If the Count of Monte Cristo paid France's debts from 1945 onward, how would you rebuild the Marine Nationale?
Short answerBuild four carrier groups, retain a fast-battleship-led Mediterranean surface group, and provide substantial cruiser, destroyer, and frigate escorts.
NotesIn this counterfactual, the Count of Monte Cristo assumes France's debt payments from 1945 onward, freeing resources for naval reconstruction. France's overseas commitments then determine the proposed fleet's shape. Four carriers would support availability in the Atlantic and Far East, while Mediterranean land bases reduce the need for a permanently assigned carrier there. A pair of fast battleships would sustain a separate Mediterranean surface group. Each escort group is envisaged with about two large cruisers, four large destroyers and six large frigates. The overall proposed force is roughly fourteen large cruisers, twenty-eight large destroyers and forty-two large frigates, alongside the four carriers and two battleships.