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Europe
Western Europe
Deutsches Reich
Official Name: German Reich
Ruling Party: Valkistische Deutsche Volkspartei
Ideology: Valkism
An ultranationalist dictatorship that arose out of a weakened Germany after their loss in the Great War. Practicing a variant of National Populism called "Valkism", the Third Reich now stands in opposition to both the Soviet Union to the east and the former members of the Entente to the west to carve its name in history as a Reich that will last 1000 years.- The Empire: Valkist Germany is a revanchist fascist dictatorship that seeks to make Germany great again through conquest, and is the main threat to peace in Europe.
- Fictional Political Party: Germany is currently ruled by the Valkistische Deutsche Volkspartei (Valkist German People's Party), this timeline's counterpart to the NSDAP.
- Historical Villain Downgrade: The Valkists are a clear stand-in for the Nazis, and many real life high-level Nazis are Valkists in this timeline. However, outside of being both ultranationalist, revanchist dictatorships, the Valkists are far more socially progressive and tolerant towards minorities than the Nazis are, and have no reason to commit an atrocity akin to The Holocaust.
- No Communities Were Harmed: This version of Germany is clearly based on the Greater German Reich. A far-right police state that arose in Germany with the goal of uniting all Germanic peoples into one state, though its social policies are more in line with those of Fascist Italy, focusing more on a unified culture than ethnicity.
- No Swastikas: The Valkists' symbol is the Valknut
, which was believed to represent Odin and the slain warriors that ascended to Valhalla in Germanic paganism. Justified, as the Valkists care more for German culture than ethnicity, while the swastika is a symbol of Indian culture, where the Aryan race supposedly originated. - Politically Correct Villain: The Valkists defend socially progressive ideals, including rights for women, LGBT people and non-whites. They are also totalitarian, revanchist ultranationalists who will send thousands to their deaths to make Germany great again through military conquest, and force everyone conquered by them to adapt the superior German culture.
- State Sec: The Thuleschutztruppe is the Valkist Party's official paramilitary. They can be shaped into an elite fighting force, a support unit, an internal Secret Police, or an anti-partisan force.
Adam Dressler
Party: Valkistische Deutsche Volkspartei
Ideology: Valkism
After the Entente victory in the Great War, Germany was restructured into the weak Weimar Republic. Many Germans disliked that, and Dressler was amongst them. He founded the Valkist Party and overthrew the government in 1932, making his first steps in world dominance...- Adaptational Heroism: In Kaiserreich, the novel from which Führerreich takes inspiration depicts Dressler with the racial views of real life Nazis, even wanting to commit genocide on inferior peoples. In contrast, this Dressler focuses on cultural supremacy rather than racial supremacy, and the worst he does with minorities is deporting them.
- Celebrity Paradox: Adam Dressler uses the likeness of Sudeten Nazi Konrad Henlein as his portrait. However, Konrad Henlein still exists in the Führerreich universe, and is represented in an event by a photograph of the similarly-named Anton Drexler.
- Lighter and Softer: He's what would happen if Hitler was a cultural rather than ethnic nationalist, as well as being okay with some socially progressive movements.
- No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Unusual for a Hearts of Iron mod, Dressler is a fictional character who was originally mentioned in Kaiserreich's original blurb about the Double-Blind What-If. His name is based on Anton Drexler, his likeness on Konrad Henlein, and his role on Adolf Hitler.
Hermann Göring
Party: Reichspartei Schwarz-Weiß-Rot
Ideology: National Populism
Hermann Göring is the leader of Germany's second party (one of the few that weren't banned after the 1932 Coup), who represents National Populism in Germany.- We Used to Be Friends: Göring and Dressler used to be friends and colleagues, but later Hermann joined the National Populist Reichspartei Schwarz-Weiß-Rot and began to criticize Dressler's national policies.
Adolf Hitler
Party: Valkistische Deutsche Volkspartei
Ideology: Valkism
- Historical Downgrade: Here, Hitler is just a minister of economics and has no political influence in Germany.
