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Student Journal: Cold War Simulation, Great Britain

Orientation Day: Great Britain 7 day 1

Initial Thoughts: My Initial thought was super confusing, but when Harms explained it to us it made more sense. I didn’t think the United States, France, and Great Britain were the only countries to get launch codes.

Strategy: My plans are to stay close with the United States and France and plan on attacking whenever they are attacking. Great Britain is a good country to control, but you can go over power with them. The codes are very useful, but they can be defective because they can go wrong if you send them the wrong time. We need to keep them in their own countries. We can’t let them go free roam. 

Day 1: Great Britain 7 day 1

Thoughts: I personally don’t want to send missiles back everytime they send them because we could make a come back (karma) if they run out of weapons. If we are getting destroyed or they are attacking us heavily then we will send our missiles back, but thats my prediction

Strategy: Soviet just closed the Berlin blockade. The Soviet Union is attacking Turkey right now with 881 troops. The Soviet Union took over turkey. We moved to defcon 4. Mostly just waiting for the warsaw to move or attack so I can get more plans in. They are moving troops upward closer to West germany. We are attacking east Germany. 150 west germany troops, 150 United states, 50 from Canada and 50 from lycanberg were sent to attack east germany. Poland, east Germany and Hungary are defending. Nato won the battle of East Germany just barely. Great Britain can’t move because I only have 300 troops in Great Britain. Soviet Union is attacking Greece with 548 troops. Warsaw took over Greece with ease. I didn’t know that you can move troops without the navy so I will be moving my great britain troops. The warsaw took back over east germany. I’m going to move my troops to France. We moved down to defcon 3 and Warsaw followed by going to defcon 4. The United States just opened a secret package. The United States talked to Great Britain and France and WE NEED to attack Cuba quickly before the Warsaw takeover. The wars were attacking italy. And they took over Italy. Plans are to wait for the warsaw to move their troops more and then attack. They just took over the battle box. The warsaw are attacking west germany. We just went to Defcon 2. And the warsaw went to launch on warning. 

Day 2: Great Britain 7 day 2

Thoughts: I plan on attacking Cuba with the United states. I plan on sending all of my troops to Cuba while the United States is sending 100. I think the United States needs to send more troops down into France because we need to defend West germany. I think we are testing the water too much and I think we need to come out strong. This is getting super slow because no one is attacking were playing the wait game.

Strategy: We sent 200 troops while The United States sent 300 more. France is using a nuke right now in West germany. Targets were destroyed in west germany. We just took over italy. We are moving our troops farther down to the germany and denmark region. The United States moved all of their troops from the west to the east. The USSR are moving their troops out of the USSR and spreading them out by putting them in Poland and romania. France is attacking Italy with 10 troops just to claim Italy. The United States sent 10 to west germany to claim open land. I moved 100 troops to France just in case of the Warsaw attack. The Warsaw nuclear attack hit everyone in Norway, and Warsaw nuked west germany and he took Italy back. Warsaw moved all of them out of the ussr. We are attacking the USSR to destroy their main land. That plan didn’t work because we could only send 400 compared to 500. The United States sent 200 troops to France while they sent another 200 to Cuba to back up the few great britain. Since the computer wouldn’t catch it, we just kept them in the east United states. Took Turkey back over with 40 troops since it was open land. France attacked Greece and claimed it back by sending 25 troops. We are testing the water to see how the warsaw reacts. They sent nukes to west germany, greece, turkey, and italy. We just activated defcon 1 and launched on warning. We are attacking east germany with 200 troops. Warsaw won, but still had 70 troops. Now we are counter attacking with 100 denmark troops to east germany. We are moving all the troops from the Netherlands into france. The warsaw are sending a nuke from poland to denmark to east germany. The warsaw are sending troops from norway into east germany attacking with 125 troops. They easily took over east germany. We just lost a 10 v 10 in turkey. The french are sending all of their troops into netherlands. We are just nuking everyone at this point. The whole battle sent their launch codes in. it will not be stopped. Nobody won because everyone died.

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Student Journal: Cold War Simulation, Romania

Orientation Day:

Initial Thoughts: This war is no joke. There are many advances for army power and the nuke is the worst of them all. If one side felt they were losing they would do anything and everything to end the war. Even if it meant destroying the entire world with war. The tension going into the war is very high as each side is going to continue to pick at each other. Not in a friendly way either. After orientation, I feel it’s best I lay low and not make any big moves. In the end I can’t do anything as I am required to stay behind the Soviet Union and let them be the deciding factor for everything. 

Strategy: 

As we met with Arends he said his first move of attack is to go after Turkey because they have two different missiles sitting there. All of the other countries that make up this Warsaw pact are to just stick with the Soviet Union and follow in their footsteps. Unless we disagree then we can protect ourselves. We came to the senses to take over all of Europe, Arends however is nervous that as we move along with these attacks that the United States will launch their missiles at us. All of our army rankings are very high so we have no doubt in our attack plans. 

Romania 7 Day 1:

Thoughts: 

The Soviet Union’s leader, President Arends, gathered us in a secret location to express his thoughts as we began to prepare for war. We are aware of what the Nuclear war can do to the country, and we will make sure those effects stay fresh in our minds. It’s extremely destructible and for my country I feel as though it’s not necessary at all. 

As the day started with an announcement from President Arends, he expressed to everyone that he wasn’t going to put up with people leaving his country for the communism that the Nato had to offer. So he closed off the western side of Berlin so no one could get out. 

The Warsaw pact decided to go ahead with their attack on Turkey with 881 troops from the Soviet Union. Romania is a part of this alliance but I feel like attacking Turkey right off the bat will make Nato very angry, leading them to attack us in the most brutal ways. I’m going to sit quietly on this one and I’m going to hope and pray President Arends knows what to do. 

