I love the more narrative focus of this video. I'd love a series like this! What if Germany continued to try diplomacy instead of demanding war? The German focus tree has many focuses that involve befriending people, but most people ignore those. I'd like to see what happens if Germany tries to make a super-Axis before the war begins.

What if French fries and French toast were actually invented in France?

As a Spaniard, it is my duty to ask for a "what if the Anarchists somehow managed to win the Spanish Civil War" video. Also: "What if Italy was competent"

What if Trotsky returned to the soviet union and liberated all workers?

What If: Switzerland did something

SInce youre wanting to turn this into a thing, I feel like this is the perfect time to request a playthrough as britain to explore the world in which Britain goes Fascist under the governance of Oswald Mosley and the blackshirts (or doing the kings party to explore a world where Edward never abdicates following his marriage of Wallis simpson)...either way, id mostly just love to see you discuss Oswald Mosley as hes a figure we never really learn about here in britain and I think hes a rather interesting character in history

If you have the power to make this… what if WW2 were a 3-way war, meaning the Allies vs Axis vs Commitern vs Allies. It would be a lot harder to set up but would be very interesting.

7:20 Stakuyi, I have to correct you on something, as an economics major: In the first period of the Fascist regime in Italy, the government did "liberalize" the economy through laissez-faire measures. This was a work done by Alberto de Stefano, who was a Classical Liberal personally appointed by Mussolini to be his Minister of Finance. His measures were so efficient that the Italian real GDP grew almost 40% in a span of 5 years while also providing the government an austere expenditure. Although his measures were great at stabilizing the post-war economy, the Lira was devaluing a lot and provoking a high inflation (since Italy was heavily dependent on imports), what affected negatively Mussolini's political power and further caused some divergences with the Grand Council of Fascism regarding the economic policy of country. I unironically did a college work about the Fascist Italy economy last semester.

What if Czechoslovakia successfully created the little entante/refused to give away the Sudetunland?

What if France and Britain acually fulfilled their obligations towards Poland and brought war straight into German soil forcing war on two fronts from the get go. Or even ealier when mustache man started to mess with Czechoslovakia

When I saw the title, I thought you were going to join the Axis, which you did, and then go wild, possibly betray them later and take everything you wanted but this was an interesting concept; combining HOI4 and alt history

17:55 The French going toe to toe with the British guns has always been their maritime dream.

Really enjoyed the playing with a thought of what realistically would happen it makes the plot feel much more like a story rather then a speedrun

Video 7 of asking stakuyi to play as the Katzenartig Imperium in equestria at war It is an april fools collaboration between the devs from EaW and the devs from the stellaris mod Gigastructural Engineering, the nation is the kingdom of abyssinia, you play as Kaiser Kattail, who has just arrived from another reality and attempts to take over the world utilizing his knowledge of mechanized warfare and megastructures to give his empire a gigantic edge. (for his focus tree to show up, you have to enable it at the game rules menu at the bottom)

Oh man I love you (somehow) using HoI4 as an educational aid. Weaving some of your short-form (and documentary length lol) content into the Let's Plays is amazing. Please find ways to keep this up. My contribution? Japan ousts the Kodoha faction in an effort to look north at Russia instead of south/east. Then you can discuss how China still wanted its land back, regardless of Japan's intentions.

LOVE THIS wonderful narrative style - Would love to see you do more of this style of video

This was fun! I liked the small facts that you would go over from time to time, hope you do more of these!

I love this narrative style. Great video! I'm looking forward to the next!

Been watching your videos for a few months now and this one really stands out for it's narrative style. Please do more videos like this! it was an entertaining and informative at the same time.

Honestly, this feels like a great format for you. You've got the background and expertise.

The work and the narrative that you put in every video it's a pleasure to watch. Keep the great work.

