Declaration of War by Commonwealth Countries

[Kamansky]

When playing a single player game (or one with no player in charge of Canada, Australia, New Zealand or South Africa) will there be any chance that the Commonwealth Countries will not join the war with the UK? While I imagine historical mode will pretty much guarantee their joining, in ahistorical mode can you as the UK annoy your commonwealth realm enough to keep them out of the war? If Canada becomes Fascist will they have the option to declare for the Reich? South Africa historically had a anti UK Prime Minister in September 39, so conceivably it could have at least stayed neutral. Can the Japanese support a Fascist Kiwi faction to take over the government and join the Greater east Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere as its only western member? Perhaps a Canadian communist revolution can lead Canada to abandoning the UK in favor of liberation from the capitalist overlords and joining the workers in true freedom from want.


Anyway when watching the stream all the Commonwealth Countries came in immediately, which in Canada's case they waited one week to symbolically show their Independence, which was not depicted, and the game was on historical mode.

 

[Matray79]

Maybe check out who the head of state of the commonwealth nations is. The king goes to war so does his empire.

 

[potski]

Your faction members join the war immediately. The Commonwealth start the game as part of the Allies faction.

South Africa was constitutionally obliged to support the UK if it went to war. Prime Minister Hertzog wanted to remain neutral and was kicked out of office by Parliament on 4th September 1939. The new Prime Minister Smuts then led the country throughout the war.

There was a fascist party, who opposed the war. It's leaders were jailed. So you could promote that party and try to stage a coup, so that South Africa breaks away from the Allies.

 

[Axe99]

A couple of thoughts:

- In historical mode, the only CW nation that would feasibly stay neutral would be South Africa, and that would be if things went substantially differently to how they did historically. Fascist or Communist takeovers in any of the dominions would have been pretty unlikely, and in Canada, Australia and New Zealand unthinkable, given the game starts in 1936.

- In sandbox mode, I still think it should take some pretty heavy player influence for the various Dominions to move away from the UK. At this point in time, for example, the Royal Navy worked pretty much hand-in-hand with the Dominion navies (if the Dominions had a separate navy, which South Africa didn't - they relied entirely on the RN for naval matters, and the New Zealand Navy in 1936 was called "The New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy". These weren't nations in a loose alliance, but that had, to no small degree, integrated military and economic structures. I'd argue it still needs pretty crazy crazy for that to happen. If a player-Australia wants to have a fascist revolution, then that's cool, but I'd be disappointed if I saw AI Dominions going any which way without player intervention.