Greifenmarschen



The Peasant Republic of Greifenmarschen is a democracy in the south Herzland. Born out of a revolt long ago, it has for centuries maintained its form of direct voting as a way of ensuring no despotic ruler rose ever again. However, the winds of change are once again blowing throughout the land, and soon enough a stronger guiding claw may be needed to steer this nation through its dark times...

Lore
Greifenmarschen is unique throughout the world in that it is the only true Peasant Republic in it. Its form of direct democracy was created when Erebus Blacktalon, the infamous duke was overthrown by the local peasants. Because he had always been a thorn in the side of Emperor Grover I of the Griffonian Empire, he allowed them to govern themselves in exchange for them swearing their eternal loyalty to him. The commoners accepted, creating the republic. In order to ensure that the past did not repeat itself, a complex system of voting was created, in which referendums were held on most matters of state and a council led by a Statthalter which was re-elected every 3 months. This has protected the rights of the citizens in Greifenmarschen, but has made the country extremely slow to any reforms or changes.

When the Revolution of 978 began, the peasants were saved by their own citizen militia, the Bauernmiliz. It suffered the same drawbacks that the government did; though there were plenty of recruits ready for the cause, plans and officers were voted on, with no discipline and reforms. However, it has kept the country safe to this very day. Ever since those fateful years, radical ideologies like Fascism and Communism led by Dietrich Mach and Wingbert Rohmer have sprung up and gained popularity, and Archibald Dawnfeather's return from Equestria has seen an increase in popularity for Harmony. Greifenmarschen's form of government ensures the country's stability, though, even with such a split of popularity. No one opposes the form of democracy currently in place, though some wish for changes to the system.

Those changes may be coming sooner to Greifenmarschen then the peasants think...

Starting Situation
Greifenmarschen starts as a poor and relatively un-industrialized nation, with only three civilian and two military factories. It is a nominal vassal to the Empire, though it will always break free once a regent is chosen for Grover VI. To the northeast is fellow vassals Grand Duchy of Feathisia,  Free City of Romau and  Yale Rectorate, and to the southwest is  Free Territory of Adelart and  House Avian.

All political parts start at roughly equal popularity.

Military
Greifenmarschen starts with 6 divisions of Bauerngarde, each with 5 battalions of infantry. This adds up to a total of 30k ponypower in the field.

Threats and Opportunities

 * Griffonian Empire: As a Herzland nation, Greifenmarschen will be a target of annexation or conquest from the Empire, and progression in Greifenmarschen's story requires taking over the Empire and reuniting the Herzland.
 * The Empire is the strongest nation in the Herzland region. To defeat the Empire, Greifenmarschen must fight the Empire as soon as possible (before the Empire rearms), and fight alongside other countries against the Empire.
 * Griffenheim is the key province in Herzland, and must be acquired at all costs. Earn as many war score as possible in the war with the Empire so that Greifenmarschen can take Griffenheim. Taking over Griffenheim and declaring the successor to the Empire grants many industrial, manpower, and political bonuses, and unlocks focuses that grant war goals on other countries, allowing Greifenmarschen to conquer the rest of the Herzland at its own pace.
 * Katerin Principality: Greifenmarschen can ally with Communist Katerin to defend against the Empire.

Greifenmarsian Elections
In the early game of Greifenmarschen, before their political tree is unlocked, an election event will fire every three months to elect a new Statthalter. Any of the four party leaders can be elected to power: Archibald Dawnfeather of the Harmonists, Dietrich Mach of the Fascists, Wingbert Rohmer of the Communists and Erebus Whiteplume of the Non-Aligned. Doing so changes the ruling party to the elected party, and also gives a small boost to their party popularity.

The popularity of the ruling party in Greifenmarschen serves as a prerequisite to unlock parts in the focus tree (see below). Once Greifenmarschen becomes independent, decisions to boost the popularity of any of the four parties are unlocked, allowing the player to gain passive party popularity gain at the cost of either War Support or Stability.