I’m glad I sat quietly as President Arends led us on a victory for this one. However, Nato moved closer to a nuclear war as they kept moving their Defcon down. 

Nato decided that they were declaring war on East Germany. They were successful as we had no one to help them at this time. Arends decides to attack Greece, East Germany, Italy, East Germany and Albania and I feel as though those are good moves as we continue to expand our territory. He led us to more victories.  

Strategy: 

 The strategy Arends had for us is out of our reach. By that I mean we have to side with whatever he says. He is working on moving troops out of the Sviet Union in case the Soviet Union were to get attacked. Besides this, it gives us a bit of wiggle room if any of our other allying countries were to attack. If they were to get attacked, the Soviet Union will be right there to help. We don’t want to lose another country, like we did with East Germany, due to lack of troops in the surrounding areas. I just sit back and observe as of right now. Although, it was brought to my attention that my troops had to be moved out of Romina. It’s necessary they are moved because there’s no need for them where they were placed on the map before the move. If the Romania troops are moved outward towards the end of our territories and their borders they will be a whole lot more useful. We voted and decided that if Nato moves to Defcon 2 we will be launching our missiles and attacking with nuclear war. 

Romania 7 Day 2:

Thoughts: Nato decided to move to defcon 2 and like our strategy plans say, we are going to launch our missiles on warning. Great Britain announced an attack on Cuba which is misleading to me as they have been all by themselves. They aren’t a part of the Nato’s and they aren’t a part of the Warsaw Pact. This really threw me off as the Nato aren’t attacking the Warsaw Pact but instead decided to attack a country that has been minding their own business.  It makes me wonder if this is a part of an even bigger plan. What could they have in store? France decided to launch their tactical missiles and were successful in two different territories affecting us and our army. President Arends had told me that I needed to have troops of the Soviet Union throughout my country. I didn’t have a say in this so I just did what he wanted. 

As I mentioned in my strategy plans below we are sending tactical nukes to Norway, West Germany, and Italy. Arends went ahead with these plans to lower numbers/ armored divisions as we all noticed that the Neto has been stacking a vast majority of these troops into the countries that I had mentioned. At this rate it seems as though Arends goal is to make the Neto mad in any and every way possible. We sent out even more tactical nukes as well as attacking Turkey. Arends announced to us that we are moving to Defcon 1, this makes things more anxious as the Nato also moved to Defcon 1 and both sides are now standing with launching missiles on warning. At this point in time I don’t think we will be the one to attack first but I think we might need to in order to win. If we keep waiting on the other side to make a move, the Nato might strike at us while we’re tired and weak. We don’t want them to hit our blindspots either. I’ll still sit quietly, but I’m not sure how long I can keep quiet. 

In my strategy plans I did state that our pact came to the sense that we wouldn’t launch missiles unless they were launched on us; however, the tactical nukes kept going back and forth between each side. We got sick of it and launched our missiles first. This resulted in them launching it back on us. 

Strategy: At the start of the day we moved down to Defcon 2. This means that both the Warsaw Pact and Nato are in Defcon 2. One step closer to a nuclear war. As of right now the Warsaw pact decided on the vote of not launching missiles first. We will only launch these missiles if they are launched on us first. However, this can change as the leader of the Soviet Union can change his mind at any moment, just like he has been the entire time leading up to this day. Since tactical nukes were launched on our army we are thinking about doing the same. If we go ahead with this plan we want to target Norway, West Germany, and Italy. All of the troops in these countries. We will do this with the hopes of lowering their army that they’ve been stacking up in these countries. We are sending tactical nukes to Turkey, Greece, Italy and West Germany. We are going to continue to lower numbers as we want to keep decreasing their army. Since we believe our army now has a high stance against Nato, we will plan on moving to Defcon 1. One more step closer to nuclear warfare. Our strategy still stands the same as it was at the beginning of the war. Same old same old. We are going to wait for them to attack us first. 

World War Two Student Journals

World War 2 Simulation Student Journal: Soviet Union

USSR 1938

Talk about straddling the middle! First, I spoke with the Axis leaders, then the Allied, and both make appealing cases for joining their sides. However, both come with their difficulties. Joining the Axis is only possible if they allow me to take Rumania and Finland, and I doubt the Germans want me to have a monopoly on the oil in Europe, plus I don’t fully trust them. On the other hand, I can’t help the Allies against Germany until I’m attacked by Germany, and going to war with Japan will be risky if they get their hands on the southern colonies to increase their rating. At least the Germans have agreed to not supply the Finns when I attack, though I’m still going to use an overwhelming force in case they break the agreement, which wouldn’t surprise me. I am pleased with my foreign minister, we see eye-to-eye on many foreign policy decisions, and he has some helpful input as well. It also seems that Germany may be supplying Finland against our agreement, so we could use that to persuade them to give us Romania.

USSR 1939

I didn’t do much this year, I spent most of my time positioning forces, however we did manage to take P2, and we should be in position to take Finland soon. The Axis Powers appear to be doing better, so perhaps we’ll join them. We have also reached an agreement with the Swedes to transfer 15 of their 17 surplus iron ore to us in exchange for one coal and one oil to improve both of our ratings. I am still having talks with both the Axis and the Allies, the Axis can offer me a greater chance of victory at the moment, but the Allies can offer me resources and are less likely to stab me in the back. But right now, my foreign minister and I are listening to our national anthem as we watch mayhem unfold. This is going to be interesting either way.

USSR 1940

This year wasn’t executed very well on my part. It started off well, with us coming to an agreement with the Germans that I would take Romania for my victory conditions and give them the oil, as well as join the Axis. That went off without a hitch, unfortunately I was unable to join the Axis, and my turn ran out before I could move to take Finland, which will be a job for 1941. Knowing that joining the Allies would be inevitable, I decided it would be better to join them now rather than wait for a German attack, which would throw a wrench in the Axis plans. (I also think Ribbentrop is secretly the one running Germany). Hopefully I’ll still be able to take Finland.

