France

France is a country in the West of Europe and a member of the European Union. It is the neighbour of Spain,  Andorra, Monaco,  Italy,  Switzerland,  Germany, and  Belgium. It has access to the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and to the Channel.

France is not the most popular character compared to Russia or the  United States but still have a place in the fans' hearts.

Appearance
France is often wearing cliché French clothes such as a striped jersey, red scarf, and beret (you'll never see a French person wearing these three things at the same time. Also, the beret that most French people wear is not the one you usually see on France but instead a slightly different one, the Basque beret). France is the strongest of the SPQR countries, it is short-legged and its height is the same as that of Spain. France is depicted as both a man and a woman, but their leaning gender is female.

As a woman, she's often shown wearing a black dress with a matching wide-brimmed hat. She's also represented with a military suit of commanders of the First French Empire.

Personality
France is often shown as a very sensible and romantic person. They also rebel more because of the protest march as the one of the "gilet jaune" the French Revolution and May 68. They are tired that everyone associates them to the white flag because of World War 2 while they won many other battles. This cliché is not very old, it dates back to when they refused to support the USA in the Iraq war, which annoyed the USA who began making fun of France for surrendering during WW2; they even changed the name of french fries to freedom fries (even if french fries are not from France but Belgium).

They are often sad but hide it and are rarely satisfied with what they got.

They are often seen complaining, but it's because of their strong ability to want equality everywhere due to wanting to better themselves because the guilt of past experiences (the French revolution) but they are also very proud of themselves. France often takes a break to go on strike when something displeases them, but since many things annoy France, things don't really move for them.

They are pretty proud of their knowledge and are always ready to talk about their culture. Some are saying they are egocentric, while France says "It's not our fault if we have such a beautiful land, culture, and cuisine."

France is attached to is "Sécurité Sociale" (most of the medical cost are paid by it), free public schools and five weeks of paid leave, but at the same time, it costs a lot of money (that's why the public debts reach 100% of the GDP).

Interests
France is into football, like Spain, and is very proud of their two victories in 1998 and 2018, tennis, petanque and bicycling (Tour de France). France loves cooking and food, especially baguettes (bread in general), cheese and wine which they're really proud of. But they are tired of everyone giving them credit for the invention of French fries (Belgian) and croissant (Austrian). They have really good food like the quiche Lorraine, the Boeuf Bourguignon, and the crêpe!

Some say France loves smoking cigarettes, although they're trying to give it up as they want to make a good impression and become healthier.

France has a weird obsession for frogs and snails (they eat so many snails now it's a protected species). They dearly love their Gallic Rooster.

Never steal the baguette, NEVER.

Flag meaning
The blue and the red are the colours of Paris, the white the colour of nobility. They surround the white to show the power of the people on the aristocratic. This flag was adopted in 1794 and inspired by the three coloured cockades. It is called "Le Drapeau Tricolore", literally traduced by "The three-coloured flag".

Others symbols
France has many other important symbols like their anthem "La Marseillaise", which talks about killing enemies (sometimes they wonder if is not a little too violent). This song was written in 1792 by Rouget de Lisle, not for the French Revolution but for war declared by the king on the Austrian Empire. It was originally a song for the soldiers and called "Chant de Guerre pour l'armée du Rhin" (="war song for the Rhine Army"). This song was picked up during the Republican soldiers during the insurrection of the Tuilerie in august 1792 coming from Marseille, that is why it is now called "La Marseillaise". It became so popular that it was chosen to be the national anthem in 1795.

The Gallic rooster (initially used by the Gallic as you can guess), because they wanted their majestic bird and everyone was already using the eagle. The rooster is the king of the barn, it yells very loudly to show how wonderful and proud he is (not such a surprise France chose him).

Marianne, the allegory of the French Republic, a woman wearing a Phrygian cap with a tricolor cockade. It's not her on the painting "La liberté Guidant le people" but Liberty's allegory!

The motto "Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood" which resumes France's values (even if they are far from reaching it).

France celebrates their national day on July 14th, but does the data relating to the storming of the Bastille of the Festival of the Federation? France themselves doesn't know.

