First of all, I want to thank the developers for the War Effort initiative. They get no extra money from reworking the old focus trees so it's really a labour of love, which I appreciate and I think the rest of the community does too.
Being a War Effort, I will only focus on the minor tweaks that could be made to the nation, no major overhauls.
In the past, I made a quite big topic about Romania:
forum.paradoxplaza.com
But here I will only try to cover the things that I think would work in a War Effort patch:
UPDATE!
The developers were kind enough to implement no.1 on this suggestion, made a suggestion only with things to be added after Opperation Pike!
1. Fixing the fascist internal politics of Romania with a small rework.
The internal politics part has some noticeable issues on the non-historical path:
- Octavian Goga is pretty much unplayable.
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- Corneliu Zelea Codreanu is pretty much unplayable.
- King Michael I, a firm believer in democracy, can make fascist/communist coups.
- Ion Antonescu stops being Chief of Army" and "Ion Antonescu stops being Field Marshal" when taking the "Iron Guard" focus.
* You start with Corneliu Codreanu as fascist leader, if you want to play with Corneliu Codreanu, you have to stop at before "Appoint Pro-Axis Government" as that focus changes the fascist leader. Given that you need "Appoint Pro-Axis Government" for the Fascist Demagogue it makes it impossible to turn to fascism with Corneliu Codreanu as your leader. Unless some other country captures you and turns you a fascist puppet.
* If you want to play with Octavian Goga, you have to take the focus "Appoint Pro-Axis Government" and stop at before "Iron Guard" as that focus changes the fascist leader again. Because of these, it's very difficult to play as Corneliu Zelea Codreanu or Octavian Goga and if you want to play with them you have to forget continuing the focus tree and just stop there.
* For King Michael I (he died in 2017), this is very out of character as King Michael I was a staunch defender of democracy. It would be like Abe Lincoln leading the Confederate States, I get this is alt-history, but still.
* For Ion Antonescu, this is not historically accurate as first and foremost he was a general. During the invasion of Bessarabia in the first phases of Opperation Barbarossa, Ion Antonescu personally drew the battleplans and commanded the army, while being the leader of the country. He was even a military advisor to Hitler, helping the Germans plan the offensive. He did not stop being a General or Chief of Army because he became the leader of the state. The "I am the state" meme is quite true in his case.
I PROPOSE AN ELOQUENT SOLUTION TO FIX ALL THESE 4 ISSUES AT THE SAME TIME:
What changed?
- New Focus: Night of the Vampires. -> Kills Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (fascist leader no.1), fascists lose 50% popularity, Ion Antonescu becomes new leader of Iron Guard (fascist leader no.3).
- New Focus: PNC. -> Fascist Party renamed to PNC, Octavian Goga (fascist leader no.2) becomes new leader of PNC.
- New Focus: Destroy the Monarchy. -> Communist/Fascist coup against Democratic/Non-Aligned government (and remove those options from Michael, only allow him to make Democratic coup. Basically: Copy the communist/fascist coup code for King Michael's Coup and paste it here)
How does this make everything run smothly?
So, you have:
- Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (fascist no.1)
- Octavian Goga (fascist leader no.2)
- Ion Antonescu (fascist no.3)
And you want to be able to play with all 3 flawlessly (because currently you can't).
- The yellow focus kills Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (fascist no.1). Ion Antonescu (fascist no.3) becomes the leader of the Iron Guard. & fascists lose some party popularity
- With the red focus the fascist party's name is changed to PNC (instead of Iron Guard), Octavian Goga (fascist leader no.2) is added instead of whoever it was already (either fascist leader no.1 or fascist leader no.3, doesn't matter, this focus just replaces them).
Now you can easily swap between them:
- You want to play as Corneliu Zelea Codreanu? avoid taking the yellow focus "Night of the Vampires" and avoid taking the red focus "PNC".
And you can complete the whole focus tree from "Institute Royal Dictatorship" all the way to "King Michael's Coup" with Corneliu Zelea Codreanu.
- You want ot play as Octavian Goga? take the red focus "PNC" and avoid taking the "Iron Guard" focus (still works if you took the "Iron Guard" focus before the "PNC" focus").
You can complete the whole focus tree from "Institute Royal Dictatorship" all the way to "King Michael's Coup" with Octavian Goga.
- You want ot play historical as Ion Anontescu? take the yellow focus "Night of the Vampires" and avoid taking the red "PNC" focus (still works if you took the "PNC" focus before the "Iron Guard" focus).
So you can complete the whole focus tree from "Institute Royal Dictatorship" all the way to "King Michael's Coup" with Ion Antonescu.
Nice, easy and intuitive? Check.
Historically accurate? Check.
Multiple choices, including alt-historical what if? Check.
Cool name of a focus and an occassion to do a gfx bat/vampire icon? Check.
Small fix, big reward? Check.
With a minor tweak, it would fix 4 problems in 1.
