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This is about a fictional representation of a real world event

History[]

Warlords

The Warlord Era began in Qing China with the establishment of the "New Army" in 1895 (later renamed to the "Beiyang Army"), a modernization of the Chinese army following the loss to Japan in the First Sino-Japanese War. Yuan Shikai was appointed the commander of this new force by the Empress Dowager Cixi, and as it grew in importance and effectiveness Yuan grew more contemptuous of the Imperial dynasty. With the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, the Beiyang Army simultaneously protected the Emperor as well as negotiated for his surrender... thus ushering in the creation of the Republic of China. While the Kuomintang party led by Sun Yat-sen succeeded in the following elections, Yuan and the Beiyang Army suppressed it and forced Sun Yat-sen into exile. Yuan Shikai could not maintain unity among the Beiyang, however, particularly after he declared himself Emperor of China in 1915. His death in 1916 would begin a civil war now known as the "Warlord Era" as the army split into numerous territorial governates and fought for control of the nation. The various "cliques" aligned with either the Beiyang forces or with the renewed Kuomintang (now led by Chiang Kai-shek), and Chinese reunification was eventually achieved by the Kuomintang in 1928 with the creation of Nationalist China.


The Warlord Era in PDM and Vanilla[]

The Warlord Era is not really represented in Vanilla at all, outside of the existence of some cores (Xinjiang, Xibei San Ma, Yunnan, Shanxi and Guangxi all have cores in China from the beginning of the game). Unless nationalist rebels rise up in those places, the cliques will never appear and there's really nothing to represent the turbelence that China went through... which, considering the power that China can quickly accumulate with its massive population once it civilizes, really makes for a poor simulation of one of the most important events in the era.

In PDM there are events to represent the Opium Wars and the Unequal Treaties, as well as the Taiping Rebellion that took place in the mid-19th century. The Warlord Era events, however, begin to take shape when China either civilizes or is very close to it-- setting up the possibility of not only the Xinhai Revolution to topple the Manchu Dynasty, but also the civil war that followed. It's not guaranteed, however, and a great many things can happen in China that make the Warlord Era impossible or make it happen sooner or later than it did in history. The idea was not to make a deterministic representation, but to allow for the possibility of history repeating itself as well as providing for some alternate outcomes.


The New Army[]

The "New Army" event (id# 131715) is the basis from which both the Warlord Era and the Xinhai Revolution spring. Until it occurs, neither of the other two events are possible. It represents the push for the modernization of the Chinese army and the necessary division of the country into influential generals during the era that followed.

  • Text: "Our efforts to modernize the Beiyang army have borne fruit, but this has necessitated the division of authority among regional forces. The generals in charge of these forces, 'warlords' as some call them, have been gaining a great deal of power. They are part of the Beiyang Army, but fight amongst themselves... And, far worse, are critical of the government. We will need to watch these generals carefully."
  • Requirements:
    • is not at war
    • the country is either QNG (Qing Empire), TPG (Taiping) or CHI (China) -- but neither of the other two countries may exist
    • has researched either Army Professionalism, Military Plans or Bolt-Action Rifles
    • is either civilized or the year is later than 1890
  • MTTH: 50 months
    • much shorter if the country is civilized
    • shorter with each one of the above three army techs the country has researched
  • Effects:
    • switches to the Army Tech School
    • the "Academic Confusion" modifier is gained for 5 years
    • -8 militancy to all Officer and Soldier pops
    • Manchukuo/Fengtian cores are added to all northeastern Manchu provinces (whether the country owns those provinces or not)
    • Shanxi cores added to the Shanxi region (if owned)
    • Anhui cores added to the Anhui region (if owned)
    • Sichuan cores added to the Sichuan region (if owned)
    • Xinjiang cores added to the Sinkiang region (if owned)
    • Hunan cores added to the Hunan region (if owned)
    • the global "spread_warlord_influence" flag is set, which kicks off the spread of warlord cores

Spread of Warlord Cores[]

Once the New Army event has fired and the new cores established, they will begin to spread across Chinese territory. There is a province event for each Warlord country, and when it fires it will add the cores into a neighboring state that doesn't currently have any Warlord cores (and which isn't Zhili, the capital region). The following is a list of all Warlord countries and the speed at which their cores spread:

  • Anhui: MTTH 100 months (150 months if not Beifaren)
  • Guangdong: MTTH 100 months (200 months if Beifaren)
  • Guangxi: MTTH 100 months
  • Hunan: MTTH 100 months (150 months if not Nanfaren)
  • Manchukuo/Fengtian: MTTH 300 months (600 months if not Manchu, 150 months if Manchu)
  • Xibei San Ma: MTTH 100 months (150 months if not Beifaren, doubled if there are no Sunni pops)
  • Yunnan: MTTH 100 months (200 months if not Nanfaren)
  • Shanxi: MTTH 200 months (400 months if not Beifaren)
  • Sichuan: MTTH 200 months (400 months if not Nanfaren)
  • Xinjiang: MTTH 100 months (200 months if not Beifaren)

While these MTTH values may seem high, the thing to keep in mind is that province events tend to fire more rapidly than country events. The more provinces a Warlord has, the more provinces they will border and thus the faster these events will fire. Typically, Anhui will spread the most from its initial position as it has the most room to grow, and within 5-10 years all Chinese territory will have some kind of core on it... though it's entirely possible that the Warlord Era can kick off before that happens. This is fine, and it's perfectly reasonable that there will be pockets of territory still owned by the main country when the event begins.


The Xinhai Revolution[]

Xinhai Revolution in Shanghai

The "Xinhai Revolution" event (id# 164599) is not something you're going to see in every game-- essentially it requires that China still be a monarchy after the New Army event has fired and has enough militancy that the people essentially rise up against the government. It's possible that a revolution could occur normally (as in the rebels take over the capital before this event has a chance to fire), but typically the rebellion won't get far enough to actually do so before the event fires and restores order.

  • Text: "The forces of revolution have turned against the $COUNTRY_ADJ$ Emperor. With dissent threatening to spread into chaos, leaders of the Beiyang army have demanded the Emperor abdicate his throne. Cheering crowds in $CAPITAL$ greeted the news, but few are aware of the forces now lining up to take control of the government. Kuomintang revolutionaries have demanded a transformation of $COUNTRY$ into a republic with free elections. Army leaders, however, have threatened to oppose the Kuomintang and demanded the republic be under strict Beiyang control."
  • Requirements:
    • is not at war
    • the "New Army" event has fired
    • the country is either QNG (Qing Empire), TPG (Taiping) or CHI (China) -- but neither of the other two countries may exist
    • is either an Absolute Monarchy, Prussian Constitutionalism or HMS Government
    • either the capital is controlled by rebels, 30% of the country is controlled by rebels or average militancy is 4+
  • MTTH: 40 months
    • reduced to 1 month if the capital is controlled by rebels
    • reduced to 2 months if the capital is not controlled by rebels, but 30% of the country is
    • reduced the higher the average militancy gets
  • Immediate Effects (regardless of option chosen):
    • -25 Prestige
    • all QNG and TPG cores removed
    • if Tibet is a vassal, it's released
    • if Tibet does not exist, but the Tibet region is owned, Tibet is released there
    • if Mongolia is a vassal, it's released
    • if Mongolia does not exist, but the Outer Mongolia region is owned, Mongolia is released there
    • Chinese cores are removed from Outer Mongolia
  • Option #1: "The Beiyang Army will keep order in China."
    • if the tag is not CHI, the country's tag is changed to CHI
    • primary culture changed to Beifaren, Nanfaren added as an accepted culture
    • government changed to Presidential Dictatorship
    • ruling party ideology changed to Reactionary
    • country gains the "Military Man" country modifier for 10 years
    • country gains the "National Confusion" country modifier for 1 year
    • political reforms: None Voting, Party Appointed, No Meeting, State Press, No Trade Unions, Underground Parties
    • all Beifaren pops have militancy reduced by -8
    • all Nanfaren pops have militancy reduced by -4
    • capital moved to Peking if not already the capital
    • all great powers have influence in China reduced by -200
  • Option #2: "The Kuomintang will lead the republic."
    • country's tag changed to KMT (Nationalist China)
    • KMT cores added to any province with a CHI core
    • primary culture changed to Nanfaren, Beifaren added as an accepted culture
    • government changed to Democracy
    • ruling party ideology changed to Liberal
    • political reforms: Universal Weighted Voting, Appointed, Yes Meeting, State Press, State Controlled, State Controlled Unions, Harassment
    • country gains the "Great Reformer" country modifier for 10 years
    • country gains the "National Confusion" country modifier for 1 year
    • capital moved to Peking if not already the capital
    • all great powers have influence in China reduced by -200


The Warlord Era Begins[]

Cliques

An example of China having just undergone the Warlord Era Begins event.

