Earlier Permanent Settlement of New France

[Viriato]

Throughout June and July 1791, the Palais-Royal in Paris, a large complex of cafes, theatres, and gardens under the proprietorship of the Duc d'Orleans had become focal point of the criticism of the government. The Palais soon emerged a gathering place of crowds, who came to hear about the latest events and to discuss political ideas. The Palais served as a centre of rapidly growing seditious newspaper, pamphlet, and book trades, and many of these attacked the Queen, the Comte d'Artois, the Polignacs, and Prince of Conti. Others mocked the Canadian troops as brutish simpletons, causing resentment on the part of the Canadian and Acadian Guards. Additionally, orators began debating the public happenings, with the Palais serving as an outlet from the repression in the rest of the city.

By early July, the Third Estate was attempting to persuade the other two orders to sit together as a single legislative assembly. The king was in favour of maintaining their separation, and despite negotiations with the other two estates, the merger was aborted. On Monday 20 July, the Third Estate declares themselves to be the National Assembly, and that all current taxes are merely provisional, the revolt against the royal prerogative had begun. The king however, was unwilling to accept these decrees, and therefore ordered the Estates suspended while he retired to the Chateau of Fontainebleau, laying just to the south of the city with the royal family. The Third Estate refused to disband, and joined by much of the clergy and some of the nobility, its members met at the theatre of the Palais Royal in Paris, on Wednesday 23 July. The Comte d'Artois and others at court encouraged the King to take military action, but Louis XVI preferred to avoid bloodshed, and was more prudent. Instead, he made his way to Paris on 27 July, where he decided to appear before the Assembly in an attempt to persuade them to return to Versailles. Though he had the Palais surrounded by guards, he was met with silence as the communes (commons) refused to leave, and the king relented, allowing them to stay. The king now appeared weak, and returned to Versailles, only having emboldened the resolve of the deputies. In Paris, the French Guards whom were supposed to be loyal to the king began to declare their support for the National Assembly as they were greeted with shouts of "vive nos camarades". They also began to wear red and blue cockades, and fly red banners, long a symbol of popular revolts against the royal authority. Additionally, Camille Desmoulins, an orator at the Palais-Royal called for the arming of the Parisiens and the storming of the Bastille and Abbaye prisons, and created a blue and red cockade, which soon became the symbol of popular revolt.

At Versailles, the mood became one of despondency as many at court felt that the king needed to crush the revolt by any means necessary. There was constant talk in Paris of a coup being planned by the Queen and her conspirators, but these appear to have been unsubstantiated. Meanwhile, as revolts spread throughout the kingdom, the Comte d'Artois along with many other allies of the queen left France all together, among these were the Polignacs. The Marquis de Vaudreuil himself advised the king and the royal family to go to Rouen and leave the Paris region all together, but the king refused. As a result, the Marquis asked for complete control over the king's guards, which included some 40,000 men, mostly from New France, Switzerland, Flanders and Germany. This reliance on "foreigners" would be another cause for criticism of the court.

Five days after Louis XVI had gone to Paris, at the suggestion of the Queen, he decided to fete the arrival of additional Canadian and Acadian troops from Brest to Versailles with a series of grand banquets. Though the members of the court had initially viewed the colonials as unfit for combat, with reports coming form Paris, they began to rely on the colonials as their last defence. Additionally, many of the men were the fina flore of Canada's seigneurial system and were on average much taller than the French soldiers, and were veterans of the Indian campaigns in New France. At the banquets, the ladies of the court gave the troops from New France white cockades which they proudly wore, and proceeded to stomp on the Parisian red and blue cockades. Word of this reached Paris and within a few days mob violence in the capital began, including the attacking of two Canadien priests. The fear of an imminent attack by the foreign and colonial troops on Paris led many to believe that they must form an organised resistance

On the afternoon of 1 August 1791 the mobs began growing at the Place de Grève, and sacked the city hall. Afterwards, as the crowd grew, they marched towards Les Invalides, taking thousands of muskets, but little ammunition from the military barracks. As the rabble grew, they made their way towards Versailles, demanding to see the king. The crowd continued to grow and the French Guards did nothing to stop them. Many in the mob were women, whom had been affected by the increase in the price of bread. Additionally, a large number were men armed with pitchforks and bayonets. Aware of the impending mob, however the Marquis de Vaudreuil, now leader of the Maison Militaire do Roi had assembled a cordon of troops to protect Versailles, along with many in the Bois du Boulogne, hoping to send the mob of 10,000 back.

Plunder of Les Invalides

 

[Viriato]

1 August 1791- La révolution commence...

As the hoards of peasants marched through Paris on 1 August 1791, their numbers had grown and they were joined by military men from the capital. The poorest among the protesters were almost exclusively concerned with the supply of food: most workers spent nearly half their income on bread. In the post-war period, price inflation and severe shortages in Paris became commonplace, as did local incidents of violence in the marketplaces. The military men were largely from the middle classes and had political motives to bring the king to Paris. Additionally, they resented the treatment being given to the colonial troops in the Maison du Roi. They hoped to bring the king back to Paris where he would have to agree to the demands of the National Assembly and become a Constitutional Monarch. Additionally, he would be under the "protection" of the National Guard, rather than that of colonials or foreigners. The rumours that the royal court was to be transferred to Tours or Rouen, where the king was to reconvene the Three Estates particularly agitated the crowds. Numerous calls for a mass demonstration at Versailles had already been made, and for months revolutionaries continued to hold onto the idea of a march on Versailles to compel the king to accept the Assembly's laws and return to Paris. A menacing unrest was in the air, and many nobles and foreigners fled the oppressive atmosphere of Paris.