I love this concept you used of storytelling and informative history knowlage. Please do that again

Great series idea, loved the video and you're the perfect youtuber to be making something like this, so here's some more ideas. I'd frankly love to see some Japan alt history, as that nation could've gone many different ways. Some ideas include -What if they'd actually tried to strike north/what if the army had gained more favor -What if the young officer coup had been more successful(though this does not comply very well with the HOI4 start date) -What if Japan had ended its incursion into China had ended with just consolidating their control over Manchuria, leaving the rest of china as-is. -The last one may not be good for HOI4 at all, as mechanics would make it very different, easier, than it would've been, but I've always been curious about the 'Bypass the Philippines' focus in the tree. How long and how well could they have gotten away with this, giving the US more clear signs and time to prepare. Again, in HOI4 this'd be rather easy, but I wonder what you think the result would have been in real life if they'd at least tried to postpone directly attacking the US. Also, my nationality forces me to ask for another, smaller country: What if the Netherlands had caved to germany/the NSB(Dutch fascist party) found great success in the elections. A buddy and I recently took a look at the party plans for the NSB around the times of 1937 and it raised some interesting scenarios, not just war-wise but socioeconomically. Also reading this I feel a bit fascist so let's balance that out by suggesting an Italian reluctance to align itself so closely with Germany. You know, just to reduce the concentration of genocide in this comment.

Great stuff! This narrated alternate history was captivating. Only issue I have with this video is it not being at least 2 hours long ;P

I really enjoyed this style of video please make more!

Really enjoyed you trying to get into the headspace of the country and laying out why you were doing what you were.

Awesome video, Love the storytelling element!

As a guy who likes his alternate history, I very much like the idea of playing out What ifs in Hearts of Iron 4. One of the ideas I had was if Mussolini and Italy never joined the Axis? Before the Pact of Steel was signed, Italy was in an alliance with Britian and France known as the Stresa Front which was formed in the case of an Anschluss by Germany against Austria. In fact, after the "brown ideology" leader of Austria was killed by National Socialists, Mussolini formed a military perimeter on the border in response. The Stresa Front was ultimately abandoned after France and Britain let Germany remilitarize the Rhineland, and with Italy's ever-growing isolation from the world that's when Italy began to side more with Germany, ultimately leading to the Pact of Steel being created (which was actually quite unpopular within Mussolini's circle with members like Italo Balbo voicing their disapproval of the alliance). There is a path for Italy to "Ratify the Stresa Front" in their Foreign Affairs sub-branch, so I think going down that path whilst keeping Mussolini in power is the right way to go if you decide to play out that What If in a future video.

Nice storytelling, I'd like more videos like this with roleplay, not necessarily the best choices

This was honestly interesting. Nice video. 👍

Love this style of gameplay and alt history discussion. Keep it up

Thank you for your video. First time looking at video of you. I'm not map guy in alternate history. But I like your style.

Dude, I play HOI4 for the alt history!! This is my favorite video of yours yet! Please do more like this!!!

This was super interesting to watch! Thanks Stak! Incredibly compelling, I would love to see more. Perhaps a Japan that tried reasoning with the US instead?

duuude I love watching your videos I make the mistake of showing my family the Stellaris video with the children of the Lamp and now they want to help expand of the idealism of LAMP

3:09 French tanks not having radios also didnt help (also suggestion: What if the blackshirts had taken power)

What if: China had strategic competance. Such as making the Sun-yat-sen line, and finally getting the 80 divisions fully converted to german standards.

i am absolutely loving this video. having a bit of logic and reasoning as to why you/the country is making these decisions as if it was actually happening, so much more fun compared to "im doing this focus because it means i'll win the game"

Pls do more of this!

This is an awesome format for telling an alt history story. You get crisp map visuals without hours in photoshop

It was cool as an alternative history experience. Keep up!

This was very entertaining 👍

Watching the Fallout show and starting to replay the games, got me thinking of a what if WWII situation. What if the Axis and Allies had nukes before WWII broke out. So ether a much later start to war or a time line where both sides had the bomb by the time 1940 rolled around.

I love the narrative "what if" of this!

would like to see more of these kind of historical not cheese videos

This was awesome! I love alternative history hypotheses abd this video was done really well. For my idea: what if italy had not worked with Germany? Would it have tried to stay independent, or would it have gone more democratic and tried siding with the allies?

Love this series. So a better what if in my opinion and defiantly more spicy... What if France was the dominant power or atleast wanted to be the dominant partner in the axis?

