From 8ea9c8fc9ada2f8031b10d7dfb1a132a2ecf33e1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Holden Rohrer Date: Sat, 27 Feb 2021 02:19:57 -0500 Subject: created this nicely formatted background guide; didn't do the writing --- bguide.tex | 402 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 402 insertions(+) create mode 100644 bguide.tex (limited to 'bguide.tex') diff --git a/bguide.tex b/bguide.tex new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6748435 --- /dev/null +++ b/bguide.tex @@ -0,0 +1,402 @@ +\nopagenumbers +\let\oldinput\input +\input color %blue links! +\let\input\oldinput % color tries to redefine input + +\def\anysplit#1{% + \ifx#1\relax\let\next\relax\else + #1\discretionary{}{}{}\let\next\anysplit + \fi + \next +} + +\def\link#1#2{% + \leavevmode + \pdfstartlink + user{/Subtype /Link + /Border [ 0 0 0 ] + /A << + /Type /Action + /S /URI + /URI (#2) + >>}% + {\tt \color{blue} \anysplit #1\relax}% + \pdfendlink +} + +\def\selflink#1{\link{#1}{#1}} + +%% the godly `pre` + +\def\pre#1{\par\leavevmode\llap{\hbox to \parindent{\hfil #1 \hfil}}} + +\newcount\item +\long\def\list#1{ +{\item=0% +\def\li{\advance\item by 1\pre{\number\item.}} +#1}} + +\input font.tex +\input toc.tex + +\def\bf{\fam\bffam\bftext} +\def\it{\fam\itfam\ittext} +\def\rm{\fam0\rmtext} +\def\tt{\fam\ttfam\tttext} +\font\largerm=cmss10 at 24pt +\font\largebf=cmssbi10 at 24pt +\font\largezz=cmssbxo10 at 24pt +\font\largeit=cmssi10 at 24pt +\def\large{\let\bftext\largebf\let\ittext\largeit\let\rmtext\largerm\rm} +\font\etrm=cmr10 at 12pt +\font\etbf=cmb10 at 12pt +\font\etit=cmmi10 at 12pt +\font\ettt=cmtt10 at 12pt +\def\text{\let\bftext\etbf\let\ittext\etit\let\rmtext\etrm\let\tttext\ettt\rm} +\font\sectionfont=cmb10 at 18pt + +\spacing=180\text + +\pdfinfo{/Title (Berlin Cold War Crisis) +/Author (Holden Rohrer and Radeen Dixon)} +\pdfcatalog{% +/PageLabels << /Nums [ 0 << /S /r >> + 1 << /S /D >> + ] + >> +/PageMode /UseOutlines +} + +% Cover page +{\leftskip.5in plus 1fil\rightskip\leftskip\parfillskip0pt\parindent0pt% +\large\spacing150 +{\parskip 0pt plus .2fil +Centennial High School Middle School Model UN Conference + +\leavevmode\pdfximage width 4.5in{logo.png}\pdfrefximage\pdflastximage + +{\bf Berlin Cold War Crisis Committee Background Guide} +} +\vfil + +\leftskip0pt + +{\it +Chair: Radeen Abree + +Co-chair: Holden Rohrer +} + +\eject +} + +% Main content +\pageno=1 +\headline{\vbox{% + \line{Cold War Crisis\hfil MiniMUN\hfil April 16, 2021} + \hrule +}} + +\def\thesection#1{\vfil\eject\noindent{\sectionfont + #1}\medskip} +\def\thesubsection#1{\vskip0pt plus .1fil\goodbreak + \vskip0pt plus -.1fil{\bf #1}} + +\section{Letter from the Chairs} + +\noindent Dear Delegates, + +We, Holden and Radeen, are pleased and excited to be your dais for the +Berlin Cold War crisis committee. +Radeen is a junior at Centennial High School, and has been practicing +his rhetoric with Model UN since 6th grade. +His favorite subject is biology, where he hopes to continue doing +research after he graduates. +When he's not studying the cutting edge of DNA processing, Radeen +rock-climbs, goes on hikes, and plays the guitar. +This is his second year at MiniMUN. + +Holden is a senior at Centennial High School, and he has been doing +Model UN since 7th grade. +He will attend Georgia Tech next year for CS and Mathematics, as a +continuation of his Dual Enrollment studies. +Holden runs on the Centennial Cross-Country and Track teams and likes to +cook and code in his free time. +This will also be his second year with MiniMUN. +% write more!!! + +This crisis will look at the opening of the Cold War with the Berlin +Blockade as well as some of the crises that occurred afterward. +This was an exciting time in history that raised many uncertainties, +including the status of Germany after World War II and the future of +relations between communist Eastern Europe and capitalist Western +Europe. +Would they engage in peaceful competition, all-out war, or something in +between? +As the delegates in this committee, you will be responsible for +negotiating a solution to the many crises that emerged as World War II +ended and a Cold War began. +Whether these relations remain peaceful or gradually degenerate into war +will be up to you and your actions! + +\bigskip +{\obeylines\parindent0pt +Best, +\medskip +{\spacing120 +Radeen Abree +Crisis Director, Cold War Crisis, MiniMUN +\link{radeen.abree@icloud.com}{mailto:radeen.abree@icloud.com} +\medskip +Holden Rohrer +Co-Director, Cold War Crisis, MiniMUN +\link{hr@hrhr.dev}{mailto:hr@hrhr.dev} +\link{https://hrhr.dev}{https://hrhr.dev} +} +} + +\vfil\eject +\toc + +\section{About the Committee} + +This committee is composed of various officials and representatives from +both the West and the East. +All delegates will be meeting in a secure and secret location within +Berlin. +As far as the outside world is aware, this committee does not exist; +only those at the highest level in your respective governments are aware +of its existence. +Your actions will have a direct result on your respective government's +course of action. +As a result, you may assume that any directives passed by the committee +will have a direct impact. + +Crisis notes may be addressed to your respective governments or agencies +and personnel under your command or control. +For example, if you are a general you may order your troops through +crisis notes. +Additionally, multiple delegates may collaborate on a crisis note. +However, this will be limited to two to four delegates. +Any more than that and the directive should instead be passed as a +committee directive. +For example, if France and Britain