Nuclear War Simulation Student Journal: Cuba

Nuclear War Simulation

Dear Journal,

The Soviet Union and I have come to a consensus. We both do not want to start nuclear war, however, he wishes to take over all of Europe.  Because I do not which to start a nuclear war, I will make it known. Knowing how the United States is, they will not fire unless fired upon. I hope that my fellow Soviet Union ally will not take things to far and make America think that we’re trying to make nuclear war. 

All I can say is that I’m not ready for a nuclear war and the devastation that it brings—like it did in Japan. However, after my past with America—could they want war, or to attack me? Dare the United States be so daring as to attack me? I’ll have to ask the Soviet Union to bring me medium nuclear warfare. 

Sincerely yours,

Castro

Dear Journal,

Tensions all day have been running high, and everyone is on alert. My ally has given China nuclear warfare, and China had betrayed them by attacking them! Who knew the tides could turn so quickly?! What should I make out of everything??? I mean I knew that Stalin would attack harshly, but for the Nato to turn China against him? 

And as if things can get any worse—and Nato can’t be any more heartless! Nato has reached Defcon Two and are ready to strike their nuclear weaponry. What do I DO? What if they attack me! I mean they’ve done it in the past—I bet they just want to attack! Well, America, I’m going to get nukes from the Soviet Union! Yes, you bomb me, I bomb you!

Sincerely yours,

Castro

Dear Journal, 

I’ve convinced the Soviet Union to give me nukes. However, before he gave me the nukes he had the decency to tell me to nuke America! AS IF! I wanted to have the nukes for protection…not to start war… My objective was not to invade the U.S. but to keep it from happening. However, I wanted the nukes to retaliate just in case they nuked me because of the launch on warning! How could the Soviet Union try to corrupt everything like this…

Of course, I’m here…writing my last letter, thirty minuets before all the bombs land all over. How can the Soviet Union go against what they said! They wanted Europe—not to nuke the whole earth and bring destruction to it! How could they go against everything they’ve said! …Alas, I hope that I have done enough and that death will come quick—for I don’t want to walk the earth one foot in the grave and the other on the grounds of the  earth…

Sincerely yours,

Castro

WW2 Simulation Journal: United States

Journal Entry – United States 1938 (Orientation)

It’s the beginning of what we think will be the second world war. We’re not sure yet but we believe that because we have a lot of natural resources we will be a main target. Hopefully this is not the case but knowing Hitler’s history and the way he leads that might be a possibility. Hitler isn’t the only person we’re worried about though, we have various other countries to look at because it’s not only Germany that’s low on resources. 

As of right now we have decided to stay neutral and remain passive for now. We don’t plan on attacking anyone until we’re attacked ourselves. We do plan on staying loyal to the Neutral Powers but we’d rather not get involved until we’re forced to. We have enough resources and we’re willing to help people of our alliance. But we, The United States, will not be forcing an attack on someone until we’re attacked. 

Journal Entry – United States 1939 

It’s only day one and Germany had already attacked strong taking over the Netherlands and Poland. This really shows how power-hungry Germany is and how aggressive they’re willing to be to get land. I believe Germany is in it for the land and the resources because I’ve heard talk that Germany is relying on their alliance for their resources. Hopefully they do not attack us because we’re trying to remain neutral as of right now. 

With the United States being strong in resources, we have some concern that Germany will come for us next to take over our resources. If that is the case, we will have to defend and probably call for some help from our alliance to help stop Germany.  We, The United States, are going to try to get our point across that we do not want to be involved in the war and that we’d like to stay out. We would like to remain neutral as long as possible and keep to ourselves as of right now. Somehow, I’ll need to communicate this to all the countries around me and hopefully they abide to what’s been told to them. 

Journal Entry – United States 1940

The war is starting to heat up and countries are betraying some of their alliances over power and land. Japan had taken over a lot of China and it’s believed that they’ll continue to do that until they have taken all of China. The Axis Powers have been attacking many countries and they’re taking over a lot of land. This concerns us heavily because if they’re power-hungry then they might decide to go after the United States. 

