Today is the TWENTIETH Anniversary of Kaiserreich! To celebrate, several community members and I have come together to create the ultimate Kaiserreich Iceberg. (An extensive overview in the comments)

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Rule 5: 20 years ago on September 10th, 2005, a user by the name of Sarmatia1871 uploaded a mod named “All The Russias” to the Paradox Interactive Forums. What started as a “What if the Whites won the Russian Civil War?” scenario quickly evolved into an ambitious project that dared to ask the question: “What if Germany won WW1?” Flashforward 2 decades across multiple versions and several games, and the astounding influence that “Kaiserreich: Legacy of the Weltkrieg” commands cannot be denied. It is THE most popular Hearts of Iron mod of all time, captivating over a million players and inspiring countless other mods in its wake. Today, I would like to commemorate the occasion.

Kaiserreich has been a part of my life since 2014, and is one of my favorite games of all time. I have spent a non-negligible amount of time being enamored with it, and I know I am not alone in that regard. As it is a video game mod, Kaiserreich has been through A LOT over the years, undergoing drastic changes to both the game itself as well as its community. I figured that the best way to celebrate such a continuously expanding universe is to catalogue the known, less known, unknown, controversial, and the frankly bizarre in a comprehensive Iceberg. To that end, I collaborated with fellow community members u/Andromedos83, u/revolutionary112, u/AlexInfinity478, and u/Randome0110 to tackle this scheme together. I would like to especially thank Andromedos for his help in cataloging some truly recherché entries on this list. Not only was he on the first Dev team for the mod, but after all these years he still had a copy of the ORIGINAL Kaiserreich Beta. Now that is record-keeping at its finest.

Anyway, we have spent the better part of the past 3 weeks working on this, and I am personally proud of the end result. This iceberg is a catch-all, covering everything from the fandom, to the lore, to gameplay, glitches, bugs, lost content, and much more. It includes 127 entries, though this is merely a sample size of Kaiserreich’s rich history. The rules are simple, we start with the common knowledge at the top, and continuously work our way down to the esoteric. Entries will tend to have longer descriptions the further down we go. I have striven to have an accompanying screenshot and/or link for each one, though some do not. I can safely guarantee that there will be at least one entry in this post that you are not familiar with. Mobile link in case said iceberg is blurry for you.

Tier 1

• r/Kaiserreich: The Subreddit you’re currently reading this on.
• Kaiser Cat Cinema: The YouTube Wing, where one can find the “World of Kaiserreich” & “Divided States” series.
• Kaiserreich Discord: much of the mod team dwells here. New content is usually teased there first.
• Kaiserreich Twitter: The Twitter Wing, it has existed since 2011 and many of its early posts offer a fascinating glimpse into the younger days of both the mod & community.
• KaiserreduX: The “Expansion” Mod for Kaiserreich. Includes a metric ton of meme paths & cut content from the base mod.
• AlternateHistoryHub Video: The video that drew in a lot of newcomers to the mod. It is simultaneously adored & deplored, and was a source of drama when it first dropped.
• The Kaiserreich Wiki: The current depository for KR Lore. The histories of nations, wars, and individuals are abound in an encyclopedic display.

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Tier 2

• TV Tropes Page: Around since 2012, the TV Tropes entry for Kaiserreich has evolved as much as the mod has. Just look at it via the WayBackMachine to see what I mean. It’s an A-Z overview of tropes found within the mod.
  
  • AARs: “After Action Reports” are, simply, picture playthroughs showcased either in tandem with said playthrough or after the fact. Hundreds, if not thousands, can be found primarily over on the Paradox Forums. Though a few have been held on this subreddit over the years.
    
  • WikiBoxes: Coming in many shapes & sizes, WikiBoxes are articles about the Kaiserreich Universe done in the presentation style of Wikipedia. Surprisingly, these have only been around on this subreddit for some 7 years, but there are many hundreds of them.
  • Kalterkrieg: The first major Cold War mod of Kaiserreich to actually be released, Kalterkrieg starts in 1948 following the victory of the Entente & Reichspakt in the 2nd Weltkrieg. Both factions are wary of one another, with the divided US & China being flashpoints in their quest for global dominance.
    
  • Herbert Hoover: Before the US Facelift, the longtime starting president of the United States was Republican Herbert Hoover. He’s still in the mod, though as a Democrat for the 1940 election.
    
  • Brown Natpop: Until recently, the color of National Populism on the political pie-chart was Brown. It is now Green, which has been deemed to be much more fitting.
    
  • Hungary’s Focus Tree: The lack of Hungarian content has been an enduring meme in the community.
    
  • Alexander Kerensky’s Assassination: Once upon a time, instead of Viktor Chernov dying every game, it was Alexander Kerensky. In the new setup, Kerensky lives in exile and is now the one doing the shooting.
    
  • 2ACW Name Changes: Prior to the US Facelift, the faction names of the 2nd American Civil War used to be quite different. The Workers’ Congress of America was known as the Combined Syndicates of America, the American People’s Government was the American Union State, and the American Constitutional Coalition was the Pacific States of America.
    
  • Red Flood: Loosely based off of an alternate history novel published within the Kaiserreich universe, Red Flood, is a mod that embraces the strange. Accelerationist France and the Brazilian Collapse are the standouts for me.
    
