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

insignificant on the whole. The U.S. exported into the East-European countries only in the value of 167 million dollars in 1963—some 45 million dollars out of it went to Poland under PL 480. This sum amounted to 0.7% of the total export of the U.S. (23.207 million dollars). On the other hand, the U.S. imports from these countries were even lower: the import from the East-European countries in the value of 85 million dollars meant only 0.5% of the total import into America. The Cuban missile crisis affected the trade relations in an adverse way: Congress called upon the President to terminate the most favored nation status of Poland and Yugoslavia and it even accepted an amendment which prohibited the extension of aid to Communist countries. The Administration suspended the issuance of export licences to the Communist countries during and right after the Cuban missile crisis despite the fact that after Yugoslavia (1948), Poland (1960). Rumania (1960), Bulgaria also settled its outstanding financial claims with the U.S. in 1963 and thus

—on paper

—became qualified for American aid. In essence, the intensification of the Cold War as a result of the various crises over Berlin, the Cuban-question, and the mounting tension in Southeast-Asia (at that time, especially in Laos) all contributed to the failure of the intended new approach to the EastWest relations during the Kennedy Administration. A special case in the U.S.-East European relations in the years 1956-1962 was provided by the "Hungarian question" in the United Nations. The representatives of the U.S. challenged the credentials of the Hungarian delegates at every possible international forum after 1956; the debate about the legitimacy of the new Hungarian regime and its acceptance by the U.S. was mostly carried on in the U.N. though. On January 10, 1957 a Committee of Five was sent out to investigate into the "Hungarian question" (Australia, Denmark, Ceylon, Tunisia, and Uruguay). After a long debate, the U.S. gained enough support to block the official Hungarian delegate's admission and, in response, the Hungarian government ordered Edward Thompson Wailes out of the country: the diplomat arrived on November 2, 1956 and refused to present his credentials to the Kádárgovernment in protest against their collaboration with the Soviets. By the summer of 1957 ten different resolutions had been passed by the UN, which called upon the Soviets to refrain from using force in Hungary

—to no avail. Under domestic pressure (both Congressional and popular), the U.S. Administration requested a special session of 78