So far, we’re sticking to our plan of staying neutral and staying out of the war. We’ve decided that we want to focus on fixing the depression and we want to stay to ourselves. We will NOT attack anyone and we will remain neutral but we have decided that we WILL provide resource to other countries. We believe that if we keep our resources to ourselves than the chances of us getting targeted will increase. So, we will be supplying resources to other countries but we will not be getting involved in war and sending troops to other countries. 

Journal Entry – United States 1941

Japan has officially involved us into this war by bombing Pearl Harbor. This is MAJOR and we have decided to side with the Allies. We WILL be taking action in this and we will work to take over the Axis powers. We are planning on gaining troops and taking over the Axis Power lands and getting revenge on Japan. 

We have sided with the Allied powers and we are figuring out how to take over the Axis land. We, the United States, is the only country that mobilizes and gains troops throughout the war. We plan on taking advantage of this and using this to overpower other countries. Japan will be suffering consequences for bombing Pearl Harbor and WE DO NOT plan on going easy on them.  

Journal Entry – United States 1942

Today was not the greatest day for the Allied Powers. Japan had went in strong into China and had taken over a lot of land. China couldn’t do much and Japan had burnt through a lot of troops. My plan was to move towards Japan and take them over although the Allied Powers have a different idea. 

The Allied Powers want me to move my Navy towards Belgium to help them take over Belgium. I’d would like to provide assistance but after Pearl Harbor I wanted to be focused on taking over Japan. Willingly but also very unwillingly, the Allied Powers decided to attack Belgium which wasn’t a smart move and I stated that. They knew it was a war that we couldn’t win but continued to attack. This has a big effect on us, The United States, because we won’t be able to carry out our plan as smooth as we liked. Our focus from now on is to attack Japan and take over all their land. If we can attack Japan then we will be able to conquer their land quite easily due to them burning through all their troops. 

Journal Entry – United States 1943

Once again the Axis powers had attacked real hard and are taking over a lot of land. Japan, which had bombed us, took most of the land East of the USSR and the USSR is worried that they’re going to be invaded. Germany and Japan are closing in on the USSr and I plan on moving towards them to help.

After Japan had attacked us, we plan on going through Japan and taking over as much land as possible. We plan on taking our Navy and moving troops through the back but that’s a little difficult at the moment due to the Allies. The Allies keep requesting help, which id gladly like to supply, but it’s difficult when you have to do different things to maintain power. So far, we’re still focused on going through Japan to help the USSR and take over Japan and get revenge for what they had done. 

Journal Entry – United State 1944

It’s not looking very good for the Allied powers as we are starting to crumble apart. I am far from my allied countries so it’s hard to provide a bunch of help to them. They’re also requesting a bunch of resources from us which we will provide but we will also need some if we plan on taking over Japan. We’re doing the most with what we got trying to take over the Axis powers but it’s looking rough right now. 

The Axis powers are looking really strong right now because they had taken over a bunch of land that they needed. They had taken over the USSR and they have spread all throughout to help them maintain their land. We’re still trying to work our way through Japan which shouldn’t be very hard because they’re retreating closer to the USSR and leaving a bunch of land open. We will continue to do as much as we can but it’s not sure how much longer we can go without being over powered by the Axis powers. 

Journal Entry – United States 1945 

We’re making moves towards the Axis Powers and we’re working to take over the Germans. We’ve already taken out the German Navy and we’ve worked on taking over Belgium. We almost won that battle but felt short but we did weaken their military in Belgium by a lot. Hopefully, this’ll help us take over Belgium and help us move throughout the land that Germany is in. 

We’ve defended pretty good against the Germans and the Axis Powers so far by holding good defense. We’ve defended a good chunk of France so far and we’re trying to protect against the Axis Powers taking all of it over. We weren’t very successful taking over Japan and getting revenge but we did help our alliance and we maintained the land that we could. 

Cold War Lesson Plan Student Journal

Cold War Simulation

West Germany – Period 2

Prewar Report

Today was more of an explanation day with just explaining on how the entire simulation was going to be ran and how it was a little different from other ones, with the tactical nukes and snap count launches. I plan on working very closely with the United States because they seem to be a big superpower with many of the nukes being in their hands, along side with countries that surround West Germany for a place to retreat if I get invaded (which I plan to see aggression inflicted on me). In a case when where that happens I will hopefully retreat to Belgium or Norway, unless the United States stays and fights with us.

