Germany's largest naval bases are situated at Wilhelmshaven and Kiel, and the nation has a generally high infrastructure level. The capital, Berlin, and the regional hubs Frankfurt and Munich are the most important cities from a strategic point of view, and the large Rhine-Ruhr conurbation in the northwest is also a vital, highly industrialized region. There are many large urban areas in Germany, and most German states host at least one major city. The Kiel Canal traverses the German state of Schleswig-Holstein to connect the North and Baltic seas, allowing German and allied vessels to bypass the Danish straits. The Rhine and Danube rivers both run partially through Germany towards the North Sea and the Black Sea respectively, whilst the Elbe, Oder, and Weser all run to the German coastline and the major ports of Hamburg, Stettin, and Bremen. The southern border with Switzerland and Austria is somewhat mountainous, although very little Alpine territory actually resides within prewar German borders Lake Constance (the Bodensee) forms part of this southern border with Switzerland and Austria. Foothills dominate the Czechoslovakian border. Much of the German interior is heavily forested, most prominent being the Black Forest region near the Alsatian border. The coastline consists mostly of flat, arable land and the East Frisian marshes, which together form part of the North European Plain. The border states of Rhineland and Moselland are demilitarised in 1936, and the German Reich cannot move forces into the area until it completes the Rhineland national focus, or if it gets involved in a war before doing the Rhineland national focus. Additionally, the exclave of East Prussia runs from the Baltic Sea to the north to Lithuania to the northeast and has Poland to the east, south, and west. Clockwise from the north, Germany borders Denmark, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. In 1936, the German Reich is one of the largest countries in Europe, spanning parts of both Western and Central Europe from the Rhine to Silesia, and from the North and Baltic Seas to the Alps.

Hearts of iron 4 german strategy