There will be an international conference in Munich, Germany April 28-30, 2011, in honor of the first Radio Free Europe broadcast ("Voice of Free Czechoslovakia") from Munich on May 1, 1951:Voices of Freedom - Western Interference?
60 Years of Radio Free Europe in Munich and Prague.
The conference is in cooperation with the Czech Center Munich and the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes in Prague (ÚSTR):
The program can be viewed here.
My own paper is based on research into my book Radio Free Europe "Crusade for Freedom:" Rallying Americans Behind Cold Was Broadcasting 1950-1960. Here is the summary of my paper:
The Tangled Web: Central Intelligence Agency,
Crusade for Freedom and Radio Free Europe
From 1950 to 1960, millions of Americans participated in Radio Free Europe’s "Crusade for Freedom." They signed "Freedom Scrolls" and "Freedom Grams," attended Crusader meetings, marched in parades, launched leaflet-carrying balloons, and donated “Truth Dollars” in support of the American effort to broadcast news and other programming to the peoples of communist-governed European countries. The Crusade for Freedom proved to be a powerful tool of the state private network’s anti-communist agenda.
This paper examines the interplay of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Crusade for Freedom and Radio Free Europe (RFE), revealing how the pageantry of patriotism led to the creation of a dynamic movement involving not only United States government agencies but also private industry, mass media, academia, religious leaders, and average Americans, who did not know that the CIA financially sponsored both the Crusade for Freedom and Radio Free Europe.
The dynamic combination of Radio Free Europe and the Crusade for Freedom were two early cold-war change management tools of the US government to win over the hearts and minds not only of Americans but also of those who found themselves behind the Iron Curtain in Europe.
An English summary of the Munich conference is posted on the Woodrow Wilson Center web site:
