'An Improper Use of Broadcasting...' The British Government and Clandestine Radio Propaganda Operations against Germany during the Munich Crisis and After

Abstract

During the most critical days of the Munich Crisis, 26-30 September 1938, when peace or war hung in the balance, a clandestine 'political warfare' operation was carried out on the direct authority of Neville Chamberlain. It provides a hitherto untold story about the Munich Crisis. It also helps to shed some light on several somewhat mysterious aspects of the gradually emerging story of the Chamberlain government's surprisingly extensive and adroit use of media manipulation and other propaganda techniques in both domestic and international politics1 an accomplishment which has until recently been assumed to have belonged only to the more 'modern' regimes of nazi Germany or the Soviet Union. One reason why this story, and much of the background to it, remained unknown for so long is that the government understood surprisingly well how important it was for the success of 'informing the public' that it should be unaware of the source of that 'information'. Hence

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