Vive Le Roi: the Case for A French Monarchy

They built it!

France has a problem or rather, France has all the problems, nothing is working in that country. Whereas in all of the major European powers like Great Britain and Germany the unemployment rate is falling and their economic growing even at an anemic pace, in France the unemployment rate just went up and the economy is contracting. The government seems powerless and its fickle policies unhelpful. There is a sense, manifested in all areas of French society that things are not going well and that there is nothing that can be done to save France for what is assumed to be a sure doom. This malaise has entrenched itself ever since the elections of 2012, when soon after electing  Francois Hollande on the hope and change platform, the people realized that they had been sold lies and and that hope and change really meant very fast pace in changing government and policies. As  a result France has faltered. There is one way to restore it, it is very unorthodox but at this point in time isn't unorthodox what France needs when everything has been tried and failed, except for the Front National, which would result in such catastrophe that it shouldn't even be pondered upon as a solution.

The solution, as mentioned in the title would be to restore the monarchy is France. Crazy, it seems but explained properly it makes a lot of sense. The French pride themselves and even posses a sense of superiority because of what they perceive as them being heirs to a great country that has influence the world. But are they really, what has France done recently to prove such superiority in the world. They are no innovators, what technology have they produced recently that has changed the world? Is there a great French company that can measure up to Apple, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, GE, Samsung or LG? No. Does France still export its culture worldwide? No, the United States has taken that place. With a shrinking economy, a failing government and many problems why do French people still feel superior? The answer is in the legacy that they have inherited in the very history of France itself. At one point French influence was so strong that the world revolved around it, French was the language of diplomacy and of culture. French manufacturing methods were copied all around the world. French military power was feared and its economic prowess undeniable. That dominance was so complete and cemented that even though today's France has lost many of those traits, the remnant of such dominance have allowed the country to claim greatness where there really isn't. That period being the time where a king ruled over France.

Until the revolution of 1789 that destroyed traditional monarchy, France was the first nation in the world a position it never retook, save for the short lived Napoleonic era. Under the Bourbon kings who ruled from Versailles, France had an position of power that seemed unattainable and very secure. Even in the last day of Louis XVI doomed rule, the other European power still considered France as the hegemony of Europe. The reason being that the legacy of the Sun King Louis XIV was still to great and Louis XVI despite his weakness still represented that. The French monarch represented the power and the glory of the French nation incarnated in its king. Since the French revolution, Great Britain and the US have took turns at being the world leader, while France went through violent changes in government and grew weaker.

Returning to modern time bringing back the monarchy would change thing very quickly in France. Of course it would be a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system. France is visited by millions of tourist every year who flock to see its natural beauty and beautiful edifices many of them built by the aforementioned French king. Having a glamorous royal family installed at Versailles would created  a frenzy never before seen in the world and would increase the number of tourists to France bringing in billions of Euros in revenue. Paris is already considered the capital of fashion but it is easy to see the increased revenue french fashion houses would get with such a beautiful queen, Kate Middleton has done a lot for British fashion, the future queen of France would do even more. A French monarchy would also do a lot in promoting French culture above in the way that other monarchies do but with the added glamour and french mystique,  Moving away for the many jobs and revenue that would be created by bringing in a royal family. A monarchy would provide a sense of stability and safety that the French people seem to lack nowadays and long for. Not to mention create a wall that would ensure that no matter how far the Front National goes, they can never attain the highest office in the land.

When in a dire situation, it is sometimes the only time when one can apply drastic changes and produce greatness. France has a chance to do something to renew itself, and return to its place of greatness and grandeur and the monarchy would be it. Money, something the country is in dire need of would flow to the counrty. French culture, music and fashion would be talked to wherever the king and queen of France went in a way that has not been done and stability would be created by having the family that ruled over France for 900 years and that made it the envy of the world creating a legacy and pride that is enjoyed by today's French. France has the opportunity to do something great and bold, and doesn't the duc d'Anjou's family look attractive enough?

The Anjou family.