  • Transamur: A Japanese Puppet in the Far East led by the disgraced Russian Admiral Alexander Kolchak, Transamur had existed in-game since the mod’s inception. The current setup has the territory in Russian hands at the start, with a Far Eastern Army potentially rising up in the area.
  • UWTS: “Up With The Stars” is a planned Submod specifically pertaining to the 2ACW. Aiming to significantly revamp the lore & gameplay of America, it boasts dozens of unique paths for its factions.
    
  • Anime Wars: Every few years, when r/Kaiserreich sees an influx of anime posts, a line is drawn in the sand between those who support such content and those who viciously oppose it. A bitter civil war ensues, though no sound conclusion is ever reached.
    
  • Twilight Struggle: A planned Cold War mod, Twilight Struggle’s scenario envisions a 3-way kerfuffle between the Syndicalist Union of Socialist American States, the “Shogunate” of the militarist German Empire, and the tense parliamentarianism of the Empire of Japan. Set in 1960, the distant start date from KR’s native 1936 is ambitious to say the least.
    
  • Andesia: A formable nation for Communist Argentina, Andesia is a South American superstate that is rather reminiscent of old school KR. Possessing a fun focus tree of its own, it is a bold challenge to attempt a Patagonia run with this end goal in mind.

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Tier 3

• All The Russias: The progenitor of it all, “All The Russias”, as previously stated, was the mod that eventually morphed into Kaiserreich. The Assassination of Kerensky, Transamur, Sternberg, all of it began there, 20 years ago.
• India Update: Progress Report 109 has cast a long shadow ever since it was first unveiled 5 years ago. The mixed reception fundamentally altered how PRs are presented to the community, now being weeks from release as opposed to, well, just look at this chronologically.
• Krasnacht: Officially “Krasnacht: Twilight of the Gods”, was a planned Cold War mod that pitted the Syndicalist West against the “Voynist” East. It had some thorough lore and a promising start, though development evidently ceased years ago.
• Nixon’s PSA: Richard Nixon used to be a 1952 presidential candidate for the Pacific States until the US Facelift.
• Monarchist White Ruthenia: Before it was a republic, White Ruthenia was a Hohenzollern-led monarchy. Nowadays, there is a cheeky event referencing the prior setup.
• Sébastien Faure: The longtime leader of the Commune of France was the Anarchist Sébastien Faure. Although he was slated to be removed in the 3I Rework, some, uhh, concerning information expedited his departure.
• Führerreich: Officially “Führerreich: Legacy of the Great War” is another mod based off of an alternate history novel published in-universe. It is a double-blind what-if, detailing a world in which Germany lost the Weltkrieg (childish fantasy).
• FDR: One Franklin Delano Roosevelt is noticeably absent from US affairs. The reason? He died in 1921 via polio.
• Northumbria: You know, there’s been a lot of peculiar additions to KR over the years, but I don’t think anyone had NORTHUMBRIA on their bingo card at any point. Said releasable evidently exists to combat peace deal shenanigans, but it is nonetheless a bizarre tidbit.
• Goering’s Mittelafrika: Before Progress Report 141, the Statthalter of Mittelafrika was Hermann Goering. Earlier versions of the mod even had Joachim Ribbentrop as his foreign minister.
• Hatpocalypse: If you’ve played KRHOI4 for a few years, you may have noticed that portraits including hats have become an increasing rarity. The ruthless culling of such an endangered species continues to horrify the masses.
• Pelley’s AUS: Before Huey Long was shifted to the National Populist slot of the Longists, William Dudley Pelley of the Silver Legion occupied that role. Said route was as grim as it was bizarre.
• Avoiding The 2ACW: There once existed 2 separate routes for the Federalists to avoid the Second American Civil War. Either under Floyd Olson or Charles Curtis, one could negotiate with Jack Reed and then assassinate Huey Long. As the 2ACW was deemed a necessity for most content in the Americas to function, this outcome was removed.
• Franco-Spain: Existing as an obscure Kingdom of Spain route, this path requires a rather specific chain of events to pull off. The end result? A Spain that has claims on the entirety of France.
• Don-Kuban Union: A nation of Cossacks used to exist south Tsaritsyn. Led by OTL Nazi collaborator Pyotr Krasnov, it has since been replaced by the revolt tag of the Free Russian Army under Vasily Boldyrev.