I like this narrative-driven/RP aspect to the base game; it makes things a bit more interesting to say the least. So some 'What If's for possible future stuff: - What if the Kodaha Faction succeeded in taking over the military and pulling the Emperor into more direct control? (Japan Monarchist/Non-Aligned path) - What if Poland, despite all odds, was able to get its act together and either resist the Germans or, perhaps, ally with them against the Soviets? (Poland cedes Danzig, goes fascist or something else entirely...having Wojtek lead the way would be extra hilarious) - What if Italy manages to not be completely incompetent (A rebirth of the Roman Empire...especially if by the Pope would be hilarious) - What if Germany somehow, through some wild twists of fate, somehow manages to bring back the Holy Roman Empire? (not sure if you've done this 'hidden' path yet for Germany or not)

One "what if" history idea that I always found interesting is. what if all of the British empires colonies/ dominion's broke away during ww2 and became fascist? now I don't know if you could do this in game or not. but I think its more "plausible" than you might think (historically anyway). we all know that the British empire as had a "rough" history with its colony's to say the least. and at many times throughout its history their has been many places that have wanted to break away from that! in this alternate history. I think their could be a lot of potential ways how this could play out with it starting in Canada! their where a lot of Canadians opposed to ww2 at the beginning of it explicitly from Quebec or Quebecers. a group that was very often oppressed by the British and Canadian government. and many that where against being conscripted into that war against their will. But with Quebecers protesting against this war there would be a sudden change lets call it. the British and Canadian government would not only stop and brutally suppress these protests and riots but even some instances of police opening fire on peaceful protesters! and with that all potential "peaceful" ways of ending this thrown out of the window Quebecers new it was time for change. a revolution! like shortly after ww1 in Germany many Quebecers starting going to both of the most extreme sides of the political spectrum instantly most* Quebecers where split basally in two! the Reformists (communists) and the Nationalists (fascists). But what originally started out as just Quebecers protesting quickly spread around its boarders. wile not as intense still a vocal minority more or less had the same idea as the French. Time for a revolution! and more or less broke into the same factions as the Quebecers! suddenly you hand both English and French Canadians all wanting the same thing! change! both factions of both English and French Canadians essentially joined forcers and most of Canada was divided into 2 main factions both communists and fascists. though they might have been from different parts of Canada. both sides saw it necessary to overthrow the government and their opposition. and so the revolution starts. Very suddenly and very bloody. I'm not going to go in to too much detail about the revolution or probably better to call it a civil war. But the fascists win! but only barely. both sides have heavy casualty's but again the fascists barley win! now why? maybe just because they had a bit more man power. maybe do better logistics and tactics. but most defiantly do to at least SOME axis interface now I think the reason why they would help out isn't even really do to wanting another "fascist nation" or ally. hell they didn't even really care if the fascists even won. a independent Canada or even a heavy damaged Canada would be a HUGE pain for Britain and especially their war machine. and getting Canadian soldiers off the front line of ww2 is also a plus. anyway it would be a plus for them! and maybe even a potential ally! and for the communist side why do they loose? and why didn't the soviets help or assist them? well to be honest... I really don't have too much of a good reason why they wouldn't. maybe they just didn't see the value of helping them? or maybe they thought that they "just wouldn't win" or maybe they just couldn't spare any rescores? or maybe their was opposition from both parties! maybe Canadians didn't want to align themselves with the soviets union. maybe the same with the soviets! or maybe just maybe they where the wrong type of communist's! either way they loose and the fascists win! now this is getting a bit long so I think ill summarize the rest of this. while both the French and English fascist won together. that doesn't mean that they are together. they are both not very fond of eachother. while they are both on the same side the same fascist independent Canada. both the French and English side are pretty much their own separate country's basically in every way but name. under the same banner but often at odds with eachother! a thin union but still a union! and more or less how I described Canada going down is more or less how I imagine all of Brittan's other colony's going down. following in Canada's footsteps. first it would be India! (or the British raj) than South Africa than Australia and New Zealand! I'm sure not everywhere under Brittan's control would fall (I'm pretty sure that the could contain or quell some of the smaller areas like Jamaica etc.) but most would! and the empire would be a pitiful excuse of what it once was! now I think this could have very many outcomes! would Brittan try to get their empire back? that would be a lot of recorces and man power that they couldn't go towards stopping and Germans or protecting France! or they could completely "give up" on either of the 2 sides focus on retaking there colony's accentually leavening France (and the rest of Europe) to the Germans and try to gather up their old land. Or do the complete opposite! accentually leaving the colony's for dead or as a "lost cause" and try to fight off the Germans! with a lot less ally's and a LOT less rescores. and don't get me started on the USA! something tells me that they probably wouldn't take too kindly to a fascist or fascist allied neighbor! What about a fascist Australia working with japan? they would decimate south/ south east Asia! and that's not even talking about if India also joins in! ok I think I should stop now and I think I just realized I may have made an AU by accident! (woops?) anyway lore aside I would kind of like to see a game where you play as maybe Britain? or maybe France? where all of Britains major colonies/dominions slowly revolt into fascists like one year or like 6 months after one another right after ww2 happens (aka when Germany declares war or Poland) being either France trying to survive "basically" alone against a monsters Germany could be fun and a pretty interesting with a distracted Britain. or play as Britain deciding on weather or how to bring back your former empire while also trying to possibly protect France or just the end goal of liberating France from the Germans and defeating them while choosing if you even want or can save your former empire. i think there isn't too many rules to this challenge (or whatever you want to call it) just one cant side with the Germans (kind of defends the purpose) and 2 play on hard mode or the hardest mode Or just heavily beef up Germany! and have all of the British colony's revolt and take over one after another (again idk if this a way to do this in the game or not) anyway that's just my idea! don't know if its any good or not just really thought it up just now tbh. but I hope you like it! and it wasn't too confusing or anything (I suck at writing) but I would like to hear your thoughts on it in the comments! (if anyone is even reading this...) and would be a cool challenge for Stakuyi to do! Again would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

