The Great Wars system is designed to raise the stakes in the later part of the game. Any war between Great Powers will cause them to seek out new allies, and bring far more countries into the mix than is normally possible-- exactly the same kind of conflagration of alliances which caused World War 1. It also adds a system where a defeated power may be dismantled by the victors, transferring control of all its colonial holdings as well as mandating the release of civilized country cores within its borders.
What it doesn't do[]
The Great Wars are not a way to simulate World War 1. Such a simulation is next to impossible, due to all the pre-existing conditions that would be necessary for World War 1 to occur, none of which might exist after 60-70 years of game time with all the divergences from history that can happen in PDM. You might get something similar to World War 1, but if so then it would be accidental. It should also be noted that not every Great War is going to be a World War-- you're not always going to have every Great Power jumping in when the system is activated, and these wars may end with nobody getting dismantled or end in stalemate just as often as before. It's simply a system that makes big wars possible.
How Great Wars begin[]
There are two ways that a Great War can begin:
Once Mass Politics has been invented by a Great Power, there's a chance of them receiving one of two events ("Assassination!" and "Outrage!") that grant them the Great War CB against a random Great Power with whom they have less than -100 relations. This will allow them to declare a Great War against that country without gaining infamy. This is the only way that the war will be called a Great War, but the system is no different than for regular wars.
Two Great Powers that are already at war for any reason, when at least one of them has Mass Politics researched, will also cause the Great Wars system to activate.
The "War is Upon Us" kicks off the Great Wars system.
As soon as the Great Wars system has begun, countries involved will receive the "War is Upon Us" event (id# 96000), which does the following:
Text: "$COUNTRY$ is at war with one of the Great Powers of the world. In a modern age where warfare has the capability of killing millions, the very future of our nation could be at stake. The call has gone out to the $COUNTRY_ADJ$ people: put aside your petty differences, your day-to-day lives and your personal ambitions. $COUNTRY$ must pull together in this, our hour of need!"
Requirements:
at war
either is a great power, is allied to a great power with the "Great War" country modifier or is at war with a great power with the "Great War" country modifier
either has researched Mass Politics, is at war with any great power with the "Great War" country modifier or has the coalition_member country flag (this is part of the Infamy Wars system)
is at war with a great power
MTTH: 1 day
Effect:
-20 War Exhaustion
-3 militancy and +5% jingoism to all pops
if a great power, a random great power with whom you are at war will receive the "Enemy of my Enemy" event (id# 96025)
adds the "Great War" country modifier (which reduces war exhaustion accrual by -3, increases mobilization by 3%, reduces militancy in core provinces by -0.2 and reduces population growth by -0.001)
In short: this event is going to fire for any great powers at war once one of them has Mass Politics, as well as for any countries who are allied to either of them, and will cause the Enemy of my Enemy system to kick in.
Any AI country which is a great power or secondary power, and which is at war with a great power who has the "Great War" country modifier, will automatically call on all its alliances. NOTE: This isn't something the Victoria 2 coding allows naturally, as allies are normally only called when the war first begins (and not afterwards). The way we get around this is by having the country declare war on no-one (which the game will default to the REB tag). Allies are called into this fake war, and as in other cases such allies also end up at war with you're other enemies. Peace is made the next day with REB, but the other war remains. To the user, this might look a little weird as you'll see "Country declares war on ." and "Country makes peace with ." notices abound. It's fine and doesn't harm anything-- it's the only way the hack works, and just looks strange.
Enemy of my Enemy[]
The Enemy of my Enemy event will create alliances even once the war has begun.
One thing Victoria 2 doesn't normally do is have countries seek out allies once a war has begun. Normally, even if they do happen to make such an alliance, that new ally doesn't get called into the war they're currently engaged in. This changes once a Great War has begun, through the use of the "'Enemy of my Enemy" event (id# 96025, which is fired from the "War is Upon Us" event you see above):
Text: "Now that we are at war, the idea has arisen that $COUNTRY$ should approach $FROMCOUNTRY$'s enemies to see if there are those who would join our side against them. This may mean an unholy alliance with those who might never fight at our side otherwise, but as the old saying goes: 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.' If we are to win the war against $FROMCOUNTRY$, we may have to take that to heart."
