Putting culture into the Cold War: the Cultural Relations Department (CRD) and British covert information warfare

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Abstract

In 1943 the British Foreign Office created an obscure outfit called the Cultural Relations Department (CRD), to manage the growing organization of intellectual, cultural, social and artistic contacts designed to promote Allied goodwill. It became clear early on that the Soviet Union was already well-organized in this field, with many seemingly independent international organizations claiming to represent 'world opinion' yet operating as fronts for Moscow's foreign policy objectives. In the three years before 1948, when the more widely-known Information Research Department began its operations, CRD was the cutting edge of Britain's informational Cold War, focused very much upon the twin issues of culture and organized youth. This essay will examine this little-explored organization by focusing upon these twin issues and its neglected records in FO 924 in the Public Record Office, London.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: J Political Science > JZ International relations
D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D839 Post-war History, 1945 on
Divisions: Faculty of Social Sciences > Politics and International Studies
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Great Britain. Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Cultural Relations Dept., Great Britain. Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Information Research Dept., Cold War, International relations and culture, Propaganda, British -- History -- 20th century, Youth -- Political activity -- Europe -- History -- 20th century
Journal or Publication Title: Intelligence and National Security
Publisher: Routledge
ISSN: 0268-4527
Official Date: June 2003
Dates:
Date
Event
June 2003
Published
Volume: Vol.18
Number: No.2
Page Range: pp. 109-133
DOI: 10.1080/02684520412331306770
Status: Peer Reviewed
Access rights to Published version: Open Access (Creative Commons open licence)
URI: https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/926/

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