The propaganda warriors : America's crusade against Nazi Germany

Legendary "Wild Bill" Donovan, CIA directors Allen Dulles and William Casey, journalists Stewart Alsop and James Reston, diplomat John McCloy, philanthropist Paul Mellon, playwright Robert Sherwood, theatrical great John Houseman, and civil rights leader Ralph Bunche were among the thousands of people who led or participated in America's massive propaganda campaign against Nazi Germany. In "The Propaganda Warriors" Clayton Laurie fully unveils for the first time this unprecedented, ambitious, and embattled wartime enterprise. Laurie details the creation, evolution, and field operations of the overseas branch of the Office of War Information (OWI); the Morale Operations Branch of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS); and the Army-dominated Psychological Warfare units (PWB and PWD) serving the Allied forces in Europe. These agencies, Laurie shows, were as much at war with each other as with the Third Reich, largely due to FDR's failure to establish an official propaganda policy or to enunciate precise war and postwar aims. Within this vacuum, each agency eagerly developed its own distinct form of propaganda. The propagandists at OWI and OSS (forerunner of the CIA) were especially at odds with each other. The OSS was led by Machiavellian "realists," conservatives, and Republicans who wanted American values to dominate the international order and believed that any means--including the Nazi's own subversive "black" propaganda--justified that end. By contrast, the OWI was led by liberals, New Dealers, and those in the media and arts who adhered to Wilsonian ideals and believed that the truth about America, as they perceived it, would win out through the sheer power of its message. They detested the Nazi regime every bit as much as their OSS counterparts but refused to emulate Nazi tactics. Despite these conflicts, American propaganda did accelerate the drive toward victory, thanks to the emergence of the PWB and PWD, which after 1943 controlled the production of American propaganda against Germany, bending ideological agendas to serve the military's purely tactical objectives. But, as Laurie makes clear, all three agencies played a vital role in this crucial effort, even as their conflicts foreshadowed future ideological disputes during the Cold War.

Legendary Wild Bill Donovan, CIA directors Allen Dulles and William Casey, journalists Stewart Alsop and James Reston, diplomat John McCloy, philanthropist Paul Mellon, playwright Robert Sherwood, theatrical great John Houseman, and civil rights leader Ralph Bunche were among the thousands of people who led or participated in America's massive propaganda campaign against Nazi Germany. In The Propaganda Warriors Clayton Laurie fully unveils for the first time this unprecedented, ambitious, and embattled wartime enterprise.

Laurie details the creation, evolution, and field operations of the overseas branch of the Office of War Information (OWI); the Morale Operations Branch of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS); and the Army-dominated Psychological Warfare units (PWB and PWD) serving the Allied forces in Europe. These agencies, Laurie shows, were as much at war with each other as with the Third Reich, largely due to FDR's failure to establish an official propaganda policy or to enunciate precise war and postwar aims. Within this vacuum, each agency eagerly developed its own distinct form of propaganda.

The propagandists at OWI and OSS (forerunner of the CIA) were especially at odds with each other. The OSS was led by Machiavellian realists, conservatives, and Republicans who wanted American values to dominate the international order and believed that any means—including the Nazi's own subversive black propaganda—justified that end. By contrast, the OWI was led by liberals, New Dealers, and those in the media and arts who adhered to Wilsonian ideals and believed that the truth about America, as they perceived it, would win out through the sheer power of its message. They detested the Nazi regime every bit as much as their OSS counterparts but refused to emulate Nazi tactics.

Despite these conflicts, American propaganda did accelerate the drive toward victory, thanks to the emergence of the PWB and PWD, which after 1943 controlled the production of American propaganda against Germany, bending ideological agendas to serve the military's purely tactical objectives. But, as Laurie makes clear, all three agencies played a vital role in this crucial effort, even as their conflicts foreshadowed future ideological disputes during the Cold War.

This book is part of the Modern War Studies series.

Publishers Weekly

Belief in the existence of a worldwide Nazi fifth column inspired a terrified America to launch an unprecedented barrage of anti-Third Reich propaganda during WW II. In this eye-opening study, Laurie (The Role of Federal Military Forces in Domestic Disorders, 1877-1945), who teaches at the U.S. Army Center of Military History, reveals how three government agencies-the Office of War Information (OWI), the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and the Army-emerged as the nation's leading propagandists and wound up battling one another as well as Hitler. The OSS favored emulating subversive Nazi tactics; the OWI wanted to spread truth; the Army insisted on applying propaganda toward specific tactical aims. The Army eventually took control of the U.S. propaganda machine, but Laurie credits all three agencies with performing a vital service. A fascinating sidelight here is the portrayal of the nascent mind-sets that would characterize the civilian agencies' postwar incarnations (the OSS became the CIA; the OWI returned as the United States Information Agency). This is a serious investigation throughout, but Laurie can be downright amusing at times, as when describing U.S. propaganda dirty tricks like the formation by the OSS of the fictional League of Lonely German Women, whose offerings of sexual services to German troops was meant to torture soldiers with thoughts of what their sweethearts were up to. Photos not seen by PW. (Apr.)

Contents 9 Illustrations 11 Acknowledgments 13 List of Abbreviations 15 Introduction 17 1. American Perceptions of Nazi Propaganda, 1933-1941 24 2. The American Private Sector Mobilizes, 45 3. The Federal Government Defines a Propaganda Role, 1939-1941 61 4. Taking the Offensive: The COI, 1941 83 5. The Self-destruction of COI, 1941—1942 104 6.The Menagerie of the Old Guard of the New Deal: The OWI Overseas Branch 128 7. The Bargain Basement of the Military: The OSS MO Branch 144 8.Controlling a Rear Echelon Insanity: The U.S. Army and Psychological Warfare, 1941-1943 159 9.The Final Ideological Clash, 1944 182 10. The OSS Morale Operations Branch in Action, 1943-1945 208 11. White Propaganda Operations, 1942-1945 226 Conclusion 249 Notes 257 Selected Bibliography 311 Index 339 This work examines America's wartime propaganda campaign against Nazi Germany. Detailing the creation, evolution and field operations of the various agencies, it shows how they were as much at war with each other as with the Third Reich, due to a failure to establish an official propaganda policy.