This week we will be going over all the diplomatic and otherwise options you have for affecting other nations. Diplomacy ties into a lot of stuff so expect links to previous diaries for all the nitty gritty! Lets go through all the diplomatic actions available...One of the goals for HOI4 was to break free factions from ideologies and let players create their own. Ideology of creator will still matter for the factions special rules and bonuses and who will want to join it (for example being part of a fascist led faction let you declare war on anyone as long as you are already in war).To create a faction a nation who doesn't start with one needs to take a national focus giving them the ability to do so. Some focuses also sets up factions directly (like France ability to create the Little Entente with the Czechs ). Even minors can make factions if they unlock the right focuses. If you make your own you are free to name it and will be its leader. Nations can leave factions in a few situation: Being Couped, leaving on their own (only works if they haven't joined a war together) or some special focus and events. This means that in general, once you have joined a faction you are an ally that can be trusted.To declare war agaisnt someone you need a valid war goal (no matter how falsified). Fascist's special power is that they only need a valid war goal for their first declaration and may continue to declare wars as long as they are at war after that which let them act much more swiftly. Democracies are limited in that they can't justify war goals against someone who has generated no world tension. Having a wargoal is useful once the war is over as it makes demanding those claims during the peace deal cheaper compared to your allies. You can also get war goals from national focuses in special situations, which bypasses all rules.For HOI4 it's possible to offer to surrender assuming the war has gone on long enough. Terms are set by the winners in this case, but needs to be approved by the surrendering nation. This is different from an unconditional surrender which is what happens when your nation get occupied past the limit set by its national unity. You can read more about peace conferences in this diary This is the main tool for democracies trying to stop expansionist powers. By guaranteeing someone's independence you are called into war to protect them no matter what the world tension is (The actual guarantee requires at least 25% tension). Guaranteeing someone cost political power and these get (a lot) more expensive the more guarantees you have so carpeting europe is not a particularly good option.Like in most paradox games, this lets you move troops in a nation's territory, but not attack from there. Airbase and naval base access requires factions and military access is not enough for this.Similar to EU4, you can spend political power to smooth talk other nations. This will help getting them in factions or in trade.A non aggression pact between you and another nation will stop you both from declaring wars. When first enacted you have 12 months where it can not be broken. After that it can be broken if they have a lot fewer units than you on your mutual border. The exact amount of troops required to ensure it's not breakable will get progressively smaller to break over time.There are several ways to help allies, or tip the balance in neutral wars. See this diary for all the details.You can spend political power to affect the popularity of parties in other nations. It's much less powerful than say enacting a minister in your own nation for that purpose, but it means that you can shift nations closer to you or set things up for a future coupBy spending political power and equipment you can set up a coup in a foreign nation. The size of the resulting civil war depends on several things: Their national Unity, the power of the ideology you are supporting and the amount of equipment delivered. For those worried there are ministers and national focuses available to make yourself safer from foreign tampering like this.For more info check out this diary on civil wars & coups check out this diary It's possible to give control of occupied territory to others on your side in wars as well. We will talk more about this in the next diary where we talk about occupation and resistance movements.Then finally I am happy to let you know that our Beta submission was approved yesterday, so we are now officially in Beta. I can't give you any release dates yet, but this is one of the last big steps to nailing one down and saying that the project is on course.Anyway, we have been working on HOI4 for a long time so you can imagine that this feels really great, and we plan to celebrate with beers and cigars tonight as is appropriate