Mastering Black Propaganda Warfare: Who wins?
Even though the wars raging around the world today are “far away” from us, we are unable to watch them in peace. It affects each of us differently.
The war’s veterans know what it’s like to be on both sides and I am one of them
I assure you that there are no winners in war.
I have firsthand experience with it. When you draw the line, all sides have lost a great deal, and we are all losers.
Disinformation
These days, a propaganda war is being fought in addition to the battle in which horrible things occur, killing adults and children, destroying entire cities, and destroying lives.
In contrast to the “physical” war, it is also challenging to determine the victor of the propaganda war.
And in the propaganda war, all parties involved have trained for years to deceive, twist, and fabricate facts about reality in an effort to make it fit their desired narrative.
Nonetheless, propaganda for war has been used since the beginning of conflicts, particularly during World War II.
False letters claimed to be from dead German soldiers telling their parents they had made it out alive, deserted, and were safe.
Journalist Sefton Delmer of the Daily Express presented a compelling contrast between the Nazi operation, which relied on free thinking, and the Nazi premise that people desire a leader and follow their lead.
This served as a demonstration of how to defeat the Nazis in the propaganda war, at least in one attempt.
We can make a comparison between this and the current propaganda war raging between Russia and Ukraine.
Dennis Sefton Delmar: The Master of Black Propaganda
Dennis Sefton Delmer, also known by his nickname “Tom,” was born in Berlin to Australian parents who lived in Germany. His father, Frederick Sefton Delmer, was an Australian-British English literature professor at the University of Berlin.
He also wrote a textbook that was required reading in German schools.
Following the start of World War I, the Ruhleben camp near Berlin detained his father as an enemy alien.
In 1917, the governments of the United Kingdom and Germany sent the Delmer family back to England as part of a prisoner exchange.
Delmer had his education at St. Paul’s School in London, Friedrichsverdersches Gimnasium in Berlin, and Lincoln College in Oxford, where he graduated with a degree in modern languages.
After graduating from college, Delmer worked as a freelance writer until the Daily Express hired him to head its new Berlin office.
Collaboration with Hitler
He made history as the first British journalist to interview Adolf Hitler in April 1931, thanks to his friendship with Ernst Röhm, whom he had met during his time in Germany. Hitler flew a private plane with Delmer during the 1932 German federal election.
He then “associated with Nazi party activists,” “taking copious notes on everything from the style of the future Führer’s oratory to the group he thought lay behind the bond he was creating with the German people.”
In 1933, he was also present when Hitler conducted an inspection following the Reichstag fire. Leaders believed Delmer was a member of MI6, and his denial of any involvement only reinforced their belief that he was not just a member but a significant one.
During this time, Delmer faced criticism for being a Nazi sympathiser, and the British government once believed he was working for the Nazis.
Delmer observed up close how Hitler could induce a condition of near hypnosis in the audience in between captivating acts, resembling a blank-faced travelling salesman.
Nazi propaganda said it wanted people to give up their uniqueness and join the Nazi Volk.
“Only a mass demonstration can convince a person of the greatness of this community.” In Mein Kampf, Hitler stated, “He submits himself to the fascination of what we call mass-suggestion.”
His senior propagandist, Goebbels, declared, “The Community of the People will replace the era of the individual.”
Meanwhile, as Delmer pointed out, Hitler’s supporters were also demonstrating their passion.
According to Delmer, the Nazis were like a „spooky cabaret“ that gave people roles that they liked.
During a period of intense social turmoil, the Nazis provided means for people to feel superior and safe in their “purity.”
They provided a platform for you to show out your repressed fury, violence, and sadism in the service of nationalistic “ideals.” The Führer character turned into a means of justifying your most hedonistic desires.
Following their ascent to power, the Nazis transformed Germany into a fascist show complete with coordinated events and large-scale marches.
The Nazis promoted an early version of the selfie by encouraging people to purchase cameras and take pictures of themselves participating in Nazi festivities.
Your living room became a part of Hitler’s Germany when the Nazis produced inexpensive radios, making the Germans the most radio-listening nation in Europe.
Delmar realized that the only way to counteract this propaganda was to weaken the emotional connection between the Nazis and the German people, as well as the appeal of their assigned roles.
Radio Station
In September 1940, the Political War Executive (PVE) hired Delmer as part of a psychological warfare effort to plan propaganda broadcasts for Nazi Germany.
The radio station’s idea was to pose as a staunch supporter of Hitler and the Nazis in order to discredit him.