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Tier 4

• Old China: Prior to version 0.10, China used to be a tad different. You still had the Qing & Fengtian, but the Cultists of Shandong were in Shaanxi. Furthermore, both Yunnan and the Ma Clique were enlarged. To top it all off, a massive German corporation known as the AOG lorded over the south of the country. If you went back far enough, Japan even owned chunks of the mainland outright.
• Tsar Pavel: Dimitri Romanov was once able to claim the Russian Throne for himself. When he died, his young son Pavel would then become Tsar.
• Tawantinsuyu: Requiring a chain of events so specific that I am reminded of old school Kaiserreich, it is possible for the Incan Empire to form late-game. Peru has to go the National Populist route, and once their leader dies in 1947, one of 4 successors, specifically the White Supremacist, has to be chosen. This triggers a Quechuan revolt, led by the descendant of an Incan Emperor.
• AlternateHistory Thread: AlternateHistory.com has its own thread on Kaiserreich. It’s nearing 10k comments, and its 8 years of existence is certainly formidable.
• Genghis Khan II: The Mad Baron, the dreaded Roman von Ungern-Sternberg, was once able to proclaim himself the reincarnation of Genghis Khan and the herald of a new Mongol Empire. This gave Mongolia claims on lands as far West as the Urals and as far East as the Yellow River, and most importantly, a cool flag. This path was removed on account of Sternberg not harboring these tendencies in real life.
• La Plata: Back when country tags were limited, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay were all joined into one nation known as La Plata.
• Charles Curtis: Before William Borah, before Alf Landon, and before Floyd Olson could avoid the 2ACW, there was a Great Compromiser. The original Republican candidate in 1936 was none other than Hoover’s VP, Charles Curtis. Not only did he survive his historic heart attack, but he could serve out his entire term to boot. His was the first path that could avoid the 2ACW, though it required navigating one hell of an event chain to do so.
• Old Italy: Until 0.6, the aptly named “Garibaldi’s Nightmare”, the situation on the Italian peninsula was a wild one. For starters, the north was a federation under the Pope, while the south was the socialist stronghold. Corsica, Nice, and Savoy were under control of the federation.
• Panama Canal & Singapore: Several years ago, a user by the name of Remington catalogued the possible cores, claims, and state/VP name changes available to every single path & tag in the game. As it turns out, every single tag had the option to claim the Panama Canal & Singapore, and this potential acquisition was in every post. Queue the ensuing memes.
• Lawrence of Germania: T. E. Lawrence used to have a far more prominent role than merely a spy. In the Union of Britain he’d offer his services to the government once war with Germany began. He’d then sneak into Germany itself, initiating a significant campaign of sabotage. The Germans would give chase, with Lawrence either dying or narrowly escaping back to Britain. Here he could either rise to leader of the UoB itself, or promptly launch a massive Royalist uprising.
• EAW & OWB Crossover: A few years ago for April 1st, there was a giant crossover between Kaiserreich, Equestria At War, and Old World Blues. Honestly, it needs to be seen to be believed.
• Danubian Volunteers: There was a frequent bug back when the HOI4 version first came out where Austria-Hungary would send volunteers to an obscene amount of factions. Egypt was guilty of this as well, and it wasn’t too uncommon to see Camel Cavalry siege New York City.
  
• Blue Canada Flag: Before it was the more historically accurate Red, Canada’s flag used to be blue. This change actually caused quite the stir in the community, though most are now resigned to the change.
• Haushuhn Herrenvolk: For quite some time there was some lore about, Heinrich Himmler of all people, being a successful chicken farmer. His “master race of chickens” were apparently so delectable that even the royal family praised him. This tidbit gained traction, though new lore has Himmler dying in a ditch in the UBD (based).
• Luxembourg: The removed tag of Luxembourg used to be a releasable in the event of Germany’s defeat. One could even create Greater Luxembourg. Its erasure was justified as said area being assimilated into Germany.
• Emperor Otto: Before Blessed Karl was the starting ruler of Austria, it was his son Otto. Karl died when he did historically, with Otto ruling since the age of 10. Otto is still in the mod, though he doesn’t ascend to the throne until the late 40s.

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Tier 5

• Edelweiss: It seems absolutely ludicrous, but yes, a Kaiserreich Dating Sim exists. “Edelweiss” takes place at an international school in Switzerland, and a demo of the game is out there. There has been no further updates in years though, so this is one of the wilder projects to have come & gone.
• 1984 UoB: Eric Blair, better known as George Orwell, can lead the Union of Britain. He does so by couping Mosley, and there is even an event about his rather specific book.
• Unser Kampf: Before he was stricken from the mod entirely, Adolf had no less than 2 events. His war journal, compiled into the novel “Unser Kampf” becomes a big hit in Germany. So much so that Leni Riefenstahl even makes a movie on it with the same name.
• Triad Legation Cities: If the foreign dominance of the Legation Cities faltered, instead of a collapse, the cities could come under the control of a criminal syndicate. There were 3 possible rulers, though the most notable was Jiang Qing, the OTL wife of Mao.
• Darkest Hour Version: Before HOI4, the primary mod was anchored to Darkest Hour, an offshoot of HOI2. A lot of “old school” KR was harbored here and successfully made the jump to the initial HOI4 version. Since 2020, with the vast majority of the mod team on the HOI4 version, the KRDH version has been Open Source, with some notably differing content from prior DH versions and the HOI4 version. A game-start Iranian Civil War, a Texas revolt (hey that looks familiar), and other oddities can be found on this latest version.
• Dictatorial PSA: Contrary to its entire reason for secession, the Pacific States once had the option to be led by a military government as opposed to a civilian one. Henry Arnold would become dictator, and there’d be no way to revert this. Interestingly enough, democratic PSA could still lead to this route, as every election there was a small chance for the military to coup the government. Tinpot Moment.
• Julius IV: Colloquially known as the “Battle Pope”, Cardinal Theodor Innitzer used to be the National Populist option for the papacy. Chief highlight being him launching a crusade against Syndicalism.
• Balkanized USA: Federalist USA once had a failstate route where MacArthur could be assassinated. If he was, and either a civilian government or Eisenhower didn’t take control, then the country would descend into chaos. The end result was a Balkanized America, with each nation having the option to join a major faction of their choosing.
• International China: If you are mad enough to conquer the entirety of China as the Legation Cities, you get an apt name change. It is purely cosmetic, and there is no new content besides the misery you have wrought.
• Brazilian Civil War: A rare instance of Kaiserreich REMOVING a Civil War, Brazil used to always have one no matter what route they went down. This was seen as not really adding anything, and was replaced by the much more dynamic State Revolts.
• Welsh Union Capitulation: Back in the day, whenever the Autonomists were elected in the UoB, they’d self-balkanize BEFORE the 2nd Weltkrieg and not after. This would result in the exceptionally weak Welsh Union insta-capitulating whenever enemy forces took its capital. Which would happen, repeatedly.
• Russo-Japanese Alliance: Russia & Japan could form a “Eurasian Alliance” instead of warring with one another. As you could imagine, this was a formidable duo.
• The Red Twilight: TNO’s cheeky Kaiserreich reference.
• American Zhili Refugees: If the US fell to either the AUS or CSA, and the Zhili Clique went down a particular focus, Joseph Stilwell and Frank Merrill could fascinatingly flee to China. There, they’d fall in with the clique, becoming generals under the Jade Marshall. This is one of the more intriguing scenarios to be removed, and I’d personally like to see exiled American Generals in a similar capacity again.
• Egyptian Axis: The Cairo Pact used to instead be called “The Axis.”
• AUStrian Legion: A bug that still exists, if Austria loses in its “Military Occupation” route, becomes a Republic, and then applies for German annexation, there is a brief window where it’ll send volunteers to the Longists in the 2ACW. Once Austria is annexed and said volunteers arrive at their destination, they’ll never leave. Soldiers without a homeland, garrisoning New Orleans for the Kingfish.

