Latest Translation
The Marionettes. A Tale of the World as Political Theatre
日志
Ingrid Carlberg 提线木偶：关于世界作为政治剧场的故事
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提线木偶：关于世界作为政治剧场的故事
The Marionettes. A Tale of the World as Political Theatre
by Ingrid Carlberg Translated by Ian Giles
https://swedishbookreview.org/marionettes-tale-world-political-theatre
发布于 2026 年 10 月 1 日，更新于 2026 年 10 月 5 日
摘自《傀儡：关于将世界视为政治剧场的叙事》
（瑞典语原名：Marionetterna. En berättelse om världen som politisk teater）
作者：英格丽德·卡尔伯格（Ingrid Carlberg） 译者：伊恩·贾尔斯（Ian Giles）
https://swedishbookreview.org/marionettes-tale-world-political-theatre
中文AI 概览
《提线木偶：关于世界作为政治剧场的故事》（Marionettes: A Story of the World as a Political Theater，或类似译名）通常是指将复杂的国际地缘政治、权力斗争和历史事件，具象化为一场由少数幕后推手操纵的“木偶戏”的宏大叙事。
在政治学、历史学以及文学叙事中，“提线木偶”与“政治剧场”是一个经典且深刻的隐喻。
核心概念：什么是“政治剧场”？
在这个叙事框架下，世界舞台上的冲突、选举、战争和政策转变，往往被视为精心编排的剧本：
- 台前的“木偶”（Marionettes）： 公众所熟知的政治领袖、外交官、甚至某些国家的政府。他们在镁光灯下发表慷慨激昂的演讲，签署协议，或对外宣战。
- 幕后的“操线手”（Puppet Masters）： 隐藏在幕后的真正决策者。这可以指代深层政府（Deep State）、超级大国、跨国金融巨头、军工复合体或情报机构。
- 剧本（The Script）： 意识形态、利益分配与地缘战略。台前的冲突往往是利益博弈的表象，用来引导舆论和掩盖真正的意图。
经典地缘政治中的“木偶戏”
历史上有许多广为人知的“政治剧场”案例，完美诠释了这一概念：
| 历史时期 | 幕后操线手 (Puppet Masters) | 台前木偶 (Marionettes)
| 冷战时期 | 美苏两大超级大国 | 代理人战争中的各国政权 | | 殖民与后殖民时代 | 帝国主义列强（如英、法） | 扶持的傀儡政权或地方军阀 | | 现代金融资本时代 | 国际金融资本、跨国垄断巨头 | 受制于债务和经济制约的弱国政府
- 代理人战争（Proxy Wars）： 冷战期间，美苏两国极少直接爆发冲突，而是通过扶持台前的代理人政权进行对抗。对于大国而言，这些代理人就是实现自身全球战略的“提线木偶”。
- 香蕉共和国（Banana Republics）： 20世纪初，诸如联合果品公司（United Fruit Company）等美国跨国企业，在幕后深度操纵中美洲国家的政府，为了商业利益随意更迭当地政权。
思想内涵与启示
这种故事或视角，向我们传达了几个深层的政治思考：
- 看穿表象（Beyond the Spectacle）： 政治不仅仅是电视新闻里的辩论和握手，更需要关注背后的资金流向、资源掌控和长远战略。
- 主权的相对性： 许多中小国家在国际政治的惊涛骇浪中，往往身不由己，其国家命运被迫绑在大国的战车上。
- 观众的觉醒： 公众作为这个剧场的“观众”，容易被台前的精彩表演（如舆论战、认知战）所煽动，而意识到剧场的存在，是走向独立思考的第一步。
英文AI 概览
《提线木偶——关于世界作为政治舞台的故事》（*The Marionettes – en berättelse om världen som politisk teater*）是一部由瑞典作家兼记者英格丽德·卡尔伯格（Ingrid Carlberg）撰写的非虚构类作品，于 2023 年由 Norstedts 出版社发行。
核心主题与重点
• 主题：政治宣传、虚假信息、假新闻及隐蔽影响力行动的历史。
• 核心人物：重点讲述了德国共产主义者兼媒体策略家威利·明岑贝格（Willi Münzenberg）的故事；他曾在列宁和斯大林身边活动，是现代政治宣传及隐蔽外围组织（front organizations）运作的先驱。
• 历史跨度：涵盖了俄国革命早期、两次世界大战期间的意识形态冲突、西班牙内战、《莫洛托夫-里宾特洛甫条约》以及冷战时期的各类行动——包括中情局（CIA）支持的旨在塑造西方舆论的举措（如“文化自由大会”）。
