Information Control Division
The Information Control Division (ICD) was a department of the Office of Military Government, United States (OMGUS) during the early part of the post-war American occupation of Germany following World War II focused on controlling and altering German media to promote democratic values and to move Germany away from Nazism.
[1]Its initial task was seizing control of the German media, removing figures with Nazi associations or histories and prohibiting overly nationalist or militarized content.
It was charged with licensing the German newspapers, selecting editors who favored creating a democratic society, and pre-approving content before it was published - although from August 1945 the model switched to approval post-publication.
[2] The ICD faced some controversy over this shift in focus, along with its relationship with Hollywood and its handling of its Radio Control branch.
[5] Many within the Allied Forces of World War II − France, Soviet Union, United States, Britain, etc.− wanted to prevent any future signs of militaristic and cultural aggression from Germany.
[1] The United States wanted to influence the German psyche and address the issue of "hypernationationalism" and Nazism that had developed in Germany leading up to and during World War II [5] Through the use of propaganda and media control, the Information Control Division was one of the key faucets in which the United States pursued this campaign.
[5] The inclination of a significant portion of Germany's population towards nationalism was first identified before Hitler took his reign during World War II.
[4] The Publications Control branch concerned regulation of the production of books and magazines and drafted policy around what kind of literary works were appropriate for publishing.
[4] This new direction, and the beginning of tense relations between the United States and the Soviet Union, also caused many ICD employees to fall under scrutiny of having communist or Marxian ties.
[4] After World War II, the post-war Yalta Conference declared that Germany would be split into four occupational zones occupied, respectively, by the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union.
[5] One of these academic figures was Douglas Waples, a professor at the University of Chicago who assisted in the activities of the Publications Control Branch in Berlin.
Author Robert R. Shandley states that there is an inherent conflict of interest in Hollywood's input and presence within the handling and control of German media.
Shandley argues that Hollywood was gearing up to take over foreign film markets under the guise of assisting in the "reeducation" of post-war Germany.
[3] At the time, these comments were met with criticism in the United States, with many arguing that private stations would contribute to German democratic values and capitalistic interests.
[4] For example, Field Hornie, Chief of ICD Radio Control Branch in Munich and two colleagues resigned based on these new policies.
Hornie and colleagues did not agree with the argument that the establishment of an anti-communist agenda and the refutation of the charges made my Soviet-occupied Germany was necessary to achieve their original goal of Nazism rejection and reeducation.
[4] The goal of the third phase of the ICD was to fully return mass media and communications to the German people through a careful licensing process wherein the ICD would grant publishing and media creation licenses, without a pre-publication or post-publication process, to individuals that would produce content that embodied values consistent with anti-Nazism and democratic values.
[5] The final stage of this process was the removal of all restrictions and scrutiny by American forces and the rendering of complete media control to German civilians.