Nicknames
The most popular of them is "L'Hexagone"("The Hexagon") because of the geography of the country, the borders fit in a hexagon (it doesn't work if you include the overseas territory).

Etymology
France comes from the Latin "Francia", which means "land of the Franks".

First Republic
1792-1794

Second Republic
1848-1852

Third Republic
The Third Republic started after the defeat of the French army under Napoleon III which was beaten by Prussia the 2 September 1870 in the battle of Sedan. Under the Third Republic was implemented the obligatory, free and secular school until 12 years old (mostly to teach the love of motherland and the desire of revenge on Prussia). It re-establish the Masculin universal suffrage who existed already in the Second Republic but disappeared under the Second Empire, the right to join a union and the freedom of the press.

Dreyfus affair
In 1984 the captain Dreyfus is accused of selling military information to the German Empire, but he was innocent, the fact is that we accuse him because he was a Jew and there was huge antisemitism maintain since centuries. Dreyfus was downgraded and imprisoned, and the debate between the ones who were supporting the innocence of the man, names the "Dreyfusard", and the ones who were accusing him, named the "Anti-Dreyfusard", divided the whole country. The true traitor was founded, it was the major Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy, and judged in 1897 but the army didn't want to lose face so the real culprit was declared innocent.

In 1998 the author Emile Zola wrote an open letter published in the journal "L'Aurore" named "J'accuse...!" which rekindled the discussion. Dreyfus finally received the presidential pardon and was reintegrated in the army as a major in 1906. This event which marked the Third Republic resulted in the law of secularism which separates the Church from the state and the freedom of religion.

First World War
There was tension in Europe, every country knew the war was not that far to happens. The 28 June, in 1914, the murder of the Austro-Hungarian heir Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo by a Serbian student cause the war: the Empire of Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. The Shifting of alliances engages many countries in the war, on France's side (at the beginning): United Kingdom, Serbia, Russia, on France's enemy side: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire.

Germany arrived in France by passing through Belgium but get stopped during the battle of the Marne in September 1914, after that Belgium declared war on Germany. Trench warfare started in 1915, the same year Italy change to join France and its allies.

During February 1916 Germany start a massive offensive at Verdun which cost a lot to French and British on the front. To try to relieve Verdun the Triple Entente start the 1rst July starts the "Bataille de la Somme" which is deadlier than Verdun (700 000 deaths on both sides) without any side being able to win territory. Verdun will be a victory for the Triple Entente while the other won't have a winner.

In 1917, Russia left the war because of the communist revolution. Lenine got the power and removed the country from the war with the Treaty of Brest Litovsk. The same year, the United States joined France and United Kingdom side, under the excuse that Germans asking a submarine full of citizens, while the real reason was France and United Kingdom owned a lot of money to the USA and so the country was afraid of never seeing its money back if they lose.

Second World War
France and UK warned  Germany that if he invades  Poland, they would enter the war. Germany had ignored the warning and stepped into Poland on the first of September of the year 1939. The Allies decided first to drill the frontier but then decided to stay behind the Maginot Line, because of the fear of a warlike WW1, counting on Belgium to resist. They waited for 8 months, from September 1939 to May 1939, it's the "phony war". But with the USSR giving supplies to Germany, the Allies blocks became inefficient and Germany passed by Belgium and then arrived in the North of France. Allies were cornered at Dunkerque and many soldiers were saved by the operation dynamo. France was defeated in five weeks, it the debacle. France changed its government (Paul Reynaud was replaced by the Marshall Petain) and signed the Armistice. Being no longer in the fight with the Allies.

Provisional Government of the French Republic
After the liberation, the country is at the edge of a civil war. During this period French try to punish in their own ways, there were around 20 000 women were shaved and humiliated by the peer for having relation with the enemy and around 10,000 people were executed without judgment. To avoid more death the government organized many courts of justice and the "Résistancialisme" saying that only the government and a few French collaborated with nazis, all the rest of France was part of the Resistance. Every document concerning Vichy was classified defense so no Historian could prove the contrary. (still on work)

First Indochina War
The First Indochina War (also known as the French Indochina War),  which lasted from December 19, 1946, to August 1, 1954, was a major conflict in the Asian region known as Indochina, which consisted of modern nations in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, the war was fought by France ( the long-time colonial ruler of Indochina), and the Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Lao Communist rebel forces. The First Indochina War ended with a French defeat after a French army surrendered to the Vietnamese rebels in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954.

