. >> communist propaganda is a 1958 film recorded in the pentagon. in the film, agency director george allen uses a variety of charts and clips for a group of u.s. military leaders. the topics covered include communist radio broadcasts magazines, books, youth festivals and film production. this is about 40 minutes. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its

caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]. [drumming and music]

>> mr. allen has been in the cold war since the beginning. you are familiar with his record as a career diplomat and troubleshooter. four times in critical periods, he was assigned to the frontline ambassadorial posts in iran, yugoslavia india and greece. in 1948, when congress decided we ought to have an overseas information for a more or less permanent basis, their allen was put in charge. last fall, the president decided this important activity needed mr. allen again. he brought him home from overseas and made him director of the united states information agency. mr. allen attends the meetings of the cabinet and the national security council. mr. allen, why is it everything

the other side says is propaganda when we call it information? >> the word "propaganda "has taken on a very bad connotation. it was originally a perfectly good word but it brings to people's minds now the idea of twisting or distorting the truth or even manufacturing complete falsehoods. where as we try in our service output to give as straight factual presentation as we can, we feel that is information and should be labeled as that, and not called "propaganda." >> could you give us an example of soviet propaganda particularly as applied to the armed services, which these gentlemen represent? >> well, i have today with me a book that the soviet government

puts out, and it supports training courses of the armed forces of the soviet union. the book is called "marxist lenanism on the war and army." and i will read you one description of the way it talks about american army officers. it says u.s. armed service officers are corrupt, weak, run by wall street and professional robbers, end quote. i call that propaganda. >> well, their allen, that applies to all officers of the armed forces. do you have a comparable piece of propaganda that applies specifically to the army? >> i'd like to show you a film of the meeting of the american and the soviet armed forces at

the river l at the end of the last war, and you'll see how the soviet government, their information service, presents this meeting of the armies. could we have the film? >> let's see what really happened before we see scenes from the soviet film. we are outside germany on the 26th of april, 1945, and the first official meeting of the american and russian army. the film you are seeing was made by photographers of the united states army. you will see a glimpse of the elba river bridge in the background. the meeting took place to arrange a meeting of corps commanders on the following day. prior to this time, only platoons of the two armies had contacted each other. here are major general brinehart, commanding general of

the 69th division, united states army, and major general riseca commanding the red army. general reinhardt said, and i quote, i crossed the river and waited for a short time. we discussed the meeting between the two corps commanders the next day. i was impressed with the cordial attitude of the russians, now to the soviet version, complete with dialogue. [speaking russian]

[music]

>> oh, made in germany. [speaking foreign language] >> made in russia. [speaking foreign language] >> now for the soviet proof that our army officers are corrupt, we see our acting general dalai on the door steps of decadense with his lady friend and stockbroker in his office. this is a literal translation of what they are saying: general, what's this? what's this? girlfriend: what's the market doing?

general: our stocks are going up. girlfriend: kill for the profit. general: get me my broker. yes, wall street. i'm making money like crazy! . >> mr. stalin, what do the communist vs to say concerning the air force? >> i'd like to listen to a broadcast from moscow on that subject which talks about the psycho neurotic american pilot. do we have that sound track? >> you are tuned to radio moscow, 16, 19 and 20 meter bands on the short wave.

an associated press dispatch tells us that an american saber jet accidentally dropped some rockets over florida. the population has been alerted and warned of the serious danger. this brought to mind a secret report of dr. frank barry, medical assistant to the defense. this made me doubt that the rocket fall was the result of an accident. this report gives us every ground for questioning accidents in general. since general. since it claims that approximately 70% of the officers and enlisted men of the air force are psycho neurotic. what is more checks have shown that the state of affairs is especially critical among the air men doing steady nuclear patrols. >> and what do they say about the united states navy and the marine corps? >> i've got a copy here of the

soviet newspaper that was published for their navy. the soviet fleet, may 18th of this year. it speaks about what is going on in the mediterranean. it says -- referring to the united states -- although lebanon hangs the real threat of military intervention by the imperialist states led by the united states it says, the american command has doubled the landing force attached to the sixth fleet -- that's the marine complement -- the imperialists are openly brandishing weapons threatening lebanon. but no matter how much the colonists try, they cannot intimidate the people of the middle east and, in particular the lebanese people who have set on the road of defending the

freedom and independence of their country. that's typical of the type of statements that the soviets are making about the united states navy and the marine corps. who the imperialists colonizes wall street. >> mr. allen, don't the soviets and their propaganda attempt to show also that americans are opposed to all the color grade? >> yes, they do. i've seen that particularly when i was serving in the far east and in india. they try to make it appear that the americans are the most race-conscious people in the world. actually the experience of people in that part of the world dealing with americans is the best way to counteract that when our naval ships or armed services units are stationed in those parts of the world. the integration that takes place

in our armed services is the most useful way to combat that type of soviet propaganda. also, last fall, we had a magnificent appearance with marian anderson, right out through the far east and india making our appearances as an american and speaking to the people appearance with about the racial questions in the united states as an american, was an excellent counterweight to that soviet propaganda. >> i believe that soviet film, meeting on the elba has a way of showing us with racial discrimination and racial hatred. we might take a look at that. [music]

