The country select screen for Austria, a TL:DR for the historical context
A zoomed out overview of the Austrian Focus Tree
Interwar Austria
I won’t go into what happened during the Great War, but it was a bad time to be Austrian. Unfortunately for the Austrians, this did not let up much during the interwar years, it simply took another form. With next to no army due to the Treaty of Saint-Germain-En-Laye, half of the country unemployed, an economy in shambles, not being allowed to gang up with their old buddies in Hungary or Germany and violence between political paramilitary groups, it is safe to say that the country was in a really bad state.
The National Spirits at startup for Austria
Just after the Great War Austria operated as a republic, with decently functional elections and a parliamentary system. However, paramilitary groups still clashed frequently and these clashes led to numerous conflicts. Perhaps the most notable was the July Revolt of 1927 when the Ministry of Justice was burned to the ground by the Social Democratic paramilitary group Republikanischer Schutzbund. Conservative sentiments grew much stronger following this uprising.
The Austria you will come to know was formed in 1932 as Engelbert Dollfuss was elected chancellor. Dolfuss had great plans, and they started with removing the parliament. Said and done, via the so-called Self-Elimination of the Parliament, Democracy was abolished in one fell swoop. Under the ideology of Austrofascism, a combined right-wing party Vaterländische Front was formed from various conservative parties and agrarian leagues. All other parties were banned, making Dolfuss more of a dictator than a chancellor. Ideologically Austrofascism was more like the Fascism found in Italy, than the German counterpart. Ironic as it sounds, the rather Fascist VF banned the Austrian wing of Hitler’s NSDAP, DNSAP, from operating in the country. The bans were largely ineffective, and in 1934 Engelbert Dollfuss was assassinated in a coup attempt by DNSAP.
But, let’s get into the actual content of the game! In 1934 Kurt Schuschnigg took over as chancellor, and in -36 he also assumed leadership of Austria, which was now in an almost even more precarious situation. Still no army, the economy only slowly recovering, unemployment rates still high, political violence still rampant and now the Germans seem to be on the prowl as well. What a great time to come to power!
TL:DR; The interwar period was a very bad time to be Austrian!
This is how things will look as you load up the game. As you can see, VF is listed as Non-aligned, this is to attribute their past, and the fact that they are a hodgepodge of different political groups
"Historical" Branch
This needs a rather obvious disclaimer. We all know what happens with Austria in the Second World War, they get Anschluss’ed and die early on. As a player you will have to stave off this threat, and I have faith that you will, but it will mean that should you survive, a historical playthrough of Austria won’t be that… well historical. Not only regarding Austria, but regarding the rest of the world, and war, as well. Almost all of the focuses you find in the “Historical” branch have been drawn from some of the actual actions taken to attempt to stave off Anschluss, and later on in the tree was based on what was deemed a likely Austrian ambition depending on their political stance. Oh! And as always, everything shown below is subject to change or fixes before release.
The path that Historical Austria will follow has them attempt to secure the guarantees they were promised to survive the German threat, and then, try to regain what they lost
Let’s ignore the Anschluss system for now, there will be a separate section for it further down. As we learned earlier, Austria is already rather authoritarian, but not ruled by a single Fascist party. We start out Non-aligned, but Schuschnigg and his cabinet will soon overturn this making the country properly Fascist. DNSAP was historically already banned by this time but by further clamping down on the party it can be fully dissolved. Unfortunately for us, much like in history, this doesn’t fully get rid of them but instead makes them Non-Aligned and us Fascist. Worse yet, this angers the German Reich. In response to this obvious slander, the Germans might demand concessions, or even, as was historically done, influence in the Austrian cabinet.
Arthur Seyss-Inquart, who indeed looks comically like a stereotypical fascist, just so happens to lead both DNSAP and Grossdeutsche Volkspartei. Anywhere you ban, or disband, DNSAP, no matter the branch, the Germans might “kindly” insist that you have him in your cabinet. Concerning.
