The Fifth Column in World War II

Who is the modern ‘traitor’? ‘Fifth column’ accusations in US and UK politics and media

“…A common point between the historical and contemporary ‘fifth columns’ is in their position of being expelled from the larger group which suspects them of disloyalty. The ‘fifth column’ has, as Loeffel (2015: 9) notes, been ‘ill-defined as to include and account for a range of activities and purposes … It essentially replaced previous terms such as “traitor” and “spy” and was therefore a modern adaptation of a timeless practice’.…”

“…The term ‘fifth column’ originated in the Spanish Civil war, when nationalist General Mola announced that although four columns of troops surrounded Madrid, the city would fall to a fifth column ready to strike from within (Thurlow, 1999). The Spanish government responded with a search and arrest operation in the city looking for traitors (Loeffel, 2015: 9). The label became widely used with the hunt for ‘Nazi sympathizers’ in the 1940s and communist agents in 1950s.…”

“…Since then, it has meant an internal enemy, an insider with questionable loyalty and identity, such as a traitor or a spy. Yet, it is not simply the language from the past, although most ‘fifth column’ studies confine it to the 1940s–1950s period (Loeffel, 2015; MacDonnell, 1995; Prysor, 2005; Saunders and Taylor, 1988; Thurlow, 1999). More recent notable ‘fifth columnists’ included Tutsi women as seducers ‘in cahoots with Hutu enemies’ in Hutu propaganda in Rwanda (Hudson, 2014: 109), ‘new Danes’ as potential security threats (Agius, 2013), and mainstream political elites accused of betraying the nation by right-wing parties in Denmark (see Agius, 2017).…”