Propaganda in the World and Local Conflicts

3-15

Authors: Artem Yu. Peretyatko

The paper explores a military patriotic component in the creative work of Mikhail Kh. Senyutkin, a person who, for the first time, organized structured military propaganda activities in the Don press in period of the Crimean War. The author shows that this was accomplished quite on the spur of the moment: M.Kh. Senyutkin, a trained lawyer, who built the major part of his career in the prosecutor’s office and courts, found himself working as an editor of The Don Military Gazette (Donskiye Voyskovye Vedomosti) in the 1850s and, shortly after the outbreak of war, allowed to print military patriotic publications in the paper. Proceeding from M.Kh. Senyutkin's own oeuvre, the paper concludes that his efforts to systematize military propaganda were, nevertheless, meaningful – the Don lawyer viewed history as a study area of vital importance, which provided patriotic models to be followed. In his opinion, the history of Don Cossackdom was primarily shaped by its warfare legacy and essentially exemplified by the military exploits of Don units and particular Cossacks. At the same time, the paper shows that the oeuvre of M.Kh. Senyutkin was typical of the emerging Don military propaganda, and his reasoning gave explanations for some of its peculiarities, for example, the genre non-specificity of texts and authors’ regular references to Russian poets, rather than professional historians.

23-31

Authors: Konstantin V. Taran

The paper explores the effects German propaganda produced on the units of the 408th rifle division of the Red Army during World War II. The focus is made on the peculiar aspects characterizing the way the division was activated, as well as the methods of influence on the unit, used by the adversary. The materials analyzed include archival documents from the Central Archives of the Ministry of Defense, Podolsk, Russian Federation, as well as reminiscences of World War II, narrated by Soviet and German military leaders. Summing up his findings, the author concludes that the 408th rifle division, which was formed in the Armenian SSR and had predominantly Armenian personnel, was deployed on the front line in September 1942, where it was engaged in combat operations against German troops. Germans capitalized on a comprehensive arsenal of psychological levers against the 408th Division, which were put in action by the Armenian Legions who fought on the side of the German army. Psychological influence was generated through the use of sound broadcasting, individual night conversations with Soviet patrols, as well as the use of printed propaganda – leaflets. With the retreat of Soviet troops and the quick abbreviated training of personnel before combat operations, all these factors resulted in mass defection of Red Army soldiers to the enemy, desertion and self-mutilation. In the end, the 408th Division was discontinued.

42-51

Authors: Anvar M. Mamadaliev

The series of papers spotlights the relevant issue – propaganda around the next, yet very fierce development from September 27 to November 10, 2020 in the Nagorny Karabakh conflict that over the past two and a half decades not only has altered the balance of regional forces, but also predetermined major territorial changes; the outcome of this, without any exaggeration, full-scale war between the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan and Artsakh Defence Army is the victory by Azerbaijan. However, the balance of forces, legal aspects behind the involvement of third parties (Armenia, Turkey, Russia and others) and aftermath of the conflict are of no interest to us, but we would like to have a closer look at the forms, methods and content of the propaganda war that was no less bitter than action on the front; this war “flared up” in the media not only of the opposing sides – Armenia (de facto) and Azerbaijan – but also of other countries, primarily Russia and Turkey. The paper suggests a periodization of the 27.09.2020–10.11.2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and analyzes the official messages of the Armenia and Azerbaijan Defense Ministries in the period from 27.09.20 to 11.10.20 based on the propaganda sources classification proposed in the first part of our work.