On August 1, The angry women forced a nearby church to toll its bells as their crowds grew. The soldiers were largely in favor of the march and were being egged on by agitators to join in. Deeper planners in the crowd spread the word that the king needed to dismiss his Canadian bodyguards entirely and replace them all with patriotic National Guardsmen. The king and his court, must all be moved to Paris to reside among the people. They planned to send a deputation of market-women into the palace to see the king, presenting them with their demands.

Meanwhile, Vaudreuil had accepted the defence of the Palace, but only on the condition that he was granted complete freedom of movement. Throughout the night, he worked diligently, assembling cannons around the perimeter of Paris. He ordered 60 cannons taken from the barracks at Versailles, at different points in the Bois du Boulogne and having his men defend the river crossing Saint-Cloud. Throughout the night they organized their defences, and allowing the marchers to cross the Seine past a armed Canadiens whom would not fire. They were being led into a trap. Once the marchers had crossed the Port de Saint-Cloud, the Canadiens began firing holding their perimeter, in the Bois du Boulogne, the protesters were ambushed with volleys of artillery raining on the crowds. The total panic led to peasants fleeing into the forest, only to be attacked by the Iroquois whom Vaudreuil had instructed to carry on as they would against their enemies in America. This led to a large number of scalpings, something which would later horrify the king. Additionally, cavalry charging into the crowds cut down the mob and engaged into combat with the French Guards. The Canadian and Acadian battalions supported by artillery cut down advancing National Guard forces who tried to return fire. Vaudreuil commanded throughout the two-hour engagement, and survived unscathed despite having his horse shot from under him. The French Guards began to waiver as panic struck and they began to flee across the Seine. A counter-attack was ordered by the infantry as they marched towards Paris. The disorderly retreat completed their total defeat, with Vaudreuil's forces taking control of the city.

The civilian defenses were useless against the battle-hardened colonials, who swarmed into the city, placing it under martial law. The following day, the royal family accompanied by the Swiss and Flemish guards would abandon Versailles for Rouen, and began to contemplate abandoning France all together. The news of the massacre of some 4,000 Parisians incensed the peasants of the countryside, with many calling for an abolition of the monarchy. The colonial and foreign troops occupied the capital, with summary executions of enemies of France. Vaudreuil was now in effective control and established tribunals, where thousands were executed publicly for lèse-majesté. Gallows were built as tall as they could be all over the city, and breaking wheels being used to execute prisoners. The cruelty and destruction of the first three days of pillage became known as "the terror".

 

[Viriato]

3 August 1791 to 28 June 1793

Once the King and the royal family, having left Versailles, were safe with the protection of loyal troops in Tours, Louis XVI declared the National Assembly dissolved. In the Assembly itself there was had been a party of some four hundred members under the leadership of Baron Malouet whom agreed to the return to the previous the Estates General, with most of these coming to Tours to show their loyalty to the king. Upon the transference of the Assembly to Tours, far from the revolutionary activity of Paris, the Three Estates were reconvened at the Marmoutier Abbey. However, most of the members of the former National Assembly were now absent.

The news of the events in Paris spread throughout the provinces and led to a general uprising throughout the countryside of France. It appeared that France was on the brink of a civil war. In attempt to diffuse the situation, Louis XVI, acting upon the advice of some of the more moderate members of the Third Estate agreed to promulgate a constitution. As a result, on 14 September 1791, a new constitution was proclaimed by the king, granting him absolute veto over legislation, and and limiting the power of the refounded National Assembly to financial matters. Additionally, the franchise was extremely limited, to fewer than 1% of the population, and the king could convene and dissolve the new assembly at will. This was clearly insufficient to quell the revolutionary fervour as peasants egged on by extremists ransacked the noble estates throughout the countryside, particularly in far north and the Eastern provinces of the kingdom. Lille and Lyon soon became hotbeds of revolutionary activity, with pamphlets calling for the deposition of the king.



In repudiation of the king's assembly, many members of the National Assembly convened in Troyes, calling upon the people to levée en masse, declaring a new National Convention as the government of France. Assisted by returning soldiers from Germany, thet began to take up arms in the name of the National Convention, and were able to reoccupy Paris on 18 October 1791. As the situation worsened, Louis XVI appealed to the sovereigns of Europe for armed intervention, particularly to his brother-in-law Leopold II. Leopold however, offered little assistance other than words, promising his assistance should the royal family need a place of refuge. Meanwhile, members of the royal family, in particular the king's brother the Count of Artois and his wife were in Turin, hoping to persuade his father-in-law Victor Amadeus to send an army into Southern France, however even he refrained from getting involved. In England, many saw this revolution as France's version of the Glorious Revolution, and were hopeful that the events on the continent would signal the death knell for absolutism.

An allegorical painting of Louis XVI granting a constitution. Meant as a propaganda piece to convince the revolutionaries to lay down their arms.


Fearing for the safety of the king, Vaudreuil recommended that he take refuge in the safety of Nantes, a port city. Brittany, Anjou and Normandy remained largely free of the disturbances, but it was now feared that the mobs could harm the royal family, and it would be better for them to have access to a port from which they could escape. The royal residences, along with libraries, churches and archives of Paris and its environs were stripped bare, and shipped to the port cities of Brittany. Despite the opposition of the queen, it appeared that the royal family would have to escape. Vaudreuil suggested that the king have the navy assemble at Nantes. He advised the king that if France was lost, he still had New France, from which he could reconquer his kingdom. As a result, Louis XVI sent his brother, the Count of Provence to Quebec to assume the position of Viceroy. From there, Provence was to assemble a new army to be sent to France along with instructions to maintain the loyalty of colonies in America to France. Arriving in May 1792, the Count of Provence was feted upon his arrival in Quebec, and was able to have the navy take control of France's colonies, becoming ine effect the regent of France's overseas empire. Accompanying him was a squadron of ships carrying loads of artwork, furniture, and other valuables which he had removed from the Palais du Luxembourg. Suspicious of France's move, the British government sent Prince Edward, Duke of Kent to Philadelphia to act as Viceroy of Britain's American Provinces in July 1792.

