Memo Showing Programming Decisions about Russia

This memo reveals the political tightrope that the BBC had to walk in its reporting of the war. The references in this document to Maisky, the Russian Ambassador, and Anthony Eden, who was both Foreign Secretary and a key member of the Political Warfare Executive (a government organisation that produced and disseminated propaganda), show how difficult this task could be. The desire to celebrate Russia as a potential ally that might be able to turn the tide of war against Germany had to be balanced with the ongoing fear that too much enthusiasm for this communist country could encourage revolutionary sentiment in the UK. As this memo reveals, this meant that programming about Russia had to be carefully chosen

Violet Bonham Carter, who is mentioned in this document, was a Governor of the BBC between 1941 and 1946. She was the only daughter of the celebrated Liberal politician Lord Asquith, the man who was Britain's Prime Minister during the first two years of World War I.