Ideology | National focus Hearts of Iron IV Guide
Last update: 01 February 2017
The ideology tree doesn't influence the power of your country in a direct way, but with the help of a number of interesting enhancements you will be able to gain some advantages, which might become invaluable when dealing with other countries.
An important aspect of developing your country in that direction is to keep your own system. All of the aspects associated with different systems were discussed in the first section of the chapter focused on nations. You have to remember that there are multiple ways of changing the political system of a country. If we're talking about external means, the primary factor in this manner are the diplomatic efforts used to promote a different political system. Depending on the country as well as the level of interest of the nation the level of influence might vary. This issue will be further discussed in the chapter about diplomacy.
Changes in the ideology can also be associated with your actions and the political goals are one of the factors that can directly influence the current system. Even if your country is, for instance, a democratic one at the beginning of the game, nothing prevents you from changing it. This is of course a very long process and will require you to sacrifice a lot of political power to achieve. An important modifier when it comes to this mechanic is the "Ideology Drift Defense". Depending on the percentage value of that modifier your actions, as well as outside ones will have a different effect. To sum it up, some countries are prone to change their political system, while others are quite on the contrary.
Below you can find all of the national focuses associated with ideology. For the purposes of this guide they were divided into two groups: collective and liberal. Each one of them have two separate sections determining the specific model or behavior system. All of the tracks have a common conclusion - it's presented at the end of the chapter.
Introduction
Icon | Name | Benefits |
 | New political programs | Political power +120 |
Commentary: an introduction to specific ideologies. You should realize it early in the game because of the additional political power. It's not a large influence, but the time needed to complete it will be returned and you will be given 50 points to distribute. Developing it will speed up the response time of your country for various situations you might find yourself in, especially the ones associated with external factors. Additionally, it's the only national focus from this group that won't oblige you to anything and won't close any further roads that your nation can follow.
Collective path
If you start the game as a communist / fascist, you can wait for a little while before implementing this focus. Observe the situation in the country and if you notice that the balance of support for the current system is disturbed you will be able to intervene with it. It all depends on what is the balance of power in the country, how much time is left before the next elections, and what political system you want to use in your country. Pay attention to other countries and counteract them if they try to influence your nation with their beliefs. If the current ideology is not threatened, you can decide to complete the Collectivist Ethos to unlock further paths and benefits associated with this ideology.
Icon | Name | Benefits |
 | Collectivist Ethos | Daily Democracy -0,02/day |
Commentary: an introduction to the collectivism and a slight resistance against democracy. Ultimately the democracy resistance indicator is not sufficient, but it still gives you a foothold in choosing the next steps. What is more, this goal will close the path to the liberal route for your country. From now on you will be able to choose from communism or fascism. It is worth noting that the percentage value given by this focus will decrease the support for Democrats. As you've probably guessed, with it the Democrats will lose 2% after 100 days, or about 7% after a year. This only shows how long does it take to change an ideology. Note that the value presented in the table can be used to calculate the influence for countries with the neutral value in the "Ideology Drift Defense".
If you play with a democratic country you can use this focus to decrease the support for Democrats in the country. Thanks to that you will be able to change the ideology and gain benefits of the one that you care about.
Fascism
A large boost to military actions and a much larger recruitable population than in nations with different ideologies. Ideological goals won't be of much use to you during the 1936 scenario. If you decide to start with it, you can postpone completing this focus in time without any consequences. You should focus on this tree between 1938 and 1939 when you start feeling the limitations of human resources, and you won't be able to afford to change the economic rights, or the negative effects will be too severe for you.
