French Fifth Republic Puns

Current French state is often called the Fifth Republic. What were the changes made in 1958 to deserve considering it a new form of government?

It was also preceded by a republic, unlike other times when a republic was re-established after periods of monarchy or foreign ocupation.

December 29th, 2025

Paris, France

“And now, President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, will be available for questions.”

“Hello everyone; first, I wanted to thank each of you for attending the conference today. Your presence means the world to us. Anyway, let’s get right into the questions. Let’s start with you, over here.”

[M] Trying something a bit different and letting y’all ask the questions. Just indicate what news source you’re from, be it French or from your claim, and ask your question(s) and Macron will respond to the best of his ability. Hopefully this is some fun for all of us. [/M]

Howdy y'all, I'd like to submit a claim for France. I've spent most of my time playing in /r/GlobalPowers and have been in the community at large for about three to four years now. You may know me as well as Spartan which is from an old account. I have a decent bit of experience with France, as I've also been playing that over there on the GP subreddit but given lower activity I'd like to play here as well and Make Europe Great Again.

My plans for France largely center around economic development and pushing for a stronger, more cohesive European Union with integration at the forefront of the agenda. Although that won't be possible under a Villiers presidency, that'll be seen soon after the 2027 elections. With this administration I'm going to focus on reviving French aviation and its defense industry, pushing for increased manufacturing overall, and return France as a leader in Europe and general global affairs.

"You couldn't live with your own failure. Where did that bring you? Back to me." - Geosim mods @ muppet, probably

Seeing as the only NATO claims are the UK and the US right now, I'm thinking that I might as well hop in and join the club. I plan on working with pike to bring diplomacy back into fashion, seeing as everyone is really quick to the guns. There are a couple of ongoing conflicts (India-Pakistan, China-Taiwan) that might help from a bit of Anglo-French mediation so I may as well try.

Politically, I'll be staying mostly centrist. My plan is to get a retro post done that gives an outline of the politics 2020-2030 just to provide some context for present-day France. The basics will be as follows:

• Macron wins 2022
• The Republicans win 2027 after running with a good candidate (there ought to be a swing to the right but retro-ing the effects of a Le Pen win are painful)
• With climate change always becoming more relevant as an issue, France's centre-left greens will start to gain momentum over the period.
• LREM struggles in the post-Macron era, with the many factions of the party unable to support a single leader. This causes defections back to the parties many members originally supports. However, a number of these go back to the growing EELV green party, helping them to become a significant faction in the National Assembly and one of the highest polling parties.

In case it wasn't obvious, I plan to have the greens grow through 2030-2032 with the intention of having them barely win the 2032 election (though without a majority in the National Assembly). From there, my internal posting will be based environmentalism and blursed centrism.

Militarily, there will be some level of expansion given in the increased global tensions. For instance, the carrier programme put in place by the first claimant will be expanded to give me a few more than two. However, I have no intention of going around swinging my dick everywhere so you don't need to worry about that.

Hopefully this is all grand :)

For months, hundreds of thousands of protesters have packed the streets of Paris. They protest two diametrically opposed issue: the abandonment of the Algerian departments and French military involvement abroad. The protests against Algerian independence are led by far right populists, although they have broad appeal across the entire political spectrum. The anti-war protests, ongoing on level scale since the invasion of Syria, are primarily supported by liberal youth and leftists.

The Fourth French Republic was weak even before the dual shock of abandoning Algeria and angering America, but these two moves would prove to be its death knell. In Algiers, the French military has refused to withdraw from their positions following the declaring of Algeria's independence, which they have declared to be illegal. A coup group led by Raoul Salan and Jacques Massu seized power in Algiers supported by the military and the Pieds-Noirs. They vowed to maintain the French departments of Algeria in perpetuity, and called for the return of Charles de Gaulle. Paratroopers supportive of the Algiers coup group seized Corsica in a bloodless landing shortly after this announcement.

The coup, coupled with the news of an American embargo, further inflamed public opinion in France, with calls for change coming from all walks of life. Into this volatile political situation stepped Charles de Gaulle, who publicly announced that he is available to lead the nation through this crisis. Faced with the prospect of civil war, economic ruin, or worse René Coty has resigned all political power, and allowed de Gaulle to return as President of France under a new constitution with a stronger executive. With the appointment of de Gaulle as President, the Algiers coup group have once more pledged loyalty to the government provided that the abandonment of Algeria is scrapped.

De Gaulle's first moves were to halt the troops headed towards Cuba and invalidating the results of the Algerian Independence referendum, claiming that the results were illegally manipulated by the FLN. De Gaulle has promised to respect the rights of all Algerians as citizens of France, colon and Muslim alike.

Rumour has it that former President Coty is refusing to seek treatment for mental illness, despite the advice of his doctors.

Has every revolution been situational or a general trend?

I was confused about the French, semi-presidential system (as an American). I was wondering how this could be a weakness of the system during time of emergency or conflict.

#The National Budget FY 1959

######Annual Statements

Revenues : $28,195,320,000.00

Revenue % : 40.00%

Expenditure : $28,900,203,000.00

Expediture % : 41.00%

Surplus/Deficit : -$704,883,000.00

So recently during our classes we covered Algerian War in a more or less detailed way. That's where we learned more about the transition of power to Charles de Gaulle and creation of new republic. I am curious what were the changes and why were they needed so much to take such a radical step like creation of a new constitution?

Was it simply de Gaul's refusal to become a dictator? Just from my limited knowledge of the situation, it seems the paratroopers who compelled the crisis would have been more happy with a Gaulist dictatorship that promised to hold Algeria. Was there popular resistance that restrained this possibility?

All other instances of the French government receiving a 'new title' were the results of either revolutions, coups or otherwise involved military occupations occurring within France itself

I don't hate the French, and I know many people, including my Father, who have all been to the French Republic.

Confirming for France. Vive la France!