Italy is not able to create factions as a fascist power, but must wait for a larger power (Russia, Germany, Britain, America, or perhaps France) to adopt the ideology before forging a strong military alliance.Ī rather vanilla tree as always, the Italian liberal tree focuses on Italy building herself up to prevent being overtaken in warfare, and perhaps to prevent the losses she saw in WWI again altogether. Other branches within this tree allow Italy to build up a strong army and navy, to gain national bonus modifiers, and to solidify the fascists’ control of the country. The player is able to go down a tree of territorial claims to gain the possibility of taking that land, with later claims more difficult to obtain than earlier ones. The fascist path of the Italian focus tree is largely inspired by the real-life ambitions of fascist Italy, in creating an empire from Corsica to Cyprus in Europe, and from Tunisia to Kenya in Africa. A few more focuses later, and the tree splits into the two paths available to the player.

Once the Biennio Rosso modifier is added to Italy, the player has three options: supporting the right against the rise of communism (which later unlocks the fascist path), supporting the center against the rise of communism (which later unlocks the liberal path), and doing nothing (which leads to a civil war against Communist Italy). The first few years of the Italian tree are devoted to modelling the “Biennio Rosso,” a period of violence where Italy was verging on Communist Revolution, and the Italian government’s response to it. The Italian tree only allows for the player to choose capitalism or fascism, but it takes a while for the player to reach that point. After many drafts and delays, the Italian focus tree has finally been fully planned out!

Hoi4 italy focus tree