The open window into the Soviet bloc: US policy toward Poland, 1956-1968

This volume analyzes US policy toward communist-ruled Poland in the fields of diplomacy, economy, culture, and public diplomacy. It highlights the limitations in developing cooperation between democratic and nondemocratic countries resulting from the Cold War conflict. No comprehensive account of US policy toward Poland from 1956 to 1968 has emerged in historiography. This book aims to answer why, since the political changes of the Polish October 1956, Washington ceased to see Polish affairs as "Soviet-related matters." Instead, it recognized communist-ruled Poland as a separate political entity among other Kremlin-dependent states in Eastern Europe. This policy, introduced by the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration, was continued by his successors John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Recently declassified US and Polish archival sources allow the presentation of more considerations around the decision-making mechanisms by presidential administrations regarding communist Poland after 1956. They also reveal the dependence of the implementation of US actions on the climate of international relations. Moreover, they can now explain how Poland became an "open window" toward the Soviet bloc and a model example of the changes in the US policy of diversifying its approach to Eastern European countries under Soviet control in the next decades.

Intro -- Half Title -- Series Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Introduction -- Notes -- Part I: An Open Window in the Iron Curtain: During the Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower -- 1. The United States and Polish October -- 1.1 Polish October - 1956 -- 1.2 Washington toward the "thaw" in Poland -- 1.3 Initial reactions to the new situation in Poland -- 1.4 The developing of contingencies toward Poland -- Notes -- 2. The Swan Song of the Liberation -- 2.1 Reflections on military aid to Poland after Polish October -- 2.2 NSC 5705/1 -- 2.3 Abandoning the option of military aid to Poland -- Notes -- 3. First PL 480 Agreement -- Notes -- 4. Activities at the Political Level -- 4.1 Assessment of the situation in Poland by various agencies of the presidential administration and intelligence service -- 4.2 Developing a new policy toward Poland - NSC 5808/1 -- 4.3 The US and the Rapacki Plan. Assessments of the situation in Poland -- 4.4 Vice President Richard Nixon's visit to Poland -- 4.5 US policy toward Poland at the end of the decade -- Notes -- 5. Activities at the Economic Level -- 5.1 Further credit agreements -- 5.2 The US-Polish claims agreement of 1960 and restoration of the MFN -- Notes -- 6. Public Diplomacy: Cultural and Scientific Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid -- 6.1 New American possibilities -- 6.2 Successful US initiatives -- 6.3 Scientific cooperation -- 6.4 Humanitarian activity -- 6.5 Secret book distribution program -- Notes -- 7. Radio Free Europe in the Eisenhower Administration's Policy toward Poland -- 7.1 Moderating the broadcast activity of the RFE Polish Service after October 1956 -- 7.2 A new framework for US broadcasting policy -- 7.3 Attempts to limit the activities of the RFE Polish Service -- 7.4 New "Special Guidance -- Conclusions -- Notes.

This volume analyzes US policy towards communist-ruled Poland in the fields of diplomacy, economy, culture, and public diplomacy. It highlights the limitations in developing cooperation between democratic and non-democratic countries resulting from the Cold War conflict