- Historical Villain Downgrade: Adolf Hitler is only an economic minister who seeks fair trade deals between Germany and other countries, instead of leading one of history's most notorious regimes.
Inter-Allied Rhineland
Flag of the Confederation of the Rhine
Official Name: Inter-Allied Mandate of the Rhineland, Confederation of the Rhine (independent), French Mandate of the Rhineland (French mandate), German Rhine (Valkist)
Ruling Party: Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission
Ideology: Authoritarian Democracy
- Allohistorical Allusion: In this timeline, Hans Adam Dorten's Wiesbaden Proclamation, in which he proclaimed the independence of the Rhenish Republic, and the simultaneous Mainz Putsch happened like they did in real life, the movement quickly fizzling out after Dorten and Matthes discovered that they had vastly overestimated their own popularity. The difference is that these events historically happened in 1923 (long before the rise of the Nazis), after which Dorten and Matthes were forced to flee to France, while in this timeline, the movement took place nine years later (after Adam Dressler seized power), and was revitalised by the French against the Valkists and communists.
- Balkanize Me: The Rhineland was carved from the old German Empire as a mandate controlled by the Entente after their victory in the Great War. If the Valkists seize power in the Rhine, they'll push for reunification with Germany.
- Enemy Mine: After Adam Dressler seized power in Germany, Rhenish nationalists Hans Adam Dorten and Josef Friedrich Matthes proclaimed the formation of an independent Rhenish Republic to protest against French crackdowns. However, Charles Mangin, commander of the French military occupation, refused to wipe out the insurgents, instead proposing to High Commissioner Paul Tirard that they may use the insurgents against the Valkists and communists.
- Non-Indicative Name: The so-called 'Inter-Allied' Rhenish mandate is anything but an Inter-Allied operation, with the United States' post-war isolation and the withdrawal of all Entente forces except the French.
- Occupiers Out of Our Country: Both Rhenish nationalists and Valkists agitate for the removal of the French military occupation; the former push for independence, the latter for unification with Germany.
- Puppet State: By 1936, the Rhineland is a puppet of France, ruled by French commissioner Paul Tirard, completely dependent on inter-Allied support. When the Rhine finds itself in chaos following an economic crash, the French might either choose to double down the occupation to maintain order, leave the Rhine alone, or establish a pro-France republic led by Konrad Adenauer to serve as a buffer between France and Valkist Germany.
Konrad Adenauer
Party: Rheinische Zentrumspartei
Ideology: Social Conservatism
- The Quisling: Adenauer is famous across the Rhine for his support for the French occupation, saying that for all their flaws, the French are protecting the Rhine from the Valkists who have seized power in Germany proper. In the wake of the 1936 riots, he advocates for autonomy from France, rather than complete seperation from French rule.
Hans Adam Dorten
Party: Rheinische Volkspartei
Ideology: National Populism
- Team Switzerland: Dorten calls for an autarkist economy, insulated from foreign affairs, and a strong military service to protect Rhenish neutrality.
Viktor Lutze
Party: Deutsche Vaterlandspartei
Ideology: Valkism
- Meaningful Rename: Under the Valkists, the Rhineland's official name becomes Der Deutsche Rhein (German Rhine) and its adjective changes from Rhenish to German, in accordance with their pan-Germanic ideals and desire to be reunited with Germany.
United Kingdom
Official Name: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Ideology: Social Conservatism
- The Federation: In order to answer the question of the Dominions' autonomy, the British Empire might adapt the radical solution of reforming into the Imperial Federation, in which the Dominions are reorganised into a federal union with the United Kingdom.
France
Official Name: French Republic, Kingdom of France (under Jean III)
Ideology: Social Conservatism
- Allohistorical Allusion: In this timeline as in OTL, France can build a series of fortifications in order to deter a German invasion. However, unlike the real life Maginot Line that stretches along the German border in Alsace and Moselle, this timeline's Calais-Metz Line instead stretches along the Belgian border from Calais to Metz, which was seen as a weakness in the Great War.