France began her conquest of Indochina in 1859, and by 1885, she controlled most of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, the Vietnamese resistance to French rule continued and stopped in the decades between the French invasion and the beginning of WWII, in 1940, Japan invaded Indochina and defeated the French, a Vietnamese resistance movement fought the Japanese occupation, and after Japan's defeat in 1945, the Vietnamese resistance was hoping for independence from the returning French.

After Japan surrendered in the autumn of 1945, British forces occupied southern Vietnam, while Chinese national forces disarmed the Japanese in northern Vietnam. After the French forces returned to control Indochina, they quickly clashed with the Vietnamese resistance forces, and the conflict grew to include all Indochina French, the war eventually reached its climax in 1954 with the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, in which the communists defeated the Vietnamese army and forced the surrender of nearly 12,000 French soldiers, this defeat led the French to negotiations that resulted in a peace treaty that led to the independence of Cambodia and Laos and the eventual division of Vietnam into two independent states, usually referred to as South Vietnam and North Vietnam.

Algerian War of Independence
Warning, the following part is about a sensible part of History

Algeria wanted her independence since France was treating the natives as inferiors to the Europeans but France didn't want to let her have her independence because it was mainly a settlement colony and it had a lot of resources to take. In 1945 the riots of Setif for independence were repressed by the French government.

On November, 1st 1954, started the Algerian war of independence which was at this moment a part of the colonial Empire, marked by the 30 attacks of the "Red All Saints days". They sent their army to fight Algerian National Liberation Front who's was using guerrilla warfare since the fight was imbalanced. At first, France refused to recognize it as a war because they know what the other countries and especially the UN would think about this colonial war.

In 1955 France insured emergency situation in Algeria which gave more right of the police, but the situation got worse in 1957 with the battle of Alger because the soldiers got all the rights to get information (as torture).

French forces (which increased to 500,000 troops) managed to regain control but only through brutal measures. The ferocity of the fighting sapped the political will of the French to continue the conflict.

Algerian War of Independence
The firth Republic succeeded in the Fourth Republic on October 4th, 1958. It reinforced the power of the president (this change was encouraged by Charles de Gaulles) and established the direct universal suffrage for the president. The Algerian War was one of the causes since it created a crisis that the Fourth Republic couldn't handle anymore. In 1959 Charles de Gaulle declared that the Algerians had the right to determine their own future, despite terrorist acts by French Algerians opposed to independence and an attempted coup in France by elements of the French army. An agreement was signed in 1962, France lost her colony and Algeria became independent.

Government
France is a democratic republic that has the particularity to have some aspect from the parliamentary system and presidential system at the same time.



Geography
France is the third biggest country in Europe, it's the total area is amount 643 801 km² (including overseas territory). This country has been centralized during the XII century so the power is concentrated in the capital, Paris. The country is divided into regions, which are divided into departments. Regions (mainland France only):
 * Hauts-de-France
 * Grand Est
 * Ile-de-France
 * Normandy
 * Brittany
 * Pays de la Loire
 * Centre Val de Loire
 * Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
 * Nouvelle-Aquitaine
 * Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
 * Occitanie
 * Provence-Alpes-Côtes d'Azur
 * Corse

Oversea territories
France is not only composed of the Hexagone, but it also has many overseas regions (which as different degrees of autonomy from France) such as Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Réunion, Mayotte. These are like the other regions but can benefit from special laws.

There are also overseas collectivities (they have a semi-autonomous status) such as French Polynesia (it has a great degree of autonomy since it has its own president), Wallis and Futuna, Saint Martin, Saint Barthélemy and Saint Pierre and Miquelon.

