Germany starts the game disarmed by the Treaty of Versailles, with a small army and zero room for diplomatic mistakes. This guide follows the historical route — rearm quickly, recover territory without triggering an early war, and reach 1939 with your industry ready — but it also goes into the detail most guides skip: what each branch of the tree actually does, why 
MEFO Bills are a ticking clock, and what happens if you decide not to follow the script at all.
Historical Context
The German Empire collapsed in 1918, and the Weimar Republic rose from its ashes, humiliated by the Treaty of Versailles and later battered by hyperinflation and the Great Depression, until in 1933 the NSDAP took power through legal means and Hitler became chancellor. The game starts in 1936 with that process already finished: Germany is a de facto 
fascist dictatorship, but still formally disarmed under Versailles and hasn't taken its first step toward war yet.
What Changed with Götterdämmerung
In November 2024, the 
Götterdämmerung expansion rewrote Germany's tree from scratch. The old opposition branch — a single path to get rid of Hitler — became a much broader civil war system, with separate 
communist and monarchist outcomes, and the Führerprinzip was added: an internal power struggle between the top Nazi figures that can end with one of them usurping Hitler. If you play without that expansion, the tree is smaller and the only alternative to the historical path is the old "Oppose Hitler" branch. This guide assumes you have it enabled, since that's the de facto standard by now.
National Spirits at Start
Germany starts with five national spirits that almost no new player stops to actually read, and together they explain fairly well why the nation plays the way it does from day one:
Bitter Loser
+50% ideology drift defense. Allows forming factions.
MEFO Bills
Consumer goods +3%/month up to 100%. +10% construction speed for military factories and dockyards. -25% enemy intelligence on you.
Deutsches Heer
+5% division organization. +15% supply consumption. +25% planning speed.
Kriegsmarine
+10% screening bonus using only capital ships. -10% naval defense.
Luftwaffe
+10% air manpower requirement. +10% air accident chance.
MEFO Bills: The Debt You Can't Ignore
Of the five spirits above, the one that really shapes the game is MEFO Bills: promissory notes Hjalmar Schacht used in real life to finance rearmament while hiding it from 
France and the 
UK. In the game they translate into a percentage of 
civilian factories forced into consumer goods that climbs 3% every month — faster the more non-core territory you control — until it hits 100%, at which point serious penalties kick in. In exchange, while it lasts, it gives you an extra 10% construction speed for 
military factories and 
dockyards, and lowers the intelligence other nations have on you.
The Focus Tree's Seven Branches
With Götterdämmerung enabled, the tree splits into seven main branches, each with its own sub-branches:
Develop Modern Maneuver Warfare — upgrades the army and the Deutsches Heer spirit (organization, planning speed).
Expand the Luftwaffe — builds up your air force and its associated spirit.
Strengthen the Kriegsmarine — naval investment, mainly relevant if you're planning Sea Lion or a serious submarine campaign.
Prioritize Economic Growth — rebuilds the economy step by step toward an "economic miracle"; shares the Reichsautobahn sub-branch (infrastructure and railways).
The Four-Year Plan — chases self-sufficiency and unlocks the Autarky trade law, upgradeable later.
Remilitarize the Rhineland — the historical political branch: the Anschluss, the demand for Slovenia, Sea Lion, the Anti-Comintern Pact, and the Legion Condor all hang off this one.
Rally the Wehrmacht — the opposition branch, exclusive to Götterdämmerung: triggers a civil war against the fascist regime with two possible outcomes, communist or monarchist.
Neurath or Ribbentrop: Cautious or Aggressive
Right after finishing Remilitarize the Rhineland comes the first real fork: listen to Konstantin von Neurath, who takes you down a cautious path that lets you peacefully integrate and annex Czechoslovakia, or follow Joachim von Ribbentrop, more aggressive, which brings you closer to the 
USSR. From there the tree opens into sub-branches that can be mixed and matched depending on what you're going for:
Anschluss — opens up expansion opportunities across Europe.
Demand Slovenia — expansion toward the Balkans.
Operation Sea Lion — amphibious invasion bonuses, aimed at the British Isles and, later, the Americas.
Anti-Comintern Pact — expansion toward eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa; includes the decision to back either 
China or 
Japan in their war.
Legion Condor — sends volunteers to the Spanish Civil War, shared between the historical and opposition branches.
Bribe Senior Officers — upgrades your generals and unlocks penal divisions.
Reorganize Secret Services — intelligence bonuses; requires La Résistance, and includes Coco Chanel as a special operative if you control the Île-de-France region.
Führerprinzip — the regime's internal power struggle: finishing an advisor's opening focus unlocks their own follow-up focuses, and three of them can rise to Reichsleiter with the option to usurp Hitler or stay loyal.
