The Evolution of War-time Counter-Intelligence From World War II to Today

During World War II, psychological warfare was an incredibly important, yet under-appreciated aspect of strategic combat that played an essential role in the Allied Powers’ victory. Whether it was used to misinform enemies with propaganda, or incite fear with inflatable vehicles and dummies, psychological warfare was used by both the Allied Powers and the Axis Alliance during World War II. In the modern day, psychological warfare is still used to intimidate; however overtime, methods and applications have evolved.

Christopher Cho explains.

An inflatable dummy tank based on the M4 Sherman tank.

One of the smartest tactics used by the allied forces were inflatable tanks and paradummies. Developed by a special task force known as, “The Ghost Army,” made up of the most intelligent soldiers and best artists, the Allied Powers utilized a variety of mediums to trick the Nazis, including, “inflatable tanks and vehicles, fake radio traffic, sound effects, even phony generals.” (Ghost Army) Because they were inflatable, these tanks were light enough to be carried by four men across a battlefield and gave the illusion of a much larger military presence. Paradummies, also known as Operation Titanic, were dolls used in place of real paratroopers in order to distract enemies and would often combust upon landing.

Planned by Ralph Ingersoll and Billy Harris and led by Colonel Harry L. Leeder, the Ghost Army and their devices gave the Allied Powers huge advantages during the war and would play a pivotal role in sowing key information for the D-Day invasion. To deceive Germany about the whereabouts of the invasion that would ultimately happen at Normandy, the Ghost Army placed inflatable tanks and military jeeps, where the battles were supposed to take place. Paradummies were dropped along with rifle simulators and SAS (Special Air Service) men to further deceive German soldiers.

The Allied forces had a lot of smart ways of using psychological warfare against their enemy. However, the Nazis and the Axis Powers also had their own forms of psychological warfare. The Axis Alliance were also quite successful when it came to their strategy in psychological warfare, but unlike the allies, they used propaganda as psychological warfare to further their ideological objectives, instead of trying to trick the enemy with fake soldiers and vehicles in order to win military battles. While the Allies tried weakening the Axis, the Axis convinced their soldiers to believe that the systematic extermination of many groups would restore order, using propaganda. Using the radio and other media outlets, Hitler had made the German population believe the Allies (mostly Great Britain and the United States of America) were under the control of Jewish people, creating nationwide antisemitism and justifying the murder of millions solely based on their identity.

Modern day

Though many psychological warfare strategies used during World War II were very successful, most of these strategies have become obsolete in modern day because of advancements in technology. For example, if a country tried to use inflatable tanks or paradummies, modern surveillance technology would easily detect a ruse. Modern day examples can be seen in the Russo-Ukraine war, during Russian protests. Whereas the radio allowed Nazi Germany to disseminate its propaganda in ways never imagined, social media allows the dissemination of propaganda and brings psychological warfare individualized directly to particular tastes. Social media propaganda could be used to make people believe whatever its creator wanted them to believe. Competing interests have simultaneously made citizens of Russia go against Putin and his need for war, but also have been used to further Russian objectives. Many citizens of Russia have started protests, which “... have emerged as the core of Russia’s antiwar movement. This effort includes hundreds of online communities and projects that have sprung up overnight to resist specific war-related government initiatives,” (Olimpieva) Consequently, there are reports of many Russian soldiers who didn't want to fight but were drafted and forced to. This is only one of many examples of psychological warfare being used in modern day, as Russian propaganda has had to work overtime to explain unexpected military losses and to stifle dissent at home.

D-Day was necessary for victory in World War II and the psychological tricks used were essential to the success of the mission. In contrast, the Nazis used their psychological warfare to further their ideological objectives and were also successful in doing this. As Russia continues to employ its psychological warfare to bolster propaganda for their war, the cost of that choice just might be paid in retreat, casualties and more propaganda to explain the failures of the Ukraine invasion to an increasingly sceptical Russian public.

What do you think of wartime counter-intelligence and psychological warfare? Let us know below.

Works Cited

https://www.history.com/news/ghost-army-world-war-ii

https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/blog/2013/10/04/old-wwii-d-day-paradummy-found-residing-in-garden-shed#:~:text=Paradummies%20were%20used%20as%20a,movie%20'The%20Longest%20Day'

Were the Nazis punished enough? The Nuremberg Trials

Samantha Jones looks at the Nuremberg Trials in a modern context. These trials took place in the aftermath of World War II and sought to condemn those Nazis who had committed some of the most heinous crimes in the history of the world.

