On June 28th, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir presumptive to the Austo-Hungarian
throne, was assassinated in the streets of Sarajevo.
His death precipitated a conflict that all the major powers had seen and feared on the
horizon, the First Great War.
It took eight years and tens of millions of deaths for the Central Powers to emerge victorious,
but the true cost of the conflict could not be measured solely in time or lives.
The Great War had set into motion a series of events that would see the largest transformation
of the world order since the Fall of Rome.
Over the next decade, France, Italy, and the British Isles would fall to revolution and
syndicalism, the Americas would spiral further into economic depression, and colonial ambitions
would dictate the fate of Asia and Africa.
One nation above all however had finally gained its “place in the sun”, a nation that
the world now looked to for leadership, the German Empire.
Founded after the joint victory of the German states during the Franco-Prussian War, the
German Empire was immediately one of the most powerful nations in Europe.
Its rapid industrialization led to a massive population boom and by 1900 it had surpassed
the United Kingdom to become the second largest economy in the world after the United States.
Under the masterful tenure of Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck, Germany grew to become a global
power, establishing colonies in the last unclaimed regions of Africa and Asia.
As a colonial power, it often clashed with the other imperialist European states, in
particular the British Empire.
The removal of Chancellor Bismarck set the nation on a more bellicose course of foreign
policy.
Bismarck’s successors were unable to maintain his complex shifting and overlapping alliances
that had prevented Germany from becoming diplomatically isolated.
When the long-expected conflict against France escalated into the Great War, Germany failed
to achieve a rapid capture of Paris and was forced to endure a grinding war of attrition.
By 1918 the exhausted German populace made increasing demands for peace and held massive
protests.
The sinking of an American merchant freighter by a British submarine a year earlier had
eased the naval embargo on Germany and made American intervention unlikely, but the nation
remained on the brink of defeat.
In a final desperate Spring Offensive, the German Army finally broke the French lines
in March 1919.
By October, with the whole of France faced with civil uprisings and Paris itself under
artillery fire, an armistice was hurriedly signed.
The French Colonial Empire was handed over, and the attention of the German military was
redirected towards the newly established Soviet Union, which was forced to capitulate in 1920.
By 1921, with no way to break the remaining stalemate, the German and British Empires
signed a so called “Peace with Honor”.
In 1922 additional treaties were signed with Japan, and the Great War was finally ended.
The 1924 Berlin Olympics became a symbol of the nation’s new status in the world and
the participation of the United Kingdom signalled that rapprochement between the divided nations
of Europe could be expected in the coming years.
Instead, the Britsh Isles were soon engulfed in revolution and their overseas Empire collapsed
into complete disarray.
The Royalists fled to Canada while Germany took advantage of the situation, seizing the
majority of the remaining British colonial possessions.
This was achieved at the directive of Chancellor Tirpitz, whose subsequent foreign interventions
in China would help stabilize the greatly expanded overseas German territories.
A federal parliamentary semi-constitutional monarchy, the German Empire is governed under
a unique blend of modern political institutions and ancient royal tradition.
The nation is officially defined as a federation of member states, united under the presidency
of Prussia.
Accordingly, each King of Prussia is automatically granted with the additional title of German
Emperor who serves as the Head of State.
Among the duties of the Kaiser is the appointment of a Reichskanzler, or Imperial Chancellor.
This Chancellor oversees the Bundesrat, a type of Federal Council made up of representatives
from each of the Empire’s member states.
The Bundesrat remains dominated by Prussia which retains control over 17 votes.
Other member states such as Bavaria and Saxony control only 6 and 4 respectively while newly
integrated territories such as Luxembourg and other smaller states are granted only
a single vote.
While theoretically the highest governing authority in the Empire, the Bundesrat shares
legislative power with the German parliament, known as the Reichstag.
Any German male over the age of 25 is eligible to vote, and a variety of political parties
has led to the development of a lively and often chaotic internal political structure.
Restrictions remain on the types of parties able to legally operate within Germany.
The three largest parties which have dominated elections since the Great War include the
leftist Social Democratic Party supported by the nation’s powerful trade unions, the
Progressive People's Party which advocates for the liberalization of the Empire, and
the German Conservative Party, which represents the interests of the traditional Prussian
nobility, conservative Protestants, and the supporters of the Hohenzollern monarchy.
The distribution of political authority between the Emperor, Chancellor, Bundesrat, and Reichstag
has varied considerably across German history.
The Enabling Act in particular, a controversial piece of legislation passed during the tumultuous
year of 1918, has allowed the Chancellor to largely circumvent the power of the Reichstag.
Such shifts in the balance of power are not uncommon and it remains possible for any of
the major state institutions to exert disproportionate power over the others, especially during the
reign of a particularly weak-willed Emperor.
While in theory separate from the political affairs of the state, the German military
has exerted significant control over foreign policy.
During the Great War the armed forces almost completely subsumed civilian authority, turning
the nation into essentially a military dictatorship.
While such overriding control has been impossible to maintain in peacetime, the German Army
and German Navy remain immensely powerful institutions.
The German Army is the largest of the Empire’s military branches and organized around the
famous values of Prussian militarism.
One of its most critical initiatives is to identify military talent at lower levels and
develop it through rigorous academic training and practical experience.