• 地理范围：柏林、斯德哥尔摩、赫尔辛基、莫斯科、美国及其他西方大国。
《提线木偶——关于世界作为政治舞台的故事》
原书名：*Marionetterna – en berättelse om världen som politisk teater*
作者：英格丽德·卡尔伯格 (Ingrid Carlberg)
原出版社：Norstedts，2023 年
体裁：非虚构类作品
2016 年美国总统大选让世人见识了隐蔽影响力行动、蓄意散布的假新闻、“水军工厂”（troll factories）以及伪装成草根运动的操纵行为。如今，我们生活在一个真相与谎言界限日益模糊的世界里。曾经处于边缘地带的现象，如今已演变成对民主制度的最大威胁之一。
在其三十年的记者与小说家生涯中，英格丽德·卡尔伯格经常接触到各种晦暗不明的宣传手段和幕后操纵的“木偶戏”式政治运作。在《提线木偶》一书中，卡尔伯格讲述了一个既令人动容又发人深省的故事，不仅揭示了幕后的人物与阴谋，也为理解当今局势提供了全新的视角与见解。
故事围绕德国社会主义者威利·明岑贝格展开。他曾在列宁和斯大林身边活动，被许多人视为“政治木偶戏”（即政治操纵）的始作俑者。不久之后，各国领导人便纷纷效仿他的手段。英格丽德·卡尔贝里（Ingrid Carlberg）的足迹遍及柏林、斯德哥尔摩、赫尔辛基和莫斯科，她为我们揭示了一段非凡的历史——一段至今仍在塑造当今世界的历史。
关于《提线木偶》（*The Marionettes*）的评价：
“《提线木偶：关于作为政治剧场的世界的故事》，作者：英格丽德·卡尔贝里
身为记者、作家及瑞典学院院士的英格丽德·卡尔贝里，撰写了一部关于政治宣传、虚假信息攻势和假新闻的力作。尽管她的切入点是历史性的，但书中对当代‘网络水军工厂’（troll factories）和媒体谎言的探讨也十分丰富，既切中要害，又令人警醒。
卡尔贝里笔下的主角是活动家威利·明岑贝格（Willi Münzenberg）。他在俄国革命后一手建立了新苏维埃国家的宣传体系，并在两次世界大战期间的意识形态权力斗争中发挥了核心作用。卡尔贝里生动地展现了革命初期的景象：那时，世界共产主义运动似乎真的有望实现，列宁也被许多人视为英雄。[……] 我们跟随明岑贝格的脚步，见证了从革命初期到西班牙内战及《莫洛托夫-里宾特洛甫条约》签署的全过程——那是梦想破灭的时刻，也是他无法再对斯大林的恐怖统治及对权力的暴力渴求视而不见的时刻。
在最后一章中，卡尔贝里描述了冷战时期美国及西方列强决定以同样的手段回击苏联的谎言与欺诈。中央情报局（CIA）成立了‘文化自由大会’（Congress for Cultural Freedom），通过秘密资助各类期刊、会议、出版社、艺术家、小说家和记者（甚至包括瑞典国内的人士），旨在为西方营造有利的舆论环境。卡尔贝里将新闻工作者式的档案挖掘、严谨的分析与引人入胜的叙事完美结合。《提线木偶》是一部至关重要的著作，它有助于我们理解过去、现在与未来。综合评分：5分（满分5分）。”
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“无尽的黑暗笼罩了瑞典和斯德哥尔摩。我受够了仇恨——受够了那些窃取了生存空间的谎言与夸大其词。我实在无法再应付更多的网络喷子和那些古怪的‘反叛’行径了。在窒息而亡之前，我只想回答一个问题：我们究竟是如何走到这一步的？那些出现在我叙事中的人，甚至算不上是反派。事实是，他们中的大多数人根本没意识到究竟发生了什么。他们无法否认自己在这场游戏中所扮演的角色，但驱动他们的，主要是某种强烈的个人信念——他们坚信自己所做的是对世界最有利的事（当然，这还没算上他们自己的腰包）。那么，操纵木偶的人呢？我想，大多数人甚至根本没看到那些牵引的线。又或者，即便看到了，他们也宁愿选择视而不见。那些极其复杂的宣传策略，其核心原则就在于：必须抹除一切策略存在的痕迹。”
英格丽德·卡尔伯格。摄影：埃莉诺·韦尔梅林（Elinor Wermelin）
英格丽德·卡尔伯格。摄影：埃莉诺·韦尔梅林。华盛顿，2021 年 1 月 6 日
“我们唯一能确定的是，某些纳粹圈子不知用了什么手段，把那栋建筑给烧了。”——亚瑟·库斯勒（Arthur Koestler）
2021 年 1 月，在美国国会大厦遭冲击事件发生前的一周，不安的情绪已在美国首都蔓延开来。种种迹象都预示着动乱将至——尤其是在选举人团投票结果揭晓，确认时任总统唐纳德·特朗普败选之后。
数月以来，特朗普及其团队一直在不断鼓吹“选举舞弊”的论调。 2020年11月3日选举日过后，随之而来的抨击言论中充斥着谎言，声称总统大选“被窃取”了，包括数百万张投给特朗普的选票“不翼而飞”、投票机遭到操纵，以及存在虚假选民。在选举结果胶着的州，特朗普阵营发起了连番挑战，但均无功而返。即便在重新计票后，事实也证明恰恰相反：此次选举是自由且公正的。此时，剩下的程序仅剩国会举行联席会议，清点选举人团选票，并正式确认乔·拜登为美国当选总统。
