France | Empress' Speech

[Alexander]

​

In past administrations it used to be common for the President of the Republic to give a Presidential Address to both chambers of Parliament meeting in Congress. During the civil the tradition had been put on pause as no faction could legitimately hold the claim to speak for the entirety of France. Even now the country wasn't entirely under a single French administration, but at least the people in the occupied territories identified fully with the government in Paris. So occupation aside, the Empress could speak for the entirety of France. As such at the start of the new year on the 12th of January, after the Parliamentary Recess having ended and a new Parliament having taken Office the Empress would speak to both the Senate and the Imperial assembly having met in the Congress Hall of the Palace of Versailles and referred to as the Imperial Congress for this session. Thérèse opted for a red and gold dress and matching jewelry. As the President of the Imperial Congress, normally the President of the Imperial Assembly, finished their opening statement and formally announced the Empress had accepted their invitation (much like the US custom, the Empress needed to be invited to address the Imperial Congress), it was time for her to step out and address not only the Imperial Congress but indeed the people of France and considering recent events almost certainly the world.

"This never gets easier" She said to herself as she looked in the mirror one more time before forcing herself to wear the best smile she could before stepping out of the waiting room and into the Congress Hall. Moments like these she missed the military command centres she used to work from during the many battles of the Civil War.

Thérèse would continue walking up to the elevated stage as the Senators and Assemblypersons applauded, the applause clearly was loudest from the members of the party loyal to her rule but even the opposition showed remarkable enthusiasm. Perhaps it did take another war for the country to finally focus on something other than killing each other. She only wished it didn't take thousands of casualties with the prospect of tens of thousands more if Canada did not accept the ceasefire and the war would escalate with the completion of the new Imperial Armed Forces.

"Thank you Senators, Assemblypersons, for your kind invitation.

For the first time in four years this chamber is used for what it was intended. For the members of this great Parliament to meet as one. It is the sign of like in nature, things in France are healing. While I would have wished to be able to address you all today in a country that is at peace, that is one wish that was denied us. As we speak our people in Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint Martin, and Saint Pierre and Miquelon have been denied their base freedoms by a foreign occupier who has acted without justification.

This situation brings me to the first topic I wish to discuss with you all tonight. The illegal Canadian attack had given us a few critical lessons. Our focus on the situation in Europe and our war exhaustion left us critically unable to defend our people and territory, when it came to the most gross violation of international law seen in years the international community did nothing, and when we needed them the most our historic allies and the people we are looking to as potential allies did nothing, even when we showed the evidence of our innocence. The lessons of this war are painful, but I am thankful for them.

For now we know that France must stand on its own!" At this moment loud applause and cheering erupted from the Congressmembers, so she would pause long enough for it to die down again.

"We must continue investing in and modernizing the Imperial Armed Forces to be able to protect French territory at all times and without gaps. The world must know that if you hurt even a single Frenchperson, the wrath of the entire French nation will be on you and we will not stop until revenge has been achieved. To do this we need a strong navy that can patrol our EEZ and strike at the homeland of any would-be opponent, we need an Air Force that can keep our airspace clear but deliver the fury of God to our enemies, and we need an Army that will repel any incursion into our territory and invade them back. We are a romantic people, we do not seek war, but as our history has shown time and time again when we are forced into it we will rise to the challenge and we will make our enemies pay. Already our investments are creating a large enough force to achieve these goals, but we cannot allow our Armed Forces to shrink or fall behind technologically in the future." Now the cheering would grow even louder, she was clearly hitting a chord.

"While we need to be able to stand on our own, if we are to avoid needing to go to war we must build alliances that deter any aggression. In this war and before Thailand has shown they are our closest friend and ally, unexpectedly and without a legal requirement to do so Italy has also risen to the occasion and even Poland has provided some level of support by actively defending our European waters, when the world abandoned us they were by our side. In general we must look for our friends beyond Europe. While France has always been a part of Europe, our outlook was never exclusively European. There exists a large group of nations that once called our Empire home. More significantly, there exists a large group of nations that share our Roman Catholic faith. Going forward the top priority of our Foreign Ministry will be rebuilding alliances to our former colonies and to the Roman Catholic nations of Europe and beyond. European alliances and unity remain a key focus, but they will stop being our only focus.

