U.S. Policy Toward the Soviet-Dominated Nations in Eastern Europe; U.S. Response to the Rapacki Plan for Creation of a Nuclear-Free Zone in Central Europe; President Eisenhower’s Proclamation of Captive Nations Week
1. Telegram From the Department of State to the Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and European Regional Organizations
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 640.0012/1–2858. Secret. Drafted by Reinstein (EUR/GER) and McBride (EUR/RA) and cleared with various officers in the Department of State and with the Department of Defense. Also sent to London and Ottawa and repeated to Bonn, Moscow, Warsaw, Ankara, Athens, Brussels, Copenhagen, Lisbon, Luxembourg, Oslo, Reykjavik, Rome, and The Hague.
2. National Intelligence Estimate
Source: Department of State, INR-NIE Files. Secret. A note on the cover sheet indicates that this estimate superseded NIE 12–57 and was concurred in by the Intelligence Advisory Committee on February 4. The Atomic Energy Commission Representative to the IAC and the Assistant Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, abstained because the subject was outside their jurisdiction. An extract of NIE 12–57, “Outlook for Stability in the Eastern European Satellites,” dated February 19, 1957, is in Foreign Relations, 1955–1957, vol. XXV, pp. 578–579.
The cover sheet, dissemination notice, table of contents, and a one-page appendix on Soviet economic aid to the satellites and other intra-bloc credits affecting the satellites are not printed.
3. National Intelligence Estimate
Source: Department of State, INR–NIE Files. Secret. According to a note on the cover sheet, this estimate was submitted by the Director of Central Intelligence and concurred in by the Intelligence Advisory Committee (IAC) on March 4. The Atomic Energy Representative to the IAC and the Assistant Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, abstained because the subject was outside their jurisdiction.
4. Memorandum From the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Twining) to Secretary of Defense McElroy
[Source: Department of State, S/S-NSC Files: Lot 63 D 351, NSC 5811 Series. Secret. 3 pages of source text not declassified.]
5. Memorandum of Discussion at the 366th Meeting of the National Security Council
Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, NSC Records. Top Secret; Eyes Only. Prepared by Gleason on May 23.
6. National Security Council Report
Source: National Archives and Records Administration, JCS Records, 092 (9–14–49) IN 15 RB. Secret. A title page, a table of contents, and a May 24 covering note by Lay are not printed. In the covering note, Lay noted that paragraph 40 of NSC 5811 and Annex C of that paper were being referred to the Secretary of State for additional study and would be reconsidered by the NSC at its meeting on June 19. See Document 8.
8. Memorandum of Discussion at the 369th Meeting of the National Security Council
Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, NSC Records. Top Secret; Eyes Only. Prepared by Gleason on June 20.
9. Draft Paper Prepared by N. Spencer Barnes of the Policy Planning Staff
Source: Department of State, PPS Files: Lot 67 D 548, Europe (East). Confidential. According to a handwritten note on the source text, this subject was discussed at the Policy Planning Staff meetings on May 25 and July 7. Very brief summaries of the discussion at these meetings are ibid., Meetings. This draft paper and another draft paper by Barnes, dated November 7, 1957, entitled “Considerations of US Policy Toward the Communist States of Eastern Europe Exclusive of the USSR,” were combined and condensed by Barnes to produce a revised paper printed as Document 11.
10. Report Prepared by the Operations Coordinating Board’s Special Committee on Soviet and Related Problems
Source: Department of State, OCB Files: Lot 61 D 385, USSR & Satellites—General—1953–58. Confidential. Distributed to the OCB Assistants under cover of a July 23 memorandum from OCB Executive Officer Staats, in which Staats said that he hoped the report could be discussed at the Board Assistants’ meeting on July 25. There is no indication that the report was discussed by the Board Assistants or brought to the attention of the OCB in any way.
11. Paper Prepared by N. Spencer Barnes of the Policy Planning Staff
Source: Department of State, PPS Files: Lot 67 D 548, Europe (East). Secret. Regarding the origin of this paper, see the source note, Document 9. Several short notes were appended to this paper, one of which indicated that at the Policy Planning Staff meeting on August 25 “it was considered that a series of brief, cleared staff papers should be prepared on major fields of policy for wider distribution than hitherto. Two papers on the Soviet-dominated countries of Eastern Europe were used as examples, and Mr. Barnes will undertake to revise and condense these as the first of such a series.” The other notes, initialed by Barnes, indicate that Barnes had sent the revised paper to Elbert G. Mathews, while Policy Planning Staff Director Gerard Smith was absent, and Mathews had said that a further meeting might be held to discuss giving the paper wider distribution when “more active preoccupations quieted down.” No indication has been found, however, that such a meeting took place or that this paper was circulated outside the Policy Planning Staff.
