False Flag Operations

False flag operations have their origins in naval warfare, when hostile ships would purposely display the flag of a friendly country to deceive a fleet into allowing them board amicably, and then, well, you know how war works. Since then, it has come to be used to describe any espionage operation that aims to accomplish a certain strategic goal by placing the blame on a party other than the party committing it.

As a false flag that everyone is aware of is not technically a false flag, it follows that we have no real examples of such operations. Nonetheless, a great deal of recent events have been linked to alleged covert operative false flag operations. One of the most infamous instances is the 1933 fire at the Reichstag, the location of the German parliament.

While the incident was directly attributed to a communist named Marinus van de Lubbe and used as a pretext to prosecute government officials who supported communism, many historians believe that the Nazis themselves were responsible. But we might never know, just like with the majority of successful false flag operations.