This is a modification for Pride of Nations, for players starting the 1850 grand campaign as Austria. The mod investigates the possibility and what-if scenario of an Austrian Empire actually prevailing in its struggle against Prussia, effectively being the one that unifies Germany under its banner. It should mainly use facilities and methods used in the Prussian campaign. It is essentially a unification campaign with Austria as the protagonist!
Historical Background
After the revolutions of 1848 there was a huge nationalistic excitement in Germany. Many citizens of the dozens of small German states dreamed of a unified Germany under a single ruler. The obvious pretenders for this project were: Prussia and Austria, the preeminent German states of the era. The German War of 1866 decided that Prussia would have that honor. Scholars have asked for some time, what would have happened if Austria won that war? Would the German Confederation continue under the Austria banner? Would it evolve in a German Empire under Austria's authority?
Possible End Goals by 1870
I will work so that Austria reaches one of these four results:
- Germany is united under Austria, Prussia is excluded (mirror image of the vanilla game, where Prussia unites Germany)
- Germany is united under Austria, Prussia is included, abandoning its non-German provinces (strict Großdeutsche Lösung)
- Germany is united under Austria, Prussia is included, retaining its non-German provinces (Großösterreichische Lösung)
- Germany abandons in non Germanic lands for an ethnic-pure Germany, Prussia is excluded (Austria will have less problems in the East and accept the challenge to reunite its holdings)
Tools Used
This mod will be authored using tools and events already available in the game with minimal customization. I will try to adapt the Unification cards for Austria and author events and conditions that will lead to one of the potential results.
AI Awareness
This mod will be playable only by human players. If all goes well, I might try to teach the AI care about unifying Germany under Austria. The events will be available for the AI as well, but unless Athena gets some instructions, it might not seek to unify Germany as Austria.
Versioning
I will use three versions: v0.x will be initial code (script) snippets for individual events and discussion. v1.x will come some time before Christmas and it will be a complete Zip file to decompress onto the game folders and start a new campaign. This will include all necessary events and facilities needed to unify Germany under Austria to the loss of Prussia. It will cover 1850 to 1870, mainly. If everything works, a v2.x might come in the future with additional improvements including the aforementioned AI awareness and events for the adapted Kaiserreich under Austria, up to WW1.
Balancing
Given that a German Empire which includes both Prussia and Austria as a unified entity is a terrifying prospect for the world order, I will do my best to adapt the game for balance. This will include updated structure and force pools, as well as potential rebellion effects for the huge empire, especially if it achieves the maximum potential size.
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More to come soon! Will update here. Onward!
Current Status
v1 Initial Release