Once the ruling party reaches more than 49% popularity, a decision to implement a change in regime in favor of the ruling party is unlocked. Doing so unlocks an event where the ruling party cements its rule over Greifenmarschen, and unlocks the political tree of that party. The party boost decisions will be made unavailable and the election events will no longer fire.

National Focus
Greifenmarschen has the unique mechanic of its focus tree in that focuses are locked behind ruling party popularity. For example, the first focus of the air force tree requires 25% popularity, the army 30%, and the economy 35%. Keep this in mind as if your popularity ever drops below the requirement, the focus will be canceled.

Another strange feature is the lack of a political focus tree. This is because in order to gain one, a single party must have more then 49% popularity. A decision will then be unlocked which will disable the three-month elections and load their respective focuses. Ways to gain include re-electing the respective leader over and over, as well as taking the decision to boost them once it becomes unlocked. However, it will replace "The Peasant Republic" with "A New Regime", giving negative debuffs until you can get rid of it.

The Military
The military focuses are locked behind either popularity or controlling a coastal state. However, they are less restrictive then the requirement for the economy, meaning that they are good early focuses. Some political paths will also require you to complete one side of the Army focus tree to progress down them.

The Army
The army has two mutually exclusive paths; one for Mass Assault type doctrine and one for Grand Battleplan. They both require 30% popularity, though the last three focuses for each side require 35%.

The Perfect as Is path gives free divisions, equipment and army experience, ending with reforming the army into The Volksstrum. It reduces the maluses of your starting national spirit "The Bauernmiliz", while increasing the buffs it bestows.

The Strictly Professional path gives a conscription law increase and military factories, ending with turning "The Bauernmilz" into The Volksarmee. It completely removes some buffs from the spirit, but also completely removes all maluses and turns them into different buffs.

The shared central path gives bonuses to research and is not locked behind party popularity.

The Air Force/Navy
The Air Force tree consistently requires 25% popularity for it, making it the tree to go down if your party still has low support. It grants free techs for the early plane models, as well as airbases and jet research bonuses at the end. Napalm grants a national spirit that gives bonuses to bombing.

The Naval tree is only unlocked once you control a coastal state, and has no popularity requirements. It gives dockyards and research bonuses to various ship classes and marines.

The Economy
The first economic focus requires 35% ruling party popularity. There are two options for how to revitalize the economy and remove the maluses from "Ruralism"; Stick to the Classics and Industrialization. The shared focus between the two, Begin the War Against Illiteracy will eventually get rid of the national spirit "Mass Illiteracy". Some political focus trees will require you to complete one path of the economy tree in order to progress.

Agrarianism gives slow but good production, focusing more on developing farmland then factories. It grants bonuses to resource gain, consumer goods and production efficiency. It also has mostly positive events associated with it that can help boost your current party's popularity.

Dawnfeather's Harmony
After the popularity of the GVHP skyrocketed, Archibald Dawnfeather, leader of the party peacefully protested by blocking the entrance to the temple with his fellow party members. After an intense fight, all the other leaders of the parties were arrested, and Dawnfeather assumed control of the country.

There are two paths to go down; a moderate approach to harmony, blending griffon and Equestrian characteristics, or going full on Equestrian and restyling it in their likeness. Going down the far left or far right branches requires you to have completed The Volksstrum or The Volksarmee from the military tree. The branch shared between the two paths gives civilian and military factories, and the last focus, Harmony Must be Fought For gives a war goal on the Griffonian Empire.

The Equestrian Model
Dawnfeather announces that, seeing that Equestria is the greatest country in the world, yet also has a monarchy, it is clear that democracy is not needed for prosperity and dissolves the council and the peasant's republic for good, creating the Principality of Greifenheim.

Dawnfeather's School for Gifted Griffons will grant increased research speed, An Army for the People will further improve whichever army national spirit you have, and Harmonic Parliamentarism will increase your society development. The Griffon Wonderbolts will also increase your special forces capacity. Most of the focuses work towards getting rid of the negative national spirit, "A New Regime".

