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I wonder how you'll react to these events. Will the US keep a patient watch or will they try to restore order to the world? I can't wait for the next chapter!
So ww2 potentially still begins with war in china. The wheel turns but nothing is new, eh?
Naturally mourning the failing state of glorious True China. Hopefully America or Britain joins in and tries to maintain the free world (if they intervene, would you mess around console-wise to merge factions in case they capitulate or leave them separate?)
Depends. I don't see the US officially allying themselves with Russia anytime soon, so the factions will probably remain separate.
President Jacobweller is being smart here. He knows America looks like it's in a better position than it really is, and he's doing what he can to improve things. Allies and better infrastructure, a solid legacy.
As for the civil war in China, at least in the aftermath, they'll be less players to keep track of. Hopefully the victor is one favorable for democracy.
As for the civil war in China, at least in the aftermath, they'll be less players to keep track of. Hopefully the victor is one favorable for democracy.
I actually find it ironic that what looks like to be this AAR’s WW2 might start because of the Civil War and Japanese expansion. The funny thing is some Chinnese do consider the Second Sino-Japanese War the actual start of WW2 in real life.
I know the HOI4 forum rules don’t allow talks of war crimes and attocites during the war, but once the war the game is over, do you think you might be able to come up with civilan causality estimates when the war is over even if the game doesn’t provide those itself?
I know the HOI4 forum rules don’t allow talks of war crimes and attocites during the war, but once the war the game is over, do you think you might be able to come up with civilan causality estimates when the war is over even if the game doesn’t provide those itself?
That certainly is true. Other families, like mine, consider the 1931 Mukden incident as the start of the war, as it marks increased Japanese aggression in China which sets the stage for the later invasion.
It is quite a lot to keep track of!
I've made estimates in past AARs, such as the losses during the Middle Eastern Civil War, and I will certainly do it with the Chinese civil war as well!
It's great to be back!
Many western films, books, and documentaries focus waay too much on the American experiences of the war, while completely ignoring parts of or all of the eastern front or the Sino-Japanese war. Anytime I've done playthroughs of Hearts of Iron, I've always paid a lot of attention to the war in China, and I hoped to give it a lot of attention in this AAR.
Chapter 2 - Feb 1937: China
Japan was not prepared for the fighting a war with Russia brings. Perhaps they thought Russia would not dare defend Japan, perhaps they thought the Russian military was outdated and outgunned. For whatever reason, Japan chose to invade China, starting the largest conflict of nations since the Great War. This is by no means the same kind of war, as it is pretty much summed up as Russia versus Japan, but the death toll on both sides will be high.
The US's biggest worry is this war snowballing into a global conflict. For the moment, it is between the Stali Pact and the East Asia Conference. But get Lotharingia involved, or one of the members of the Anglo Alliance, and this will turn into another a second Great War. Preventing that is the US's highest priority right now.
Castille and Sweden join the war in March, and the odds are pushed even further from Japan's favor. In Asia, the Shun struggle to hold their ground against the Wu. The Jin, however, quickly take the small conclave of Wu China to its east before pushing northwest and south at the same time.
On April 9th, 1937, the efforts with the Weerstanders in Antillen bear fruit, and the rebels declare war on the government. Unfortunately (...), the only territory they managed to take from the government at the start of the coup is the Antillen half of the island of Jamaica. Military equipment continues to be funneled to the rebels, despite their high chance of failure.
Less than a year after the start of the war, True China has been pushed back to just Southeast Asia. The thawing after winter allowed the Wu Chinese to finish the fighting inland, and now only a few states of resistance remain.
In a different part of the world, King Bekir Bey of Persia thinks of a time when the Middle East was the center of the world. Persia was once a great empire, controlling far more lands than even Eretna does now. His eyes are set on conquest, and Persia declares war on Kurdistan.
As concerns of a future war grow, creation of 2nd Army is authorized by President Jacobweller. In addition, the position of Army Chief of Staff is given to Ambrose Verigan, while Navy chief of Staff is handed to Christopher Gilbert.
In Europe, a startling shift has taken place in the government of Lotharingia. While still parliamentary in nature, the number of fascists in government now outnumber the rest, and the next election is mere months away. Having a powerful fascist nation at the very center of Europe does not bode well for the free world. There are too many unprotected nations up for the grabs.
Despite obvious failure, True China fights on. In the north, the East Asia Conference makes zero headway against the Wu, and Korea retreats from their northern border in face of the onslaught of Russian soldiers.
China is united on August 1st, 1937. The last of True China capitulates, and Wu China stands victorious. Over two million Chinese died in the war, yet in the end, the Empire of China is reborn.
Still, Japan fights on against Russia and the now massive Chinese Empire. How they could ever hope to defeat the Stali Pact is unknown.
