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Of course, thank your for the reply.

First, I think I can call with certitude the revolution to have been very, veeeery destabilizing for Europe as a whole, the French monarchy, having ruled for a thousand years, being replaced by peasants with dangerous ideas about kings and emperors having no right to rule over the masses.

In my opinion I'd think the revolutionary fervor would have spread to Eisenkreis as it did the rest of Europe but I can see the French interpreting this 'non interventionism' as weakness and a sign of submission, leaving Eisenkreis alone, if for the wrong reasons. It would also fit in history as to why the French survived without having its butt kicked all over Europe at the end of the war, without having to take care of Austria-Hungary, that leaves a lot more room to kick Prussian butt.

I do not know if I have a monopoly over the whole revolution business but from what I think, since you cover Austria-Hungary and this country was known for being a racial and minority powder keg as it was still an empire covering many minorities, that even if France didn't intervene the revolutions would have rocked the boat a lot in the form of smaller ethnic based revolutions in the balkans for freedom from oppressors.

By all means send me a PM if you find it is needed, but I tend to speak about this in the OOC so others can add their inputs.

My ideas, although entirely up to you to accept or modify, would be as follow:

1: A major war with France that occurred during the revolutionary era, caused by France acting paternalist in Europe and wanting to weaken Eisenkreis for the simple sake of weakening it so that if it isn't a menace now, so that it never will be (No matter how isolationist you might be, you are still a big chunk of territory with a lot of manpower.) The aim of that war would be to 'free the minorities of the balkans' and thus transform Eisenkreis in yet another minor german state with no power in itself. I'd like for France to have won, but that victory could have had no meaning, a white peace with terms that Eisenkreis never actually followed but that allowed France to say that they had won and turn their attentions elsewhere. (Exemple: France forces Eisenkreis to have a parliament... which fills itself to the brim with royalists at the first election since they think the King does a good job rather)

2: The idea of maintaining the status-quo in Europe gets Eisenkreis to remain neutral and pressure smaller german states to do so as well, with this the coalition collapses and Britain and only watch France from the other side of the Channel and not do a thing. Since the entire Europe doesn't league itself against France, France doesn't have much reason to go berserk and mainly concentrate its hate at the british (like always). Although I'll admit I think this is a boring idea.

3: Napoleon tears Eisenkreis a new one and crumbles the entire thing into small republics easy to manage from Paris, the Eisenkreis nobility is temporarily exiled. When Napoleon dies and France almost goes in civil war, the nobility uses the distraction to make a triumphant return to their homeland and reform Eisenkreis without much opposition after a short interregnum, even more popular.

Overall, I seek a feel of France being the big bad boogeyman of the Monarchies across Europe, the reason why Kings and Emperors remember they can't treat their people like peasants as the world's greatest Guillotine exporter is just a stone throw away and that in general, the very existence of France would be an insult to the monarch of the world since it tells their peasants that if the taxes are too high, you can drag out the nobles in the dirt.

That and human rights, anti-slavery, equality movement and all that jazz being encouraged by the ultra liberal elite of France which, because of its cultural center of europe status, it constantly spreads around itself.
Democracy! Let liberty enlighten the world my friend, France stands with you! Probably!
I can change it, no problem. I envisioned this as the 1870 french army, a very, very good rifle in the form of the Chassepot rifle, easily outclassing every other rifle, but at the cost of having some inherant weaknesses in other parts of its army. France's failure were not technological, far from it, it was their doctrine. But I can downgrade as needed.

As for Indochina, unless Dai Nam went full scale industrialization (In which case I hardly see how the dutch or anyone really could have Asian colonies by that logic), I'd think there would still be a french presence there involving some vietnam like conflict, but while a whole lot of genocide and even more attrocities. After all, my france sees itself as a ridiculously egocentric nation that thinks its the best in the entire whole wide world, to be expelled by the natives in a colony would really complex them.

May I post?

EDIT: Also, any stance on the RP regarding chemical weapons?
Napoleonic and revolutionary wars, 1790-1815, plus I'd say that France would have strong armed Eisenkreis from time to time if Eisenkreis got involved in European politics: Wars in the balkans, Italy and so forth.

Unless you tell me that it would have had absolutely no involvement in the revolutionary era and would have mostly stayed isolationist afterward.


La Grande République Révolutionaire de France (The great revolutionary republic of France)

Territories:
France, North West Africa, Indochina (?) Madagascar, Caribbean islands & some northern Italian alp territories.

Government:
The heads of France are officially the 5 directors that hold executive power while legislative powers are held by the Conseil des 500 (Council of the 500, a congress of sort) and the Conseil des Anciens (Council of the ancients, the senate of sort). However, they their powers are often put in jeopardy by the military Junta formed by the Consuls, the 3 top generals of the Republic who control the army and which the directors really have no way of controlling.