Throughout 1792 France plunged deeper into civil war, devastating much of the countryside. The navy, largely commanded by aristocrats and heavily utilising many sailors from New France remained loyal, to the king, allowing Brest, Bordeaux, Le Havre, Nantes, and Toulouse to remain firmly under the control of royalists. The only major port to fall to the revolutionaries was La Rochelle. Long neglected in favour of Bordeaux, the port had not benefited from the colonial trade, and as a result many became resentful of Bordeaux and therefore sympathetic to the revolutionary cause. In April 1792, the revolutionaries captured Brussels, and the following month routed the royalists at Le Mans. In the east, the king's maternal uncle, Prince Clemens, the Elector of Trier had allowed the aristocrats to use his territory as a base for attacks on Eastern France. This would continue until the fall of Metz in May 1793, and the subsequent invasion of the Electorate by the revolutionary army.

The capture of Paris, had allowed the revolutionaries to abolish the privileges of the nobility and clergy, declaring all Frenchmen to be citizens. With a small number of both estates joining the revolution in support, they were able to at first stem the more radical members of the revolution. Among them was the king's cousin, the Duc d'Orleans, colloquially known as Philippe Égalité, whom was in charge of Army of the North. As the ranks of the revolutionary army grew, nearly 1 million Frenchmen were under arms, compared with 100,000 whom were loyal to the king. Though the unprofessional citizen armies were at first disorganised, their sheer numbers soon began to achieve victories against the royalists. Their hold on Brittanny and some coastal regions became tenous, and on 28 June 1793, the king whom had retreated to Brest, decided to France for New France. Brest itself held out until November, but in the interim, over 60,000 refugees escaped to New France, joining the thousands whom had already left for other parts of Europe, many of them waiting anxiously on Belle Île, under protection of the French Navy.

 

[aegis03florin]

Cool!

One question : why Lyon is revolutionary? In OTL it was the cenntre of the silk industry and therefore very pro monarchy (its clients). What was changed ITTL?

 

[Diego]

If the people of Vendeé still rise against the revolution, they at least now have a good chance to survive and even win.

 

[Viriato]

Guerre Civile 1793-1796

With the departure of the king and the royal family from Brest to New France, France was now mired in a full-fledged civil war. On one side, the urban elites, based in Paris had formed a Republican Government dominated by the radicalist ideology of the National Assembly. The National Assembly was now dominated by a group of a dozen men, led by Maximilien Robespierre. They advocated a complete remake of France and its social order, completely departing from the previous regime. Led by a group of radicals know as Jacobins, they abolished titles of nobility and the privileges of associated with these. They also abolished the privileges of the church, and forced members of the Catholic church to take an oath of loyalty to the republic, and finally expropriated church property to raise funds for the defence of the republic. Though meant to be democratic in nature, the Paris-based government soon became a dictatorship, where anyone opposing the ideas of the Committee of Public Safety was deemed to be an "enemy of the revolution". It would be led by internal strife, as different factions jockeyed for power. In the meantime, the republican attempt to suppress dissent would lead to the mass execution of large numbers of people, whom were threats to the new regime. Wanting to maintain power, the Republicans, espoused a highly centralised nation state centred in Paris. They argued that this was needed to not only defend the regime from within, but also from external threats.

Another faction, were the federalistes along with the constitutionalists, these two groups were made up largely of the merchant classes and middle classes in various cities of the country. They were divided in their political opinions, with some favouring a republic, whereas others pushed for a constitutional monarchy, looking to a Great Britain as a model. The federalists in particular sought for the establishment of regional assemblies, and a national parliament in Paris. They were particularly active in Southern France, with Lyon as their headquarters along with ports like Bordeaux and Nantes. Cities like Lyon were important manufacturing hubs, and had been hurt by the revolution, and as a result, many simply wanted a restoration of law and order. Though most of the leaders of these groups adhered to enlightened ideas, they were much more moderate and sought reform of the existing system, rather than a complete destruction of the regime. Many of the consitutionalists originally supported Philippe, Duke of Orleans as constitutional monarch, particularly after the capture of Paris by the Canadian troops in 1792. However, upon his execution by the republican government, most defected to the royalist cause of Louis XVI.

Finally there were the royalists whom like the other groups in the civil war were composed of various factions. This group by and large supported the existing regime and had its base of support among the old nobility, members of the high-clergy and traditionalist Catholics. The latter were particularly active in Northwestern France, with the provinces of Brittany, Normandy and Anjou being the leading royalist regions. In these provinces, the social tensions between the nobility and peasantry were far fewer than in other parts of France. Additionally, the clergy was dominated by parish priests, many of whom were highly regarded members of village life. Importantly, many of the troops from New France were of Breton and Norman origin, and were treated as compatriots in Northwestern France. Also among the royalist camp were the army and naval officers, most of whom were from the ranks of the nobility. The army officers defected to Louis XVI's royal army and in particular, formed an army in the East composed of ultra-royalist nobles based out of the Electorate of Trier. Under the protection of the Prince-Bishop of Trier (uncle of Louis XVI), the exiled noble émigrés, under Prince of Condé, along with other emigrated army officers formed an army to invade France, capturing Metz and much of the province of Lorriane. The royalist officers of the Army of Princes consisted of many of the Queen's former favourites at court, including members of families such as the Choiseul and Polignacs. Appealing to the foreign courts, they were able to persuade Austria, along with other powers to intervene against the Republic in 1794.