特朗普的支持者，以及他身边那些右翼极端分子和阴谋论者，情绪已然高涨到了极点。其中就包括激进组织“骄傲男孩”（Proud Boys）——在竞选期间，唐纳德·特朗普曾拒绝谴责该组织的暴力行径。事实上，特朗普当时的回应听起来更像是某种鼓励：“‘骄傲男孩’，退后，随时待命！”在社交媒体上，“骄傲男孩”的领导人恩里克·塔里奥（Enrique Tarrio）回应道：“随时待命，长官。”
在选举人团计票受挫后，特朗普竞选团队将目光投向了1月6日举行的国会联席会议。12月19日，唐纳德·特朗普在推特上写道：“从统计学上讲，我不可能输掉2020年大选。1月6日，华盛顿特区将举行大规模抗议。一定要来，场面会很疯狂！”特朗普的支持者们也纷纷转发这一消息：“特朗普发推了！‘老大’说1月6日去华盛顿特区。”在一些网络论坛上，人们甚至讨论起如何将武器运入华盛顿特区。在他们看来，他们只是在执行命令。正如其中一人所言：“兄弟们，我们接到行动指令了。”
当这种动员迹象，与特朗普不断宣称选举“被窃取”的言论交织在一起时，参谋长联席会议主席马克·米利（Mark Milley）感到愈发不安。他在同事面前指出，特朗普所使用的语言与乔治·奥威尔的反乌托邦小说《1984》中的描述有着惊人的相似之处——“谎言即真理。” “分裂即团结。邪恶即善良。”将军评论道。
“1月6日，华盛顿特区见！”在新年前夕的前一天，总统再次发布了这条推文。支持特朗普的渠道纷纷回应：“援军要来了”。作为一名历史爱好者，米利（Milley）挥之不去地感到，20世纪30年代初德国发生的那场可怕事件，似乎正在重演。
“这是‘国会纵火案’时刻，”米利对助手们说，“这是‘元首’的福音。”
2020年12月的最后几周，特朗普竞选团队的核心成员进驻了距离白宫不远的威拉德酒店（Willard Hotel），将其作为“作战室”。总统的顾问、前纽约市长鲁迪·朱利安尼（Rudy Giuliani）正是在这里领导着一场旨在阻止权力移交的行动。特朗普的律师约翰·伊斯特曼（John Eastman）也身处其中。前白宫首席战略顾问史蒂夫·班农（Steve Bannon）也经常参与其中——他此前已与特朗普重归于好，并在整个大选期间一直隐身于幕后。行动。
他们当时的策略是迫使副总统迈克·彭斯（Mike Pence）违反宪法。在美国，副总统兼任参议院议长，宪法赋予其主持接收并计票总统选举选票的正式职责。在威拉德酒店（Willard Hotel）的“作战室”里，人们认为彭斯理应有权拒绝接受其中部分选票。
1月5日星期二晚，唐纳德·特朗普在椭圆形办公室会见了副总统。窗外，特朗普支持者的喧嚣声清晰可闻——他们已开始在自由广场（Freedom Plaza）聚集，挥舞着“让美国再次伟大”（Make America Great Again）的旗帜与横幅。鲍勃·伍德沃德（Bob Woodward）和罗伯特·科斯塔（Robert Costa）在关于特朗普总统任期最后日子的著作《危险》（*Peril*）中描述了这次会面。据目击者访谈显示，特朗普最后一次向彭斯施压。
“你能做到这一点。如果你不这么做，我就不再把你当朋友了，”总统说道。
彭斯试图解释说，他的职责仅仅是拆开信封。
“你不会在20日宣誓就职了。根本不存在你能于20日宣誓就职的情况，”彭斯说道。
愤怒的特朗普提高了嗓门。他指责副总统软弱且缺乏勇气。“你背叛了我们。是我成就了你。你本来什么都不是。如果你这么做，你的政治生涯就完了。”
据报道，彭斯离开椭圆形办公室时，脸色惨白。
不远处的威拉德酒店套房内，鲁迪·朱利安尼（Rudy Giuliani）和史蒂夫·班农（Steve Bannon）正在等候消息。特朗普致电二人，告知了彭斯那“傲慢”的拒绝态度。他们的策略失败了。
在班农当天发布的播客节目中，美国被描绘成一个正处于宪法危机中的国家。“明天，这场危机将升级好几个数量级，”他说，并补充道，这场危机“不会以你们想象的那种方式发生。” “好吧，这将是一场非同寻常的巨变。[……] 是你们促成了这一切，明天就是决战时刻了。所以，做好准备吧。让我们蓄势待发。明天将有一场惊天动地的风暴来袭。[……] 许多人曾说：‘伙计，如果真有一场革命，我一定要去华盛顿。’ 那么，现在就是属于你们的历史时刻了。”
1月6日星期三下午1点刚过，行动指令下达了。唐纳德·特朗普总统在“椭圆形草坪”（位于白宫附近的一处公园）向数万名支持者发表了演说；现场星条旗迎风飘扬，横幅上印着“拯救美国大游行”的字样。
“因为软弱是无法夺回我们国家的。你们必须展示力量，必须坚强。我们来到这里，就是要要求国会做正确的事，只统计那些合法提名的选举人票——必须是合法提名的。我知道，在场的各位很快就会游行前往国会大厦，以和平且爱国的方式发出你们的声音，”总统说道，“我们要拼死抗争。如果不拼死抗争，你们将失去这个国家。[……] 所以我们要沿着宾夕法尼亚大道走过去——我热爱宾夕法尼亚大道——我们要去国会大厦。”
