1946 : When the U.S. Refused to Hand Back Voice of America’s Algiers Station

It’s a little-known episode of the early Cold War. In the autumn of 1946, as Europe struggled to rebuild after the Second World War, Paris and Washington found themselves locked in a quiet diplomatic standoff over a Voice of America transmitter on the outskirts of Algiers. Officially, the issue was the return of wartime military equipment. In reality, it was an early test of the geopolitical rivalry that would soon divide the world.

The Americans Arrive in North Africa

The story begins in 1942. Following the Allied landings in North Africa, the Americans established a powerful broadcasting station near Algiers to transmit wartime news and information in several languages. Thanks to its strategic location, Algiers could reach much of Europe, North Africa, and the Mediterranean basin.

On 14 June 1943, the station became known as the Voice of America and the United Nations, often shortened to the United Nations Radio. But with the war over, what had once been a military necessity was becoming an awkward legacy at least from the French point of view.

On 5 September 1946, Paris decided to settle the matter. The French government formally asked Washington to return the three transmitters before 1 January 1947, exactly six months after the official end of hostilities. The request was straightforward. The American response was anything but.

Selling Back What They Were Supposed to Return

The American Sleight of Hand Rather than simply complying, Washington came up with a counterproposal that revealed much about its intentions. According to L’Écho d’Alger on 7 September 1946, the U.S. government was considering an arrangement under which it would “sell or lease its broadcasting stations and all associated equipment to France,” while retaining, through a separate agreement, broadcasting time for American programmes.

The strategy was obvious. On paper, France would recover its facilities. In practice, it would have to pay for them while allowing the Americans to remain on the premises. Changing the legal framework from military occupation to a commercial agreement did little to alter the reality of who controlled the airwaves.

As the newspaper Combat observed on the same day, “the Americans are currently using Algiers as a relay station for their information service directed towards the USSR.” That was the real issue. Algiers was no longer simply a wartime asset; it had become an active part of Washington’s emerging Cold War broadcasting strategy. The Americans wanted to beam Russian-language programmes into the Soviet sphere.

A Radio Curtain Around the Soviet Bloc

Combat described the broader American plan:

“Since the beginning of the year, the U.S. State Department has been working to establish a genuine radio encirclement of the Soviet Union.”

Algiers was only one piece of a much larger network. A giant transmitter was under construction in the Philippines to reach Soviet Asia, while a new station was being established in Berlin for German audiences, later known as RIAS Berlin.

What made the project particularly attractive to Washington was a detail the newspaper highlighted: many Red Army soldiers had brought home radio receivers from Germany and other occupied territories. For the first time, a significant number of Soviet citizens possessed sets capable of receiving foreign broadcasts. A window had opened, and the Americans intended to take advantage of it. Nor was the effort confined to politics.

Combat also pointed to the commercial dimension of the project, noting that American companies hoped to establish radio stations in Germany, Switzerland, and the Principality of Liechtenstein for advertising purposes. With barely concealed irony, the newspaper remarked that the average German listener would need only to turn the dial to hear either American policymakers outlining their plans for Europe or “the concert offered by Wrigley’s chewing gum or General Electric refrigerators.” The age of American soft power was already beginning.

Moscow Might Object, Paris Grows Impatient

Why did France refuse to compromise? Several factors seem to have been at work. Combat argued that “the political character of the Algiers broadcasts undoubtedly weighed heavily on the French government’s decision,” before cautiously adding that “perhaps the Quai d’Orsay has also received specific complaints from Moscow.” The timing mattered.

It was 1946, the French Communist Party was at the height of its electoral influence, and Paris was trying to navigate an increasingly tense relationship between the emerging Cold War blocs. There was also the question of precedent. Radio Algiers was far from an isolated case. As Combat bluntly observed, it was “not the only American broadcasting centre on French territory.” The American Forces Network maintained “an important relay station in Paris.”

Elsewhere in North Africa, the United States retained other strategic facilities, including Algiers Maison Blanche airfield and the major base at Casablanca. Accepting endless negotiations over Radio Algiers risked legitimising an American military and communications presence that extended well beyond the needs of the war itself.

The Final Sign-Off

Paris held its ground. On 26 March 1947, the U.S. State Department announced that the broadcasts would end on 1 June. Voice of America’s Algiers station finally signed off on Saturday, 31 May 1947 a few months later than originally envisaged, but ultimately in accordance with French demands.

Voice of America would have to look elsewhere for relay stations, notably Tangier from 1950 onwards, as Washington continued its efforts to reach audiences behind what was rapidly becoming the Iron Curtain.