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EAGLE Censorship dreamababy.com | FDA tyranny and the censorship of cherry health facts - La Leva di... laleva.org | Articles - CENSORSHIP, MONSANTO & THE MEDIA doctorsaredangerous.com | Ideology and Censorship in Behavior Genetics euvolution.com |
Postal censorship is the inspection or examination of mail, most often by governments, that can include opening, reading or marking of covers, postcards, parcels and other postal packets. Postal censorship primarily takes place during war time or periods of unrest, though occasionally during other times, like periods of civil disorder or a state of emergency, as was the case in Ireland during 1939-1945. Both covert and overt postal censorship have taken place. Historically, postal censorship is a very old practice; it is usually linked to espionage and intelligence gathering. Mail subjected to postal censorship can be civilian mail, or military mail, and in most countries where postal censorship takes place, or has taken place, different organisations perform censorship of these types of mail. In 20th century wars the objectives of postal censorship encompass economic warfare, security and intelligence. The study of postal censorship is a philatelic topic of postal history.
[edit] Military mailMilitary mail is not always censored by opening or reading the mail, but military mail can include mail during war time or during military campaigns. Military mail is most often distributed by a totally militarily-controlled postal service separate from that of civilian mail. Military intelligence has different requirement than civilian intelligence gathering. During times of war, mail from the front is often opened and offending parts blanked or cut out. [edit] POW and Internee mailPOW and internee mail is also subject to postal censorship, under Articles 70 and 71 of the Third Geneva Convention (1929-1949). It is frequently subjected to both military and civil postal censorship because it passes through both postal systems. [edit] Civil mailUntil recent years, the monopoly to carry civilian mails has usually been vested in governments[1][2] so they have had the ability to easily control and enact postal censorship within the postal distribution systems they control. The type of information obtained from civilian mail is different from that likely to be found in military mail. [edit] Countries known to have enacted postal censorship[edit] Pre-World War I In Britain, The General Post Office was formed in 1657 which soon evolved a "Secret Office" for the purpose of intercepting, reading and deciphering coded correspondence from abroad. The existence of the Secret Office was made public in 1742 when it was found that in the preceding 10 years the sum of £45,675 (a huge amount at that time) had been secretly transferred from the Treasury to The Post Office to fund the censorship activities. In 1782 responsibility for administering the Secret Office was transferred to the Foreign Secretary and it was finally abolished by Lord Palmerston in 1847. [edit] World War I[edit] Between the warsFollowing the end of World War I there were some places where postal censorship was practiced. During 1919 Austria, Belgium, German Weimar Republic and the Soviet Union had it. Other conflicts during which censorship existed were in 1935-1936 during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia[3] and especially during the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939. [edit] World War II During World War II the main protagonists, both Allies and Axis all instituted postal censorship of civil mails. The largest organisations were those of United Kingdom and the United States who each employed about 10,000 censor staff. British censorship was mainly based in Aintree (near Liverpool) with nearly 20 other censor stations around the country. Additionally the British censored colonial and dominion mail in censor stations in the following places:
The USA censor staff count rose to 14,462 by February 1943 in the censor stations they opened in New York, Miami, New Orleans, San Antonio, Laredo, Brownsville, El Paso, Nogales, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, San Juan, Charlotte Amalie, Balboa, Cristóbal, David, Panama and Honolulu. Neutral countries such as Ireland, Portugal and Switzerland also censored mail even though they were not directly involved in the conflict. [edit] Post-World War II [edit] See also[edit] References and sources
Mark FRPSL, Graham (2000). British Censorship of Civil Mails During World War I. Bristol, UK: The Stuart Rossiter Trust Fund. ISBN 0-9530004-1-9. Little, D.J. (2000). British Empire Civil Censorship Devices, World War II: Colonies and Occupied Territories - Africa, Section 1. UK: Civil Censorship Study Group. ISBN 0-9517444-0-2. Torrance, A.R., & Morenweiser, K. (1991). British Empire Civil Censorship Devices, World War II: United Kingdom, Section 2. UK: Civil Censorship Study Group. ISBN 0-9517444-1-0. Stich, Dr. H.F., Stich, W., Sprecht, J. (1993). Civil and Military Censorship During World War II. Canada: Stich, Stich and Sprecht. ISBN 0-9693788-2-3. Wolter, Karl Kurt (1965). Die Postzensur: Band I - Vorzeit, Früheit und Neuzeit (bis 1939). Munich: Georg Amm. Herbert, E.S., & des Graz, C.G., ed (1996). History of the Postal and Telegraph Censorship Department 1938–1946 Volume I & II. Civil Censorship Study Group by permission of Public Records Office, Kew, UK. Harrison, Galen D. (1997). Prisoners' Mail from the American Civil War. Dexter, MI: Galen D. Harrison (?).
Whyman, Susan E. "Postal Censorship in England 1635–1844" (pdf). Postcomm. http://www.psc.gov.uk/postcomm/live/about-the-mail-market/uk-market-reviews/postalcensorship.pdf. Retrieved 2008-02-19. [edit] External links
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