East German uprising of June 16-17,1953 and its influence on the Soviet bloc countries policy formation processby Eisenhower's administration (January 1953 - February 1954)

Eisenhower's administration inherited German question with the given vector of development from the previous administration. Events of June 16-17, 1953 when citizens of Eastern Berlin rose against the policy pursued by SED were first actions against the policies pursued by communist governments in the countries of Eastern Europe. Eisenhower's administration developed an action program aimed at diminishing the influence of the USSR in Eastern European countries by using this uprising. The most important element of this strategy was the food aid program for the citizens of Eastern Berlin and GDR. But in the process of this policy realization several problems were revealed right in the beginning that soon transformed into the principle issues of the American policy. First of all, since the start of preparation and till the end of realization of the program Great Britain and France had negative reaction towards it. Secondly, the food aid program raised a question about acceptable limits of such programs. In September when this program was in full swing Eisenhower's administration reached the borderline where it was necessary to finally define the parameters and boundaries of the acceptable and necessary foreign policy actions in relations with the USSR and the Eastern bloc as a whole. The question was in how aggressive the actions of the American side had to be. The situation with the food aid enabled the supporters of the less aggressive approach to tilt the balance in their advantage. It happened because the effectiveness of the program that did not provoke a military clash was obvious and the pluses the American government gained in the relationship with the communist world did not require any further comments. The German question being very important had a colossal impact on all the aspects of the American policy towards the USSR and Eastern Europe. Having tested in practice in Germany the elements of liberation policy, Eisenhower's administration very soon reached a conclusion that this policy had its limits and caused serious disagreements with its key allies in Europe. This is why already in 1953 in all key administration documents a thesis was fixed about impossibility of such actions that could provoke a total war with the USSR. Consequently, the accent was made on the informational operations and the variants of trade relations' development for the gradual easing of the communist regimes. It was what is now called the elements of "soft power". It was in Germany and on the basis of German experience that American administration, in spite of the internal pressure, really had to move away from the election campaign slogans and to begin rebuilding its state machine and tuning it to "soften" the communist influence and win the sympathies of East German citizens. It was not a mere chance that after 1953 Western Berlin was turned into a "showcase of the Western world" and real "hub of the informational and investigational work" of the USA against the countries of Eastern Europe.

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