Dev Diary III: Non Exieris news - The New Order - Last Days of Europe mod for Hearts of Iron IV

Hello again and thank you for reading the third dev diary for The New Order: Last Days of Europe. Progress on the mod is moving steadily along, and we currently have dedicated devs for Mexico, the Netherlands, Kaukasia, Australia, Britain, South-east Asia, and more! The goal is for every country, no matter how small, to eventually be both playable and enjoyable.

Last week we discussed England’s position in the world, and its choice between freedom or safety. In this diary, we won’t be focusing on a single country. Instead we will focus on three. Namely Iberia, Italy, and Turkey. Separately, they are secondary powers, not strong enough to challenge the ‘big three’ of America, Germany, and Japan. Together, however, they are strong enough to be a force of their own.

While all three were at least nominally allied to the Reich during the war, relations have soured and all three now sit united in their hatred of the Germans. After the war had ended, Germany rode high on its victory, and saw little reason to care for the opinions of lesser nations. Portugese colonies were seized to expand their ambitious projects in Africa, greatly angering the Caudillos Salazar and Franco, and shortly after Germany began the ambitious Atlantropa project.



The draining of the Mediterranean may not have caused so many issues if the Germans had given a proper warning before beginning their construction. They cared little for the results of the project on the Mediterranean nations, and knowing none of them could hope to fight back, the plan went forward. Shortly after its fruition, however, with the economies of the various nations immediately falling apart, the German economy spiraled out of control. The Reich’s ‘allies’ were forced to watch as the German war economy and its rampant overspending put Europe’s ailing economy out of its misery, and destroyed what little power the Empire held.

While in Germany the situation was almost anarchy, the Mediterranean powers fared little better. Suddenly bereft of trade and attached at the hip to a dying beast, Italy, Spain, and Turkey all split from the Reich. Spain cut off its diplomatic ties and, with Portugal and Spain both equally feeling betrayed and furious with Hitler’s monstrosity, joined in union, to better stand against Germany. Mussolini did similar, and opened his borders to the many refugees and dissidents escaping the Reich.

As the Reich began to recover from its spiral out of control, Iberia, Italy and Turkey realized that separately they had little hope of standing against the Germans, but together, they could establish themselves as a force to be reckoned with. It wasn’t long until the Triumvirate, an alliance and trading pact between the three, was formed and designed to prevent Germany from truly dominating European affairs.



This was many years ago, however, and history has not been kind to the Triumvirate. Tensions have been rising steadily within the alliance, as Germany has consistently been forced to look inward and fight to keep its empire from shattering, its threat has diminished, and the reasons for the alliance faded. Border conflicts in Algeria and Cyprus keep the three members in a constant state of disagreement, and as the Iberian miracle brings its economy upward, Italy and Turkey have fallen further and further behind. Beyond that, the three countries are embroiled in their own unique political mess, whether the bastardized mix of national socialism and Kemalism in Turkey, Italy’s slow drift to leftism splitting its conservative establishment, or Iberia’s constant series of ethnic tensions and royal politicking, the Triumvirate seems to have little room left in this world.

The nations, however, have begun what may be the last round of negotiations for this alliance. The Fifth Malta Conference will soon take place, with hopes of saving the Triumvirate from complete dissolution. But first, I’ll let Raptor_Jesus, Beelzebub, and VirtualHummingbird tell you a bit more about Iberia, Italy, and Turkey respectively.

Iberia:



The Dream of a Unified Iberia had danced in the dreams of many rulers in the peninsula, however reality always finds ways to disappoint. There was no fanfare, no parades, no grand festivals, Iberia was born in midnight meetings and rushed panicked diplomatic sessions. Germany had invaded portuguese land, with their ally under attack Caudillo Franco believed Germany was beginning its plans to truly dominate Europe. Soon After Germany had finished it’s march through Angola and Mozambique the Union was announced, while Germany considered the lands in Africa annexed the Iberians never signed a treaty, and it tore a massive hole in German-Iberian relations.