Persia annexes Kurdistan in September, and its eyes are next set on Iraq. However, it will take some time before the small kingdom is ready for a second war.
Without the war to the south to distract China, the Jin are quickly swallowed by the rising tide of soldiers, and Korea is pushed out of its western territories. The situation is dire for Japan.
In a surprise move, Carinthia joins Lotharingia's Blue Alliance in November. The October election saw Lotharingia's Fascist party take power, and policy immediately changed. Hungary was another nation approached for potential membership in the Blue Alliance, although they turned it down. More unsettling, American spies have uncovered that the new government of Lotharingia is planning an invasion of Picardy.
In other news, the African nation of Funj invades and annexes Nobatia, and Delhi declares war on Afghanistan in December.
Surprisingly, the East Asia Conference holds its ground against the Stali pact. Waves of Chinese and Russian soldiers collide with the Japanese and Korean lines, yet they are repelled again and again. The Jin, first thought to be completely overwhelmed by the Chinese, continues to stand strong in the north, including the Chinese territory it took at the very beginning of the war. Far behind enemy lines, the Jin capital of Fenzhou fights on after being cut off from the rest of the country months before. After the initial losses to the west, Korea has stopped the forward motion of the Russians. By deaths, the Russians and Chinese are losing ten soldiers for every one Conference soldier dead. The war many thought would be over before the end of '37 will rage on.
The war is still young...
NOTE
- Let me know if you all like newspapers. If it's great, I will keep doing it. If it's lame, I probably won't do anymore
Japan was not prepared for the fighting a war with Russia brings. Perhaps they thought Russia would not dare defend Japan, perhaps they thought the Russian military was outdated and outgunned. For whatever reason, Japan chose to invade China, starting the largest conflict of nations since the Great War. This is by no means the same kind of war, as it is pretty much summed up as Russia versus Japan, but the death toll on both sides will be high.
The US's biggest worry is this war snowballing into a global conflict. For the moment, it is between the Stali Pact and the East Asia Conference. But get Lotharingia involved, or one of the members of the Anglo Alliance, and this will turn into another a second Great War. Preventing that is the US's highest priority right now.
Castille and Sweden join the war in March, and the odds are pushed even further from Japan's favor. In Asia, the Shun struggle to hold their ground against the Wu. The Jin, however, quickly take the small conclave of Wu China to its east before pushing northwest and south at the same time.
On April 9th, 1937, the efforts with the Weerstanders in Antillen bear fruit, and the rebels declare war on the government. Unfortunately (...), the only territory they managed to take from the government at the start of the coup is the Antillen half of the island of Jamaica. Military equipment continues to be funneled to the rebels, despite their high chance of failure.
Less than a year after the start of the war, True China has been pushed back to just Southeast Asia. The thawing after winter allowed the Wu Chinese to finish the fighting inland, and now only a few states of resistance remain.
In a different part of the world, King Bekir Bey of Persia thinks of a time when the Middle East was the center of the world. Persia was once a great empire, controlling far more lands than even Eretna does now. His eyes are set on conquest, and Persia declares war on Kurdistan.
As concerns of a future war grow, creation of 2nd Army is authorized by President Jacobweller. In addition, the position of Army Chief of Staff is given to Ambrose Verigan, while Navy chief of Staff is handed to Christopher Gilbert.
In Europe, a startling shift has taken place in the government of Lotharingia. While still parliamentary in nature, the number of fascists in government now outnumber the rest, and the next election is mere months away. Having a powerful fascist nation at the very center of Europe does not bode well for the free world. There are too many unprotected nations up for the grabs.
Despite obvious failure, True China fights on. In the north, the East Asia Conference makes zero headway against the Wu, and Korea retreats from their northern border in face of the onslaught of Russian soldiers.
China is united on August 1st, 1937. The last of True China capitulates, and Wu China stands victorious. Over two million Chinese died in the war, yet in the end, the Empire of China is reborn.
Still, Japan fights on against Russia and the now massive Chinese Empire. How they could ever hope to defeat the Stali Pact is unknown.
Persia annexes Kurdistan in September, and its eyes are next set on Iraq. However, it will take some time before the small kingdom is ready for a second war.
Without the war to the south to distract China, the Jin are quickly swallowed by the rising tide of soldiers, and Korea is pushed out of its western territories. The situation is dire for Japan.
In a surprise move, Carinthia joins Lotharingia's Blue Alliance in November. The October election saw Lotharingia's Fascist party take power, and policy immediately changed. Hungary was another nation approached for potential membership in the Blue Alliance, although they turned it down. More unsettling, American spies have uncovered that the new government of Lotharingia is planning an invasion of Picardy.
In other news, the African nation of Funj invades and annexes Nobatia, and Delhi declares war on Afghanistan in December.