Effect: (FROM is the country who sent you this event, who you are in a war against)
sends out the "Shadow of War" event (id# 96030) to any country who:
exists
you're not at war with or allied with
is not in a truce with, allied with or in the sphere of FROM
is not a vassal (unless it's your own vassal)
either:
is in your sphere
is your vassal
has less than -100 relations with FROM
has any national cores owned by someone who's at war with you
is either a GP or SP and has greater than 0 relations with you, and also neighbours any country who's also at war with FROM
is also a proletarian dictatorship (and FROM is not one)
is also a fascist dictatorship (and FROM is not one)
is also a bourgeois dictatorship (and FROM is not one)
is also democratic (and FROM is either a fascist dictatorship, a proletarian dictatorship or has exceeded their infamy limit)
The "Shadow of War" event (id# 96030) will, if agreed to, create an alliance and increase relations by +200, lower relations by -100 with any country at war with the one who sent the event and grant +50 diplomatic influence if the country isn't themselves a great power (so it could put you in their sphere). The chances of the country agreeing to this event are essentially 50/50, modified by a number of factors such as national cores being owned by an enemy, war policy, relations, government type and current status. Vassals and spherelings can refuse, but are extremely unlikely to.
Note that there's no way to force these countries to actually join the war. They might agree to the alliance, then a minute later refuse to be called into the war (thus breaking the alliance they just made). They seem more likely to agree if they're a great power themselves, and always join if they's in your sphere, but it's possible the only effect of this event is to make them unfriendly with the country you're at war with and more friendly with you.
Events during a Great War[]
A country with the "Great War" country modifier has its war exhaustion gain greatly reduced, and as this is one of the main reasons why countries attempt to peace out of wars, it means that countries currently in a Great War have much more staying power than normal. If the opposing warscore gets very high, or if they start losing a large number of battles or get their core territory occupied, they're still going to gain war exhaustion and try to peace out... it simply means that allies (great powers in particular) are less likely to withdraw from the war if things aren't against them.
One side-effect of this is that you could have wars going on for a very long time, particularly if you have large great powers on either side. If they're not directly invaded, they might keep up the war for years... and potentially it could never end. Thus there are a few events that will affect a country's war exhaustion as the Great War continues. The first of these is the "Demands of War" event (id #96004):
Text: "The constant state of war $COUNTRY$ is under has taken its toll on our people. Shortages of basic goods and the failure to deliver swift victory have worn down the enthusiasm with which the $COUNTRY_ADJ$ people initially greeted the war effort. If things don't turn around soon, we could face growing weariness and unrest within our own borders."
Requirements:
at war
has the "Great War" modifier
does not have the "Demands of War" modifier
MTTH: 30 months
slower if less than 5% occupied and any great power at war with you has 5% or more occupied
faster if more than 25% occupied
faster based on high war exhaustion (greater than 20)
faster if over 25% blockaded
faster if there is a rebellion in progress
faster if the country has no army
Effect:
removes the "Great War" country modifier
adds the "Demands of War" country modifier (war exhaustion is accrued at -2.0 instead of -3.0 and population growth is reduced by -0.002)
adds 2% pacifism to all pops
Once this has fired for a country, it can progress to the "Is it all for Nothing?" event (id# 96005):
Text: "Growing demonstrations in $CAPITAL$ demonstrate the prevailing attitude of the $COUNTRY_ADJ$ people: get us out of the war, and soon. Too many have been lost, too many sacrifices made, and all for what? The people wish to go back to their regular lives, without the constant spectre of war hanging over their heads."