当抗议者抵达时，“骄傲男孩”（Proud Boys）的暴徒们已经身处国会。“冲击国会大厦”的事件在一小时后成为现实。窗户被砸碎，大门被强行冲破，数百名愤怒的特朗普支持者涌入大楼，许多人身上披着美国国旗。唐纳德·特朗普在椭圆形办公室旁的餐厅里，通过大屏幕电视关注着事态的发展。摄影师遭到袭击，警察被踢倒在地，国会议员们仓皇逃命。愤怒的暴徒高喊着“绞死迈克·彭斯！”。就在副总统及其家人被紧急转移至安全地带、与暴徒仅咫尺之遥时，特朗普在推特上写道：“迈克·彭斯没有勇气去做本该做的事。[……] 美国要求真相！”此后不久，众议院共和党领袖设法与特朗普取得了电话联系。他惊恐万分，恳求总统出面干预，但特朗普却告诉他，那些暴徒并非他的人。白宫给出的“真相”是：这群暴徒其实是混入特朗普和平示威活动中的“反法西斯”左翼激进分子。
直到下午四点半左右，在各方反复劝说下，特朗普总统才勉强发布了一段视频。此时，已有数人丧生，另有更多人受伤。
“我了解你们的痛苦。……我们经历了一场被窃取的选举。那本是一场压倒性的胜利，人尽皆知，对方阵营更是心知肚明。但你们现在必须回家。……我们必须维护法律与秩序。……这是一场充满舞弊的选举。但我们不能落入那些人的圈套。我们需要和平。所以，回家吧，我们爱你们。你们非常特别。”
总统顾问史蒂夫·班农（Steve Bannon）从不掩饰他思想中那些极权主义的源头。在特朗普任期之初，他曾因自称“列宁主义者”而引发关注；他解释说，就像列宁一样，他想要“让一切崩塌，摧毁当今所有的建制派体系”。
列宁的全球革命“工具箱”中包含一种策略：利用议会制来瓦解议会制，即肆无忌惮地利用民主机制来推翻它。西方的共产主义者被敦促要像闯入瓷器店的公牛一样行事，竭尽全力抹黑本国的议会。当然，他们做这些事时也并非总是心安理得。难道布尔什维克不明白，这种行为只会导致共产主义者自身信誉扫地吗？
在美国，许多人都记得史蒂夫·班农（Steve Bannon）对“解构行政国家”（deconstruction of the administrative state）的热衷。最近一次引起关注，是在2019年5月欧洲议会选举前夕，他试图在国际层面组建一场右翼民族主义运动——该运动恰如其分地被命名为“运动”（The Movement）。在“运动”声势浩大的启动阶段，班农曾对《卫报》表示：“全球主义计划的心脏就在布鲁塞尔。只要我把木桩钉进吸血鬼的心脏，整个体系就会开始消散。”
鲜为人知的是，班农同时也把“运动”的影响力扩展到了欧洲以外的地区。2019年初，有消息宣布，巴西总统雅伊尔·博索纳罗（Jair Bolsonaro）之子、国会议员爱德华多·博索纳罗（Eduardo Bolsonaro）被任命为“运动”在南美洲的官方代表。“我很自豪能与史蒂夫·班农联手，成为‘运动’在巴西的领导人……我们将与他合作，从进步派全球主义精英势力手中夺回主权，”爱德华多·博索纳罗说道。
关注爱德华多·博索纳罗推特的人早已知道他与班农保持着密切联系，两人不时发布的自拍照便是确凿证据。有时他们誓言联手对抗“文化马克思主义”，有时他又受邀参加班农的生日晚宴。然而，当被问及这一合作关系时，雅伊尔·博索纳罗却声称自己对儿子的这些交往毫不知情。爱德华多（Eduardo）只是耸了耸肩，并宽慰道其中不涉及金钱往来，不过是些“网络上的建议，有时做点分析、解读数据之类的事情”。
2020年2月下旬，爱德华多·博索纳罗（Eduardo Bolsonaro）在华盛顿参加一场晚宴时发布了推文。照片中，他坐在一张布置考究的餐桌旁，夹在史蒂夫·班农（Steve Bannon）和英国“疑欧派”领军人物奈杰尔·法拉奇（Nigel Farage）之间。他们正在聆听福克斯新闻（Fox News）主播兼“精神领袖”劳拉·英格拉汉姆（Laura Ingraham）的演讲。博索纳罗在推文中写道：“出席晚宴的还有来自西班牙、瑞典、芬兰、爱沙尼亚、比利时、德国、捷克共和国、墨西哥和法国的保守派及民族主义者。”
两年后的2022年10月，他的父亲雅伊尔·博索纳罗（Jair Bolsonaro）在巴西总统大选中败给了卢拉·达·席尔瓦（Lula da Silva）。博索纳罗从未承认败选，而是离开巴西前往佛罗里达州；在那里，他与唐纳德·特朗普（Donald Trump）在海湖庄园（Mar-a-Lago）共度新年等时刻。
在巴西，针对所谓选举舞弊的抗议浪潮和大规模集会爆发了。在众多广为流传的谎言中，包括史蒂夫·班农那句反复演练过的说辞：“卢拉窃取了选举……巴西人都知道这一点。”
2023年1月8日星期日，发生在首都巴西利亚针对巴西国会的未遂政变震惊了世界。数千名博索纳罗的支持者被大巴运送到该市。他们身穿代表巴西国旗颜色的绿金两色服装，推倒防暴护栏，冲进国会大厦，砸碎窗户并破坏内部设施。他们还闯入了总统官邸和最高法院。史蒂夫·班农在推特上称他们为“巴西自由战士”。
巴西安全部队被迫使用催泪瓦斯，才重新控制了这些代表巴西民主制度的机构。