Surprisingly, the East Asia Conference holds its ground against the Stali pact. Waves of Chinese and Russian soldiers collide with the Japanese and Korean lines, yet they are repelled again and again. The Jin, first thought to be completely overwhelmed by the Chinese, continues to stand strong in the north, including the Chinese territory it took at the very beginning of the war. Far behind enemy lines, the Jin capital of Fenzhou fights on after being cut off from the rest of the country months before. After the initial losses to the west, Korea has stopped the forward motion of the Russians. By deaths, the Russians and Chinese are losing ten soldiers for every one Conference soldier dead. The war many thought would be over before the end of '37 will rage on.
The war is still young...
NOTE
- Let me know if you all like newspapers. If it's great, I will keep doing it. If it's lame, I probably won't do anymore
I took a modern Japanese history class recently, and I totally agree. The Japanese called their part of the war the Greater East Asia War due to their focus on China and Southeast Asia, but the Americans called it the Pacific War to focus on their island-hopping operations. If I remember correctly, the American occupation forces in Japan took steps to encourage use of the Pacific War and discourage references to the Greater East Asia War by associating it with Japanese militarism. It's kind of a shame that China's contributions to the war (outside of the Four Policemen) are still mostly ignored in favor of the Pacific campaigns (which I still believe are important, just that China is overlooked). I really like your focus on China by the way. Really contrasts with a lot of other HOI4 AARs (and megacampaigns) which focus on Europe and the Americas (something I'm also guilty of).
As for the newspapers, I loved it! Really nice to see little snippets of lore fleshing out the world of your megacampaign. Just a suggestion, but I think it would be helpful to take a look at actual New York Times articles from the late 1930s to help you write in a style appropriate for the time period. The recent Kaiserreich dev diaries for the China rework have great examples of this.
The newspapers are fantastic! As for the content of the update, surprised to see Persia trying to build themselves back up. China's on the map, the war against the Japanese rages on, and we've got a Fascist Lotharingia. Even as one issue fades away, another poses future worries...
I agree, there are certain fronts of WW2 that are unfortunately ignored in favor of battles the Americans fought in like D-day, Omuha and the Bulge. Yes, there were imporatant, but there are also a part of the much larger picture of WW2 that often goes ignored in American history. I actually might ask @zenphoenix in a bit a few questions about what would his AAR's in universe historiography of the World Wars be like in a bit considering he himself admits there a certain fronts in the World Wars there are that obscure like in OTL.
Also yes, Benjamin Blizt is quite a name indeed. Russia's Stahl pact should also be looking pretty powerful with the addition of a unifed China.
At least facsim in Asia might die with Japan soon assuming things turn out well for Russia and China, however, Facism is still growing to be a threat with the fall of Lorthinga to fascism.
Also, a personal thought, but calling Lorthinga's alliance the "Blue Alliance" doesn't really seem appropriate to me, especially since Lorthinga's now facist. The Axis won't do, I know, but would their alliance techically be the Central Powers here since they are in the middle of Europe? I'm also thinking something along the lines the New Order considering their facism, but I'm not sure. What do you guys think? I also imagine the Fascist referring to their regime as the "Neo Carolingian Empire" sort of how the Nazis referred to their regime as a Reich.
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At least persia stands firm in a heroic quest to clean up some border gore. The rest of the world bar china seem to want it to get worse...
Keep the newspaper articles, it's a good way to show how people feel about certain events in universe.
Historiography in general makes the mistake of focusing too much on Europe and North America, while the East is overlooked. In my experience, western historians don't really care about the east unless it directly impacts western history.
Historiography in general makes the mistake of focusing too much on Europe and North America, while the East is overlooked. In my experience, western historians don't really care about the east unless it directly impacts western history.
Seems to be the general idea of 'we care about nothing aside from romans and the world they built'. Which is why not even german history and countries east of them in europe are studied much until they smash straight into the anglo sphere in the 20th c.
Hey all! I’m sorry I haven’t responded to anything! On vacation. I have another chapter to post, which I hope to get to tomorrow. I will get back to everyone then!
- Just spent the last few days reading your mega campaign and am now current. You have an interesting way to tell your story. I will follow the rest.
Reading about the War in China is both fascinating and horrifying, and yes, the island hopping and the war in China were both important! They should both be focused on!
I plan on a few more newspapers at least, so I will definitely do that!
I do not think Persia will make much of a play this AAR, but at least they're trying!
If I recall, several battles on the Eastern Front saw more deaths than the total American deaths in WW2, yet I do not think I learned anything about the Eastern Front in school. Pretty sad.
And don't you worry about the Blue Alliance.
Persia must be praised
Completely agree with that, and it is a shame.
I'm hoping this AAR will not be like that.
Great to have you!