This means that the threat has become very real for Austria and fast. At this point most of your effort will likely be spent on finding ways of delaying the inevitable. The Treaty of Saint-Germain-En-Laye stops Austria from building troops, but it also stipulated that certain countries would help protect Austria, if need be. Now, historically, the guarantors just decided to not help Austria, but maybe you can sway them?
Help plz? Anyone?
After making use of the good part of the Treaty, it has to go, you need those troops! You can of course ask permission from the other parties of the Treaty, but there is no guarantee that they will oblige, or you could just rip those useless papers and be done with it! Easy! It might annoy the other parties though, and anyone who guaranteed you might even retract that guarantee if you do.
There are different ways of going about getting rid of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-En-Laye, appeasement may be safer, but success cannot be guaranteed. If no agreement can be reached the consequences will be similar to outright disregard
No matter which way is chosen, rearmament will be necessary. Unless Germany has decided against their usual plans there will be a race against the clock to prepare as best as possible. The Heimwehr militia can be enlisted to help your regular army, and eventually, they can be integrated into the army proper. Below “Poised To Strike” we find an assortment of focuses to help develop Austria into the Austrofascist Corporate State that Schuschnigg had envisioned and on the left, we find a part that is actually shared with the Monarchists.
Austria post-rearmament has quite a few options for both building up the state, but also for expanding and reclaiming their old lands. Eventually, they can get cores, and proclaim the Austrian Empire
So here is one of those cases where I have had to extrapolate from what little history gave us and create some fun for you folks! Austria, had it been left to live, would likely have had a bit of a revanchist sentiment, at least on the Fascist and the Monarchist paths. Since I know you like map painting just as much as us devs, it is time to conquer! Starting with the obvious target, Hungary, Austria will slowly claw back their former territories, and can even try to get the old Central Powers gang together! There is also an option to join the existing fascist faction, but if the current faction leader is a historical Germany, they might not be keen on letting the Austrians in considering that they would probably like that land for themselves.Towards the end of these branches, you might see a familiar colour combo of yellow and black, and you’d be correct. You will be able to form a Fascist Austrian Empire and be a force to be reckoned with, being cause for concern for Germans, Soviets and just about anyone else. Finally Austria can live up to that one article that described Schuschnigg as wanting to “Out-Hitler” Hitler and create a “Better German State”!
Anschluss
The Anschluss system is one that is shared between all branches. Each branch might have a few unique ways of trying to stave off the threat, like the Fascist branch seeking guarantees, but this system stays the same. An important thing to note is that historically, a large portion of the Austrian people welcomed Anschluss, but the politicians most certainly did not. It is rather telling that Schuschnigg, who was very authoritarian, was trying to stage an election, to prove that the people did not want Anschluss, in the hopes that that would make the Democratic powers finally help them. These efforts failed, of course, but you might not!
The Anti-Anschluss Measures decision system is where you will find decisions to strengthen your country to prepare if this diplomatic conflict turns hostile
As you can see there is a risk level displayed. The amount of decisions available depends on the risk level, starting things like civilian factory construction and extra garrisons, ranging to emergency conscription, fortification construction and extended work shifts. The risk is an indication of how close Germany is to being able to complete the focus for Anschluss. The requirements for the focus has been revamped slightly to use a ratio of equipped manpower instead of a flat number of manpower in the field for Germany. But, I’ll let Paradox_Danne and ManoDeZombi explain that instead as it is more closely related to Germany than it is Austria.
Monarchism
Historical in all its glory, but sometimes we want something different. With both the Austrian Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire being somewhat recent to our time period, what needed to be done was obvious. We need Habsburgs.