Through this method, individuals who display excellence in leadership, organization, and
planning are brought to the forefront of individual regiments, divisions, and corps, all the way
to the General Staff.
This emphasis on identifying and evaluating the strengths, weaknesses, and military capabilities
of individual soldiers is also utilized at the national level.
Through military attaches, attached to diplomatic locations and a network of paid agents, German
military planners have access to unparalleled reports documenting the effectiveness of entire
countries.
While arguably the most powerful and decisive military force at the outset of the Great
War, the German Army has rapidly improved on the weakest elements of the branch in the
intervening years.
Issues with decentralized commands and competing military offices across multiple German states
have been streamlined and with them, the inherent equipment and manpower inefficiencies.
Despite their victory, the spectre of trench warfare that defined the Western Front of
the Great War still looms large over the German Army, and competing factions have emerged,
each with different theories on how to avoid the large scale carnage which took such a
toll on the German populace.
Some within the General Staff believe that the traditional Prussian doctrine of rapid
maneuvers is no longer achievable in modern warfare and suggest a further emphasis on
artillery to break through established defenses.
Others are proponents of mechanized warfare, arguing in favor of tanks supported by half-track
deployed infantry.
While such methods were ineffective during the Great War, advances in technology have
made a distinct impression on younger officers.
The German Air Force is unique in that it remains a component service of the German
Army, likely in part due to its previously lackluster wartime performance.
Differing proposals on how to modernize the Air Force have been presented, each based
on the idea of quickly achieving air superiority and using bombers and close air support to
assist advancing ground forces.
The last major branch of the military is the Imperial Navy.
Following the Second Battle of Jutland in 1919, it has finally achieved a place of superiority
over the British, it’s traditional rival, and is the single largest Navy in the world.
Despite its place of prominence, the German Navy suffers under convoluted leadership and
low levels of support for any major naval rearmament program.
The Naval Air Service has grown particularly outdated and there have been talks at various
levels recommending it be placed under the command of the Air Force.
Now a worldwide imperial power, the German Navy is essential to maintaining authority
across its disparate colonies.
In addition to relatively minor transfers of territory in continental Europe, in the
wake of the Great War, the Empire’s holdings have grown to include vast swaths of Africa
and Asia.
While some strategic areas are directly ruled from Berlin, German authority is more often
projected through a network of puppet governments and colonial states, granted varying levels
of autonomy.
Deutsch-Mittelafrika and Deutch-Ostasen, quasi-independent territories, responsible for administrating
German colonies in Africa and Indochina respectively, are the German Empire’s largest puppet governments.
In addition to its colonies, the German Empire maintains dominion over a number of neighboring
countries through a network of economic and military alliances.
Mitteleuropa, or “Middle Europe” is the largest economic bloc in the world, consisting
of the German Empire and its Colonies, together with Flanders-Wallonia, the Netherlands, Sweden,
Finland, and most of Eastern Europe.
Flanders-Wallonia, Lithuania, the United Baltic Duchy, White Ruthenia, and the Kingdom of
Ukraine are also members of the Reichspakt, a military alliance used to guard against
any potential Russian resurgence.
Both the Reichspakt and Mitteleuropa suffer from internal problems, as these alliances
are based on safeguarding Germany’s place of prominence rather than any type of fair
trade.
Eastern Europe in particular has very little influence in either alliance and these nations
are increasingly dependent on Germany amidst their own growing internal pressures.
Abroad, the rise of the Commune of France and the Union of Britain has weakened the
German grip over Europe and the spectre of Syndicalism spreads almost unchecked.
In the east, German military planners look upon the tumultuous Russian nation with unease.
Powerful forces have begun to move against President Kerensky and the wounded Russian
colossus has begun to stir once more.
Japan remains the Empire’s greatest rival in the Far East, one that has never been content
with the outcome of the Great War.
It has made no secret of its desire to seize German colonies in the region, and the overextended
German military may be in no position to stop them.
The old governments of France and Britain have likewise never forgotten their defeat,
and a revitalized Entente, perhaps strengthened by the United States, might one day land their
armies across Europe in the hope of liberating their former homelands.
For just over a decade the German Empire has spread its power across the world without
fear of reprisal.
But the time when Germany and Germany alone could dictate the fate of entire nations is
ending.
The next Great War is coming soon and like the first, it has the potential to change
the world in ways that could never be anticipated.
Across the historic cities of Prussia, the great Savannahs of Africa, the distant ports
of the Far East, wherever the Imperial Eagle flies, the citizens of the German Empire have
a single overriding purpose, “Guard the Balance”, “Guard the Kaiserreich”
If you’d like to lead the German Empire or perhaps one of its many rivals to victory,
you’ll find a link to Kaiserreich: Legacy of the Weltkrieg in the video description.
Not only is this mod for Hearts of Iron IV one of the best ever made, but the world of
Kaiserreich was previously named one of the Top 5 Alternate worlds by our very own Marc.
It's an alternate history rife with political intrigue with enormous potential for incredible
stories and gameplay and a must for any Hearts of Iron or Alternate History fan.
If you’d like to explore that world even further, be sure to check out the World Of
Kaiserreich video series, again you’ll find a link to in the description.
And thanks to the Kaiserreich Team for their invaluable assistance in this investigation.