Putting culture into the Cold War: the Cultural Relations Department (CRD) and British Covert Information Warfare

Author: Richard Aldrich¹

Source: Intelligence and National Security, Volume 18, Number 2, June 2003 , pp. 109-133(25)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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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.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1080/02684520412331306770

Affiliations: 1: Politics, University of Nottingham

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