By the 1910s, the Kingdom of France was in a slow decline. The rich got richer, and the poor became destitute. The knightly caste lost its way, becoming little more than a band of armoured thugs. To most, this was unacceptable.To those on the Pyrenees mountain range, the French were a lost cause. A new national movement was formed, from the Occitan culture native to these mountains.

In 1916, Renée-Constance Laure de Sade, a former French marquise, declared independence from France, stating her intention to form a nation: Occitania. A short war of independence followed, quietly petering out once the French knew they could not afford to keep fighting.

de Sade, the first Occitan President, ordered the construction of La Libertat, a giant copper statue that towered over the mountains, to commemorate Occitania's newfound independence.