USSR 1941

Victory hinges on one thing: America joining the war. They cannot do this until they’re attacked, which means we have to provoke the Japanese into attacking them. I have been scheming with my allies to make this happen. We have several options: send American troops into crucial zones like F1 and Burma on ‘training exercises’ or ‘courtesy visits’ and have them fight if the zone is attacked by the Axis. If the Axis refuse, that’s great because we still have those zones and don’t even need to defend them unless the Axis want the US in the war. Another thing we can do is move the US Pacific Fleet into the Western Pacific, right next to Japan, put troops in the Philippines, and play chicken with the Japanese. The Germans will inevitably take Rumania and will likely support Finland when I attack. I plan to still go for Finland, but I may move my troops out of Rumania to fight another day. I should also be able to hit Manchukuo and hopefully divert the Japanese from Burma with my Siberian troops. Hopefully that goes well. Update: Well, we got Finland and the Baltics, though we lost Rumania, but managed to pull the rug out from under the Japanese by taking most of their iron and some of their coal in Manchukuo and Korea, in addition to severely weakening their army. I am happy, as although we lost Rumania, we took light casualties in Finland, and will be able to repel whatever forces the Germans can spare to attack us with.

USSR 1942

This year greatly improved our chances of victory. The Soviet Union did little more than tie down German troops in the east and reinforce the British in Iran, but we helped with the strategy. The British Prime Minister is a great ally to have, and together we have led our alliance to attaining a great position for the next round. The Japanese also made the unwise choice of attacking the US. Now, I can understand that it might be one of their victory conditions, but they could have taken what they needed in 1945 against a very weak US, but instead the US is now gearing up for war to help us, and is already sending us resources. My opinion is that we should secure the Middle East and reinforce France in 1943, then push the Germans out of Belgium in 1944 while I move my forces to Belarus to attack P2. Meanwhile, the British and Americans should build up forces in Australia to hit the Dutch East Indies and weaken the Axis’ rubber supply before invading the mainland via the DEI’s connection with Thailand.

USSR 1943

This year was good, I held my positions and received more resources from the Americans. My western troops have more than doubled in rating since the beginning of the game, and I am confident that they can fight off the German troops currently on my border. Meanwhile, I am assisting my Alliance in planning other maneuvers. We have all agreed that taking back the rubber in Burma or the Dutch East Indies is of the highest priority, with making a move against Germany with the troops in F1 coming in second. I wasn’t pleased to lose East Prussia after briefly conquering it, but the territory is of little use or value for the moment. The securing of Africa by conquering Egypt took a lot of stress off me as well, as I was worried about the Italians taking the Suez Canal. I just hope my Siberian troops can hold off the Japanese in the Far East.

USSR 1944

This was the most boring and anticlimactic year so far. The US retook Hawaii and the WAllies took Belgium at a great cost, but other than that we are simply waiting for the Americans to build up a big enough army for us to take down the Germans. The Germans will not be invading the Soviet Union it would appear, but I’m not moving my troops back. Hopefully in 1945 I will be able to launch offensives with my troops in China in coordination with the armies in Iran. The goal is to retake Burma and give our troops better ratings. This is a fairly short entry because there was really nothing to journal about, hopefully 1945 will be more interesting.

USSR 1945

As a result of having an army meant to take over France and the Soviet Union without the Siberian troops, the Germans pushed into the Soviet Union and destroyed our armies while the Siberians were holding the Japanese at bay. As a result of Allied failure in the Pacific, if I had withdrawn those troops I would have lost there too. Overall, compared to Period 3’s map, I feel great about my situation, the Soviet Union is still intact and Germany’s army was shattered taking Central. I was also close to retaking Finland and Norway before the Italians and map glitches killed all of my time. World War 2 Simulation

World War One Student Journals

WWI Simulation Student Journal: France

The Point of View of France’s Foreign Minister  

WWI JOURNAL  

A TIME OF TOTAL WAR  

France 8  

YEAR 1913  

To start the year of 1913, it is no surprise that it will be a  challenging war. As Foreign Minister of France, I know how  important each and every decision the President and I make is. Our  alliance made with Belgium today was the start to WWI for us. This  ensures that we will send defense if Belgium is attacked. Once we  mobilize our troops tomorrow I will feel much more secure when it  comes to Germany taking action against us. The President and I plan  to keep close with our alliances and make decisions as a team to be  successful. We know that we can’t win the war without the help of  our allies. Today was a surplus of thinking ahead and making sure  we will be as prepared as possible for the next war years coming.  This will be no easy challenge for us, but we strongly believe that  with smart movement of our troops and with helping each and every  one of our allies, we will be able to make an impact. The allied  powers have high hopes for WW1.

France 8  

YEAR 1914  

The start of 1914 was slow moving. This was a bit nerve  wracking for us Allies, because we had no clue what the Central  powers had up their sleeves. The first few battles did not affect us,  so we choose to highlight our own country and securing it for safety.  We chose to move troops inward and way from the coastlines to  protect our borders. Our reasoning behind this was because we do  not feel threatened by our coastlines. We feel more danger by the  borders because we have Germany and Austria-Hungary that could  come for us. As an alliance we came up with and strategized for our  first battle. It was a little defeating seeing Russia lose to the first  battle in the war so easily. But I think our alliance did and  outstanding job making a comeback. As a group we started to plan  for the attack on the Ottoman Empire. We began to prepare troops to  travel by sea over to began the attack. Both the President and I were  very eager to see Italy join our alliance. We feel they have a lot to  offer, including a shared border with Austria-Hungary. This will  help us attack them in the future. They also have an inside look on  the Central Powers motives and strategies as the Central Powers  were working to get Italy in with them. I see success in the years  coming.

