The brief Hungarian uprisng and political insurrection the year following the creation of the Warsaw Pact lead to the most egregiously forceful act of domination in the Soviet Empire's history. The Soviet army invaded neighboring Hungary with 200,000 troops, crushed the Hungarian Revolution, and brought Hungary back within limits tolerable to the Soviet Union. The five day massacre left 25,000 Hungarians dead.

U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles first announced the doctrine of "Massive Retaliation." It threatened full-scale nuclear attack on the Soviet Union in response to communist aggression anywhere in the world.