Requirements:
at war
has the "Demands of War" modifier
does not have the "Is it all for Nothing?" modifier
MTTH: 30 months
slower if less than 5% occupied and any great power at war with you has 5% or more occupied
faster if more than 25% occupied
faster based on high war exhaustion (greater than 20)
faster if over 25% blockaded
faster if there is a rebellion in progress
faster if the country has no army
Effect:
removes the "Demands of War" country modifier
adds the "Is it all for Nothing?" country modifier (war exhaustion is accrued at -1.0 instead of -2.0, population growth is reduced by -0.004 and militancy of all non-accepted pops increased by 0.2)
adds +5% pacifism to all pops
Finally, the "Total Collapse" event (id# 96006) can occur at any point in the war if a country has any of the Great War modifiers but is clearly doing very poorly:
Text: "The war effort is not going well, to put it lightly. Advisors are saying that $COUNTRY$ should sue for peace, do whatever it takes to end this war before something even more terrible happens. The people are on the brink of revolt. We must act!"
Requirements:
at war
either has the "Great War", "Demands of War" or "Is it all for Nothing?" country modifier
either has 75% of the country's provinces occupied (but the capital is not) or has 50% of the country's provinces occupied (including the capital)
MTTH: 1 day
Effect:
sets the total_collapse country flag (NOTE: this is the requirement for a country to be dismantled even though it has not been disarmed. So if you want to dismantle a country for certain, make sure you occupy its capital and at least half its territory and wait for a few days for this event to kick in before making peace)
removes the "Great War", "Demands of War" or "Is it all for Nothing?" country modifier
adds the "No More War" country modifier (which adds .05 war exhaustion and also prevents the majority of wargoals from being added by a country for its duration)
adds +10% pacifism for all pops
Dismantling Treaty[]
An example of the treaty event for a country that loses the Great War and must then be dismantled.
For most countries, the end of a Great War means that they will get an increase in pacifism support among their pops (+10%) as well as the "No More War" country modifier for three years (which increases war exhaustion accrual by +0.05 and also prevents the majority of wargoals from being added against a country with whom you're not at war... so you won't be able to start a war that way).
If a country is a great power, secondary power or a colonial nation and ends the war disarmed (meaning they have had either a Cut Down to Size or Great War CB enforced upon them) or had the "Total Collapse" country modifier they will then be dismantled. This is an event called "The Treaty of $CAPITAL$" (id #96010) which does a great number of things once it fires:
Text: "We have lost the war, and like vultures the victors have descended upon us. We have been forced to the bargaining table to accept humiliating terms regarding the breakup of our empire, with many of our lands simply given away, and we shall be permitted no overseas holdings whatsoever. This is a moment that shall be remembered in $COUNTRY$ for years to come."
MTTH: 10 days
Effect:
clears all flags and removes all Great Wars-related country modifiers
adds +40 war exhaustion
if infamy is not over the 25 limit, reduces infamy by 10
if infamy is over the 25 limit, reduces infamy to 24.99
prestige is reduced:
if less than 200, reduces it by 50
if between 200-400, reduces it by 100
if between 400-1000, reduces it by 200
if over 1000, reduces it by 400
+200 relations with all countries with whom you have a truce
return core provinces to any country with whom you have a truce, who exists and who is not part of your culture group
countries with cores on other continents have those cores removed
release all vassals -- any released vassal will have +50 influence added from a random great power who has a truce with their former overlord, and +50 influence/+200 relations with ALL countries who have a truce with their former overlord. Their former overlord gets -200 influence/-200 relations.
any civilized country which does not exist (and is not of the same culture) but which has cores in the country's borders will be released (Japan, Korea, Siam and North African countries are exceptions regardless of their civilization status). Any cores within those provinces are removed. Note that if the country released is large (ie. in excess of 20 provinces) then it will also release any non-existing countries within its borders and transfer cores to neighbours the same as if it was dimantled)
any country which is of the same culture has a 50% chance of being released. Their former owner gets -50 influence/-50 relations, and all countries who have a truce with their former owner get +50 influence/+50 relations.
any neighboring country who is not an ally and who does not have a truce with them (in other words, they were not part of the Great War) will get up to one state's worth of core provinces returned.
if Fascism has been enabled, all officer pops in the country will gain 40% fascism, all soldiers will gain 20% fascism and every other pop will gain 10% fascism.