- Les Collaborateurs: Solidarité Française is a Valkist party that only sees support among the Germans living in Alsace-Lorraine and the Sarre. It is believed that the SF are openly working against France in order to bring about a pro-Germany collaborationist state.
- Corrupt Politician: Eleven members of the French government are siphoning funds from the national budget to their personal accounts using offshore accounts in Switzerland. This discovery shakes the Bloc National to its very core, and might force it to separate into constituent parties.
Philippe Pétain
Ideology: Authoritarian Democracy
- Historical Hero Upgrade: Pétain cannot become a Nazi collaborator in a timeline where the Nazis don't exist. The most he can do is to lead a provisional military government and take charge if France's political situation becomes too unstable.
- Military Coup: If the French government orders the total investigation into them, the military under Pétain can seize control of Paris and declare a Government of National Salvation in order to stabilise the situation.
Jean III d'Orléans
Ideology: Paternal Autocracy
- Rightful King Returns: If Action Française takes power, they can invite the exiled Prince Jean back home to assume the throne, putting an end to the Third Republic.
Spain
Republican Spain
Official Name: Second Spanish Republic
Ideology: Social Liberalism
- There Can Be Only One: The Republicans and the Socialists start off with a non-aggression pact against the Monarchists and the Nationalists, but once their common enemies are defeated, they'll inevitably turn against each other until only one is left to rule over Spain.
Socialist Spain
Official Name: Third Spanish Republic
Ideology: Socialism
- Military Coup: If the PSOE and the CNT-FAI ally with each other, the army will join them, then storm the Congress and arrest José Díaz Ramos along with many ministers.
- There Can Be Only One: The Republicans and the Socialists start off with a non-aggression pact against the Monarchists and the Nationalists, but once their common enemies are defeated, they'll inevitably turn against each other until only one is left to rule over Spain.
- We ARE Struggling Together: The Spanish left is not united in any way. The ruling PCE has to feud with both the PSOE and the CNT-FAI to hold into power. While the most popular answer is to continue on as one coalition, many suggest that only one faction can rule the country.
Monarchist Spain
Official Name: Kingdom of Spain
Ideology: Authoritarian Democracy
- Cult of Personality: If King Alfonso XIII appoints the CEDA to govern Spain, in order to bring the general populace on board and secure their support, they'll establish a cult of personality around their movement and its leaders.
- The Good Kingdom: The pro-regionalist and more liberal Catalan League, if chosen as the ruling government, will modernise the education system, reassure the rights of Spain's autonomous regions, and introduce democracy alongside the monarchy.
- Military Coup: The Spanish Civil War began in December of 1935 as a result of a failed coup against the Republic by conservative monarchist officers.
- There Can Be Only One: The Monarchists and the Nationalists start off with a non-aggression pact against the Republicans and the Socialists, but once their common enemies are defeated, they'll inevitably turn against each other until only one is left to rule over Spain.
Nationalist Spain
Official Name: Spanish State
Ideology: National Populism
- There Can Be Only One: The Monarchists and the Nationalists start off with a non-aggression pact against the Republicans and the Socialists, but once their common enemies are defeated, they'll inevitably turn against each other until only one is left to rule over Spain.
Ramiro Ledesma Ramos
Ideology: Valkism
- Cult of Personality: If the National Syndicalists take power, they'll establish a Valkist-like cult of personality around Ramos.
Eastern Europe
Poland
Official Name: Kingdom of Poland
Ideology: Authoritarian Democracy
Józef Piłsudski
Ideology: Authoritarian Democracy
- Emergency Authority: In September 1926, in the chaos following Prime Minister Gabriel Narutowicz's assassination, Józef Piłsudski assumed total power over the government and the Sejm, with the consent of the King. This stabilised the Polish 'democracy', and lasted until Piłsudski fell ill in July 1935.
