ABSTRACT
One of the most critical areas where uncontrolled escalation could involve the superpowers in war is Central Europe. The Central European nations have a sad history of short-lived and unreliable peace agreements. Since the end of the Second World War, there have been many proposals for reducing tension and increasing the level of confidence between the various nations of this region. In October 1957 the Polish Foreign Minister Adam Rapacki presented a plan to the United Nations calling for the creation of a denuclearized zone in Central Europe. A group of four Central European nations currently situated in the centre of contention between East and West Czechoslovakia, the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, and Poland — would negotiate an agreement, with superpower assent, banning all heavy military weapons from their collective territory.