The "Warlord Era Begins" event (id# 131730) is what will kick off the actual civil war, presumably after the Warlord cores have had a number of years to spread-- though this is not necessarily what will happen. It's also not required that the event will ever occur... some countries, like Taiping and Nationalist China, are almost guaranteed to have it, but if the country is still Qing China and has not had the Xinhai Revolution this will never happen.

  • Text: "Resistance against the Peking government has culminated in a breakdown in authority. What began with several of the outlying warlords declaring their indepedence has ended with the most powerful generals in the Beiyang Army struggling for control. A contest has begun regarding who will control the future of China's destiny, and most are certain it will not be long before the entire nation is engulfed in war."
  • Requirements:
    • the country is either KMT (Nationalist China), TPG (Taiping) or CHI (China) -- but neither of the other two countries may exist
    • not at war
    • the "New Army" event has fired
    • Either the country has less than 25 Prestige, is disarmed, has lost 10% of its total national cores, has 10% or more of its provinces controlled by rebels, has an average militancy of 5+, Anhui exists, Guangdong exists, is Nationalist China (meaning KMT will always get the event), is CHI but not a Presidential Dictatorship or is TPG and is either a Democracy of HMS Government.
  • MTTH: 200 months
    • x1.5 if greater power
    • x2 if the Xinhai Revolution has not occurred
    • x0.5 if the country is TPG or KMT
    • lower if the country has more of its provinces controlled by rebels
    • lower if the country has lost more of its national cores
    • x0.1 if the capital is controlled by rebels
    • x0.1 if the country is an Absolute Monarchy, Fascist Dictatorship, Proletarian Dictatorship or Bourgeois Dictatorship
    • lower for each Warlord country that exists (whether it is a vassal or not)
  • Effects:
    • the spread of Warlord cores will stop
    • the "warlord_era_has_begun" global flag is set
    • -25 Prestige
    • all Warlord countries which exist as vassals are released
    • all Warlord countries that do not exist have their owned cores released
    • if, after the previous releases, Taibei is owned but Fuzhou is not, then all Fujian (FJN) cores are removed and Taiwan/Formosa cores are added to the Formosa region and it is released
    • otherwise, Fujian is also released
    • any remaining pops have militancy reduced by -6 and +10% jingoism
    • if the country has less than 40 provinces left, it has the "Emergency Draft" country modifier added (increasing mobilization by 2%)

Picking Sides[]

So... all the Warlords have split off from their main country. That's all which is required, right? Not quite. Shortly after release, each Warlord country will undergo an event where they must pick one of four possible factions. Which factions they pick depend on several things: the ideology of their starting government (almost all northern cliques start off Reactionary and all southern cliques start off Conservative), the ideology of their population and whether or not Communism and/or Fascism have been enabled. While some countries lean heavily in one direction or another, it's entirely possible that the faction make-up of China will vary greatly from one game to the next.

Before choosing sides, each Warlord country will immediately civilize (if it is not already so), gains 40 Leadership points, gains the "Emergency Draft" country modifier if it's less than 40 provinces, and gets -6 militancy and +10% jingoism for all its pops.

Kuomintang Faction[]

  • Sets the ruling party ideology to Conservative
  • reduces relations with KMT, CHI or TPG by -100
  • reduces relations with any member of the Beiyang Faction by -100
  • increases relations with any member of the Kuomintang Faction by 50
  • increases relations with any member of the Communist Faction by 25
  • Anhui never picks this faction, and this faction will be much less popular if KMT exists (meaning Nationalist China is the country everyone is splitting off from). It is also much more likely for Conservative cliques to pick this faction than Reactionary cliques.

Beiyang Faction[]

  • Sets the ruling party ideolgoy to Reactionary
  • reduces relations with KMT, CHI or TPG by -100
  • reduces relations with any member of the Kuomintang Faction by -100
  • reduces relations with any member of the Communist Faction by -100
  • Guangdong never picks this faction unless KMT already exists. It is also much more likely for Reactionary cliques to pick this faction than Conservative cliques.
  • NOTE: If Fascist ideology has been enabled, there's also a possibility that a clique will join the Beiyang Faction as a Fascist country. This requires at least 10% Fascist support, and while chances are small they will get larger when Fascist support rises above 20% or if either KMT or TPG exist. This variant overrides the regular chances for Beiyang support (meaning Guangdong can join it), and will turn the country into a Fascist Dictatorship with a Fascist ruling party ideology.