Day 1

There has so far been an attack on Yugoslavia by the USSR and I think that they plan on taking the rest of Europe along side it. We decided that when the USSR attacked Turkey, that we needed to use tactical nukes because our 300 armored tank divisions wouldn’t be able to stop the 1000 incoming USSR divisions. We successfully destroyed all of them without losing any of our troops. Everybody in NATO is not wanting to have a nuclear war but to make peace, while the Warsaw Pact is wanting war it seems. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.

Day 2

The Warsaw Pact is continually showing signs of aggression towards NATO allied countries and are asking us to leave West Germany for them to take it. No way I’m going to leave my country without a fight. Everybody except the United States and my West German divisions are left in West Germany. The USSR sent another 1000 troops to Turkey, which ended like a repeat of the last one, all casualties were on the USSR, which we had launch on warning activated, and just like that, everything was reduced to rubble.

WWII Simulation Student Journal: China & Finland

China 1 1938

Today was the day where my country gathered it’s best militaristic ideas and strategies.  We need to come up with a plan to keep Japan away, which is our biggest struggle at the moment.  I hope to make a secret alliance with Serbia so they can step in once they can stop being neutral.   I plan to try and use all of China’s military and move them around as needed.  We might need more help from other countries because of our weak military ratings.  The only problem, is that I don’t know where that help will come from.  

Finland 1 1938

Today was a stressful day of plan making.  I’ve been thinking about who I should make alliances with first.  While organizing that,  I also had to create a plan as to what I will do once I, or the Soviet Union are able to stop being neutral.  I am scared for what the USSR has in store for me, I fear they will turn on me and take advantage of my country.  Next year I plan to form an alliance with the USSR to try and keep the peace, and my territory. 

China 1 1939

This year is already off to a bad start.  I have lost North Central China to North East China (ruled by Japan).  I tried my best to save it, and I thought it would work to combine North Central China and South Central China’s  troops.  Those two combined gave me 2,400 troops against North East China’s 1,000 troops.  I was in complete shock when I saw the result of the battle; an Axis Powers victory.  I need to make big moves, and it needs to move quickly.  

Finland 1 1939

This year was quiet for Finland.  I tried to convince Germany to protect me if and when the USSR decides to come for Finland, but they just keep acting flakey and not “all in” tot he deal.  I know there’s something sketchy going on between us, but I’m not sure why.  I need to form a secret alliance with them before it’s too late.  Something else I tried was to make an informal alliance with the USSR.  They fell for it!  I told them I’d give them my troops since they threatened to take me over if I don’t… but little do they know, I have an incredible army rating!  I know it won’t be long before they come for Finland’s blood, but if I can just stall and fend for myself for a while, I might be able to gain support from German troops and/or the German Navy.

China 1 1940

My heart and mind are being broke into millions of pieces.  Japan has taken over two of my China’s territories.  China is hopeless, there are no countries around to help defend us or donate any supplies and troops.  A positive that has come out of this is sympathy from the United State, they have agreed to give China seven oil!  I am so grateful for their support through these hard times.  The lack of respect from other countries, especially Japan, has made it hard to have hope for the future of this country.  Germany has been suspiciously kind to China… they have politely declined my request for troops and raw materials, but thankfully, have agreed to convincing Japan to stop attacking China for the time being.  I have a bad feeling Japan will come back for more, but for now, I need to focus on increasing my army’s rating by gaining more raw materials and troops from surrounding countries.  These  next few years could be very scary for China, and we need to be prepared. 

Finland 1 1940

This year was a bit scary for Finland.  We held strong in a battle against our enemy, the USSR.  After making a fake treaty with them, they kept their half, but Finland, not so much.    We held up a good fight thanks to our strong military.  We don’t have much left to withstand another attack though.  We’ve tried so many times to convince Germany to lend us some extra protection using their navy, but they have declined every single time the question comes up.  We can hold our own for now, but that won’t be true for long.  I know we will need back up soon, but the only question is where that back up will come from.  