I would like to see you do more of this with mods like Rt56 or others.

This narrative/alt-history stuff is really cool, I'm looking forwards to seeing more of it :) For a next video, you could do "What if Edward VIII had not resigned?"

Love that version of video

Nice way to go!

Interesting! Thanks for checking this out. Now, what if the Netherlands joined the Axis would be wild.

MORE OF THIS I LOVE THIS

18:20 Fitting how a collaborationist France would name a ship class after a type of bread invented by Austrians in Austrian territory of what is now part of France.

There's another matter of the French Canadians outside of Quebec. Regulation 17 was something major that was still in law at the time, even if it wasn't as enforced as it was in WW1, because the threat of a Civil War right after WW1 would have caused a lot of trouble for Canada and the British Empire.

Love this new series and more historical "roleplaying". For a suggestion: What if the Spanish Communists won and fought with the Soviets against Germany.

What if Pilsudski’s intermarium was formed before the german invasion. (Rush Poland to become a major and then go down that focus tree).

What if the Stresa Front never collapsed / was revitalized. Fed. Rep. Austria was also fascist to attempt to ally Italy against Germany, and that alliance worked until the Stresa Front collapsed and Italy needed new allies. Italy even gave a verbal garantee of Austrian independence.

I would recommend reading the Destroyermen books. They have a very interesting what if scenario that's hinted at at one point where France went Fascist and led a fascist alliance that also included Germany, Italy, and Spain. We end up meeting them about halfway through the series as a naval task force of this "Confédération d'États Souverains" that was sent to capture the Suez ends up getting sucked into the world of the story.

Video idea (idk if u did this already): what if italy didn't betray the central powers in ww1?

Not sure if you would be interested in this, but the Great War mod for Hoi4 is pretty good. For that one I'd like to pose: What if the Dutch actually got involved in WW1? I'll let you decide which side it would have historically made more sense for them to take (; Thanks for a cool and interesting concept for a series of videos!

What if Portugal backed republican Spain? (The communist path for Portugal is underrated imo, I’d love to see you cover it and do some totally not imperialism with it)

Would be fun to hear more about what if Scandinavian survived then split up

You could also do the Netherlands path that leads to the creation of the European Union.

I would love to see a what If William Wain Prior got his will. he was the Danish Highest commanding officer, and he wanted to make Denmark ready to Defend itself, though the Danish Government was against it due to not wanting to anger Germany. Wain Prior actually ended up resigning when Denmark capitulated, allegedly cursing the weak government as he left, though he did support Democracy.

THANK YOU!

That was fun!

I like this kind of gameplay!

After being stiffed at the treaty of Versailles I could see Japan turning their eye to America's Pacific islands and possibly even Alaska after they're finished with mainland Asia

How about the streasta front on the French focus tree that would be awesome to hear

One of my favourite playthroughs comes from a what if scenario... that being "what if German democracy opposed a certain moustachioed a-hole". After a very brief civil war, which was surprisingly easily, Germany ended up forming NATO with Russia, USA & France against Great Britain. Italy tried it's luck against a reformed Germany at its height with their allies... however their luck was very short lived.

