Prelude to the Second Weltkrieg - Part 2: Commune of France

February 3, 1937

NOTES FOR NON KAISERREICH PLAYERS: France took a very different turn in the Kaiserreich timeline. Essentially, the country went on strike as the war dragged on into 1919, with soldiers and workers alike calling for an end to the war as Germany continued making advances. Morale collapsed and the country descended into a civil war. Long story short, France was forced to make peace, and it handed over almost all its colonies (except North Africa) to Germany as reparations, giving Germany it's "place in the sun". At the same time, there was a socialist revolution that took control of the country.

This wasn't the communism of Lenin that we saw in our timeline though, but a particular brand of socialism that was popular in French circles before and during the war, called "Syndicalism". Under syndicalism, the basic political unit is the union, or syndicate, and all political activity is funneled through a worker's union. Syndicates own and operate the means of production, and almost all parts of the economy are unionized (even army units). Collectivism is generally seen as the way to address any problem.

Politically, it's a relatively complex system involving local, regional, and national collections of syndicates, but nationally there are two major bodies: the Bourse Generale du Travail (General Labour council) who oversees legislation and acts as the major political decision centre; and the Comite de Salut Public (Committee of Public Safety) which acts as the executive branch that carries out most major activities. Though there are obviously lots of complaints about intra-syndicate politics obstructing larger conversations, the country retains some civil liberties, albeit with an extremely curtailed press and no open discussions of any other political systems allowed. Economically, it's a "semi-planned" system, with individual syndicates, national committees, and dozens of other actors all vying for resources within a general mixed market economy, including heavy taxes to pay for universal services.

Though it was the first country to turn to syndicalism, it has been working hard to export its brand of socialism around the world, and throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Britain, Northern Italy, parts of India, South America, and China all adopted various forms of syndicalism. France is seen as the world's origin of syndicalism and a beacon for oppressed workers around the world. It is also a country with an almost fanatical devotion to gaining revenge for the losses it suffered in the Weltkrieg.

February 3, 1937 – Paris, France

Dearest Henri,

You'll be happy to know I did not share the part of your letter talking about your... friend, Simone, with mother. Did you plan in advance to include that part of the letter on its own page, knowing I'd probably burn it before showing the letter to mama? If so, bravo, the army has taught you strategic thinking far better than mother or I ever did. Although why you had to describe the woman to your sister is yet another thing I simply don't understand.

Before I wander off onto another topic, I do hope you and your comrades treat the women at the brothel well. They are working women after all, and even if the Comité won't let them form a syndicate just yet, they deserve respect and good working conditions. And sleeping with men as ugly as the ones you've sent me photos of deserves hazard pay at the very least!

Also thank you for asking after Pierre. I have no intention of returning to him and your advice to "kick him in the testicles" was much appreciated, if unnecessary. He called on the house once while I was at work and telephoned once. I simply hung up on him. That was five days ago and I believe everything is settled between us now.

Speaking of work, it is finally cooled off in the factory – that was the strangest January in memory, I have to say. We survived all summer in forty degrees by hanging onto the memories of autumn and winter, then both seemed to come without barely dropping the temperature inside at all! Now though the machinery is just hot enough to make it pleasant inside, even if the snow has settled in for good outside. The streets are beautiful in white, and I've never seen the fronts of the cafes so empty, or the insides so packed. A few friends from the factory met for coffee before work yesterday and we were almost late for our shift the wait inside was so long.

I hope the conditions in the barracks are improving. Has your unit lead talked to the syndicate representative? I know not everyone is happy about paying more taxes to fund the build-up, but when you troops are going without proper supplies, it seems silly to debate it. Plus, it seems like the time to prepare is now, doesn't it? The Germans are weak and their capitalist utopia has collapsed on itself in spectacular fashion – why wait to make them pay for '19? Obviously you're closer to those kind of decisions than I am, but reading the papers I'm surprised the call for war is so timid right now. Still, perhaps that's my own selfish interest speaking – I work in a munitions factory, and you fire the shells I make. Our family's security is tied to whether the Comité approves more funding for the army or not. It's very capitalist of me, I must apologize, especially since I'd have the much easier job between the two of us if war does break out.

Mother is doing fine, still putting in her eight hours every day and going to church twice on Sundays. Her hip has been bothering her lately, but the doctors have given her an ointment that seems to work well. She takes the stairs up to her room slower than before, so I think I will start to make a few extra stops on the way home from work to pick up some groceries and carry them up to her. It will save her having to carry the food as well as that hip up the stairs. Do you think it'd be worth it to start looking for an apartment on the ground floor somewhere? She's not that old but I do worry...

Anyway, it's getting late here and I need to post this before I go to sleep as I have another early morning coffee date planned with some of the girls and will need to leave here early in the morning. A snowy walk to the metro in the morning isn't the worst way to wake up though!

All the best!

Margeurite