The Monarchist path in all its glory
By ripping up the old May Constitution Austria can start down a new path, and with the Monarchist path, this starts with reinstating the Herrenhaus. Replacing the parliament with a bunch of nobles allows for alternative ways of electing a leader, such as by name. How does Habsburg sound to you? Unless the pesky Hungarians have already installed Otto von Habsburg on their throne, you can place him on the throne of Austria. Should the Hungarians have unjustly stolen him, the Prince of House Starhemberg, Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg, will happily step up to take the crown. (google that man, he had an interesting life)
The two candidates for becoming ruler of a monarchist Austria
Of course, both of these men can later also go from Prince to King, and that will give you a new snazzy flag! Though you will still “only” be called a Kingdom…
Back in business with their old flag and a Habsburg on the throne, like it should be!
If you want to become an Empire once more, you will have to rebuild. As soon as you have gotten rid of the Treaty with the “Rebellious Rearmament” focus the branch splits into two, one more focused on building yourself internally and one more expansionist. Expansion can be done in two ways, much like the fascists, you can go down the route to annex your old lands, if you wish to reform the Austrian Empire, but there is also another option. Led by Otto von Habsburg, Austria can strive to form a new Austria-Hungary by attempting to puppet their old lands instead.
Time to rebuild your Empire, starting with Hungary and moving on to all of your old lands, targeting both countries that currently exist, and breakout states in the event that they exist
By going through this branch, you also unlock a Joint Focus Tree with your puppets! I won’t show it here today, but rest assured, someone, potentially named D3vil, will show this to you soon.
“But Nattmaran, we wanted map painting!” I hear you call, and do not fret, I also enjoy map painting, so of course, you can paint the maps. You get a specific type of autonomy for your puppets by puppeting them through this system for this reason! It should be noted that the annex system uses the same decisions leading up to annexing or subjugating the country. This will allow you to decide if you want to spend time on trying for a diplomatic annexation or subjugation, or if you’d rather take your chances and if needs must, take what is rightfully yours by force.
The system for subjugating those formerly within the Empire. If diplomacy fails and your formerly loyal subjects have turned defiant, you can always puppet them by force. Your puppets also have an appropriate colour for what they are, Austro-Hungarian Vassals
As you can see, once some of the countries have been subjugated we can do what a Habsburg does best; spread, everywhere! This might not have the biggest effects, but I thought it was a fun little touch!
How does Joseph-August von Habsburg of Hungary and Karl Albrecht von Habsburg of Czechoslovakia sound? Or maybe you can catch some more elusive ones, like Joseph-Franz or Robert von Habsburg that can crop up elsewhere. And no Habsburg run is complete without controlling the true homelands.
Depending on your ambitions, you may also join a faction, or create your own, before you take on the Germans, the Soviets… or both! The world really is your oyster if you make it to this point!
You might have noticed the lack of mention of branch-specific anti-Anschluss mechanics for the Monarchists. See, that’s the caveat. Austria as a Monarchy would be a very proud and independent country, not wanting to rely upon anyone else after the troubles they have been put through. It is unlikely that a Monarchist Austria would have gotten, or asked for, any help. Going down the Monarchist path for Austria will mean an uphill fight to stave off the Anschluss.
Democratic
Say you decide to adhere to the Treaty a bit more, and wish to reinstate Democracy again. After all, the Self-Elimination of the Parliament wasn’t too long ago so the nation could still be yearning for Democracy. Much like the Monarchist branch we must first tear up the old constitution, and then before an election can be held, political opposition must be allowed once more.
The Austrian Democratic Branch
The election will be close, it will fall to you as the player to decide the course the nation takes. From the three candidates we have a Social Democrat, Karl Renner who had previously held power in the parliament, Vinzenz Schumy of the Landbund, and… wait… is that Kurt? Again?! Yes, Again! Kurt Schuschnigg starts out as the Non-aligned leader of a combined party Vaterländische Front, and can then swing both ways, going Fascist with VF, or Democratic with his old Christlichsoziale Partei, depending on which path is taken. Surprisingly enough, Kurt isn’t even the most right-leaning candidate, as Vinzenz Schumy and the Landbund were by far more right-leaning.