2. In case you want each fascist leader to feel different:
1. Carol II:
ALREADY HAS:
Trait: Camarilla Leader
The Sentinel of the Motherland: Recruitable Population 1.00%
Trait: Hendonist: -5% Stability
2. Michael I:
ALREADY HAS:
Figurehead King Michael - +5% Stability (after you take the "Forced Abdication" focus)
ADD:
Trait: Constitutional Monarch - +1% weekly stability, +10% political power gain (after you take the "King Michael's Coup" focus)
3. Ion Antonescu:
ALREADY HAS:
Iron Guard - Damage to Garrisons -20.00% Foreign Subversive activities efficiency -20% Division Attack on core territory:+5.00% Division Defense on core Territory:+5.00% (after you take focus "Iron Guard")
ADD:
Trait: Nationalist Symbol -> +5% war support, +5% stability, +10% attack and defense on core states
4. Corneliu Zelea Codreanu
ALREADY HAS:
Iron Guard - Damage to Garrisons -20.00% Foreign Subversive activities efficiency -20% Division Attack on core territory:+5.00% Division Defense on core Territory:+5.00% (after you take focus "Iron Guard")
ADD:
Trait: Headstrong -> +15% political power gain
5. Octavian Goga
ADD:
Lance-Bearers - Can send Volunteer Forces, divisions required for sending volunteer force: -50% (after you take the "PNC" focus)
Trait: Eager Collaborator -> +2 send volunteer, -100% improve relations maintain cost, +75 fascism acceptance
Why?
1. Antonescu is Nationalist Symbol, because he was a nationalist alternative to fascism in Romania. He worked with the fascists, but he himself was not a fascist, it was more about the nationalism than the ideology. He was a nationalist alterantive to fascism. He was first of all a military man, actually authoritarian and pragmatic rather than fascist.
2. Codreanu is Headstrong, because he was very headstrong. He was a full fanatic, and full of energy in his speeches, an ideological fascist equal to Hitler plus the church. In his youth he went to study in Germany, during his stay, he used to love going to the Beer Hall Putsch and listen to the speeches of a certain Adolf Hitler. And he brought some swastikas as souvenirs when he came back to Romania (both literally and figuratively). He was Hitler fascist not Mussolini fascist. Codreanu loved the monarchy but hated Carol II.
3. Goga is an Eager Collaborator because he was a royal puppet. He was a royalist with fascist tendencies, Carol II's first choice after the fall of France for a goverment to appease Germany. Every monarch who wants to stay in power in a world full fascists needs a Goga to appease the fascists while he himself still has all the power. Germany actually liked Codreanu the best (shocking, I know!) but Goga will have to do.
Since in interwar Romania, every cool kid had to have a paramilitary group:
- Carol II - Straja Tarii (Sentinels of the Motherland)
- Codreanu/Antonescu - Camasile Verzi/Echipa Mortii (Green Shirts/Death Squad)
- Octavian Goga/PNC - Lancierii (Lance-Bearers)
- Communism (after 1945) - Garzile Patriotice (Patriotic Guards) and later Securitate.
The difference between the 3 fascists was that:
- Codreanu was fascist but smart, he was mainly concerned with religion and romanianism, and would try to be sneaky about reaching his way to power, sneaky but violent, quite the ideologue. His idea was love to the country to the max. He hated a certain group of people, but his main idea was maximum love to the country, that other thing was just a side note. He would have went full nazi on them, but that was not his main focus, his main focus was Romania.
- Octavian Goga was fascist but dumb, he's what you probably think of when you think of a fascist, Brown Shirts made manifests, brawlers, he hoped that he could appease the king but by being a fascist in favor of monarchy but the reason he did not become that important is because King Carol II outplayed him big time, his ideology was based more on what he hates than on what he loves.
- Ion Antonescu wasn't fascist at all, he just wanted to get Romania out of the swamp it got in 1940 after losing 1/3rd of the territory and found fascism as the best tool for it, he was no ideologue.
Basically their ideology was:
Codreanu -> I love my country but *** foreigners.
Goga -> *** foreigners but I love my country.
Antonescu -> I just want to do what I think will give Romania the best position at the negociating table when the war ends.
King Carol II -> "I do not wish to let my country be engaged in a war which would result, in a few weeks, in the destruction of its army and the occupation of its territory. We do not wish to be the lighting conductor for the coming storm"
Codreanu be like: "After the consequent ban on paramilitary groups, the Legion was restyled into a political party, running in elections as Totul Pentru Țară ("Everything for the Country", acronym TPȚ). Shortly afterwards, Codreanu went on record stating his contempt for Romania's alliances in Eastern Europe, in particular the Little Entente and the Balkan Pact, and indicating that, 48 hours after his movement came into power, the country would be aligned with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Reportedly, such trust and confidence was reciprocated by both German officials and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano, the latter of whom viewed Goga's cabinet as a transition to the Iron Guard's rule."
Antonescu be like: "In this context, the Romanian leader acknowledged that Germany was losing the war, and he therefore authorized his Deputy Premier and new Foreign Minister Mihai Antonescu to set up contacts with the Allies. In early 1943, Antonescu authorized his diplomats to contact British and American diplomats in Portugal and Switzerland to see if were possible for Romania to sign an armistice with the Western powers. The Romanian diplomats were informed that no armistice was possible until an armistice was signed with the Soviet Union, a condition Antonescu rejected. In parallel, he allowed the PNȚ and the PNL to engage in parallel talks with the Allies at various locations in neutral countries. The discussions were strained by the Western Allies' call for an unconditional surrender, over which the Romanian envoys bargained with Allied diplomats in Sweden and Egypt (among them the Soviet representatives Nikolai Vasilevich Novikov and Alexandra Kollontai). Antonescu was also alarmed by the possibility of war being carried on Romanian territory, as had happened in Italy after Operation Avalanche. The events also prompted hostile negotiations aimed at toppling Antonescu, and involving the two political parties, the young monarch, diplomats and soldiers. A major clash between Michael and Antonescu took place during the first days of 1943, when the 21-year-old monarch used his New Year's address on national radio to part with the Axis war effort".