Though the Republican Government initially fared poorly on the battlefield, with control over the country being limited largely to the Paris and the surrounding regions, it was soon able to gain the upper hand in the civil war. The exile of the King to New France was a demoralising blow to the royalist forces, and did seem to tilt the balance in favour of the revolutionaries however. Their ability to overrun much of Northern France, limited royalist control, to only a handful of port cities and their surrounding areas. After the execution of the Duke of Orleans in March 1794, it was thought that many of the consitutionalists would now side with the Jacobins, but instead they formed their own opposition within the republic, with others throwing their support behind a restoration of Louis XVI. The result was that it seemed that the Jacobins would be overthrown, leading to the fall of Paris. However, before this could happen Austria, Prussia and Sardinia launched an invasion of France in May 1794. The news of the invasion stirred the nationalist sentiment of the French, as thousands of men joined the army to defend the frontiers. The Austrians had declared war due to the invasion of Trier by the revolutionaries, with Prussia, and Sardinia joining to protect the territorial integrity of the Empire's smaler states. Emperor Francis II saw the Republican invasion as an attack on the Empire as a whole and he pledged to enter the war to restore his uncle to the throne of France. Additionally, the foreign powers began to see the spread of revolution as a threat, particularly after revolutionary activity spread to other countries, like the Netherlands. It was hoped that if they could crush the revolution and restore the legitimate government, that the movement could be contained. In Britain, where there had been sympathy to the revolutionaries, particularly from the Whigs, the majority in the House of Commons condemned the bloody excesses of the terror. Britain however, would remain neutral until August 1795 when the revolutionaries invaded the United Provinces. Most of Europe was now at war with the Republican Government of France.

Departure of the Volunteers in 1794

 

[Sceonn]

The spread of the Revolution in this case is weird. their nation is destroyed, they are starving, they are isolated and yet they somehow gain the resources and motivation to invade other nations?

 

[Viriato]

By the summer of 1795, the fledgling French Republic was at war with not only itself, but with most of Western Europe. The invasion of the Netherlands was undertaken by the French Republicans ostensibly to assist the Patriots in their uprising against William V of Orange’s increasingly autocratic policies. In reality, the invasion as an attempt to establish a puppet state which would help the French Republic economically. As a centre of banking, it was hoped that Amsterdam could provide much needed capital to the republic, additionally it was hoped that the Dutch Navy could be used to break the blockade of France. With this in mind, on 21 October 1795, the National Assembly voted to assist the Patriots in overthrowing tyranny invaded the Netherlands. This was not without consequences, as it lead Great Britain into the ever growing coalition against France. To face the military threat, the National Assembly voted to summon a mass of army volunteers to the borders of France, with all able-bodied non-married men between ages 18 and 25 are required to serve in the army. The citizen armies marched on the Rhine and despite initial setbacks were able to gain a number of tactical victories against the Austro-Prussian forces under the leadership of the Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Though initially it performed poorly, by the summer of 1795 its sheer numerical superiority coupled with the excellence of the French artillery allowed it to win important battles against the enemies of the Republic.

It was not only against the foreigners that the Republican Army scored victories. On the domestic front, the royalists had been relegated to pockets of resistance in Brittany where the Chouans fought the Republican government along with the Vendée region, while the coastal fortresses and small islets along the coast of Brittany were all that remained under formal royal control. Belle Île remained under control of the royalist navy, and would be used to ferry thousands of refugees from the Vendée to New France. The capture of the fortress of Quiberon in September of 1795 by the royalists did worry the National Assembly however. The threat posed by the royalist navy along with the fear of a royalist invasion from New France is what in part led to the invasion of the Netherlands. It was hoped that capturing the Dutch Navy would allow the republic a greater sense of security. When this failed to materialize, efforts were put into improving coastal fortifications along with an attempt to revive the naval construction in the former royal dockyards of Brest and Le Havre. However, the French Republican Navy was reduced to around 20 ships and most were stuck at port due to a lack of officers and naval stores. However, after a defeat at Rochefort, the royalists used their troops to secure France's colonial empire to plan a major invasion of France itself.

In addition to the political upheaval it faced faced, the French Republic was rocked by economic turbulence as well. To deal with the initial economic crises, the government confiscated the former royal, noble and church lands, selling these land holdings in an effort to raise much needed foreign reserves. Silver and gold confiscated from church and the aristocracy was melted down to fund the ongoing war, along with iron and bronze adornments being stripped from palaces and churches to be melted down and used for cannons. The government used its increased land holdings to back the value of its paper money called assignats, but these were easily counterfeited and soon became worthless, leading inflation to spiral out of control. To combat food shortages and rampant inflation, the government implemented price controls as France became a command economy geared for war. Among the first acts, was the The Law of the Maximum was passed in November 1794, establishing price limits for basic goods and punishing price gouging and hoarding by death. The law met with limited success as the black market thrived and it would not be until 1797 that the last price controls were abolished. Prior to the revolution, the Roman Catholic Church was the main source of charity for the poor, and in the cities, particularly Paris this was now responsibility of government. The National Committee doled out bread and flour to the citizens of Paris, using much of its silver to pay bakers.

Merchants and shipbuilders from the Atlantic Ports of Bordeaux, Nantes, and Marseille were ruined as Britain joined the French Royal army in enforcing the naval blockade of the Republic. Colonial goods such as sugar and tobacco were now rare, and cotton and silk spinning came to a standstill, leaving thousands unemployed. Additionally, the abolition of traditional guilds led to increased competition in many trades, leading to the financial ruin of many lawyers, doctors, as these titles were now applied liberally. Some in the middle class, along with those connected with the new regime benefited from the nationalization of church and noble land holdings through real estate speculation. Others however, made fortunes by providing supplies to the army. Bankers in particular took on a more prominent role as the lack of credit led to a creation of new banks. Industrialists and financiers became the new aristocrats in France as they concentrated their wealth in Paris and became vital to the survival of the Republic. In a matter of years, French society had been transformed as the last remnants of the L'ancien régime withered away.

