The Information Control Division (ICD) was a department of the Office of Military Government, United States (OMGUS) during the early part of the post-war American occupation of Germany following World War II focused on controlling and altering German media to promote democratic values and to move Germany away from Nazism. Formed on 12 May 1945 from the Psychological Warfare Division of SHAEF (PWD/SHAEF), the ICD was led by Robert A. McClure, with a mission defined as: Its initial task was seizing control of the German media, removing figures with Nazi associations or histories and prohibiting overly nationalist or militarized content. It was charged with licensing the German newspapers, selecting editors who favored creating a democratic society, and pre-approving content before it was published - although from August 1945 the model switched to approval post-publication. Initially entirely independent of the military government of Germany, it was merged into OMGUS in February 1946. As the Cold War became a priority in United States foreign policy, the ICD focused on using Germany as "the first battlefront of psychological warfare between the U.S. and the USSR", forcing licensed newspapers to publish content compatible with the direction of U.S. foreign policy and revoking the licenses of those that would not. The ICD faced some controversy over this shift in focus, along with its relationship with Hollywood and its handling of its Radio Control branch. The ICD relinquished central control over German mass media to the German people in 1949. Origin Many within the Allied Forces of World War II − France, Soviet Union, United States, Britain, etc.− wanted to prevent any future signs of militaristic and cultural aggression from Germany. Britain and the United States specifically, with the agreement of Soviet and French Military governors, pursued a coordinated post-war peacetime effort that centered around the control of information and media decimation in post-war Germany. Two months after the end of the World War II in Europe, "the Anglo American Psychological Warfare Division and the British Political Warfare Executive were re-designated as Information Control Division in the American sector and the Information Services Division in the British zone of control". The Information Control Division was part of a larger campaign on the part of the United States and Britain to facilitate peaceful post-war time relations and reeducate the German people to rid them of Nazism under the Office of Military Government, United States. The United States