THE ROLE OF RADIO FREE EUROPE IN THE IRON CURTAIN COUNTRIES: 1956 POZNAN UPRISING AND 1956 HUNGARIAN UPRISING

Year 2018, , 348 - 358, 28.11.2018

Emrah Aydemir

https://doi.org/10.33692/avrasyad.510045

Abstract

The Cold War expanded with the East-West conflict and led to the battle of the great
powers. The Soviet Union believed that communism would achieve a victory all around the
world and that Western imperialist powers had been historically hostile towards them, and that
the Soviet Union was the leading Socialist/Communist state. Thus, the Soviet Union continued
to increase its influence and expansionist policies on the Iron Curtain countries. The Americans,
on the other hand, tried to intend for the proper tools to reach the communist world under the
leadership of the Soviet Union. A global disagreement emerged in the third world countries and
ideological conflicts of two superpowers was experienced in the world. In the conflicts, there
was no real military intervention between the United States and the Soviet Union. Instead of
this, there had been a struggle of proxy wars conducted over third world countries. Radio was
one of the preferences of the United States of America in this struggle. To this end, the Radio
Free Europe was designed and used by the United States of America for achieving the political
goals on the Iron Curtain countries. Radio Free Europe was used as a weapon against the
Soviet Union in order to prevent the Soviet Union from establishing its political domination
through communist governments in the Iron Curtain countries. Radio Free Europe, which
caused historical events in the Iron Curtain countries, met the information and news demand of
the region. In this study, the role of Radio Free Europe in the Iron Curtain countries will be
addressed and its effects on the 1956 Poznań Uprising and the 1956 Hungarian Uprising will be
examined. 

Keywords

Iron Curtain, Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, 1956 Poznań Uprising

References

• ALEXANDRE, Laurie Ann, (1985), Broadcasting Public Diplomacy: The Voice of America During Detente and Beyond, Irvine: University of California.