Family

 * Macedonian Empire — great grandparent or parent (depends on the person)
 * Roman Empire — great grandparent or parent (depends on the person)
 * Greece — half-sibling or parent (depends on the person)
 * Italy — sibling or parent (depends on the person)
 * Portugal — sibling
 * Romania — sibling
 * Spain — sibling — "A good neighbor and a great person to chat with about fashion!"
 * Armenia — aunt/uncle
 * Georgia — aunt/uncle
 * Germany — actual spouse (depends on the person)
 * Cyprus — half-sibling or nibling (depends on the person)
 * Austria — sibling-in-law
 * Bulgaria — sibling-in-law
 * Ireland —  sibling-in-law
 * Sweden — sibling-in-law
 * United Kingdom — ex-spouse and sibling-in-law (depends on the point of view, some will consider them as France's actual spouse)
 * San Marino — nibling or sibling (depends on the person)
 * Vatican City — nibling or sibling (depends on the person)
 * Malta — nibling or sibling (depends on the person)
 * Belgium — child
 * Canada — child
 * European Union — child
 * Monaco — child
 * Switzerland — child
 * Andorra — nibling
 * United States — nibling/stepchild
 * Antarctica — nibling
 * Moldova — nibling
 * Netherlands — nibling
 * Australia — great-nibling/stepchild
 * New Zealand — great-nibling/stepchild

Optional
'''WARNING: There is controversy about the type of relationship of countries that were former European colonies with the current Western countries. So the following countries are only optional:'''
 * Benin — child
 * Burkina Faso — child
 * Cameroon — child
 * Central African Republic — child
 * Chad — child
 * Comoros — child
 * Gabon — child
 * Guinea — child
 * Haiti — child
 * Ivory Coast — child
 * Lebanon — child
 * Laos — child
 * Madagascar — child
 * Mali — child
 * Mauricio — child
 * Mauritania — child
 * Monaco — child
 * Niger — child
 * Congo Republic — child
 * Senegal — child
 * Seychelles — child
 * Togo — child
 * Vanuatu — child
 * Vietnam — child
 * Algeria — stepchild
 * Tunisia — stepchild
 * Morocco — stepchild
 * Syria — stepchild
 * Argentina — nibling
 * Bolivia — nibling
 * Chile — nibling
 * Colombia — nephew
 * Costa Rica — nibling
 * Cuba — nibling
 * Dominican Republic — nibling
 * Ecuador — nibling
 * El Salvador — nibling
 * Equatorial Guinea — nibling
 * Guatemala — nibling
 * Honduras — nibling
 * Mexico — nibling
 * Nicaragua — nibling
 * Panama — nibling
 * Paraguay — nibling
 * Peru — nibling
 * Philippines — nibling or sibling-in-law
 * United States — nibling/stepchild
 * Venezuela — nibling
 * Angola — nibling
 * Brazil — nibling
 * Cape Verde — nibling
 * São Tomé and Príncipe — nibling
 * Mozambique — nibling
 * East Timor — nibling
 * Guinea-Bissau — nibling

Friends

 * Japan
 * Malaysia
 * Thailand
 * Luxembourg — "Close friend"
 * Scotland — "Old friend"
 * United Kingdom
 * Germany 
 * Luxembourg

Neutral

 * Belgium
 * Chad
 * India
 * Israel
 * Lebanon
 * Morocco
 * Russia — "Not really a good friend"
 * Switzerland
 * China
 * United States

Enemies

 * England
 * USSR
 * Third Reich
 * Algeria — "A very complicated past they can't forget"
 * Mexico
 * Malta
 * North Korea
 * Venezuela
 * Iran
 * Western Sahara
 * Cameroon

Past Versions

 * Gaul
 * Kingdom of the Franks
 * Carolingian Empire
 * Kingdom of France
 * First French Republic
 * First French Empire
 * Second French Republic
 * Second French Empire
 * Third French Republic
 * Free France
 * Vichy France (enemy)
 * Fourth French Republic

United Kingdom
The love story started when they were colonizing many countries, this resulted in them marrying and having a child, Canada. However, they broke up later, when Canada was young and the UK has to raise their child alone. The UK married France's sibling, Spain. Despite that, France seems to have a strong relationship with the United Kingdom because of what they went through together (alliance during the first and the second World Wars). The love feeling evolved in a sort of strange affection. There was a sort of romantic tension until France married Germany. It can be stormy when it's about Jersey and Guernsey, and they often argue about it.

