Großdeutschland
The war with Qing went about as well as predicted. Luang Prabang became a proper puppet, Dai Nam was annexed by Japan and Qing lost all of their coastal provinces. And all done in about 6 months or so- by June 1916, Japan had won a clear victory. And after the war, Qing no longer were a Major Unrecognized Power for much longer. Or by other terms, they were the last nation on Earth Japan was unable to puppet. No longer.
From Great Qing to Regional Qing
Then, Japan went ahead and tried to annex Belgium. They resisted, and a war broke out, ending in February 1917.
After Belgium, it was time for Orissa to be relieved of their puppet status and become part of Japan proper. They did not resist and by May 1917, they backed down. Making at least most of India Japanese, though there were still ways to go.
Now, feeling like gobbling up something bigger, Japan finally decided to end the independence of Great Britain. Guess they still remembered what happened the last time- Japanese troops invading Ireland and cutting the islands off from the world, so they didn’t resist. By August 1917, the nation formerly known as Great Britain was part of Japan. In addition to the Isles, Japan gained the British overseas territories as well. Though, to be fair, they were of reduced number when compared to the British heydays. Just some lands in Africa, islands in the Caribbean and some other smaller holdings.
British Isles plus some African territories
The Japanese turned their attention to Sokoto in Africa. A puppet no longer, as in November 1917, they backed down and gave up control.
Gobbling up your subjects is all fun and games, but sometimes, people crave for something fresh, new. Like, say Wallachia. Small country on the Austrian-Ottoman border (or by other words, deep within Japanese territory), known for its rich oil deposits. To the credit of Wallachians, they resisted quite long- until March 1918, before rolling over and letting Japan in.
At the same time, Prussia was once again riddled by communist revolution. Just this time, it was Japanse problem as well, for they were the overlords of Prussia.
Fortunately, it was still days before the revolution began when Wallachia folded, so Japan could sneak something else in- like turning Scandinavia from protectorate to puppet. Mostly done for aesthetic purposes.
The Scandinavian puppet
War with the Prussian Revolution broke out on 13th March, 1918, Meanwhile, Scandinavia folded on 3rd of June, becoming yet another in a long string of puppets. As for Prussian, well, they gave quite a fight. Unfortunately for them, Prussians were not very good at fighting and there were just too many Japanese on all the fronts. On 21st of August 1918, they gave up as well.
Kind of too little fronts here, Paradox!
It was then that Japan decided to deal with the German question once and for all. Starting from Prussia herself- demanding the annexation of the biggest German state. Who, of course, traditionally folded pretty fast- on 12th of October 1918.
Meanwhile, there was another election in Japan. And the elections of 1918 actually changed things- the Common People’s Party, now a coalition of Armed Forces and Trade Unions, came to power and Japan had a new leader- Enomoto Yoshika, a 29-year old leader of the Armed Forces.
A change in power
Then, Japan took on Oldenburg, who folded in November 1918.
After that, Schleswig-Holstein, who recently enjoyed a personal union with Scandinavia, but due to recent puppeting of Scandinavia and Japan not having a monarch to be in personal union with, suddenly found themselves independent. And lo and behold, instead of folding quietly like Prussia did, they gathered support of Hesse and Nassau, two other small German princedoms, and decided to fight. War broke out on 14th March 1919 and Hesse was the last one to fold, on 26th of July 1919.
Meanwhile, Japan discovered Flash Freezing in May 1919. Overall, quite useless, for it was meant to reduce the labor requirements for fishing and meat industries- and Japan was having an opposite of labor shortage. Still, it was significant, for it was the last technology that could be discovered. Japan was now as modern as one could get.
The last technology
Next was Brunswick, who gave up within a month. Anhalt followed suit- one month and surrender.
Schaumburg-Lippe, allied with Luxembourg, took until December 1919 to reconsider. Then, Luxembourg, who gave up in March 1920.
Then, it was just South German states left. Baden was the first one, thinking from March to June 1920 if they should surrender, finally deciding that yes, they should.
Hohenzollern, a small (even by German standards) state was next on the menu. They managed to actually get the help of Bavaria, Württenberg (who just happened to be a Japanese protectorate, the bastards) and the Swiss, but folded on 27th of September.
Württenberg, the unruly protectorate, was next. Unfortunately, they could not be annexed directly, so instead, Japan worked on making them a puppet. They folded on 29th of October.
This made Bavaria the last independent state. And Japan was more than happy to give them an offer- become a puppet, or else. The poor Bavarians, having recently lived through a bankruptcy as well, were less than eager to fight and on 1st December 1920, they backed down, becoming a Japanese puppet.
That was all of Deutschland. But Japan wanted something more, something nicer. A Großdeutschland. So, on 1st of December 1920, they announced that they will annex Austria as well. There was one nation that in theory could give a fight. Mostly modern armies, though quite reliant on Japanese materials. Still, hundreds of battalions. On the other hand, Japan could move in from every side, completely surrounding the poor nation.
At the same time, Württenberg had a slight communist revolution problem, adding to confusion.
Still, on 21st of March, 1921, Austria decided to fold, becoming part of something greater. And the division of Germany, holding the nation back since medieval times, was finally ended. Well, more or less, Bavaria and Württenberg were still puppets. And perhaps solved in a way that Germans a few decades ago could not even dream of being possible. All of Germany, united under the Japanese Empire.
Großdeutschland