Fifth column

Fifth column refers to any clandestine group of people which works covertly inside a nation to undermine its strength (psychological warfare) while the nation is simultaneously suffering an overt attack by a foreign power or another faction in a civil war.

Related Topics:
Clandestine - Psychological warfare - Civil war

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The term was coined by General Emilio Mola in a radio address during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). As a Nationalist general, he sent four army columns to capture Madrid, which was being defended at that time by the Republican forces. The general referred to his hidden supporters inside the capital as his fifth column. The term caught on after the address was widely reported by international media.

Related Topics:
Emilio Mola - Radio - Spanish Civil War - 1936 - 1939 - Nationalist - Madrid - Republican

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The only play written by Ernest Hemingway, entitled The Fifth Column, depicts the roles of the two protagonists — a writer and a journalist — during wartime. The title hints at the similarity of the protagonists with the supporters of Emilio Mola, in that both were attempting to influence events while performing "behind enemy lines".

Related Topics:
Ernest Hemingway - Protagonist - Writer - Journalist - War

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The term is also used in reference to a population who are assumed to have loyalties to countries other than in which they reside. For example Jews in early 20th Century Britain were suspected of being a disloyal fifth column, thought to be loyal to 'European' Anarchism and Bolshevism (the feared ideologies of the day). During World War II, the Japanese American internment in the United States was justified on the basis that those of Japanese ancestry living on the west coast would act as a fifth column. Today some on the Right in Britain see Muslims as being a fifth column of a global Islamist movement. In Taiwan, some people suspect there is a fifth column from mainland China working to undermine the cause of Taiwan independence. Those on the Left generally see use of the term in this context as scaremongering. For discussion of this usage see Jonathan Freedland's article in The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1396035,00.html

Related Topics:
Jew - 20th Century - Britain - European - Anarchism - Bolshevism - Ideologies - World War II - Japanese American internment - Right - Muslim - Islamist - Taiwan - Mainland China - Taiwan independence - Left - Scaremongering - Jonathan Freedland - The Guardian

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