Germany
When Germany was the Holy Roman Empire and France was the Kingdom of France, they had a child (Switzerland). However, when both countries became Prussia and the French Empires, both were confronted and highly listed. When Prussia became the German Empire, both tried to reestablish their relations through the "Peace through strength". In addition, it was in the Belle Époque where a romance began to be born between the two, despite political problems, and even tried to comfort each other numerous times, which, the United Kingdom disliked. In fact, they had a child (Belgium). Unfortunately, at the beginning of World War I, France and Germany returned to distrust each other because of foreign support. People also like to ship France and Germany, which creates a rivalry between Germany and the United Kingdom. It becomes unhealthy when it is about Nazi Germany because of the occupation. But after this their willpower to not fight each other again made them become friends and even more. Germany is France's spouse and they care a lot for each other - they were close enough to have a child, the European Union who is charged to keep peace and cohesion in Europe.

England
Do not confuse the United Kingdom with England. England and France have always hated each other and won't miss an occasion to make fun of each other. France nicknames England "Rosbeef" referred by the color of their army and the joke that there is no sun in England so when English people try to tan they get a sunburn instead. While England calls France "Froggies" referred to the fact France likes to eat frog's legs. But even with these difficulties and their past (the Hundred Year War's), they have tried to improve their relationships.

Scotland
Their friendship date back from the 13th century, mainly because of the fact they both hated England, with the Auld Alliance: if one country was attacked by England, the other had to help him. Apart from that, they helped each other during numerous battles. France loves Scotlands' whiskey and landscapes.

Japan
France is fascinated by Japan thanks to the manga and anime which were massively imported in the '80s and '90s and still very popular. This fascination is on both side, Japan keeps a very romantic and sophisticated image of France. . France is still at ease with the manji, which has a good meaning in Japan, but reminds dark times to most of the countries of Europe.

Belgium
France and Belgium love making fun of each other, there is a debate between them about how to say 70, 80, and 90 (French is one the official language of Belgium, not the only one). But despite this, they still like each other. France and Belgium treat each other well. Since they are family. But France has their moments, and sometimes gets upset at Belgium for no darn reason. And yes, if you've heard the dumb jokes about fries, Belgium and France debate about who made them.

United States
France and Spain helped the United-States to win the war of Independence and gave them Lady Liberty to celebrate their victory. The United-States was a precious help during the first and second World Wars, with the Allies he freed France from the German occupation.

The two countries used to have good relations until France used their veto power against the decision of USA to declare war to Iraq in 2003 which surprised, not in a good sense, him who after that started anti-french propaganda (we can date the beginning of the surrender cliché to this period). The two countries still cooperating, but there is always tension between them.

Canada
Canada is France's child, and France loves them very dearly. The two of them have a lot of parent-child outings, all the while speaking French of course, but the language developed in different ways for them which sometimes brought confusion and misunderstanding, but they also found each other's accent very funny. France is somewhat over-protective of Canada since they deeply regret how they abandoned Canada, even if it was a long time ago (France gave up Nouvelle-France (aka Canada) to England, little by little).

European Union
EU is France's child, and France cares about them deeply and expects France will be able to keep peace in Europe.

Italy
Italy is their sibling, but it's very complicated between them for a long time for many reasons (not only historical, but actual disagreement between the two governments). They always have been rivals in terms of art in every form (painting, food, etc).

Considering Italy is more a parent than a sibling, France usually sees Italy as their parent figure, like the other European Latin countries, due to the strong influence of the Roman Empire.

Switzerland
France is absolutely crazy about Switzerland's raclette and chocolate, Switzerland can't eat one of these without hearing France coming, they share their love of skiing. France cares a lot about her and really protective of her, even if they know that Switzerland is far from inoffensive.