If this isn't flexible foreign policy I don't know what is ^.
3. Add General Mihail Lascar - the best Romanian General, according to Hitler.
en.wikipedia.org
He:
- Commanded the 1st Mixed Mountain Brigade, an elite unit of the Romanian Third Army between 1941 and 1942.
- Commanded the 6th Division of the Romanian Third Army in 1942.
- Was taken prisoner at the Battle of Stalingrad and became commander of the Romanian Fourth Army in 1945.
From Wikipedia: "The Romanian vânători de munte saw action in World War II on the Eastern Front in some of the harshest battles - including the sieges of Sevastopol and Stalingrad - where their performance lived up to their reputation: virtually all their commanders from brigade level and up received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, with general Mihail Lascăr being the first foreigner to receive Oak Leaves on 22 November 1942 (see List of foreign recipients of the Knight's Cross). The greatest single achievement of the vânători de munte was the capture of Nalchik on 2 November 1942, the farthest point of the Nazi Germany advance into the Caucasus. This victory earned Romanian Brigadier General Ioan Dumitrache the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. After the coup d'état of 23 August 1944, the vânători de munte fought on the Soviet side, notably in the Tatra Mountains."
I see him as a commando/specialist. Definetly a skilled 4 general. He commanded the 4th Romanian Army in 1945 when fighting for the Allies. But before that, he was the first non-German to receive the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. But his finest moment happened at Stalingrad.
You probably know that during the Battle of Stalingrad USSR attacked the North and South flanks defended by Romanians who had no anti-tank. The Soviets, having tanks and the Romanians no anti-tank, managed to push every Romanian division, except one, Mihail Lascar's Army Group.
In fact, Mihail Lascar's Army Group during Operation Uranus was not even pushed back from their original positions.
On 19th of November 1942 Operation Uranus began. 2 days later Mihail Lascar's Army Group was encyrcled from east and west because the fronts next to him broke. 3 days later Mihail Lascar's Army Group was fully encyrcled and turned into a poket. A poket of men with no anti-tank facing tanks. When Stalingrad was fully encyrcled by the USSR, Mihail Lascar's Army Group still existed and was fighting the USSR, in his original position.
For the history nerds out there:
4. Some focus trees names in case you want to add something else for balance:
"Everything for the Country" -> Was the motto of the Iron Guard, could be used to give them some military buffs if they take power.
"Legionary Reform" -> The Legionaries want an agrarian reform much like PNT (national peasants party), where as the PNL (main democratic party) wanted to modernize Romania with industry and corporations. King Carol II as well as Michael I were equally corporatists like PNL.
5. Demanding West-Banat, Normalization of relations with USSR after siding with the communists and appease USSR, annexations in the Balkan Dominance:
1. Romanian-Soviet Negociations -> Focus tree that unlocks decisions to improve relations with USSR, and normalize relations by cutting all the loose ends. It will give you some bonuses at the end making taking the communist path more viable.
In the interwar, Romania & USSR has 2 main points of divergence:
- Bessarabia
- National Treasure
While joining the Soviet Union with "Join Comintern" you don't solve the issue with Bessarabia and the National Treasure that were the main points of antagonism between Romania and USSR -> This can be solved by adding a focus tree called "Romanian-Soviet Negociations" where the now 2 friendly governments attempt to solve these issues and normalize their relationship. Adding 2 decisions for the Romanians:
(When I write something with blue is because it's meant to be a decision for Romania)
1. Soviet: Recognition of Bessarabia -> Text: "A nationalist movement developed in Bessarabia after the Russian Revolution of 1905, and in November 1917 a council was established. It declared Bessarabia’s independence on 24 Jannuary 1918, and voted to unite with Romania in March. The Treay of Paris on 28 October 1920 confirmed this union, but the Soviet Union never recognized Romania’s right to Bessarabia. In 1924 the Soviet Union formed the "Moldova Autonoums Soviet Republic" ecompassing Transnistria to further their claims over Bessarabia."
Option: "Ask For Sovet Recognition of Bessarabia".
When taking this decision, the Soviet player/AI gets and event where they can accept or refuse to publicly recognize Bessarabia as Romanian and blame the annexation of Bessarabia in 1812 as "Tsarist Imperialism". This will lead to Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina not being claimed by the Soviet-German treaty of 1939.
If USSR accepts, this could lead to Romania's Division Defense on core territory: +5.0% and Daily Communist Support: +0.03 with a National Spirit "Bessarabia Recognised by USSR".
The reasoning being that, with Bessarabia recognised, the population are going to like USSR more. And will feel even stronger about defending Greater Romania (which you're going to need to if you're fighting with the USSR against Nazi Germany)
2. Soviet: Restoring the National Treasure -> "During World War I, Romania sent its national treasure of 120 tones of gold to Tsarist Russia for safekeeping, after the Soviet revolution and Bessarabia's union with Romania happened, the Soviet Union didn't want to give the national treasure back. Lenin promised that they will give back the National Treasure of Romania when Romania becomes a socialist country."
