
Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty
This is a collection of declassified documents pertaining to Radio Free Europe (RFE) and Radio Liberty (RL) – Radios which were overseen and funded by the Central Intelligence Agency until 1971, funded there after by open Congressional appropriation, and merged in 1976 as RFE/RL, Inc. The documents were used as primary sources for A. Ross Johnson's book ''Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty: The CIA Years and Beyond'' or published in the appendix of ''Cold War Broadcasting: Impact on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe'' edited by A. Ross Johnson and R. Eugene Parta. See also CWIHP e-Dossier No. 32 and e-Dossier No. 59 for introductions to the documents, and the related collections Intelligence Operations in the Cold War, and Mass Media and Censorship. (Image, RFE broadcaster Nowak-Jezioraski, 1952)
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July 16, 1951
Report on Radio Free Europe
Observations of BBC managers two months after the start of RFE broadcasting from Munich on May 1, 1951. It includes their analysis of the Czechoslovak Service broadcasts on May 26th, 1951, and of the network of field bureaus to gather information from refugees. They lauded the enthusiasm of RFE broadcasters but criticized their programs for mixing opinion with fact in newscast.
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August 21, 1951
Office of Policy Coordination History of American Committee for Liberation
Frank Wisner reviews the origins of the Soviet émigré project. He considers AMCOMLIB to be a cover organization without independent authority, notes the difficulty of uniting Soviet émigré groups, yet assumes that an émigré “political center” can organize publishing and broadcasting for the Soviet Union.
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September 06, 1951
CIA-State Department Reservations about Broadcasting to the Soviet Union
Senior CIA and State Department officials review the August 21 OPC memorandum ["Office of Policy Coordination History of American Committee for Liberation"]. The State Department officials question whether disparate Russian émigré groups can cooperate enough to organize broadcasting to the USSR, while CIA director Walter Bedell Smith questions the cost of the project.
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November 20, 1951
CIA-State Department “Summit” Limits Scope of Radio Free Europe
Assistant Secretary of State Edward Barrett reviews Free Europe Committee plans with Allen Dulles and other officials. The State Department vetoes startup of Radio Free Europe Baltic broadcasting on grounds that it would duplicate Voice of America broadcasts and insists that the Crusade for Freedom be toned down. Dulles subsequently rejects the latter point in a handwritten annotation.
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February 17, 1952
Report by Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart on his visit to Radio Free Europe, Munich
Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart - head of the World War II Political Warfare Executive who later had a highly popular BBC weekly program in Czech - visited RFE with BBC Central European chief Gregory Macdonald between January 29 and February 1, 1952. Reviewing personalities, attitudes, and operations in Munich, Lockhart concluded that RFE had made progress in its first year, that its broadcasters were happy to be separated geographically from émigré politicians in the US, but that RFE faced the challenge of keeping the spark of hope alive in Eastern Europe without instigating revolt. It also faced the challenge of emerging German sovereignty, which Lockhart thought would force RFE to relocate to another country. Accompanying Foreign Office memoranda generally endorsed Lockhart conclusions. Information Research Department official F.C. Stacey cautioned that “the need for sensational stories of RFE activities” for the domestic US audience might result in irresponsible RFE broadcasts.
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March 15, 1952
CIA, State Department, American Committee for Liberation Discussion of Radio Liberty Broadcasting
CIA, State Department, and American Committee for Liberation (AMCOMLIB) officials agree to expand AMCOMLIB activities, share funding with Radio Free Europe from the Crusade for Freedom, and delay Radio Liberty broadcasts until a sponsoring Russian Émigr é Political Center is formed
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March 28, 1952
Radio Liberty Broadcasting Policy
An Office of Policy Coordination memorandum formulates principles guiding Radio Liberty broadcasting, which should be organized by a Russian Political Center, not duplicate Voice of America broadcasts, and aim at destroying the Soviet government’s monopoly of information.
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April 24, 1952
Office of Policy Coordination Dissents from State Department Views on Radio Free Europe
Frank Wisner in a memorandum to Robert Joyce dissents from State Department criticism that exile participation on Radio Free Europe is minimal and rejects State’s proposal that East European National Councils should themselves organize broadcasts.
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May 29, 1952
State Department Comments on Radio Liberty Policy Guidance Paper
State Department Russia expert Francis B. Stevens comments on a draft policy guidance for Radio Liberty broadcasts. [Evidently an initial response to "Office of Policy Coordination Requests State Department Views on Radio Liberty", which is dated June 2 but was drafted on May 26.]
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June 02, 1952
Office of Policy Coordination Requests State Department Views on Radio Liberty
Frank Wisner in a memorandum to Robert Joyce requests State Department views on policy guidance for Radio Liberty broadcasts, to be organized by the Russian émigré Political Center and adhering to a list of 21 prescriptions and prohibitions.
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July 03, 1952
State Department Views on Radio Liberty
Responding to Frank Wisner’s June 2 request ["Office of Policy Coordination Requests State Department Views on Radio Liberty"], the State Department Office of East European Affairs provides Robert Joyce with its views of proposed RL broadcasts, stressing a policy of “self determination for the nationalities when conditions are such as to permit them freely to give expression to their will” [a formulation which would be known as non-predeterminism].
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July 16, 1952
Revised Princeton Statement [on American Foreign Policy]
The Psychological Strategy Board issues a restrained revision of the Princeton Statement adopted at a May 1952 meeting at Princeton on psychological operations [available in the Hoover Archives] convened at the initiative of Free Europe Committee President C.D. Jackson.