Hola a todos! Jonathan here to bring you a brand new Hearts of Iron 4 Dev Diary for the upcoming DLC Trial of Allegiance! I will be introducing you all to Chile, a country mostly known as South America’s Prussia. And as such, it’s time for a country almost no one knows about (nor is probably all too invested in), it’s time for Chile!
And breaking from how we have done it ever since No Step Back, this Dev Diary will tell you about all of the Chilean content, as was done in the Argentinian Dev Diary.
As usual, please do keep in mind that everything you’re about to see is still WIP so things might change before release and you will see some placeholder art and WIP values. The team thanks for your understanding!
Now then, on to the actual stuff!
So seeing as most if not practically all people know little-to nothing about Chile, I will start with some historical context, to get everyone on track, and catch you up (hopefully also slightly increasing interest in the country). I didn't know anything about the country prior to being assigned to work on it either, so you can imagine my surprise when I got to know what to work on, but after reading about it, despite having had no interest in the continent whatsoever, I can actually say that I now find it a whole lot more fascinating than I ever did before! The few things that are more widely known are Salvador Allende's socialist rule during the Cold War, and General Augusto Pinochet’s CIA-sponsored coup d‘etat in 1973. But those are much later, so let’s turn back the clock a bit.
In the beginning there was nothing, but somewhere around 3000 BC the first people seem to have moved in. Jumping forward, by the 16th century, Spanish conquistadors began to colonize the region of present-day Chile, and the territory was a colony between 1540 and 1818, when it gained independence from Spain. In Chilean history, the earliest period of the nation is referred to as the Patria Vieja, and the Patria Nueva (the old and new fatherland respectively), where Bernardo O'Higgins led the country to victory against the Spanish Empire during the Latin American wars of independence. From 1826 to 1932, Chile underwent many government changes and the people got quite used to coup d’etats and political instability. The Great Depression that began in 1929 was felt strongly in Chile starting from 1930, and was felt all the way into our current game-time. Chile was the country struck the hardest by the USA closing down their borders, as a vast majority of the Chilean economy revolved around exports of Nitrate and Copper to the United States. This all led to the coup that established the Chilean Socialist Republic briefly in 1932, and which led to a former president, Arturo Alessandri, being recalled to counter-coup the coup makers. Once the Republic of Chile was back on track, he began working to restore the country, and that is where we find ourselves at the start of the game.
Chile also took part in a few wars during this period, even winning conflicts in which they were outmatched. Examples of wars they took part in are the War of the Pacific against Peru and Bolivia from 1879 to 1884, and the Occupation of Araucanía against the Mapuche and the Kingdom of Araucanía and Patagonia that took place from 1861 to 1883. It’s all very interesting, have a read up on it sometime!
TLDR for the last two paragraphs: Chile is and was very unstable, but also pretty tough…
That’s that for historical context however, sorry for geeking out… Now it’s time for the actual things you all came for, the in-game content, as I’m sure you didn’t all come here for a history lesson!
Arturo Alessandri is a very important figure in Chilean history, and now, as is tradition with almost all countries that get unique content, he starts with a trait. Be aware however, that despite staying democratic, he will not be around forever, as the elections roll around and new presidents need to be elected!
By 1936, Chile has grown quite a bit since independence, having conquered the south from the Mapuche, as well as Antofagasta, Arica and Tacna from Bolivia and Peru, though having sold Tacna back to Peru in the treaty of Lima (1929) to secure more funds to recover from the economic troubles.
And here you can observe the fact that Chile just doesn’t really function at game start…
And then the other two spirits are the “Legacy of the Naval Arms Race” and the “Monroe Doctrine”, both of which have been discussed in the previous two Dev Diaries.
As you can also see, the Chilean order of battle has been adjusted to better represent the army at the start of the game.
Chile also has quite a few new cool 3d models!
Chile also has quite a few new generals coming with the DLC, so here you can see some of the ones you start with (keep in mind that their art isn’t fully in yet):
Chile also starts with a vast plethora of political advisors now, and though it may be many, are invisible from the start, or will go invisible once you start going down paths where the respective characters will no longer be available! So here are the ones visible from the start.
And here are the various Industrial Concerns the nations starts with:
But now finally, on to the thing you have all been waiting for, the glorious Chilean focus tree!
As you can see, the focus tree is divided into the classic political, industrial and military branches respectively.
The industrial tree is mainly divided into three parts, the public works, the mineral extraction, and the “post-peso devaluation” part.
The rightmost part gives bonuses to construction and infrastructure.
While the leftmost part gives bonuses to resource extraction and trade.
Then, when you want to move down to the stronger focuses below, you need to devalue the peso, in order for the economy to be on track so that you can properly undertake these big projects. Note that these stronger focuses require the devaluation of the peso to have run its time before they can be taken.
As you all might have, or might not have, seen in the Historical Brazil Dev Diary, the countries of the pack share the general layout and effects of this military branch, but as stated previously, they all have their own unique quirks and bonuses, as can be seen here.
Now then, on to the political, historical, democratic branch of the Chilean focus tree.
To start of with, in the early stages of the game, Chile has to try and deal with the upcoming attempted coup d'etat by the fascist party “Movimiento Nacional-Socialista”, or as they were more colloquially known as, the Nacistas.
There are various ways to deal with them, such as suppressing them, for the most part ignoring them, perhaps to your own detriment, or attempting to use them, unfortunately however subsequently increasing their power when the fated coup d’etat occurs.
As some of you eagle-eyed readers might have noticed, the first democratic focuses have to do with Arturo Alessandri being the president, and after that comes the 1938 Presidential Election focus. That is because, while you are locked out of the late-game focuses of the democratic tree until the election has happened and you have chosen a direction to take your country, but until then, you have Arturo Alessandri’s own policies to enact.
And as the founder of the Banco Central de Chile, a democratic Chile led by Arturo Alessandri can focus on upgrading this industrial concern, gaining hefty advantages to economy management.
And when the presidential election at the end of 1938 rolls around, it is time to say goodbye to Alessandri, and welcome a new president, where you need to decide, a left-wing president, or a right-wing one?
And throughout the game, the 1942 and 1946 elections will also occur, prompting you to select a new (or sometimes keep an old) country leader. These ones however will not lock you out of parts of the focus tree, at least in a sense…
You see, there are focuses in the democratic tree that can only be taken while having a left and right-leaning president respectively. As seen previously, you can change your president at certain intervals, allowing you to, in theory, go for practically all focuses, seeing as Chile during this time went from being ruled by the Liberals, then Social-Democrats, then the same, and the Conservatives who placed bans on all form of communism, and then back and forth, on and on.
There are of course also those within the military who dislike the political changes going through the country. For example, general Ariosto Herrera could try something.
There are also multiple important choices to take throughout the mid-to-late game for a democratic Chile, such as how to deal with the democratic processes, and in what way to prioritize the industry. This part is important for one of the alternative history branches, so remember this.
And finally, as historically happened, you can go to war with the fascists by declaring war on Japan, or perhaps someone else if the world has taken a different turn.
There are also a few other big things that happened to Chile throughout this time, such as the great 1939 Chillán earthquake:
And the sinking of the SS Tolten.
And if you want to, you can do things that didn’t really happen until quite a bit after the war.
And here are some of the potential country leaders you can get:
Chile also has their own operative, the actress Rosita Serrano, of course provided you own La Resistance!
Now then, remember the focus: Increase Presidential Powers? Well, if you have a communist president in charge when you take the focus, your country will become communist. This begins the Communist sub-branch, as can be seen on the left-hand side of the democratic tree.
Here you will be able to either align yourself with the Russians and take the aggressive approach, eventually attempting to achieve Hispanic Unity.
Or go it your own, and attempt to expand your influence through diplomacy and the support of communist revolutions in Latin American countries.
And now we continue away from the democratic branches, and ponder for ourselves, what if the Nacistsas had actually succeeded with their coup d’etat? Well, that’s what we will figure out in the fascist branch, starting off with you securing support for the coup, minimizing your loss of stability and war support once it commences, until you can finally take full control of the country.
Once securing your rule, you will have to shape the country to be better fit for your future ambitions.
After that comes an important choice for the party. Pick a side in the global conflict, siding with the Germans, or choosing to stay out of global affairs, though not counting out the possibilities for your own expansion and faction.
Both versions will have access to the small “Revision of our Borders” sub-branch, allowing for attempted territorial expansion gated by army size.
Both branches have their own focuses that they can do.
And in the end you will have two different choices of formable nations, choosing to either restore the old kingdoms borders, or going even further and uniting Hispanic America.
And finally, we move on to the alt-history branches that may indeed have the chance to bring every hoi fans’ beloved monarchy, and perhaps also something different.
These two branches start off by looking back to tradition to solve the issues the country is facing, and having the ex-president and general Carlos Ibáñez del Campo perform a coup d’etat to take matters into his own hands.
First, we will take a look at the leftmost branch, that being staying with general Ibáñez, and accidentally finding yourself in a civil war with a combined force of the fascists and communist on the opposing side.
During this civil war, the outnumbered president Ibáñez will be approached by a mysterious Frenchman who promises aid in exchange for the Chilean crown. His name is Jaques Antoine Bernard, and will be crowned the new king of the Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia.
After having established your new french kingdom at the bottom of the americas, it is time to not only reclaim your namesake, that being Patagonia, but also going even further, becoming the Napoleon Bonaapate of South America.
And now for the final branch, we move onto a group that has lived in Chile long before the first conquistadors arrived. It’s time for the Mapuche and Anti-Imperialist Crusade branch.
The branch starts up with you molding the rising Mapuche-nationalist movement to fit your future goals, and finally rising up against the current Chilean government.
Once the war against Chile is over and you have secured the state, it is time to first reclaim the old Mapuche territory of Puelmapu, and then move on to liberate the Amerindian peoples from imperialist oppression.
And there is a lot of work to be done once the crusade has started.
In the end, America can be free from modern states, and the governments of the region can be reorganized to the desire of the leaders of the new Mapcuhe state.
Also for the end, here are some other advisors and leaders you might have interest in, such as the Mapuche advisors:
And Antoine III of the Kingdom of Araucanía and Patagonia.
And one of the possible fascist leaders, the starting leader for the ideology.
And that’s been all from me this time. Tune in next week for a look at a bag of treats that will hopefully satiate all the hungry mouths out there!
¡Adiós!
Make sure to check out Trial of Allegiance here
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2695150/Hearts_of_Iron_IV_Trial_of_Allegiance/