 

[Viriato]

After the installation of the republican government in France, the emigration of the nobility which had begun in 1791, had intensified with the departure of the royal family in 1793 and fall of Brest to the revolutionaries in 1794. Though the first émigrés had been members of the royal family, and those most associated with the absolutist regime, they were soon followed by members of the clergy, merchants, skilled tradesmen and peasants loyal to the king. The king's brother, the Comte d'Artois had been among the first to depart France for the safety of the Kingdom of Sardinia, where he went to live with his wife's family. Soon other prominent families began leaving for neighbouring states, particularly those in the Holy Roman Empire form where they could not only obtain news from France, but in some instances organise counter-revolutionary resistance. Initially most felt that the turbulence would be short-lived and that they would be able to return once the uprisings in Paris had been quelled. As the revolutionary armies grew in strength, some began to make their way to Great Britain where they felt safe from the armies of the republic. Others followed the king to Brest, departing with him to New France, with the largest numbers departing in August of 1793. By 1796, an estimated quarter of a million Frenchmen had left France, in one of the largest migrations of its history.

On 14 June 1793, just two weeks prior to his own departure, King Louis XVI issued an edict opening France's ports to the ships of friendly nations in an effort to ferry those who wished to leave to safety. This was met with reprisals on the part of the governing Committee of Public Safety which feared the émigrés forming armies against the republic. As a result, it sought to punish those who emigrated. Led by the radical Jacobins, the government used emigration as a pretext to not only nationalise the land of the émigrés, but to issue death sentences those who remained. This would lead to two years of terror as the republican government dealt harshly with opposition to its rule, using the guillotine as a means of executing its enemies. As the news of this terror spread, the ports of Brest, Lorient, Toulon, and Bordeaux became clogged with not only French ships, but also with British, Dutch, Spanish ships as well, as throngs of people sought to escape. Sea captains and sailors saw this as an opportunity to earn extra money by extorting what little possessions many had in return for safe passage. Initially many were brought to the Channel Islands and Britain itself. From there ferried on British and French ships to the New World, with the movement being a boon for British shipping. Others joined the flotilla of French Naval ships from Brest to New France that departed on 28 June 1793. The departure of the king only further exacerbated the panic as thousands made their way to the ports, which became prone centres of famine and misery. The despair increased as thousands waited for weeks at the fortress of Belle-Île, as its population swelled from 6,000 to nearly 25,000 during the summer of 1793.

Prior to the departure of the royal family, the shipment of many of their contents New France to new France had begun weeks earlier. Thousands of crates of art, silver, furnishings and tapestries taken from Versailles, the Tuileries, Compiegne, etc along with volumes of the royal library had made their way to the new world. The invaluable collections of the Louvre had been taken away from Paris after the city's capture by the Canadiens and brought to Rennes and later Brest. Many of the invaluable treasures of the French crown had been taken to the French ports for safekeeping in 1793. The decision to fill ships with the contents of the royal chateaux in June 1793 caused some criticism with many of the republicans claiming that it was the Queen's doing. Marie Antoinette was criticised for being more interested salvaging her furnishings and gowns than people. With the departure of the royal family, the already weak royalist forces began to falter, with Bordeaux falling to the Republicans a eight weeks later.

On 19 July 1793 the royal flotilla arrived at Plaissance, Terre-Neuve (Placentia, NFLD) to joyous crowds of well wishers. In Plaissance, King Louis XVI of France and Navarre would become the first European sovereign to set his foot on American soil. Greeted by Governor, the Vicomte de Noailles, it seemed to be the entire populace of the city of eight-thousand had come to see their king and queen. The festivities lasted days with a salute of guns from the fortress and various masses being held in Plaissance. The jubilant atmosphere contrasted with that they had left behind in Brest. The royal family remained at the fort of Plaissance for three weeks before preceding to Québec. The royal ships made their way to the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River, and onward to Quebec. As they approached Quebec, crowds of villagers lined the river to watch the spectacle unfurl. On 19 August 1793, the 120-gun Dauphin arrived at the docks of the capital to throngs of well-wishers acclaiming their sovereign. The bells of the churches of the city tolled as the royals were greeted by the Count of Provence, who since May had been acting as viceroy. The royal cortege, consisting of several gilded carriages brought from France accompanied by a horse guard then made its way from the lower city to the upper city and to the Citadel. Among those in the crowd were several British subjects from New England whom wrote about this "display of magnificence" in their memoirs.

The celebration of the arrival of the royal family lasted for days, with a Te Deum was sung in honour of the king at Quebec's cathedral. The king made an effort to attend masses with his family at various points throughout the city as part of a public relations campaign to portray himself as a pious man, and shed off the image of an aloof monarch. The king and his court settled into their new home, the Chateau Saint Louis, which had been served as the Viceregal Palace for a century. The rambling seventeenth century structure had been amplified and suffered various alterations through the years, but was smaller than Versailles or the Tuileries. With the arrival of the king, the Chateau would once again be redesigned as boiserie, artwork and furniture brought from France soon made the palace hold its own among the grandest of Europe. Among the artwork imported were collections of renaissance paintings by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, with his Mona Lisa having been among the paintings of the royal collection at the Louvre to have been transported to America. Though much of the collection remained housed at the citadel of Quebec. It would be there that the coronation regalia including the coronation crown of Louis XV was stored as this became the Garde Meuble du Roi or royal treasury. The royal library and its collection of volumes was also in Quebec having been transferred for safekeeping among them were several medical books housed at the Hotel-Dieu, an example which of how the city was to become a more prominent centre of learning and science. With the abundance of new people, art and fashion, Quebec soon became the Paris of America.

 

[Sceonn]

Well, with so many Royalist out the Republic may stabilize.

 

[Colonel Levnekov]

Now that's cool!

 

[Kaiser Chris]

So does this mean that we'll get a Kingdom of Canada in the future? Because if so that will be pretty awesome to see the Bourbons build a North American Empire, especially since France still has the Ohio River Valley and Louisiana. By the way what's Napoleon been up to recently?

 

[lotrian]

Interesting. It's like a reverse ARW.
I expect in the future a Republic of France in Europe, anda rival Kingdom of France in North America (it will take a lot to make the Bourbons abandon the title "King of France". Only a decisive defeat against the Republic could lead to that)
Also, I'm wondering if the viceroy of New France could become a title for the Prime Minister* appointed according to the results of elections.

For Napoleon, he is definitely butterflied.

 

[Diego]

For Napoleon, he is definitely butterflied.

Take this in regard

Guerre Civile 1793-1796

With the departure of the king and the royal family from Brest to New France, France was now mired in a full-fledged civil war. On one side, the urban elites, based in Paris had formed a Republican Government dominated by the radicalist ideology of the National Assembly. The National Assembly was now dominated by a group of a dozen men, led by Maximilien Robespierre.

 

[Viriato]

Perhaps the most pivotal event in the modern history of New France, would be the arrival of the King of France to Quebec in 1793. The arrival of the King and his household was followed by the transplant of the the entire governing apparatus of the Ancien Regime from France, 3,300 miles west to New France. Quebec suddenly assumed the role previously enjoyed by Versailles. The arrival of their majesties in the New World had profound effect on the economy of New France as a whole. As mentioned earlier, Louis XVI's first acts was a decree opening the ports of New France to trade with friendly nations, and this would be followed by commercial treaties with various nations. The immediate result of this was the flood of British manufactured goods into New France. These were brought by British merchants, particularly from New England as they forged ties with French small-scale merchants, and many even took up residence in the major port cities of New France. Shortly thereafter, British textiles soon replaced those from Lyon, and nails, tools and other goods began arriving from Britain in ever large quantities.

Realizing the economic backwardness of New France when compared to Britain and her colonies, the king passed laws to promote trade and to establish manufacturing. Revenues were needed to build a navy and maintain the existing fleets, and only through commerce could the king fill his coffers. In an attempt to promote manufacturing, the king began liberally issue licences to manufacture goods in the colony. The importance of iron forges grew as their numbers increased. The manufacture of glass, brick kilns and lumber was also significant, particularly in Quebec where the arrival of the court led to a building boom. Attempts to stimulate the production of woollen textiles and a silk industry were less successful in the face of British imports, however. The production of luxury goods by craftsmen in small workshops in contrast was able to flourish. In France itself, the vacuum left by the exodus of nobility and clergy coupled with war on most European neighbours destroyed many craftsmen's livelihoods, leading many would to settle in Quebec and its environs. The king's brother, the Comte d'Artois established a porcelain factory with former workers from Sèvres and Limoges to produce hard-paste porcelain, with the new porcelain being highly sought after in Europe. Likewise a factory making rugs along with the tapestries was opened under royal patronage in Trois-Rivieres in 1798, using workers from the Gobelins and Aubusson factories. As a result of the revolution, workshops in France had closed or produced little goods, and the number of craftsmen arriving in New France increased until the end of the decade. Suppliers of luxury goods such as silversmiths, cabinet makers, dress makers and others connected to the nobility and church followed their customers into exile, giving Quebec a huge influx of skilled artisans and craftsmen. Another result of the arrival of the court would be the growth of the printing industry in Quebec. The number of printing presses in the colony grew as never before. Books became more readily available, and the number of newspapers soared. Despite these advances, the low literacy rate limited readership, as fewer than one-third of adults in the colony could sign their own names. This contrasted with British America where nearly 80% of white males were literate by the close of the 18th century.

The agricultural sector, long the mainstay of the economy of New France also drastic experienced changes during this period. The tobacco sector was hit hard as the tobacco planters of Lower Canada lost their primary export market, forcing many to turn to the production of wheat and maize. Others began selling tobacco to the British in Virginia where it was shipped through the Cumberland Gap on wagons and to Norfolk. Despite this, the loss of the French market was ruinous to many planters. In 1792, France had consumed 30,000 hogsheads of tobacco, about twice as much as New France, and exports to France would not recover for another twenty years. Hemp from south of La Belle Rivière region would did become an important substitute crop as it produced cotton bagging and rope, as did the raising of thoroughbred horses. Additionally, attempts to increase wine production by planting vineyards were undertaken. The consumption of wine dropped as the import of French wines became unavailable. Wines from Portugal, particularly Madeira imported by British merchants filled some of the gap, but new beverages grew in popularity. A type of whiskey (eau-de-vie) made from maize known became popular, as did rum imported from Saint-Domingue ad the West Indies.

In 1793 and 1794, crop failures in Louisiana, had lead to the replacement of indigo in many regions with with new crops. Cotton, first introduced around 1790 grew as demand for cotton in Britain increased. Though fewer than 800 bales exported in 1791, 34,000 would be exported a decade later, with most to Britain. The number French cotton merchants along the Mississippi grew, as they sold it to British merchants, whom exported the cotton to Liverpool. The French merchants earned commission of 2 1/2 % on sales and worked with larger British firms. British merchants were often providing financial backing for smaller French merchant houses, and supplying them with manufactured goods from Britain to sell. A complex web of international business grew as brokers bought goods in Britain and sent them to correspondents in New France where they also provided credit to planters. Planter assets went directly into purchasing more land and slaves, as goods were usually bought on credit and paid for with the next crop. The largest planters usually consigned their crop to a merchant house in New Orleans and borrowed heavily, allowing the British financiers to substitute those from Bordeaux. Within a short matter of years, flatboats filled the Mississippi River as they shipped raw cotton to New Orleans. Charleroi (Nashville), Natchez, New Orleans and Mobile had correspondent agents selling goods to planters as well.