China 1 1941

This was a very quiet year for China.  I fear that Japan will come back to finish us off, so we’ve been laying low. I want China to keep the USSR’s leftover troops from our last battle up by the USSR boarder for extra protection against Japan.  I doubt that it will be enough, but every little bit will help in weakening Japan.  I know the USSR is planning on weakening Japan as much as they possibly can, I just need to figure out a way to regain my lost territory after all or at least most of Japan’s troops are gone.   Japan is focusing on the United States now, but I have confidence the U.S. can fight back.   

Finland 1 1941

This year was a sad year for Finland.  We lost all of our troops to the USSR.  We knew this might happen, but we thought we were well prepared for it.  With military support from  Germany, I was sure that we would win the battle, but it was a lost cause.  Now I need to focus on maintaining my status of staying out of European affairs after forming a public alliance with Germany.  I can’t believe Japan attacked the United States!  I have a feeling they will regret that decision.  

China 1 1942

What a depressing year.  China lost every last drop of it’s territory.  There was hardly anything we could do to save it though.  We managed to secure goods from the United States, but they barely made a dent in our military’s rating.  With no surrounding countries strong enough to help, we knew from day one it would be a lost cause.  Thank goodness for the USSR, though.  They managed to dig us out of some deep holes earlier in the war.   Sadly, their supply of troops didn’t last forever, and eventually we had no extra protection.  

Finland 1 1942

After a harsh year last year, we have decided to stay completely out of European affairs.  We had to disown our alliance with Germany to do this.  I wanted to so badly tell Germany what the Allies were up to, but I knew Finland had to stay out of whatever evil plots they had going for the Allies.  It was what was best for Finland and the Allies.  

China 1 1943

China is out of troops, and the past couple years have been lonely.  We’ve just been watching the war nag on for the past couple of years, and there is nothing we can do now to regain our original territory.  It’s not looking too good for the allies.  The Axis powers have been taking over every country they can get their hands on.  All I can hope for is the strength of the Allied powers so that they can regain all of their lost territory as well. 

Finland 1 1943

Finland has been sitting back and watching the war, just like China.  It has been hard to see all the territory being lost due to the horrifying Axis Powers.  They keep attacking all the weak countries, and theirs nothing anyone can do about it.  Finland just can’t wait for this horrible and terrifying war to end.

China 1 1944

For China, nothing has happened.  I left the Allied Powers in charge of China while I was away, but they hardly had to do anything concerning it.  The war has moved to mostly Central Europe and there is really nothing China can to to help out over there or anything we can do to regain our original territory.  This war will hopefully end soon.  We will hope for the best until that time comes. 

Finland 1 1944

Nothing has happened to Finland for a long time.  I left Finland in the hands of the Allied Powers while I was away, although nothing happened.  Hopefully this war doesn’t continue for much longer, I’m not sure how many more years all these countries can endure another World War.  

China 1 1945

Finally this horrible war looks as though it is coming to an end.  It has been very quiet over in China, nothing has touched us, let alone harm us, nor gotten close.   We are hopeful for the future, though it will take much rebuilding due to Japan’s horrific take over.  This war is now focused mostly in the Germany and France area, far from us.  China is routing for the Allied Powers.  We hope they will be able to regain all the lost territory of past Allies and serve the Axis Powers justice.        

Finland 1945

I received intel from Germany that they regained my Finland’s territory last year while I was absent, but something inside me tells me that’s not true.  A couple of the Allies,  Norway and Sweden, told me that he didn’t really try and regain my territory for me.  It’s still taken over by the Axis Powers, which is why Germany considered Finland “regained” because of our alliance.  It was never supposed to go public, but stay private.  There is nothing left to do.  The war is finally over.  

Second World War Simulation Journal: Yugoslavia & Belgium

Yugoslavia / Belgium 1, 1938

We, the country of Yugoslavia, shall trick Germany into helping my country. We don’t plan to keep a long term friendship with them, nor will we help their military at all as we are allied. They look to us to help them take control of Greece. But they don’t seem very trustworthy since they used force to make me join their side. So when they time comes, I’ll betray them and help the allies. It may be a suicide mission, but at least I’ll go down with a little bit of pride.