- King on His Deathbed: Since July 1935, Marshal Piłsudski's health has been rapidly declining, and his influence and control over his supporters with it. The fights in the Sejm erupted once again, as strong as never before, with several parties splitting due to internal disagreements.
Hungary
- Retcon: Almost everything from Hungary's Progress Report has been retconned, as the lead developer was not satisfied with how he originally handled the country.
Northern Europe
Republic of Finland
Official Name: Republic of Finland
Ideology: Social Liberalism
When the October Revolution occurred, conservative elements in Finland declared independence resulting in a short civil war between the Whites and Reds, culminating in the defeat of the Social Democrats. Twenty years later, Finland is still recovering from the Civil War when the London Stock Market crash happens.- Chummy Commies: It's possible to allow anti-authoritarian socialists to take over in a socialist Finland.
- Day of the Jackboot: The Lapua Movement can mount an uprising and try to coup the government. If they win, they will establish a nationalist theocracy. If president Mannerheim succeeds in defeating the coup he can then choose to establish a presidential dictatorship.
- The Republic: When the German Empire was defeated, the monarchists were forced to accept Finland becoming a republic. The player can turn Finland into one by electing the Social Democrats.
Estonia
Official Name: Estonian Republic
Ideology: Authoritarian Democracy
Johan Laidoner
Ideology: Paternal Autocracy
- Military Coup: Laidoner seizes power from Konstantin Päts through a coup, turning Estonia into a military junta.
Asia
Soviet Union
Official Name: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Ideology: Socialism
The Russian intervention in the Great War was a disaster. Though the Imperial Army was never defeated, the mounting casualities, war debts and accusation of corruption in the government only served to further deepen the public distrust of the Tsarist autocratic regime. The February Revolution saw the Tsar abdicate the throne and an unstable Provisional Government take power. In October 1917 Lenin and the Bolsheviks launched the October Revolution. Unlike canon, the Communist revolution in Russia succeeded, though only by ceding territories in the West and the Caucasus.- Arch-Enemy: To the Russian Republic, since the very existence of one of these states is a challenge to the legitimacy of the other.
- Chummy Commies: The Soviet Union at the beginning of the game is far better off than IRL, due to abiding by the longer-living Vladimir Lenin's ideas, who while authoritarian is much less repressive than Stalin. The player can choose to make them even more heroic by having Shliapnikov take power, who can bring freedom of speech and freedom for the workers to the Soviets, or Bukharin, who can strengthen internal democracy and restore press freedom.
- Day of the Jackboot: Played with. If Tukhachevsky launches a military coup and is not assassinated, he will empower the trade unions and reform the economy towards syndicalism. If Yezhov, Voroshilov or Molotov take power they will instead establish a dictatorship and purge dissenters.
- Icon of Rebellion: The hammer and sickle is replaced with a wrench and a scythe as the symbol of the proletarian movement and the communist revolution.
- Magikarp Power: Early on the Soviet Union is marked by penalties such as lack of industry, and after Lenin's death the peasants revolt and workers go on strike resulting in a series of penalties in construction, factory output, politcal power and stability. However a skilled player can eventually turn this around and use the Soviets' vast resources to change these dynamics.
- Non-Indicative Name: Despite the name 'Union of Soviet Socialist Republics', the Soviet Union's only constituent republic is Russia (and not even all of Russia). Belarus, Poland, most of Ukraine, the North Caucasus, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan are independent countries. Mongolia, a Soviet puppet IRL, is an anti-communist absolute monarchy.
Vladimir Lenin
Ideology: Socialism
- King on His Deathbed: Unlike in real life, Lenin is still alive and leading the USSR by the beginning of 1936. However, his health is ailing, and soon after the game begins he'll die.
Sergey Kirov
Ideology: Socialism
- Take Up My Sword: Lenin writes on his last will that Kirov is his preferred successor, and if Kirov becomes Premier he'll continue the policies pioneered by Lenin in addition to implementing his own.
