effect · `start_civil_war`

Definition

Supported scope:COUNTRY
Supported target:THIS, ROOT, PREV, FROM, OWNER, CONTROLLER, OCCUPIED, CAPITAL

Description

Given ideology starts a civil war in the country.

For 'keep triggers', the scope is :
THIS = Character
FROM = Target country

Example :

start_civil_war = { ideology = revolting ideology ruling_party = ruling party for country size = 0-1 Size modifier of the revolt. Affects stockpile, army, air and navy as well army_ratio = 0-1 Overrides size modifier for army navy_ratio = 0-1 Overrides size modifier for navy air_ratio = 0-1 Overrides size modifier for air states = {...} States that go to the revolter. Use "all" to include all states. states_filter = {...} States that go to the revolter. Filtering trigger on the states scripted to go to the revolter. keep_all_characters = yes - keep all characters on target country side - will ignore all following keep_ parameters - default value = no keep_unit_leaders = {...} specify ID of unit leaders that remain with the original country keep_unit_leaders_trigger = {...} Trigger for unit leaders to remain with the original country keep_scientists_trigger = {...} Trigger for scientist to remain with the original country keep_political_leader = yes/no # optional, default is no; If yes, the party leader of the revolting ideology will not join the revolter as its leader. keep_political_party_members = yes/no # optional, default is no; If yes, it will keep the non main leaders of the party leaders in original country ... effect list ... # you can list effects that will run on civil war country }

Hands-on notes are AI-generated and checked against the vanilla command vocabulary — treat them as a starting point, not authoritative reference. The definition above is the game's own documentation.

Hands-On Usage

start_civil_war is most commonly used in ideological revolutions, coups, or civil unrest event chains. For example, triggering a fascist rebellion when a nation's fascism support exceeds a threshold, or forcing a split into an opposing regime after focus tree completion. Using states or states_filter allows precise definition of which territories the rebel side receives, while size controls the ratio of resources and army units the rebel faction "takes away" from the original nation, making the scale of civil war feel more authentic.

# Trigger a civil war event when nationalism support exceeds threshold
country_event = { id = my_mod.101 }

# Execute civil war within event option
start_civil_war = {
    ideology = fascism
    size = 0.35
    army_ratio = 0.4
    states_filter = {
        is_core_of = FROM   # Core provinces of rebel faction are prioritized for rebel regime
    }
    keep_unit_leaders_trigger = {
        has_trait = politically_connected  # Military leaders with political connections remain with original government
    }
    add_popularity = {
        ideology = fascism
        popularity = 0.1
    }
}

Synergy

[has_civil_war](/wiki/trigger/has_civil_war): Check in subsequent event or decision trigger blocks whether a civil war has already occurred, preventing duplicate execution of the same civil war logic.
[has_country_leader_ideology](/wiki/trigger/has_country_leader_ideology): Verify the current ruling ideology before start_civil_war to ensure the rebel ideology differs from the ruling party, preventing logically contradictory same-ideology civil wars.
[add_popularity](/wiki/effect/add_popularity): Adjust ideology popularity before and after civil war to make the outbreak politically coherent, or apply within the rebel nation's initialization effect block.
[create_wargoal](/wiki/effect/create_wargoal): Add war goals to the original nation or rebel faction after civil war ends, extending the political consequences of the conflict, commonly used in scripted chains for post-civil-war reunification.

Common Pitfalls

Effect block syntax confusion: The internal ... effect list ... section of start_civil_war runs effects on the rebel nation, not the original nation. Beginners often mistakenly write original nation effects like add_ideas here, causing ideas to be incorrectly added to the rebel regime instead of the intended nation.
Misunderstanding execution order when using both states and states_filter simultaneously: states manually specifies a state list, while states_filter applies filter triggers to "states already designated in the script for the rebel faction." They are not simply additive; if states is omitted and only states_filter is written, the filter has no candidate objects to filter, and the civil war will allocate territory by default random logic rather than as intended by the filter.

effect · start_civil_war