Psychological WarfareLinebarger, Paul Myron Anthony
History
Psychological Warfare
Linebarger, Paul Myron Anthony
Psychological warfare
A list of the foods available to surrenderees (see figure 13, from
World War I);
A statement of the conditions of military imprisonment, reaffirming
the rules of the Geneva convention;
The promise that the potential prisoner will be allowed mail
communication with home;
Anger-motif, showing scum and profiteers at home, and attempting to
induce surrender by telling the soldier that he is being made a
sucker;
Obscene pictures, showing naked women, designed to make the
involuntary celibate so desirous of women that he surrenders out of
bad nerves. (Japanese idea, and did not work; the troops naturally
kept the pornography but merely despised the Japanese as queer little
people for having sent it. This type cannot be illustrated; the
Library of Congress has copies in a locked file.)
[Illustration: _Figure 65: Direct Commands to Enemy Forces._ As the
situation develops against the enemy, it becomes possible to use
leaflets to force the surrender of enemy troops by direct command. This
kind of appeal is lost when enemy morale remains irrationally high
because of a beloved commander or some other unpredictable factor, but
in normal situations it either forces the enemy commander's hand or
leaves him with a deteriorating force.]
[Illustration: _Figure 66: Basic Types: Contingency Commands._ Leaflets
can be made up in advance to govern typical situations which may arise.
This "Command to the Scattered German Troop Units" orders all isolated
German remnants to surrender to the nearest Allied force.]
[Illustration: _Figure 67: Tactical Surrender Leaflets._ Enemy troops
often fail to understand why they should surrender. Under such
circumstances, it is useful to send them a map, showing them plainly
what their situation is. If misrepresentation is done at this point, it
will be at the cost of loss of credence later on. These leaflets were
prepared to prevent Japanese units in the Philippines from staging
last-ditch fights after surrender of Japan. Similar maps had been used
for tactical purposes earlier.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account