Leon Trotsky
Ideology: Socialism
- Enemy Mine: After Lenin dies, a Troika consisting of Nikolai Bukharin, Vyacheslav Molotov and Grigory Zinoviev is etablished in order to block Trotsky from seizing control of the USSR. However, when Molotov starts consolidating power around himself, Zinoviev will join forces with Trotsky in their power struggle.
- Propaganda Machine: Trotsky employs newspapers, radio and books to boost the popularity of his political ideas and to encourage support for his policies.
Vyacheslav Molotov
Ideology: National Collectivism
- Allohistorical Allusion: In a timeline where Josef Stalin was exiled from Russia, it is Molotov who develops a pseudo-Stalinist ideology called National Collectivism. In order to achieve a communist society, a revolutionary vanguard state is built, with power centralised around the strong state, mass collectivision of agriculture, centrally planned industry, and liberal use of violence to purge political enemies.
- Cult of Personality: If he takes power, Molotov will establish a personality cult, with many people seeing him as the USSR's great leader and protector, and his portraits are omnipresent.
- The Purge: Once in power, Molotov will start killing his political enemies, both inside and outside the Party, confiscate the kulaks' land and send them to re-education camps.
Mikhail Tukhachevsky
Ideology: Socialism
- Military Coup: After Lenin dies, Tukhachevsky can overthrow the government and arrest Chairman Kalinin, making Frunze the temporary Chairman and himself temporary Premier.
- Short-Lived Leadership: If Tukhachevsky doesn't make himself Chairman after the death of Frunze, his tenure as Premier will last very short before Voroshilov or Yezhov (whomever he appointed as Chairman) deposes him.
Nikolai Yezhov
Ideology: National Collectivism
- Cult of Personality: In order to ensure the people's loyalty to Yezhov, he'll allow children to only read books about Yezhov and the party, sing songs about Yezhov and the party and write about Yezhov and the party, and have his portrait hung everywhere in houses, boats, factories, farms and classrooms.
- Dirty Communists: Once he becomes Premier, Yezhov will create a dictatorship centred around him. He will control the education of children, implement an internal passport which prohibits people without it from leaving their city or town, fight religion and establish a personality cult.
- Illegal Religion: Yezhov will close all churches, mosques and synagogues, persecute clergymen, and end all religious education.
- Police State: Under Yezhov, the OGPU is granted a much larger budget and much larger powers, ostensibly to fight anti-state terrorism, but in truth so he could turn the Soviet Union into a regime built on terror.
- Richard Nixon, the Used Car Salesman: The real Yezhov was little more than a thug who arrested and executed people on Stalin's orders during the Great Purge as chief of the NKVD. Here, he is much more involved in politics and can actually seize power as the USSR's Premier.
- Secret Police: Yezhov leads the OGPU, the Union's secret service, tasked with eradicating reactionary elements in the country and securing the interests of the revolution.
- The Starscream: If Mikhail Tukhachevsky deposes the government and chooses Yezhov as Premier, Yezhov will have Tukhachevsky assassinated to consolidate his power.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: Under Yezhov, the USSR becomes a totalitarian hellhole where personal freedoms don't exist.
Kliment Voroshilov
Ideology: National Collectivism
- Conscription: Under Voroshilov, every Soviet adult citizen, no matter their ethnicity, profession, gender or background, has to serve in the Red Army.
- The Starscream: If Mikhail Tukhachevsky appoints Voroshilov as Premier after his coup, Voroshilov will arrest Tukhachevsky to seize his power for himself.
Russian Republic
Official Name: Russian Republic
Ideology: Authoritarian Democracy
- Arch-Enemy: To the Soviet Union, since the very existence of one of these states is a challenge to the legitimacy of the other.
- Authority in Name Only: Although the Russian Republic claims the entirety of Russia as its territory, in truth it only controls southeastern Siberia.
