British Information Services

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Map of colonial India, distributed by the British Information Services (1942) India, by British Information Services, 1944 restored version.jpg
Map of colonial India, distributed by the British Information Services (1942)

British Information Services (BIS) was an overt propaganda organization [1] that was part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the government of the United Kingdom. [2]

Contents

BIS was initially formed in 1941 as an organization to promote British interests in the United States. [3] It was later expanded to operate in countries around the world, [3] [4] eventually expanding to have a presence in around 40 countries. [5] attached to British embassies. [6]

The U.S. operations of BIS had a headquarters in Washington, D.C., with offices in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. [7] The New York office had a budget of £240,786 in 1949. [7]

“The British Library of Information in New York: A Tool of British Foreign Policy, 1919-1942.” outlines the library's early history. [8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Taylor, Philip M. (25 October 2012). "Power, Propaganda and Public Opinion: The British Information Services and the Cold War, 1945–57". Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy and the Origins of the EEC, 1952-1957. De Gruyter. pp. 445–461. doi:10.1515/9783110874365.445. ISBN   978-3-11-087436-5.
  2. ↑ Foreign Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office: British Information Service, Overseas Posts: Registered Files. Foreign and Commonwealth Office, British Information Service, Foreign Office, British Information Service. 1968–1970.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. 1 2 Cull, Nicholas John; Culbert, David Holbrook; Welch, David (2003). Propaganda and Mass Persuasion: A Historical Encyclopedia, 1500 to the Present. ABC-CLIO. p. 41. ISBN   978-1-57607-820-4.
  4. ↑ "BRITISH INFORMATION SERVICES", House of Commons Debates, vol. 540, UK Parliament, cc133-58, 19 April 1955, retrieved 10 April 2022
  5. ↑ "OVERSEAS INFORMATION SERVICES", House of Lords Debates, vol. 280, UK Parliament, cc1438-501, 8 March 1967, retrieved 11 April 2022
  6. ↑ Operations, United States Congress House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on State Department Organization and Foreign (1974). United States Information Agency Authorization for Fiscal Year 1975: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on State Department Organization and Foreign Operations of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-third Congress, Second Session, April 3, 4, 11, and 22, 1974. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  7. 1 2 "BRITISH INFORMATION SERVICES, U.S.A.", House of Commons Debates, vol. 460, UK Parliament, cc834-77, 25 January 1949, retrieved 10 April 2022
  8. ↑ Lincove, David A. 2011. “The British Library of Information in New York: A Tool of British Foreign Policy, 1919-1942.” Libraries & the Cultural Record 46 (2): 156–84.


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