However the True nail in the coffin of Teutonic Supremacy was the Dam at Gibraltar, a massive project, Franco had been promised a way to bring his colonies further into line and gain more land than he could ever Imagined. Caudillo Salazar was skeptical towards the entire project, and Soon the Two Caudillos realized their words fell on deaf ears, as the Dam was being built the Caudillos Demanded that they be able to Militarize the Dam with the Army and the Gibraltar Guardia Civil. However no split control was needed, as when the German economy died the dam was completed and abandoned as a failure. Iberian forces moved in quickly to asses the dam, and found it ready to give way on many points, panic set in anew as the Army, Navy, and Airforce, along with as many laborers as could be mustered rushed to the great Dam to keep the thing from giving way, and killing an untold millions across the entire Mediterranean.

In the wake of this, brought about the rabidly anti-German faction that clings on today, the Triumvirate, used to bolster pan-Mediterranean trade and economic cooperation as well as protect from the Teutonic menace. However in recent years, the late fifties a new force has taken power away from the falangist and autocratic old guard. That being the technocrats of Opus Dei, while still falling in line with social conservatism and managing to woo the Caudillos they had ushered in an Era of economic reforms and the end to programs centered on Autarky to make the most of the Iberian Position of trade in both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, with these forces Iberia had entered an economic boom while the majority of Europe is dealing with a crisis, taking advantage of immigration into Iberia and cheap labor, state and mixed industry has taken advantage and brought forth the Iberian industrialization and full reconstruction from the destruction and chaos of the last 20 years.

Iberia is now dealing with two Caudillos on nearing the end of their lives, and with every day the debate over the Iberian Monarchy grows tenser. These tensions are only worsened by increased unrest from the Minority regions of Iberia, mainly Catalonia and the Basque country. With the next Triumvirate conference in Malta set, these tension in Iberia and in the entire faction have come to head, Iberia has been footing the bill for the Dam since the Germans evacuated it, and their ‘allies’ haven’t been able to provide what Iberia sees as equal economic contributions. An Iberian Exit from the Triumvirate has long been proposed, and the lands in North Africa would be awfully vulnerable should Italy find itself at blows with the Turks.

Italy:

Hello, I’m Beelzebub, and I’ll be talking about their situation in The New World Order

Italy rose to power as one of the victors of the Second World War, but its great empire crumbled as soon as it began. With Germany’s Atlantropa project wreaking havoc upon Italy’s economy, and the German economic crash only worsening things, Italy’s spot in the sun had ended long ago. Now with the Triumvirate on its side, it seems as though recovery is slowly beginning, but the problems still remain. With Ciano being more lenient towards the press with regards to censorship policies, the opposition has been more openly coalescing against his regime. Without a change, it seems as though pure Italian fascism will be at an end and may require reformation. Only time will tell, however...

Italy has possibly been hit the hardest by the Atlantropa Project, with its largest trading port Venice ending up completely blockaded bar access through a small river. The project ended up having being of no use to Italy, with them now possessing a desert as big as the northern half of Italy. The economic depression quickly enveloped Italy in an endless cycle of debt, which peaked with the complete crash of the German economy. With Germany causing all economic and political trouble for Italy, they had no choice but to leave the German alliance. However, now that the Triumvirate has been established, the situation seems to have been steadily improving, but a complete recovery is still a long ways away…

Another factor which has slowed the Italian decline has been Italy’s newest leader, Duce Galeazzo Ciano. He was foreign minister of Italy and Mussolini’s son in-law from 1936-1943 in our timeline, but was put to death once the war began to head south for the Axis. However in this timeline, the Axis had remained strong through the entirety of the war and Ciano has managed to remain alive. The new Duce of Italy has managed to found the Triumvirate which has resulted in Italy’s slow rise from economic depression. Despite his great feats, his loyalty towards fascism since his father in law’s death has been on the decline. Italy has become less and less extreme in its policies, and it seems as though Italy’s days as a fascist regime are numbered.

With the annual Malta Conference coming up within a couple months and rumours of Iberia and Turkey possibly demanding land from Italy, it is time for Ciano’s specialty as a foreign minister to come into play again, but whether or not he can succeed will be decided by fate and his best judgement to decide how to deal with the Turks. Although the Turks are the ones suspected to be behind the rumours, there are also rumours afloat that Iberia is not satisfied with the current border situation either. If we want to Triumvirate to stay together, it might require an immense sacrifice in order to ensure our survival in the long run. However, if things at the Conference don’t go as planned, this could lead to the annihilation of our already fragile trade and political system, which could add a whole new load of problems to our list.

Turkey:

Hi guys, I’m VirtualHummingbird and today I’m here to discuss Turkey and its position in The New Order.

When the British were kicked out of Africa by the Germans, İsmet İnönü and the rest of the Turkish government had realized that the defeat/surrender of Britain was imminent and had made the choice to fully commit to the Axis, joining the pact. During this time, Germany began influencing Turkish politics by introducing national socialism ideas into the country. Turkey was extremely receptive to these advances and, as a result, this lead to the coup of the old guard CHP (Republican People’s Party) and high ranking government officials (such as İnönü, Celâl Bayar, Fevzi Çakmak) were all ousted by far right politicians, with Alparslan Türkeş, a colonel in the Turkish Land Forces, as their leader. He is the primary advocate of this national socialist-Kemalist ideology.

In a nutshell, the new Kemalist ideology places an emphasis on the inherent superiority of the Turkish people, continual westernization, the advancement of the industrial and agrarian sectors of the economy, the usage of the military to defend the Turkish state, secularism, expansionism only when necessary, and the state possessing the ability to nationalize any industries it sees fit to.



As mentioned before, Turkish-German relations are extremely poor due to the damming of the Mediterranean and, in addition, the Dardanelles. Because of this, alongside high military expenditure, the Turkish economy is in an extremely dire situation, with high unemployment rates alongside dissatisfaction from the people.

On top of all this, however, tensions between Turkey and Italy are very high due to Italy owning Cyprus, Rhodes, Lebanon, and a portion of Syria, all of which Turkey considers to be rightful Turkish land.

The Fifth Malta Conference:



The Conference was initially supposed to resolve the various border disputes and discuss the renegotiation of trade deals between the three nations, but sabre rattling between the three quickly began to dominate affairs. Iberia, with the best hand in the negotiations with its surprisingly successful economy, at least in comparison with its ‘allies’, began the negotiations with demands for further funding from the Triumvirate, despite their position, as well as a ‘satisfactory solution to the Algerian problem’, notably, one in which they left with the lion’s share of the region.

While Italy attempted to negotiate, they had further issues brewing around the bitterly contested issue of Cyprus…

The events for the conference have a variety of different endings depending on how they play out, but few of them have good outcomes for the Triumvirate, as Italy, seemingly the only nation with any interest in its continued survival, is forced to constantly put out fires in an attempt to save the institution. Perhaps they would have had a chance, but some things are just not meant to be.

The Triumvirate’s Future:

With a satisfactory outcome almost impossible and the attack on the proceedings shattering what remains of the member nations goodwill, keeping the Triumvirate together is now a Herculean task. With Iberia happy in its splendid isolation, and Turkey seeing Italy more as an enemy than an ally, only Italy seems to want to at least try to prevent the alliance from collapse.

This leaves the Italy player with some interesting choices. They may abandon the alliance and focus inwards, working to improve Italy instead as it now finds itself truly alone, attempt to keep the alliance together, no matter the costs, or risk letting it fall apart, with the hopes of reforming it again later, hoping to make a stronger alliance as well as a stronger Italy.

We will go into more depth with Italy’s choices later however, for now, let’s show you what the results of a few games can be:



In this screenshot, Italy was invaded by a militaristic Reich led by Göring due to their slide left. With Italy destroyed, Turkey and Iberia swept up the pieces of Italy's former colonies.



In this screenshot, Italy allied with Himmler's SS-Stadt Burgund, an unlikely and uneasy alliance, but one that proved fruitful as they managed to break the Reich without nuclear destruction and humble Iberia.

Culture:

And as always, Iberia, Italy, and Turkey have a multitude of cultural events to further expand on their lore and make them feel a bit more distinct.

Conclusion:

I hope you enjoyed the third dev diary for The New Order. As always, leave us any comments or criticisms below, and let us know how we’re doing! We are still looking for new team members, and are still willing to teach those taking their first steps into modding.

Come in next time for a place quite a bit darker than the sunny Mediterranean. Next time, me and Indyclone77 are visiting Reichskommissariat Kaukasus.

Find us at our Discord here, our Reddit here, on Moddb, or on the Paradox forums.