- Vestigial Empire: The Russian Republic, which once controlled Russia from February to November 1917, now only holds southeastern Siberia after a treaty with the victorious Soviet Union. Most countries still recognise the White government's claims over all of Russia.
Ottoman Empire
Official Name: Ottoman Empire
Ideology: Paternal Autocracy
- Vestigial Empire: After their loss in the Great War which forced them to sign the Treaty of Sèvres, the Empire had to cede most of Eastern Thrace (save for Constantinople) and western Anatolia to Greece, southern Anatolia to Italy and France, and grant independence to Kurdistan and Armenia. The situation is made even worse by the failed uprising by Mustafa Kemal Paşa.
Mustafa İsmet
- In Spite of a Nail: Although Mustafa Kemal's War of Independence that gave birth to the Republic of Turkey ended in failure in this timeline, his vision might still come true if the Kemalists seize power in the Ottoman Empire and implement the policies that he would have done in real life.
- Internal Reformist: İsmet's Kemalists advocate for modernisation of the Empire. Once in power, they'll replace the Arabic script with the Latin script, replace Arabic and Persian loanwords with native Turkic words, abolish the Empire's titles in favour of surnames, secularise the Republic of Turkey, ban the fez, and implement parliamentary democracy and a legal system based on Switzerland's.
- The Remnant: İsmet leads what remains of the Kemalists after their failed uprising in 1920. If he takes power, he'll dissolve the Ottoman Empire, replace it with a Turkish Republic, and implement many policies that Atatürk did in OTL.
Afghanistan
Official Name: Kingdom of Afghanistan
Ideology: Authoritarian Democracy
Mohammed Zahir Khan
Ideology: Authoritarian Democracy
- Internal Reformist: Mohammed Zahir has the choice to uphold the status quo or implement progressive reforms, following the work of Amanullah Khan.
- You Killed My Father: After acceding to the throne following his father's assassination, King Mohammed Zahir has no mercy on his mind when it comes to his father's killers.
- Young and in Charge: Mohammed Zahir is only 22 when he ascends to the throne following his father's assassination.
Amanullah Khan
Ideology: Authoritarian Democracy
- Internal Reformist: During his first reign from the Great War to 1926, Amanullah Khan introduced progressive reforms in Afghanistan. If he gets back the throne, he'll continue his reformist policies.
- Rightful King Returns: In 1926, Amanullah Khan was overthrown in an uprising by Habibullāh Kalakāni. After Kalakāni was in turn overthrown in 1929, Amanullah was not returned to the throne, which was instead given to Mohammed Nadir Khan. When Mohammed Nadir is assassinated in early 1936, Amanullah can make another bid for power.
Habibullāh Kalakāni
Ideology: Paternal Autocracy
- The Usurper: Habibullāh Kalakāni first wrestled the throne in 1926 by staging an uprising against Amanullah Khan. After Mohammed Nadir Khan's assassination in early 1936, he can once again steal the throne from Mohammed Nadir's son Mohammed Zahir.
Americas
United States of America
Official Name: United States of America
Ideology: Market Liberalism
Under the leadership of Theodore Roosevelt, the United States entered the war on the side of the Allies in 1917 but failed to create a lasting peace turning towards isolationism. When the economy crashed in 1929, everything worse. Now the country prepares for an embittere election in 1936 to decide what course to take.- Bomb-Throwing Anarchists: Anarchists assassinated Hebert Hoover, allowing Charles Curtis to become president.
- Expanded States of America: It's possible to elevate Puerto Rico as the 51st state.
- Fallen States of America: By 1936, the Great Depression has been going strong for seven years and has had catastrophic effects on the American populace, to the point that many of them are not able to get their hands on enough food for a proper diet. Seemingly slow to act or maneuver politically, many citizens muse that the government itself may be a greater threat to the country than any foreign threat, leading to the nickname 'The Sick Man of the Americas'.
- Let No Crisis Go to Waste: Mexico can take advantage of America's weakness to try to reclaim its lost territory.