12. Memorandum From the Director of Intelligence and Research (Cumming) to Secretary of State Dulles
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 640.0012/11–658. Confidential.
13. Despatch From the Legation in Hungary to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 864.413/11–2058. Secret; Limited Distribution.
14. Memorandum of Conversation Between the Under Secretary of State (Herter) and President Eisenhower
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 711.11–EI/12–658. Confidential.
16. Despatch From the Legation in Hungary to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.64/1–2359. Secret. Drafted by Pratt and Ackerson.
17. Report Prepared in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research
Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, OSS-INR Reports. Official Use Only. The source text bears the following notation: “This is an intelligence report and not a statement of Departmental policy.”
18. Operations Coordinating Board Report
Source: Department of State, OCB Files: Lot 61 D 385, USSR & Satellites—Documents—1959–60. Secret. According to a covering memorandum by OCB Executive Officer Bromley Smith, this plan was a revision and updating of the plan approved by the Board on January 23, 1958, and was concurred in by the Board Assistants, on behalf of their principals, on July 2. No copy of the January 23 version has been found in Department of State files; in his covering memorandum, Smith instructed recipients to destroy copies of previous drafts of the plan as well as the January 23 version.
19. Operations Coordinating Board Report
Source: Department of State, OCB Files: Lot 61 D 385, USSR & Satellites—Documents—1959–60. Secret. A cover sheet and an undated covering memorandum by OCB Executive Officer Bromley Smith are not printed. In his memorandum, Smith noted that the Board discussed the report at its July 15 meeting and that the outcome of the negotiations with the Czechoslovak Government for the settlement of U.S. claims “may determine the future of U.S.-Czech relations for a considerable period and also affect the possibility of applying the general policy of 5811/1.” He also indicated the Board concurred in the report for transmittal to the National Security Council and that it had subsequently been discussed by the NSC Planning Board on August 4.
21. Memorandum From the Acting Director of the Operations Coordinating Board (Washburn) to the Members of the Board
Source: Department of State, OCB Files: Lot 61 D 385, USSR & Satellites—General—1959–60. No classification marking. An excerpt from Walter Lippmann’s July 27 column was attached but is not printed.
22. National Intelligence Estimate
Source: Department of State, INR-NIE Files. Secret. A note on the cover sheet indicates that the following intelligence organizations participated in the preparation of this report: the Central Intelligence Agency and the intelligence organizations of the Departments of State, the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and The Joint Staff. The note also indicates that the report was concurred in by the U.S. Intelligence Board on August 11. The Atomic Energy Commission Representative to the USIB and the Assistant Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, abstained because the subject was outside their jurisdiction.
23. Letter From Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty to President Eisenhower
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 864.413/12–959. No classification marking. Transmitted to the Department of State under cover of a brief letter from Ackerson to Kohler, November 13. The letter was translated by Leo Topolsky of the Legation staff in Budapest.
24. Memorandum From the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (Kohler) to Secretary of State Herter
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 864.413/12–959. Secret. Drafted by McKisson, cleared with Vedeler, and concurred in by Merchant and Wehmeyer (L/EUR).
27. Despatch From the Legation in Hungary to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.64/7–660. Confidential.
28. Despatch From the Embassy in Czechoslovakia to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.60/7–1460. Confidential. A notation on the source text indicates that, at Tims’ suggestion, copies of the despatch were sent by the Department of State to Moscow, Sofia, Belgrade, Budapest, Bucharest, Bonn, Frankfurt, Munich, and Vienna.
29. Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (Kohler) to Secretary of State Herter
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.60/7–1460. Official Use Only. Drafted by hillenbrand.
30. Operations Coordinating Board Report
Source: Department of State, OCB Files: Lot 61 D 385, USSR & Satellites—Documents—1959–60. Secret. According to an undated covering memorandum by OCB Executive Officer Bromley Smith, the report was concurred in by the Board, after some revisions, at its meeting of July 27, and was transmitted to the NSC Planning Board. Smith also said that the Planning Board noted the report at its August 16 meeting and decided that the Department of State should prepare a revision of NSC 5811/1 (Document 6). See Document 32.
According to O’Connor’s July 27 memorandum to Kohler, in which he quoted from the informal notes of the OCB meeting that day, Sherer told the OCB that although there was no prospect of any dramatic progress toward national independence in Eastern Europe, there had been a few encouraging developments in U.S. relations with Bulgaria and Romania. The members discussed the relative military power of the United States and Soviet Union and “agreed that it would be a misinterpretation of the Report if a reader should conclude therefrom that the evolutionary policy of the US for the area was founded on a judgment that in military power the US and USSR were at parity.” (Department of State, OCB Files: Lot 61 D 385, USSR & Satellites—General—1959–60)