>> this time, the germans and koreans, this is your home away from home. [music] >> this scene from the soviet film depicts another army activity for the oriental theater guard. it is the fate of this korean girl to be taken up the hill for

an execution. here's a literal translation of their conversation. the officer says: if you surrender even now, your life can be saved. and the girl says: the daughter of the partisan, even though captured by the americans, is certain that you will pay. it pains me not to live to see you pay. >> the propaganda system and the organization, it appears to me

that this must involve part of an elaborate chain of command, if i can use that term. i draw your attention to this chart here. the soviet government has gone all-out for propaganda. that is, very recently we've seen they've written several letters to president eisenhower. the letters are imaddressed on the envelope to the president of the united states but really they're intended to all the world for propaganda purposes, not a serious document from one government to another. now the soviet government is headed to a presiddium, a small group of people who run the 200 million in the soviet union. there are two elements to the government, and the party

machine. those are quite separate. the government is merely a bureaucracy. the party machine really has the power. they use all the means of communications and contacts with foreign people to spread their propagand propaganda. just take, for example, radio. the soviet government every week in foreign languages sends out 250 hours of broadcast towards foreign countries in foreign languages. $2300 in one week. it means in each language they do so many hours and if you multiply the number of hours by the number of languages 2300 a week in broadcasts. they have mass books and publication which they use.

many of those in southeast asia are in english because that's the best language to reach the intelligent public in those countries. they use films. they use exchanges. they use large numbers of engines. the great communist parties in all the countries, they call together and have big meetings in moscow. going back just a minute for changes, the soviet union put on one stunt last summer in which they spent more money than the

entire united states government does on all of its information and cultural relations work for a whole year. for one month in moscow, the soviet union had 50,000 students from all over the world brought to the soviet union for a youth festival. >> the 50,000 delegates for the youth festival are gathered in moscow stadium to hear about the soviet version of peace. the delegation parade around the huge stadium waving gayly to the capacity crowd. the national flags of participating delegations. [music and cheering] >> followed by the national

dances. >> the words for russian and beef. here, the delegation is reported to be from the united states. in keeping with the festival theme, the russian hosts release hundreds of white doffs, the age-old symbol of peace. and the daytime entertainment climaxes with a spectacular display of precision formation. [music]

[marching band music] >> delegates also sightsee in the kremlin during some of the daylight hours and this is the tipping -- cizzing ceremony as the boys selects the girls by throwing a scarf around them, sort of a soviet version of "drop the handkerchief." [marching band music] >> some are entertained at the ballet. [flutey music]

>> outside in the streets and parts of the city, there is entertainment of all kinds. hold everything. it's undulating uallen. the curvaceous cutie. but it's back to the stadium for the grand propaganda finale. here is a symbol of destruction. the tail of the bomb looks like an american eagle. hope must be eliminated, the bomb and the eagle. the cards say peace in russian,

peace in english, and peace in france. >> mr. allen, what percentage of the people who attend these festivals that you mentioned are communist? >> well, we don't have any exact figures on that, but the best we can calculate of the 50,000 that went to the soviet youth festival last summer and we estimate that about half of them were non-communist, about 25,000. i was in greece at the time myself and i know there were about i think 200 greek young people who went to the soviet union for that festival, and many of them just going for the ride wanted to get the trip, it was a chance to see the soviet union. as long as the government would pay all the expenses -- actually, in that case, the soviet government took a young man from greece, took

him to the soviet union, kept him there for a month, in good hotel accommodations, food and all expenses, traveling around the soviet union, took them to the very finest theatrical performances, the ballet, opera and so forth and back to greece all for the equivalent of $50. also they had two international fronts. that is a youth organization, college students around the world, labor organizations, that don't admit that they are communists and are infiltrated and run by hard-core communists in those organizations. and through those means, they throw out their propaganda through the non-communist world. as an example of the way they do, and a totalitarian state such as the soviet union, they have complete control of all