wanted to coordinate their +militaries, the two or more delegates responsible for this would both +have to sign off on this note. + +\section{Topic Background} + +In August 1945, nuclear explosions rocked Japanese cities Nagasaki and +Hiroshima, finally ending the Second World War. +World peace, however, was never to be restored. +Soon after the unconditional surrender of Axis powers Japan, Germany, +and Italy, the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union +broke out. +In the race to become the most powerful and secure countries, the two +world powers fought to expand their ideological spheres of influence as +far as they could, in diplomacy, combat, and propaganda. + +Three years later on June 24, 1948, the Soviets imposed a blockade in +the Committee composed of various officials and representatives from +both the West (the United States, France, and the United Kingdom) and +the East (the Soviet Union and its client states). +While some politicians on both sides advocated for extreme measures, the +goal of this committee to reach a compromise regarding the many crises +of the period that would later be referred to as the Cold War. +With the threat of nuclear war still lingering, delegates must see if a +compromise can be reached between the communist-dominated east and the +capitalist-dominated west. + +\section{Historical Context} + +\subsection{Tehran Conference} + +The leaders of the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United +States met between November 28 and December 1, 1943 in Tehran, Iran to +discuss further actions that needed to be taken against the Axis powers. +The Big Three's leaders, Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt, attended the +Tehran Conference to effectively negotiated and agree on war strategies +to defeat Nazi Germany. +For example, at the height of the war, the three agreed that a second +front needed to be opened in Western Europe. +This would divert German forces from their hold on Northern France, to +relieve some of the stress on the exhausted Soviet troops. +The delay in opening the Western front contributed to Stalin's distrust +of the Western powers and sowed the seeds of the Cold War. +Although the Tehran Conference succeeded in making significant war +changes, this conference represents the last significant meeting between +the Big Three that displayed mutual goals among the Allies. + +\subsection{Morgenthau Plan} + +By the end of the Second World War, the Allied powers were adamant to +never allow Germany to rise to the power or status it had before and +during the war. +To ensure that Germany would never be a threat, the Allied forces began +a rigorous process of demilitarization and deindustrialization. +The original plan was that Germany would be partitioned into two +separate and independent states. +Additionally, the Saar Protectorate, the Ruhr, and Upper Silesia, the +main German centers of mining and industry, were to be either +internationalized or occupied by bordering countries. +Furthermore, all heavy industries within those regions were to be +demolished. +At the Second Quebec Conference in 1944, Roosevelt and the US Secretary +of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr. convinced Churchill to accept the +plan with the help of the Lend-Lease agreement. +However, Churchill made amendments to the plan, and the version with his +amendments was the one signed. +The plan's main aim was to turn Germany into a predominantly agrarian +and pastoral state. +In September 1946, the US government formally discarded the Morgenthau +Plan, after Secretary of State James Francis Byrnes' ``Restatement of +Policy on Germany'' speech. +The four occupational zones that Germany was split into replaced the +idea. + +\subsection{The Iron Curtain} + +On March 5, 1946, Churchill delivered a speech at Westminster College in +the United States, claiming that Stalin was building up his belt of +satellite states. +Russia had been heavily invaded twice in the same century, and Stalin +wanted to secure its borders completely. +The West, however, saw this as part of his expansionist policy of +spreading communism throughout the world. +Churchill remarked, ``an Iron Curtain has descended across the +continent'' +and that the The entire area was under Moscow's influence. +The territory of the Eastern Bloc marked the Iron Curtain. +The Soviet Union had already seized Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania. +By 1945, eastern Poland, parts of eastern Finland, Northeast Prussia, and Northern Romania were also taken. +From 1945 onwards, Stalin also annexed The German Democratic Republic, the People's Republics of Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic became Soviet-dependent states. +Many of these states joined the economic and military coalitions called COMECON and the Warsaw Pact. +To the west of the Iron Curtain lay northern, southern, and western Europe. +All of these regions were run under market economies. +Apart from brief authoritarian rule in Portugal, Spain, and Greece, all of these countries were democracies. +The ideological split on either side of the Curtain became a tangible +reality, frightening to communist, capitalist, and third world countries +alike. + + +\section{Current Situation} + +Presently Europe is grappling with a multitude of issues. +In the aftermath of World War II, much of the most productive farmland +in Europe is devastated, factories lie in ruins, and without +reconstruction, its future looks bleak. +Starvation and food shortages are a real concern, and there is a +continuing debate over whether or not to restore Germany to prosperity. +From the perspective of