Here's a pretty good game I had as Germany in Kaiserreich for DH. Reddit post
here.
It is the year 1942, and with the fall of the last resistance within the Netherlands and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Kaiserreich has established nigh complete hegemony over the European continent. All of the Germanic people have been unified under the Imperial hand, too, finally fulfilling the Reichfuhrer's ambition.
The political, military and economic alliance known as Mitteleuropa - although at this point it may as well be called just "Europa" - stretches from the coasts of Brittany and Aquitaine in the west to the icy plains of Kamchatka in the far east. Though some of the organization's members, such as Denmark and Russia, joined on their own merit, the absolute majority of the organization's members are tightly controlled puppet regimes, drained for resources and manpower to power the Kaiserreich's unstoppable military might. Their leaders do not dare to even say a word against the direction in which the Germans lead them, be it sending their citizens to meaningless slaughter in the Lotharingian trenches or handing over their food production surplus to the Heer and leave them with a full belly while their farmers wither away.
Officially, the Second Weltkrieg is not yet over - the Syndicalist regime in the British Isles continues to decline any offers for a second Peace with Honour, and as their fleets have bombed much of the Reichsmarine to the bottom of the North Sea, this situation is set to persist at least until Germany can rebuild their navy and execute the operation to sweep away Syndicalism in the British Isles, Operation Sealion. Aside from the remnants of the Internationale and the Mitteleuropa, the continent also holds the the three Scandinavian democracies, the Balkan Pact, which has survived as a common anti-German alliance, and the Catholic Pact between Italy, Spain, Portugal and National France. None of them pose any direct threat to German pan-European hegemony, however, so they have been allowed to remain for the time being.
Any semblance of democracy in the German Empire has been swept away ever since the political and economic chaos of 1936 and the subsequent general elections of 1937 brought the Alldeutscher Verband and its famous, charismatic figurehead, Graf Anton von Arco-Valley, to power. The Empire's failure to contain syndicalism both outside and within its borders, the chaos of the aftermath of the Black Monday, instability within the "Grand Coalition" of the DKP, Zentrum and NLP, starting with the fall of Kuno von Westarp's government in early 1936, brought the AV to the national stage as one of the few political forces which were both fiercely anti-syndicalist and hadn't compromised themselves by being a party of "the establishment".
In 1937, after the Imperial general elections saw massive gains for the AV, while the nation's stability deteriorated to a record low, Kaiser Wilhelm II was faced with the choice of either letting the "extremist, idiotic loudmouths and demagogues", which he held no liking towards, form a government, or watch the Kaiserreich be ripped apart from the left and from the right at once. He chose the former. The Graf rose to the position of Reichskanzler, where the right-wing nationalist DVLP, led by Otto von Schleicher, helped provide the AV a necessary majority needed for transforming the German Empire into a National Populist state.
The belligerence of the Second Internationale, the reemergence of the FAUD and the assassination of the German ambassador to Austria at the hands of a French syndicalist granted Arco-Valley the green light to begin mass repressions against the syndicalist movement within the Empire - and not even limited to actual Syndicalists, with the repressions soon extending to many vocal members of the SPD, who protested the act - gaining the moniker of "White Terror". The ongoing economic crisis allowed the German government to take partial control over the nation's economy, implementing corporatist measures in militarizing the state and controlling the populace. The Halbstarke, teenagers terrorizing shops and homes for money and food out of desperation, were reorganized into a youth organization under the AV, and began releasing their pent-up energy and dissatisfaction at terrorizing the party's opponents. The beginning of the Second Weltkrieg, and the AV now gaining a complete majority in the Reichstag thanks to numerous vacated seats and several DVLP members changing party allegiance, allowed the Reichskanzler to dismiss the parliament and delay new elections for an unspecified timeframe, all of the power of the government now vested by a small wartime cabinet chaired by Arco-Valley.
The death of Wilhelm II marked the last stage in Germany's transformation to a totalitarian National Populist state. While Wilhelm II may have served as a moderating force thanks to his negative opinion of the Verband and powerful reserve powers, the new Emperor, Wilhelm III, was a close friend of the Reichskanzler and a member of the AV, which meant that the last possible limitation of his power had been taken off. As recognition for Arco-Valley's successful efforts in leading Germany out of crisis and commanding it during the Second Weltkrieg, Wilhelm III granted him the title "Reichsfuhrer", a German equivalent to the Romanian "Conducator", which his party had already been using to refer to him ever since his ascension to power.