民主的基石在于尊重民主运作的规则。而这恰恰也是民主最脆弱之处。威利·明岑贝格（Willi Münzenberg）的同事亚瑟·库斯勒（Arthur Koestler）——他曾积极参与1933年国会纵火案后的虚假信息战——在晚年对此进行了深刻的反思。他回想起自己从戈培尔（Goebbels）与明岑贝格（Münzenberg）这两位巨头之间的宣传战——那场充斥着喧嚣与攻伐的极权主义宣传较量——中所汲取的有益见解。正如他在回忆录中所写：
“这段经历让我明白，在宣传领域，‘半真半假’（half-truth）的手段远比单纯的真相更具杀伤力，而采取守势则无异于自认败局。最重要的是，它让我认识到，在这一领域，民主国家在面对极权主义对手时，往往处于天然的劣势。与明岑贝格共事的岁月，让我对西方国家能否成功针对希特勒或斯大林这类对手开展‘心理战’持怀疑态度。因为若要打好心理战，西方国家恰恰必须摒弃那些……”以及它为之而战的原则与价值观。
Current pagefrom The Marionettes. A Tale of the World as Political Theatre
From The Marionettes. A Tale of the World as Political Theatre
Published on Updated:
Issue number: 2026:2
(Marionetterna. En berättelse om världen som politisk teater)
by Ingrid Carlberg
Translated by Ian Giles
https://swedishbookreview.org/marionettes-tale-world-political-theatre
"Relentless darkness has descended upon Sweden and Stockholm. I am fed up of the hate – fed up of all the lies and exaggeration stealing the oxygen. I cannot deal with yet more internet trolls and peculiar rebellions. There is but one question that I wish to answer before we asphyxiate: how did we end up here? The people who have found their way into my narrative are not even villains. The truth is that most of them did not realise what was actually happening. They cannot deny their role in the game, but they were driven primarily by a strong personal conviction about what was best for the world (not to mention their own pockets). What about the puppeteer? I would guess most people did not even see the strings. Or perhaps they preferred to look the other way if they did. Highly intricate propaganda strategies are predicated on the principle that any trace of strategy must be erased.”
Ingrid Carlberg. Photo credit: Elinor Wermeling Washington, 6 January 2021
'The only certainty we had was that some Nazi circles had somehow contrived to burn down the building.’ (Arthur Koestler)
The week before the storming of the Capitol in January 2021, apprehension was already spreading throughout the American capital. The indications that unrest was expected had been so manifold – especially following the tallying of the electoral college votes confirming that the sitting president Donald Trump had lost the election.