All three Democratic candidates have their strengths, and they all lean different ways politically. Renner will have access to one extra Communist focus, but otherwise there will not be much of a difference, apart from their trait bonuses
With a Democratic system in place, surely you should be safe from the threat of Anschluss? Unfortunately, no, you still have no army and can’t train troops, yet. Much like the fascists, you will be requesting help on the basis of the Treaty. Leveraging the fact that you are now a Democratic country, Austria will be slightly more likely to actually be allowed to rearm by the guarantors in this branch. Otherwise, you could always bribe them, and if they end up rejecting, it means that they are not following the treaty. And if they aren’t, why should you?
The focus ”The Right to Rearm” opens up the small but potent military branch for Democratic Austria, but it also has an effect for Non-Aligned countries, reasons to be explained soon
As with most Democratic branches, you will be able to join the Allies, but you can also create your own faction called the Alpine Federation. Either way your goal will be similar, end Fascism in Europe.
The Danubian Federation
Did you notice that chunk in the middle that neither Monarchist nor Democratic touched upon, and that “The Right to Rearm” has an effect for the Non-Aligned, despite being in the Democratic branch? Democratic branches can feel a bit samey, and I wanted to avoid this, or at least spice it up a bit. The perfect opportunity for this presented itself via… Habsburgs of course! Hear me out; Otto von Habsburg was a long standing member of the EU parliament after its formation, and it would not have been too far fetched that he would have lobbied for something similar to be initiated if he came to power. And surely if Otto had that idea, someone in a Democratic party might have had similar ideas, right?
The Danubian Federation is a branch available to both Democratic and Monarchist branches in place of their more “traditional” routes
The Danubian federation starts out as a faction, but it also unlocks the Joint Focus tree for Austria-Hungary. Meaning, even if you are Democratic you can now access some Austro-Hungarian content! It will be a different way of playing, depending more on inviting a plethora of countries and building a strong faction. By ensnaring your faction members more closely to you, you will be able to subjugate them, and, in the Joint Focus Tree you might be able to take things even further.
Communism
Last out of the political branches is the Communist branch. Though not the most likely, Austria still had some Communist movements. The branch starts out with Austromarxism, which was a real ideology, situated somewhere in between Social Democracy and “proper” Communism. Considering this, there is an overlap between Communism and Democratic in Austria
The Communist Focus Branch
Apart from the “Gain Schutzbund Support” all of these are available to both Communists and Democrats. “Gain Schutzbund Support”, granting bonuses to your militias, is available only to Communists and Social Democrats, led by Karl Renner.
As I’m sure you’ve figured out, Austria has a long way to go to become a Communist state and for most, this road will involve a civil war. To have a fighting chance, the Treaty has to go. Austria preparing for civil war simply does not care about what anyone thinks and will be allowed to just shred the Treaty and enact Emergency Measures to rebuild more rapidly.
Once you feel ready, or once you feel that you cannot delay any longer, the Civil war can be started from the focus “Reclaiming Red Vienna”.
As you can see from the tooltip, you can avoid the civil war entirely by building enough Communist support. Otherwise, the civil war will trigger, and if the focus “Gain Schutzbund Support” has been completed, three new militia units will spawn on your side along with an amount of units comparable to your communist support. If you have 50% support, you get 50% of the troops and so on. Dealing with this civil war is difficult on your own, so there is a choice to be made, you can ask the Soviets for help, or you can invest more heavily in your militias to try and gain the upper hand. Once the civil war is over these two sub-branches will eventually lead to either joining the Comintern, or establishing a new Faction called the Danubian Bloc.
The final parts of the Communist branch will allow for spreading Communism in the Danubian countries, and countries that historically had an interest in the Danube. The decision system for this will be unlocked by completing “Encourage Communist Sentiments” and then expanded upon in “Demanding the Liberation of Workers”, and will allow you to sway your targets towards Communism, and then start a civil war, in case they disregard the needs and wishes of the proletariat. Finally there is a possibility to retake some land in Galicia, or tell the Soviets who’s the better communist state in a rather violent way. As long as you are not in the Comintern that is!