Icon | Name | Benefits |
Nationalism | Daily Fascism +0,1/day | |
 | Militarism | Recruitable Population: 5% Effect of partisans on us-10% Army Experience+20 Can send volunteer expeditionary forces. |
 | Military Youth | Recruitable Population: 2% |
 | Paramilitarism | Division Training Time -10% |
Commentary: you can easily notice that the fascism route concentrates on the aspects associated with the development and strengthening of the army. By completing all of the goals from the above table you will gain 7% increase of the recruitable population. This is a huge influence, especially given the fact that normally recruitment goes from 1% to up to 25%, but in return you must meet a series of conditions and/or will be given negative modifiers. Daily fascism is a lot larger than the one described in the previous table. Additionally, you can get 20 points of additional experience used to form new divisions, and the time of a division recruitment is decreased by 10%. Finally, you will be able to send volunteer expeditionary forces, if that option wasn't available before that.
Communism
The contents of the above table show a possibility to influence the composition of the government and the law of the country. In the case of such benefits you can start developing the above focuses much earlier than in the case of the fascism. The above focuses are not very diverse and you will mostly be given one-time benefits by achieving them, but they can prove decisive during the early phase of the game when the political power will allow you to select your own advisers who will help you balance the economic and technological development of your country.
Icon | Name | Benefits |
 | Internationalism | Daily Communism +0,1/day |
 | Political Correctness | Military Power +200 Subversive Activities efficiency -75% |
 | Indoctrination | National unity: +5% Political power: +150 |
 | Political Commissar | Division Recovery Rate +10% Political power: +150 |
Commentary: support for the Communists is characterized by a large resource of political power. Thanks to that you will be able to quickly fill key positions in the country and gain additional benefits from it. Strengthening of the communism also gives you an interesting modifier, limiting the influence of other nations on the ideology of your country through blockades on the propaganda and subversive activities. Additionally, it increases the communism support value by 1% per 10 days. You should also note the better division recovery rate and the increase of the political power.
Last focus
Depending on the situation you can decide to start the work on the Ideological Fanaticism as soon as you complete the previous steps, or you can wait some time. The determining factor is the safety of your national province and the potential benefits of leading a faction. If you concentrate on conquering everything that stands on your way, you won't really benefit from the possibility of being in a faction, or creating one. As it was mentioned, kamikaze attacks won't be your bread and butter actions, which is why that shouldn't be the decisive factor.
Icon | Name | Benefits |
 | Ideological Fanaticism | National unity +5% Army's attack in the national province: +10% Army's defense in the national province +10% Can create factions Allows air missions - Kamikaze Strike |
Commentary: the end of the collectivist path. As you can see the country gains a number of beneficial modifiers and the most important of it is the ability to create factions. Other modifiers are also useful, but if didn't have the ability to create your own faction such a possibility will be very useful for your own international activities. Ideological Fanaticism also allows for stronger military actions in the national province, giving your nation a high chance of keeping the most important province. Kamikaze missions that can now be issued are also interesting. You won't be using this too often, but it's always worth to have a diversity in your potential actions. An obvious benefit of the above is the increase of the national unity.
Liberal path
The benefit of this focus is undeniable, but without a doubt too weak to focus on the goal in itself. Use this method if you want to unlock further paths and solutions. Additionally, don't forget that trade agreements can save you in a lot of difficult situations.
Icon | Name | Benefits |
 | Liberty Ethos | Trade deal opinion factor: +20% |
Commentary: in case of focusing on the liberal path, you will be given a modifier that will improve diplomatic relations. With its help you will have a higher chance of establishing positive trade agreements. As you've probably noticed, you won't be able to change the collectivist ideology of your country with this focus alone. After selecting this route you will be limited to the Interventionism and neutrality which should especially be considered.
Neutrality
If you plan to act in accordance to allies you should immediately forget about this route. You can still conduct military activities and join factions while "in" the neutrality, but you will generate a lot of tension and will attract widespread attention to you and your allies. If you've selected the 1936 scenario you can postpone the completion of this focus at least to the 1939, as the benefits of the tree won't be critical before that time. You should also consider taking this path if all of the surrounding countries are hostile towards you, or if they are using a different ideology. If that is the case then the possibility to construct defensive installations and military factories will be immensely useful and can be critical for your success.