The expansion of cotton had the effect of increasing the number of slaves imported into the colony. With the official number of slaves imported between 1791 and 1801 standing at 26,197. The majority came from Senegambia, usually by way of Saint-Domingue as the hub of France's slave trade moved from Bordeaux to Port-au-Prince. The most extensive seigneurial grants given by the crown in Louisiana during the first years after the king's arrival in New France. With many noble families close to the court having lost most sources of wealth, these grants were a way to grant these families an honourable source of income. The remaining Creek and Chickasaw Indians were dispossessed of their lands to expand cotton production and these were some of the most sought after grants. Many whom were able to obtain land-grants, become absentee landlords residing in Quebec, whist others turned to land speculation and sold their grants, often obtaining large profits.

Other areas were also granted as new seigneuries during the 1790s. The former Iroquois lands south of the Great Lakes, long sparsely settled were doled out to newcomers from Normandy and Brittany. It would be here that Buckwheat, barley, and rye was planted in large quantities. Further west, Louis François Joseph, Prince of Conti was granted a massive seigneurie several in the Rivière Rouge region. There he settled some 1,400 refugees, mostly from the Vendée where they would turn the region into one of the world's largest producers of flaxseed. The in turn flax would become valuable for use as sailcloth in outfitting the French Royal Navy. With the needs of the navy in mind, resin from pine trees in Louisiana was collected to make turpentine, however these were not initially able to meet the needs of the French Royal Navy and as a result, imports from North Carolina were imported, providing a lucrative industry for British settlers there.

The westward expansion towards the Pacific continued as new trading posts such as Fort-des-Prairies (Edmonton), which was founded in 1795. In 1797, the first Canadians made their way to the Pacific by Royal Expedition, reaching lands claimed for France by Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse in 1788. There would be conflicting claims over the region with Britain, Russia, Spain and France all claiming the Nootka Sound. Louis XVI was determined to settle the region and push French settlement westward so that New France would have access to the Pacific. Additionally, the agricultural settlement west of the Mississippi was beginning to grow, while the very first trading posts along the Rockies were established by intrepid fur traders.

An example of the new luxury goods crafted in New France, fauteuil from Quebec c1795 upholstered in locally woven needlework.

 

[Undeadmuffin]

It return ! Excellent post, the creation of these industry would help to diversify the colony economy.
With these new expeditions, it would be nice to have a map !

 

[Sceonn]

So, the American Revolution didn't happen?
Really hope France prevails as a free democratic state. There should be less chaos with the flight of so many clergy and aristocrats.

 

[Diego]

Really hope France prevails as a free democratic state. There should be less chaos with the flight of so many clergy and aristocrats.

Or more, if there are more Jacobins...

 

[Viriato]

An important part of the transformation of New France and particularly Quebec during the 1790s would be the arrival of large numbers of refugees from Metropolitan France. These newcomers were so numerous that by 1801, one in every three inhabitants of Quebec's 237,000 inhabitants had born in France. Though the royal family and the nobles were only a small portion of these immigrants, their imprint on the city was far more significant than their numbers. They brought with them new fashions and habits, and along with the artisans they patronised transformed the character of the city from a mediaeval provincial town to a great capital city.

Many of the nobles particularly those of the lower nobility arrived in New France with very little in terms of possessions, while others sold jewels and family art work in London before making their voyage to Quebec. Using the skills they possessed, noble women supported themselves by making lace, embroidering muslin dresses or making straw hats. Some nobles with more success established interior decorating firms or boutiques aimed at not only the local market. An increasing number of British visitors from the south for whom French styles of dress and decor remained the epitome of fashion began buying these goods, with many being sold in Boston, New York or Charleston. Other émigrés turned to teaching, this was particularly true of clergy members whom established several new schools aimed at the upper classes of the colony.

After their arrival in New France, many nobles were granted seigneuries as New France was still possessed ample tracts of unsettled land. Among them would be the forested land along the Rivière des Outaouais (Ottawa River) where the demand for lumber by the ship-building industry made many of the seigneuries profitable. Some nobles were fortunate enough to own sugar or coffee plantations in the Caribbean Islands and these nobles were able to use this revenue to establish a comfortable exile in Quebec and often in New Orleans. There were also a small number nobles whom had hosted members of the seingeurial elite visiting from France and whose hospitality was returned, becoming long-term visitors in many country estates. For the seigneurial and merchant elite of New France the arrival of the nobility presented an opportunity to gain status for their own families. The marriage of daughters of New France's seigneurial and merchant elite to titled but impoverished nobles became increasingly common. Often bringing with them large dowries, sometimes consisting of in land, these marriages were seen as mutually beneficial. Others still used their generosity towards the nobility, clergy members and the crown as an attempt to gain titles and honours for themselves.

The noble émigrés of course were joined by a much larger number of non-nobles, particularly merchants and craftsmen associated with the royal court or whose commerce depended on the colonies. Men like Jean-Henri Riesener, the Queen's favourite ébéniste was able to establish a successful cabinet-making warehouse in lower city of Quebec, exporting many of his pieces to the court of Europe. Robert-Joseph Auguste, the official silversmith to the crown, also established a shop in Quebec's Petit Champlain, carried on after his death by his son. The Augustes received commissions from various families in New France and Europe. Various coach-builders were also active during this period, many creating the gilt carriages and sleighs now housed in the Musee des Carrosses in Quebec.