For months, Trump and his team had been cranking up the electoral fraud rhetoric. Following election day on 3 November 2020, the ensuing diatribes were peppered with lies about ‘the stolen’ presidential election, about millions of missing votes for Trump, manipulated voting machines and fake voters. States in which the result was close were bombarded by appeals from the Trump camp – to no avail. Even following recounts, the facts showed the opposite: the election had been free and fair. Now all that remained was the ceremonial joint session of Congress to count the electoral college votes which would officially name Joe Biden as the president-elect of the USA.
The mood among Trump’s supporters and his coterie of right-wing extremists and conspiracy theorists was at fever pitch. Among these was the militant organisation the Proud Boys, whose acts of violence Donald Trump had refused to condemn during the election campaign. The president’s reply had, in fact, sounded rather more like encouragement: ‘Proud Boys, stand back, stand by!’. On social media, the Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio replied: ‘Standing by, sir’.
After the setback in the tallying of electoral college votes, the Trump campaign set its sights on the joint session of Congress on 6 January. ‘Statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 Election. Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!’ Donald Trump tweeted on 19 December. Trump supporters spread the message too: ‘TRUMP TWEET. DADDY SAYS BE IN DC ON JAN. 6TH’. In some forums, discussions were focused on how to move weapons into the District of Columbia. In their view, they were doing as they were told. As one of their number put it, ‘we’ve got marching orders, bois’.
When indications of a mobilisation were combined with continued Trump outbursts about the stolen election, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley felt his sense of unease rising. In the presence of his colleagues, he commented on the similarities between Trump’s use of language and the dystopian novel 1984 by George Orwell. ‘Lies are truth. Division is unity. Evil is good’, the general noted.
