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| — Description of forming Holy Roman Empire |
The Holy Roman Empire is a formable of 
Austria and 
Liechtenstein. It covers Central Europe 
and a bit of the Balkans (
Slovenia). It is a medium difficulty formable since you not only need to survive 
Germany, but also to invade it and take other stronger countries.
Background[]
The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in Western and Central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. The largest territory of the empire after 962 was the Kingdom of Germany, though it also included the neighboring Kingdom of Bohemia and Kingdom of Italy, plus numerous other territories, and soon after the Kingdom of Burgundy was added. However, while by the end of the 15th century the Empire was still in theory composed of three major blocks – Italy, Germany, and Burgundy – in practice only the Kingdom of Germany remained, with the Burgundian territories lost to France and the Italian territories, ignored in the Imperial Reform, although formally part of the Empire, were splintered into numerous de facto independent territorial entities. The external borders of the Empire did not change noticeably from the Peace of Westphalia – which acknowledged the exclusion of Switzerland and the Northern Netherlands, and the French protectorate over Alsace – to the dissolution of the Empire. By then, it largely contained only German-speaking territories, plus the Kingdom of Bohemia, the southern Netherlands and lands of Carniola. At the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, most of the Holy Roman Empire was included in the German Confederation.
The exact term "Holy Roman Empire" was not used until the 13th century, before which the empire was referred to variously as universum regnum ("the whole kingdom", as opposed to the regional kingdoms), imperium christianum ("Christian empire"), or Romanum imperium ("Roman empire"), but the Emperor's legitimacy always rested on the concept of translatio imperii, that he held supreme power inherited from the ancient emperors of Rome. The dynastic office of Holy Roman Emperor was traditionally elective through the mostly German prince-electors, the highest-ranking noblemen of the empire; they would elect one of their peers as "King of the Romans" to be crowned emperor by the Pope, although the tradition of papal coronations was discontinued in the 16th century.
The empire never achieved the extent of political unification as was formed to the west in France, evolving instead into a decentralized, limited elective monarchy composed of hundreds of sub-units: kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, prince-bishoprics, Free Imperial Cities, and other domains. The power of the emperor was limited, and while the various princes, lords, bishops, and cities of the empire were vassals who owed the emperor their allegiance, they also possessed an extent of privileges that gave them de facto independence within their territories. Emperor Francis II dissolved the empire on 6 August 1806 following the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine by Emperor Napoleon I the month before.
Base Statistics[]
The population of the H.R.E. is 56,062,423 people. The economy of the H.R.E. is an impressive 3,059,097 million dollars of income every turn, assuming you keep everything at base stat. This economy mostly comes from the taxes, with only a small portion coming from the resources (mainly 
Oil). If the Country Rankings were at base stats, the H.R.E. would have 8th place in the rankings. Assuming you form the Holy Roman Empire, you will have a nice supply of manpower and a high budget, something that most European countries want. The H.R.E has a total of 136 cities.
Resources[]
The Holy Roman Empire does not have many resources, however its most notable resources are its 
Tungsten and Oil.
 Copper
|
+1.22 |
|---|---|
 Iron
|
+2.33 |
 Oil
|
+30.92 |
 Phosphate
|
+0.66 |
 Tungsten
|
+2.22 |
Military[]
The Holy Roman Empire has a manpower capacity of 1,127,842. Its starting nations all start on volunteer conscription, and once formed, it will be as strong militarily as 
France and 
Britain combined, If you want to go further, You can switch to Limited and get 2,819,605 which is alot of manpower.
| Disarmed [1% RP] |
|
|---|---|
| Volunteer [2% RP] |
|
| Limited [5% RP] |
|
| Extensive [10% RP] |
|
| Required [25% RP] |
Geography[]
The only terrain types in the Holy Roman Empire are the Mountainous terrain and Hilly terrain. of both Switzerland and Austria, with Slovenia having some hills too. The H.R.E. has no special biomes other than the Winter Variants. Its territories in Switzerland and western Austria are mostly Mountainous. North-eastern Switzerland and Slovenia, however, is Hilly. The rest of the lands in the Holy Roman Empire are flat. During winter, all Holy Roman territories get affected by Mild Winter.
Threats[]
There are quite a few threats here. First of all, Germany most likely does not want you to annex them, and they start out with an upper hand, on top of that, you are needed for the 
Frankish Empire, and even if they don't want to form, they may still annex you for expansion, though you can often ally them. This same thing applies to France. France or the U.K may take the Benelux area as well, which is needed to form. Another threat to Austria, though relatively underplayed, is 
Hungary invading them to form 
Austro-Hungarian Empire, but Austria tends to be able to defend itself from Hungary, or even invade them instead.
Strategy[]
As 
Austria[]
The first thing you should do is ally Germany. They usually accept, but if they refuse, ally some other nearby European countries like France, United Kingdom, 
Italy, and 
Russia. Form the Austro-Hungarian Empire first. Conquer other needed countries and become strong enough to defeat Germany. If you ally Germany, break ties with it. Then, conquer other remaining countries will be easy after you form the Austro-Hungarian Empire. If you want to form it without forming Austro-Hungarian Empire then do. Form the Holy Roman Empire after you have the required countries. Try to ask France not to invade Benelux. If they refuse and Germany is your ally, ask them for help unless you think you can take on France.
As Liechtenstein[]
Immediately justify on Switzerland and Austria. If they are a player, spam infantry and build a recruitment center and develop city and electronics factory in your only city. Stack up mp to buy artillery, and then switch your doctrine to massed attack, and go on limited conscription. You should be able to blitzkrieg both countries. Take Slovenia and Czechia afterwards, and wait for all your territories to integrate. Now you must face the big strong Germany. If they conquered the benelux, you are in luck. Spam a whole bunch of tanks and artillery, and blitz them like no one ever has. If Germany never conquered Benelux, you're either going to have to grab it by force, or negotiate for it. Either is fine. If you actually have Benelux, you are done.
Trivia[]
- Liechteinstein can form the Holy Roman Empire because it used to be a member of the HRE, and the House of Liechtenstein that still rules Liechtenstein today, has ties to the HRE.
- It was referred to by the Nazis as the First Reich (hence the German Reich being called the Third Reich).
- The German Reich lasted twelve years despite being called the Thousand Year Reich. Ironically, the Holy Roman Empire actually did last a thousand years.
- One of its capitals, Aachen, was destroyed during the war in the battle of Aachen. Despite being strategically unimportant, it was spiritually important to Hitler, and consequently the battle for the city became known as "America's Stalingrad" due to the high casualties and grueling battling.
- The German Reich lasted twelve years despite being called the Thousand Year Reich. Ironically, the Holy Roman Empire actually did last a thousand years.
- ↑ The following columns below present the manpower capacity from lowest (Disarmed) to highest (Required). RP stands for Recruitable Population.