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Great Britain. Ministry of Information propaganda
XX229
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Title: Great Britain Ministry of Information propaganda
Date (inclusive): 1938-1949
Collection Number: XX229
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
17 manuscript boxes, 1 card file box, 1 oversize folder
(7.8 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Pamphlets, posters, serial issues, press releases, photographs, and postcards, distributed during World War II.
Creator:
Great Britain. Ministry of Information
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives
[Identification of item], Great Britain Ministry of Information propaganda, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution
Library & Archives.
Formed on September 4th 1939, the day after Britain's declaration of war, the Ministry of Information (MOI) was the central
government department responsible for publicity and propaganda in the Second World War. The initial functions of the MOI were
threefold: news and press censorship; home publicity; and overseas publicity in Allied and neutral countries. Planning for
such an organisation had started in October 1935 under the auspices of the Committee for Imperial Defence, largely conducted
in secret; otherwise the government was publicly admitting the inevitability of war. Propaganda was still tainted by the experience
of the First World War. In the 'Great War', several different agencies had been responsible for propaganda, except for a brief
period when there had been a Department of Information (1917) and a Ministry of Information (1918) Planning for the new MOI
was largely organised by volunteers drawn from a wide range of government departments, public bodies and specialist outside
organisations. In March 1946, the MOI was dissolved. Its residual functions passed to the Central Office of Information (COI),
a central organisation providing common and specialist information services.
Source: "The Art of War" The National Archives, Great Britain, http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/theartofwar/inf3.htm
Source: "The Art of War" The National Archives, Great Britain, http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/theartofwar/inf3.htm
Scope and Content of Collection
The propaganda collection includes a variety of materials distributed during World War II by the Ministry of Information in
Great Britain. The various pamphlets, leaflets, posters, serial issues, press releases, photographs, and postcards include:
informational guides that explain how to set up bomb shelters, what to do in a fire, what crops to grow, and what the public
can do to help keep themselves and others safe. The collection also contains newspapers and brochures discussing the current
situations throughout the war; counter propaganda materials that combat the influence of Nazi propaganda; and materials that
highlight new British inventions and breakthroughs such as improved planes, submarines, and combat tactics. A majority of
the materials have visual images such as cartoons and drawings. Some materials are duplicates printed in multiple languages.
The container list below is arranged by format in two groups: Pamphlets and Leaflets, and Maps, Portraits, Postcards, and
Stamps, then alphabetically by title of the document. Author, publisher, and publisher location are listed when available
on the document. Dates are given when they appear on the document, otherwise dates are supposed to be within the years of
World War II. Materials in each box are physically arranged in alphabetical order by title.
The Ministry of Information, INF series and INF 3, British National Archives
Subjects and Indexing Terms
World War, 1939-1945 -- Propaganda
Propaganda, British
World War, 1939-1945 -- Great Britain