Looking beyond the wars abroad, we must also look at the wars domestic. The Canadian invasion was not the only tragedy that befell us after the Civil War last year. In a cowardly attack thousands of Frenchpersons were killed in the heart of our nation. While we were quick to arrest those directly responsible and the invasion shortly after took most of our attention, we must still enact full justice for the lives lost and prevent any attack like it from ever happening again. To do so our security and intelligence services are in dire need of modernization and must be given the tools they require to do their job effectively. I have created the Ministry of Security and appointed a Minister to it to oversee the security and intelligence services, in this legislative session she will introduce a law authorizing the creation of the Directorate-General of for Security and Intelligence Technology. This agency will use and develop new technologies to intercept, identify and stop any threat to French security foreign or domestic. Our enemies have moved beyond the old school. The terrorists that attacked our capital communicated through online chatrooms, the group behind them and others like it use online bulletin boards and social media to recruit followers. We must meet them on these domains if we are to keep our country safe. Furthermore, while the civil rights and fundamental freedoms are sacred, the Roman statesman, scholar, philosopher, and lawyer Cicero once said inter arma enim silent leges. For those who did not have Latin, in times of war the law falls silent. When dealing with asymmetric threats to our security our security and intelligence services need asymmetric weapons. As such I will also request the Minister of Security to prepare a law that will authorize additional investigatory tools for these services, but simultaneously create the infrastructure to guarantee they are only used the way they are supposed to and no more than absolutely necessary to contain a threat to French lives" Once again the room erupted into cheer and applause, something the accoustics of the Congress Chamber made even louder, this time however the cheers were less loud from the side that seated the political left.

"Fighting terrorism after it has taken shape is important, but more important is fighting it at its core. The French nation has done a poor job at taking care of all her subjects. In the decades following decolonization millions of people have come to our shores looking for opportunities and a new home. After abusing them and pillaging their land for centuries we then forced them as far away from our homes and schools and streets, and forced them to do the work that no Frenchperson wanted to do. Whether it is income, education level, economic opportunity, life expectancy, health, quality of life, or almost any other statistic the average Frenchperson from Europe does better than a Frenchperson from Africa, the Middle East, or the Americas. The only statistics they outperform us are poverty, crime, cancer rates, domestic violence, teen pregnancies and prostitution. When I became Empress of the French, I became Empress of THE French. Even this Imperial Congress is whiter than the paper I wrote this speech on. We must create the opportunities for all our people to thrive. Our citizens without European ancestry are not somehow inferior to those of us with European ancestry, and we must rectify the injustices of the past to create new opportunities for them. Now, how we do this I simply do not have the answers for yet. To get these answers I have tonight issued an order creating the Ministry of Racial Justice and Colonial Healing. Once we have found a Minister willing to helm this Ministry it will research the biggest problems affecting our citizens from our former colonies and non-European races and propose measures to heal. As part of the larger outreach to the French-speaking world our diplomats will also discuss what is needed from France for those countries to heal.

Finally on this topic and in recognition of the importance they have always played in our history, beginning July of this year our borders will be open to citizens from all territories that were under French control outside of the European continent for any period longer than 20 years. While these citizens will not immediately be eligible for French citizenship, they are for permanent residency status and may become eligible for citizenship like any other permanent resident. Our immigration authorities will create a new special status for these people." Again the cheering would rise, this time stronger from the political left and completely silent from the few seats held by the Front National.

"Looking beyond just the violence affecting our nation and the consequences of our own past violence, when I was a young girl my father told me that to rule a people meant being there not only to lead them but to inspire them. Not to only be a general but also a philosopher. Not only a thinker, but also a dreamer. I miss him every day and I know he would not want France to only be focused on war and terrorism. I for one also do not only want to be known as a Warrior Empress. It is our collective duty to leave this world and our country better than we entered it. As such I want to spend the next decade exploring scientific discovery, embracing the arts, and developing our society into a truly 21st century civilization. Loyal to God but looking to create His paradise on this world. While there is much I can propose to bring this about, the last century showed that if there is one endeavour that will truly bring a country together and create exponentially greater results in numerous sectors even beyond the core project it is space exploration. Since our species was in its infancy we have looked into the sky and wondered what was beyond. We are poisoning our planet, we are treating Mother Earth like we have a foster home to go to, but the reality is if we fuck this up we will cease existing. This is not to say that we should keep destroying our home, but any statistiscian will tell you that to secure our survival we must find a new home. While I do not know if we can reach such a new home with our lifetime, I do know some vital steps we can make on the way there. Within three years there will be a Frenchperson in space again. Before 2015 there will be a Frenchperson on the moon and before 2025 there will be a Frenchperson on Mars. The world has gotten to know us as a country of war, let's show them we can excel at peace too! Thank you very much." With that every single member of the Imperial Congress got up from their seats and cheered and applauded. Once things became only slightly quieter after what seemed like an hour Thérèse gave a slight bow before stepping away and back to the other chamber. Once she was out of sight of the Imperial Congress and the cameras she'd breathe a massive sigh of relief.