the country gains the "No More War" country modifier for 10 years (which increases war exhaustion accrual by +0.05 and also prevents the majority of wargoals from being added against a country with whom you're not at war... so you won't be able to start a war that way)
the country gains the "Punitive Effects" country modifier for 5 years (increasing war exhaustion accrual by +2.0, core pop militancy by +0.1, reduces diplomatic points by 50% and prestige by -0.01)
Colonies: When the treaty event fires, a percentage of the country's overseas and colonial provinces (which are not also core provinces) will be randomly handed out to any countries it has a truce with. Only coastal provinces are handed out right away, with preference being given first to players then to AI great powers and then to AI secondary powers (with each country having the option to choose whether it wishes colonies at all; pacifist and New World countries being far less likely to agree and European countries always agreeing). Over the next year, province events will fire that slowly hand out all remaining colonial provinces (if any) to greater powers in the following order:
first any remaining coastal provinces are handed out one-by one
then any non-coastal states which are adjacent to provinces owned by a country who has a truce
once those are all gone, all other interior states are handed out randomly
Some countries have special conditions that apply to their dismantling (note that unless otherwise stated, all the regular dismantling rules apply, and that any country which is stated as "released" will automatically have influence and relations added for any truce countries and influence and relations removed for the dismantled country):
Germany[]
All dismantling for Germany also applies to Prussia, NGF and SGF
German cores are removed from provinces with Polish cores
if France has a truce with Germany, German cores are removed from Alsace-Lorraine. French cores are added to Alsace-Lorraine (if none are there currently) as well as to the Saar province.
if France has a truce with Germany, Saarland is released as a French vassal (with +200 influence for France and -200 influence for Germany).
if France has a truce with Germany and the Rheinland is owned, the Rheinland is released as a French vassal (with +200 influence for France and -200 influence for Germany).
if France has a truce with Germany and the Rheinland is not owned, Westfalen is released as a French vassal (with +200 influence for France and -200 influence for Germany)
if Russia has a truce with Germany, Russian cores are added to Konigsberg (province id# 695), Gumbinnen (province id# 697) and Memel (province id# 698)
if Poland has a truce with Germany, Polish cores are added to Elbing (province id# 693), Allenstein (province id# 696), Breslau (province id# 682), and Liegnitz (province id# 683)
if Austria has a truce with Germany and Bavaria does not exist, then the southern Bavaria region is released (with Bavarian cores added) as an Austrian vassal
if Denmark has a truce with Germany, Danish cores are re-added to Flensburg (province id# 370) and Aabenraa (province id# 371) and German cores are removed from them
30% chance to release Rhineland if Germany doesn't have a truce with France
Luxembourg and Danzig are released if owned
if both Bohemia and Slovakia are owned, then Czechoslovakia is released
if Austria is owned, Austrian cores are restored and it is released
German culture countries are never released
Russia[]
Russian cores are removed from Congress Poland and the Baltic States
if Japan has a truce, Japan recieves cores on Sakhalin (province id# 1086) and Haishenwai (province id# 1082)
Finnish core is added to Viipuri (province id# 339). If Finland or Scandinavia has a truce, Finland/Scandinavia recieves cores on Karelia (province id# 339) and Petsamo (province id# 982)
if Ukraine is a Russian vassal, it is annexed (to be released later)
if Germany has a truce with Russia, then Ukraine is released as a German vassal with +200 influence for Germany and -200 influence for Russia. Otherwise Ukraine is released as a free country.
Belarus, Tannu Tuva, Khazakstan, and MGL are released
Khiva, Bukkhara, and Kokand are released as vassals to a European GP, unless Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan have been created.
