How to declare war in Hearts of Iron 4

Hearts of Iron 4 is a very detailed World War 2 simulator that will see the player doing so much more than directing warfare. Despite being a game of war, you must contend with other factors such as diplomacy, economy, infrastructure, and legalities. Unlike other war games, war cannot simply be declared. There are some things you must do before you can wage war with your neighbors. Here is how to declare war in Hearts of Iron 4.

How to declare war in Hearts of Iron 4

Like in real life, you cannot simply declare war. There are a number of factors that come into play, mostly influenced by your nation’s political make-up.

Firstly, the war must be justified. This is the act of making your people agree with the war, as if they don’t agree, they won’t fight.

To start your justification, you must select your target nation’s diplomacy screen. There will be a number of options available to you. At the top is ‘declare war’ and ‘justify war goal.’

Before you are allowed to declare war, you must justify your war goal, which will have different prerequisites depending on your nation.

Totalitarian countries can justify a war goal no matter the world tension. This reflects the fact that leaders of totalitarian regimes are not held accountable by the people, so can do whatever they want.

Non-aligned countries require the world tension to be at least 50%. As they don’t have a stake in World War 2, this resembles the country taking advantage of the world’s chaos.

Related: How to Increase Manpower in Hearts of Iron 4

Democratic countries need the world tension to be at 100%, as war for such countries must be the last resort else the public won’t allow it.

Once you can justify your war goal, you must select the reason and extent of your goal.

The justification will take a certain number of days to get the people behind your cause. As soon as the goal has been justified, you must act quickly, otherwise you will lose support and have to justify your goal all over again. Additionally, your people will trust you a little less.

Keep an eye on Gamer Journalist for more gaming and Hearts of Iron 4 content, such as how to perform a naval invasion.