Hearts of Iron III/Factions

There are three main factions in Hearts of Iron 3: Allies, Axis, and Comintern. Each of the three factions has its own specific leaders. However, the actual line up of the factions varies from game to game.

Allies
The maintainers of the status quo of the world. The Allies, at their core, are democracies, ironically often with large colonial empires in tow. The leader of this faction is the United Kingdom, the former pinnacle of human achievement. Other likely Allies include Commonwealth countries such as South Africa, Canada, and Australia, other Western European democracies like France and the Low Countries, and the mighty USA, which only enters conflicts slowly and reluctantly.

Axis
The sum total of all the most despised aspects of authoritarianism, the Axis are, for lack of better wording, the bad guys. At their core, these nations are often power hungry, although some join only out of fear of another faction. The leader of this faction is Germany, a country that desires to conquer Europe. Other likely members will include Italy, which wishes to dominate the Mediterranean, Japan, who seeks domination of the Pacific Ocean and Asia, and Eastern European countries like Hungary and Finland, which fear the power of the third faction.

Comintern
Comintern, short for "Communist International," is the third faction. Communism as it is shown in Hearts of Iron 3 is a combination of left wing ideology and authoritarianism. The leader of this faction is the Soviet Union, which rules over the largest contiguous empire in the world. This faction is likely to have the least members, though some, like Mongolia and Communist China, are likely candidates.

Neutral and Independent Nations
Some countries are unlikely to ever join a faction. Maybe they would have nothing to gain, or perhaps they have their own agendas separate from the brewing global conflict. These countries include South American powers, such as Argentina and Brazil, either Republican or Nationalist Spain, Turkey, Sweden, and a number of other smaller countries.