The unpopular, basket-case governments of France’s Third Republic will struggle to accumulate enough capital to make decisive choices before it’s too late. The Nazi government, with consolidated one-party rule and genius propagandists and demagogues in every direction, accumulates capital very quickly in the early part of the game.

It accrues quickly or slowly depending on a variety of factors. You always have to think hard about what your short term goals are, also about what you’re saving your capital for in the next few years. It pays for every kind of decision, from striking diplomatic bargains to promoting generals to setting national policies. Political capital is probably the most important currency in Hearts of Iron 4, at least before the war.

You have a great deal of power to change the course of history, but it’s not unlimited due to these historical realities. The United States is mired in a Depression while a rising Japan threatens its Pacific empire.

The Soviet Union is crippled by Stalinism, but has tremendous latent power and imperial designs of its own. Britain and France don’t want to fight another war and their political establishments are divided. The historical problems are immediately recognizable for anyone with a passing interest in World War 2.

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