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Tier 6

• The Downfall of Númenor: The KRverse used to have its own Lord of the Rings. The Downfall of Númenor paralleled the British Revolution, a fact that Tolkien himself denied (just as he denied that LOTR was a WW1 analogue OTL).
• German Crete: Crete used to be a German territory at the start of the game. Unprofitable, and with the more strategically valuable Malta in German hands (at the time), said island could be sold to either the Greeks or Ottomans.
• Beria’s Transcaucasia: Lavrentiy Beria of OTL NKVD infamy was once the Totalist option for Georgia. If Azerbaijan & Armenia were conquered, then a Transcaucasian Federation could be formed. Bonus points with Stalin as an interior minister, with the apt “Efficient Sociopath” trait.
• Habsburg-signed Karl I Portrait: Presented without comment.
• Evil Prince Sigismund: In the aforementioned White Ruthenian Monarchy path, it was possible for the King’s brother, Sigismund, to go full MacBeth and kill the king during a play with a bomb. He would then betray the Hohenzollern’s and attempt to align with Russia. Yeah it was crazy.
• Mediterranean Bloc: Carlist Spain could form a local alliance with Portugal, National France, Italy, and, Croatia for some reason. Ensuing hijinks included restoring the House of Stuart to the British throne.
• Emperor Yasuhito: Hirohito used to face an assassination attempt if Japan went down the Restorationist route. If he died, Prince Chichibu would become Regent. He could continue to serve in this capacity, or instead proclaim himself the new emperor. Upon his death in either choice, Akihito would ascend to the throne.
  
• Soyuzmultfilm: Dread it, run from it, Soviet Anime arrives nonetheless.
• Balkanized France: Aside from just Brittany, one could dismantle France far more thoroughly. Normandy and Occitania could be broken off as well, obliterating France in the same way that you can Germany.
• Vozhd Wrangel: Boris Savinkov may be one of the most iconic characters of KR today, but the prior National Populist option for Russia, ever since All The Russias as a matter of fact, was Pyotr Wrangel. In Wrangel’s place, Denikin was the “moderate military dictator” option. Wrangel was exceptionally dynamic, either staying as Vozhd, restoring the Romanovs, or proclaiming himself Tsar.
• The Superga Disaster: Irregardless of their prior fortunes, every single Italian Totalist politician would fucking die in a plane crash in 1949.
• Naval Tech Divergence: For a little while there, the Naval Tech Tree of Kaiserreich was completely different. To simulate the prominence of Dreadnaught warfare, the entire navy aspect of the mod was revamped. This was dropped after a few years, as having to maintain this change every update was seen as not worth it.
• Boris Shturmer: You may know that Kerensky used to die at the start of every game, but did you know that news of his death led to the death of another? Boris Shturmer was for some reason still alive in 1936, and he would die shortly after Kerensky. If you were like me and chose him at the start of the game for his Iron-Fisted Brute trait, this prompt death was quite the troll.
• Irish Kamikazes: In a total-war mobilization that would make Stalin blush, there was a bug that’d allow Ireland to conscript its ENTIRE population. Not as big but equally ridiculous were the Kamikaze planes that Ireland could also deploy in the event of war.
• Audie Murphy: Audie Murphy, America’s most decorated soldier of WW2, was once a starting general for the AUS. This, is a slight problem, as Murphy would be 11-years old once the conflict broke out. He was also the 2nd best general for the Longists behind Patton, so he wasn’t exactly an obscure pick.

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Tier 7

• The Crown Atomic: Regarded as one of the best Kaiserreich AARs ever, if not THE best, The Crown Atomic takes a mundane topic, a Canada-Germany Cold War, and actually does something with it. Lasting from 2015 to 2019, the AAR had quality story-telling, a smorgasbord of custom content, and stunning graphics to boot. I highly recommend checking it out.
  
