Psychological WarfareLinebarger, Paul Myron Anthony
History
Psychological Warfare
Linebarger, Paul Myron Anthony
Psychological warfare
In the Civil War, psychological warfare was practised by both Lincoln
and the Confederacy in establishing propaganda instrumentalities in
England and on the continent of Europe. The Northern use of Negro
troops, which was followed, at the end of the war by the Confederate
plans for raising Negro troops, did not become the major propaganda
issue it might have because of the community of feeling on the two
sides, indecision on each side as to the purpose of the war (apart from
the basic issue of union or disunion), and the persistence of
politics-as-usual both North and South of the battle line.
=Boers And Burmese.= In the latter part of the nineteenth century, two
sets of British wars indicate the effect psychological warfare can play.
The British conquered both Burma and the Boers. The Burmese were more
numerous, had the larger country, and (if they had had leadership
comparable to the Japanese leadership of the time) could have developed
the larger military potential. But Burma was conquered by the British in
a final war which went on quietly and ingloriously. No nation came to
their aid. They did not even get a chance to surrender. The British
simply ended the war in the middle by announcing the end of the Burmese
government, and by making a one-sided declaration that Burma was annexed
to the Empire of India. The political death of Burma occurred on 1
January 1886, but the event has been forgotten.
The Boers, on the other hand, made a stir throughout the world. They got
in touch with the Germans, Irish, Americans, French, Dutch, and
everybody else who might criticize Britain. They stated their case
loudly and often. They waged commando warfare, adding the word
_commando_ to international military parlance, and sent small units deep
into the British rear, setting off a mad uproar and making the world
press go crazy with excitement. When they finally gave in, it was on
reasonable terms for themselves; they left the British with an
internationally blacked eye.
Nobody remembered the Burmese; everybody remembered the Boers. The Boers
used every means they could think of; they did everything they could.
They even captured Winston Churchill.
These examples may show that the military role of propaganda and related
operations is not as obscure or intangible as it may have seemed. They
cannot be considered history but must be regarded as a plea for the
writing of history. More recent experience is another question, and
involves tracing the doctrines pertaining to psychological warfare which
have now become established military procedure in the modern armies.
CHAPTER 2
The Function of Psychological Warfare
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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