Option: "Ask the Return of the National Treasure"
When taking this decision, the Soviet player/AI gets and event where they can accept or refuse to send the National Treasure of Romania back to Romania.
If USSR accepts, this could lead to Romania's national stability increase by 10% with a National Spirit "National Treasure Restored".
2. Demand West Banat -> Gain a wargoal on Yugoslavia.
During World War II, Ion Antonescu's regime also claimed West Banat as rightfully part of Romania, but so did Miklos Horthy as rightfully part of Hungary, so with German arbitration it remained part of Serbia. With this focus, Romania would simply gain a claim on West Banat and if still exists a wargoal against Yugoslavia. Similar to "Claim Transnistria" this is useful with the AI during peace negociations if you want to roleplay historical.
This would allow you to have more options when playing fascist but going "Preserve Greater Romania". As you can now instantly attack Yugoslavia, not only USSR. Or maybe, give Yugoslavia an ultimatum event, much like USSR gives to Romania, or how Germany gave to Romania.
6. Historical context of the events.
This is not a suggestion per-se but rather describing the internal politics of Romania at that time:
- In 1936 we have: Democracy with main parties PNL and PNT
- 36% votes PNL and 20% votes PNT in 1937
- In February 1938 Carol II changes the constitution and becomes dictator (with his own personal party - FRN)
- In Novemember 1938 basically "Crack Down on Extremism" happens and Codreanu is killed and replaced by Horia
- In 1940 Romania loses all 3 territories and the population hates the king.
- To save his image, King Carol II appoints a popular and well-respected general Ion Antonescu as Prime Minister
- Prime Minister Ion Antonescu tells the king that the only way to save the country from complete instability is to have himself abdicate in favor of his son.
- King Carol II transfers dictatorial powers to Ion Antonescu and not so forcefully abdicates (except forced by the circumstances)
- Ion Antonescu (now with full dicatorial powers) decides to make a new goverment.
- PNL and PNT refuses to take part in it, only the Iron Guard accepts.
- Ion Antonescu is forced to make a new government with the Iron Guard and whatever independent (non-aligned) he can scrap.
- Ion Antonescu gets into conflict with the Iron Guard (now led by Horia Sima after Codreanu's death) over a lot of issues including REDACTED
- Ion Antonescu gets guarantees from Adolf Hitler that he won't intervene (who wanted a stable Romania and prefered Ion Antonescu's pragmatism and military experience over the Iron Guard, who while ideologically closer weren't seen as reliable).
- Ion Antonescu slowly starts to replace Iron Guard ministers with his own men.
- The Iron Guard revolts.
- Ion Antonescu wins.
- Iron Guard seeks and receives asylum in Germany (Adolf Hitler wanted a safe card to keep Ion Antonescu in check, always have an alternative).
- Opperation Barbarossa begins.
This could easily create lots of alt-history scenario:
- What if either PNL or PNT got a majority in parliment in the 1937 elections?
- What if PNL or PNT made an uneasy democratic coalition in 1937 instead of fighting each other which allowed Carol II to become a dictator?
- What if "Crack Down on Extremism" doesn't happen. ALREADY IN GAME, CODREANU REMAINS PLAYABLE
- What if Romania doesn't lose Bessarabia, North Transylvania and South Dobruja? King Carol II's popularity doesn't plummet, could take "His Majesty's Loyal Government's" path.
- What if Carol II appoints Codreanu or Goga as PM instead after losing the 3 regions? ALREADY IN GAME, IRON GUARD & PARTIDUL NATIONAL CRESTIN FOCUS
- What if Ion Antonescu doesn't tell King Carol II to abdicate but suggests another alternative?
- What if PNL and PNT accepts to become part of Ion Antonescu's government after "Forced Abdication"?
- What if Adolf Hitler supports the Iron Guard instead?
- What if the Iron Guard wins in their uprising against Ion Antonescu?
7. Minor Flavor Changes (after Opperation Pike):
- Give Codreanu his full name, Corneliu Zelea Codreanu.
- Give a personal leader trait to Codreanu - Capitanul (the Captain) - maybe something with political power and stability.
- Give a personal leader trait to Ion Antonescu - Conducator (the Leader) - maybe some attack or defense or reinforce rate or recruitable population
- Add general Mihail Lascar (the man was badass, Inflexible Strategist only so he can get Unyielding Defender later)
- Remove Antonescu stops being Chief of Army and General when you take "Crack Down on Extremism"
- The Romanian focus "His Majesty's Loyal Government" not require "Align Hungary" anymore. (maybe require just you don't lose core territory before taking it; i.e. king is still popular)
- Octavian Goga's Romania should have another name & flag. Instead of standard Legionary Romania, Fascist Romania and default tricolor would do.
- Octavian Goga should have a reference to his own paramilitary group "Lance-bearers" (who in spite of the name didn't bear lances) (Perhaps in the "National Christian Party" focus the national spirit could be called "Lance-bearers" and give you something like +1.00% recruitable population?)