Spain
Spain is France's sister/brother, they get along very well even if Spain married France's ex, they avoid to talk about it because it gets weird. France likes Spain's music. They often talk about how the USA can be unbearable when he started making jokes about them, but they still love him anyway because he's still a little boy to them. In the past, they had a turbulent relationship, but that has been put aside by them for a long time. In addition, Spain feels very grateful for the French cultural influence that her sister gave her. Both countries have supported each other to overcome internal problems. France and Spain have shared a historic enmity with the United Kingdom and also share a deep grudge against England and its nearby dependent territories (Jersey, Guernsey, and Gibraltar). In addition to supporting Celtic nations against England (Scotland and Ireland). The two enjoyed bullying Italy in the past when they were young. Spain is proud of France for its marriage and leadership with Germany. Sometimes, she is excited to see France so happy. The bilateral relations between Spain and France are excellent. Its main content is given by the area related to the European Union, in which the two countries share common positions on many issues and in which framework there are frequent contacts between the authorities of both. France and Spain often discuss their hobbies. For example, Spain loves Warner Bros. and Nintendo while France likes Disney and SEGA. Basically, Spain and France are represented as twin siblings with different tastes. Both countries are responsible for the defense and care of Andorra.

Malaysia
France helps Malaysia to be fully developed. Two of Malaysia's submarines built in Spain and France shipyard. France even gives grants and scholarships to Malaysian students if they want to study there. Both of their relationships mainly towards security and defense.

Luxembourg
France considers Luxembourg a good and close friend, the relationship between them has seen several conventions and treaties, they're now pursuing constructive dialogues on major European issues, whether with respect to the fight against climate disruption, the resources provided to the EU or the reform of the Schengen Area, along with her supporting for the strengthening of bilateral and cross-border cooperation with him in order to promote the balanced development of their regions.

Thailand
Even if their relationships didn't start well (they fought in 1839 and 1940), they are now getting well. France really loves to travel to Thailand's territory (but sometimes it make Thailand a little tired).

Algeria
This relationship is really weird and complicated, it's not healthy or good at all, they try to avoid meeting each other, but this often happens. France tries to show her step-daughter that she has changed and is no longer interested in colonialism as she was before, but Algeria seems not convinced. Many won't be surprised if they see them quarreling over the "Black" past that happened between them because this often happens, sometimes because of her daughter's claim that her step-mother stole from her lands lots of her valuable property -such as the skulls of the martyrs- during the war between them -Algeria says that the most of the properties in the French museums are actually owned by her, so they're still debating about that-. France can't deny that she really was an awful step-mother to her, but at the same time she can't apologize for everything she had done to her, or else she will have to return many of her valuable properties of Algerian origin and many other things that will cost her immense wealth. Currently, there are doubts from the step-daughter that her step-mother returned to seeing her as a French colony, that's due to her constant interference in her internal and external issues, but France denied all these doubts and accusations, later, lots of evidence emerged proved that this suspicion is true, but she also denied them and stated that they were forged and news media tricks to set her up. There is no reliable news about this matter, as the rumors made the matter worse, that suspicion persists so far.
 * She's the biological mother of lots of Algerian provinces such as Tiaret and Algiers

Western Sahara
France believes that the decisions of her step-son Morocco and his attitudes towards his adopted daughter Western Sahara makes sense and in their place, that annoyed Western Sahara and made her take a bad idea about her, she finds her reaction more like a "childish actions", so she tried to make her understand her point of view, believing she's right, Western Sahara didn't want to behave like an adult, according to France's statement, currently, their relationship is not good, so they're enemies.

Trivia

 * These are not factual, and more about what the Countryhumans community think.


 * France creates a lot of ship controversy in the fandom. It is almost as if the fandom is divided into two whether to ship UK and France or Germany and France. For some, the UK is considered as the ex-husband of France while Germany is depicted as their actual husband, while for the others France never stopped to be with the UK.
 * France is depicted in a lot of drawings with the stereotypical baguette, wine, and croissant.
 * France is often shown to resolve any conflict by striking (if it's inside of the country) or by surrendering (if it's external aggression).
 * France is the most visited country in the world, before Spain.
 * Similar to the case of Portugal and Spain, French fans don't consider Latin Africa as "family" of France. This is also due, if viewed from the real political perspective, to which France is a European country and is "the West". Therefore, relations with the rest of the European countries, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States will always be more important than with any Latin African country. Latin African countries tend to be more linked to "the Middle East".
 * France is sometimes blamed for being the country responsible for slavery in the DR Congo. This is a serious mistake since it was Belgium that colonized that African area (what was the "Belgian Congo").