3-13

Authors: Artyom Yu. Peretyatko

In 1880-1890, a series of books came out in the Don region, which contained elements of military patriotic propaganda. A noteworthy fact is that their publication was initiated by the staff of Ataman N.I. Svyatopolk-Mirsky. The ataman also took other steps that can be interpreted as an attempt to arrange targeted military propaganda – his office coordinated preparations to establish the Don Museum, it tested and refined measures of “moral influence” on Cossacks to maintain their morale, etc. The paper generally endeavors to explain the reasons behind the development of such military government propaganda among Don Cossacks. To achieve the goal, the author reviews the essential military patriotic texts of the time, written by N.A. Maslakovets (assistant to the ataman), A.N. Pivovarov (army headquarters aide-de-camp), A.A. Karasev, S.F. Nomikosov and Kh.I. Popov (members of the Don Statistical Committee). The most important finding of the research suggests that the Don military propaganda naturally evolved from the bureaucratic infighting of army officials against zemstvo leaders who demanded to make the army service easier for Cossacks.

20-23

Authors: Dmitry Surzhik, Tatiana Lokhova

The article dwells to the US media-coverage of the Soviet troops victory at Stalingrad battle. The battle itself was shown at the US media as a crucial disaster of Nazis at the Soviet Union at the beginning of 1943. It also confirmed power of the Red Army and it ability to fight the enemies – the believe, shook after the failed Kharkiv battle of the spring 1942. As the authors show, the USSR victories at the frontline and at the home front spread over the American mass-media by the US Office of War to shift the public opinion from the US and UK failures at the Atlantic, Southeast Asia and Northern Africa. The US Government itself made such a “image making” efforts, and former US secretary of war Patrick J. Hurley visit to Stalingrad shortly after the battle. His telegrams along with another personal recollections, brochures and movies, positive to the image of USSR and Joseph Stalin, were printed and mass disseminated. To our mind, it was made to reduce Americans’ awareness of the Axis success and show, the US is not alone, but has mighty Allies. It also should be noted, that there was a discussion over the USSR image at the Office of War Information. It employees tried not to lie to Americans, but to concentrate their attention on Russian people achievements on the eve and at times of World War II.

29-40

Authors: Anvar M. Mamadaliev

The paper spotlights the now relevant issue – propaganda related to another round of the fierce Nagorny Karabakh conflict from September 27 to November 10, 2020, which over the past two and a half decades not only has altered the balance of regional forces, but also predetermined major territorial changes; the outcome of this, without any exaggeration, full-scale war is the victory by Azerbaijan. However, the balance of forces and outcomes of the conflict lie outside our research interest that is here centered on the forms, methods and content of the propaganda war which was as intense as the operations carried out on the front line. Moreover, the war expanded beyond the media of the opposing sides – Armenia and Azerbaijan – and even “permeated” into those of other countries, above all Russia and Turkey. The paper, discussing the propaganda activities in the context of the Nagorny Karabakh conflict, applied both by the sides in the conflict and third countries, analyzes materials from the official military sources of Armenia and Azerbaijan, published on the first day of the war – September 27, 2020. The paper briefly summarizes the theories of propaganda (H. Lasswell, W. Lippmann, J. Dewey), gives a historical overview of how strained inter-ethnic relations develop, delivers a classification of sources on the problem of propaganda. The analysis and classification provided covered messages by the Defense Ministries of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan on the first day of the conflict. The paper also identifies the methods used by the sides in their propaganda activities and suggests an overall assessment of their quality.

3-14

Authors: Mihail M. Kirilov

The paper explores why and how native units were mustered in the Imperial Russian Army during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 – 1905. One of the key directions of combat activities, led by the Russian Empire and Japan, where the Chinese population was widely engaged, was reconnaissance operations. Throughout the Russo-Japanese War, the adversary's reconnaissance service demonstrated achievements in the area, which were much more impressive than performance of the Russian service for a number of reasons. The Japanese had a significant advantage – their ethnic appearance was similar to that of the Chinese, and the benefit greatly facilitated the task of planting their agents, disguised as the Chinese, into the rear of the Russian army to collect information, as well as impersonating Chinese officers and commanding Honghuzi units operating in the rear of the Imperial Russian Army. As a consequence, to enhance the efficiency of the efforts of gathering intelligence directly in the theater of war, the Russian army command started forming native sotnias and detachments, as well as preparing an agent network consisting of the local Chinese and Mongolian population. The detachments and units were planned to carry out deep and close reconnaissance, including operations around the areas where Russian troops were positioned, deep reconnaissance in the enemy territory, in the rear of the Russian army and in Mongolia.