A Nazi parade.

Politics tells us justice is blind, and that it is justice that is fundamentally right in our society. Yet history shows us this may not be true. In the aftermath of World War II, the Western world’s form of justice was put to the test. And looking back we are troubled with the question: did democracy fail?

As Nazi leaders were confronted with their crimes against humanity in front of an international military tribunal, the entire world learned the truth behind The Final Solution, Concentration Camps, medical experiments, and the extent of Nazi genocide. These war crimes shined a spotlight onto a new and modern form of warfare, where civilians became targets and war no longer had to be declared upon a country to invade it. It was no easy feat to punish the Nazis, as the victorious Allied Powers had to question and convict those they had caught, as well as deter future nationalists from committing such crimes again. But that is what the Nuremberg Trials attempted to do.

It is said the infamous Nuremberg Trials marked the end of the Third Reich and Hitler’s Nazi Empire. Indeed, despite the Soviet Army storming Berlin, Nazi uprisings were still a threat to the triumphant Allies. So it was decided that to ‘clean up’ Europe legally and politically, the Allies were to hold a series of trials in order to fully understand and punish Nazi criminals in a democratic setting. The trials were held from November 20 1945 to October 1 1946, in the German city of Nuremberg. This site was chosen because of the somewhat intact Palace of Justice, a suitable building for the event, and the symbolism attached to Nuremberg, after the passing of the Nuremberg Laws against the Jews in 1935.

One prosecutor, one judge and one alternative judge from the Allied Powers oversaw the trial. Those that were caught included 23 high ranking Nazi officials, including the notorious Goering, Speer and Hess. Of course the highest Nazis such as Hitler, Himmler and Goebbels were not present, as they had escaped punishment through suicide before capture.

But as the news of the devastation of the war in Europe spread to the corners of the globe, interest and attraction into the Nazis grew enormously. Because of this, the Nuremberg Trials were filmed and covered by the global media, something that was to follow in other major world events.

HOW MIGHT THE TRAILS BE DIFFERENT TODAY?

The Nuremberg Trials are a small sliver of history, particularly among the World War Two era, yet this event marks the beginning of several major practices and institutions. For example, the power and dominance of democracy, the involvement of the media, and the use of knowledge and education as a deterrent were present during the Nuremberg Trials. However, looking back, would the trails be undertaken differently today?

One theme that needs to be addressed is the arguable leniency upon the Nazi prisoners. For example, even today it is debated whether it was unjust that Albert Speer, Hitler’s architect, was sentenced to merely twenty years in prison and lived the rest of his life a free man. Despite being sentenced to death, Hermann Goering, Hitler’s successor, escaped justice by committing suicide in his cell. It remains a mystery how this was able to happen. And Rudolf Hess, Hitler`s Deputy Fuhrer, was sentenced to prison where he too committed suicide. Discussing these awful things in such a dismissive tone is not my intention. But remember the graphic pictures of the Holocaust victims and the Concentration Camps that still stand today because of these men. Just under half of those charged at Nuremberg were sentenced to death, yet it was these Nazi men that were committed to gassing, killing and removing an entire people from the face of the earth. Perhaps justice was not served, but nor was revenge.

Aside from this somewhat macabre observation, the Nuremberg Trials did make advances. The organization of evidence and the methods used to explain the Nazi occupation helped the world to understand what actually happened. The Trials also contributed to the development of international legal institutions that attempt to seek justice in global crimes, such as the United Nations and the Genocide Convention. Of course it is debated whether these institutions are successful, yet the message they stand for began in Nuremberg.

History has and will repeat itself though. Crimes against humanity have been committed on an unimaginable scale quite recently, as seen in Rwanda and with Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge. Unfortunately, with these events in mind, it is hard to argue whether or not justice can remain democratic or if can it be transformed into a form of revenge.

It is easy for our generation to look back upon Nuremberg and judge those in charge for their leniency or their harshness. But equally, as time pushes the deep dark crimes of the Nazis further back into history, I wonder how future generations will judge us on what we do. Perhaps justice will be served then.

You can read about how the radical Freikorps were one of the pre-cursors to the Nazis in issue 3 of History is Now Magazine. The magazine is available for iPad and iPhone and is free for at least one month when you try the magazine on a subscription. Click here for more information!