French Aggression and the Egyptian Enlightenment

France Renews the Invasion:

Despite the constant threat of war, Egypt continued to be the most enlightened nation in the world, the only democracy amongst a horde of fascist[1] dictatorships.  The early 1600s are sometimes called the Egyptian Enlightenment.  In 1600 alone, alongside a great memorial to Egypt's soldiers[2], the Parliamentary elections in Sebti were the first in the world to allow women to participate.  In 1605, Doctor Darwin at the University of Quatchai published his theories on evolution, which sparked a firestorm of scientific debate.  These debates in turn sparked a minor scientific revolution, causing the discovery of a theory of atomic structure, the usage of electronics, and replaceable parts.  These discoveries were of great benefit to Egypt's military and industry, allowing the production of advanced rifles[3] and artillery weapons as well as hydro-electric power plants to speed production.  One such, being built in the city of Qefnu, was said to be the largest such in the world[4], capable of providing all Egypt with electrical power.
 
In 1610, the War of French Aggression began with the conquest of Iroquois Lubeck by cavalry forces[5].  That same year, the Focht spy ring was arrested in Sebti.  Focht himself confessed to working for the French, and as a result, war fever gripped Egypt.  Anti-French riots rocked the cities, many people boycotted French goods, and many in Parliament urged the Immortal Hapshetsut (may she be praised!) to declare war on France.  Our sovereign declined, believing it best to let French troops leave Egypt in peace, although shadowed by Egypt's cavalry regiments.  Instead, she signed an epic trade deal with France and other countries, bringing thousands of gold and new technologies into Egypt, including new business ideas, theories of espionage, and new methods of sanitation[6].

French Troops Outside of Lubeck, 1605 AD:

France, meanwhile, widened the war, bringing in Hiawatha's arch-enemy Caesar.  England's protection pact with France was still in force as well, and it seemed a foregone conclusion that Elizabeth would also enter the war.  Egypt continued watching the French army streaming from her lands and prepared to make a killing selling to both sides.
 
In the Iroquois Confederacy, the war turned into trench warfare, with neither side able to make significant gains.  Cavalry charges into the face of withering rifle fire became commonplace, and an Egyptian war correspondent, Thutmose, was responsible for the defining photograph of the war: Iroquois cavalry charging across an open field towards a trench full of Roman riflemen, the entire first wave blown out of their saddles in the first volley.  War fever in Egypt evaporated almost overnight.
 
French diplomats spread throughout the world in 1655, seeking the entry of other nations into the war.  Egypt refused, citing neutrality, but England, Babylon,  and India entered on the side of France and Rome.  French and Roman blockade ships became a familiar sight off of the Egyptian coastline, and many Roman ships came to New Thebes to resupply and refit.  Similarly, Ptenetou became a popular port for Iroquois blockade runners.
 
In 1660, oil was discovered in New Thebes[7] and the desert city of Kahun.  It was hypothesized by many Egyptian scientists that this new material would be important as a source of fuel for the new combustion engines being developed, which would be capable of completely replacing horse and wildebeest driven vehicles.
 
The eyes of the world watched the city of Brundisium in 1670, as it became the site of fierce battles between Iroquois and Roman forces.  The city changed hands from the Romans to the Iroquois, back to the Romans, and finally back to the Iroquois as Hiawatha used his superior transportation network and giant conscripted rifle regiments against the city[8].  The very next year, however, both Brundisium and Oka fell to Roman troops.

The Eastern Front, 1675 AD:

1690 saw Egypt's entrance into a true Golden Age[9], with the completion of the Hoover Dam in Qefnu, theories of battlefield surgery in Pi-Ramesses, and the Egyptian Intelligence Service building in Gutenberg.  France, sensing the failure of her offensive against the Iroquois, dropped out of the war.  England left soon after, leaving only Rome, Babylon, and India fighting the Iroquois.