French Louisiana

The first state to split with the new Confederacy of Dixie was Louisiana, which maintains cultural ties to France. Louisiana was the wettest of the Confederate states, with a large French-speaking population, Napoleonic law, and large Catholic population. The Louisiana-Confederacy match was doomed, and divorce quick (and the Confederacy could hardly complain: state independence is part of the Confederate creed).

Since then, French Louisiana has leaned heavily on the Mother Country and other Francophone nations, mainly Haiti and Quebec, for support and trade. A poor nation surrounded by hostile—or at best, neutral—nations, dependent on trade, Louisiana floats its economy on legal and illegal alcohol trade.

Agriculture, salt exports, Gulf Fishing, and Mississippi River trade are the backbone of Louisiana's economy. The state is defended by wily "Swamp-Bat" militia pilots and a French Foreign Legion division (mainly against aggressive Texas Air Rangers), but also on guard against renewed Alabama agression.

The President of Louisiana is in the process of negotiating with France, hoping for a more formal relationship with the European power. Surrounded by enemies on all sides, crippled by a weak economy, and equipped with only a light military, the presence of French Foreign Legion troops is virtually all that prevents Louisiana from being swept off the map; currently, no North American nation is prepared for a conflict with a major European power.

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