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Kaiser Joseph Franz is a ruler of the Progressive Era and owner of the provinces of Langenreich and Uceria.
Allied to the empire represented by Generalfeldmarschall Schledorf, he is engaged in a war against the alliance of Tsar Piotr of Gorski, Queen Lydia I of Uxrow and Gaelford and General Jean Joffre of Omoien. He is an old man, valuing traditions, and, typically for a monarch of that era, nobility - which he also mentions to the player in the peacetime, liking them for being of royal descent, treating them friendly for that reason. If attacked, he will denounce the player in a puffy way as someone unworthy of even being present in his empire. When the player takes over Havre, they attract both alliances' attention get to involve themselves in the continent-spanning conflict. In approaching the conflict, they have these options:
- They may side against him and Schledorf in the war by attacking Kriegreich. This grants you the gratitude of the western allies, who send some rewards to you along the way.
- They may join the central powers by attacking either Omoien or Uxrow. Going this path grants you the gratitude of the Kaiser and Schledorf, as well as different rewards.
- They may become a third belligerent party, fighting against both alliances at the same time by attacking both Kriegreich and Uxrow/Omoien. Again, this changes the mission rewards.
- They may start a peacebringing process by taking foreign provinces by negotiation, rather than by force. The peacebringing storyline has the player combat the horrors of war, trying to bring all leaders to the negotiating table.
No matter which path they choose though, a smear propaganda campaign accusing the player of commiting war crimes as well as a bombing of a peace conference eventually cause all of the leaders to declare war on the player (either ordinary war, or, if the player expanded aggressively, they set aside their differences and declare a joint total war). Once King Vittorio Emanuele of Sud reveals the Tsar to be the one who manipulated the war into happening as well as the true culprit behind the propaganda campaign, the player starts eliminating the other warring realms in order to reach Gorski and strip the Tsar of his reign, first removing the Tsar's western allies and then annexing Schledorf's provinces to secure land access, leaving the Kaiser as the only remaining ruler other than the player and the Tsar. His lands are then preventively annexed in order to make sure he doesn't try to attack the player's territories while they would push into Gorski.
Kaiser Joseph Franz is the in-game equivalent of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Kaiser meaning Emperor in German. Franz Joseph led the Empire in the World War I till his death in 1916, after which he was replaced by Karl I. The province of Uceria is similar in shape to the country of Austria, and the province of Langenreich likely represents the rest of Austro-Hungarian Empire - parts like Bohemia and Galicia. Fittingly enough for his traditions-loving nature, the name of the province "Langenreich" could be translated from German as Long Realm, likely referring to its ancientness.