After conquering the Empire, forming the Herzland Principality and crowning yourself Prince of the Herzland after Princess Celestia, you will load the lower half of the political focus tree. The first section gives you war goals on all the remaining vassals in the Herzland, and The Principality of Herzland will give you cores on their territory.

After, Dawnfeather will work to cultivate the six tenets of Equestrian society into the Herzland, sending letters to Princess Twilight as her "faithful student" in the events for the focuses Loyalty, Honesty, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter and Magic.

Notable focuses on this path include The Pony Foreign Legion which unlocks Mage Companies for usage, Pony Innovations for a research slot, and Invite Pony Settlers for another building slot in all states. Many focuses either modify national spirits you already have or give positive new ones.The final focus, Guardians of Harmony unlocks decisions to ally with other harmonist nations. It also unlocks decisions to release other griffon nations as puppets.

The Griffon Path to Harmony
Dawnfeather, seeing that the differences between ponies and griffons are too great to directly copy Equestria's ideas, chooses instead to blend the two together, creating a unique form of Griffonian Harmony for Greifenmarschen.

Guardians of the Faithful will modify whichever army national spirit you have, Paladins will spawn in two free griffon knight divisions, and The Blessing of Eyr will give a free building slot in all states.

Once the Empire is defeated and you form the Herzland Republic, the second half of the focus tree will be revealed. The following four focuses give war goals on various nations in the Herzland, and A Holy Republic gives cores on all their territory.

Interesting focuses below are The Invisible Claw of the Free Market, which permanently forces you to use the Free Market, Godly Education for the research slot, and The Paladins of Herzland for a bonus to knight combat. Finally, Make Amends with the Republicans unlocks diplomacy decisions that allow you to ally other harmonic nations.

Erebus's Greifenmarschen
Erebus Whiteplume, with the full support of the GKVP, peacefully convinces the other council members to give up their seats and power for the good of Greifenmarschen. With the endless gridlocked debates now over, true reform to the Peasant Republic can begin.

But now the old Statthalter has a choice to make; either to reform the democratic system for the safety of the country... or to take power himself.

Note that the far left path for each branch requires you to have completed either The Volksarmee or The Volkssturm from the army tree, while the far right path for both sides requires either A Green Society or An Industrial Nation from the economic tree.

A Guiding Claw
Realizing that the republic is flawed and almost destroyed itself with its outdated code and laws, Erebus embarks on a series of wide reforms to ensure the democracy stays in the republic, though rationalized and more efficient. The country becomes a benevolent dictatorship, with the GKVP in charge of the state at all times.

Miltary Standardization will improve your army national spirit, State Industrial Programs will increase your society development level, and the various articles from the central focuses will help remove "A New Regime".

Once Griffenheim is taken and the Empire is reformed, the rest of the focus tree is unlocked. After gaining conquering and gaining cores on all of the Herzland through The First All Herzland Congress, Erebus will retire and you will have three parties to choose from:


 * HVKP, led by Werner Ebonplume and the conservatives, who seek to build a united centralized republic.
 * HSLP, led by Fiona Schmitz and the liberals, who seek to build a liberalized federal republic.
 * HPdR, led by Anton Moldernik and the nationalists, who seek to build a regionalist confederation of states.

The New Duke
After becoming leader of Greifenmarschen, Erebus rapidly becomes disillusioned with politics. He then suffers a fall, which causes him to act erratically, to the point where his colleagues can hardly claim to know him. In his delusion, Erebus seeks to use his newfound power to restore the Duchy of Greifenheim that had been destroyed by the republic 200 years prior. Erebus, now styling himself Duke Erebus II, will begin a campaign to secure his rule by force, dismantling all of the opposing factions and creating a state apparatus that ensures that nothing will threaten his absolute authority.

Recreate the Herzoliche Garde will improve your army national spirit, and Legacy of Erebus I will improve Erebus II's leader trait and give some base war support, stability, and political power. Modernization Effort will increase your society development level and provide two factories, one of each type, while Prepare the Economy will increase the militarization of your economy by one level and add two military factories.

