Peace conferences are very easy to fix

[Ketchup & friends]

This is not what happened historically, for example Thuringia was occupied by the US but handed over to the Soviets. They had agreed who would occupy what beforehand.

To play devil's advocate: that is because a dying, weak, FDR couldn't stand up at all, let alone stand up to brutal Stalin. Should have let MacArthur or Patton, or even Eisenhower negotiate with Stalin instead.

Historically, the borders were drawn at the Yalta conference in February 1945, before the war was over. And Thuringia was handed over in exchange for the Western sectors of Berlin.

The game can’t account for this because peace conferences happen AFTER a war and partial ownership of a state (or single province as it happened in Berlin) is impossible.



In addition to @Lider_Picaro 's initial proposal, we think there should some kind of a Sphere of influence.

It would be a level below Core and Claim and declaring a State part of Sphere of interest should be much cheaper and faster than claiming it.

A State in the SoI would be less important than a Claim or Core (a nation should NOT be able to declare war to get it) but more important than a state outside of it.

During peace conferences, Countries should try to establish Puppet States in their Sphere.

Overlapping Spheres of Influence should create Tension between countries (unless they are allied).

This would allow simulating Agreements made before or during a war.