Hi
very belated response. If you have the last patch then it has a lot of changes for Russia that sorted out most of the known problems for the early events (say up to 1860). That include the problem with the ctd related to the Caucasus revolt.
after it was released i found one more, its in this thread
viewtopic.php?f=345&t=53576More generally for France, the chains work well - in part as its been a popular nation to play so had a lot of attention.
Again the last patch sorted out the German unification chains so its most likely you will be attacked by Prussia sometime 1868-72.
A few things remain - and I'm afraid can't be sorted now.
first unless a war is set by event as to 'the death' we can't stop the natural game engine AI seeking peace. So in this case, yes its feasible for the Ottomans to bail out leaving France (&/or the UK) at war. An alliance at war system would have been ideal but ... (check my old PoN Italy AAR for the vagaries of WW1 when each nation can follow its own dynamics).
The other bit if I recall (& my memory now is very hazy), the Third Empire collapses regardless around 1871-2 and France flips to a Republic. The domestic political game was never really coded (it was meant to model the US elections, favouring certain politics depending on player choices) and could have coped with ahistorical events such as the Thrid Empire surviving.
Again, off a poor memory, you can make France an Empire again by event (if that is what you want) but the government traits are set from the .exe.
Roger