wanted to influence the German psyche and address the issue of "hypernationationalism" and Nazism that had developed in Germany leading up to and during World War II Through the use of propaganda and media control, the Information Control Division was one of the key faucets in which the United States pursued this campaign. The inclination of a significant portion of Germany's population towards nationalism was first identified before Hitler took his reign during World War II. Saul Padover, political scientist and historian, describes the "German problem" as: "Hostility to democracy (shared power), Reliance on authoritarianism, Respect for force and acceptance of military virtues, Belief in German superiority, cultural or racial". Padover was not alone in criticizing the developments of the "German problem", with many government officials sharing the same concern. British propaganda surrounding the image of the German people made its way into American media and influenced many American outlooks on the German people and ultimately helped solidify the United States' decision to deploy psychological warfare divisions within Germany following World War I. Many of these feelings towards Germany by academic and military personnel contributed to the British and American pursuit of psychological control and influence within American and British occupied sectors in post-war Germany. Activities The main goal of the ICD was to place German media in the American-controlled territory of Germany under the control of the American military and influence its production under the American standard of democratic values. The ICD strived to accomplish this in three phases: the first phase was to shut down "all media of public expression in Germany", the second phase was to seize control of their public media operations, and the third phase sought to return the media of public expression to back German officials who, what American officials believed, displayed anti-Nazi, democratic ideals. The ICD consisted of two divisions that facilitated: the surveil of staff work and the surveil of the operations of the division. Those within the staff division recruited necessary staff, drafted up ICD policies and strategies, sent out operational instructions and important information for other divisions within ICD, and gathered on the ground information. The operations division carried out the instructions and strategies of the staff work division to influence media within post-war Germany. The four media groups that the ICD controlled in post-war Germany were: 1. Press 2. Publications 3. Radio 4. Film, Theater, and Music. Institutions such