French Empire

>>3012906
Be more specific. Do you want to know about the Bourbon empire, the Napoleonic empire, or the French colonial empire?

File: HRE.jpg (37KB, 320x385px) Image search: [Google]

37KB, 320x385px

>>3012926
This
>>3012906
France throughout history has always been a big player

>>3012926
>>3012939
French colonial empire, sorry

>>3012906
the colonial empire after napoleon was actually quite a drag on the country and the government grew it to direct the public's attention away from the defeat of the Franco-Prussian war. It was historically significant in the 20th century though, as france, unlike britain, tried to stave off decolonisation with brutal force, thereby giving fuel for third worldism and anti-imperialism and also making its conflicts central to the Cold War (especially indochina, but also algeria, which was also important to middle eastern developments at thtat time).

>>3012906
>but it seems like a lot of this board thinks it was one of the most significant empires in history.
people probably either kneejerking from British and German Empire circle jerk or referencing the First French Empire most likely. The Second French Empire wasn't really revolutionary like the first under Napoopan, but it was a significant player in world politics and it's resentment to decolonialism after WW2 led to the Vietnam war and anti-european sentiment.

>>3012960
Did the colonial empire fall apart because of military defeats, like in Indochina, or was there a significant inability both militarily and financially for France to commit itself to that territory?

Could France have theoretically maintained its colonial empire had it won more wars or were the financial costs of such action too high for that to happen?

File: Général_Toussaint_Louverture.jpg (266KB, 457x760px) Image search: [Google]

266KB, 457x760px

the french were cruel to their colonies and actively made them shit holes that were dependent on France.

>>3012954
France has been in a perpetual state of containment since the Battle of Waterloo. The French navy never matched the strength of the Royal Navy. If France attempted to contest the dominance of the UK, then the British would have made an alliance with Prussia/Germany. On the other hand, the French were still a sovereign nation, though they were reliant on alliances with the UK and Russia to maintain their sovereignty.

As for the colonial empire, it was probably a net loss financially. It's more accurate to think of colonialism as a (tragically flawed) humanitarian mission than as a source of strength.

>>3012971
The French got their shit kicked in Indochina and Algiers, then they said fuck it and granted independence to a bunch of African countries, but retained a close economic and military influence over them (franceafrique)

Except hardliners in the military practically no one gave a shit about the colonies after WW2, there was just too much shit to fix at home.

>>3012971
In Indochina, because military defeats. In Algeria they effectively wiped out the FLN but the savagery of the war made it very hard for international and french audiences to stomach, especially from the ideological standpoint of the cold war where the West allegedly stood for freedom. The problem was, though, that the French military became psycho after the Indochina War at the prospect of losing another war, bringing yet another blow to its prestige, not to mention the ultimate disgrace that was 1940. You also had the Pied Noir lobby (european settlers in algeria) which had influence wat out of proporiton to its size ever since Algeria became a French deparment. This lobby autistically screeched at the prospect of being abandoned, and the French military based in Algeria intermingled with the local europeans as the latter served in the army. On top of this, a lot of the people involved in the Algerian affair were unrepentant vichyites, algeria being a bastion of right nationalist sentiment (despite, ironically, switching to the allies) and they were very contemptuous of the government in paris. All of this culminated in the French military launching a coup against the government in Paris when they raised the prospect of pulling out. The plan worked, they had De Gaulle take over, a fifth republic got declared and then De Gaulle pulled out of Algeria, in a thumb to the nose of the army establishment and because he didn't want to carry on the war himself.

The French empire was actually the least cruel empire. They just did the bare minimum to control the colonies. They also gave Asians a lot of freedom.

French empire wasn't as well run as the British empire

>>3013072
>They just did the bare minimum to control the colonies.

Uh Britain was the one though that was all about using local rule. France was all about micro managing.