Changes

A '''false flag''' operation is a covert or [[underground]] operation intended to appear as though it were being carried out by other entities.  The purpose is [[propaganda]], to gain sympathy for the "attacked" and against the "attackers".

A '''false flag''' operation is a covert or [[underground]] operation intended to appear as though it were being carried out by other entities.  The purpose is [[propaganda]], to gain sympathy for the "attacked" and against the "attackers".  The term origins from piracy on the high seas, where a pirate ship would sail under a "false flag" to get closer to a target vessel before raising the "[[Jolly Roger]]".

[[Nazi Germany]] carried out many such operations, such as the [[Reichstag fire]], in order to gain popularity and cement its control on the government.  Another notable one backfired on them, however, the [[Gleiwitz Incident]] (an "attack" on a Nazi radio operation by other Nazis dressed as Polish soldiers, which was itself nothing more than a short anti-German broadcast, made believable by the [[Gestapo]]'s murder of a German who was sympathetic to the Polish, who was then dressed as a saboteur) would ultimately lead to [[World War II]].

[[Nazi Germany]] carried out many such operations, such as the [[Reichstag fire]], in order to gain popularity and cement its control on the government.  Another notable one backfired on them, however, the [[Gleiwitz Incident]] (an "attack" on a Nazi radio operation by other Nazis dressed as Polish soldiers, which was itself nothing more than a short anti-German broadcast, made believable by the [[Gestapo]]'s murder of a German who was sympathetic to the Polish, who was then dressed as a saboteur) would ultimately lead to [[World War II]].