the potential to prompt European nations to develop their own armaments rather than rely singularly on the U.S. This fear was realized in 1959 when France began its own nuclear weapons program. Notable Figures Adam Rapacki Adam Rapacki was initially a socialist agitator who later became part of the Polish Workers Party after World War II. As the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1956 to 1968, his most notable contribution was his “Rapacki Plan" – a plan for a nuclear-free zone in Central Europe. Rapacki attempted to keep open diplomatic, cultural, and commercial connections with the West while supporting Soviet policies in the UN, and furthermore, supporting the viewpoints of other communist countries during his tenure as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Rapacki rose to fame in 1957 when he submitted the Rapacki Plan to the United Nations General Assembly on October 2 calling for a denuclearized zone to be established. Rapacki was eventually relieved of his duties as foreign minister on Dec. 20, 1968. Dwight D. Eisenhower During the Cold War, President Eisenhower attempted to negotiate European security from a position of military strength through NATO. In 1953, with Joseph Stalin dying, a large shift in relations between the Soviet Union and both the U.S and NATO occurred. In the mid-1950s, seeking to pull troops out of Europe, Eisenhower pushed for the greater nuclear armament of Western European countries, notably that of West Germany. This would eventually precipitate a nuclear disarmament overture by the Soviets, and notably, the Polish with their Rapacki plan. However, the President would openly advocate against the Plan citing the lack of effort to reunify Germany and how it would greatly weaken NATO’s position in Europe. Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Khrushchev, serving as the Soviet Union’s First Secretary of the Communist Party at the time, sought closer cooperation between the Soviet and Polish governments from 1956 onwards. With greater diplomatic ties established in the years following, Khrushchev, in an interview for a newspaper published by the Polish Workers Party in 1958, stated that the Rapacki Plan was the best example of their states’ ties and working relationship. At his speech for the Twenty-First Party Congress, he stated how the Soviets were very much willing to implement the plan. Przemysław Ogrodziński Przemysław Ogrodziński, a socialist activist and Polish diplomat, rose to the position of Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during Rapacki’s tenure. He was a