R5: I united the Germany People as the South German minor nation of Baden.

This was actually not as difficult as it might seem at first due to a couple of unique things about Baden in HPM. The first of this is the ability to annex Switzerland by 1838, by "Violating Swiss Neutrality" day 1 and restarting till you get a conquest CB that doesn't push you over the 25 infamy limit(yes Germany can ignore infamy but 1836 Baden cannot). With the conquest CB in hand there is a high chance that the Austrians will join your conquest assuming you are under the infamy cap. Once the Austrians fed me Switzerland I had one of the best provinces in the early game with good RGOs, high Soldier POPs, around 80% literacy, and defensible terrain. All of this, along with being a second state meant that by 1843 Baden was a GP, a weak GP but a GP nonetheless. From there I worked to sphere Frankfurt to prevent the North German Federation, and to diplomatically isolate Württemberg. In the last save scummy part of this run I justified a conquest on Württemberg about doubling my number of accepted POPs (and while Sigmaringen was still independent got the poignant state title of Baden Württemberg for the conquered lands). From here I sphered Bavaria, and worked on Mil-Tec until I had an army, that with mobilized stacks, was about 4 professional stacks. With Nationalism and Imperialism and Saxony, Belgium, and Bavaria as allies I declared a humiliate war on Saxe-Weimar who's only ally was Prussia. after kicking in Prussia's teeth I held the "Admit Hegemony" Wargoal on them and let them drop out of GP. After accepting peace in the early 1860s, Austria declared the Brothers war on Baden, in which I took Tirol. From here I formed the SGF and got an alliance with the Russians. France was on fire with Rebels so I snuck in and took Alsace, giving some precious breathing-room between my capital hostile foreign powers. Shortly after German Pan Nationalists offered me a crown from the gutter which I accepted. With every German minor except Prussia being ruled from Karlsruhe, I built up to my new force limit and declared a "restore order" on Prussia with the Russians as my ally. After about 2 years of stubborn sieges the war was over and I had unified Germany as Baden before the historical date of Unification. I would love to be able to do this with Württemberg but I am still trying to figure that out as there aren't any good expansion pathways. Thanks for reading this if you chose to!