Augustine Wars
The French Revolution was a revolutionary movement that hit France from the late 1780s to the late 1790s. The revolution marked the end of the Ancien Régime and paved the way for a more republican French Kingdom.
The Revolution, and the Rise of Auguste Spiga
The Seeds of Revolution
Meanwhile, in France, the seeds of revolution had already been sown. After the French defeat at the Great Silesian War (1750), and the disproportionate concessions made by France to Great Britain and her allies, the legitimacy of the Kingdom in the eyes of her subjects waned. More so, when Philip VIII, King of France, refused to answer the calls to lift the restrictions against taxing the French nobility, resulting in the third estate carrying the financial burdens of France.
In 1788, it was announced that the national treasury was empty. With the growing unrest, Philip VIII's advisors advised convening the Estates-General, which had not been convened for more than a hundred years. However, Philip VIII refused to do so. However, as the fear of unrest spilling over into the capital became a serious threat, Philip VIII announced from Versailles that he would endorse and convene the Estates-General, to the shock of his advisors. This announcement temporarily pacified the unrest, but as 1789 neared its end, Philip VIII made no signs of convening the assembly.
In February of 1790, a mob of peasants marched to Versailles and surrounded the palace. They were accompanied by some of the liberal nobles, notably the ones who tried to convince Philip VIII to convene the Estates-General. At last, Philip VIII did. In 22 February 1790, the Estates-General had been convened. Eventually, this Estates-General would morph into the Assemblée Nationale Constituante (National Assembly). However, this national assembly would be unstable, as there would be a lot of political infighting that would ensue between the estates and the various political factions that had formed within the estate.
Philip VII's Flight to New France
Throughout 1790-1793, the political infighting within France would soon go out of control. It was starting to be clear that the authority of the King had waned. With the poor state of the army, the various political factions had started raising paramilitary groups. These militias would become more appealing for young men to join, rather than the under-rationed and poorly equipped Royal army, to the point that it became a point of prestige to become involved in these organizations. Conservatives had begun leaving France, most of them heading to the colony of New France, which became a Royalist stronghold.
Philip VIII had started to regret convening the Estates-General, instead of relying on his instincts and just crushing the initial unrest outright. Philip VIII contemplated leaving France and asking help from Austria and Britain, but his brother, the liberal Henri (Duc d'Anjou), had discouraged him from doing so. Without Henri's knowledge, Philip VIII and his family escaped their residence from Versaille and departed for Lé Hâvre in Northern France on 12 March 1793, bringing only their jewelry and other meager possessions, and only accompanied by three of his guards. This inconspicuity would make them successful in leaving Versailles, unlike the unfortunate Flight to Varennes that had failed IOTL). He had set sail for New France and had left France in a state of political turmoil.
Coronation of Henri, duc d’Anjou, as King of the French
When the news was revealed that Philip VIII had left France, the National Assembly labeled him as a traitor. “The King has abdicated!” became the cry of the people after Philip VIII’s betrayal of the French people. The National Assembly, however, still wanted to see to it that the new constitution of France would be respected. They had to find a replacement for Philip VIII. They had seen the perfect person in Henri, Duc d’Anjou, and brother of Philip VIII. Henri was a liberal-conservative. Although he had been arrested for allegedly conspiring with Philip in leaving France, he was pardoned by the National Assembly on the grounds of a national emergency. In June 1793, he would be proclaimed King of France. Despite his noble intentions, his reign would be marked with inefficiencies, as the Royal Army barely had any power, and his word would constantly be overruled by the National Assembly. In 1794, he would be indefinitely suspended by the leaders of the majority party in the National Assembly, marking the end of the ancien regime. In 16 May 1794, the President of the National Assembly, Auguste Spiga, had declared the establishment of the French Republic. The King of France and his family was still allowed to live comfortably in Versailles (despite Spiga's opposition), but was placed under constant guard. This aroused mixed reactions from France's neighbors countries, but they were more than happy to see France spiral into unrest, as long as the liberals don't do any harm to the royal family.
The French Republic, and the rise of Auguste Spiga
Auguste Spiga (Sardinian: Austinu, Italian: Agustino, born 14 March 1757) was a Sardinian-born French statesman. He was born on the island of Sardinian only a month before the island achieved independence from France. His father worked for Charles Boyer (French Viceroy to Sardinia) and had fled the island due to increasing anti-French violence during the Sardinian Independence War. He would grow up in mainland France. In the summer of 1768, he had been admitted into the prestigious Lycée Louis-le-Grand, and continued to study law at the Sorbonne, and there he had become enamored with the ideas of liberalism and republicanism. He became a well known orator within the academe, but was heavily notorious for his anti-royalist sentiments. Spiga founded the Society of the Friends of Liberty, the more radical wing of liberals who advocated for the complete abolition of monarchy and any trace of aristocracy, and the idea that power descended from the people and not from a king. He was also a strong proponent of the export of revolution. He believed that as being the first in Europe to achieve true enlightenment, it was the French Republic's duty to impose these ideas to their "unfortunate" neighbors who were "bounded by chains to the powerful few" (referring to the royalty).