Delmer thought that British attempts to counter German propaganda during the war were misguided, as the broadcasts targeted already-persuaded non-Nazis, resulting in a phenomenon known as an echo chamber of like minds.
When he was able to do so, he broke taboos by insulting Nazi authorities and broadcasting as a fervent Nazi who was critical of the Nazi leadership.
He achieved this by presenting disparaging material about official sado-masochistic orgies to attract listeners.
On June 6, 1944, at 4:50 a.m., the Germans learned of the Allied D-Day landings via the military radio station Soldatensender Calais.
“The enemy descends with force from the air and sea.” There are several breaches in the Atlantic wall.”
The initial listener thought it sounded like any other Nazi radio station, blending news from the front lines with speeches by Goebbels and Hitler.
However, it was actually a British station that was disguising itself as a Nazi station, which meant it was aware of the landing beforehand.
Over 40% of German soldiers listened to Soldatensender, one of the top three clandestine stations in major German cities.
This can compare to some of the best cable networks available today.
“They lay on the beach in their smashed and torn dugouts, naked and without coverings,” the station claimed, citing inside testimonies of German soldiers abandoned by the Nazi high command during the war.
The Nazi high command abandoned them, leaving them vulnerable to trample and scrape.
It was obvious that the purpose of this information was to lower German soldiers’ morale.
However, things become exciting from this point on.
German soldiers and civilians listening to the program were aware that Soldatensender was a British station pretending to be a German station.
The British broadcasters wanted the Germans to know they were British.
Their goal was not to deceive the audience, but rather to “cover” for German listeners.
“Der Chef”
Der Chef was Delmer’s debut performance in his counter-propaganda cabaret.
A renegade army officer simply known as ‘Der Chef’ broadcast the station, full of expletive-laden tirades about Nazi party corruption, including graphic pornography showing the Gestapo and SS indulging in decadent orgies with wives of front-line soldiers.
Sex and obscenity were used strategically. Der Chef took Nazi propaganda clichés and turned them against the Nazis. He accused Nazi leaders of being covert Bolsheviks, working against the German people, and being overly weak.
According to a British intelligence source in Sweden, the station is “undermining the German people’s confidence in the party apparatus.”
When Delmer presented his shows to the King of England, he claimed that the goal of the show Der was to “push Nazi propaganda into the ridiculous.”
This was not the same as satire; in these early broadcasts, Delmer still wanted the Germans to believe this was a real soldier.
Instead, Delmer took Nazism’s filthy, racist vocabulary, magnified it, and used it against them.
Delmer, for example, damaged Nazi propaganda by accusing them of being hidden Bolsheviks.
Delmer appears to have intended to suggest that peculiar moment of estrangement from oneself when you suddenly realise how much of your own conduct is skilful and performance-based.
Delmer acknowledged the need for engaging individuals based on their own interests rather than what you might care about.
This is what Ukrainian information fighters learned during their conflict with Russia.
Ukrainian advertisers, hackers, activists, and journalists are all attempting to reach Russian viewers.
When people feel powerless, conspiracy theories are especially appealing.
Delmer’s strategies shifted as his war operations expanded.
He launched his most ambitious station, the Soldatensender Calais, disguised as a native German military station. It combined broadcasts of Nazi leaders’ speeches with music and the latest news and gossip from the front, exposing all the lies and inequalities soldiers faced.
But the goal was no longer to trick the listener into thinking this was a Nazi station.
This time, the audience was supposed to participate in the action.
Today, Delmer has important lessons to teach us, both good and bad.
Most importantly, we can still use his lessons today.
He possesses the ability to enthral listeners who appear uninterested.
His grasp of the power of propaganda—which justifies the worst emotions—and how it may provide people with enjoyable roles to play in a complex environment is still relevant in the era of social media.
Everyone consistently showcases themselves online
These days, participating in a joint performance doesn’t require you to physically attend a meeting.
People can become enraged and agitated online, congregating into a boisterous mob that shares the same catchphrases and emoticons, and erupting into a boiling ball of wrath and superiority.
We frequently witness such occurrences, with various actions taking place in this way.
Although the Nazis were particularly evil, there are recurring themes in propaganda.
The emotional notes that propagandists play is the same everywhere.
They instil a false sense of camaraderie in individuals who are disinterested in swift change.
They can most effectively create entire other realities, conspiracy realms in which you have no responsibility. Many people may be excited to play with this.
Our world is filled with influential people, both big and small.
Do we have Delmer to compete?
If you remember what I stated at the beginning, there are no winners in war.
This post was written by Mario Bekes