50% chance of Kamchatka being released as a vassal, 30% chance of Ural Republic being released, if Ukraine is not a vassal then 50% chance of Cossack Union being released, 10% chance of Siberia being released along with Yakutia and Kamchatka
USA[]
if Russia has a truce with USA, Russian cores are added to Alaska
Mexico gets back any non-USA cores which have been taken from it automatically
if Texas does not exist, it is released (and gets Arizona and New Mexico)
if California does not exist, it is released (and gets Oregon)
if New England does not exist, it is released
United Kingdom[]
if Spain has a truce, a Spanish core is added to Gibraltar (province id# 517)
if France has a truce, a French core is added to the Channel Islands (province id #419)
any non-existing Indian minor has a 50% chance of being released
Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are automatically released
France[]
if any Germanic culture group country has a truce, French cores are removed from Alsace-Lorraine region (and German cores added if they do not already exist). Also, cores for Prussia, Austria or Bavaria will be added (in that order of preference, and only if those countries exist and have a truce)
if Italy has a truce, Italian cores are added to the Savoy region, Nice (province id# 472) and Corsica (province id# 473). If Italy does not exist but Sardinia does, and it has a truce, Sardinian cores are added to these provinces instead
if Belgium or Flanders exist and have a truce, their cores are added to Lille (province id# 399) and Dunkirk (province id# 400)
if Spain exists and has a truce, Spanish cores are added to Foix (province id# 457), Pau (province id# 460) and Perpignan (province id# 464)
if Germany exists and has a truce, Occitania is released as a German vassal (with +200 influence/+200 relations for Germany and -200 influence/-200 relations for France)
Austria[]
All dismantling for Austria also applies to Austria-Hungary and the Danubian Federation
An example of Austrian dismantling.
any cores outside of Austria proper (ie. the modern Austria we know today) are removed
if Russia has a truce and Poland does not exist, Russian cores are added to Galicia-Lodomeria region
if Poland does not exist, it automatically receives all other owned cores
if SGF exists and is a vassal of Austria, it is automatically freed and dismantled into its former countries (ie. separated into Bavaria, Wurttenburg and Baden)
if both Bohemia and Slovakia are owned, Czechoslovakia is released
all Germanic culture group countries are always released
Japan[]
if Russia has a truce, Russian cores are added to Sakhalin (province id# 1086)
Ottoman Empire[]
All cores outside of Turkey proper are removed
Greece recieves cores on the Thrace region (province id# 828) and Izmir (province id# 869)
Cyprus, Iraq, and the Levant countries are all released to a European GP as vassals. Libya is released as well under the same conditions, but only if it is non-colonial.
50% chance of Armenia being released. 20% chance of Kurdistan being released.
Possible Issues[]
By far the most common issue is related to a bug present in Vanilla Victoria 2: the "disarmed" peace option (present in the "Cut Down to Size" and "Great War" CB's) will NOT apply if either the country enforcing it or the country being enforced upon is still at war with a third country at the time peace is made. Since the treaty event looks for disarmed status, if this bug occurs the event will only fire if the country also has the total_collapse country flag set (meaning at least half its territory and its capital was occupied).
You'll find that ANY country which currently has a truce with the dismantled country will be treated as if it won the Great War. That's because there's no way to determine who was actually involved in the war or who won/lost it. The story reason given is that all a country's enemies are "invited to the table" to determine who gets what, but in reality it's because we simply can't determine who was actually involved beyond the existence of the truce.
If a country has a lot of colonial provinces (such as the United Kingdom), you may find that the disbursement of colonial and overseas provinces gets a bit odd-looking. This is random, and while there are restrictions on the disbursement to make it less ugly, sometimes it can end up that way depending on the countries involved. We've done the best job we can to make it work.
Keep in mind that not every war which uses the Great Wars system is a literal "World War". As mentioned earlier, this is a system meant to enhance the stakes in late game wars, not turn every such war into WW1. Depending on how often great powers in your game have gone to war, and how bad their relations are with each other, you may find them starting a spate of Great Wars as soon as they start researching Mass Politics in the early part of the 20th century (around 1905-1915). This is normal.
If you can't declare war after the Great War ends, remember: this is normal! The "No More War" modifier prevents you from starting many wars for three years even if you won the Great War. If you do end up at war with a country for other reasons, the wargoals can be added normally.
