The British Council and cultural propaganda in the United States, 1938–1945

Abstract

This article examines the role played by the British Council in the United States during the Second World War. The Council was excluded from the US, first by the Foreign Office (FO) and then by the Ministry of Information (MoI). The Council did, however, participate in the New York World's Fair and pursued some activities through the British Library of Information (BLI). The MoI and the Council were effectively rivals, particularly in the area of periodicals and films. Despite its ties to the Council, the FO decided to maintain the ‘ban’ on its presence after the war, thus limiting the effectiveness of the Council in shaping Anglo-American cultural relations and as a weapon of the cultural cold war.