Important Characters:
-Premier Consul Jean Charles Taillard: Military genius and man of the people, has little problem swaying the masses to his opinion and force the Directoire to act like his ideas are theirs as well.

-Deuxieme Consul François Bonaparte: Grand-son of the last first consul, he is popular but some see him as just a name without any experience. He is eager to show the world some tricks his mighty ancestor didn't bother to teach outside the family.

-Troisieme Consul François Denis Tronchet: No one really knows him outside the high level administration, but he is as influent or more than any Directeur or Consul, a silent clerk that is responsible for foreign politics when it doesn't involve the military or decorum, the one who orchestrated the disposal of the Madagascar nobility and who managed to stop the war with Japan and Britain over Indochina without it even starting.

-Directeur Bernard de Montesquieu: Seen by many other powers as a menace for peace, he is well known for using foreign diplomacy to serve interior motives. He doesn't want war like most people think, but he wants to portray the outside like a menace to keep France united against an enemy, create an image of it standing alone against the world, so to keep his power as absolute as possible.

-Directeur Robert Monpas: Also called 'The Guillotine', he is Montesquieu's shadow and a key factor in the current directors maintaining power for so long. Working with Tronchet, he makes sure to silence dissidence with the help of 'Madame Guillotine' by acusing people left and right of being anti-democratic counter revolutionaries.

-Directeur Pierre Louis Godet de Châtillon: An industrial of great power and also a face for the Parti Tricolore, Montesquieu's political formation, he is the head of the world's fashion industry, making sure France has the fast cars, the beautiful dresses and in general, making sure that anything French is Chique. He doesn't care much about politics, which is why he is so useful.

Economy:
France has an inherent advantage over the rest of Europe because it has its largest population, it however lacks well established heavy industries like Germany and the Netherlands, the leadership likes to think that it makes France more versatile and flexible. What France does have however is a name and a reputation. Anywhere in the world, the latest Fashion is French. If you have something that is Stylish like the Italian craft but durable like the german one, you buy french french french. Every year the french break the latest speed record for the race car and develops the fastest and most expensive airship which it will then sell, but only because they have something even faster and even more stylish in the work! For the military-industrial complex however, France has been at war so much that the state controls weapon product, although it hires private engineering farms to compete for the design. The production of Blue Coal in Indochina is a state run business as well and the colonies are mercilessly exploited by the home state for their resources. France doesn't hesitate to sell anything in its arsenal to anyone and anyone can have technical blueprints of their war machines, the extra money they gather more than makes up for it... they say.

Military:
The French have earned a hard fought reputation of invincibility in land warfare after defeating countless counter revolutionary leagues set up by England and have walked through Europe so many times that even the Prussians quiver in their boots and the Russians, even if they won't admit it, would think about it twice before going to war with the French again, having survived by the skin of their teeth and seeing Moscow burned down last time.

Some however would argue that this is the french weakness. They are numerous, superbly equipped and trained, but everyone knows their tricks, they show off their weapons and tactics so much it is easy to work around them: Overwhelmingly powerful artillery with the universally best infantry rifle can lead France only so far against tanks and airships.

-Consul Taillard is convinced of the superiority of the French forces and tries to build around its proven strategies.

-Consul Bonaparte thinks that the emphasis on heavy artillery and more fire power makes the army too static. Sure Napoleon was a heavy user of artillery, but it was flying batteries. The future is in tanks and fast airplanes, mobile infantries to outflank and maneuver.

-Consul Tronchet aims to make a middle ground and doesn't concern himself with the broader affairs of the military, he however developed the 'Commando' theory, small specialized units dropped from airplanes with parachutes or inserted at night with infiltration airships.

History:
In the wake of the revolution, against all odds the Directoire managed to hold on to power, forcing Austria and Prussia into peace, making Britain fall in its shadow times and times, no one being able to stand in its path. It was a rocky road to victory and many times France proved to be its own worst enemies, coup after coup being defeated and so many people going to the guillotine. When General Bonaparte created the Consulate to rein in the military the Directoire was found to be a convenient placeholder so the population could have someone to blame for the hardship they had to endure, Napoleon being the proud hero defending France from the foreigners while the Directory were the blundering and corrupt idiots that didn't know how much the high taxes were hurting.

After the disaster in Russia the regime was almost toppled but Bonaparte came back triumphant if only barely, intimidating the European powers as he walked on Berlin -again- and menaced Russia that it would go to Saint-Peterborough to set it on fire next. There was of course a lot of backdoor diplomacy to make the peace but it still looked like France had spat in the face of the world and as the French say that 'Only God himself could send the French back to France.' As the defeat in Russia was caused more because of the attrition than any real Russian military might.