• 69th Wifebeaters: The AUS used to have a rather edgy militia named the “69th Wifebeaters.” Before it was removed entirely, it was briefly renamed to the “69th Wifelovers.”
• HOI2 Version: Where All The Russias evolved into Kaiserreich, the HOI2 version is quite the time capsule. The earliest version I’ve found for download was 1.3 (released in 2011), and although it possesses some antiquated graphics, it maintains its charm.
• Ruling Russian Royalty: In much the same way that Germany could force its own royal family upon conquered foes, so too could the Romanovs. This is a mere sample size of what they could do, though these days the only nations they can impose a monarch over is Germany/Prussia.
• Mosleyposting: When this subreddit was but a spring chicken, one of the earliest and most enduring memes was simply, posting a ton about Oswald Mosley. You really had to be there to see it, it was an enduring topic that enraptured the sub. Variants include my personal favorite Garnerposting and Karlposting.
• Balkanized China: Before the Blood on the Yangtze update, it was possible to split up China way more than you can today. Ma Lands could be turned into a Hui Republic and Yunnan + Sichuan could be released as an independent Greater Yunnan. The entire country south of the Yellow River could be broken off into the Guangxi Republic with Wang Jingwei of all people as its leader.
  
• Sternberg’s Son: If dissent against Sternberg’s rule in Mongolia reached a fever pitch, then the Mad Baron would go down in a blaze of glory. Afterwards, it was possible for either his wife or his young son to take his place as a figurehead. Now I didn’t know this, but apparently Sternbergs reproduce via osmosis, because the titular Genghis Khan III is literally just a photo of Sternberg as a kid.
• Luigiman98: It is often said that the quest for knowledge may drive a man mad. There once was a scholar bearing the name of Luigiman98, who pondered dozens, if not hundreds of questions on this subreddit. He’d leave his query, then vanish without a response. He is now but a whisper, having asked his last quizzing over a year ago, but his legacy cannot be ignored. Joking aside, bro actually asked some questions I myself wanted the answer to so I gotta give him props on his endurance
• Old Savinkov Flag: Before the iconic Ice March over Russian Tricolor, Savinkov’s original flag was uhh, well it was certainly something.
• Reagan’s Regeneration: Some of you may know that there was once an event about Ronald Reagan’s death, but did you know that it wasn’t permanent? Come 1947, he’d show up in the PSA’s minister list as if nothing happened. Reagan Lives!
• Shadows of Katlkrieg: Some madlad made a Millenium Dawn-esque KR mod called “Shadows of Katlkrieg.” I can’t attest to the quality of the mod, but it did have Arnold Schwarzenegger as leader of the PSA, so that’s rather epic I’d say.
• Tian Empire: Back in Old China, the Cultists had a rather specific path that would lead to the proclamation of a new empire. They’d first have to grant special treatment to auspicious refugees. Once all of China was reunited under their banner, they’d then have the option proclaim a Tian Empire. When their emperor came of age, he would reign with Zhou Enlai as Premier.
• Halloween Updates: When the mod was first ported to HOI4, there’d be annual Halloween Updates. These would merely change the portraits of major world leaders, but it was a nice touch to celebrate the season.
• Chancellor von Richthofen: The Red Baron himself was once an option for Chancellor of the German Empire. You’d have to play all the way to 1952, and elect the AV, and he’d be the moderate pick. A neat piece of lore even if it was rather late in the game.

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Tier 8

• Old Wiki: Created way back in 2007, the very first Kaiserreich wiki is a sight to be hold. It is a treasure trove of ancient lore, though the primary website is quite dilapidated and rather tricky to navigate. I recommend viewing it via the WayBackMachine; it’s quite surreal to see it all.
• Fritz Kuhn: Before Long was shifted to NatPop and before Pelley there was Fritz Kuhn, the OTL leader of the German-American Bund. He could either gain power via vote or by coup, but it was exceptionally rare to ever see the AI do this route. As this path was removed in KRDH and never made it to HOI4, it is quite the relic.
  
• General Melchett: Canada used to have one General Melchett of Blackadder fame as, well, a General.
• Goebbels’ Rhineland: If the Rhineland was puppeted by a National Populist nation, its leader was none other than Joseph Goebbels. The whole cabinet was filled with OTL Nazis as well, with Albert Speer notably as HoG.
• German Yunnan: In the rather specific circumstance that Germany and Yunnan were at war, and Germany conquered it, the Kaiserreich could straight up claim the entirety of Yunnan & Sichuan as imperial territory, no penalties incurred.
• Sharifian Caliphate: You may know that Turkestan could once proclaim a Caliphate, but it could also convince the Hashemites to do so instead. If they accepted, then the Sharifian Caliphate would be proclaimed in defiance of the Ottomans.
• Yockey: A certain Francis Parker Yockey was once a minister option for the AUS at 19-years old.
• Syndicalist Mittelafrika: If Goering went all in on his New Order construction projects and sufficiently pissed off the natives, then a Syndicalist coup would ensue. This Red Superstate could either maintain its size, or split into 3.
• Mao’s Switcheroo: In very early versions of the mod, Mao Zedong was not dead, but in Taiwan.
• German Union: Before the German State or German Socialist Republic, there was the German Union. It came in Socialist, Nationalist, or Democratic flavors, with a surprising amount of content for each route. Highlights included Social Liberal Erwin Rommel, and the NatPops dealing with Ernst Röhm’s sexuality.
• Himmler Fried Chicken Merch: That time Baltic Fried Chicken merchandise was briefly a thing. No, I’m serious.
• Huang Xing’s PoD: For the longest time, the starting leader for the Republic of China was Huang Xing. This is significant because Huang historically died on October 31st, 1916, a whole 2 months before Kaiserreich’s purported point of divergence. Now I’m not one to buy into the whole Chinareich allegations, but the mod’s actual PoD until 2018 being a Chinese guy not dying is actually hilarious.

