Black propaganda

Black propaganda is propaganda that purports to be from a source on one side of some conflict, but is actually from the opposing side. It contrasts with White propaganda[?] and Grey propaganda. The term is also sometimes used as a synonym for particularly malicious wartime propaganda.

Black propaganda may be generated by altering genuine enemy propaganda in such a way as to distort its message. This is a particularly powerful tool if the target audience has a poor understanding of the language of the enemy.

Anti-Semitic black propaganda

A classic example of black propaganda is the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which poses as a document written by Jewish elders, but is actually a forgery written by an opponent of the Jews.

British black propaganda in World War II

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, Kurzwellesender Atlantik, broadcast music, up-to-date sports scores, speeches of Adolf Hitler for "cover", and subtle propaganda. Gustav Siegfried Eins[?] was another British black propaganda station. The speaker, 'Der Chef' purported to be an extremist Nazi, accused Hitler and his henchmen of going soft. The station focused on alleged sexual improprieties of the Nazi leadership.

David Hare[?]'s play Licking Hitler[?] provides a fictionalised account based on the British black propaganda efforts in World War II.

To do:

• the Zinovieff letter[?]