The country of Belgium is planning to join the allies to help them hold off Germany and save France from being totally destroyed. But Germany has their hand around my throat because there would be no way that only a couple of us allied countries could hold off Germany alone. They have too many troops posted outside of Belgium and the only way for me to survive is to join the Axis powers. For now I’ll have to watch Germany closely and analyze what their goal is before making a decision.

Yugoslavia / Belgium 1, 1939

Yugoslavia has officially created a fake alliance with Germany, but we don’t plan to keep it up for long. I have secretly met with the Allied forces to decide how we should move forward from this moment on. But I haven’t gotten much of a response from anyone. So I gave the Allied powers a year to help me decide. Until then I don’t plan to attack anyone so that I can guarantee a surprise attack. Germany doesn’t realize that Yugoslavia plans to betray them so quickly in the war. I hope they are prepared to be surprised because I wonder how they will react.

I plan to be neutral for a long while as everyone else kills each other. And I plan to join the Axis powers since I would be completely destroyed by Germany and I would lose all control of Belgium. So to play it safe and to give me more time to play my cards. It might mess up the plans of everyone else, but at least I’ll keep my control. I can turn the war just by joining the opposite side. Here goes nothing!

Yugoslavia / Belgium 1, 1940

I have joined the Allies and I have been wiped out immediately by Germany. I caught them off guard, but it wasn’t much of an impact as I intended it to. It seems as though the Allies don’t have a chance against Germany. But I suppose my sacrifice wasn’t such a waste, as I divided Germany’s army when they attacked me. So it will allow the Allies to attack where they have been weakened.

I shocked the war by joining the Axis powers. They know that Belgium is an advantage in the battles between France and Germany. There were Allied troops in Belgium when I switched sides. It was a blindside that no one saw coming. They are confused and won’t know how to react when Germany attacks. I cannot wait to see what happens now between France and Germany. Let’s wipe out all the competition and win this war.

Yugoslavia / Belgium 1, 1941

France and Great Britain are the only threats to us in this war and must lookout for their navy and men. With Italy and Germany using Belgium to travel through, it will destroy the Allied forces and eliminate anyone in our way. We plan to take out the USSR and then head to the west to take out France. It’s a two-front war and we need to take out USSR asap. Japan will attack the USSR from the east and Germany will attack from the west. Hopefully this will work and we can dominate this war.

Yugoslavia / Belgium 1, 1942

We are building up our military to go to the USSR and wipe them out. Japan is making plans to move up through Asia and start by attacking Eastern USSR. Then Germany will start moving through Belarus and farther up and take full control of the USSR. Our plan is to take as many countries as we can and to take full control of Europe. No one stands a chance against Germany and the Axis powers. They might as well surrender now and to save us the hassle. We are number one.

Yugoslavia / Belgium 1, 1943

Now that we have wiped out the USSR, we are aiming to take France. We make our way west and then use Belgium to take France from there. There is hardly any resistance and nobody can stop us. If we continue at this rate, we will win the war for sure. Germany is crushing everyone with the help of Italy and Japan. This is going great. As we continue to sweep to the East, the Allied forces plan to gather troops to help back up France and to enforce a wall of defense. All we have to do is block off the two entrances to France from Germany and corner them.

Yugoslavia / Belgium 1, 1944

We have taken Asia and most of Europe. We plan to head south to take Syria and to take complete control of Europe. Then we’ll send more troops to France. Our plan is still intact and we plan to carry it out from here on. We plan to send our Navy towards France too. And after France is gone, we’ll take Great Britain. That will leave the U.S. vulnerable and defenseless. And if push turns to shove, we’ll send waves after waves of our troops to the United States and take them too. 

Yugoslavia / Belgium 1, 1945

We came close to completely taking Europe but came up short handed. I’m not saying I’m mad, just that we could’ve taken more if we had more time. But this is an Axis Victory for sure. The Allies had no way of defeating us. We used strategy and predicted their actions accordingly and it was successful. I respect the Allies for putting up a good fight, and for doing such a good job. We were worried at some points and we were scared that they would actually come back and bite us in the butt. Thankfully, luck was on our side this time and we prevailed.