27-37

Authors: Anvar M. Mamadaliev

This paper addresses issues related to Russian government propaganda during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904−1905. The work analyzes the key reasons behind and the essence of the related ideological “warfare” and explores the effect the propaganda had on domestic political affairs in the Russian Empire during the First Russian Revolution (1905–1907). The paper describes some of the key forms and methods of ideological warfare used during the period, the “target audience”, and some of the more prominent and effective propaganda “artifacts”. The author provides insight into the efficiency of the propaganda campaign as a whole, the key effects it produced, its influence on the progress of the war, and some of the subsequent use of propaganda by the Russian government.

44-48

Authors: Sergey N. Nikitin

The article is dedicated to the use of propaganda ammunition by the warring parties during World War I and World War II. Attention is paid to the means of ammunition delivery to the enemy’s positions, as well as performance characteristics of the ammunition used. We used specialized scientific and technical literature on the issue of military propaganda and methods of the propaganda sources delivery as materials. Methodology of the study is based on the main principles of historicism, objectivity and chronological sequence. The principle of objectivity allowed us to disengage ourselves from stereotype opinions, assessments and thinking, and thanks to the chronological principle we were able to build up the study in its chronological sequence. In the conclusion, the author notes that the experience of using propaganda materials during World War I has shown that efficient delivery of propaganda sources to the enemy’s deployment sites can play a significant role in orchestrating the desired psychological effect on the enemy. Keeping this in mind, in the period prior to the World War II, different countries were developing propaganda ammunitions delivered by air and ground transport. During World War II, further development of propaganda ammunitions was taking into account the military hardware technical development. As a result of this confrontation, a range of means for the delivery of propaganda materials was determined, and firing leaflets charged into the missile of a caliber of more than 122 mm was considered inefficient.

43-49

Authors: Goran Rajovic

This paper provides an analysis of 25 research studies on military propaganda indexed in the Web of Science database and published in the period 2004–2019, i.e. in the 21st century. The materials were systematized by year, publication venue, and research subject matter. The author draws the conclusion that in the early modern period military propaganda was employed mainly in times of revolutions and wars of independence. This may be explained by the fact that the period’s armies did not have the institution of military propagandists in place yet. It was only as late as the Crimean War that mass media were first used to shape public opinion among the populations of the countries at war. In the modern period, the role of military propaganda grew significantly, with military propagandists getting set apart into a special military unit. In a time of war, mass media were subordinate to the local administration, which made it possible to create the conditions for keeping public opinion steady and preventing the “war weariness” phenomenon. The development of digital technology and the Internet has facilitated communication among terrorist communities significantly. This has given researchers reason to explore the nature and manifestations of terrorist activity and seek out ways to counteract it. In the contemporary period, military propaganda is finding manifestation in terrorist activity, hybrid wars, and states’ activity on countering domestic and international threats.

55-66

Authors: Dmitry V.Liventsev

This paper looks into the organization of military propaganda in the Russian Imperial Navy in the period 1914-1915. The author examines the rivalry in hostile propaganda between Russia and Germany during World War I in the Baltic and Black Sea theaters of military operations. The paper describes some of the key propaganda techniques employed by the nations of the Entente and those of the Triple Alliance; explores the rivalry in hostile propaganda between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire; discusses the attitude toward World War I among the Navy's lower ranks and officers; provides an insight into the rationale behind patriotic sentiment among the personnel of the Russian Imperial Navy during the initial period of World War I; examines the role of Emperor Nicholas II and the State Duma in Russia’s propaganda campaigns in its World War I fleet; illustrates how advantage was taken of the feats of clergymen, sailors, and officers in the Russian navy for propaganda purposes. Using specific examples from popular publications of the World War I period, the author touches upon how the media in pre-revolutionary Russia exploited the atrocities committed against the civilian population by Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey to spread military propaganda among the personnel of the Russian Imperial Navy. At the end of the paper, the author summarizes the key characteristics and principles of the organization of military propaganda in the Russian Imperial Navy in the period 1914–1915.

