Designer's note - Scenario Design Center

city and its inhabitants. On 12th May 1949, the Soviet Union finally backed down and
lifted the blockade.
On 4 April 1949, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was established with
Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Canada, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and the United States as original members. The alliance
grew in strength as Turkey and Greece joined the alliance with the Federal Republic of
Germany joining in 1955.
Also in 1955, the Warsaw Pact, the eastern military alliance, was formed under Soviet
leadership and with the member states Albania, Bulgaria, the German Democratic
Republic, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary.
When the East German government built the Berlin Wall on 13.August 1961 in order to
restrict the Western Powers’ freedom of movement in East Berlin, the situation escalated
dramatically
.
On 22 October 1961, the American diplomat Lightner was initially refused entry to East
Berlin and was granted passage only after massive US pressure. On 27 October, ten
Soviet tanks blocked the American entry point to East Berlin, Checkpoint Charlie. The
US responded with ten of their own tanks. The world held its breath during this
super-power confrontation. After 16 hours under the shadow of nuclear war, President
John F. Kennedy arranged a diplomatic solution and both sides stood down.
The ultimate crisis of the Cold War occurred in October 1962 when the US blockaded
Cuba to prevent the stationing of Soviet missiles there. After thirteen breathless days, the
Russians withdrew their SS-4 missiles.
With the end of the Vietnam War, a phase of relaxation of tension occurred and
disarmament negotiations began between the two Blocks. First disarmament contracts
like SALT I (Strategic arm's Limitation Treaty) and SALT II were concluded, followed by
the conference on security and cooperation in Europe. Peace negotiation shaped this
epoch.
Ib. Why in 1985?
Most of you surely wonder why we selected 1985 as a year of conflict. We chose this year
because it marked the introduction of different weapon systems within the NATO and the
Warsaw Pact. Beginning in the 80’s the USA fielded the M1 Abrams, for example, the
Germans their Leopard II, and the Soviet Union the T-80 tank. A certain time is required to
deliver new equipment to the troops and to replace older models. Also the team and I had
very good book sources about this time period, so why not use it. One funny thing by the
way, as I walked through the local library back in November, I stumbled across a book
which looked promising at first look, so I took it back home. After reading the introduction I
discovered it was written by an East German author and printed by the East German
government. Everything was there, NATO structure, Division/Brigade structure, equipment
from tanks, aircraft, ships to light weapons, very detailed battlefield tactics and so on.
Checking back with army members of the Fulda Gap team, we found out the information
within the book was very accurate. Scary when you imagine this book was made for the
public and what secret information the Warsaw Pact knew!
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