Being a War Effort, I will only focus on the minor tweaks that could be made to the nation, no major overhauls.
In the past, I made a quite big topic about Romania:
Things that need to be fixed with Romania
1. Corneliu Codreanu and Octavian Goga are unplayable despite being in the game -> You start with Corneliu Codreanu as fascist leader, after you take the focus "Appoint Pro-Axis Government" you get Fascist Demagogue & fascist leader Octavian...
But here I will only try to cover the things that I think would work in a War Effort patch:
UPDATE!
The developers were kind enough to implement no.1 on this suggestion, made a suggestion only with things to be added after Opperation Pike!
1. Fixing the fascist internal politics of Romania with a small rework.
The internal politics part has some noticeable issues on the non-historical path:
- Octavian Goga is pretty much unplayable.
- Corneliu Zelea Codreanu is pretty much unplayable.
- King Michael I, a firm believer in democracy, can make fascist/communist coups.
- Ion Antonescu stops being Chief of Army" and "Ion Antonescu stops being Field Marshal" when taking the "Iron Guard" focus.
* You start with Corneliu Codreanu as fascist leader, if you want to play with Corneliu Codreanu, you have to stop at before "Appoint Pro-Axis Government" as that focus changes the fascist leader. Given that you need "Appoint Pro-Axis Government" for the Fascist Demagogue it makes it impossible to turn to fascism with Corneliu Codreanu as your leader. Unless some other country captures you and turns you a fascist puppet.
* If you want to play with Octavian Goga, you have to take the focus "Appoint Pro-Axis Government" and stop at before "Iron Guard" as that focus changes the fascist leader again. Because of these, it's very difficult to play as Corneliu Zelea Codreanu or Octavian Goga and if you want to play with them you have to forget continuing the focus tree and just stop there.
* For King Michael I (he died in 2017), this is very out of character as King Michael I was a staunch defender of democracy. It would be like Abe Lincoln leading the Confederate States, I get this is alt-history, but still.
* For Ion Antonescu, this is not historically accurate as first and foremost he was a general. During the invasion of Bessarabia in the first phases of Opperation Barbarossa, Ion Antonescu personally drew the battleplans and commanded the army, while being the leader of the country. He was even a military advisor to Hitler, helping the Germans plan the offensive. He did not stop being a General or Chief of Army because he became the leader of the state. The "I am the state" meme is quite true in his case.
I PROPOSE AN ELOQUENT SOLUTION TO FIX ALL THESE 4 ISSUES AT THE SAME TIME:
What changed?
- New Focus: Night of the Vampires. -> Kills Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (fascist leader no.1), fascists lose 50% popularity, Ion Antonescu becomes new leader of Iron Guard (fascist leader no.3).
- New Focus: PNC. -> Fascist Party renamed to PNC, Octavian Goga (fascist leader no.2) becomes new leader of PNC.
- New Focus: Destroy the Monarchy. -> Communist/Fascist coup against Democratic/Non-Aligned government (and remove those options from Michael, only allow him to make Democratic coup. Basically: Copy the communist/fascist coup code for King Michael's Coup and paste it here)
How does this make everything run smothly?
So, you have:
- Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (fascist no.1)
- Octavian Goga (fascist leader no.2)
- Ion Antonescu (fascist no.3)
And you want to be able to play with all 3 flawlessly (because currently you can't).
- The yellow focus kills Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (fascist no.1). Ion Antonescu (fascist no.3) becomes the leader of the Iron Guard. & fascists lose some party popularity
- With the red focus the fascist party's name is changed to PNC (instead of Iron Guard), Octavian Goga (fascist leader no.2) is added instead of whoever it was already (either fascist leader no.1 or fascist leader no.3, doesn't matter, this focus just replaces them).
Now you can easily swap between them:
- You want to play as Corneliu Zelea Codreanu? avoid taking the yellow focus "Night of the Vampires" and avoid taking the red focus "PNC".
And you can complete the whole focus tree from "Institute Royal Dictatorship" all the way to "King Michael's Coup" with Corneliu Zelea Codreanu.
- You want ot play as Octavian Goga? take the red focus "PNC" and avoid taking the "Iron Guard" focus (still works if you took the "Iron Guard" focus before the "PNC" focus").
You can complete the whole focus tree from "Institute Royal Dictatorship" all the way to "King Michael's Coup" with Octavian Goga.
- You want ot play historical as Ion Anontescu? take the yellow focus "Night of the Vampires" and avoid taking the red "PNC" focus (still works if you took the "PNC" focus before the "Iron Guard" focus).
So you can complete the whole focus tree from "Institute Royal Dictatorship" all the way to "King Michael's Coup" with Ion Antonescu.
Nice, easy and intuitive? Check.
Historically accurate? Check.
Multiple choices, including alt-historical what if? Check.
Cool name of a focus and an occassion to do a gfx bat/vampire icon? Check.
Small fix, big reward? Check.
With a minor tweak, it would fix 4 problems in 1.