France 8  

YEAR 1915  

1915 was the most eventful year yet. Here we saw every country  in the Allied powers getting involved in battles and helping each  other out. To start off, we were more focused on helping other  countries defend from invasions and planning for attack. We did not  worry about defense for France, as we feel the entire country is off  the Radar of the Central Powers. We moved troops into another  allied country for the first time, which was a huge stepping stone for  us. This felt like a true start to the war for France. We moved over  troops to Italy as backup as we were suspecting an invasion from  Austria-Hungary. We were indeed correct. This battle we were  successful, managing to hold off the central powers. The year 1915  was a successful year for us Allied Powers. We also developed  poison gas, which was a game changer for battle. We helped Serbia  hold off Austria-Hungary yet again. I feel it was our luck though as  they chose to not use poison gas. It was a close battle. Finally our  biggest success was winning part of the Ottoman Empire. This was  the battle that we had been preparing for, for 2 years. We were  successful in doing so and managed to get Bulgaria too. I am proud  to be an Allied Power, and feel we have conquered so much, and are  still not finished. 

France 8  

YEAR 1916  

This year was something else, to say the least. As soon as we  started this year, The President and I were bombarded by the rest of  our group to sign this treaty. The treaty was to make peace with  Germany. We as leaders of France were extremely hesitant and  knew that this HAD to be violating more than just our objectives.  After talking things over and deeply thinking about this, we chose to  agree. Our reasoning behind this was because we were the last  country in the Allied Powers to sign and without our signature, we  were afraid to cause conflict with the rest of the alliance. If we chose  to decline the treaty, we were potentially risking loosing 3 of our  objectives. Plus we just straight up knew that isn’t what we were to  be doing in the first place. It was a tough decision for us, but we  chose to sign. It ended up throwing Germany out of the game, which  I guess was a bonus for us. Later that year we were victorious with  the Russians as the Central powers attacked us in Russia. That  whole year kind of honestly through us off, but we came to  realization that we needed to focus on our original country, before  we put the alliance first. So that is what we plan to do for the years  coming.

France 8  

YEAR 1917  

This year, France decided we shall focus on our individual  country. We focused on how we were going to achieve each and  every one of our objectives. We got in touch with the United  States, and learned that they wanted to take a part of Germany  too. We formed a secret alliance with the US and it was this year,  1917, that it officially became one of us. We are gaining many  countries that benefit France and we all are plotting something  big. This year overall was a year of preparation and placement.  We prepared our troops to go after Germany and Austria Hungary. We have troops waiting in Russia, Romania, Italy and  France. The Unites States and us have come to an agreement to  go after the same place, G2. With this we can finally achieve our  5th and final objective. All of the allied power troops are patiently  but also eagerly ready to take on war. We have completely  surrounded the Central Powers. We are ready for year 1918.

France 8  

YEAR 1918  

And just like that, WWI is over. As foreign minister of France  I am more than impressed with how both the President and I went  through this war. To end things off, both the United states and I  had plotted a huge, game changing attack. Unfortunately we lost  time within the snap of a finger. We managed to get our troops  moved and planned to carry out our attack on Germany. We were  devastated to learn we would no longer receive an offensive turn.  We were forced to make quick thoughtless decisions. This put our  countries leaders, including myself into a quick panic and we  made decisions that was going to help us in the next turn, little  did we know it would end shortly after. The allied powers as a  whole worked tremendously together and there are was nobody  else both the President and I would want to work with. Although  the war did not end that way would have liked to, looking back  we were more than happy with our success. We managed to  achieve 5 of the 6 objectives. We will call this a win for France.

World War One Student Journals

WWI Simulation Student Journal: Great Britain

WWI Simulation

1914:  Right now as we beggin 1914 there are many countries mobilizing for war. This is rising the tensions and has Great Britain I feel the pressure to mobilize for war as well. Japan has conquered some German colonies in SE asia which does not concern me. Right now my biggest concern is getting troops to Russia to strengthen their army. We know that Japan is on our side so we should be good. We are currently in good relations with Italy yet they want our help if there is a german offensive. So we plan on keeping some in the mediterranean. Austria hungary has taken over serbia. This creates ultra high tensions for 1915. I feel we may be busy with Italy.

1915: All caos has erupted, we tried to get some troops to russia but apparently it wasn’t enough because the german and austria hungary combined forces and took R3 in Russia. I felt that my plan was going to do well yet I didn’t realize how swift Germany would be. They have wasted no time starting to conquer countries, and the world on the street is that they have gave ultimatums to many of the remaining neutral countries in the balkans. As this progresses I am struggling to find a whole in them in which we could launch a counter attack. I feel our best option may have something to do with the ottoman empire. Right now their forces #’s are not high and I don’t see them being able to scrounge any backup. As far as the next year goes I feel (Great Britain) should try and capture the ottomans themselves while the other wage war on the east and west fronts. By doing this we may be able to get a more reliable supply train into russia to help them fight back because Germany and Austria combined are just too much. I think I will do this by transporting troops through the mediterranean to Egypt which we occupy. From egypt we may have a good chance at defeating a weaker ottoman Army. Once we secure this we should be able to work our way up the balkans and through russia and time it perfectly to take germany out. Yet as it happened before I’m sure there will be a wrench thrown into this plan. Tomorrow at the beginning of class I will call an Alliance meeting to get everyone on board (including Portugal).

