Australie
The Australien Republic | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
| Official languages | Australien French |
| Recognised regional languages | Various indigenous languages |
| Religion | Catholic Church Lutheranism Buddhism |
| Demonym | Australien |
| Government | Unitary Presidential Republic |
| Establishment | |
• Freycient expedition | 1810 |
• Founding of first successful French colony in modern Australie | 1817 |
• Establishment of the First Australien Republic | 1875 |
• Australien Independence from France | 1937 |
Australie, also occasionally spelled as Australia (officially The Australien Republic), is an oceanic country located on the eastern section of continental Australia. Australie borders both New Batavia & Georgia to the east and the sea of Tasman to the west.
History
Human settlement of what is modern day Australie is estimated to have begun 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, with the migration of people by land bridges and short sea crossings from what is now Southeast Asia.
The modern nation of Australie stems from French colonialism in Oceania starting in 1810 with the Freycient expedition sent out by the General-Director of revolutionary France Augustine Spiga. The expedition's goals were to determine the suitability of Australia for French settlement and was a direct result of fears of that British exploration and charting of the region would lead to eventual colonial expansion. The expedition landed on the south-eastern coast of Australia and mapped parts of the region. Two years later, after news of the expedition moved public support for the colonization of Terra Australis (what the continent of Australia was known at the time) revolutionary France unsuccessfully attempted to settle a colony along Belleuve Bay. After six months this first colony was abandoned due to a lack of food supplies and a surge in interpersonal rivalries among the colonists. In the immediate aftermath of the Augustine wars, the newly appointed French government planned to send another mission to resettle Australia after realizing British ambitions on the region but delayed these plans fearing another failure. In 1817 the Grimaldi regime in France revisited former plans to colonize Australie this time by establishing a penal colony- something which the French lacked since losing their Guyanese colony to Genoa and their Spanish allies previously. On May 19th 1817, 1201 French colonists (including at least 900 convicts) landed near Belleuve Bay and established the first permanent French presence on the continent. The colony also initially got off to a rocky start with over half of the convicts running off to live with local aboriginal tribes within the first year of landing. On the other hand the Port-Belleuve was able to maintain a consistent food supply and build a good relationship with the local Gadigal people.
Later in 1821 after a series of riots in Paris by revolutionary war veterans, the French government enacted a settlement program which gave large tracts of land to to former soldiers to settle in Australia. This was seen by the Grimaldi regime to be both a good way to quiet the unrest of the mostly disloyal and republic veterans of the Augustine wars and to expand French colonial presence in Australia. One early major complaint among French settlers to Australia was the very unequal gender ratio of colonists (with their being 9 Frenchman to every French Woman in 1825. This issue led to a high degree of intermarriage with the indigenous peoples of Australia as well as a sizeable sex trade of wives from Polynesia and Aotearoa among colonists to French Australia. In this period the relationship between the French and the locals deteriorated significantly as the land promised to settlers was already occupied by aboriginal peoples, leading to conflict. In 1828, the Bellevue bay penal colony and surrounding veteran land grants was reformed into the French Imperial colony of Terre-Australie and the French expanded their colonial claims all the way up the east coast of the Australian continent.
Throughout the early and mid 20th century Terre-Australie expanded rapidly with high population growth from the original settlers as well as a steady stream of French settlers. The trade in wives from Polynesia (mostly Fiji) and Aotearoa continued through the 1840s but also being joined by a trickle of Polynesian laborers and slaves as the demand for labor in colony outstrip domestic supply. The other way labor was provided was through the later criticized practice of 'Native Policing' where a group of colonists would move into a region and claim that members of the local aboriginal tribe robbed them and demanded labor be paid by said accused tribesman as restitution. French imperial control and administration of the colony was light in this period with most colonists not seeing any vestiges of French authority at all after leaving Port-Belleuve. The Catholic Church stepped in to fill this void and was generally the locus of Australien society as well as the only visible sign of cultural order. This had the effect of increasing religiosity in the colony immensely while at the same time imparting a conservative culture to Australiens in contrast to metropolitan France which was trending in the opposite direction in this period.
This cultural difference between Australie & the motherland came to a head with the communard wars in the 1870's with Australien conservative leaders rejecting the communard principals of the revolution and declaring independence in 1875 as a 'Christian Republic'. This period of independence was shaky at best with the republican government barely holding onto control amongst constant infighting. Independence wouldn't last long though as in 1877 after the Parti Communard de France coup and the establishment of the 3rd French republic- the French & British launced a joint invasion to re-establish French rule in Australie. The republic fell after 3 months of fighting but the influence of this period of brief independence would greatly shape the nation going forward. After French rule was re-established France & Great Britain signed the Treaty of Melrose to delineate the Georgian-Australian border and end the tension over the Tongala basin (of which French-Australien settlers have been pouring into through passes in the blue mountains since at least the late 1850s).
From the early 1880s onwards, republican & anti-French Australiens consolidated their drive for renewed independence into the 'Free Australien Movement' which advocated politically (in legal and illegal ways) for a second republic. In 1817, increased export tariffs led to the Second Australian Independence revolt, which was brutally put down radicalizing many Australiens and led the establishment of the 'Gertrude Scheme' of the French republic importing loyal settlers into the colony and giving them property seized from convicted secessionists.
Government and Politics
Australie is a centralized unitary presidential republic with the Australien President substantial power as both the head of government and head of state. The legislature of Australie is the unicameral Australien People's Senate composed of a 380 member body elected with regional constituency.
