Senior officials discuss US policy at a National Security Council (NSC) principals' meeting on July 12. Notwithstanding less cautionary views expressed by Vice President Nixon at the NSC discussion, on July 18 President Eisenhower approved a minor modification of the draft (NSC 5608 and the annex) as NSC 5608/1 to serve as a basic statement of U.S. policy (published as redacted document 80, FRUS, 1955-57, XXV ; unredacted document 17, Békés, Byrne, and Rainer, The 1956 Hungarian Revolution).
July 3, 1956
National Security Council, NSC 5608, Draft of “US Policy toward the Soviet Satellites in Eastern Europe”
This document was made possible with support from Blavatnik Family Foundation
Staff draft of NSC 5608, concluding that ferment in the Communist world provides new opportunities to challenge Soviet control. A draft annex called for “encouraging evolutionary change” and defined as tasks of RFE and RL (and other USG-funded media) “avoiding any incitement to premature revolt” while “seeking to maintain faith in the eventual restoration of freedom.” Redacted document 76, FRUS, 1955-1957, XXV, unredacted document 12, Csaba Békés, Malcolm Byrne, and János M. Rainer, The 1956 Hungarian Revolution: A History in Documents (Budapest: Central European University Press, 2002.)
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Obtained and contributed to CWIHP by A. Ross Johnson. Cited Ch3 n5 in his book Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, NARA release courtesy of Malcolm Byrne, National Security Archive. Unredacted text of redacted document 73, FRUS, 1955-1957, XXV.
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2012-07-20
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Annex
Policy Guidelines
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114689
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Top Secret
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Blavatnik Family Foundation and Leon Levy Foundation