1916: To start things off we did convince portugal to join the allies. This is what we wanted to do to gain whatever help we could have left. We tried to execute the plan that I had illustrated in my previous entry. This was to have russia take over part of the ottoman empire. They made an attempt at this yet despite having more troops the ottomans were too good and won. I have a gut feeling that it will not be much longer until all of russia is taken over considering that they don’t have much troops left. On top of this the central powers have taken full control of the Balkans. Some of these countries 

1917: This is a big year for us as britain because the central powers are nearing to our homeland, and it is essential that we retain our original land. This is where what I call the battle for Belgium goes down. In this war there are troops from Us, the united states, belgium, France, and Others from the central powers. This was a very close war that we lost by only a couple hundred troops. Despite losing in a way this was a strategic win for us. This is because in doing this we greatly depleted their army so they could not take all of France. Along with this we made it so that they would 100% not have any time to make an advancement on France. What else we did was send troops to F1 to help stall France being taken over. In my opinion anything we can do to stop them will help us defend in year 1918. For next year it is in ur best interest to have america help us. This is because I have learned that once they mobilize their army grows massively. Along with this their navy can help us knock out the German Navy.
1918: In the begging of this year we are preparing to help defend rance in the battle for F3 Overall I do feel that we can win this one considering we have help from the U.S.. Along with this there are two fleets of the france navy in position to transport troops along with a Big Fleet from us and the U.S. As I had expected we were victorious in this war against them. This is a huge victory considering it is the first time it seems we have won a ground war. Ultimately this is going to be enough to ensure that France does not completely fall to the central powers. My next Idea is to have help from the USA, and french Navy to help destroy the german fleet that has just moved into the North Sea Zone. I feel winning this is key to making sure that Germany cannot move troops from the east to help on the western front or even to prevent them from getting to england. As I expected we defeated them with ease. Like I said earlier this in a way immobilizes the German army from moving troops across the sea. I believe this is something we should have done much earlier. My final plan is to attack the italian fleet that is in the Adriatic. I hope that I can have the help of Japan for this even though I don’t feel that we need it. Like I had anticipated we beat the Italian navy and secured the Adriatic. The reason for this was to prevent the Italian navy from moving troops to take portugal. Because if they had enough time this would allow for them to sandwich us right before the end of the war. Overall we lost the war yet i feel that as the war went on we got a lot better at strategizing our attacks, and defences.

World War Two Student Journals

World War 2 Simulation Student Journal: China & Finland

China 8, 1938

As China, we are at a clear and unfair disadvantage to start the war. We had just been beaten by Japan which took some of our land which had our resources. This led to the Japanese having a huge advantage over our Asian theatre. Our plan is to try to survive the first hull of Japanese attacks, then get enough resources from the U.S to get our military strength high enough to put up a fight against the Japanese. We also have some allied militaries like the British and French to help with the Japanese attacks. 

Finland 8, 1938

As Finland, we want to stay out of the war and out of Foreign affairs. We have the strength to hold our own if we need to, but if we have enough resources. We will really be a really strong country. We want to try to become allies with the Germans because we need some help with the bigger countries that are around us that might try to go to war with us. Our main plan is just not to do anything unless absolutely necessary. If all goes well, you will hear from us for a long time to come. 

China 8, 1939-

1939 was calm for China for the first half or so of it. We didn’t have our resources yet from the U.S, they were still being shipped to us from the U.S. So our plan was to stay away from any war with Japan since we knew that they were bigger and stronger than us. The Japanese attacked North China and as the foreign minister, I told our President that we should pull our troops back and let them take it until we were stronger and were able to put up a fight against them, but the president decided against it. The outcome was known from when he sent them in. He knew we had no chance against them. We lost North China and thousands of troops. Our plan now is to try to see if other allies around us can help us. 

Finland 8, 1939

Finland had an easy 1939. Nobody came for us and as Finland that was amazing. We have to stay out of war if we want to live. We also have an alliance with the Germans that if we go to war, they will help us if they can. One of our neighboring countries being Norway was taken by Great Britain. This is scary for us because it seems that Great Britain is just going to push further towards us and take us over at any time. Our plan for now is the same as it was to start. Just lay low and stay out of the war. 

China 8, 1940

Right to start 1940, we were attacked again by the Japanese, this time in South Central China. At this point we had the resources to have our military at a stronger point than last year, but even with that and the help of the British, the blow of soldiers we lost last year was the turning point of this battle. The Japanese took out the British and the rest of our soldiers. Leaving us with no soldiers. At this point our only plan is to survive and hope that the British can keep them out of parts of our country and keep part of China intack. 

Finland 8, 1940

1940 was a very slow year for Finland. No other countries came to battle us and we didn’t try to battle anybody. Listening to the radio, we heard about China get attacked by the Japanese again and losing. Also lots of battles between the Germans and Italy going against the French. Not a lot to talk about for this year. Our strategy is still the same, stay out of the war and survive. 

China 8,1941

We have been defeated. The Chinese were taken out by the Japanese. We were outnumbered and outplayed. The Japanese were too powerful for our weak army. On the bright side our allies took part of our country back in Manchukuo. The USSR were able to defeat the Japanese and take this part of our country back. Even though it means nothing for us, it was a small win for the allies. The USSR also took out the Japanese in Korea to take hold of that as well. It seems like the Allies are pulling ahead in the war, but it is just the beginning. 

Finland 8, 1941

To start the year, it was just like every other year, no movement and no war for us. Then came the Russians, 2,500 strong coming right for our throats. We thought we would have the help of the Germans, but they failed to help us. So gave our best, but lost. Losing our country. It was heartbreaking. Thinking we were going to be able to survive a little bit longer and be a lot stronger. We were sadly mistaken. 

Journal five 1942, Battles 24-38

China 8, 1942

The Japanese kept coming and attacking our land little by little. This year it was India. We couldn’t do anything about it since we had lost all of our troops. So they took it from us. Another heartbreaking loss for our country. We are helpless, defenseless. We are just sitting ducks hoping that our allies can and will keep us afloat. 

