In Look to the West, France is one of the most powerful countries of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a main rival of Britain, Austria and Russia.

France's eighteenth century history is somewhat happier than OTL, as the French retained considerable conquests in India after the Second War of Supremacy and has built on this to provide a rich East India trade which has improved the French economy relative to OTL. France also retained Louisiana after the Third War of Supremacy, unlike our Seven Years' War, but lost the claimed hinterland in the following Second Platinean War, leaving only Nouvelle-Orléans and its environs, an area only slightly larger than the modern OTL US state of Louisiana.

Unlike OTL in which Louis XVI supported the United States against Britain in the American Revolutionary War, in TTL a longer-lived Louis XV supported Spain against the rebel United Provinces of South America. Although being on the losing side, France won several shock naval victories against Britain's Royal Navy and its economy was not as badly damaged as OTL.

The French Revolution still happened in TTL but it was delayed some years to 1794. The King at the time was King Louis XVI of France, not OTL's Louis XVI but his father, who in OTL died while he was still the Dauphin. The Revolution took on a bloodier character than OTL thanks to Linnaeanism and focused on ideas of racial supremacy as well as social levelling.

Unlike OTL, the Dauphin (equivalent to OTL's Louis XVI, but TTL's Louis XVII) managed to escape and, with the assistance of Leo Bone created a credible Royal France (in exile) which include the north-western part of Ludwig XVI's Kingdom.

1715-1776: Louis XV

1776-1795: Louis XVI (OTL's Dauphin Louis-Ferdinand)

1795-: Louis XVII (approximately OTL's Louis XVI; in exile 1795-1809, thereafter recognised as King of all France)

Royal France used a combination of the white royal banner and the blue armorial one - the use of which were standardised in exiled Royal France after the Revolution.

Royal banner:

General flag:

Revolutionary France's “Bloody Flag” was based on the one raised over the Bastille by L'Épurateur, the royal banner upside down and dipped in blood. The standardised flag was a plain red banner, sometimes with a black inverted fleur-de-lys and a slogan.

L'Épurateur's Bastille flag:

Standardised Bloody Flag:

Comparison of regimental flags:

The Royalist regime under Louis XVI in the Vendée and Brittany introduced the simplified single fleur-de-lys banner below as the official flag, recognising the power of a rallying national symbol. Heraldically this is called 'France Ultramodern' (as opposed to many fleur-de-lys 'France Ancient' and three fleur-de-lys 'France Modern').

Like Britain, France has an East India Company (called La Compagnie française des Indes orientales) which has done considerably better than OTL in India, partly due to not giving up Madras after the Second War of Supremacy and partly due to the absence of Robert Clive at Wandiwash. The FEIC supported Mysore for a long time before being stabbed in the back by the Tippoo Sultan, who favoured the Republican French - the FEIC remained loyal to Louis XVII. After this, the FEIC and BEIC reached a temporary rapproachment, with spheres of influence being agreed, and the BEIC assisted the FEIC in overthrowing Tippoo Sultan.

The FEIC's motto is Florebo quocumque ferar, meaning 'I shall flower wherever I am planted', as seen on its coat of arms:

1741-1780: Joseph François Dupleix

1780-1801: Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau

1801-1810: Julien de Champard (de facto)

1810-: Thierry de Missirien