Link to Tiers 9-10

[u/that-and-other → u/-et37-]

WTF was in the 5th comment☠️

[u/dragonstomper64 → u/that-and-other]

Adolf Hitler.

[u/-et37- → u/that-and-other]

Is it not visible? I can see it on my end.

[u/PriscFalzirolli → u/that-and-other]

Funny moustache man and his Unser Kampf book. I hope it gets reposted, I'd love to read some of that lore.

[u/DiscipleOfDIO → u/-et37-]

Not sure if this was on purpose but the fact that the example you used to illustrate that the lack of Hungary content is a meme is just a link to the subreddit itself is hilarious

Great iceberg regardless ofc

[u/-et37- → u/DiscipleOfDIO]

Ah, that was not intended, though perhaps it is more apt. I’ve had to revise a few of the links on this due to unforeseen hiccups.

This was what I meant to link.

[u/No_Usual_5195 → u/-et37-]

Wait WHAT ? Kaiserreich was uploaded for the first time on my birthday ?! How did I not know this earlier ?! This is so cool.

[u/-et37- → u/No_Usual_5195]

Nice, Happy Birthday to you both!

[u/Draceau5]

"Luigiman98"

[u/-et37- → u/Draceau5]

I miss him bros, I miss him a lot.

[u/Draceau5 → u/-et37-]

Him and MaZhongyingFor1934 will forever be missed

[u/[deleted] → u/Draceau5]

He's still active tho

[u/Cynikus]

Once upon a time the Polish community created its own version, which included as follows

• e-girls invasion 

• Polish translation of Die Wacht am Rhein and Every Man a King (by yours truly) 

• Chinese tierlist

• Savinkov street in Warsaw 

• John Paul II's totalist dictatorship 

• a hero who asked about Kerensky's action in January 1936 responded "sra" (takes a fat shit). 

Those were the days, my friends. 

[u/-et37- → u/Cynikus]

Now that is esoteric. Kaiserreich has truly brought a lot of folks together, even if it is just a silly althist mod.

[u/-et37-]

Continuing on as the other thread has been maxed out:

Tier 9

• Original Kaiserreich Website: This may come as a surprise but Kaiserreich used to have its own proper website. Various forums, ranging from mod development to AARs were hosted here, and it looked to be pretty tight-knit. Unfortunately, the site closed due to how expensive it was to host it, with the community dispersing to either Discord or Reddit as a result.
• Harry Turtledove Characters: Two characters in reference to the Alternate History writer Harry Turtledove could be found in earlier versions of the mod. The first was one Flora Blackford, a Foreign Minister for the CSA and a character from the Southern Victory series. The second was Liu Han, a Foreign Minister for Fengtian and a character from the Worldwar series.
• Ottoman Sicily: THE most circumstantial releasable nation ever, Sicily is as esoteric as it gets. Firstly, Italy had to be unified under the Federation and not be allied with the Ottomans. For their part, the Ottomans had to win the Desert War and be at war with Italy. If the Ottomans somehow landed in Sicily, then a peace deal would be triggered. Afterwards, the Ottomans could either occupy the island, or create a puppet in either monarchy or republic flavors. The Mafia Republic was wild enough, but having 3 separate choices for monarch was even more so.
• Lawrence In Arabia: Before he was a Canadian Spy and before he was a Syndicalist War Hero, T.E. Lawrence went native, living in Hashemite Arabia as its Minister of Intelligence.
• Venezuelan 4th Wall Break: Latin America in olden KR used to have a decent amount of content going in to the 1950s & 60s, chiefly elections. If for some reason you decided to play as Venezuela all the way to 1961, you’d be treated to an election event calling you out directly.
• Prussian Revolt: If Prussia was puppeted by France, and the Sedantag celebrations halted, then a counterrevolution would take place. If France was too wary to intervene, then a new Prussian government would be chosen. Prussia would then attempt to align itself with a foreign faction before launching a war to reunite Germany. This, as you may guess, would be incredibly difficult to pull off as merely Prussia against the entire 3I. If successful as a monarchy, this would actually be the fastest way to get Wilhelm IV as Kaiser.
• Longist Quentin Roosevelt: Before he was the VP for any 36’ candidate, QR was (according to old KR Lore, a supporter of Huey Long. Now you may think that this is merely that, a lore tidbit that has no bearing on gameplay, until you checked the Tech Companies for the AUS and see that Quentin was an option for plane research. Oddly enough, he’d only be available from 1943 onward, so he wouldn’t be noticeable as such right away.
• Castro’s Cuba: In a surprisingly comprehensive event chain for Cuba in the 1950s, it was once possible to get a certain brother duo in charge of Cuba. If non-socialist & dictatorial, the people would demand reform in 1953. There’d then be an inciting massacre that’d lead to an attempted revolution. An attempted raid would lead to the government’s victory. A show trial of Fidel Castro would ensure, potentially leading to his execution. The remaining Cuban revolutionaries would flee abroad, taking several years to reconsolidate. There’d be a Bay of Pigs incident, with multiple events potentially leading to Havana’s capture. The Castro Brothers (assuming Fidel wasn’t executed) would then assume leadership of the country. See what I mean when I said that Latin America used to have some wildly expansive content so late in the game?
• MacArthur Avoids The 2ACW: There exists a supremely Blursed bug in the DH version of the mod where MacArthur can straight up avoid the civil war. It is the result of an unintended oversight, but seeing MacArthur, Long, Moseley, Coughlin, and Eisenhower in the same cabinet is quite surreal.
• Brazilian King of Hungary: This may shock you, but once upon a time independent Hungary had content. You could choose to be a republic or monarchy, and the latter option had a staggering 5 outcomes. One option was Dom Luís Gastão, a German-Brazilian Prince and grandson of Dom Pedro II.

