[h2]The German Empire[/h2]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/1wQ6kU1.png[/img]

Map:
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[img]https://i.imgur.com/tcbzwKS.png[/img]
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Leader: Wilhelm IV

History: 
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	The German Empire was one of very few to make it through the Great War having gained something. The Russian Surrender in 1917 saw Eastern Poland and the Baltic shift into German control, and allowed Germany to throw everything at the Western front. However, nearly 6 months later, Austria started to lose traction, and Kaiser Wilhelm feared they would capitulate if something wasn't done. 1/3 of the German Army in Belgium was redirected South, to aid the Austrian army, and provide them with proper leadership. The strain on the Western front caused by the shift in the army eventually led to the French managing a successful push into Belgium in 1918, where the trenches would sit until the end of the war. Many Germans blamed the weak Austrian army for their failure to win the war, which is a sentiment that many still hold to this day.

	Once the war was over, Germany was in shambles. The only thing that kept it's economy from collapsing in on itself was the sale of stockpiled military equipment and lease of mercenary forces to the White Army in Russia, to aid them in their civil war. 

	Back at home, soldiers had returned to their homes, only to be drafted into work at factories, farms, and construction. The state promised that once the economy stabilized, all veterans would be compensated for everything they went through in the last years of the war. That promise was enough motivation to keep them all hard at work for a good while, while the state frantically tried to find a way to keep their promise. Around this time, revolts started to appear in the larger German colonies due to lack of support from home. The most notable was that of Paul von Letow-Vorbeck in Tanganyika, who, with nearly the whole of the colonial army at his back, overthrew the colonial governor and titled himself “The Kaiser in Africa.” 

	The German state tried it's best to keep news of Vorbeck turning traitor out of the public eye, but it, of course, eventually made it's way to them. At nearly the same time, the mercenaries from Russia returned home, refusing to keep dying for another country. They also brought word with them that their side was losing, and the Russian money was no longer coming in. The flood of all this information at once led the populace to the same conclusion: Nobody was getting their compensation. They fought, died, and were now slaving away for nothing. The state lied. The Kaiser lied. At this point, they turned to a man who was speaking out against the state, and who had never failed them during the war. August von Mackensen. As more and more people rallied behind him, the Kaiser feared the worst, and ordered the assassination of von Mackensen in 1931. The assassin failed, however, and was captured. After a brief interrogation, he outed the Kaiser. The following year, the Kaiser was found dead in his office, rifle wound in his back, and the window shattered. Despite never finding the shooter,  Mackensen was blamed, and, two days later, the German Civil War began.

	Many regard the German Civil War as being even more horrendous than the Great War, as it pitted Germans who were tired of fighting against each other. It was a necessary war, that forced men to do many, many unnecessary things. To make matters worse, about four months in, the Poles and Lithuanians rebelled, demanding independence from the broken German state. The Empire nearly buckled, but a successful guerrilla operation in Bavaria lead by Wilhelm IV resulted in the death of von Mackensen. The Prince was captured, but managed to escape a couple months later during a raid staged by his brother. With their figurehead dead, and their last chance at victory at the negotiating table freed, the disorganized rebels quickly fell apart and surrendered, ending the Civil War on October 1935. The Germans took back Poland the following Summer, but found they reached their limit and had to stop their advance before they got around to the Baltic. Poland was designated a protectorate of the Empire, allowed mostly full autonomy so as to prevent another rebellion form emerging.

	Between 1937 and 1956, Germany was focused solely on recovering from nearly 20 years of devastation. It holed up, and shut itself away from the world for the most part, only really interacting with essential trade partners, and it's neighbors. It wasn't until the death of Wilhelm III, and the ascension of Wilhelm IV that the empire truly saw life breathed into it again.

	In 1957, on the 20th anniversary of the German Recovery period, Wilhelm marched German troops into Lithuania, aiming to reassert German hegemony over the territory. The Lithuanians fell within a week, and the Kaiser ordered the troops to continue North until they found the coast, taking Kurland from a broken Latvia as well. With his show of force accomplished, Wilhelm named the Baltic State a client state of the Empire. New flags were drawn up for both the Baltic and Poland, representing both their subservience to the German Empire, and their autonomous nature. 

	The fall of Russia has reigned in a whole new set of problems for Germany. Large amounts of Russian nationals enter Poland and the Baltic every day, searching for refuge and stability away from the horrors of their home. The visage of order that is the German state serves as a stark contrast to the lawless waste sitting at it's Eastern border. That same visage, however, also draws in a variety of criminals who simply want to take from the German territories, before escaping back home and disappearing into the lawless wastes. Because of this, Wilhelm IV has started plotting ways to bring order back to the East, however long it may take, for the security, and prosperity, of the German people.
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[img]https://i.imgur.com/y0OcFdK.png[/img][img]https://i.imgur.com/fKYKpOf.png[/img]