British Council
founded 1934
British Foreign Office initiative / arose in the 1920s
British competing with
French, German & Italian 'cultural' organisations
initial aims - indoctrination of foreigners with:
- British education
- British culture
during WWII educational activities in refugee camps
1939 Resident Foreigners Division established to manage refugee education
by end WWII, British Council centres in:
*London
*Liverpool
*Manchester
*Birmingham
*Oxford
*Stratford-on-Avon
*Wilton
*Edinburgh
*Leith, Scotland
*Cardiff, Wales
Plus:
centre for: Society for Visiting Scientists
*Allied Lawyers' Foyer
1940 Royal Charter granted
Post WWII, British Council focused = Europe
& closure of offices in many other locations (lack of funds)
British forced to pull out of following countries for political reasons:
*Eastern Europe
*China
*Persia (Iran)
1943-4 - Bland Report (Foreign Office review post WWII intelligence requirements)
concludes best cover for British intel:
*small business solely run in interests of SIS
*recruitment of established British businessmen who ran own private concerns
*cover for semi-national & non-profit institutions in foreign countries
*railway companies, airways corporations
Report supposedly states the Council previously unwilling to assist (oh, sure).
Burma 1947 - classified documents
[journalist Feargal Keane, BBC investigation]
Hidden by British Foreign Office to 1997:
High ranking British government officials involvement in assassination of
Burmese independence leader Aung San (father of Aung San Su Kyi)
per 1948 document Rangoon Chief of Police to British Ambassador
Video - above
A Gaddafi daughter received certificate dated 2007 from British Council, Tripoli, Libya
/ said to have been killed in US raid on Gaddafi residence in 1986
It looks like Russians had the common sense to give the British Council the heave-ho in 2007
/ but I've not checked if this is a permanent shut-down of British Council ops in Russia
British Council Teaching Centres in 53 countries
/ world's largest English-language teaching org.
[comment: *and a massive British spy org, no doubt]
Program:
International Association of the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience - 80 countries
offers students, studying in the UK internships as part of an international placement
undergraduates studying a technical degree i.e. engineering, science, architecture or pharmacy
Sports
'Peace English' - Africa & other, FCO & MoD - improving English of military abroad, incl. police services in 28 countries ... eg. Libya, Ethiopia, Georgia
[comment: Brits would be using Georgia to probably cause some problem for Russia / we know what they've done to Libya / and Ethiopia's probably been assaulted & robbed or is about to be]
British Council involved in Palestine Festival of Literature
[comment: quite odd, given the British stand firmly behind Israel, which they helped to establish]
British Council - closures of libraries & services across Europe
British Council intend to focus - Middle East, North Africa, Central & Southern Asia.
entry mentions focusing on strategic & commercial importance: China & Persian Gulf
Alliance française + Goethe-Institut expanding & replenishing libraries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Council
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Went into this after coming across the very unusual case of Comrade Bala (here).
I've previously done a summary of the British Council & it's probably right here somewhere on this blog ... but I've forgotten what the go was with this organisation, so I've done myself another summary.
No time to watch that video. Must sleep.
Sounds intriguing.
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