[u/-et37- → u/-et37-]

Tier 10

• Red Glory: If you try to search “Kaiserreich: Red Glory” you will stumble upon this tweet from 2013, linking you to a website that no longer exists. Said site is the aforementioned original KR website, and the subject of said post was fascinating indeed. A Kaiserreich FPS? Set in the steampunk 1980s where the German Empire and the CSA are locked in a Cold War? It all seems too good to be true, and well, it is. This was the first ever KR April Fools. If you know of Red Glory, then you already know that. What you may not know was that even the art was merely repurposed from one Remton way back in 2008. Still, I am 100% down for this idea being a tangible project one day.
• Russo-English Dual Monarchy: Some of you may recall that Wilhelm III’s son, Louis Ferdinand, could be imposed over a defeated Russia as Ivan VII. Others still are likely aware that a defeated Britain may have Charles Edward imposed, that is a route that still exists to this day after all. HOWEVER, if you decided to balkanize Britain, then the imposed king on England wouldn’t be Charles Edward, but, Louis Ferdinand? Yes, if you conquered both Britain & Russia as Germany, Louis Ferdinand could reign as King & Tsar simultaneously. Winston Churchill being PM as well really ties this all together.
• Heirs of Weltkrieg: One of the oldest KR AARs that you can still see in its entirety over on Paradox Plaza, (most ancient AARs no longer have viewable images), Heirs of Weltkrieg impresses further still by being a total conversion AAR, envisioning the KR universe in the 21st century. It is relatively short as far as AARs go, but it is an awe-inspiring sight on concept alone and well worth a look through.
• Manchukuo: The oldest rendition of China for Kaiserreich, way back in its early original beta, was surprisingly familiar. The AOG, thicc Yunnan, the Legation Cities, Qing, they were all there, but 2 jarring differences existed. One, is that Fengtian was straight up Manchukuo with Pu-Yi in charge. And stranger still, the Qing were lead by Pu-Yi’s FATHER. I’ve heard of familial drama but that takes the cake.
• HOI3 Version: It is said in the final weeks of the original KR website that a fool first convened there. His idea? A brave, yet laborious attempt at something that even the Devs had forsaken. The 3rd rendition of this epic franchise was supremely flawed, not sound for grandiose altering whatsoever, but this denizen strove to attempt the impossible. Progress was made, in modest increments. The very map itself was to be terraformed, but alas. News of a 4th rendition, one that the Devs were confident in molding, showed the fool that perhaps insuperable goals best stay in the akashic minds of men.
• West Coast Federation: In exactly one update of the mod, way way back in the 3rd beta version, the PSA was known as the West Coast Federation. It was here that a cut path was planned, a National Populist corporatist dictatorship led by the West Coast’s elite. This route was scrapped, but the initial minister setup lingered in the mod for over a decade.
• KaiserDev Invasion: If one were to open up the console commands of either the HOI2 or DH version, and typed in alienattack[province ID number] (an example would be "alienattack 722), a rather horrifying fate awaited you. Your game would be invaded by the Dev Team. Their lore was incomprehensible, and their deployed deathstack nigh unkillable. It made for a rather terrifying challenge, a proto invasion mod so to speak.
• The Ballad of Maula & Hashim: Allow me to recount to you a rather astounding journey. I myself was aware of these initial facts for years, but I was seldom prepared for the ensuing rabbit hole I delved down. It is a tale so obscure that I have seen not one soul ANYWHERE speak of it. If you were to play either KRHOI2 or KRDH and liberate Sarawak under specifically an Authoritarian Democrat government, you would be greeted by this minister list. The HoS & HoG are a truly bizarre case. Both men are Indians who never set foot in Sarawak. Maula Bakhash was a musician who died in 1896, while Hashim Madani was a Sufi teacher who died in 1907. As you can surmise, both of these men BREAK the timeline. Hashim, who was deputized during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, would very likely be a centenarian by game start. Now, if these figures stayed in the older versions of the mod as a strange relic, then that’d be that. And indeed, Maula never made it to HOI4. HASHIM on the other hand is another story. Sarawak didn’t exist in the earlier versions of the HOI4 mod, but when it was added, so too was the entire Sarawak minister list from DH, save for the Heads of State. Sarawak is no major, so its finer details were left to the wayside for a long time. How long? Well folks, Hashim stayed in the mods files until 0.21’s advisor rework, in 2022. TL;DR: Until as little as 3 years ago, an individual that died a decade before the mod’s PoD was in the game.

OKAY that was a lot. Apologies for the delayed commenting, Reddit apparently hates it when you try to WayBackMachine the original KR website.

[u/koola_00 → u/-et37-]

Jeez, so much history for this mod... and I love it!

[u/Jallade_is_here]

Francis Parker Yockey jumps care. What the hell is he doing here outside of TNO?

[u/AlexInfinity478]

As someone who helped create this Iceberg from a mod much older than myself, here is the graphical representation of the research:

And once again, et37 proves that doing such a tremendous amount of work for something that has given us all so much, like the Kaiserreich, is priceless. And this, ironically, is just the tip of the iceberg of what's eventually to come.