Finland 8, 1942

We were not able to survive any longer, but we could still listen to what went on in the war. The Germans sent hundreds of troops into Great Britain leading to a loss for the Germans. Italy attacked Greece and ended up with the win. Lots of small victories for  different countries, but now the question is will they become bigger in the long run. 

Journal six, 1943 Battles 38-

China 8, 1943

With the war evolving to something big, Japan is still reigning supreme over the Asian Theatre. Taking over the U.S country of the Philippines, and of our countries in Tibet. Still not being able to do anything about it, they took it with ease. Japan also took Burma, pretty much sealing that they now have all parts of our country but one. Nearing the end of our countries life we were heartbroken even more. If we would have made one decision differently years ago, we would have been able to put of more of a fight then you see now. 

Finland 8, 1943

Lots of war went on in 1943, seems to be the year which people tried to turn the tide of the war. Italy loses the battle to get French North Africa while Great Britian takes Libya from Italy and takes away some of Japans ships in the Central Pacific. A big surge in movement towards the Allies, but can they keep it up. Can the Allies win the Final Stretch? 

China 8, 1944

Not a lot happened in the Asian theatre during 1944. The U.S takes back Hawaii after the attack of Pearl Harbor against the Japanese. This leads to a huge win for the Allies. This seems like the turning point for what is to come in the hopeful final years of the war. 

Finland 8, 1944

Not much really happened in 1944, lots of stuns to keep armies in territories while flanking the other way and countries sending few men to capture land with no other armies there. At the end of the 1944, the French, UK, and U.S all sent thousands of troops to capture Belgium. With Germany being far outnumbered by the Allies, they lost Beligium and the Allies took control. This was a huge win over the Axis Powers and was indeed a turning point in the war. 

China 8, 1945 

This was the final year of the war, no movement or battles on the Asian Theatre. Japan had taken most of our land and had majority of the other countries in the Asian Theatre. This makes them the winners of our Theatre. We put up a fight, but were greatly outnumbered and had lost most of our land. If one decision was made differently, this is a whole different story for the Chinese I believe. 

Finland 8, 1945

To wrap up the war, we had three humongous battles take place. First being France, the U.S and G.B all sending their troops to try to take over Italy. This ended in a surprising victory for the Italians. Second, the U.S led the charge with the help of G.B and France to Attack the Germans. This was a war for the ages. Thousands of soldiers from both sides ready to slaughter each other for the biggest battle of the war. At the very end of the battle, the Germans came out on top. Not with a lot of troops left, but they had won the battle. To wrap things up, I believe there is not enough evidence to prove the either the Allies or Axis had won the simulation. They each had an equal amount of land. So in my eyes, I deem this a draw . World War 2 Simulation

World War One Student Journals

WWI Simulation Student Journal: Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary 1913 8th

There is lots of pressure in Europe. Tension is building in the European countries and war is brewing. The Slavs in Austria-Hungary are angered and I fear they will attempt to do something terrible. Germany is growing and I believe if war does break out they will be very successful with a large and incredibly strong army. My main plan is to build up my borders and wipe out Serbia while helping Germany fight a battle on 2 fronts.

Austria-Hungary 1914 8th

With the start of war all seemed well. We had a large mass of troops and our German friends were successful in their expansion to the east against the Russians. One thing I am afraid of is France and Italy ganging up on the western borders of Austria. With a large amount of mobilized armies I spread them out between all three regions leaving a large quantity of armies in the capitol fearing that Italy would join with the allies and double cross us. My plan currently is to use German troops to help defend Austrian Borders from surrounding countries that might start war. We have a secret alliance with Bulgaria and are hoping they will help us against Serbia and not flip sides.

Austria-Hungary 1915 8th

With the start of 1915 Italy has shown their true colors and sided with the allies. The mobilization of troops gave us a large mass of troops to attack with. France as I feared helped Italy reinforce the Italian capitol. We still decided to attack seeing as we still had them outnumbered. Unfortunately we could not take the capital and had lost a very large amount of troops. With Bulgaria also announcing they would be loyal to the central powers we thought it would be safe to attack Serbia. With Austrian, German, and Bulgarian troops attacking Serbia we still could not come out victorious. Our German allies continue to march east and weaken Russia. All while the Russians attempt to wipe out the Ottomans. The Ottomans and Austria did successfully defend the eastern Ottoman region from Russia. However, through many troops coming in by sea the Ottoman and Bulgarian capital was taken by the allies. 1915 was tough for the central powers. We lost these battles, but we will win the war.

Austria-Hungary 1916 8th

With the start of 1916 Germany and Russia decided they were going to make a peace treaty. The agreement entailed that Germany would go neutral and leave the central powers. They would move all of their armies out of Austria and force their armies back west out of Russian territories. Doing this they went against their two of their main objectives and the power over Germany switched to the Ottomans and Austria. The leaders of Germany were exiled. The allies all of the sudden were in shock and tactics were changed. With all of the excitement we weren’t ready for the blow in the southeast. Even with the control of the German troops there was no way of helping the trapped Ottoman armies. The leftover Ottomans and my armies decided to push to take back the capitol. The push failed but greatly weakened the armies at the Ottoman capitol. With only Austria-Hungary and Germany left the central powers chances weren’t looking great.

Austria-Hungary 1917 8th

Romania and the U.S. now side with the Allies. Since I controlled Germany and my own armies I decided I needed to pull German armies out of Russia to maintain all of the original territories. As I was doing this, Russia started to push back east so I decided to make a stand with a decent sized German army to weaken the oncoming Russians. With an amazing defense the central powers were defeated but still took out a massive chunk of the Russian army. I used German troops to heavily guard the borders which make it tough for the allies to try and push into the central powers’ territories. I believe that the British and United States navy are going to bring troops into Germany using the sea in the north. Hopefully using the mobilization of 1918 I can easily defend against an attack. I will need to see how the allies move armies to create a plan to defend the central powers’ current territories. I also want to try and keep in mind that I want to annihilate Serbia. I will have to see how 1918 starts. 