Military & Industry
As mentioned previously, Austria was in a terrible state economically, industrially and militarily, so now let’s have a quick look at what we can do to make it less bad, to start with, and great, later on.
The Austrian Industrial Branch is split in four distinct paths to make it easy to navigate where you need to go when your industrial problems become too pressing.
The Industrial branch is rather straightforward, there are four main branches focusing on four things. From left to right we have the resources branch for boosting your domestic resources, the infrastructure branch for connecting the country, the economic branch to save your crashing economy and the industrial branch to build and improve construction of factories. All branches have interesting points but they are the most potent together.”Economic Resuscitation” can salvage the most broken of economies and lessen a Consumer Goods malus from 40% to 20%. By going down the Industrial branch several problems can be solved with one focus as “Start Apprentice Programs” will alleviate issues with stability, political power and consumer goods all at once. And “Expand the St. Pöltner Steelworks” gives both heaps of steel and a factory Austria has tried the 2877% inflation rate before and this branch ensures that she is not going back there.
Not the largest air branch, but enough to build up a functional air force if there is need for one
While Austria was technically allowed to have an air force, it was not prioritized. As such, you will pretty much have to start from scratch. There will be two main paths, focusing on domestic production, or focusing on establishing foreign partnership and importing your fleet. They both have their ups and downs, both requiring significant investment, one in the form of getting the funds to purchase aircraft, the other… Well, you need factories and research to build them, right? Towards the end we can improve the infrastructure around our air force with anti air, radar stations and air base construction bonuses. “Wiener Flaktürme” were a real thing, they were however built by the Germans after the Anschluss. No matter, they will likely be useful in the air war. Though an air force might not be your initial concern, this branch will be here once you need it.
Though primarily locked behind getting rid of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-En-Laye, Austria boasts a rather sizable army branch.
The army branch is the largest of the Military branches, as this is what Austria mainly focused on historically. In this branch you will find that there is one major choice to be had between Franz Böhme and Alfred Jansa, both of whom are, ironically, historical.
Jansa’s defense might come in handy in holding off the Germans, but so might Böhme’s more aggressive tactics
Alfred Jansa was from an early point worried about Germany’s plans for expansion and had a plan laid out to counter this. Naturally, the Austrian cabinet, who were equally worried about this, appointed him as a chief of army. Just as naturally, the Germans protested this, not wanting a man with a defensive focus in power. Böhme was much more favorable towards Germany, so demanding that Austria replace Jansa with him was a win-win, and historically the Austrians did comply. That doesn’t mean that you have to though…
The Navy branch is unlocked only when you actually gain control over at least one coastal state. Considering Austria’s geographical location, this might not be the most prominent branch…
As Austria doesn’t have a coastline this branch starts out locked. But in the event that you acquire a coast line, this branch is for you. This branch has some rather hefty bonuses to bring you up to speed, but you’ll have to pick. Focus on larger ships like battleships and heavy cruisers with “Rebuild the Armada”, or gear yourselves towards submarines and destroyers with “Defending the Coast”. There’s even a few somewhat historical admirals for you to recruit. We even have MIOs (Or Designers if you have yet to pick up Arms Against Tyranny) to help build Austria into a great Naval nation!
Okay that might be stretching it, but you get the point!
Conclusion
There we have it, thank you for staying a while and reading through this Dev Diary! Austria is a country with many challenges before her, but with some cunning plans and strategies, ripping up some treaties and a staunch refusal of German advances this little country can become quite the powerhouse. Just as a funny little note to end on, the work presented here was initially planned for both me and D3vil to do together. However, when we were told to do Austria-Hungary and just mildly touch up Hungary we instead decided to split the work and give you both Austria, and a full revamp of Hungary! You’ll get to see what has been improved and expanded for Hungary in a week, but first, on Wednesday, you’ll get to see some really special projects! Auf Wiedersehen! A peek of the brave units that will help protect your country
Make sure to check out the Expansion Pass Here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3152810/Hearts_of_Iron_IV_Expansion_Pass_1