This paper will look at the East-West military balance in 1956 and at each side's (i.e., Moscow's and Washington's) understanding of the balance. It will look also at the way in which each side regarded the danger of nuclear war, and at how each side regarded the other's approach to nuclear war. Finally, the paper will address Moscow and Washington's views of the danger that the Hungarian revolution might escalate to general war, and at the communication between the two sides on that score during the revolution.