republic
b. fra: “Liberty, equality, fraternity”
Endnotes17. In French the month is still named “Fructidor” it is just usually translated in ATL
18. The Republican Calendar uses the establishment of the non-provisional government as its starting epoch, years before then are referred to as Before the Republican Era (BRE); the other era is the Republican Era (RE) Before the Era of Liberty (BEL) and the other era as the Era of Liberty (EL)
19. Technically the centime was defined as a hundredth of a livre, but everything in the republic was written in terms of a centime
xxxvii. (Vallain, 1793-1794)
xxxviii. (Modified from source: Fry1989, 2010)
xxxix. (Modified from source: Hadaril, 2018), (Modified from source: Library of Alexandria, 2021), (Modified from source: Library of Alexandria, 2021), (Modified from source: Library of Alexandria, 2021)
Fry1989. Monogram of the French Republic. 10 December 2010. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Monogram_of_the_French_Republic.svg. Accessed 21 December 2021.
Library of Alexandria. Departments of the First French Republic in 1801. “The NextGen OTL Worlda Series.” alternatehistory.com, XenForo Ltd., 12 November 2021. Accessed 9 January 2022.
Library of Alexandria. Geometric Proposal for French Departments during the Revolution. “The NextGen OTL Worlda Series.” alternatehistory.com, XenForo Ltd., 27 November 2021. Accessed 9 January 2022.
Library of Alexandria. Kingdom of France in 1792. “The NextGen OTL Worlda Series.” alternatehistory.com, XenForo Ltd., 9 November 2021. Accessed 9 January 2022.
Vallain, Jeanne-Louise. La liberté. 1793-1794. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vallain-liberty.jpg. Accessed 10 January 2022.
[Edit: I literally just found right after posting this that the Republican calendar was supposed to have calendar eras, so the name have been changed to those]
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Board Games in the French Republic
The French Republic did not just want to change the French government, it wanted to change all aspects of French life. And board games were just another thing the Committee of Public Safety sought to change. The face cards in a playing card deck had royal symbols on them and this was unacceptable. The committee passed a law banning the printing of new cards using royal imagery, preexisting cards were still allowed as the committee wanted to encourage gambling and other “immoral” behavior as much as possible. The solution to this was to replace the face cards with personifications of republican virtues. The kings became the spirits/genies of war, peace, the arts, and commerce. Queens became the liberties of culture, marriage, press, and professions. And finally, jacks became the equalities of duties, rights, ranks, and “colors” [a] [19]. |
Footnotes
a. races
b. The spirit is assumed to be the spirit of something but that something is generally left undefined; the few instances where it is its usually called the spirit of revolution, or spirit of the republic
Endnotes
19. The renaming did happen in OTL; though it may not have been enforced by law
20. An OTL fairy chess piece
xl.(Modfied from source: Sunny3113, 2017)
Sunny3113. Commoner Transparent. 23 July 2017. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Commoner_Transparent.svg. Accessed 1 February 2022.
In addition to the playing card names, the chess game was inspired by chess set pieces I say that was made during the revolution. The only difference was that they removed the horse heads from the knights.
I promise that the next chess variant (probably in part VI) will actually have some bigger changes to it.