their means of communications and they can say one thing in the soviet union and entirely a different thing outside the soviet union or even through different countries outside the soviet union in the language of those countries. as an example, recently, when there was a threat of an attack on syria the syrians claim that there was a threat of an attack by turkey. the soviet union was saying to the syrians, you are being threatened by the turks. they were saying that in broadcasts and in languages to the syrians. to the turks though, in the turkish language, they were saying to the turkish people, the americans are in there forcing you and using you as goons to attack the syrians. telling different stories in different countries. so this shows the way that the soviet union parcels out its

radio broadcasts in these many languages, in order to get as much of a varied effect as they can. for example, in the lower part of the chart, it shows how much broadcasting the soviet union does overseas to foreign countries. that's $900 a week. this incidentally, in the american broadcast is 730 hours a week altogether in the world. this is the soviet broadcast to foreign countries, not in the russian language but in foreign languages. this is the broadcast by the european satellite states that is czechoslavakia, romania, hungary, and so forth. they do about the same amount altogether as the soviet union does. these 317 hours are done by communist china. then 125 hours each week are done by the far east, that means to say north korea and north

vietnam. and then there's 108 hours now being done by various clandestine radio broadcasters, who are situated in one place or another claiming that they are, for example, the south korean broadcast. they are actually broadcasting from north korea but announcing they are south korean broadcast. that's where the slandestine slandestine -- clandestine comes in. so you see that all the european countries use the broadcasting outside the soviet union to do the broadcasting themselves. >> mr. allen, i wonder if you could talk about the books abroad. i've seen staggering figures on that. do you have any in mind? >> i have some figures about the publications in the magazines. they are putting out about 85 periodicals in 30 different

languages. periodical means magazines and quarterly reviews and things of that sort. as far as books are concerned, last year, they had poured 100 million books into the free world. >> they usually sell at very low prices, don't they? >> yes, usually, or they give them away. >> i wonder if you would discuss parts of the main propaganda themes for the communists today. i have a chart here. could you talk about that? these are just taking five sample propaganda themes of the soviet union. one of them is that it's the united states that puts up the iron curtains, while the soviet union seeks closer relations with everybody, that we are the people who have the real iron curtain and they just want to embrace the world. secondly, they are constantly saying that the united states is a warmongering country, that we want to bring about a world war

whereas the soviet union seeks peace and disarmament. they say that the united states capitalism can no longer compete with progress under soviet socialism, that they're going ahead of us in production. they also say that the communist countries will surpass the united states and its allies in growth and strength and also that the united states is fighting a losing battle to maintain its colonialist hold on the new countries of asia and africa that we are the imperialists and that we aim to dominate those countries. mr. allen, these are all examples of communist propaganda successes. are there some things they can't cover up even with their highly touted propaganda? >> yes lots of them. for example, very recently, we've seen the very bad effect on the soviet public relations

posture and all countries, particularly in europe and the united states by the execution of the prime minister of hungary at large. there have been tremendous demonstrations now in paris, london and other places. by socialists and left wing fellow traveler people who are terribly annoyed against the soviet union because of the execution at large and nothing that that propaganda line can do about that, and they've lost a great deal of force. >> mr. stalallen, aren't they using communist films a lot in this? >> yes they are. documentary and entertainment fields. in the entertainment field, they have been very active. as a matter of fact, recently, they won an international award. the film is called the project

first. >> i heard about that film. i believe it's about a goirl who's a red army sniper and a boy who is an army officer. they are ship wrecked and fall in love but they have a quarrel over communist and it proves fatal. let's see what happens in this communist love story. >> saved from the ship wreck out of the sea, across the ice comes the girl of a red army sniper, comes her prisoner. a white army officer. she has killed 40 men. with her rifle. >> we often use it. i thought she was well. >> the cross warn by the man, is another communist

identification of the enemy. >> go ahead, get out of here. >> you best wait outside until you're ready. [wind howling] >> don't be insidious. the wind is still raging. you are liable to catch your death out there. you and your high and mighty ways make me sick. this is the front line, not a drawing room. [wind howling] >> go on, what are you waiting for? anybody would think you are shy.