77-82

Authors: Oleksandra Kirichenko

This paper addresses the effect of the legal press on the national-cultural life of Chernihivshchyna during the period of German occupation (1941–1943), as well as its significance for the local population in tough wartime conditions. The author researched the major newspapers that shaped public opinion in the region at the time. In researching the press, the author identified some of the key areas linked to deploying a new ideology – and, as a consequence, a new worldview – in society (e.g., anti-Semitic agitation, all-out criticism of the Soviet system, touting the delights of living in Germany, stimulating relocation to Germany for work, etc.). To this day, there remains open the issue of the locals’ real attitude toward the occupiers, as well as the reasons behind the local population’s active collaboration with the Germans. For the most part, this was associated with some of the locals having had a problem with the law during the pre-war period, some having fallen victim to Stalin's repressions, some having been variously oppressed by Soviet power, some just trying to survive in tough wartime conditions, etc. It is also important to note that a nascent hope was kindled among the locals that with support from the German leadership it would be possible to have an independent Ukraine. Up until a certain point, the Fascists were tolerant of the unfolding Ukrainization process in the occupied areas (e.g., use of the Ukrainian language in the media and in the cultural-enlightenment sector; coverage of nationalist ideas and slogans; establishment of clubs, theaters, and schools; preferential treatment in employment based on ethnicity). Thus, the activity of a major portion of Ukrainian newspapers during the occupation period was of a propagandist nature. The most welcome topics to hear about included news about events at the front, victories won by German troops, support for the ideas of Fascism, and agitation for cultural-artistic and awareness-raising activity, which, where done properly, was instrumental in heightening the Ukrainians’ sense of national consciousness. This type of source has proven to help gain a deeper insight into the prevailing sentiment of society and explain the locals’ attitude toward the “new order”.

3-7

Authors: Volodymyr Pylypenko

This paper addresses the use of fake documents in Rzeczpospolita’s 17th-century political discourse. The author discusses a variety of fake documents used at the time, including the following: the Sultan’s letters to the King of Rzeczpospolita, fake correspondence between the monarchs, the Sultan’s letters to the Polish gentry, and a set of false agreements related to the creation of a European Christian anti-Turkish coalition. Whomever they may have been addressed to, these documents must have had an impact on political life in the Polish-Lithuanian state and must have served to push Warsaw into war with the Ottoman Empire.

19-24

Authors: Dmitry V. Liventsev

The paper discusses distinctive characteristics pertaining to military propaganda in the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Fleet (RKKF) in the 1920s. It reviews the state of propaganda in the Red Fleet divisions and analyzes the objective difficulties related to attempts to explain the tasks and goals of the Soviet government. The paper uses documents from the Russian State Navy Archives (St. Petersburg, Russian Federation) as research materials. In addition, materials from the brochure “How our fleet is different from the bourgeois one” by A. Krymov were utilized. Collective monographs used include “Twice Red Banner Baltic fleet”, “Red Banner Pacific Fleet”, “Red Banner Black Sea Fleet” and “Northern Fleet of Russia”. In conclusion, the author sums up the factors that drove military propaganda efficiency among officers and sailors of the Baltic Fleet in the historical period under review. The author also provides little-known facts about the organization of propaganda activity among Soviet sailors.

33-40

Authors: Andrii Е. Lebid

Of relevance to modern military doctrine is the concept of hybrid (or proxy) warfare, i.e. a combination of conventional, irregular, and asymmetric ways of conducting war, including manipulation of political and/or ideological conflicts and engagement of special operation forces, conventional armed forces, intelligence agents, political agent provocateurs, and mass media outlets. Among the tools employed quite actively in modern proxy warfare are economic blackmail, cyber-attacks, proxy servers and surrogates, paramilitaries, and terrorist and criminal elements.