How to declare war in Victoria 3

To declare war in Victoria 3, you must go through the process of enacting a Diplomatic Play. Enacting Diplomatic Plays is the only method by which players can declare war. However, you can't use Diplomatic Plays to declare war on just anyone. Starting, you will need to use Diplomatic Plays in regions with a special interest in your nation. These regions will usually be close to you and have historical rivalries when you first start. But, eventually, you can declare war on anyone in the game as you gain prestige and the size of your empire/nation grows.

How to start a Diplomatic Play in Victoria 3

Select a country on the map to start a Diplomatic Play in Victoria 3 and right-click. Right-clicking on a country will make a list of options appear. Depending on your situation, you will have one or more of the following options listed below:

Related: Best Tips & Tricks for Beginners of Victoria 3

• Conquer State
• Humiliation
• Make Vassal
• Make Puppet
• Independence
• Cut Down to Size
• Ban Slavery
• Annex Subject
• Regime change
• Take Treaty Port
• Transfer Subject
• Liberate Subject
• Return State

After enacting a Diplomatic Play, what happens next will vary. Sometimes outright conflict will start almost immediately if your nations are close to each other. This initial conflict is not the start of the war, as you will still need to wait for the timer on your Diplomatic play to run out. During the time before the timer runs out, the Escalation phase and Diplomatic Maneuvers begin. 

During these phases, you can add additional war goals and later attempt to sway other nations to your side by offering them obligations. After these phases, you will get a popup declaring war between the aggressor and defending countries. 

For more on Victoria 3, we at Pro Game Guides have you covered with the following guides: All Victoria 3 Console Commands and Cheats and What is Victoria 3? Gameplay, Story, and Trailers.