Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1998. [Vol. 5.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 25)

Studies - Tamás Magyarics: From the Rollback of Communism to Building Bridges: The U.S. and the Soviet Block Countries from the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 to the Prague Spring in 1968

TAMÁS MAGYARICS FROM THE ROLLBACK OF COMMUNISM TO BUILDING BRIDGES: THE U.S. AND THE SOVIET BLOC COUNTRIES FROM THE HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION OF 1956 TO THE PRAGUE SPRING IN 1968 1. The failure of the "liberation policy" (1956-1961) One of the most obvious lessons of the events in Poland and Hungary in 1956 for the U.S. was the failure of its official policy pursued vis-á-vis the European communist countries since 1953. The policy of the "rollback of communism" and the "liberation of the captive nations" turned out to bo no more than empty rhetorics during the first days of the Hungarian Revolution in October 1956. President Dwight D. Eisenhower wondered at a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) on October 26 if the Soviet Union would not "tempted to resort to extreme measures, even to start a world war" in case it lost its power over its satellites.

1 As a matter of fact, the President harbored some doubts about his Secretary of State, J. F. Dulles's sharp anti-Communist rhetoric since 1953." The way-out in this dilemma was offered by adopting a strictly legalistic-moralistic approach toward the events in Eastern-Europe and the Middle-East. The leading American statesmen denounced the use of force in international matters as "immoral" and called upon the Soviet Union as well as Izrael and the latter's allies, Great Britain and France to abstain from agression. The forum for this action was provided by the General Assembly of the UN and its resolutions; but while the U.S. made great efforts to enforce the resolutions regarding the Middle 1 Eisenhower, Dwight D. Waging Peace, 1956-1961. Garden City. N.Y., 1965. 67. " Bundy, McGcorge. Danger and Survival. New York. 1990. 253. 67