History TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope / TropesAToD

** RK Madagaskar can collapse into a three-way civil war between the RK government, the German garrison (Militärstaat Madagaskar), and a coalition of the native Malagasy (Republic of Madagascar) and Jewish partisans (Hitnagdut Movement).

*** On top of that, if the [[spoiler:Siberian Black Army ''does'' reunify but leans too heavily on Stepanov's influence, it will collapse into even more fragmentary warlords and statelets that the new Black Army Junta then has to reconquer, seriously hamstringing their reunification efforts.]]

*** On top of that, if the [[Siberian Black Army ''does'' reunify but leans too heavily on Stepanov's influence, it will collapse into even more fragmentary warlords and statelets that the new Black Army Junta then has to reconquer, seriously hamstringing their reunification efforts.]]

*** In Central Sibiera, [[spoiler:the Siberian Workers' Federation rises up if Central Siberia is not unified by the Siberian Black Army. If their revolution succeeds, parts of the SWF will break into three more socialist countries.]]

* TheBadGuyWins: The ''worst'' historical bad guys, in fact. And this is before the game even starts in earnest. Depending on how things go, you can create a timeline where [[HateSink Yockey]] [[DayOfTheJackboot wins the Presidency of the United States]], Russia is reunified under an [[AxCrazy insane]] [[ReligionOfEvil neopagan]] EvilLuddite, and [[EvilColonialist Hans Hüttig]] manages to dominate sub-Saharan Africa and give the "Dark Continent" a new terrifying meaning.
* Balkanize Me: After several German invasions, the United Kingdom capitulated and partially collapsed. Scotland and Wales both went independent, Ulster became autonomous under Ireland, and Plymouth was placed under a German garrison.

** After several German invasions, the United Kingdom capitulated and partially collapsed. Scotland and Wales both went independent, Ulster became autonomous under Ireland, and Plymouth was placed under a German garrison.

* TheBadGuyWins: The ''worst'' historical bad guys, in fact. And this is before the game even starts in earnest. Depending on how things go, you can create a timeline where [[HateSink Yockey]] [[DayOfTheJackboot wins the Presidency of the United States]], Russia is reunified under an [[AxCrazy insane]] [[ReligionOfEvil neopagan]] EvilLuddite, and [[EvilColonialist Hans Hüttig]] manages to dominate sub-Saharan Africa and give the "Dark Continent" a new terrifying meaning. This mod is ''Hearts of Iron'' turned into a ''horror game'' and chillingly showcases [[HumansAreBastards how cruel and monstrous human beings can be to each other]].
* BalkanizeMe:

** As per the lore of Omsk wishing to avenge the genocide of Russians with their own extermination campaigns against the Germans, the mod makes it clear that responding to oppression with oppression of your own solves nothing.

** Authoritarianism isn’t always doomed to failure. An "effective" Fascist empire under a pragmatic leader of the likes of Speer and Balbo remains harsh and repressive, and may be even more insidious than openly insane dictators because they have the ability to survive for the long term and thus potentially legitimatize very toxic ideologies and worldviews associated with Fascism and Nazism. Political reforms started by Fascist dictators will never create real liberation, as dictatorships are fundamentally self-serving and interested in keeping their own power rather than bringing power to the people.

** Zentralafrikan Reichskommissar Siegfried Müller, while little more than an apathetic hedonist, at least directs a significant portion of his energies towards hunting, cultivating a global reputation as the adventurer-king of Central Africa. [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass MMüller even commands a counterattack against Congolese raiders threatening a vulnerable village]], to closet antifascist Reichskommissar Wolfgang Schenck's silent approval.

* BadassPolitician: Bound to happen in a world where more or less every country outside of [[TheAlliance the OFN]] is on the brink of civil war, and where a few have already crossed that line.
** Mikhail Suslov, chief puppet-master of the Komi far-left, isn't just able to hold his own in the political scene: an event sees him [[AssassinOutclassin personally kill a far-right assassin]] for what is apparently not the first time.
** Zentralafrikan Reichskommissar Siegfried Müller, while little more than an apathetic hedonist, at least directs a significant portion of his energies towards hunting, and [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass personally helps drive out Congolese raiders near a vulnerable village]], to closet antifascist Reichskommissar Wolfgang Schenck's silent approval.

* AdolfHitlarious: While mostly portraying them is a very grim light, the mod does on occasion allow itself to mock the insanity of fascist ideologies to offer some comic relief. From the senile Hitler trying to make a speech in his underwear, to Himmler's attempts to, inbetween brutally oppressing and murdering his Belgian and French subjects, make them eat sausages, to [[spoiler:Velimir's]] absolutely [[InsaneTrollLogic nonsensical]] historical and linguistic "theories", the absurdity of Nazism is often on full display, and made fun of.

