Britain's Finest Hour, a Hearts of Iron 4 Playthrough Part 1

Hey y'all! I thought I'd do something a little different for the next few weeks, so here's a Hearts of Iron 4 playthrough!

What is Hearts of Iron 4, you may ask? It's a strategy game in which you take control of a nation starting in 1936 and lead it to victory in World War 2. We of course will be playing as the empire on which the sun never sets. That's right, Belgium!

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Ok, you got me, it's Britain.

The way I'll be telling this story is in a history book style format, but I may do the occasional novel style chapter to keep you on your toes. With all that said, let's begin!

Britain's Finest Hour Part 1: The Calm Before The Storm

After it's victory in the First World War, Great Britain was easily the most powerful country on Earth, with a strong military and colonies on every continent. By 1936 its economy had even largely recovered from the Great Depression. However, cracks were already starting to appear in the Pax Britannica. In Asia Japan was rattling it's sabers against both China and the western colonial powers. In Africa the Italians were running roughshod over the Ethiopians. In Eastern Europe Stalin ruled Russia with an iron fist, and was threatening to spread communist revolution throughout the world. And, most ominously of all, the Germans, embittered by their defeat in the First World War and now led by the Nazi Dictator Adolf Hitler, were once again plotting to conquer the world.

Most Britons however, preferred not to worry about any of this. They still remembered the horrors of the First World War, and the Conservative Party government under Stanley Baldwin made preserving the peace it's first priority. Rather than attempt to stand up to the dictators, Baldwin's policy was to increase the British Empire's defenses to deter aggression, and leave the rest of the world to it's fate.

One of the few prominent Britons to speak out was Sir Winston Churchill, who emphasized that attempting to appease Hitler was a cowardly policy that would not work in the long run. However, most Britons at the time didn't want to hear it, so Churchill remained stuck in the political wilderness for the time being.

In any case, there would soon be matters closer to home to worry about. On January 23rd, 1936, King George V, who had led the British Empire through the Great War and the Great Depression, died and was replaced by his son Edward VIII. Edward was a charming former soldier from the Great War, and was highly popular, but some feared that he may have had Fascist sympathies...

On March 11, the world's attention was once again focused on the European Mainland, when the Germans reoccupied the Rhineland region on the border between Germany and France, despite the Treaty of Versailles forbidding them to do so. The British and French governments both issued mild protests, but took no action. Once again Churchill warned that this set a dangerous precedent, and once again he was largely ignored. History however, would soon vindicate him...