75477 - Psy War and Psy Op

Ν. Lygeros

Psychological warfare or even Psychological operations were weapons in the mental war long time ago and of course before the Cold War. They were used to create a planned psychological reaction in other people. It wasn’t necessary to use the truth. And lies were very efficient against the emotions or the motives, the value system or the belief system. It was a level above the rhetoric. Everything was possible to get a result. False flag tactics or black operations were possible to destroy the morale of enemies. It was a way to mislead the enemy about the presence and disposition of forces. In 1924 a Soviet directive for higher commands stated that operational deception had to be based upon secrecy, imitation, demonstrative actions and of course disinformation. The theory operational maskirovska was one of most important means of achieving surprise. The stunning effect produced on the enemy was a crucial point. They didn’t need the Cold War or even the NATO to do this. By this way the term psychological warfare was known in USA only after 1941.