Austria-Hungary 1918 8th

War breaks out in the south!!! My plan at the start of 1918 is to finally take out Serbia. My strategy was to use a very small army to distract the armies in Romania to make it impossible for them to help defend Serbia. With a large Austrian army with a small number of Germans and poison gas, we finally succeeded in taking out the Serbians. I then strengthened my territories with no defending armies and waited to make my next move until I could see what the allies would do in response to my move. Sure enough they decided to start making movements. First off Russia tried taking their lost territory controlled by the central powers. My idea earlier was to leave a small reserve of troops there to let them think they can have it. It worked, they sent a small Russian and a very small French army to try and take it back. I seized my opportunity and pushed in a small reserve of reinforcements to easily defend with German troops. I held the Russians in the east. In addition the French and Italians decided to push into southern Austria-Hungary. They succeeded in taking the land, but it cost about half of  their troops. I then decided it was time to strike back. I used the German navy and wiped out the United States navy in the north. I wanted to push deep into the south. I took Romania with ease and with all of the action the war was over.

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Student Journal: Cold War Simulation, Great Britain

Orientation Day:

Initial Thoughts: My initial thoughts on the cold war simulation are that I am a little wary about what to do because of the large USSR force. I want to keep the peace and keep the NATO alliance intact. The NATO alliance will stay neutral until we feel that the USSR poses a threat to us or is advanding their offensive line. We want nuclear warfare to be our last resort and will try to keep the tension low against the Warsaw Pact. 

Strategy: The NATO strategy is to activate the “Launch on Warning” and only attack them if they attack us because we want to keep the peace for as long as possible and avoid nuclear fallout. We don’t want war, but if the USSR decides to fight against the NATO pact, we will make them severely regret their decision. The NATO alliance will fight with a force the Warsaw Pact will surely never forget. 

Day 1:

Thoughts: As I look over the map, the USSR has a great deal of power regarding their army and nuclear force. It is in our best interest to suppress the actions of the USSR and look to the future for peace for the world. We know not completely what Russia is capable of but we do know that they will not fall easily. We believe that in our first line of action we can take over Cuba because we believe they are building a large nuclear facility that will be used against us. We must act fast in order to stop it. 

Strategy: Russian has begun an advance on Turkey and is accumulating Russian troops in Poland and in East Germany. We can only fear the worst as their forces are growing in central Europe. The NATO alliance has stated that we do not want to use warheads of any kind to settle this global dispute. As a union of peace, it is our duty to defend the world from opressive enemies. 

Day 2:

Thoughts: Our thoughts looking at the map now are that Russia has moved all of their troops into Eastern Germany, leaving Russia’s mainland defenseless. Our plan is to invade Russia and keep their troops in Germany distracted so that Norway can swoop in and hold Russia. By doing this, we’d force Russia’s hand to make a bad decision and then we will launch our tactical nukes on their forces, completely wiping them out. This plan is extremely risky and the loss of life is large, but for the sake of the world, it must be done. 

Strategy: In order to act out our plan, we must act fast. Norway forces are ready to invade the Russian mainland and they are about to set out. While they prepare for their invasion, a small hitsquad of US troops has been sent into Eastern USSR to apply a small amount of pressure to their forces. The intent of the USSR is clear. They’d rather win this war on land rather than using their tactical nukes. However, this will not stand. We now know the force of the Warsaw Pact and know what we are up against. We must send our missiles against the USSR and level the entire state of the USSR. By doing this, the USSR has retaliated and now the world is at a full scale nuclear war. Baren are the trees that still stand across the land. The piercing screams of death whistling in the wind for nobody left to hear. Smeared against the rubble that lay wasted along the earth where once a city used to stand, are the bodies of millions who’s lives are gone with the wind. 

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Student Journal: Cold War Simulation, United States

Orientation Day:

Initial Thoughts: Answer: 

It seems like it will be almost impossible to avoid nuclear war. We definitely know that by moving up defcon levels that it will provoke them to actually use those weapons, but if we don’t raise them, they will definitely try and take over all of Europe by traditional war. Going though this orientation shows how close we actually were to going into a nuclear war. If we did so, then it definitely would have been the end of everything as we know it. 

Strategy: Answer

Nato’s strategy will be to use anything possible as a deterrent of the USSR using nuclear weapons. This is what we want to avoid at all costs. We will begin by saying that we will take our missiles out of Turkey if they take theirs out of Cuba. We know that they have them there because that is how it was in real life, and the simulations usually go along with what actually happened. If this fails, then we will use Cuba as a bargaining chip, because if we take over then they won’t have any missiles within close range of the United States. If all of these fail, we will be forced to raise the defcon levels, which has the possibility of provoking a nuclear attack by the Warsaw Pact. This is a very delicate situation.

Day 1:

Thoughts: Answer

This has not gone to plan at all. The Warsaw Pact will keep advancing and we don’t see a possible way out of it. The attempt of taking missiles out of Turkey has failed miserably. They saw through all of our plans, and they just conquered Turkey instead of letting anything happen with it. This is very bad. It seems that every plan we have is falling through, because our plans with Cuba failed as well. The attempt to prevent them from conquering Turkey by threatening Cuba didn’t work. We were forced to stand by our words, and we have conquered Cuba. This eliminates the concern of short range missiles that they had in the area. Our great reconnaissance confirmed the fact that they were harboring nuclear weapons on the island. They, of course, denied all of these allegations. That spelt the doom for Cuba. We have no more bargaining though, this looks very, very bad. 

