Hearts of Iron 4 How to Declare War

Hearts of Iron 4 allows players to go to war with anyone to live out their power fantasies. But a couple of requirements need to be met before players can declare war on their neighbors. It's impossible to declare war until all the requirements are met, and the button to declare war will be grayed out until then.

Unless someone is attacking the player, there are several things to do before one should even consider declaring war on their neighbors. Fortunately, this guide will illustrate how to declare war in Hearts of Iron 4 and will provide some tips on when war should be declared.

How to Declare War in Hearts of Iron 4

Players can declare War in Hearts of Iron 4 by getting a War Goal via one of the following two methods:

Focus Tree

Players can get a War Goal for their country through the Focus Tree. Focus Trees have a story with some flow, which means players can use one to change the mode and declare war. For instance, players can take the Empire route with Czechoslovakia, where the country allies with Romania or Yugoslavia to invade Bulgaria or Hungary.

Justify War Goal

Players with a Communist or Fascist state must click Justify War Goals under the country tab and select the province that needs to be invaded. This option will cost political power, and the player will have to wait a bit, but eventually, they will have the ability to declare war.

Players can declare war by following these steps:

Right-click on the country to wage war against.
Select Justify War Goal and select a state.
The player will be notified how many days they will have to wait until they can declare war.
Click Send.
After the justifying process is complete, right-click on the target country and select Declare War.

As mentioned earlier, players can only declare war after meeting certain conditions like not having a non-aggression pact, high world tension, etc. However, the easiest way to declare war is to change to a communist or fascist state. Other important factors to take into consideration are as follows: