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Black propaganda
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Black propaganda is false information and material that purports to be from a source on one side of a conflict, but is actually from the opposing side. It is typically used to vilify, embarrass or misrepresent the enemy.[1] Black propaganda contrasts with grey propaganda, the source of which is not identified, and white propaganda, in which the real source is declared and usually more accurate information is given, albeit slanted, distorted and omissive. Black propaganda is covert in nature in that its aims, identity, significance, and sources are hidden. The major characteristic of black propaganda is that the people are not aware that someone is trying to influence them, and do not feel that they are being pushed in a certain direction.[2] Black propaganda purports to emanate from a source other than the true source. This type of propaganda is associated with covert psychological operations.[3] Sometimes the source is concealed or credited to a false authority and spreads lies, fabrications, and deceptions. Black propaganda is the "big lie," including all types of creative deceit.[4] Black propaganda relies on the willingness of the receiver to accept the credibility of the source. If the creators or senders of the black propaganda message do not adequately understand their intended audience, the message may be misunderstood, seem suspicious, or fail altogether.[4] Governments will generally conduct black propaganda operations for two different reasons. First, by using black propaganda a government is more likely to succeed in convincing their target audience that the information that they are seeking to influence them with is disguised and that its motivations are not apparent. Second, there are diplomatic reasons behind the use of black propaganda. Black propaganda is necessary to obfuscate a government's involvement in activities that may be detrimental to its foreign policies.[5]
Contents
1 Black propaganda in World War II 1.1 British 1.2 German 1.3 Japanese 2 Cold War black propaganda of the Soviet Union 3 Office of Strategic Influence 4 Black propaganda in domestic politics 4.1 Racist black propaganda 4.2 British media 4.3 United States media 4.4 United States Government 4.5 Religious black propaganda 5 See also 6 References 7 Bibliography 8 External links
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British
In the United Kingdom, the Political Warfare Executive operated a number of black propaganda radio stations. Gustav Siegfried Eins (GS1) was one of the first such stationspurporting to be a clandestine German station. The speaker, 'Der Chef', purported to be a Nazi extremist, accusing Hitler and his henchmen of going soft. The station focused on alleged corruption and sexual improprieties of Nazi Party members. Another example was the British radio station Soldatensender Calais, which purported to be a radio station for the German military. Under the direction of Sefton Delmer, a British journalist who spoke perfect Berliner German, Soldatensender Calais and its associated shortwave station, Kurzwellensender Atlantik, broadcast music, up-to-date sports scores, speeches of Adolf Hitler for "cover" and subtle propaganda. Radio Deutschland was another radio station employed by the British during the war aimed and designed to undermine German morale and create tensions that would ultimately disrupt the German war effort. The station was broadcast from a signal close on the radio dial to an actual German station. During the war most Germans actually believed that this station was in fact a German radio station and even gained the recognition of Germany's propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels.[6] There were British black propaganda radio stations in most of the languages of occupied Europe as well as German and Italian.[7] Most of these were based in the area around Woburn Abbey. Another possible example was a rumour that there had been a German attempt to land on British shores at Shingle Street, but it had been repulsed with large German casualties. This was reported in the American press, and in William L. Shirer's Berlin Diary but was officially denied. British papers, declassified in 1993, have suggested this was a successful example of British black propaganda to bolster morale in the UK, USA and occupied Europe.[8] Author James Hayward has proposed that the rumours, which were widely reported in the American press, were a successfully engineered example of black propaganda with an aim of ensuring American co-operation and securing lend lease resources by showing that the United Kingdom was capable of successfully resisting the might of the German Army.[9] David Hare's play Licking Hitler provides a fictionalised account based on the British black propaganda efforts in World War II.
German
German black propaganda usually took advantage of European racism and anti-Communism. For example, on the night of April 27, 1944 German aircraft under cover of darkness (and possibly carrying fake Royal Air Force markings) dropped propaganda leaflets on occupied Denmark. These leaflets used the title of Frihedsposten, a genuine Danish underground newspaper, and claimed that the "hour of liberation" was approaching. They instructed Danes to accept "occupation by Russian or specially trained American Negro soldiers" until the first disorders resulting from military operations were over. The German Bro Concordia organisation operated several black propaganda radio stations (many of which pretended to broadcast illegally from within the countries they targeted).[10]
Japanese
The Tanaka Memorial, a document describing a Japanese plan for world conquest, beginning with the conquest of China, is now believed by most historians to be a forgery.
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The following message was distributed in black propaganda leaflets dropped by the Japanese over the Philippines in World War II. It was designed to turn Filipinos against the United States: Guard Against Venereal Diseases Lately there has been a great increase in the number of venereal diseases among our officers and men owing to prolific contacts with Filipino women of dubious character. Due to hard times and stricken conditions brought about by the Japanese occupation of the islands, Filipino women were willing to offer themselves for a small amount of foodstuffs. It is advisable in such cases to take full protective measures by use of condoms, protective medicines, etc.; better still to hold intercourse only with wives, virgins, or women of respective character. Furthermore, in view of the increase in pro-American leanings, many Filipino women are more than willing to offer themselves to American soldiers, and because Filipinos have no knowledge of hygiene, disease carriers are rampant and due care must be taken. US Army
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Following the September 11 attacks against the United States, the Pentagon organized and implemented the Office of Strategic Influence in an effort to improve public support abroad, mainly in Islamic countries. The head of OSI was an appointed general, Pete Worden who maintained the mission of "circulating classified proposals calling for aggressive campaigns that use[d] not only the foreign media and the Internet, but also covert operations." Worden, as well as then Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld planned for what they called "a broad mission ranging from 'black' campaigns that use[d] disinformation and other covert activities to 'white' public affairs that rely on truthful news releases." Therefore, OSI's operations could include the blackest of activities.[15] OSI's operations were to do more than public relations work, but included contacting and emailing media, journalist, and foreign community leaders with information that would counter foreign governments and organizations that are hostile to the United States. In doing so, the emails would be masked by utilizing addresses ending with .com as opposed to using the standard Pentagon address of .mil. and hide any involvement of the US government and the Pentagon. The Pentagon is forbidden to conduct black propaganda operations within the American media, but is not prohibited for conducting these operations against foreign media outlets. The thought of conducting black propaganda operations and utilizing disinformation resulted in harsh criticism for the program that resulted in its closure in 2002.[16]
British media
In November 1995, a Sunday Telegraph newspaper article alleged Libya's Saif al-Islam Gaddafi (Muammar Gaddafi's son) was connected to a currency counterfeiting plan. The article was written by Con Coughlin, the paper's chief foreign correspondent and it was falsely attributed to a "British banking official". In fact, it had been given to him by officers of MI6, who, it transpired, had been supplying Coughlin with material for years.[20] The Zinoviev letter was a fake letter published in the British newspaper, the Daily Mail. It claimed to be a letter from the Comintern president Grigory Zinoviev to the Communist Party of Great Britain. It called on Communists to mobilise "sympathetic forces" in the Labour Party and talked of creating dissent in the armed forces. The Zinoviev letter was instrumental in the Conservative victory in the 1924 general election.
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In the "Roorback forgery" of 1844 the Chronicle of Ithaca, New York ran a story, supposedly by a German tourist called Baron von Roorback, that James K. Polk, standing for re-election as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives, branded his slaves before selling them at auction to distinguish them from the others on sale. Polk actually benefited from the ploy, as it reflected badly on his opponents when the lie was found out.[21] During the 1972 U.S. presidential election, Donald H. Segretti, a political operative for President Richard Nixon's reelection campaign, released a faked letter, on Senator Edmund Muskie's letterhead, falsely alleging that Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson, against whom Muskie was running for the Democratic Party's nomination, had had an illegitimate child with a seventeen-year-old. Muskie, who had been considered the frontrunner, lost the nomination to George McGovern, and Nixon was reelected. The letter was part of a campaign of so-called "dirty tricks", directed by Segretti, and uncovered as part of the Watergate Scandal. Segretti went to prison in 1974 after pleading guilty to three misdemeanor counts of distributing illegal campaign literature. Another of his dirty tricks was the "Canuck letter", although this was libel of Muskie and not a black propaganda piece.
See also
False flag Taliban propaganda White propaganda Grey propaganda Information warfare Push polling
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Push polling Astroturfing Joe job Special Activities Division The Terror Network
References
1. ^ Doob, Leonard (1950-09-13). "Goebbels' Principles of Nazi Propaganda". The Public Opinion Quarterly 3 (Vol. 14, No. 3): 419442. JSTOR 2745999 (http://www.jstor.org/stable/2745999) . 2. ^ Ellul, Jacques (1965). Propaganda: The Formation of Mens Attitudes, p. 16.Trans. Konrad Kellen & Jean Lerner. Vintage Books, New York. ISBN 978-0-394-71874-3. 3. ^ Linebarger, Paul Myron Anthony. 1954. Psychological Warfare, Combat Forces Press, Washington 4. ^ a b Jowett, Garth S., Garth Jowett, Victoria O'Donnell. 2006. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, California 5. ^ a b Shulsky, Abram. and Gary Schmitt, Silent Warfare. Washington, DC: Brasseys Inc. 2002 6. ^ Allen, Thomas and Normal Polmar. Spy Book. New York: Random House Selection. 2004 7. ^ John Pether, The Bletchley Park Reports: Report No. 17 Black Propaganda, Bletchley Park Trust 1998 8. ^ Rigby, Nic (2002-09-09). "Was WWII mystery a fake?" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2243082.stm) . BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2243082.stm. Retrieved 2007-09-23. 9. ^ Hayward, James (2002). Shingle Street. CD41 Publishing. ISBN 0-9540549-1-1. 10. ^ . http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2584/is_n2_v14/ai_15588719/pg_1. 11. ^ Definition of "disinformation" (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disinformation) , from MerriamWebster.com 12. ^ http://intellit.muskingum.edu/russia_folder/pcw_era/sect_03.htm 13. ^ The Foreign Intelligence Role of the Committee for State Security. http://www.fas.org/irp/world/russia/kgb/su0521.htm 14. ^ http://intellit.muskingum.edu/russia_folder/pcw_era/sect_03.htm</ref 15. ^ http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Office_of_Strategic_Influence 16. ^ Carver, Tom. Pentagon Plans Propaganda War. BBC 20 February 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1830500.stm 17. ^ "Howard forced to fight off dirty tricks allegations" (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/event/story.cfm? c_id=1501680&objectid=10477730) . The New Zealand Herald. 22 November 2007. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/event/story.cfm?c_id=1501680&objectid=10477730. Retrieved 20 September 2011. 18. ^ Young, Audrey (22 November 2007). "Howard's speech overshadowed by race issues" (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/event/story.cfm?c_id=1501680&objectid=10477835) . The New Zealand Herald. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/event/story.cfm?c_id=1501680&objectid=10477835. Retrieved 20 September 2011. 19. ^ Ansley, Greg (23 November 2007). "Fake flyers derail Howard" (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/event/story.cfm?c_id=1501680&objectid=10477867) . The New Zealand Herald. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/event/story.cfm?c_id=1501680&objectid=10477867. Retrieved 20 September 2011. 20. ^ Leigh, David (2000-06-12). "Tinker, tailor, soldier, journalist" (http://www.guardian.co.uk/shayler/article/0,2763,339990,00.html) . The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/shayler/article/0,2763,339990,00.html. Retrieved 2007-06-16. 21. ^ Byrnes, Mark E. (2001). James K. Polk: a biographical companion. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC CLIO. p. 183. ISBN 978-1-57607-056-7. 22. ^ http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/electronic-publications/stay-free/archives/19/fbi.html 23. ^ Churchill & VanderWall, p. 187; Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project)) 24. ^ Shulsky, Abram and Gary Schmitt. Silent Warfare. Washington: Brasseys, 2002 25. ^ Kent, Stephen A. (2006). "Scientology". In Daniel A. Stout. Encyclopedia of religion, communication, and media. Routledge encyclopedias of religion and society. CRC Press. pp. 390392. ISBN 978-0-415-96946-8.
Bibliography
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BOYCE, Fredric. SOE's ultimate deception: Operation Periwig Stroud: Sutton, 2005. ISBN 07509402-7-1 DELMER, Denis Sefton. Black Boomerang (http://psywar.org/delmer/1005/1002) London: Secker and Warburg, 1962 HOWE, Ellic. The Black Game: British subversive operations against the Germans during the Second World War London: Michael Joseph, 1982. ISBN 0-7181171-8-2 LINEBARGER, Paul Myron Anthony. 1954. Psychological Warfare, Combat Forces Press, Washington NEWCOURT-NOWODWORSKI, Stanley. La Propaganda Negra en la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Madrid: Algaba, 2006, 336 pginas. ISBN 978-84-96107-70-0 (Spanish) RICHARDS, Lee. The Black Art: British Clandestine Psychological Warfare against the Third Reich London: www.psywar.org, 2010. ISBN: 0-9542936-3-0 RICHARDS, Lee. Whispers of War: Underground Propaganda Rumour-mongerin in the Second World War London: www.psywar.org, 2010. ISBN: 0-9542936-4-9 TELO, Antnio Jos. Propaganda e Guerra Secreta em Portugal: 1939-1945. Lisboa: Perspectivas & Realidades, 1990, pp. 33-36 (http://www.fmsoares.pt/arquivo_biblioteca/Biblioteca/pesquisa_numerica_i_r.asp?Registo=006313)
(Portuguese)
Second World War black propaganda. National Library of Scotland, 2006 (http://www.nls.uk/propaganda/black/index.html) TAYLOR, Philip M. Munitions of the mind: a history of propaganda from the ancient world to the present era. (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1995) Ex-COINTELPRO spy, The Gentleperson's Guide To Forum Spies (http://cryptome.org/2012/07/gent-forum-spies.htm) , Cryptome, 2012.
External links
Stamps as War- and Propaganda Forgeries (http://www.forgery.de/index_en.htm) : This Website shows almost all officially issued War- and Propaganda forgeries. It also shows the real stamps which was the template for the forgery. Sefton Delmer -Black Boomerang (http://www.psywar.org/delmer/1005/1002) : Sefton Delmer was head of British Black Propaganda during World War II. His book Black Boomerang tells the story of his work. PsyWar.Org - Black Propaganda and propaganda leaflets database (http://www.psywar.org) : A website with various articles on black propaganda and psychological warfare. The site has an extensive library of propaganda leaflets from World War I to the present day. WW2 propaganda leaflets (http://members.home.nl/ww2propaganda/slid31a.htm) : A website about airdropped, shelled or rocket fired propaganda leaflets. Has slideshow with many black propaganda leaflets of World War II. Gray and Black Radio Propaganda against Nazi Germany (http://nymas.org/radioproppaper.htm) Extensively illustrated paper describing the Allied effort in WW II to undermine Germany through unidentified or misidentified radio broadcasts. Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Black_propaganda&oldid=526609625" Categories: Black propaganda Intelligence operations
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