the Soviet Union, they have been invaded by +Germany twice over the past 30 years, resulting in some of the largest +wars and battles in human history. +From this standpoint, there is a deep fear in allowing Germany to +rebuild and maintain the industry that has enabled it to launch these +wars in the first place. +France is another country with a history of conflict with Germany and +they also fear allowing Germany to rebuild its massive industrial power. +Consequently, France has expressed its desire to maintain control of +Saarland and for the internationalization of the Ruhr industrial area to +de-fang Germany. +At the same time, others in the US administration favor a strong and +prosperous Germany as a check against communist expansion. + +While the allies have made agreements in the past regarding the +prosecution of war criminals there has been discord over how far +denazification should go. +The Soviets who suffered the most are in favor of harsh measures, while +the US is more lenient and generally looking for a way to pragmatically +govern Germany. + +At the same time, there are concerns for the future of Europe. +Some believe that a future World War could be prevented by tying +countries together through trade agreements that would make war +illogical. +However, at the same time, there is a deep ideological divide between +capitalism and communism, where capitalist countries fear the spread of +communism. +While the US has articulated the desire for self-determination and +democracy for all countries within Europe, the Soviet Union desires the +expansion of communism and fears allowing the development of potentially +hostile states on the borders. +Therefore, the Soviet Union has sought to retain its influence over the +countries it has liberated from the Nazis during World War II. + +These disagreements have culminated in the Soviet decision to blockade +Berlin and cut off all land routes to the city as of yesterday, or June +24, 1948. +Militarily speaking, the situation favors the Soviets. +Their army is quite large and experienced, having reformed and fought +its way from Moscow to Berlin. +The American army, on the other hand, has shrunk dramatically as a +result of demobilizing, and many of its veteran troops have returned to +civilian jobs in America. +At the same time, America is presently the only nuclear power in the +world. +While it is not known how many nuclear weapons America possesses, it is +believed to be anywhere from just a dozen to over a hundred. +France and Britain continue to maintain significant armies as well, +however, their armies are also caught up in the struggles of +decolonization and at the moment they continue to have significant +detachments stationed abroad. +This leaves open the question of how the present crisis will be decided, +as well as how to tackle the underlying divisions between capitalist +Western Europe and communist Eastern Europe. + +\section{Questions to Consider} + +\list{ +\li What will be the future of Germany? Will it be one state, two, or +many? +\li How should denazification be handled? What should the economic +future of Germany look like? Should a harsh approach be adopted, or +should a more lenient approach be taken? +\li How can a balance of power be constructed in Europe to prevent +another World War? +\li For the Soviet Union, how can they achieve security from the +possibility of another invasion such as occurred during WWII? What +measures might be necessary to achieve this? +\li For the Western European countries, how can they prevent the spread +of communism and secure themselves from Soviet influence? +\li What will be the future of relations between Communist states and +Capitalist states, will they be peaceful, or will it be war? +\li If Europe is to be divided between communist area and capitalist +areas, how will it be divided? Will the agreements made at the end of +WWII be respected, or should they be changed? +\li Should any new agreements be negotiated governing nuclear weapons +and their use? +\li How will Yugoslavia fit into these agreements? Will it be communist, +capitalist, or something else? +} + +\section{Bibliography} + +\emergencystretch=.1in + +The Tehran Conference, 1943 - 1937–1945 - Milestones - Office of the +Historian. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2016. +\selflink{https://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/tehran-conf}. + +Suggested Post-Surrender Program for Germany. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2016. +\selflink{https://web.archive.org/web/20130531235410/% +http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/psf/box31/t297a01.html}. + +The Yalta Conference, 1945 - 1937–1945 - Milestones - Office of the +Historian. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2016. +\selflink{https://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/yalta-conf}. +United Nations. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2016. +\selflink{https://web.archive.org/web/20030303022458/% +http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/wwii/17604.htm}. + +The Potsdam Conference, 1945 - 1937–1945 - Milestones - Office of the +Historian. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2016. +\selflink{https://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/potsdam-conf}. + +Avalon Project - Declaration Regarding the Defeat of Germany and the +Assumption of Supreme Authority by Allied Powers; June 5, 1945. N.p., +n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2016. +\selflink{http://avalon.law.yale.edu/wwii/ger01.asp}. + +``Sinews of Peace." Westminster College, Fulton, MO. 5 Mar. 1946. Web. + +\bye -- cgit