Doctrine and Division Templates
Germany starts with 
Mobile Warfare research already unlocked, so the armored/Blitzkrieg identity isn't a forced choice — it's what the starting position itself is pointing you toward. Make the most of your four starting research slots (the fifth unlocks through focuses) so you don't spread yourself across too many tech branches at once.
For templates, the formula that ages best is splitting roles: cheap infantry divisions with support companies to hold the line without eating your entire production, and an armored or motorized spearhead for breakthroughs once you've got tanks sorted. If you want the exact breakdown of widths and composition, the combat width guide and the doctrines guide go into the numerical detail we're only sketching here.
War Campaigns
If you're going to follow the historical script, it helps to know the actual order in which Nazi Germany expanded across Europe. Here's the sequence as it really happened:
- Anschluss with
Austria (March 1938) — annexed without firing a single shot, with the backing of a large part of the Austrian population. - Sudeten Crisis and
Czechoslovakia (1938-1939) — the Munich Conference hands the Sudetenland to Germany; months later, Hitler occupies the rest of the country, creating the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the puppet state of Slovakia. - Invasion of
Poland (September 1, 1939) — the attack that officially kicked off the Second World War in Europe, secretly coordinated with the USSR through the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact. - The "Phoney War" (winter 1939-40) — months of near-total calm on the western front while both sides prepare.
- Denmark and Norway (April 1940) — Operation Weserübung secures the supply of Swedish iron ore through the port of Narvik.
- Western campaign (May-June 1940) — invasion of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France; Paris falls in barely six weeks and France signs an armistice, split between German occupation and the Vichy regime.
- Battle of Britain (summer-fall 1940) — the Luftwaffe tries to break the RAF to prepare for Operation Sea Lion, the invasion of the British Isles, which ends up cancelled.
- Balkans campaign (April 1941) — invasion of
Yugoslavia and 
Greece to bail out a stalled 
Italy, with the added cost of delaying the next major offensive by several weeks. - Operation Barbarossa (June 22, 1941) — the invasion of the USSR, the largest front of the entire war, with spectacular early advances that stall at the gates of Moscow.
- North Africa (1941-1943) — Rommel's Afrika Korps reinforces Italy against the British in Egypt and Libya.
- The turning point (1942-1943) — the defeats at Stalingrad and El Alamein, along with the Allied landings in North Africa, mark the beginning of the end.
- Retreat and collapse (1943-1945) — the eastern front is progressively lost, the Normandy landings in June 1944 open a second front in the west, and the fall of Berlin in May 1945 puts an end to the Third Reich.
Common Mistakes
- Declaring war the moment you finish Remilitarize the Rhineland without having invested in industry or combat experience first.
- Ignoring MEFO Bills until consumer goods are eating half your military production before you notice.
- Mixing the historical and opposition branches halfway through, spending
political power on focuses you won't end up being able to use. - Not settling on a doctrine identity early — Mobile Warfare already comes unlocked, so there's no reason to waffle between options.
- Neglecting the Kriegsmarine entirely — it doesn't need to be a priority, but a minimal fleet keeps Sea Lion or any landing from getting more complicated than it needs to.
Germany has plenty of room to prepare calmly in the early years, and using that room well is what separates a campaign that sinks in 1940 from one that ends up ruling Europe. Check out the industrial production guide to size your war economy properly before you start.
Germany's Achievements
Twelve 
Germany-specific achievements, from the straightforward ones to those that require an entire campaign planned around them:
True Blitzkrieg
Get both Poland and France to surrender before January 1, 1940.
Don't Die for Your Country
In a game started in 1939, occupy all of Poland and France without exceeding 475 casualties.
Why Die For Danzig?
Turn France fascist and occupy Danzig without going to war with them.
Operation Sea Lion
Control the British mainland.
Not Much Fun in Stalingrad
Capitulate the USSR without ever taking Stalingrad.
Naval Arms Race
Led by an Admiral, capitulate the United Kingdom.
Weltpolitik
Regain control of all your former colonies.
Our Other Place in the Sun
As Imperial Germany, conquer a Caribbean island.
Monarchy is Back in Fashion
Restore the Kaiser and make sure Italy ends up controlled by Victor Emmanuel by killing Mussolini.
Woman in a High Castle
With a female leader, annex the 
United States (including Alaska and Hawaii) or get an American puppet holding all its starting states.
By Beer Alone
Control Budweis, Tsingtao, and Guinness, either directly or through a faction member.
Steiner
After June 22, 1941, exceed 30% surrender progress while at war with the USSR, France, and the United Kingdom simultaneously, controlling Moscow, Paris, and London.