International Radio Broadcasting During World War II

This chapter addresses the centrality of international broadcasts during World War II. Describing how the combatant powers organized radio operations targeting foreign audiences, particular attention is given to the strategies employed by the different countries to demoralize the enemy and to promote their cause abroad. The chapter provides a discussion on transborder broadcasts and their role in enemy, neutral, and occupied countries in Europe, illuminating how the content produced by different broadcasters was adapted to different target audiences. The foreign transmissions strategies employed by the German Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft (RRG) and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) are described and interpreted in detail, and evidence is given on their reception in the respective countries. Other broadcasting stations addressed in the chapter are Radio Moscow, Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Polskie, along with “black broadcasters” that emerged in Europe during the war aiming to deceive and manipulate foreign public opinion.