World War 2 Simulation Journal: Poland & The Netherlands

Poland 1 1938

I know that Germany will try to invade us so we need to do everything we can to stop them. I know that Germany want to Danzig port and thats why they want to  I will need to form an alliance with France and Britain for when the time comes and hope that they will protect me.

Netherlands 1 1938

We are not a very strong military force and there has been nothing done to us. We will remain neutral as long as we can so we can keep the peace in our country. If Germany attacks, we will have to surrender. At the moment it is in our favor to stay neutral. 

Poland 1 1939

We got invaded by Germany and we knew that we would not win. France and Great Britain said that they would defend us and secure our borders. There wasn’t a lot they could do about us getting invaded. We did all we could to keep my country but we couldn’t beat the Nazis. 

Netherlands 1 1939

Right from the beginning Germany invaded us and we couldn’t move our troops to Great Britain. We knew that Germany would destroy us if we fought them so we surrendered to them. In the Dutch East Indies we joined the Allies. Shortly after we joined the Allies we got invaded by Japan. France and Great Britain did what they could to help us but Japan took over the Dutch East Indies. 

Poland 1 1940

We have lost all of our land but we will not give up. I believe that they allies will get the upper hand soon and take back Poland for us. The allies are still continuing to fight without me and they are staying strong. 

Netherlands 1 1940

Belgium has joined the axis powers but Great Britain and France still have troops there. They will have to conquer it. Their plan is to win back the Netherlands and I believe that will happen very soon. In the Dutch East Indies and Asia, Japan has conquered almost all of it and it doesn’t look like they are stopping anytime soon. 

Poland 1 1941

The USSR had taken over the 2nd part of our country back in 1939. Today the Soviet Union and Germany fought over it and Germany was victorious so now we are completely part of the axis powers. 

Netherlands 1 1941

Germany and the USSR broke their treaty. The USSR joined the allies and they are now going to help us take back lost territory in Asia. Japan bomb the Americans in Hawaii. The USA joined the allies also and they will be a major help to us in the war. 

Poland 1 1942

Germany invaded Norway but the Soviet Union sent in troop and the allies were victorious. Norway and Sweden ended up joining the allies. The Axis powers are gaining land but they are using up their troops. 

Netherlands 1 1942

Japan has almost taken over all of Asia and Australia. France, Great Britain, and the US are trying to take Belgium. If they take over Belgium, then they can easily get my country back for me. We’re waiting for help from the US in Asia, they are our only hope in getting back the Dutch East Indies. 

Poland 1 1943

Germany keeps attack the Soviet Union and they are now running very low and troops, but Germany just keeps attacking. We’re hoping that the USSR can start winning some battles so that they can help get our lost land back from Germany. Germany is quick using up all of their forces and we’re hoping that with the help of the US we can start winning the war.

Netherlands 1 1943

Japan has taken over the Philippines and took it from the US and Siberia from the USSR. Japan now controls over all of Asia and has started moving into the other side of the Soviet Union. Great Britain has moved troops to France and are waiting for a battle against the Axis powers. The Axis powers have been very victorious lately but they are running out of forces quickly.

Poland 1 1944

Germany has now successfully taken over all of the USSR. They have run low on troops but Italy hasn’t used a lot of their troops. Most of the countries from southern Europe has put their troops into Italy and we know that they plan on attacking very soon.

Netherlands 1 1944

The US has declared war on Japan and they will hopefully start taking over all of Asia and we will get our lost territory back from the Japanese there. Germany has moved in all of their troops from Germany to Belgium and we know they will soon attack. They are now surrounding France in Belgium and Italy. 

Poland 1 1945

We fought the nazi ships and beat the north sea so now they are not able to move troops to Great Britain. Great Britain ran out of troops helping France fight against the axis powers. 

Netherlands 1 1945

The Allies sent in most of their troops to Belgium to try and take it over. We lost the battle and I have lost hope that we will get our territory back from the Axis Powers. The US lost the territory they gain in 1944 in Asia.