>> the communist girl, eager to fight, now finds her prisoner sick and discouraged. >> the never-ending tide of hatred and death, just a gory nightmare. >> no one likes tbut it's the price of progress. >> yes, and you can have it. as far as i'm concerned, all i want is peace. >> in other words, you don't care if our enemies scheme to destroy us. as long as you can read your book they can go hang. >> why should i take the world on my shoulders? what has the world done for me? >> the man who opposes communism, our hero becomes confused. >> the summers the russians, the ruling classes, i say to hell with the lot. i don't care what happens. leave me alone. i am out of it all and i won't

soil my hands again. >> what you are saying is it is for your honor. >> i don't care. i am no longer interested. >> i see. >> don't be angry, wait. i don't mean to hurt you. just understand i am sick at heart. let's get away from here, i've got a summer house, tell me you'll go with me. i'll head to the study. >> you're asking me to turn my back on my country, to cast aside my obligations to lounge around on cushion spot on the candy. pretending it doesn't exist! >> is that all? i wonder how you can blow yourself up with such hot air, forgetting that you're a woman. >> it's been thrust on me by people like you. how dare you think i could forgive myself and dessert my

cause and lie around the house like idiots. >> that's about all i can stand. >> lucky for you there's such a thing as chivalry towards justice. i hate you! [music] [sobbing]

>>. [sobbing while talking] >> don't cry, my darling. >> i thought you would understand. you are more clever than i was. >> don't cry. it will work out. >> really? >> let's forgive. i love you. i love you so much. do you love me too? >> mm-heart attackmm. >> oh, i'm sick of waiting to be rescued. >> in the next three days, i'll commit suicide. >> where's all that courage i credited you with, huh? >> shows what a demorlizing hold

you have on me. i should have had more sense. you and your wishful thinking. i only hope i can track you down. >> you have. >> so you admight you were wrong sn. >> yes. who will save me now. to think i could go back to my books. i admit it. i warned you i'm no longer meek and mild. i'm a man with a purpose. >> and why don't you tell me what that is? >> all right. as i see it, my country needs me now more than ever. idealism must give way to realism. if the destiny is to be left in your hands i dread to think what we make of it.

[yelling] >> we've got to give them a signal! >> of course. they could be going anywhere. >> they could be going further east. get the fire going quick. hurry! [gunshot] >> hey! hey! hey n! >> who is it! >> i'm not sure they're fishermen at all. you better fire another shot.

[gunshot] >> they're gone. hey! [shouting] >> stop, you're my prisoner! you shant escape again. stop! [gunshot] >> 41st victim of her rifle, and the title of the picture. >> mr. allen, how can we compete with this communist propaganda in view of the fact that the communists can resort to any deceit whereas we have to stick to the truth. >> i think first and foremost, that we should do more of what we've been doing this afternoon.

that is, we should recognize soviet propaganda when we see it or hear it or sometimes it's very subtle. and sometimes it's in the disguised form. but most americans don't realize how much of it is being put out or what it is when they see it. now, secondly, we must do more ourselves. that is more counter-propaganda and more presenting the story of the united states and the american way of life and the democratic principles that we stand for. we are doing a great deal. this afternoon we have only considered what the soviets are doing in this field but i haven't talked about what we are doing and don't think we have been holding our hands and doing them. we haven't done as much as we should because we americans are not inclined very much in the propaganda field, but we have realized that it now has to be done and we are doing more of

it. thirdly, and perhaps more important, we should do everything we can to deprive the communists of fertile ground perhaps in which to plant their propaganda. that means as far as government is concerned, that government should follow policies which make the united states admired and respected and liked as much as we can. know that there are many cases in which we can't please everybody, quite true, but our policies should have a public relations aspect to them and should win friends. but more than that each of us individual americans should behave and act when we are dealing with foreigners, in a way that makes foreigners like us as individual americans and

respect us. and then these signs like yankee go home, may continue, but they won't have fertile ground and won't catch on if all of us americans, civilian and military behave in the way that we should. >> thank you very much, mr. allen, for this very interesting discussion. [music]

>> this morning at 10:00 eastern, former law clerk thurgood marshall, examine his legacy and opinions on land mark cases. >> why was he the most important player of the 20th century was because he did more justice for more people than any other lawyer did and said to feel as though you have been picked somehow, you have won this lottery so you got to spend a year with this incredible man was a very very special event. >> then at 8:00, on lectures in history, anderson university professor joel shrock talks about the 1964 voter

registration project in mississippi. >> in 1963, the voter education project stopped funding the voter education project. black voting in mississippi went from 5.3% to 6.7%. that's it. that's what they got for two years of beatings and arrests. >> congressman rogers, the 1973 clean air act was now revising that law. although a great deal had been accomplished in cleaning up the nation's air, the anderson slides were alarming evidence that the parks were still unprotected. >> and at 6:30 historians talk about the movement and groups that were part of the counter culture in the 1960s and 70s.

>> what i want to talk about is not the counter culture as a spectacle or a series of iconic events or a celebrity figure but as a project, as a way in which a group of people tried to do something in real time. >> for our complete american history tv schedule go to cspan.org. >> next on american history tv, the aughtry museum of the american withest in los angeles host a discussion titled trade is power in native norring america.