British Anti-Communist Propaganda and Cooperation with the United States, 1945-1951. Andrew Defty
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British anti-communist propaganda and cooperation with the United States, 1945-1951. Andrew Defty European Studies Research Institute School of English, Sociology, Politics and Contemporary History University of Salford Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, January 2002 British anti-communist propaganda and cooperation with the United States, 1945-1951 Contents Acknowledgements................................................................................................. .......ii Abbreviations.................................................................................................................iii Abstract..........................................................................................................................iv Introduction....................................................................................................................! Chapter 1 The Origins of Britain's anti-communist propaganda policy 1945-1947.............................28 Chapter 2 Launching the new propaganda policy, 1948.....................................................................74 Chapter 3 Building a concerted counter-offensive: cooperation with other powers, 1948-1950 ........123 Chapter 4 'Close and continuous liaison': British and American cooperation, 1950-1951 .................162 Conclusion .....................................................................................................................216 Notes Introduction .........................................................................................................226 Chapter 1 .............................................................................................................236 Chapter 2.............................................................................................................251 Chapter 3 .............................................................................................................263 Chapter 4 .............................................................................................................272 Conclusion...........................................................................................................290 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................292 ACKNOWLRTV^RMRNTS I would like to thank first and foremost my supervisor Sheila Kerr who has been supportive and encouraging and has given generously of her time long after her responsibility for my supervision should have ended. I am also grateful to Matthew Hughes for overseeing my work in the final months, and to John Keiger and Vera Tolz for some timely advice and encouragement. Many people at Sal ford and beyond have offered information, advice, and support which has helped in the completion of this thesis. I would like to thank in particular, Richard Aldrich, John Garrard, Paul Maddrell, Gary Rawnsley, and John Young. I am grateful to the European Studies Research Institute for providing financial support for this PhD, and for providing funding for two research trips to the United States. I am also grateful for the research grant I was awarded by the Harry S. Truman Library Institute which enabled me to carry out invaluable research at the Truman Library. I have received considerable advice and assistance from archivists and librarians in particular at the Public Record Office, the Liddell Hart Centre, the National Museum of Labour History, the Truman and Eisenhower Presidential Libraries, the American National Archives, and the University Libraries of Salford and Manchester. I would also like to thank Margaret Bryan of the Foreign Office Library and Records Department who was extremely helpful. In researching this thesis I have interviewed and corresponded with several individuals with links to the IRD, and I am very grateful for the insights they offered. Even those who did not wish to speak treated by requests for information kindly. I am grateful to those who were happy to recall their work, in particular, to Brian Crozier, Tony Benn, Hilary King, Robert Brash, the late Norman Reddaway and the late Lord Mayhew. Above all I would like to thank my family and friends who have supported me through the years it has taken to complete this thesis. I am grateful for many things, for looking after the children, for lifts to London, for accommodation and sustenance on my many visits to the PRO, for encouragement when it was going well, and for not asking, when it wasn't. I would like to apologise to Matthew and Isobel who, in the last few months have had to endure an ill-tempered father and been forced to watch far too much television. Most of all I would like to thank Shona for supporting me and everything. 11 ABBREVIATIONS APRS American Forces Radio Service BBC British Broadcastign Corporation BIS British Information Service CIA Central Intelligence Agency (USA) CIPC Colonial Information Policy Committee (UK) COI Central Office of Information (UK) Cominform Communist Information Bureau COS Chiefs of Staff (UK) CRD Cultural Relations Department (UK) DBPO Documents on British Policy Overseas DWS Diplomatic Wireless Service FAOH Foreign Affairs Oral History Program FBIS Foreign Broadcast Information Service (US) FRUS Foreign Relations of the United States ILO Information Liaison Officer (UK & US) IPD Information Policy Department (UK) IRD Information Research Department (UK) JIC Joint Intelligence Committee (UK) JIPC Joint Information Policy Committee (UK) LCS London Controlling Section (UK) MIS Security Service (UK) MI6 Secret Intelligence Service see SIS (UK) NARA National Archives and Record Administration (US) NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation NCFE National Committee for a Free Europe NSC National Security Council (US) QIC Office of International Information and Cultural Affairs (US) OPC Office of Policy Coordination (US) OSS Office of Strategic Services (US) PRO Public Record Office (UK) PSB Psychological Strategy Board (US) PUSC Permanent Under Secretary's Committee (UK) PUSD Permanent Under Secretary's Department (UK) PWE Political Warfare Executive (UK) RFE Radio Free Europe RIAS Radio in the American Sector RIO Regional Information Office (UK) SIS Secret Intelligence Service, see MI6 (UK) SOE Special Operations Executive (UK) SSU Strategic Services Unit (US) TUC Trades Union Congress (UK) USIS United States Information Service VGA Voice of America WFTU World Federation of Trade Unions 111 ABSTRACT British anti-communist propaganda and cooperation with the United States, 1945-1951. This thesis will argue that from early in the Cold War Britain developed a propaganda apparatus designed to fight the Cold War on an ideological front, and that in the period from 1945 to 1951 the role of propaganda grew from being an adjunct to foreign policy to become an integral part of British Cold War strategy. Britain was the first country to formulate a coordinated response to communist propaganda. In January 1948, the Government launched a new propaganda policy designed to "oppose the inroads of Communism, by taking the offensive against it.' The development of this anti-communist propaganda policy will be the main focus of this thesis. It will also be shown that from the earliest stages in the development of Britain's response to communist propaganda, the degree to which such activities could be coordinated with United States Government was a primary consideration. It will be shown that cooperation and eventually coordination of propaganda activities with the United States Government became a defining feature of Britain's anti- communist propaganda policy. This was particularly the case following the launch of the American "Campaign of Truth 1 in 1950. Faced with a formidable and highly organised communist propaganda machine officials in both Britain and America came to realise the value of a unified response. As both nations developed their own policies for offensive anti-communist propaganda, cooperation became an increasingly important element, as Britain and America sought to "shoot at the same target from different angles. 1 The thesis is comprised of an introduction and conclusion and four chapters covering: the origins of British and American anti- communist propaganda policies, 1945-1947; launching Britain 1 s new propaganda policy, 1948; building a concerted counter-offensive, cooperation with other powers, 1948-1950; "Close and continuous liaison. 1 British and American cooperation, 1950-1951. IV Introduction Introduction Writing in 1989, Britain's leading historian of Government propaganda, Philip M.Taylor, described the Cold War as "the apogee of the twentieth century struggle for hearts and minds... by its very nature a global propaganda conflict, the alternative to real war.' 1 In the absence of military conflict, propaganda was one of the principal means by which protagonists on both sides of the Iron Curtain sought to project their power, and undermine their enemies. Propaganda was also a vital tool for the creation of domestic support for policies of military expansion which were costly, and with the development of atomic weapons, not without considerable risk to the population. Yet, as Taylor later observed, the role of propaganda as an instrument of national and foreign policy is often neglected in the mainstream historiography of the Cold War. 2 This is particularly true in the case of the Western allies. In an important recent essay, W.Scott Lucas claims that the use of ideology