2. In case you want each fascist leader to feel different:
1. Carol II:
ALREADY HAS:
Trait: Camarilla Leader
The Sentinel of the Motherland: Recruitable Population 1.00%
Trait: Hendonist: -5% Stability
2. Michael I:
ALREADY HAS:
Figurehead King Michael - +5% Stability (after you take the "Forced Abdication" focus)
ADD:
Trait: Constitutional Monarch - +1% weekly stability, +10% political power gain (after you take the "King Michael's Coup" focus)
3. Ion Antonescu:
ALREADY HAS:
Iron Guard - Damage to Garrisons -20.00% Foreign Subversive activities efficiency -20% Division Attack on core territory:+5.00% Division Defense on core Territory:+5.00% (after you take focus "Iron Guard")
ADD:
Trait: Nationalist Symbol -> +5% war support, +5% stability, +10% attack and defense on core states
4. Corneliu Zelea Codreanu
ALREADY HAS:
Iron Guard - Damage to Garrisons -20.00% Foreign Subversive activities efficiency -20% Division Attack on core territory:+5.00% Division Defense on core Territory:+5.00% (after you take focus "Iron Guard")
ADD:
Trait: Headstrong -> +15% political power gain
5. Octavian Goga
ADD:
Lance-Bearers - Can send Volunteer Forces, divisions required for sending volunteer force: -50% (after you take the "PNC" focus)
Trait: Eager Collaborator -> +2 send volunteer, -100% improve relations maintain cost, +75 fascism acceptance
Why?
1. Antonescu is Nationalist Symbol, because he was a nationalist alternative to fascism in Romania. He worked with the fascists, but he himself was not a fascist, it was more about the nationalism than the ideology. He was a nationalist alterantive to fascism. He was first of all a military man, actually authoritarian and pragmatic rather than fascist.
2. Codreanu is Headstrong, because he was very headstrong. He was a full fanatic, and full of energy in his speeches, an ideological fascist equal to Hitler plus the church. In his youth he went to study in Germany, during his stay, he used to love going to the Beer Hall Putsch and listen to the speeches of a certain Adolf Hitler. And he brought some swastikas as souvenirs when he came back to Romania (both literally and figuratively). He was Hitler fascist not Mussolini fascist. Codreanu loved the monarchy but hated Carol II.
3. Goga is an Eager Collaborator because he was a royal puppet. He was a royalist with fascist tendencies, Carol II's first choice after the fall of France for a goverment to appease Germany. Every monarch who wants to stay in power in a world full fascists needs a Goga to appease the fascists while he himself still has all the power. Germany actually liked Codreanu the best (shocking, I know!) but Goga will have to do.
Since in interwar Romania, every cool kid had to have a paramilitary group:
- Carol II - Straja Tarii (Sentinels of the Motherland)
- Codreanu/Antonescu - Camasile Verzi/Echipa Mortii (Green Shirts/Death Squad)
- Octavian Goga/PNC - Lancierii (Lance-Bearers)
- Communism (after 1945) - Garzile Patriotice (Patriotic Guards) and later Securitate.
The difference between the 3 fascists was that:
- Codreanu was fascist but smart, he was mainly concerned with religion and romanianism, and would try to be sneaky about reaching his way to power, sneaky but violent, quite the ideologue. His idea was love to the country to the max. He hated a certain group of people, but his main idea was maximum love to the country, that other thing was just a side note. He would have went full nazi on them, but that was not his main focus, his main focus was Romania.
- Octavian Goga was fascist but dumb, he's what you probably think of when you think of a fascist, Brown Shirts made manifests, brawlers, he hoped that he could appease the king but by being a fascist in favor of monarchy but the reason he did not become that important is because King Carol II outplayed him big time, his ideology was based more on what he hates than on what he loves.
- Ion Antonescu wasn't fascist at all, he just wanted to get Romania out of the swamp it got in 1940 after losing 1/3rd of the territory and found fascism as the best tool for it, he was no ideologue.
Basically their ideology was:
Codreanu -> I love my country but *** foreigners.
Goga -> *** foreigners but I love my country.
Antonescu -> I just want to do what I think will give Romania the best position at the negociating table when the war ends.
King Carol II -> "I do not wish to let my country be engaged in a war which would result, in a few weeks, in the destruction of its army and the occupation of its territory. We do not wish to be the lighting conductor for the coming storm"
Codreanu be like: "After the consequent ban on paramilitary groups, the Legion was restyled into a political party, running in elections as Totul Pentru Țară ("Everything for the Country", acronym TPȚ). Shortly afterwards, Codreanu went on record stating his contempt for Romania's alliances in Eastern Europe, in particular the Little Entente and the Balkan Pact, and indicating that, 48 hours after his movement came into power, the country would be aligned with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Reportedly, such trust and confidence was reciprocated by both German officials and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano, the latter of whom viewed Goga's cabinet as a transition to the Iron Guard's rule."
Antonescu be like: "In this context, the Romanian leader acknowledged that Germany was losing the war, and he therefore authorized his Deputy Premier and new Foreign Minister Mihai Antonescu to set up contacts with the Allies. In early 1943, Antonescu authorized his diplomats to contact British and American diplomats in Portugal and Switzerland to see if were possible for Romania to sign an armistice with the Western powers. The Romanian diplomats were informed that no armistice was possible until an armistice was signed with the Soviet Union, a condition Antonescu rejected. In parallel, he allowed the PNȚ and the PNL to engage in parallel talks with the Allies at various locations in neutral countries. The discussions were strained by the Western Allies' call for an unconditional surrender, over which the Romanian envoys bargained with Allied diplomats in Sweden and Egypt (among them the Soviet representatives Nikolai Vasilevich Novikov and Alexandra Kollontai). Antonescu was also alarmed by the possibility of war being carried on Romanian territory, as had happened in Italy after Operation Avalanche. The events also prompted hostile negotiations aimed at toppling Antonescu, and involving the two political parties, the young monarch, diplomats and soldiers. A major clash between Michael and Antonescu took place during the first days of 1943, when the 21-year-old monarch used his New Year's address on national radio to part with the Axis war effort".