He had been elected into the National Assembly during its formation, and soon rose to prominence and became the President of the Assembly in 1794, and was one of the key people in the deposition of Henri, King of France.
Once in power, Spiga appointed Jacques Rossignol as marshal (the highest rank in the French National Army). Rossignol was a drill instructor turned military general, who Spiga had known during his time at the Society of the Friends of Liberty. Rossignol was a key figure in the French government, as Spiga had often sought advice from him and delegated a lot of critical missions to him. Rossignol was Spiga's most trusted man, and his influence over Spiga had led to the increasing militarization of the Republic. Although becoming increasingly autocratic, Spiga was still wildly popular in France, and had the legitimacy as he was popularly elected as the President of the National Assembly.
The French, under his Spiga's rule, would commit to spreading the revolution to their neighbors, and eventually get entangled in numerous wars against Britain, Austria, and eventually the Ottoman Turks.
The First Republic
Ultimatum to Spain, and the Annexation of the Low Countries
As part of Spiga's planned "liberation of Europe," he and Rossignol turned their attention to the Spanish Low Countries. Spiga delivered a letter to the Spanish King, demanding them to hand over possession of the Low Countries to the French. The Spanish King, worried about war with France (whose armies had recently been strengthened), reluctantly accepted Spiga's terms. On 4 September 1794, the Spanish Low Countries territory was officially transferred to France and its provinces were integrated as new French Départements.
This exchange became problematic for Britain and Austria, and they feared that the republic might upset the balance of power in Europe if left unchecked.
The Fruit Basket Plot, and the Murders of Versailles
In 1794, just a few weeks after the French Republic annexed the Spanish Low Countries, it was found out that King Henri (still locked up in Versailles) had been having a secret exchange of letters with the Austrian emissaries. The letters were called the Fruit Basket Letters, due to the fact that the letters would be hidden inconspicuously in fruit baskets to deliver them inside and outside the palace. In these letters, Henri had detailed the supposedly harsh conditions of his "imprisonment" in Versailles (although there was no evidence to suggest this), and had pleaded for Austria and Britain to attack and invade the French Republic. Further letters from Austria had revealed a secret agreement between Britain and Austria, that they would invade France in the spring, just in time for the French National Assembly's new round of elections. Auguste Spiga had been informed of this plot and was enraged. He publicly denounced King Henri and ordered for him to be transferred to prison.
On the eve of 18 January 1795, a day before Henri was supposed to be transferred, a mob had gathered around the Versailles palace, gathering all the way from Paris. The mob had denounced King Henri as a traitor. Henri refused to speak to the crowd, and the crowd grew more violent. The few guards that were stationed in Versailles had sent a messenger to Rossignol for help, but this letter did not reach him, nor Spiga, and no forces came to their help. A gunshot was heard within the ruckus, presumably fired by a constabulary, and soon the situation developed into a riot against the guards, and it was not long until the Palace of Versailles itself was stormed by the crowd. The crowd had found Henri, his wife, and his son, the Great Dauphine, inside the palace, and was murdered by the violent mob in cold blood. This event would be known as the Murders of Versailles.
To this day, the Murders of Versailles remain a strong point of debate and contention among modern historians. A popular belief among historians is that Rossignol had actually received the letters from the constabulary in Versailles asking for help, but Auguste Spiga, president of the National Assembly, had advised him to let the situation develop violently, to justify his autocratic tendencies (although in this version of the story, Spiga had not expected the death of Henri). Another theory is that Spiga had organized the riot itself, and had deliberately sent the mob there for the purpose of killing Henri, which seemed to align to his strong anti-royalist views.
Nevertheless, France, after the Murders of Versailles had grown even more increasingly autocratic.
1st War of Deliverance (1795-1798)
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After news of the murders hit London and Vienna, the allies decided that France had to be put down. Britain and Austria declared war on France. As a response, Rossignol had sent the National Army to occupy the Bishopric of Liege and the Dutch Republic in the spring of 1795. Rossignol's forces were met with very little resistance, and the Dutch had even welcomed the French as their liberators. On 4 April 1795, the Dutch Republic government was dissolved, and a new republic had been established: the Batavian Republic, which had an autonomous government but under the umbrella of the French Republic. William, stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, had across the channel to Britain, and in the Dutch House of the Kew Palace of England, he had written the infamous Kew Letters, which ordered the colonies of the Dutch Republic to surrender to Great Britain for "safekeeping". Britain and Austria declare war on France.
These letters were wildly unpopular among most of the Dutch colonies, most especially in New Netherland. The letters have triggered an anti-Orangist coup in New Netherland, with the leaders denouncing William as a traitor. Great Britain attempted to invade New Netherland in 1796, and had led to the Autumn War (1796) or the New Netherland Independence War. The New Netherland government was recognized and supported by France. However, the situation in Europe forced Britain to sign a peace with the New Netherland government and in the winter of 1796, New Netherland's independence was recognized by Britain.
In Europe, the situation for the British and Austrians had gotten worse. In 1798, the French forced Britain and Austria to sign the Treaty of Maastricht, which formalized the creation of the Batavian Republic and the French annexation of the Spanish Low Countries, the Bishopric of Liege, and Franche-Comte.
