Civil wars are in Hearts of Iron IV when your country has two or more parties fighting for voters. Civil war can also change the way a country is run and if you switch from democracy to fascism or communism this can open up new avenues. But first, you will have to face bloodshed within your country.
How this feature works and how use it?
What is the civil war in HOI4?
Civil war breaks out in a country when 2 sides of politicians cannot agree on who will lead the country. Most often when one political party gains support very quickly. The goal of the war is to change the current ruling party in the country.
However, sometimes power can be handed over during an election or by peaceful handover and this waits for a longer time. Civil war is a quick way to play alternate history or to try out other ways to play individual countries.
Why do you want civil war in HOI4?
You could want civil war in your country and it will be when you want to go on alternative history way. There could be the question of what if Great Britain was fascist or what if France was communist.
Because there is a big difference if the country is democratic or not. When you are a democratic country you are limited in what to do and you cannot play aggressively. So you must play a defensive game style but when you are in fascism or communism you have a lot of things to do.
How do you start a civil war in HOI4?
If you want to cause a civil war you must change the political situation in the country. Every country has a primary party that rules. First, you must switch ruling parties. There are two ways which could change the political situation:
- Focus trees decision which gains support of other parties.
- Special persons who gain the support of specific parties.
Every country has special people which support these changes and you could “buy” them. In some states, you must research some focus tree points. For example in Czechoslovakia you must in focus tree fulfill “Go Left” and after that, you could hire Gustav Husák who has +0,10 daily support for communism.
After that, you have to get enough support for the party you want to stage a coup with. In my case (Czechoslovakia) it comes out to 20% in case I want to make a coup for communism. Probably other countries percentages will be similar but may not be the same.
Once there is enough support for the new party, the “Communism/Fascism/Democracy on the rise” option opens in the political decisions tab and you can decide whether you want to go the war route or the diplomatic route. But don’t click yet we’ll explain when it’s a good idea to go the war route.
… but be aware before you start a civil war there is an important thing to know. Your country will be split into two parts by % of the party. So it’s different when your country is split when your new political party has just 20% and the current ruling party has 50%+ or when you have 40% and the ruling party has 40%.
When you have more % you will get more divisions, materials, and manpower. There are three screens from my testing play.
The research and settings are the same for both new countries. The generals and XP (army, navy, airplanes) will be part of the original country. So you could lose all generals and experience or you could have all.
As you could see I didn’t expand my country I have a lot of political power and manpower. So when all things split I have more from everything. Which I could use to defeat another part of my old country.
Can you trigger a civil war in another country HOI4?
Yes, you could boost party popularity in another country. That will cost you political power. And then you must wait until the party gets more support. When your selected party has 30 – 60% of supporters there could be triggered civil war…
… but the beginning of the war is not the end of your support. Now you can send troops or old material to war with a “lend-lease” to help your interests and thus you can promote that the civil war will turn out in your favor.
What are pre-scripted civil wars?
In HOI 4 are some “pre-scripted” civil wars that will occur if the game follows the historical AI. For example, there is the Spanish civil war. This war just happens and other countries try to react to it somehow. The pre-scripted civil wars could be inside the “focus tree” there are some samples of them:
- Soviets if they don’t do the purge.
- Yugoslavs if they join Germany.
- Japan if it goes commie.
- The U.S if it does anything besides democracy.
- Britain is trying to go fascist and loses too much stability.
- France if it goes commie.
- Mexico if anything. That place is about ready to explode every game.
- Germany if it restores the kaiser.