If this isn't flexible foreign policy I don't know what is ^.
3. Add General Mihail Lascar - the best Romanian General, according to Hitler.
Mihail Lascăr - Wikipedia
He:
- Commanded the 1st Mixed Mountain Brigade, an elite unit of the Romanian Third Army between 1941 and 1942.
- Commanded the 6th Division of the Romanian Third Army in 1942.
- Was taken prisoner at the Battle of Stalingrad and became commander of the Romanian Fourth Army in 1945.
From Wikipedia: "The Romanian vânători de munte saw action in World War II on the Eastern Front in some of the harshest battles - including the sieges of Sevastopol and Stalingrad - where their performance lived up to their reputation: virtually all their commanders from brigade level and up received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, with general Mihail Lascăr being the first foreigner to receive Oak Leaves on 22 November 1942 (see List of foreign recipients of the Knight's Cross). The greatest single achievement of the vânători de munte was the capture of Nalchik on 2 November 1942, the farthest point of the Nazi Germany advance into the Caucasus. This victory earned Romanian Brigadier General Ioan Dumitrache the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. After the coup d'état of 23 August 1944, the vânători de munte fought on the Soviet side, notably in the Tatra Mountains."
I see him as a commando/specialist. Definetly a skilled 4 general. He commanded the 4th Romanian Army in 1945 when fighting for the Allies. But before that, he was the first non-German to receive the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. But his finest moment happened at Stalingrad.
You probably know that during the Battle of Stalingrad USSR attacked the North and South flanks defended by Romanians who had no anti-tank. The Soviets, having tanks and the Romanians no anti-tank, managed to push every Romanian division, except one, Mihail Lascar's Army Group.
In fact, Mihail Lascar's Army Group during Operation Uranus was not even pushed back from their original positions.
On 19th of November 1942 Operation Uranus began. 2 days later Mihail Lascar's Army Group was encyrcled from east and west because the fronts next to him broke. 3 days later Mihail Lascar's Army Group was fully encyrcled and turned into a poket. A poket of men with no anti-tank facing tanks. When Stalingrad was fully encyrcled by the USSR, Mihail Lascar's Army Group still existed and was fighting the USSR, in his original position.
For the history nerds out there:
4. Some focus trees names in case you want to add something else for balance:
"Everything for the Country" -> Was the motto of the Iron Guard, could be used to give them some military buffs if they take power.
"Legionary Reform" -> The Legionaries want an agrarian reform much like PNT (national peasants party), where as the PNL (main democratic party) wanted to modernize Romania with industry and corporations. King Carol II as well as Michael I were equally corporatists like PNL.
5. Demanding West-Banat, Normalization of relations with USSR after siding with the communists and appease USSR, annexations in the Balkan Dominance:
1. Romanian-Soviet Negociations -> Focus tree that unlocks decisions to improve relations with USSR, and normalize relations by cutting all the loose ends. It will give you some bonuses at the end making taking the communist path more viable.
In the interwar, Romania & USSR has 2 main points of divergence:
- Bessarabia
- National Treasure
While joining the Soviet Union with "Join Comintern" you don't solve the issue with Bessarabia and the National Treasure that were the main points of antagonism between Romania and USSR -> This can be solved by adding a focus tree called "Romanian-Soviet Negociations" where the now 2 friendly governments attempt to solve these issues and normalize their relationship. Adding 2 decisions for the Romanians:
(When I write something with blue is because it's meant to be a decision for Romania)
1. Soviet: Recognition of Bessarabia -> Text: "A nationalist movement developed in Bessarabia after the Russian Revolution of 1905, and in November 1917 a council was established. It declared Bessarabia’s independence on 24 Jannuary 1918, and voted to unite with Romania in March. The Treay of Paris on 28 October 1920 confirmed this union, but the Soviet Union never recognized Romania’s right to Bessarabia. In 1924 the Soviet Union formed the "Moldova Autonoums Soviet Republic" ecompassing Transnistria to further their claims over Bessarabia."
Option: "Ask For Sovet Recognition of Bessarabia".
When taking this decision, the Soviet player/AI gets and event where they can accept or refuse to publicly recognize Bessarabia as Romanian and blame the annexation of Bessarabia in 1812 as "Tsarist Imperialism". This will lead to Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina not being claimed by the Soviet-German treaty of 1939.
If USSR accepts, this could lead to Romania's Division Defense on core territory: +5.0% and Daily Communist Support: +0.03 with a National Spirit "Bessarabia Recognised by USSR".
