Civil wars are wars when two or more parties fight for voters. Civil war can change the way a country is run and if you switch from democracy to fascism or communism, it can open up new avenues. But first, you will have to face bloodshed within your country.
How this feature works and how to use it?
What is the civil war in HOI4?
Civil war breaks out in a country when two sides of politicians cannot agree on who will lead the country. It occurs usually in cases when one political party gains support very quickly over the other. 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, however, this takes some 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?
There is one time, when you can eventually want civil war in your country and it is when you want to go on alternative history way. There can be the question of what if Great Britain was fascist or what if France was a communist country.
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, however, when you are in fascism or communism, your hands are not so tied.
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 and there are two ways how to do it:
- Focus trees decision which gains support of other parties.
- Special individuals who gain the support of specific parties.
Every country has special individuals who support these changes and you can basically “buy” them. In some states, you must research some focus tree points. For example, in Czechoslovakia, you must “Go Left” in the focus tree and after that, you can 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 do not rush it and don’t click yet… we’ll explain whether it’s a good idea to go the war route or not.
… however, be aware that there is an important thing to know before you start a civil – your country will be split into two parts by % of the party. It means that 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%.
In case you have more %, you get more divisions, materials, and manpower. There are four screens from my testing play.
The research and settings are the same for both new countries. The generals and XP (army, navy, aeroplanes) will be a part of the original country. It means that you can lose all generals and experiences or you can gain all at once.
As you can see in the pictures above, I didn’t expand my country and I have a lot of political power and manpower. So when all things split I have more from everything and I can use it to defeat another part of my old country.
Can you trigger a civil war in another country HOI4?
Yes, you can boost party popularity in another country and so cause a civil war. It will just cost you political power. Then you must wait until the party gets more support. If you selected party that has 30 – 60% of supporters, a civil war can be triggered…
… 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 promote that the civil war will turn out in your favour.
What are pre-scripted civil wars?
In HOI 4 are “pre-scripted” civil wars that will occur in case 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 can be inside the “focus tree” and some samples of them can be seen below:
- 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 if it goes 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.