Date for release of this video maybe is not the best, but narrative part is interesting as alternate history always is

German tanks in the beginning of the war had radios, or at least the commanding tank had a one-way radio to all the tanks in the platoon, while the French were still using signal flags for most of their armored forces. This along with the fact that the Germans tried their best to put themselves into a situation where several of their own tanks would only face 1 or 2 French tanks, along with the Panzer 1 and 2's superior speed, it made it easy to flank and confuse the enemy tanks. It's quite a genius tactic, like bees swarming a wasp.

what if stakuyi actually finished the Kaiserredux series

Love the idea of a series like this! So I'll add my bit: What if Puyi had a midlife crisis and decided to claim the mandate of heaven and rule over all Chinese territories, overthrowing the Japanese?

Here's one: What if Edward VIII refused to abdicate? Its a fun tech tree and from what I remember there's a lot to get into historically

I love mixing history Hoi4 I hope you do more of these style videos. My suggestion is the British ones of facism or monarchism, facism being the more realistic however the focuses being less so as Oswold loved the nono German's leader

Please have this new ALT history be a new series!!! EDIT: i would lovw to see you play as italy and do a "what if hitler actually trusted mussolini" aka using the timefanes of WW2, being more prepped, corrunated attacks, etc because as we know, Hitler kinda left Italy in the dark when it came to the war and what the plans were

What if Italy was competent? Or at least had the time to prepare that they thought they had

I watch ur videos while sleep (I like ur voice)

You should continue this scenario and have the French take back Mexico, Louisiana and possibly expand Into South America 😂

What Ifs in history I'd like to see your point of view What if Trotsky came to power instead of Stalin What if Victor Emanuel authorized the army to shoot at the black shirts What if Mosley became the Prime Minister of Britain Not necessarily in game, but more in historical context, or just hearing your opinion Another what if I sometimes think about, but don't know of, if Peter II of Yugoslavia managed to stay in power after WW2

Hey there is a mod name Vive Le Republique where it changes France Radically, you should try it out someday!

Would love to see you do this but with mods like Millennium Dawn

This is video 14 of asking Stakuyi to play as the Neo-Hazrumenian Empire in Equestria at War. You need to start out as the “Republic” of Tobuck. Rush down the right side of the focus tree towards the “The Exiled Royal” focus. After that, let the warlord suspicion tick down, and you’ll be set.

I love these what if stories! here are some of my favorites what if spain had actually gotten more involved in world war 2 cuz the civil war wasnt as bloody or brutal? what if germany had instead focused on the balkans instead of france to pave the way into russia and blitz them? what if the zimmerman telegram hadn't been intercepted? what if india rose up in communism or fascism to overthrow their british monarchs? could we be looking at an indian empire splitting china with japan? what if Siam actually picked a side? What if the soviet union attacked poland early? what if canada went fascist or communist and faced an intervention from the US? would the US even consider intervening?

Fun fact: fascism was really popular among French settlers in Algeria. However, it never effectively connected with mainland fascism because the latter wanted power over the colonies, while colonial fascists wanted more autonomy and power over the indigenous populace.

I'd love to see a What if for the Victoria Louise path

This is amazing could you do one like this but with Mexico

Rather dead than a collaborationist, The true Nation of Freedom shall not be fascist 🦅🦅🦅

Small note it was the British who scuttled the French fleet after the surrender of the nation, any French ship that was in the English Channel was fired on by the Royal Navy. Many with French sailors still on board.

I got two what if scenario, first one is what if France and Britain refused to hand over Czechoslovakia and second one is what if the Chinese decided to Japan territorial concessions to Japan following the Marco Polo Bridge incident.

Man, as a naval history buff, especially WWII, the thought of a combined Kriegsmarine/Regia Marina/Marine Nationale force gives me shivers.

I like this it was fun.

Okay... Fantastic video as always stak, but my curiosity made me wanna ask: at around the 26 minute mark, i noticed a request from the Americans asking for what appeared to be Military Access, based on the icon. They would likely only do that if they were involved in a war on the same side as the Axis, which makes me think it's against the Soviets. Did they guarantee Finland before Stalin attacked them or something, since world tension had already long since passed 100%?

Thia is such an interesting idea. I would love to see a world where Mussolini consolidates control over the balkans and Mediterranean. Perhaps Benito protects Austria, or he assembles a coalition against Yugoslavia

Hi Spanish here, the Franco Dictatorship was defined by the National Catholicisim. That was the ideology of his regime.

Fraxis is soo strong lol, France have a seriously strong starting position and if only their neighbour were not called 'germany'...