In the years after France continued its constant meddling in European politics and colony building going to war here and there over trivial things to beat down the other powers, more to humiliate them and maintain France's reputation more than to conquer. After Napoleon died however there was some chaos as to whom would take his place as first Consul and the French were insulted when Bismarck managed to federalize the german states although without strong leadership they didn't go to war over it and when Taillard took power, the moment had passed.

Right now, the powers that be in france are aiming to antagonize everyone against the British for the next great war. Since they fail at this badly in Europe because of their habit of marching on the capital of lesser powers all the time, they look to the new Asian powers for alliances. If they will succeed is another thing entirely as they consider the Yellow Skins to be inferior by pure racism, saying that they could roll over China in a month if so they wished.
Afraid I cannot match this posting speed. Good luck on your journey guys.
Oh god, so many people. Uh, is the posting rate going to go even faster? Because if so I miiiiight have to get out (prefer doing it now rather than later when I'm really implicated in the plot.)
Actually I'll hold him in reserve for now, posting rate is quite high.
![enter image description here](http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/192/9/2/knight_colored_by_fallen_sun-d56vcx4.jpg "enter image title here") **Name:** Gilbert Cromwell **Race:** Human **Age:** 17 **Alignment:** Knights **Personality:** - Is often considered sheepish by his fellow knights, often going with the decision of the majority and not overly eager to be on the spot light and under stress he is often one of the first to advocate caution or 'tactical retreat'. Another quirk to him is that many see him as a mage sympathizer and although it is rare for him to voice his concerns, he doesn't approve of paladins that see themselves as superior from the populace or those that see mages as less than nothing, believing that the Order could turn out to be another tyranny at any time if it should take a wrong turn, with all the power it has. **Bio: ** - Born in a miserable village of dirt farmer, his family was always one bad harvest away from ruin and when said bad harvest happened, he was sent with his siblings to the capital to try and enroll in the Paladins. He had one older sibling that had engaged before him as Gilbert wasn't of age at the time and had become a paladin only to be killed while Gilbert was still in training. None other than him and his dead brother would have made it ultimately in the ranks of the paladins and even there, for Gilbert he was a hair away from failure, not being outstandingly good like other applicants. He's in it for the warm food and the pay, not for the honor or because of a hate of mages. **Initial spells/techniques: ** - Deprivation of 6th sense: Something learned out of his desire to survive rather than killed, this technique allows him to remain unseen by magical means as well as not to trigger the human instinct when they are being observed. Makes him good for waiting in ambushes and to scout ahead. - Sensory Abilities: By concentrating, he is able to sense faint traces of magic common with mind control, curses and other subtle effects. Doesn't allow him to counter them though. - Negation Surge: Rather than creating a passive shield of negating energy, Gilbert creates a surge of this energy as he, for example, shield bashes a fire ball, allowing him to deal with higher level of magical powers at the cost of severely limiting his ability to weather multiple attacks at the same time. **Skills: ** - Expert Runner: Adept at dodging obstacles and putting distance between he and his enemies, he is probably the fastest paladin of the entire order, as this is generally not a skill others bother to hone. - Slow but Steady: When he wishes to remain undetected, Gilbert does rather well for himself and his natural skills at hidding or moving silently go hand to hand with his Deprivation of 6th Sense ability. - Trapsmith: He is good at seeing, making and disarming traps, something he got from poaching in the forest with his father to put something on the table. - Tracker: Again something gotten from his hunter days to spot tracks used by animals to set up traps, works well to find the traces of humans and mages as well. **Combat strategy: ** - It is not often you see a Paladin run away but it is his specialty, considering his low morale and average combat skills, his allies prefer to send him as a scout, keep him up front to follow tracks and look for traps or send him back to warn or message others for reinforcement. Still, when he has to fight, he'll generally try to fight alongside someone to help them by blocking the opponent or to bother him by making safe attacks behind his shield with no other aim than to distract for his ally to score a killing hit. **Unique equipment: ** - Munition Armor: Mass Produced armor of very low quality compared to that of the best paladins, it is more often than not seen on mercenaries helping merchants without enough importance to have paladin protection, it still allows for more maneuverability and Gilbert enjoys the fact that this low quality metal doesn't shine while you sneak and doesn't attract attention like the fancy custom armors of many others during the battle. - Unremarkable Crossbow: Unpopular in the knights due to how easy it is for a peasant to use and still cause considerable damage to armored foe, Gilbert hardly care about honor when this tool can allow him to save his and his companion's life. - Hardly Special Shield: Shield without color made of metal, it is still a good one and its rather cutting edges can make for surprising moves in combat.
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