RELEASE OF FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES, PUBLIC DIPLOMACY, 1917-1972, WORLD WAR I

Via BK

U.S.Department of State

See also (a) “Creel, Lippmann, and the Origins of American Public Diplomacy": A Select Annotated Bibliography" (b) "Creel, Lippmann, and the Origins of American Public Diplomacy: A listing of "Notes and Essays" entries on the subject."

U.S. Department of StateMobile

RELEASE OF FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES, PUBLIC DIPLOMACY, 1917-1972, WORLD WAR I
Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
November 25, 2014

The Department of State released today Foreign Relations of the United States, Public Diplomacy, 1917–1972, World War I. This is the first chapter in a retrospective volume which will augment the series’ coverage of U.S. public diplomacy. While the series began to document the subject in a sustained and concerted way starting with the second administration of President Richard M. Nixon, previous FRUS coverage of U.S. public diplomacy efforts have been far less consistent. This retrospective volume will fill that gap, which stretches from the First World War to the early 1970s. This compilation covers World War I; subsequent compilations, which will document up to the end of the first Nixon administration, will be published as they are completed. The compilation also features the first inclusion of film in a Foreign Relations of the United States volume.

This compilation focuses on the creation and overseas work of the Committee on Public Information (CPI). While the U.S. Government had engaged in public diplomacy before (such as with the publication of diplomatic correspondence during the Civil War), the CPI’s foreign work constituted a sustained effort to educate a foreign public about the United States, and, in particular, its role in the war effort. Representatives of the CPI were sent around the globe to establish reading rooms, distribute translated copies of President Woodrow Wilson’s speeches, work with local journalists to publish news stories, and show films demonstrating the United States’ readiness to fight. This compilation documents all of these activities. While few planning documents from the time exist, this compilation includes numerous examples of how the CPI executed its work in the field, particularly in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. The compilation also includes examples of the types of information distributed by the CPI.

This compilation was compiled and edited by Aaron W. Marrs. The volume and this press release are available on the Office of the Historian website at http://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1917-72PubDip. For further information, contact history@state.gov.

[This is a mobile copy of Release of Foreign Relations of the United States, Public Diplomacy, 1917-1972, World War I]

Short URL: http://m.state.gov/md234420.htm

Update (12/3/2014)
Via AM

From the Preface

FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1917–1972, PUBLIC DIPLOMACY, WORLD WAR I

Preface

Focus of Research and Principles of Selection for Foreign Relations, Public Diplomacy, 1917–1972

In 2007, historians at the Office of the Historian proposed a retrospective Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) volume designed to augment the series’ coverage of U.S. public diplomacy. While the series began to document the subject in a sustained and concerted way starting with the second administration of President Richard M. Nixon, previous FRUS coverage of U.S. public diplomacy efforts have been far less consistent. This retrospective volume will fill that gap, which stretches from the First World War to the early 1970s. Resource constraints and the statutory requirement to publish Foreign Relations volumes 30 years after the events that they cover mean that compilations in this volume have been researched and compiled piecemeal over a longer period of time than the typical FRUS volume. Fortunately, progress is being made, as evidenced by this compilation, which covers the U.S. Government’s public diplomacy efforts from 1917 to 1919. Subsequent compilations, which will document up to the end of the first Nixon administration, will be published as they are completed.

This compilation focuses on the creation and overseas work of the Committee on Public Information (CPI). While the U.S. Government had engaged in public diplomacy before (such as with the publication of diplomatic correspondence during the Civil War), the CPI’s overseas work constituted a sustained effort to educate a foreign public about the United States, and, in particular, its role in the war effort. Representatives of the CPI were sent around the globe to establish reading rooms, distribute translated copies of President Woodrow Wilson’s speeches, work with local journalists to publish news stories, and show films demonstrating the United States’ readiness to fight. This compilation documents all of these activities. While few planning documents from the time exist, this compilation includes numerous examples of how the CPI executed its work in the field, particularly in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. The chapter also includes examples of the types of information distributed by the CPI. The inclusion of these multimedia items is a new milestone in the publication history of the Foreign Relations series. Despite the CPI’s extensive activity, the war’s conclusion led the U.S. Government to shut down the Committee. However, future U.S. public diplomacy efforts could call upon the CPI as an example, even though it left no sustained bureaucratic legacy.

Adam M. Howard, Ph.D.
General Editor