* AcceptableBreaksFromReality:
** The Gibraltar dam is described as being a ramshackle mess left behind by the collapsing Reich and only barely maintained by the Iberian Union. One can only imagine the sheer devastation that could be unleashed upon the Mediterranean if the dam were breached... unfortunately (or fortunately, if you are more compassionately inclined), this cannot happen in game, due to the limitations of the game engine.
** The setting of the mod, as with most Axis-victory fiction, takes a great number of liberties with regards to realism. The completion of Atlantropa in just a few years (whereas realistically it would have taken decades) is one such feature, as is the success of Operation Sea Lion and Nazi Germany getting nuclear weapons first. However, this can be handwaved as creating a good story. And in any case, reality hits ''hard'' going into the 1950s, with the Reich coming to a point of almost being a failed state and Atlantropa being the disaster that anyone could see it to be with a moment of sensible thought.
** The environmental damage a fully realized Atlantropa project would cause would be far greater than just creating a new desert in the Adriatic Sea. Some estimations say that if Atlantropa was fully realized, everything in Europe South of the Alps would completely desertify into an extension of the Sahara desert. Burgundy wouldn't just be an oppressive hellhole, it would be a ''steaming hot'' oppressive hellhole that is slowly turning into a desert. These parts of Atlantropa are not portrayed in the mod.

** The Atlantropa project wasn't just some random insane mega-construction thought up for the sake of the mod, but rather, it was an actual proposal to expand European land and increase the control European nations could exercise over their African colonies. Of course, in reality, everyone realized that the project was insane and it never left the drawing board, whereas in ''The New Order'', the Nazis are actually insane enough to do it.
** On a similar note, the concept of "Ordenstaat Burgundy" seems a little implausible at first glance but it ''was'' something Himmler proposed in real life. It's hard to say if the project would have ever come to fruition given that it was just one of many outlandish ideas Himmler had, but he was definitely interested in creating a rigidly national socialist sub-state administered directly by the SS.
** Brittany as an independent puppet state of Nazi Germany also isn't too far fetched since the real-life Breton National Party were fascist collaborators that blended German Nazism and Breton nationalism together.

** The doctrines put in place by Japan's ruling Taisei Yokusankai, especially in relation to family planning, are ironically reminiscent of the People's Republic of China and its One Child Policy. Conversely, the social, economic and political reforms that can be endorsed or instigated by Takagi are very much reminiscent of how Postwar Japan evolved in real life.

** Speer's popularity among Germany's university students is similar to the Chinese politician Hu Yaobang's rise to infamy in the late 1980's. Like Speer, Yaobang was an older party official who was more moderate and reform-minded than his peers. He was a major proponent of economic liberalization and free market reforms under Deng Xiaoping, which were fiercely opposed by party hardliners. Yaobang's young supporters were spurred by his death to stage large-scale protests against the Chinese government, which led to the famed demonstration at Tienanmen square.

** Speer is supported by a "Gang of Four", consisting of Kurt Georg Kiesinger, Helmut Schmidt, Ludwig Erhard, and Henning von Tresckow; unlike the real Gang of Four during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Speer's Gang of Four are all reformist, more reformist than Speer in fact.

** A successful Fascist Speer path [[spoiler:in which he's managed to both defeat the Gang of Four and put the Nazi hardliners in their place bears more than a passing resemblance to Deng Xiaoping's reforms. With the implications being that Speer's reinvigorated Reich becomes analogous to the modern People's Republic of China.]]

** As per the lore of Omsk wishing to avenge the genocide of Russians with their own extermination campaigns against the Germans, the mod makes it clear that responding to genocide with genocide of your own solves nothing.

* AssholeVictim: [[https://imgur.com/a/vZGjqzx There are over a hundred death events]] for Oskar Dirlewanger, with various degrees of [[CruelAndUnusualDeath gruesomeness]] and [[DeathAsComedy hilarity]], from dying in battle and falling from a cliff to being hit by Göring's falling Sun Gun or dismemberment by enraged Russian women. Such a myriad of ways to die for Dirlewanger was intentionally put in by the developers to make justice for one of the most despicable Nazi war criminals, both in real life and ''the New Order''.

** Burgundy is an angry, insular state seen as an international pariah that's building a nuclear arsenal to ward off an invasion, just like UsefulNotes/NorthKorea (except [[spoiler:North Korea, at least so far as we know, doesn't plan a WorldWarThree]]).

* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: Reichskommissar Josias was apparently once a competent and decent candidate for a ruler (decent as far as Nazis go, anyway). However, shortly after taking his post in the Kaukasus he was kidnapped by local partisans and subjected to unimaginable torture. The experience not only left him severely scarred, it also broke his mind. Now he rules Kaukasia as a [[FisherKing smog-covered hellscape of brutality]] that makes ''North Korea'' look sensible.