‘JANUARY SIXTH, SEE YOU IN DC!’ the President once again tweeted the day before New Year’s Eve. The response from the pro-Trump channels: ‘The cavalry is coming’. Milley, a history buff, was unable to shake the impression that the terrifying events of the early 1930s in Germany appeared to be repeating themselves.
‘This is a Reichstag moment,’ Milley told aides. ‘The gospel of the Führer.’
In the final weeks of December 2020, the core of Trump’s campaign moved into a ‘war room’ at the Willard Hotel not far from the White House. It was from here that the president’s adviser Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, was now heading up the campaign to stop the handover of power. Also present was Trump’s lawyer John Eastman. They were often joined by former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who had made peace with Trump and had been lurking in the background throughout the election campaign.
Their strategy was now based on forcing vice president Mike Pence to violate the constitution. In the USA, the vice president is the presiding officer in the Senate, and is formally tasked by the constitution with presiding over the receiving and counting of electoral ballots cast in presidential elections. Pence ought to be able to reject some of them, so the thinking ran in the war room at the Willard.
On the evening of Tuesday 5 January, Donald Trump met with his vice president in the Oval Office. Outside, the din from Trump supporters was palpable – they had already begun to mass at Freedom Plaza with their ‘Make America Great Again’ flags and banners. In their book Peril about the final days of the Trump presidency, Bob Woodward and Robert Costa describe the meeting. According to interviews with eyewitnesses, Trump pressed Mike Pence one last time.
‘You can do this. I don’t want to be your friend anymore if you don’t do this,’ the president said.
Mike Pence then tried to explain that his role was merely to open the envelopes.
‘You’re not going to be sworn in on the 20th. There is not a scenario in which you can be sworn in on the 20th’, Pence said.
A furious Trump raised his voice. He accused his vice president of being weak and lacking in courage. ‘You’ve betrayed us. I made you. You were nothing. Your career is over if you do this.’
The vice president’s face was reportedly ashen as he left the Oval Office.
Close by in their suite at the Willard, Rudy Giuliani and Steve Bannon were waiting. Trump called them and told them about Mike Pence’s ‘arrogant’ refusal. Their strategy had failed.
In the podcasts dropped by Bannon that day, the USA is portrayed as a country in a state of constitutional crisis. ‘[T]hat crisis is about to go up about five orders of magnitude tomorrow’, he said, adding that the crisis wasn’t ‘going to happen like you think it’s going to happen. OK, it’s going to be quite extraordinarily different. […] You made this happen and tomorrow it’s game day. So strap in. Let’s get ready. All hell is going to break loose tomorrow. [...] So many people said, “Man, if I was in a revolution, I would be in Washington”. Well, this is your time in history.’
The marching orders came shortly after 1pm on Wednesday 6 January. President Donald Trump gave a speech to ten thousand supporters on the Ellipse (a park close to the White House) surrounded by fluttering stars and stripes and banners emblazoned with the words ‘Save America March’.
‘Because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong. We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated, lawfully slated. I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard’, the President said. ‘We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore. [...] So we’re going to, we’re going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue. I love Pennsylvania Avenue. And we’re going to the Capitol.’
When the protestors arrived, the Proud Boys’ hooligans were already at Congress. An hour later, the storming of the Capitol became fact. Windows were smashed, doors forced and an angry crowd of several hundred Trump supporters flooded into the building, many of them wrapped in the American flag. Donald Trump followed the unfolding drama on a big screen television in the dining room adjacent to the Oval Office. Photographers were assaulted, police officers kicked to the floor and congressmen and women fled for their lives. The angry mob were shouting ‘Hang Mike Pence!’. As the vice president and his family were rushed to safety just metres away from the rioters, Trump took to Twitter: ‘Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done. […] USA demands the truth!’.
Shortly thereafter, the Republican Minority Leader of the House of Representatives managed to get hold of Trump on the phone. Terrified, he pleaded with the president to intervene, but was told by Trump that the rioters were not his people. The White House ‘truth’ was that the mob consisted of anti-fascist left-wing activists who had infiltrated Trump’s peaceful demonstration.
Only at around half past four following repeated attempts at persuasion from near and far did President Trump reluctantly post a video. By then, a number of people had died and far more had been injured.
‘I know your pain. […] We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election and everyone knows it, especially the other side. But you have to go home now. […] We have to have law and order. […] This was a fraudulent election. But we can’t play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So go home, we love you. You’re very special.’
