Psychological WarfareLinebarger, Paul Myron Anthony
History
Psychological Warfare
Linebarger, Paul Myron Anthony
Psychological warfare
Two separate types of psychological reaction are to be sought in the
enemy soldier's mind. The first consists of a general lowering of his
morale or efficiency even when he is not in a position to perform any
overt act, such as surrendering, which would hurt his side and help
ours. This may be called MO, or morale operations. The second type of
action is overt action (surrendering, deserting his post of duty,
mutinying) which can be induced only if the appeal is expertly timed.
Operations against troops must be based on the objective military
situation. Suffering and exertion increase realism; plain soldiers are
not apt to be talked over by propaganda unless the propaganda is
carefully cued to their actual situation. All propaganda should be based
on fact; propaganda to troops must be based not merely on fact, but must
show shrewd appreciative touches of understanding the troops' personal
conditions. Propaganda is not much use to a nation undergoing abject
defeat, for the troops on the victorious side will be buoyed up by the
affirmation of victory from their own eyes.
Troop propaganda must therefore aim at eventual willing _capture_ of the
individual--not at surrender by his individual initiative. It must
implant the notion that he may eventually be trapped, and that _if_ that
happens he should give up. The propaganda must not meet the soldier's
loyalty in a head-on collision but must instead give the enemy soldier
the opportunity of rationalizing himself out of the obligations of
loyalty ("true loyalty requires survival and therefore surrender"). The
steps, therefore, needed for good propaganda to actual combat troops
include the following:
first, the notion that the enemy soldier may have to surrender as his
side loses or retreats ("other [named] units have surrendered, with
so-and-so many men; you will have to, too");
second, themes which make the enemy soldier believe that an all-out
effort is wasted or misapplied;
third, the idea that he or his unit may find themselves in a hopeless
situation soon;
fourth, identifying the next authentically bad situation with the
"hopeless" situation;
fifth, concrete instructions for the actual surrender.[42]
[Illustration: _Figure 52: Basic Types: Troop Morale._ Leaflets may be
aimed at (1) morale, (2) news, (3) action. Morale leaflets neither
communicate news nor call for specific action. Rather, they pave the way
for action. Many of the previous illustrations have been of this type.
This one is a troop morale leaflet used by the puppet Free India Army on
their own men, who were discouraged by the self-evident lack of matériel
and numbers. (Singapore, about 1944.)]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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