Icon | Name | Benefits |
Neutrality | Tension limits: Join faction+100% Send volunteers +20% Guarantee +100% Threat receptivity +1% Desire to be in or expand a faction-100 Political power +150 | |
 | Deterrence | Bunker Construction Speed +20% Coastal Bunker Construction Speed +20% AA Construction Speed +20% Military Factory Construction Speed +20% |
Commentary: neutrality gives you modifiers synonymous with the ones found in democratic countries, even if your own one is not a democratic country. In the case of the first focus you must note the benefits of the additional political power, but it's hard to determine whether it's sufficiently compensated for the political outrage associated with your diplomacy. You should also note that this is the shortest of the diplomatic routes that will get you to the final part of it. Deterrence focus is also worth noting - it will significantly increase the construction speed of defensive installations and military factories. Not too much neutrality in the neutral path.
Interventionism
Remember that sending expeditionary forces is an offensive action when used in a hostile country, which means that you will be treated as an aggressor. In the long run it can attract the attention of countries and their allies. You should intervene especially when one of your allies is in danger and needs your help. Defensive actions won't generate as much tension and won't attract as much attention to your country, and with it you will be able to maintain the strength of your country or even increase it.
Icon | Name | Benefits |
 | Interventionism | Can send volunteer expeditionary forces. Political power +150 |
 | Volunteer Corps | Divisions required for sending volunteer force -25% |
 | Foreign Expeditions | Divisions required for sending volunteer force-50% |
Commentary: officially you aren't at war with anyone (you can be regarded as a neutral country), but it won't prevent you from entering other countries and supporting selected factions. You don't have a direct impact on the course of action, but you definitely aren't neutral either. An additional bonus of political power will allow you to immediately select one of the politician or military. You should also note the gigantic difference between the forces you need to gather for the volunteer force before and after completing this tree. This tree is a little more advanced but still not as much as the collectivist one.
Last focus
Due to the situational modifiers of this tree there's no need to complete those focuses during the early stages of the game. You can wait with the development of the liberal tree before the ideological values in your country are threatened. It is worth noting that fascism is like a disease - it will be hard for you to stop the development of nationalism while controlling a democratic country. The ability to join and crease factions is also important, but you should join Allies, unless you want their territories. On the other hand, you will have a hard time finding allies when most of the countries will be associated with Allies (and it will happen sooner or later). You should think about the regime thoroughly, as during the war the voice of the people might not be enough.
Icon | Name | Benefits |
 | Why We Fight | Can create factions National unity +10% |
Commentary: the final part of the liberal tree allows you to create factions and increases the national unity. The possibility to create factions is the one that should interest you, unless you could to that before completing this focus. You should note that the liberal tree offers a lot less possibilities than the other ones, but it comes without the modifiers that disrupt the current ideological order of your country. All of the benefits are mainly situational and you can't really compare it to the 7% increase of the recruitable population of the fascisms tree, or to a gigantic political power increase of the communism one.
Final Focus
A single modifier with a very high impact on every aspect of the country. If you are in a faction and meeting the requirement of 50 factories is within your reach, you shouldn't waste time on other focuses. Additional research slot will allow you to save even a few years of in-game time with proper project management. New technologies are equal to more powerful units and equipment, which shouldn't be neglected. It's one of reasons for starting the game during the 1936 scenario. Thanks to that you will have enough time to develop national focuses which will be directly associated with economy and ideology, and this in turn will increase the military power of your country.
Icon | Name | Benefits |
 | Technology Sharing | Research slots: +1 |
Commentary: an additional research slot is something that can definitely influence the advantage of your nation. A thing worth noting is the fact that you must meet quite an interesting requirement to be able to develop this focus - you must have at least 50 factories. It's a very important information because of you decide to play, for instance, as Tibet it will take you a lot of time before you can develop this focus. If you are playing with a relatively large country and this focus is within your reach, you shouldn't postpone completing it. Finally, to be able to fulfill this focus you need to be in a faction, as you must have an ally to share the technology with.