Harvard Model Congress Europe 1956 HISTORICAL NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION Committee Guide BY BRIAN COYNE Introduction The Historical Committee is endowed with the unique power to rewrite history. Using a critical historical event in world diplomacy as its starting point, the committee has the opportunity to re-chart the course of the events that actually transpired. This year, the Historical Committee will take up the role of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the tumultuous year 1956. That year saw Cold War tensions escalate with the Soviet invasion of Hungary, the Suez Crisis, and the beginning of the Algerian War of Independence. Going Back in Time We are all accustomed to thinking of the past as immutable and finished, but for the purposes of HMCE’s historical committee the events of the late 1956 are not the past but the present and future. By going back in history we aim not to replicate it, but rather to explore the variety of paths world events could have taken by reenacting the decisions that faced world leaders at the time. For them and for you, history is not yet written, and events certainly do not have to turn out the way they actually did. Indeed, any number of events, ideas, and choices, both profound and apparently trivial, could have changed the course of history. The 18th century French philosopher Voltaire once proposed that he could prove that the modern world would be a very different place had Cleopatra had a differently shaped nose. His exaggeration highlights the truth behind his jest. Why NATO? Why 1956? The Historical Committee chose to recreate NATO in 1956 because the people gathered there had immense capacity to shape the course of world events. This group of nations included three of the world’s five nuclear powers and all of the important players in the non-Communist side of the Cold War. Today we are comfortable calling it the Cold War because an active war never broke out. In 1956, the Cold War was red hot; it seemed that years of rising tensions could culminate in a third world war of catastrophic proportions at nearly any moment. The leaders of NATO may have helped to prevent such a catastrophe, but we should not allow our gratitude to blind us to their faults and injustices. To highlight only a few among many: the Hungarian people were essentially abandoned to their fate at the hands of their Soviet invaders, and the resolution of the Suez Crisis allowed a new war to break out in the Middle East a decade later. At the Conference: Committee Structure Each NATO nation in 1956 – Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom, United States, Greece, Turkey, and West Germany – will be represented by two 1 Harvard Model Congress Europe 1956 North Atlantic Treaty Organization: Committee Guide delegates. They will take the roles of the foreign minister and defense minister (or the equivalent of these positions). This is an important detail because, ordinarily, NATO conferences take place among the ambassadors to NATO, who may have less power to make independent decisions. From time to time, however, the gravity of the international situation leads NATO to meet at higher levels involving foreign ministers or defense ministers. This is such a time. These leaders, therefore, will be able to take action on behalf of their states. The summit will not take place in an information vacuum. Information and orders will flow both from and to delegates. Because the delegates will be important leaders in their own right, they may come to agreements with other states. They may also give orders to subordinates back home, request information from them, and take other appropriate actions. Because time will be passing as the summit goes on, delegates will frequently receive information from the world outside our doors. Since none of them are the heads of state, they will also be in contact with their political superiors back home. The summit begins October 1st, 1956. Anything that happened in the world before that is considered, naturally, to have already happened. Anything that occurs on that day or after is subject to changes influenced by the activities of the Summit. Once we are in the time capsule of the Summit, no anachronisms or references to events that have not yet happened will be allowed. This means that delegates cannot, for instance, argue that we should not intervene in Hungary because we know Communism will fall in thirty-five years anyway. With these basics in mind and a little outside research, it will be an exciting, constructive summit, one that just might change history. Time will pass as the committee makes decisions and new world events come to pass. History, of course, will change based on your deliberations and actions. Preparing for the Conference You should focus your research on the conflicts we will be discussing, using the briefing as a starting point. In particular, you should understand the positions held by your specific country. This may be more difficult for some nations than others. If you have difficulty, we encourage you to determine what you can about your country’s position and make an educated judgment. For instance, Portugal’s opinion on Algerian independence may not be conspicuous. However, it is easy to find out that Portugal still had colonies in 1956 and was not eager to give them up. This could allow you to infer that Portugal would be opposed to Algerian independence and sympathetic to the French fight against anti-colonial forces. Politics, geography, and economics can all give you clues to your country’s positions. If Britain is your main trading partner, you might be more inclined to support Britain in its conflict with Egypt. As you prepare for the conference, immerse yourself in the issues relevant to your delegation during this time period, keeping a close eye on your state’s military, political, and social interests. Be prepared to decide which issues you are prepared to sacrifice to gain leverage, and which issues you are least willing to compromise. 2.