Strategy: Answer

Our strategy going forward is simply to try and deter them from advancing anymore. No matter the cost. If we have to go to the brink of nuclear war, so be it. We will do anything to protect our NATO allies. The current plan is to raise the defcon level as high as possible, without causing them to launch their nuclear weapons. We will not launch first. I do not see a world in which we launch first. I don’t feel that there is any other outcome though. We need to prepare for the worst, in life, or in death. We will survive as a nation if it does lead up to that point, there is no doubt. It is unlikely that we will go that far, but if it does, then I have no doubt that we will prevail.

Day 2:

Strategy: Answer

We are coming in with a different strategy for this day. We will be on the offensive. I have devised a plan to take out all of the USSR’s ICBMs. They pushed too far away from their homeland, and now will face the consequences. We can take their land, without them being able to reinforce with anything. All of their long range missiles will be disabled, and if we do go into a nuclear war, it will weaken any of the damage that we will take. This plan seems flawless, although we are unable to prevent their submarines from launching seaborne missiles. That will still wreak havoc on the people of the United States. Nuclear war seems unavoidable, so we may as well prevent as much damage as possible…

Thoughts: Answer

It went too far. The unlikely became reality. The end of the world as we know it. We pushed the USSR and their allies too far. We didn’t think that they would lack that much empathy for human life. This is it. I cannot believe that they would result in this. This is a tragedy. We shouldn’t have reached a defcon level one. I believe that this would have all been prevented if we didn’t go to that extent. They believed that they were going to launch, which never would have happened unless they had first. But, there is no point in looking back now. It is behind us. Now it is time to rebuild: bigger and better than we were before.

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Student Journal: Cold War Simulation, West Germany

Orientation Day:  West  Germany  46   

Initial Thoughts:  This battle is unlike any we have had before. Technology is way more advanced and in that the weapons are much more powerful. Destruction can occur from miles away. Rather than having to invade other countries we can attack from other territories. It’s not as much about numbers, it’s about who fires their explosives first. In terms of decision making I must deliberate with my fellow allies. I am confident in my allies and believe they will make the right decisions. 

Strategy: For Nato our first objective is to turn on “Launch on Warning.” We will use this as a deterrent for nuclear attacks. We don’t want to attack unless we have to. In other words we don’t want to poke the bear. As long as we lay low we hope the other side will not want to take aggressive action upon us. The last thing we want is for the Warsaw Pact to launch their nuclear weapons. However, in the case that they do attack we will be ready for response. I am prepared to defend my allies for the enemy is just mere miles away. I estimate that the Warsaw Pact will invade but we are ready to take action in that event. We will look to attack countries that will pose a threat for the future. We are willing to work with the Warsaw Pact if they are willing to. We are highly outnumbered however we have our advanced technological weapons to defend us. This isn’t a numbers game, but rather who is best prepared. 

Day 1:  West  Germany  45

Thoughts: Stallin has decided to put in place a blockade against us. He claimed we have been harmful to their economy. How dare they just cut off all ties from us. They have left us out to dry, but I find comfort within my allies of Nato. To further their attacks against us they have decided to take the territory of my alliance, Turkey. They explained that it was unfair of us to prepare for a nuclear war when they are not planning for that type of war. We are going to hold true to our original strategy. Because of their attack we will attack Cuba. We can only hope this will not anger our enemy to use nuclear force. We can hear their troops advancing closer upon us. I fear what they have in store. Our limited Troops cannot withstand their large forces.

Strategy: After their advance on our territory with the taking of Turkey, my alliance has decided we are going to get back at them. The Warsaw pact claims they do not have Nuclear arms in Cuba. However, we can’t trust them. The United States has information on them proving that they must be lying to us. Having them as a threat we have posed the enemy an offer, if the Warsaw Pact were to not make any more movements in Europe then we won’t attack Cuba. They have decided to decline our offer and the United States has taken over Cuba. This will make for a very proactive move for the future. With our limited troops we are refraining from any more war. However, we want to be prepared. We have discussed moving from defcon 5 to defcon 4. With this decision Warsaw has also decided to move to Defcon 4. With their movement closer to us this has set aggression amongst my allies and I. We did not plan to attack with nuclear force, but we will do what’s in our best interest. 

Day 2:  West  Germany  4h

Thoughts: After The first siege of war my alliance and I have come to the realization that we cannot win this war without the use of our nuclear power. Our troops are limited, and we cannot reinforce. The United States has advised us to move to Defcon 3. Much like before, the Warsaw pact followed suit. Things are escalating quickly, and we have moved to Defcon 2. Warsaw responded with the same. We are moving Nato troops from Norway to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. This decision will take away more of the Warsaw Pact nuclear arms. We have reached our final stage, Nato has moved to Defcon 1. And with this so has the enemy. We just got word of the worst news imaginable: the Warsaw Pact has launched their SLBMs. Our people are being targeted. It is too late, soon Europe will cease to exist. Nato has one last huge decision to make: will we fire back? The time is counting down, there is nothing we can do. The United States, Great Britain, and France have entered in their code sequences. There is no turning back now, Nato has initiated their nuclear strike. We sit waiting for the world to soon end. 

Strategy: Our plan of attack is to take away as much Nuclear force from the Warsaw Pact. We are prepared to respond if need be. Things are heating up. We are limited on troops and we estimate that the Warsaw Pact will try to invade us. Taking the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics will add pressure from behind. This decision has also allowed us to take away their Ballistic Missile Bases. The Warsaw Pact has initiated their SLBMs. They have made a very rash decision and acted too quickly. Do they even know what they have done? For Nato we are ready to respond. If we are going down we are taking the enemy with us. They have all put in their codes, and we have launched our attack. So quickly things have turned.