Going Rogue: In-Between Day

Oh, well let me explain...

France began to establish colonies in North America, the Caribbean and India, following Spanish and Portuguese successes during the Age of Discovery, in rivalry with Britain for supremacy. A series of wars with Britain during the 1700s and early 1800s, which France lost, ended its colonial ambitions on these continents, and with it is what some historians term the "first" French colonial empire. In the 19th century, France established a new empire in Africa and South East Asia. Some of these colonies lasted beyond the invasion and occupation of France by Nazi Germany during World War II.

Following the war, anti-colonial movements began to challenge French authority. France unsuccessfully fought bitter wars from after the 1940s until the early 1960s in Vietnam and Algeria to keep its empire intact. By the end of the 1960s, most of France's colonies had gained independence, save for a series of islands and archipelagos which were integrated into France as overseas departments and territories. These total altogether 123,150 km² (47,548 sq. miles), which amounts to only 1% of the pre-1939 French colonial empire's area, with 2,624,505 people living in them in 2009. All of them enjoy full political representation at the national level, as well as varying degrees of legislative autonomy.

Hopefully its clear now.

Thanks to everyone who came out tonight. Many of us ran solo, mouths agape, as we stared in wonder at the beauty of hte new zones. I recorded the attendance of anyone who was on tonight.

I updated all the attendance up to the point that I went to bed, including OD and Per.