The
National Committee for a Free Europe was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
anti-communistAnti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism, especially Marxism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the growing popularity of the communist movement, and took on many forms during the 20th century....
organization, founded on March 17 1949 in
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, which worked for the spreading of American influence in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
and to oppose
StalinJoseph Stalin was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee from 1922 until his death in 1953...
's
SovietThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
occupation and dictatorship. The committee was founded by Allen Dulles, a member of the newly-created American
Central Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government.It is an independent agency responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior United States policymakers....
, in conjunction with Dewitt Clinton Poole. Early board members included
General Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was a five-star general in the United States Army and the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. During the Second World War, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the...
,
Cecil B. DeMilleCecil Blount DeMille was a legendary American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies.-Early life:...
, and
Henry LuceHenry Robinson Luce was an influential American publisher.-Biography:Luce, known to his friends as "Father Time," was born in Penglai City, China, the son of Elizabeth Middleton and Henry Winters Luce, who was a Presbyterian missionary...
. From 1951–52
Charles Douglas JacksonGeneral Charles Douglas Jackson was an expert on psychological warfare who served in the Office of Strategic Services in World War II and later as Special Assistant to the President in the Eisenhower administration....
served as its President.
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The
National Committee for a Free Europe was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
anti-communistAnti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism, especially Marxism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the growing popularity of the communist movement, and took on many forms during the 20th century....
organization, founded on March 17 1949 in
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, which worked for the spreading of American influence in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
and to oppose
StalinJoseph Stalin was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee from 1922 until his death in 1953...
's
SovietThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
occupation and dictatorship. The committee was founded by Allen Dulles, a member of the newly-created American
Central Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government.It is an independent agency responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior United States policymakers....
, in conjunction with Dewitt Clinton Poole. Early board members included
General Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was a five-star general in the United States Army and the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. During the Second World War, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the...
,
Cecil B. DeMilleCecil Blount DeMille was a legendary American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies.-Early life:...
, and
Henry LuceHenry Robinson Luce was an influential American publisher.-Biography:Luce, known to his friends as "Father Time," was born in Penglai City, China, the son of Elizabeth Middleton and Henry Winters Luce, who was a Presbyterian missionary...
. From 1951–52
Charles Douglas JacksonGeneral Charles Douglas Jackson was an expert on psychological warfare who served in the Office of Strategic Services in World War II and later as Special Assistant to the President in the Eisenhower administration....
served as its President. The organization created and oversaw the anti-communist broadcast service Radio Free Europe.