** Outright defied by the Siberian Black Army, who are practically Anarchy is ''Order'': their communes are very well-organized, able to provide an excellent standard of living (for post-Soviet Russia anyway) and even build a first-rate military to contend with other powers. There is a nice event which shows a WartimeWedding between [[PreserveYourGays two women]] from different anarchist communes that [[SmallTownRivalry devolves into a punch-up between the two families]], but it does not go all the way into a massacre even though everyone present is armed - because [[EnemyMine they know they are all allies in anarchism at the end of the day and need to present a unified front]].

* BileFascination: InUniverse, an alternate history book called the ''The Greatest Story Never Told'' was published by an pseudonymous Neo-Cofederate about a history where George Lincoln Rockwell was never assassinated. The book is basically inane rambling that espouses insane ideas, like the idea that the ''Nazis'' are actually controlled by the Jews, and ends up selling just because people want to find out if the book is really ''that'' bad.

** The Führer of Nazi Germany, whoever that is at any given moment - this is an AlternatrHistoryNaziVictory, he ''did'' turn the world into the CrapsackWorld that it is. When the game starts the Führer is UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler himself, but he dies in a PlotTriggeringDeath, leaving it up for the AI (or player should you play as Germany) to pick his successor. Potential heirs include the militarist [[TakeOverTheWorld Hermann Göring]], the reformist [[PragmaticVillainy Albert Speer]], the conservative [[MeetTheNewBoss Martin Bormann]], and the secretive [[WalkingSpoiler Reinhard Heydrich]].

** Authoritarianism isn’t always doomed to failure. An "effective" Fascist empire under a pragmatic leader on the likes of Speer and Balbo remains harsh and repressive, and may be even more insidious than openly insane dictators because they have the ability to survive for the long term and thus potentially legitimatize very toxic ideologies and worldviews associated with Fascism and Nazism. Political reforms started by Fascist dictators will never create real liberation, as dictatorships are fundamentally self-serving and interested in keeping their own power rather than bringing power to the people.

** An "effective" Fascist empire under a sane leader of the likes of Speer and Balbo is very repressive and unsettling on its own right, and not that better from a batshit crazy one run by totally genocidal nutcases, and may be even more insidious in a sense because they have the ability to survive for the long term and thus potentially legitimatize very toxic ideologies and worldviews associated with Fascism and Nazism. Any reforms started within totalitarian Fascist dictatorships reaching their full potential will be in spite of their leaders being open to reforms, not because of these leaders being open to reforms. As evident by Magadan and Speerite Germany, at one point the leadership will start to resist the reforms being brought forward by the genuine reformers because of how it threatens their own power.

** When the states of Russia participate in the 1968 Olympics under a single team, they do so under a "United Team" similar to what happened in the 1992 Olympics after the GreatPoliticsMessUp in our world.

%%** The sheer endurance of Burgundy, especially when controlled by an AI, stretches the WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief quite a bit with a healthy dose of TheComputerIsACheatingBastard. Burgundy, a totalitarian state with no external support, who trades exclusively through black markets, controls massive portions of Western Europe, actively oppresses their French and Belgian populations, engages in ruthless self-purges among its foreign ruling class, all the while spending massive amounts of resources trying to manipulate world events, would realistically be a state so extremely deep in the FascistButInefficient hole that it would likely collapse ''before'' Nazi Germany (in fact, the ''gameplay'' of Burgundy is all about trying to prevent the country from collapsing while trying to raise tensions to start a Third World War). And yet, an AI-controlled Burgundy will perfectly last until the 80s, never even having a little revolt during this entire time; tag change console command reveals it never suffers the bad effects of "Rodomo Worker Shortage Mechanic" and doesn't consume supplies during "Globalpläne".

* BreakOutTheMuseumPiece: The Cornwall Garrison can do this in preparation for the English rebellion, opting to reuse any old British weaponry they can scavenge from the scrap yards.

%% ** India is being courted by all of the various powers who see it as being of the highest strategic importance, and generally sucks up to each one only long enough to get a better offer from another, much like Egypt.

* TheBadGuyWins: The ''worst'' historical bad guys, in fact. And this is before the game even starts in earnest. Depending on how things go, you can create a timeline where [[HateSink Yockey]] [[DayOfTheJackboot wins the Presidency of the United States]], Russia is reunified under an [[AxCrazy insane]] [[ReligionOfEvil neopagan]] EvilLuddite, [[EvilColonialist Hans Hüttig]] manages to dominate sub-Saharan Africa and give the "Dark Continent" a new terrifying meaning, and to top it all off, [[spoiler:Himmler succeeds in manipulating the nuclear powers into World War III, bringing about an atomic Holocaust.]] This mod is ''Hearts of Iron'' turned into a ''horror game'' and chillingly showcases [[HumansAreBastards how cruel and monstrous human beings can be to each other]].