ABSTRACT
By the mid-1950s, the Cold War and the division of Europe were established realities to which the European nations had become accustomed. Yet the ability of the East-West blocs eventually to reach a minimal level of agreement at Helsinki in 1975 would attest to the gradual acceptance of the status quo. The events of 1956 signaled to Western European leaders the need to consolidate their position in the face of the Soviet threat and the possibility that the United States could not be counted on in all situations. Amidst the fears engendered by the Cold War, Westerners often contrasted their own divisions with an Eastern bloc described as a monolith completely in the service of the Soviet juggernaut. A major policy thrust of the Kremlin was to decouple the United States from Western European planning and to promote East-West detente in Europe without the participation of the United States.
