Psychological WarfareLinebarger, Paul Myron Anthony
History
Psychological Warfare
Linebarger, Paul Myron Anthony
Psychological warfare
In the field of radio, the difference between Covert and Overt was even
more plain. During World War II, the ether over Europe was filled with
appeals from radio stations both public and covert in character. The
British spoke to the Germans over B.B.C., making no effort to conceal
the fact that they were British. But they also spoke to the Germans over
clandestine stations, which pretended to be free-lancing Nazis, German
army stations, or freedom group operations. The Germans, comparably,
beamed official German news to the United States in English; but they
also pretended to be Americans broadcasting from an isolationist radio
in the American mid-west. In some cases, the belligerent powers used the
identical radio transmission facilities for overt and covert propaganda.
Radio Saipan, under the Americans, was most of the time the relay for
the acknowledged San Francisco programs; intermittently OSS borrowed it,
and it then became a "Japanese" station. (Under such conditions, black
radio cannot remain black very long.)
In terms of the timing, propaganda can be subdivided into two further
categories, strategic and tactical. Strategic propaganda is conducted
with no immediate effect in view. Its purpose is to wear down the enemy
by psychological changes that may extend over months. Figure 19, warning
the Germans of the remote future, is an example of this in leaflet form.
Tactical propaganda is operated to accomplish an immediate short-range
purpose, and normally does not cover a long time-span. Only in a few
cases, such as leaflets for a besieged enemy unit, is tactical
propaganda run for a purpose that encompasses a long delay between the
operation and the expected result. These two forms may be defined as
follows:
_Strategic propaganda_ is directed at enemy forces, enemy peoples, and
enemy-occupied areas in their entirety, and--in coordination with
strategic planning--is designed to effectuate results planned and
sought over a period of weeks, months, or years.
_Tactical propaganda_ is directed at specific audiences, usually
named, and is prepared and executed in support of localized combat
operations.
Another set of distinctions can be set up, depending on the relationship
of the propaganda operation to the simultaneous hostile propaganda
operations, namely offensive or defensive propaganda. Before the advent
of World War II, this distinction appeared to be significant but
experience on almost all fronts indicated that it meant little when
applied to day-in day-out necessities of actual practice. Propaganda is
so intimately keyed to the news and opinion situation that it does not
usually bear elaborate pre-operational analysis. Elaborate planning very
often ends up in the locked files; the distinction of offensive and
defensive means little in routine work. However, for the sake of the
record, the distinction can be listed:
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account