After you take Griffenheim and take the decision to succeed the Empire, the remainder of the political focus tree will unlock. The tree is primarily geared towards reclaiming the entirety of the Griifonian Empire at its peak, with only two relatively minor choices to be made within the tree itself regarding the nobility and the Archons.

Dietrich's Putsch
Dietrich Mach, leader of the NAP and its paramilitary wing The Bohngarde, realizes that the flawed democratic system of Greifenmarschen will prevent them from responding to the ongoing crisis in Herzland. Thus, he uses the Bohngarde to encircle the council chambers and force all of the representatives inside to swear loyalty to him.

Now in control of the state, Dietrich prepares to strike against what remains of the Empire, especially the Archons who some in the NAP blame for the region's woes.

Unlike the harmonic and nonaligned trees, there is only one path initially available to Dietrich. Note that you must have either A Green Society or An Industrial Nation from the economic tree in order to progress down the rightmost path of the political focus tree.

The National Republic
Dietrich will attempt to stabilize his regime as quickly as possible in preparation for a confrontation with the Empire. To do this, he uses the Bohngarde to supplement the existing army, institutes tight press controls, militarizes the economy, and eventually attempts removes his rebellious second in command, Woitke Truthahn.

Mobilize the People will increase your conscription law by one level, Officialize the Bohngarde and Bohngarde Loyalty Officers will give you the Bohngarde national spirit which improves recruitable population factor, division recovery rate, division attack, decryption, and gives you a small amount of daily supremacy support. Mobilize the Economy will increase the militarization of your economy by one level and Implement Corporatism will change your Industrialism national spirit into the Corporatism national spirit, which reduces the percentage of required consumer goods factories and slightly improves construction speed, but slightly reduces production cap and efficiency as well as factory output.

After taking the focus Dispose of Truthahn, you will get the option to decide whether Truthahn retires peacefully or goes into hiding. If you decide that Truthahn escapes, you will then get a subsequent event that gives you the option to place Truthahn in charge. Doing this incurs a significant stability and political power cost between the two events, but it gives a different focus tree after defeating the Empire.

Who you choose to lead Greifenmarschen before defeating the Empire will determine the country's path afterwards. Staying with Dietritch will lead you to form the Herzland National Republic, whose territorial ambitions only extend to Herzland itself, but will form a faction called the Einheitspakt allowing you to ally some minor neighboring nations. However, if you chose to allow Truthahn to usurp Dietrich, you will instead take the mantle of the Griffonian Empire and get a focus tree that revolves around reconquering the historical lands of the Empire.

Rohmer’s Red Tide
With support for the KPG constantly growing, its leader, Wingbert Rohmer, sees his opportunity to transform Greifenmarschen into a true communist state. Forming a militia from the workers of Oldwingburg, he seizes all the government buildings in the city, including the council chambers. He then arrests the delegates from the other parties and declares that the country will now be ruled by a collection of worker’s councils, overseen, of course, by himself.

Like Dietrich’s path, there is only one path initially available to Rohmer. Note that you must have either A Green Society or An Industrial Nation from the economic tree in order to progress down the rightmost path of the political focus tree, and The Volkssturm or The Volksarmee from the military tree in order to go down the leftmost path.

The Revolutionary Republic
Rohmer implements his reforms in order to achieve communism Greifenmarschen, and in doing so he also prepares to liberate the rest of Herzland from the Empire once and for all.

The Greifenmarschen Red Army will improve your army national spirit, and Fresh Blood will increase your conscription law by one. Planned Economy will increase your societal development level, and It Belongs to the State will increase your science base.

Once you defeat and succeed the empire, you will become the United Griffonian Soviet Socialist Republic, or UGSSR. After you reunite Herzland, you will get the decision to continue the dictatorship or end it and replace it with a slightly more democratic system. Both choices keep Rohmer in charge. Beyond this, the focus tree revolves around spreading communism to the rest of the former Empire.

Staff and Designers
Political Advisors

Tank Designer

Ship Designer

Aircraft Designer

Materiel Designer

Industrial Concern

Theorist

Chief of Army

Chief of Navy

Chief of Airforce Military High Command