Vioraux

The early days of the colony saw steady, but large population growth. Colonists continued to flock to the newly founded colony to escape poverty and take advantage of the unused land/resources. The first recorded business was established in 1710; it was known as the Jacqueline Trading Company, and it grew rapidly due to the many other settlements throughout the region. It was state-owned and was designed to generate profit for the colony, which it most certainly did. By 1715 the colony had a population of 20,000 and it had more wealth than it needed. Jacques began purchasing more supplies from nearby colonies, kingdoms, and empires and the once small village soon contained over 100 buildings and twenty farms. The population began demanding the "city" have a name, and it was simply named "Versailles" after the colony name. As the infrastructure began reaching the borders of Versailles, Jacques worried the nearby tribes would begin taking notice to the settlers. Therefore, he avoided any westward expansion and instead inched south, hanging onto the coast. This lead to the development of new villages, and a further breakdown of government. Jacques was governor of the colony, and each city was now designated a mayor. 

 

However, the land near the coast was very unusable, it was mostly sand, and was prone to flooding and bad storms from the sea. Colonists began demanding they move westward, but Jacques refused. He did not have the power to defend against the many tribes that were inland, and so he used his small military force to keep his colonists within boundaries. His death in 1724 effectively ended this rule, and with the election of Jean-Christophe Lussier as the new governor, westward expansion went from being outlawed, to promoted. Jean wanted more land under is control and requested more troops from France to aid in the push back of the Doman tribes. Jean also dropped Nouveau in the colony name and renamed it to "Versailles" in 1726. 

 

The colonization by the English occurred in 1725. A group of exiled British colonists landed on the very southern tip of the island, saw it as suitable land and settled down. There was 200 of them, and they started up their town named Romsey. They had no food, water, or shelter and lived on the ship until a reasonable amount of homes were built. By the time people moved in, only 140 were left. Their lack of defense made them prone to the Doman tribes. Luckily for them, their presence to anyone, including the French, was unknown. They were peaceful, malnourished, and most of all scared. They kept to themselves, and very slowly grew. They had 175 people by the year 1731; their only ships were sunk during a severe storm that year, and so they were essentially stranded on the island. 

 

Back up north, the French were doing exceptionally well. The doman tribes had been pushed al the way back to the west coast, and greater southern expansion was beginning to take place. In 1754 the population of the colony of Versailles was around 120,000, and still rapidly growing. The election of Governor Boucher in 1756 brought what many call the "golden age" of colonial Vioraux. Boucher believed in very unregulated business, which allowed for the private sector boom in the late 1760's. The success of many businesses within the colony attracted, even more, immigration. In 1772 the "Great Flood" occurred, which was the incoming of three large french fleets packed with 500 colonists each. Many saw this as an opportunity to open hotels and bed & breakfasts. In fact, this is rumored to be the start of Cédric  Hotels, a hotel chain which is today one of the largest in the Isles. 

 

1787 marked the discovery of Jacques' Crater, a quarry west of Amérique, which was filled with large amounts of silver and copper. The following years leading up to the turn of the century were marked with minimum government and maximum freedom. Boucher became the oldest ever governor of the colony and died in the year 1802. Replacing him at the start of the industrial revolution was the young and inexperienced Justine François. He was a friend of Napoleon and was personally appointed by him. At that point, Versailles was on of the most valuable colonies to France. There was plentiful resources, a hard-working populace, and an exceptionally stable economy. 

 

Manufacturing then exploded along the coast. Factories sprung up everywhere, and ships were constantly entering and leaving the ports. This allowed for coastal cities like Versailles, Amérique, and Pacifique to prosper. Justine wanted more land, and so he began the southern expedition in 1804. Led by him and French generals, the colony of Versailles, rapidly grew behind them. The further they journeyed south the more lush land, vast forests, and large quarries they found. This, in turn, convinced them to keep going and this inevitably led to the French-English encounter in 1806. Justine spotted Romsey's largest farm initially which is what many say saved him. Instead of going further and sparking conflict, he circled and examined the area. Along with a few other soldiers, he mapped out key locations, weak spots, and any weaponry that would be up against them. Although the settlers were very defenseless, Justine was still very outnumbered and so he returned to the nearest militia outpost near Pacifique to gather more men.

 

The peaceful, exiled English were in no way prepared for what was about to hit them. In the name of greed, Justine launched a small attack in 1807. He led the naval pursuit while his men handled the land combat. With Justine continuously bombing them from the sea, and the slaughtering of them on land, the conflict lasted a mere 45 minutes before Romsey surrendered. Initially the fact they were English, was to get them executed, by Justine instead exploited them. He made them slaves and servants for the wealthier colonists. As of 1807, Versailles now controlled the entire area which would become the initial borders of Vioraux. 

 

The following years leading up to the abandoning were quiet. Two more governors had their turn and by the end of Governor Giroux's reign, the colony was in dire conditions. The colonists did not take into account the rapid depletion of the resources, and instead of sustainably collecting them, they completely gathered them up. This was due to the rapid industrialization of the island, which also polluted the air and the sea. Forests were completely gone, and the once fertile farm land was dead due to overuse. President of France Adolphe Theirs attempted to rescue Versailles during his short two years in office but by 1873, the colony was hopeless. France was now spending more to upkeep the colony then they were generating from it. The current colonial governor of the time Louise Françoise Michel tried setting up new laws which he called The Instruction. These new rules enforced strict environmental regulations, made any act of injuring the environment a crime, and business went from completely privately owned, to many state interferences. This did not sit well with the populace, and it did not sit well with France either. Now the colony was generating even less profit for the Republic, and after countless failed attempts to fix the colony, France pulled out in 1892. 

 

This sent a shock wave that would single-handedly take down Versailles. Line Armelle, councilmen at the time staged a coup where he overthrew Louise in an attempt to claim himself, governor. But with no military and no force to exert his power, people simply did not have to listen to him. This led to a schism, Divided by the Contraire river, the south became the Kingdom of Romsey, and the North became the Department of Maîtriser. Both had incredibly unstable governments, and no basic structure.