France (Empires)

For other civilizations with the same name, see France.

Civilization	Bonuses and Unique Units	Strategy
France Civilization Traits Colonialism Crew Garde Républicaine Maginot Line Partisans French Underground Joie de Vivre Epochs {{plainlist World War I World War II }} Advanced from {{plainlist Franks Korea }} France is a playable modern civilization in Empires: Dawn of the Modern World, available in World War I and World War II. The French are the successors of the Franks, but can also be advanced from Korea. Description France, with its strong economy and defensive strength in battle, allied with Russia and Britain against Germany in World War I. While France dealt with enormous defeats during World War II, it was able to endure and overcome. Overview The French have the following abilities inherit to their civilization: Colonialism: Build more than one Fortress and units garrisoned in one Fortress can move covertly to exit from any other Fortress. France established bases in her colonial holdings in Africa and Asia to protect them and to help solidify French authority. During the World Wars, troops raised within the colonies were sent to fight for France. Crew: The crews of well-built French tanks and planes may survive if the vehicle is destroyed. The survivors then fight on as infantry. Crews also repair their vehicles. With the advent of modern vehicles came ways to help protect the lives of the occupants. Pilots, for example, began to carry parachutes, an invention first demonstrated by Louis-Sébastien Lenormand of France in 1783. Garde Républicaine: When a French building is destroyed, there is a chance the guard will escape to fight on. During the 20th Century, especially in the World Wars, it was Garde Républicaine's duty to defend Paris and its important buildings. Maginot Line: French walls and towers can sustain more damage than those of other nations. The Maginot Line stretched from Switzerland in the south to the Ardennes Forest near Belgium in the north. The Line was so well fortified that German forces had to go around it in WWII, invading France through neutral Belgium. The Line itself was never breached. Partisans: All human units can walk through forests. Partisans are guerrilla fighters who harass an occupying army. The French Résistance in WWII was essentially a loosely organized group of partisans, carrying out clandestine attacks and then melting back into the landscape. French Underground: Vigilant French Citizens have a long line of sight. Citizens within Town Centres provide the building with an extended line of sight. During the German occupation of France in WWII, members of the French Underground risked their lives to gather and pass intelligence about German activities to the Allies. Joie de Vivre: French Citizens move more quickly than the civilians of other civilizations. Joie de Vivre, a phrase meaning "joy of living", refers to a person's unwavering love of life. The resilience and spirit of the French people were tested during the Second World War, but their joie de vivre emerged intact. History France, still bitter from the Franco-German War of 1870-71, allied with Britain and Russia prior to World War I in an effort to keep Germany in line. When war broke out in 1914, Germany invaded France through Belgium and pushed rapidly toward Paris. The French mustered their forces and held back the German offensive, saving Paris in the First Battle of the Marne. The fighting then degenerated into trench warfare and, despite France’s prodigious production of tanks and airplanes, the stalemate could not be broken. The US entered the war in 1917, making troops available to French Marshal Ferdinand Foch, commander of all Allied forces. With this influx of men and materiel, Germany finally accepted surrender in 1918. The French were determined not to be invaded again. They advocated severe terms for Germany in the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. In 1929, they began construction on the state-of-the-art Maginot Line along the border with Germany. The mighty walls, pillboxes and artillery emplacements that comprised the 150-mile-long Line were designed to be easily defended by garrisoned troops. But in 1940, Germany invaded France through neutral Belgium and the Netherlands, bypassing the Maginot Line. German forces kept just enough pressure on the troops defending the Line that they could not be moved to defend northern France. Paris fell, and France was forced to surrender on June 22, 1940. Although hostilities between France and Germany formally ceased, many French men and women continued the fight. General Charles de Gaulle organised troops abroad into the Free French Forces, who fought in North Africa and Italy. Meanwhile, resistance fighters in occupied France harassed and sabotaged German forces, provided intelligence to the Allies and rescued downed Allied pilots. Then, in June 1944, the massive D-Day landing took place in Normandy. Free French Forces returned to France and merged with the Resistance to form the French Forces of the Interior. By late August, French forces had entered Paris and General de Gaulle assumed control of France. Berlin fell to the Allies just nine months later and the war in Europe came to an end. See also French Army in World War I on Wikipedia France during World War II on Wikipedia History of France (1900 to present) on Wikipedia