The Age of Eisenhower: America and the World in the 1950s

by William I. Hitchcock

Khrushchev’s risky gamble had been part of a series of actions—including his agreeing to the neutralization of Austria, his openness to meet Eisenhower in Geneva, and his effort to improve ties to Yugoslav leader Josip Tito, whom Stalin had excommunicated for his anti-Soviet sentiments—all designed to send the message that the communist experiment in Eastern Europe would no longer rely upon terror. The world would see a new communist bloc, made up of willing socialist states working in harmony toward a common Marxist future. Having opened up Pandora’s box, however, Khrushchev found himself struggling to contain the demons within. In Poland, long one of the most ardently anti-Soviet nations of Europe, workers called Khrushchev’s bluff and began to agitate for improved pay and working conditions. In late June 1956 a wildcat strike erupted into a major uprising in the city of Poznan, as workers rioted against food shortages, inadequate housing, low wages, and the incompetence of their managers. The