The president’s adviser, Steve Bannon, had made no attempt to conceal his totalitarian sources of inspiration. At the beginning of Trump’s term in office, he had drawn attention when he described himself as a Leninist and explained how just like Lenin he wanted ‘to bring everything crashing down and destroy all of today’s establishment’.
Lenin’s toolbox for global revolution included the strategy of using parliamentarianism to undermine parliamentarianism, unscrupulously exploiting the democratic machine to overthrow it. Communists in the west were urged to act like bulls in China shops, doing all they could to discredit their parliaments. Not that they were always comfortable doing so. Didn’t the Bolsheviks understand this kind of behaviour would only lead to the communists being discredited?
In the USA, plenty remembered Steve Bannon’s passion for the ‘deconstruction of the administrative state’. On the most recent occasion, it had been in relation to his failed venture into the formation of a right-wing nationalist movement on an international level, fittingly known as ‘The Movement’, ahead of the European parliamentary elections in May 2019. ‘The beating heart of the globalist project is in Brussels’, Bannon told The Guardian during The Movement’s grand opening phase. ‘If I drive the stake through the vampire, the whole thing will start to dissipate.’
Less widely known was that Steve Bannon had simultaneously spread The Movement far beyond Europe’s borders. In the beginning of 2019, it was announced that the son of the Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, had been appointed the official representative of The Movement in South America. ‘I’m very proud to join Steve Bannon as the leader of The Movement in Brazil […]. We will work with him to reclaim sovereignty from progressive globalist elitist forces’, said Eduardo Bolsonaro.
Anyone following Eduardo Bolsonaro’s tweets already knew he had been in close contact with Steve Bannon, with a selfie here and a selfie there providing ample evidence. One day, they vowed to work together to combat cultural Marxism, while on another he was invited to Bannon’s birthday dinner. Jair Bolsonaro claimed to be unaware of his son’s contacts when confronted with questions about the partnership. Eduardo merely shrugged and offered the reassurance that there was no money involved, it was only ‘internet tips, sometimes an analysis, interpreting data, those kinds of things’.
In late February 2020, Eduardo Bolsonaro tweeted from a dinner in Washington. In the picture he was sitting at a decked out table between Steve Bannon and the British Eurosceptic-in-chief Nigel Farage. They were listening to a speech from Fox News anchor and guiding light Laura Ingraham. ‘Also present were conservatives/nationalists from Spain, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, Mexico and France’, Bolsonaro tweeted.
Two years later in October 2022, his father Jair Bolsonaro went on to lose the Brazilian presidential election to Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro never admitted defeat, instead leaving the country and travelling to Florida where he, among other things, marked the New Year with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
In Brazil, a wave of protests and mass gatherings erupted in response to supposed electoral fraud. Among the many viral lies was Steve Bannon’s line which he had diligently rehearsed: ‘Lula stole the Election...Brazilians know this.’
On Sunday 8 January 2023, the world was shocked by an attempted coup against the Brazilian Congress in the capital city of Brasilia. Thousands of Bolsonaro followers had been bussed into the city. Dressed in the green and gold of the Brazilian flag, they overturned anti-riot fences and stormed the congress building, smashing windows and vandalising the interiors. They also entered the presidential residence and the Supreme Court. ‘Brazilian Freedom Fighters’, Steve Bannon tweeted.
Brazilian security forces were forced to use tear gas to regain control over the institutions of Brazilian democracy.
The basic foundation of democracy is respect for the rules of engagement in democracy. Therein lies democracy’s greatest vulnerability. Willi Münzenberg’s colleague Arthur Koestler, who was fervent participant in the disinformation wars following the 1933 Reichstag fire, would later in life come to reflect extensively on this. He recalled the beneficial insights he took from the racket of totalitarian propaganda that characterised the struggle between the giants Goebbels and Münzenberg. As he writes in his memoirs:
"It had taught me that in the field of propaganda the half-truth was a weapon superior to the truth, and that to be on the defensive is to be defeated. It taught me above all that in this field a democracy must always be at a disadvantage against a totalitarian opponent. My years with Muenzenberg have made me sceptical regarding the West’s chances of waging “psychological warfare” against opponents like Hitler and Stalin. For to wage effective psychological war the West would have to abandon precisely those principles and values in the name of which it fights."