Communist Faction[]

  • requires that Communism ideology has been enabled
  • sets the ruling party ideology to Communist
  • sets the government to Proletarian Dictatorship
  • reduces relations with any member of the Beiyang Faction by -50
  • increases relations with any member of the Kuomintang Faction by 25
  • this faction is never picked unless there is at least 10% communist support in the country, and the chance increases as communist or socialist support rises above 30%. The chance of joining this faction also increases if KMT already exists.

Neutral Faction[]

  • relations with any member of the Beiyang Faction or Kuomintang Faction are increased by 25
  • Anhui never picks this faction, and Guangdong never picks it unless KMT already exists. It is also much more likely for Taiwan/Formosa, Shanxi and Xinjiang to pick this faction, and a bit more likely for Fujian, Sichuan and Xibei San Ma to pick this faction. This faction is also more popular if KMT already exists or if the clique is neither Conservative nor Reactionary.

Chinese Reunification[]

Now the various countries will begin to fight... and they will. While they have access to the regular CB's (and the country they split off from will use the "Restore Order" CB as it will have cores everywhere), they also get a special "Chinese Reunification" CB which they may use under the following conditions:

  • against any non-Chinese country that owns Chinese cores
  • against any country that owns Peking, no matter who it is
  • if the target is CHI and the country is not part of the Neutral Faction or Kuomintang Faction
  • if the target is TPG and the country is not part of the Neutral Faction
  • if the target is KMT and the country is part of the Kuomintang Faction
  • KMT may target CHI or any member of the Beiyang Faction
  • a member of the Beiyang Faction may target any other member of the Beiyang Faction
  • a member of the Kuomintang Faction may target any other member of the Kuomintang Faction
  • a member of the Communist Faction may target any other member of the Communist Faction
  • they may target anyone else, but only so long as they neighbour no other valid target

So this essentially means that the factions will first fight amongst themselves, and also against the country they split off from (who will in turn be invading them all anyhow). Once the Beiyang countries either form into China (or are subjugated) and Nationalist China is formed from the Kuomintang Faction they will then clash. Neutral Faction countries will stand off to the side and will only get involved if invaded or if they decide to become aggressive and use another regular CB.

A few things that will happen on the way to reunification:

The Formation of Nationalist China: If the cliques didn't split off from Nationalist China to begin with, eventually one of the members of the Kuomintang Faction will become the leader. This requires that they not have the National Confusion modifier (so a minimum of one year after the event begins) and that they either own a province that isn't their own core or own either Peking or Canton. This will turn them into Nationalist China and send an event to any existing Kuomintang country to possibly join them (though any that didn't have the chance to join initially will still have to decide whenever they border Nationalist China later). If they refuse, they immediately switch to the Neutral Faction.

Leader of the Beiyang: If China does not exist and any member of the Beiyang Faction owns Peking, then it will become the leader of the Beiyang Faction... which essentially means it turns into China, gains +10 prestige and loses -6 militancy. This has no other effect (meaning other Beiyang countries won't unite with it), but it does give it access to all Chinese cores.

Leader of the Communists: Like the "Leader of the Beiyang", any member of the Communist faction that owns Peking will also be able to turn into China... though it will be called "Communist China" instead.

The Guominjun Clique: There is yet one more Warlord clique that can split off from either China, Taiping or Nationalist China: should any of them own Kaifeng, Wuchang or Xian and have in excess of 4 states prior to reunification, then the Guominjun can rise. This will be a new Warlord clique with cores in the states of one of those three provinces, and it will immediately split off. It will follow the rules for other cliques in picking a faction, and starts off as Conservative (unless the country it splits from is Nationalist China, in which case it's Reactionary).

Reunifiying Nationalist China[]

Reunification can occur (and the Warlord Era ended) if KMT (Nationalist China) has the following:

  • is not at war
  • owns Peking
  • China (CHI) either does not exist or is in KMT's sphere
  • Taiping (TPG) either does not exist or is in KMT's sphere
  • all other Warlord countries either do not exist, are in KMT's sphere or are a member of either the Neutral Faction or Kuomintang Faction

This will have the following effects:

  • +20 Prestige
  • capital moved to Peking
  • if any core for Shanxi, Anhui, Sichuan, Xinjiang or Hunan are owned (and they do not exist) then all their cores are removed everywhere
  • China or Taiping, if they exist and are in KMT's sphere, will be annexed
  • any remaining Warlord country will have the "Chinese Reunification" event (id# 131745) sent to them