Despite its totalitarian nature, AV-led Germany can be surprisingly tolerant and liberal as long as you are not declared an enemy of the state - which is, obviously, fairly easy to do. Most notably, as recognition for their effort in factories and often on the battlefield during the Second Weltkrieg, the German women have been theoretically granted the same voting rights as men - "theoretically" because neither they nor men have seen an election take place since 1937.
The Reichsfuhrer, Anton von Arco-Valley, is a highly interesting figure. An Austrian nobleman by birth, he moved to Bavaria during the first Weltkrieg, where he became a German citizen and served during the last years of the war in the Royal Bavarian Lifeguards. Arco-Valley returned from the front in France a different man, a radical pan-German nationalist, monarchist and anti-syndicalist, only to witness that his new home of Bavaria was in the process of being overrun by local Syndicalists, sympathizing with the French Revolution, in what is nowadays known as the November Insurrections. Without hesitation, Arco-Valley took matters to his own hands and, in the streets of Munich, gunned down Kurt Eisner, one of the most well known leaders of the German syndicalist movement. This act led to his arrest, but also to him becoming a national icon of anti-syndicalism, and inspiring many future members of the Alldeutscher Verband.
Obviously, as he was charged with first degree murder, Arco-Valley should have spent the rest of his life in prison - however, few people in his trial wished to see him incarcerated. After all, for many, he had become a hero of the German opposition to syndicalism. Hell, even the prosecutor did not lack compliments for him, stating that "if the whole German youth were imbued with such a glowing enthusiasm, we could face the future with confidence". The nobleman was sentenced to two years of house arrest, an act which was protested by syndicalists and social democrats, but was perfectly fine for Arco-Valley himself, and he spent those two years submitting articles to the Bayerisches Vaterland and Hugenberg's Die Gartenlaube, detailing his political beliefs, his desire to see all of the Germanic peoples unified under one banner and future of Germany's European hegemony.
After his release, Arco-Valley became involved with the AV, becoming one of its most prominent leaders, named as the successor of Heinrich Class as the leader of the movement in 1934 after his health worsened. At the helm of the party, the aristocrat rid the party of its most left-wing members such as the Strasser brothers and Ernst Rohm, while massively expanding its leadership through attracting former supporters of the DVLP and DKP. The party repaired its relations with Prussian Junkers and major industrialists and financiers, though the former remained highly suspicious of him regardless due to his Catholic noble upbringing. With most of the establishment parties compromising their chances through political struggles and mismanaging the recovery from Black Monday, and the rise of worldwide syndicalism threatening the German masses and elites, the AV swept into the Reichstag in the 1937 general elections, and the rest is history...
The Second Weltkrieg between Germany and the Internationale broke out in early 1939 during German military maneuvers in Alsace-Lorraine, and fighting on the continent continued until August 1941, when the last of the Communard forces were either destroyed or surrendered. The first phase of the war was reminiscent of the First Weltkrieg - two massive forces eyeing each other over trench systems in Lorraine and the Ardennes, neither side able to break through and each battle causing hundreds of thousands of losses. A war of attrition was something Germany was far more equipped to deal with than the French - with the Communard manpower reserves drained after six unsuccessful attempts to take Nancy, the freshly reinforced German forces, bolstered by amassed armored spearheads as devised by Heinz Guderian and his army modernizers, broke through the enemy lines first in Flanders-Wallonia and Picardy, then finally across the entire front.
Paris fell in spring of 1941, and by August, the entire nation was overrun. The nature of the conflict meant that despite its relatively short timeframe, it was one of the bloodiest conflicts of the 20th century, causing almost 5 million military casualties alone, and only God knows how many civilian, including both during the German offensive and the subsequent mass terror to root out Syndicalism within the occupied nation. The Reichsfuhrer's orders for the fate of France were clear - three strikes and you're out, France must never become strong enough to challenge Germany for a fourth time.
The defeated nation was divided into four, each one with a king or grand duke of their own, and the nation's industrial installations are being swiftly dismantled and transported to Germany as a form of war reparations. Rumors are abound that this isn't even the final map of the region - some guess that once the wars in Europe are fully concluded and the situation stabilizes, the Reichfuhrer plans to see Burgundy, as an "ancestral Germanic land", be carved out of the rump Kingdom of France and attached to the Kaiserreich to be Germanized within a swift timeframe. Or perhaps even everything up to the Senne. Few people know at this point.