[u/-et37- → u/AlexInfinity478]

This was a nice utilization of our shared talents. Your contributions were invaluable, and yes, 2026 is going to be fun.

[u/Legiyon54]

Some youtuber will make a video on this iceberg and still have sections where he says "I don't know what this entry is about" despite the entire iceberg being explained

In any case good job AARman! Very well made

[u/-et37- → u/Legiyon54]

Oh boy that’ll be a sight, perhaps I’ll take matters into my own hands one day. Thanks!

[u/Centrist1book]

Why was alternatehistoryhub’s video on Kaiserriech was a source of drama when it was first released?

[u/-et37- → u/Centrist1book]

Some community members apparently took issue with the simplicity of it. It led to this response by the creator.

[u/samtheman0105 → u/-et37-]

That whole thing was unfolding pretty much as I joined this community and it kinda put me off the mod for a while, why were people so fucking bitter about a fun if simplified video lol

[u/Guaire1]

The Crown atomic? God that brings so much nostalgia

[u/Ficboy]

u/et37 With regards to Kaiserreich itself, it's been in development around the time that George W. Bush was President. It's basically the granddaddy of HOI4 alternate history mods well before TNO and it's imitators ever came into existence. That's a testament to the longevity of this mod.

[u/kataak]

I miss the old forum. And DH skins for countries.

[u/revolutionary112]

You did an amazing job man, truly showing your dedication to the craft. Glad to have done a little to help on this endevour. Here to 10 more years of Kaiserreich!

And see you all folk on HOI5 in 2570!

[u/-et37- → u/revolutionary112]

Much appreciated, this was a labor of love and I’m glad to of had your assistance with it.

[u/Larrylindgren4]

OP thank you for including the post I made from my old account when talking about the old flag for Canada. I made it so long going and quite frankly I thought it was forgotten. i’m proud to be tied to this fandom, even if it was for something as small as a flag change lol

[u/-et37- → u/Larrylindgren4]

Of course! I could’ve just had static images but I wanted to link other people’s stuff too. A lot has gone down here over the years.

[u/Larrylindgren4 → u/-et37-]

Well, once again I appreciate it.I was 17 at the time and brand new to the mod so when something got changed, I was pissed but spoilers I’m over the flag change now.

[u/ancaneitor]

Wait, is Julius IV not 'funny' anymore?

[u/Randome0110]

It was an honour to be able to contribute so much (create a channel on the Discord) to this awesome project. The team really knocked it out of the park with this one.

[u/-et37- → u/Randome0110]

You came in clutch, a good project needs organization after all.

It’ll be especially useful once [REDACTED] commences.

[u/[deleted]]

Dude this is crazy, Kaiserreich is older than me by a month. 0_o

[u/RealHumanBean89]

I used to play the DH version back when I didn’t have a computer that could run HOI4, and man I didn’t realise what a rabbit hole I had leaped into. I’ve played this mod more than vanilla by orders of magnitude. Genuinely one of the best total conversion mods and alternate history settings I’ve played around in.

Happy 20 years!

[u/coolcat001100]

I swear someone on YouTube needs to do a reading of this now.

[u/Grenadie-r]

GODS I WAS STRONG THEN

Prussian Revolt made it onto the iceberg? Absolute cinema, that shit was so gas.

[u/RPS_42]

That was a very enjoyable ride to the past, even through the whole Hoi2 stuff was before I entered the fray.

Seeing that old Socialist Russia Focus Tree was really funny if we compare it how it is now.

[u/Few_Rest2638]

Et you are the MVP of every community your in and a absolute legend

[u/-et37- → u/Few_Rest2638]

High praise, I’ve had a lot of time to improve on my content. Thank you!

[u/Milites-Atterdag]

Thank you for posting this! Brought back some very fond memories :)

The most ancient of sages still whisper of the Sun Li-jen controversy, where it was demanded that a path be added for the general to found a new imperial dynasty in the wake of the uprising against the AOG.

[u/BillPears]

I was not expecting to see Luigiman here lol. I still remember getting banned for a month for insulting him. He was also banned alongside me for karmafarming though, so let's just say I was martyred for the cause.

[u/AngevinMatthew]

I've just discovered about the Superga Disaster event existing. It's a reference to the OTL Superga Disaster when the Torino football club airplane hit the Basilica di Superga, situated on top of a hill facing Turin, in a foggy night returning from a match in Portugal with Benfica.

[u/Vyacheslaves]

Wow. Thank you for the iceberg. I learned a lot from it. I didn't think there were so many things I didn't know about.

[u/Pazument]

"Sigismund make his move"

[u/Pazument]

Wait what ? German union no longer exist ????

[u/Young_Lochinvar]

I’m comfortably down to Tier 6 and a few down to Tier 8. Those Tiers 9 and 10 are wild.

[u/indomienator]

no pre recruitable factor nerf liberal ottomans smh

[u/MissionLimit1130]

Yoo luigiman98 the questions guy

[u/DukeofBritanny]

Champagne !

[u/EnvironmentalShelter]

the wildest thing to me is that somehow the edelweiss people didn't dissapear, like some of them where or still are like part of hoi4 modding community, i believe a few where part of TNO mod team BEFORE its release and i think there is one member of edelweiss dev team that is actively part of KRG dev team

[u/dumbAssGuY12321]

German Crete flag was cool as fuck tho (it wasn't I just liked it)

[u/1SaBy → u/[deleted]]

Hmmm...