The reasoning being that, with Bessarabia recognised, the population are going to like USSR more. And will feel even stronger about defending Greater Romania (which you're going to need to if you're fighting with the USSR against Nazi Germany)
2. Soviet: Restoring the National Treasure -> "During World War I, Romania sent its national treasure of 120 tones of gold to Tsarist Russia for safekeeping, after the Soviet revolution and Bessarabia's union with Romania happened, the Soviet Union didn't want to give the national treasure back. Lenin promised that they will give back the National Treasure of Romania when Romania becomes a socialist country."
Option: "Ask the Return of the National Treasure"
When taking this decision, the Soviet player/AI gets and event where they can accept or refuse to send the National Treasure of Romania back to Romania.
If USSR accepts, this could lead to Romania's national stability increase by 10% with a National Spirit "National Treasure Restored".
2. Demand West Banat -> Gain a wargoal on Yugoslavia.
During World War II, Ion Antonescu's regime also claimed West Banat as rightfully part of Romania, but so did Miklos Horthy as rightfully part of Hungary, so with German arbitration it remained part of Serbia. With this focus, Romania would simply gain a claim on West Banat and if still exists a wargoal against Yugoslavia. Similar to "Claim Transnistria" this is useful with the AI during peace negociations if you want to roleplay historical.
This would allow you to have more options when playing fascist but going "Preserve Greater Romania". As you can now instantly attack Yugoslavia, not only USSR. Or maybe, give Yugoslavia an ultimatum event, much like USSR gives to Romania, or how Germany gave to Romania.
6. Historical context of the events.
This is not a suggestion per-se but rather describing the internal politics of Romania at that time:
- In 1936 we have: Democracy with main parties PNL and PNT
- 36% votes PNL and 20% votes PNT in 1937
- In February 1938 Carol II changes the constitution and becomes dictator (with his own personal party - FRN)
- In Novemember 1938 basically "Crack Down on Extremism" happens and Codreanu is killed and replaced by Horia
- In 1940 Romania loses all 3 territories and the population hates the king.
- To save his image, King Carol II appoints a popular and well-respected general Ion Antonescu as Prime Minister
- Prime Minister Ion Antonescu tells the king that the only way to save the country from complete instability is to have himself abdicate in favor of his son.
- King Carol II transfers dictatorial powers to Ion Antonescu and not so forcefully abdicates (except forced by the circumstances)
- Ion Antonescu (now with full dicatorial powers) decides to make a new goverment.
- PNL and PNT refuses to take part in it, only the Iron Guard accepts.
- Ion Antonescu is forced to make a new government with the Iron Guard and whatever independent (non-aligned) he can scrap.
- Ion Antonescu gets into conflict with the Iron Guard (now led by Horia Sima after Codreanu's death) over a lot of issues including REDACTED
- Ion Antonescu gets guarantees from Adolf Hitler that he won't intervene (who wanted a stable Romania and prefered Ion Antonescu's pragmatism and military experience over the Iron Guard, who while ideologically closer weren't seen as reliable).
- Ion Antonescu slowly starts to replace Iron Guard ministers with his own men.
- The Iron Guard revolts.
- Ion Antonescu wins.
- Iron Guard seeks and receives asylum in Germany (Adolf Hitler wanted a safe card to keep Ion Antonescu in check, always have an alternative).
- Opperation Barbarossa begins.
This could easily create lots of alt-history scenario:
- What if either PNL or PNT got a majority in parliment in the 1937 elections?
- What if PNL or PNT made an uneasy democratic coalition in 1937 instead of fighting each other which allowed Carol II to become a dictator?
- What if "Crack Down on Extremism" doesn't happen. ALREADY IN GAME, CODREANU REMAINS PLAYABLE
- What if Romania doesn't lose Bessarabia, North Transylvania and South Dobruja? King Carol II's popularity doesn't plummet, could take "His Majesty's Loyal Government's" path.
- What if Carol II appoints Codreanu or Goga as PM instead after losing the 3 regions? ALREADY IN GAME, IRON GUARD & PARTIDUL NATIONAL CRESTIN FOCUS
- What if Ion Antonescu doesn't tell King Carol II to abdicate but suggests another alternative?
- What if PNL and PNT accepts to become part of Ion Antonescu's government after "Forced Abdication"?
- What if Adolf Hitler supports the Iron Guard instead?
- What if the Iron Guard wins in their uprising against Ion Antonescu?
7. Minor Flavor Changes (after Opperation Pike):
- Give Codreanu his full name, Corneliu Zelea Codreanu.
- Give a personal leader trait to Codreanu - Capitanul (the Captain) - maybe something with political power and stability.
- Give a personal leader trait to Ion Antonescu - Conducator (the Leader) - maybe some attack or defense or reinforce rate or recruitable population
- Add general Mihail Lascar (the man was badass, Inflexible Strategist only so he can get Unyielding Defender later)
- Remove Antonescu stops being Chief of Army and General when you take "Crack Down on Extremism"
- The Romanian focus "His Majesty's Loyal Government" not require "Align Hungary" anymore. (maybe require just you don't lose core territory before taking it; i.e. king is still popular)
- Octavian Goga's Romania should have another name & flag. Instead of standard Legionary Romania, Fascist Romania and default tricolor would do.
- Octavian Goga should have a reference to his own paramilitary group "Lance-bearers" (who in spite of the name didn't bear lances) (Perhaps in the "National Christian Party" focus the national spirit could be called "Lance-bearers" and give you something like +1.00% recruitable population?)
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