The Union of Britain, led by Congregationalists under Annie Kenney and Emmeline Pankhurst, alongside their puppet state of Ireland, continue to resist the German offers for a peace, and are content to stay barricaded in their island behind the wall that is the Republican Navy. There is little chance to starve the Syndicalists out through convoy raiding, what with their navy having grasped the new Wolfpack tactics of German U-Boats and reacting accordingly, so unless the Unionists change their mind, the only option for ending the conflict for good is an invasion of the British Isles, Operation Sealion.
German intelligence suggests that the British Army is small would have little chance against the battle-hardened German panzers, but getting them to set their tracks on the island without the Republican Navy bombing their transports and supply to bits is the real question. The Reichsmarine was mismanaged during the initial stages of the Second Weltkrieg, which led to significant losses for the German navy, and only now has the Kaiserreich found an opportunity to finally start rebuilding its navy.
Such an initiative would take many years, however, which would leave Britain a pain for the German Empire for all of that time.
After the fall of the Commune, the Kingdom of Italy took advantage of the German victory and began their invasion of the Socialist Republic of Italy in the south to achieve the second Risorgimento. Dominated by the Papacy, Italy is also the leader of a bloc of fellow reactionary Catholic monarchies, which includes Carlist Spain, Portugal and the Kingdom of France in Africa. As gratitude for France's entrance, and thus departure from the Entente, French-majority provinces in northern Italy were returned to the exiles to administrate. With the Italian syndicalists fortifying themselves in Sicily, however, the Italian civil war seems to be frozen for the time being.
After the invasion of Austria and the final reunification of the German people, the Kaiserreich took control of Veneto and Southern Tyrol, two territories which the Kingdom claims control over, and which have put a dent in the generally friendly relations of the two states. The National Populist regime has little desire to keep Veneto for the long term, thus negotiations are currently taking place on exchanging the province for the Catholic Bloc, or at least Italy and Iberia, joining Mitteleuropa. Such an idea has been fervently opposed by France-in-Africa, however, as it would pretty much mean the recognition of the German occupation of mainland France.
The American Civil War of 1936-1941, the deadiest conflict to ever take place in the Western Hemisphere, eventually ended with a victory for the Combined Syndicates of America, and after the death of the leader of the Revolution, John Reed, he was replaced by Earl Browder, who has taken the reunified nation towards a more authoritarian course. Alongside Mexico and Centroamerica, the CSA has become an anchor of Syndicalism in the Americas, putting it towards a direct collision course with the British exile led Canada to the north. The CSA also missed the majority of the Second Weltkrieg, but as the world enters a new page of history, it is bound to come into conflict with Arco-Valley's German Empire at some point in the future.
The request from the Russian Empire, one of the most liberal and democratic states on the planet, to join Mitteleuropa came as a great surprise to the diplomatic service of the Kaiserreich. All this time, they had assumed that they were on a collision course with the "Asiatic hordes" of the East for the domination of Europe, knowing that Russia was, historically, highly anti-German and Germany returned that favor - but no, one of the most powerful alliances in world history was formed.
However, as you might imagine, Russia completely doesn't fit in with the zeitgeist of the Mitteleuropa, which has already led to many observers labeling this alliance as a circumstantial anti-Syndicalist one. Nationalist forces in the Russian Duma call for the liberation of the Slavic peoples in Ukraine and White Ruthenia, while the Reichsfuhrer dreams about a mythologized idea of "Drang Nach Osten", a push to Slavic inhabited lands for colonization and the extraction of the resources of their lands. Already, both sides are secretly drawing up plans of both an offensive war and a defensive war against the other, while their diplomats continue to exchange nice words and call Germany and Russia "the two sentinels of Mitteleuropa" and "each other's greatest ally".
The late 1930s and early 1940s saw Asia consolidate under three giants - the Empire of Japan, the Dominion of India and the Republic of China, each one with stories to tell. The Empire of Japan is the oldest one of the three polities, reigning over a small, but still respectable "Co-Prosperity Sphere" in East Asia and declining Chinese offers of a Manchurian referendum of self-determination. The Dominion of India arose after the Indian civil wars of the 1930s and 1940s, both the Princely Federation and the Bhartiya Commune defeated by their forces and the subcontinent reunited under a federalized democracy. The Republic of China arose from the AOG in the Changsha Revolution, and reunified the previously shattered Chinese state through several expeditions against Yunnan, the Qing and Mongolia. Though officially a democracy, it has been starting to take the path of authoritarianism, with the powers of President Chen Jiongming growing almost every day.
Generally ignored by European powers until very recently, Asia is bound to play an important part in the future, especially if the rumored German-Russian War breaks out and, say, China or Japan take advantage to resolve their own territorial conflicts with the Russian Empire...