Reunifying Communist China[]

Reunification can occur (and the Warlord Era ended) if a member of the Communist Faction has the following:

  • is not at war
  • owns Peking
  • China (CHI) does not exist
  • Taiping (TPG) either does not exist or is in its sphere
  • Nationalist China (KMT) either does not exist or is in its sphere
  • all other Warlord countries either do not exist, are in its sphere or are a member of either the Neutral Faction or Communist Faction

This will have the following effects:

  • +20 Prestige
  • capital moved to Peking
  • if any core for Shanxi, Anhui, Sichuan, Xinjiang or Hunan are owned (and they do not exist) then all their cores are removed everywhere
  • Nationalist China or Taiping, if they exist and are in its sphere, will be annexed
  • if the country is not China, then all its cores are removed and it becomes China. Its primary culture will be changed to Beifaren and Nanfaren will be added as an accepted culture
  • any remaining Warlord country will have the "Chinese Reunification" event (id# 131745) sent to them

Reunifying Beiyang China[]

Reunification can occur (and the Warlord Era ended) if China (CHI) or a member of the Beiyang Faction has the following:

  • is not at war
  • owns Peking
  • either is China or China either does not exist or is in its sphere
  • Nationalist China (KMT) does not exist
  • Taiping (TPG) either does not exist or is in its sphere
  • all other Warlord countries either do not exist, are in its sphere or are a member of the Neutral Faction

This will have the following effects:

  • +20 Prestige
  • capital moved to Peking
  • if any core for Shanxi, Anhui, Sichuan, Xinjiang or Hunan are owned (and they do not exist) then all their cores are removed everywhere
  • China or Taiping, if they exist and are in its sphere, will be annexed
  • if the country is not China, then all its cores are removed and it becomes China. Its primary culture will be changed to Beifaren and Nanfaren will be added as an accepted culture
  • any remaining Warlord country will have the "Chinese Reunification" event (id# 131745) sent to them

The Reunification Event[]

Once China has been reunified, then the "Chinese Reunification" event (id#131745) will be sent to all remaining Warlord countries (who are most likely members of the Neutral Faction, but who may not be). This has the following effect:

  • Text: "The call has come from the capital: the era of warlords is over, and all the Chinese peoples must unite under a single flag. This means $COUNTRY$ must either submit to Peking's rule or face more war against a strong and unified foe. Your generals stand ready to receive your command."
  • Option #1: "$COUNTRY$ shall submit."
    • if the country is Shanxi, Anhui, Sichuan, Xinjiang or Hunan, then all its cores are removed
    • it is annexed
    • base chance: 60%
      • reduced to 0 if a greater power
      • x0.5 if FROM is Taiping
      • x0.25 if FROM is Qing Empire
      • x2 if a member of the Kuomintang Faction and FROM is Nationalist China
      • x0.5 if either a Democracy, Proletarian Dictatorship or Bourgeois Dictatorship and FROM is not the same government type
      • reduced to 0 if a Fascist Dictatorship and FROM is not the same government type
  • Option #2: "We accept Beijing's rule but will maintain our independence."
    • -20 Prestige
    • +200 relations with FROM and an alliance created
    • becomes a vassal of FROM
    • base chance: 30%
      • x1.5 if not a neighbour of FROM
      • x0.5 if FROM is Qing Empire
      • reduced to 0 if none of its provinces are ports or it doesn't border a non-Chinese country
      • reduced to 0 if a greater power
      • reduced to 0 if a Proletarian Dictatorship and FROM is not (or the reverse)
      • reduced to 0 if a Fascist Dictatorship and FROM is not (or the reverse)
      • x2 if a Bourgeois Dictaroship and FROM is not
      • x2 if a Democracy and FROM is not
  • Option #3: "$COUNTRY$ shall never surrender!"
    • leave any existing alliance with FROM
    • -200 relations with FROM
    • base chance: 10%
      • reduced to 0 if part of the Kuomintang Faction and FROM is Nationalist China
      • x2 if not a neighbour of FROM
      • x3 if a Proletarian Dictatorship and FROM is not (or the reverse)
      • x3 if a Fascist Dictatorship and FROM is not (or the reverse)
      • x3 if a Bourgeois Dictaroship and FROM is not
      • x3 if FROM is Taiping
      • x5 if FROM is Qing Empire

At this point, the Warlord Era is effectively over. The "Chinese Reunification" CB will no longer be active, no new Warlord cores will appear or spread and the event chain is finished.

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