Germany

German flag as seen in-game. Identical to the historical flag of the German Empire.

Germany (Deutschland) is a country in Central Europe. Germany is key to the lore of We Happy Few, and played a major role in Wellington Wells' history.

History

Germany, under the command of Führer Adolf Hitler, invaded and annexed Poland on 1 November 1939, prompting Great Britain and France to declare war. Undeterred, Germany would seek to conquer the rest of Europe. Little information is given in-game about how the war progressed, but it can be assumed that the Germans moved through Europe just as they did in real life, taking Austria, Czechoslovakia, etc., before managing to conquer France in 1940. On 22 June 1941, the German army would begin their invasion of Russia. Shortly after this invasion, Hitler would be executed as part of Operation Valkyrie, and Field Marshal Erwin Rommel would replace him as the Führer of Germany.

Following this, in 1942, Germany would attempt to invade Great Britain, though they were initially repelled. The Germans followed up this invasion in June 1943, with a bigger and more violent attack that enabled them to successfully conquer London; they subsequently pushed deeper into Britain, ravaging England with chemical weapons, gas attacks and airstrikes. By December 1943, most of England was under the control of the Germans, and the rest of Britain soon followed. Because of the successful assassination of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, Huey Long was the President of the United States and he refused to enter America into the war or help Britain. During the occupation of Wellington Wells between 1943-1947, the German soldiers established a camp surrounded the city with large tanks as a show of force. Some soldiers were taken as prisoners of war; some of these prisoners tried to escape, and in exchange, the Germans made the other prisoners shoot them. Colonel von Stauffenberg quickly established the Executive Committee, which became the ultimate governing body for the city.

The Soviets, meanwhile, had launched a counteroffensive into Western Europe. As the Soviets progressed through Europe and edged closer to German fatherland, they would make use of British resources to try and repel the Soviets. In August 1945, Colonel von Stauffenberg ordered that all citizens turn in their vehicles by 2 October; the vehicle was required to have a suitable amount of petrol else the citizen would be fined. It's unclear if this was an order across all of Britain. On the brink of losing to the Soviets, Colonel von Stauffenberg would make one final request of the citizens of Wellington Wells: they must gather every child under the age of 13 and put them on a train to Germany. It's unclear exactly what purpose this served for the Germans, and if this was an order specific to Wellington Wells, but the deed was done and the children were sent off.

Without pressure mounting due to the Soviet invasion to the east, Germany needed to reallocate their resources. As such, they would end their occupation of Wellington Wells on 26 January 1948, a day that would become known as 'Victory Day', and the German camp was rebranded as the Victory Memorial Camp in celebration. The remains of Germany's occupation can be seen in the Garden District and Wellington Under through propaganda posters and such.

On 10 August 1948, the Soviet Union would take Berlin from the Germans, marking the end of the war. From this point, it would appear that Germany remained under the control of the USSR and likely still was by the beginning of We Happy Few.

Trivia

• The Germans are never referred to as Nazis or Nationalist Socialists in-game, though Alex Epstein (Narrative Director for We Happy Few) confirmed that Adolf Hitler was the Führer of Germany until he was replaced by Rommel. It could be the case that the Nazism did not exist in this timeline, or simply that the Nazis were completely overthrown after the death of Hitler during Operation Valkyrie.

Gallery

Wall writing mentioning the Fuehrer Erwin Rommel.
"Thanks for all the rain, Leader Rommel!"

World Map in the game depicting European frontlines and mentioning a "French Soviet Republic."

German Flag as it can be seen in game.