• This document was written by a Foreign Office official for the Foreign Secretary in 1955.
  
• The Foreign Secretary was about to go on a tour of conferences and meetings in Europe and the USA. He was to make several speeches and would be meeting with Soviet and Eastern European leaders.
  
• This report gave him a summary of recent developments as the British Foreign Office saw them.
  
• The text of the Foreign Secretary's actual speeches shows very clearly that he used these notes as the basis of his speeches.
  
• After Stalin died in 1953 various Soviet leaders tried to become the leader who followed him. Malenkov was one of these. However, he was pushed out by Bulganin and Khrushchev. Khrushchev then pushed Bulganin out.
  
• Khrushchev believed in peaceful co-existence with the USA and the West, rather than confrontation. He agreed to withdraw Red Army troops from Austria for example (Austria was occupied and partitioned like Germany in 1945). However, all Soviet leaders remained concerned about the long term future of Germany. Germany was still seen as a potential threat. Another issue where tension remained was nuclear weapons and the need for disarmament.
  
• Khrushchev also brought economic reforms to the USSR. He also ended the feud between the USSR and Yugoslavia (led by Tito) which dated back to Stalin's time.