The establishment of the royal court at the Château Saint-Louis located on the Upper Town of Quebec was followed by a large number of nobles acquiring or building their own homes near the now royal palace. The centre of power remained the upper town where the king and the clergy lived, while the lower town was populated mostly by the merchants and artisans. In their early years of arrival at court, Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette seemed like many of the other nobles to plan to only spend a short time in America. However, as the months turned into years, they began to plan to remain in the colony indefinitely. This was highlighted by the growing number of construction projects undertaken towards the close of the 18th century.

Upon arrival the king wanted to shape the perception of himself and his family, making overtures to appear pious and as a family man. He made it a point to dine daily with his brothers and their respective families, attend mass regularly and to take rides in the city with the queen. The goal was also to present a united front as a family, with the king as the father figure to his subjects. This did not mean however that the extravagance of the court was diminished. Within a few short years the old court of France had been recreated in Quebec. The growing economy of New France was indeed better suited to fund the lavishness of lifestyle of the royal family than France had been. As a result, the king could pay pensions and salaries to nearly 5,000 people associated with the court by 1803, with a sum of 6 million livres. The apparatus of the court planning of court remained intact and ceremonies under the direction of the First Gentlemen of the Bedchamber took on renewed importance. The Menus-Plaisirs du Roi within the Household of the King controlled ceremonies, which grew increasingly ostentatious, making Quebec a rival its contemporaries in Europe.

A sense of permanence about king's residence grew with time. This was reinforced by the deaths of Marie Thérèse of Savoy, Comtesse d'Artois in 1805, and that Marie Joséphine of Savoy the Comtesse de Provence in 1810. As a result of what seemed like a growing futility in regaining France, the king himself became more focused on shoring up his power base in what remained of his empire, while reconquering France seemed like be less of a possibility. That being said, the king and the queen quickly became accustomed to life in Quebec. After his arrival, the king commissioned the expansion of the Château Saint-Louis, by building a new wing in the Neo-Classical style to accommodate his court. The already sumptuous viceregal residence gained a new lustre when furnishings and art from Versailles, Compiègne and the Tuileries palaces adorned the various rooms of the sprawling chateau. It would be at the chateau where the majority of royal ceremonies would take place. One of the most politically significant would occur on 14 May 1797. Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, the third son of George III of Britain and Ireland paid an official visit to Louis XVI signing a treaty of friendship and alliance between his Most Christian Majesty and his Britannic Majesty. The Prince remained in Quebec for three weeks, and was feted with an dazzling spectacle of banquets, balls and concerts, meant to be a display the power of the French monarchy. The king also made a show of parading various regiments-in-exile, such as that of Flanders, Burgundy, and the Irish Guards.

When not in the city, the king and his family sought the refuge of the country, increasingly spent time at the Château Sainte-Foy, a country estate east of the city given to them by Louis-Auguste de Sillery, for whom his generosity was compensated with the title of Marquis de Sillery. The stone country house was small, but soon became a favourite of Louis XVI and the Dauphin whom enjoyed this new domain for hunting. Additionally, Louis XVI also built a forge and workshop there. Not content with the small country house, in 1797 the Queen commissioned the construction of a larger palace in the Neo-Palladian style. The palace was criticised in France for having a plaster facade painted "Maria Theresa Yellow" just like imperial palaces of Austria. The queen however, remained undaunted and the palace was completed in 1802, its interiors were filled with furnishings, tapestries and works of art, many of which had been transshipped from France. The gardens, like those of the Trianon before it were in the English style, dotted with picturesque pieces of classical-revival architecture, including various temples, bridges and ruins.

The arrival of the royal family also hallmarked an era of increased cultural significance for Quebec. The revolution had left most of the important royal academies of which the king was patron closed. As a result, he reestablished many in the city, with a focus on the arts and sciences. The Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture formally reestablished in 1795 in Quebec and in 1799 moved into a new building the the Royal Gallery, a museum designed to house many of the works of art taken from the Louvre. This gallery was the first to be opened to the the public with some 438 paintings and another 124 objets d'art. Among the invaluable paintings displayed were Andrea del Sarto's Charity and works by Raphael Titian, Veronese, Rembrandt, Poussin and Van Dyck. The Royal Gallery was part of a larger complex also housing the Académie française as it too was reestablished under royal patronage in Quebec. The Royal Academy of Architecture was also important in providing the city with new builders. The Royal Music and Royal Dance Academies too was established in Quebec, using the Saint-Luc Theatre, where operas and ballets were performed, however this was superseded by the construction of an Opera House, inaugurated in 1795. Opera was not limited to Quebec, however as New Orleans boasted an opera house in 1791. The queen also had a theatre built at her palace at Sainte-Foy, often performing in her own plays, much as she had done at Versailles.

The king was also instrumental in establishing new schools to form military cadets such as the Royal Artillery School and the Royal Naval Academy in New France. Schools established during this period were not limited to those under royal patronage, however. Boarding Schools proliferated during this period, catering to the upper classes and became a means to provide a livelihood for many of the exiled members of the clergy. Some schools also became a way in which the wealthy bourgeoisie could mingle with the nobility. The Collège Royal became among the most prestigious, promoting the learning of Latin, Ancient Greek, and Mathematics. In 1808, the University of Quebec was established, and within the following two decades, this would be followed by universities in Montreal, Detroit, Saint-Louis, New Orleans and Port-Royal.

 

[Deleted member 97083]

Great update.

Looks like the King is settling in Canada for good. I suppose this limits the chances of a Great Crusade across the Atlantic.