View source for Fifth column

{{Short description|Group of people who undermine a larger group from within}}
{{Other uses|Fifth Column (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2016}}
[[File:"Appreciate America Stop the Fifth Column" - NARA - 513873.jpg|thumb|upright|1941 World War II poster from the United States denouncing fifth columnists]]
{{war}}
A '''fifth column''' (or '''internal enemy''') is a group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. The activities of a fifth column can be overt or clandestine. Forces gathered in secret can mobilize openly to assist an external attack. The term is also applied to organized actions by military personnel. Clandestine fifth column activities can involve acts of [[sabotage]], [[disinformation]], [[espionage]] or [[terrorism]] executed within defense lines by secret sympathizers with an external force.

==History==
===Origin===
The term "fifth column" originated in [[Spain]] (originally {{lang|es|quinta columna}}) during the early phase of the [[Spanish Civil War]]. It gained popularity in the [[Republican faction (Spanish Civil War)|Republican]] media in early October 1936 and immediately started to spread abroad.<ref>In French newspapers the term first appeared on October 4, 1936, one day after its first usage in the Madrid press, ''[https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k7634839j/f5.item.r=Cinqui%C3%A8me%20colonne.zoom La Passionaria preche la terreur]'', [in:] ''Le Journal'' 04.10.1936. In more distant countries like Poland the term started to appear since mid-October, see e.g. ''[https://polona.pl/item/dziennik-wilenski-r-20-nr-285-18-pazdziernika-1936,MTU3NDQwNDU/0/#info:metadata Oviedo ostatecznie uwolnione]'', [in:] ''Dziennik Wileński'' 18.10.1936.</ref>

The exact origins of the term are not clear. Its first known appearance is in a secret telegram dated 30 September 1936, that was sent to [[Berlin]] by the [[Nazi Germany|German]] [[chargé d'affaires]] in [[Alicante]], {{Ill|Hans Hermann Völckers|de|Hans Hermann Völckers}}. In the telegram, he referred to an unidentified "supposed statement by [[Francisco Franco|Franco]]" that "is being circulated" (apparently in the [[Republican faction (Spanish Civil War)|Republican]] zone or in the Republican-held [[Levante, Spain|Levantine]] zone). This "supposed statement" held that Franco had claimed that there were four [[Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War)|Nationalist]] columns approaching [[Madrid]], and a fifth [[Column (formation)|column]] waiting to attack from the inside.<ref>Ruiz, Julius (2014), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=HqBcAwAAQBAJ&dq=mola+fifth+column&pg=PA185 The 'Red Terror' and the Spanish Civil War]'', Cambridge, {{ISBN|9781107054547}}, p.&nbsp;187.</ref> The telegram was part of the secret German diplomatic correspondence and was discovered long after the civil war.

The first identified public use of the term is in the 3 October 1936 issue of the Madrid [[Communist]] daily ''[[Mundo Obrero]]''. In a front-page article, the party propagandist [[Dolores Ibárruri]] referred to a statement very similar (or identical) to the one that Völckers had referred to in his telegram, but attributed it to General [[Emilio Mola]] rather than to Franco.<ref>This edition of ''Mundo Obrero'' is not available for consultation online. Many authors claim that in the article Ibarruri referred to an unidentified radio broadcast of Mola, see e.g. Preston Paul (2011), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=IsNUHLStdDUC&dq=mola+quinta+columna&pg=PT198 La Guerra Civil Española: reacción, revolución y venganza]'', Madrid, {{ISBN|9788499891507}}. However, other scholars quoting Ibarruri do not refer to the broadcast detail, see e.g. Ruiz 2014, pp.&nbsp;185–186.</ref> On the same day, the [[Communist Party of Spain|PCE]] activist Domingo Girón made a similar claim during a public rally.<ref>Domingo Girón was a Madrid mid-level Communist activist. In his speech he referred to "cierta declaración hecha por el general Mola a un periodista extranjero", ''[https://prensahistorica.mcu.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.do?path=1000207223&posicion=4&presentacion=pagina Un gran mitin del Socorro Rojo internacional]'', [in:] ''Hoja Oficial del lunes'' 04.10.1936</ref> During the next few days, various Republican papers repeated the story, but with differing detail; some attributed the phrase to [[Gonzalo Queipo de Llano|General Queipo de Llano]],<ref>Ruiz 2014, pp. 186–187</ref> while later some Soviet propagandists would claim it was coined by [[José Enrique Varela]].<ref>Mijail Koltsov, ''Diario de la guerra de España'', Barcelona 2009, ISBN 9788408088707, p. 208</ref> By mid-October, the media was already warning of the "famous fifth column".<ref>''[https://prensahistorica.mcu.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.do?path=1000145318&posicion=2&presentacion=pagina Informacion radiotelegrafica]'', [in:] ''El bien publico'' 13.10.1936.</ref>

Historians have never identified the original statement referred to by Völckers, Ibárruri, Girón, de Jong, and others.<ref name="LJ-G5C-WW2">{{cite book |last1=de Jong |first1=Louis |title=The German Fifth Column in the Second World War |date=1956 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=9781787203242 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.507487 |access-date=3 October 2021 |language=en |quote=translated from the Dutch by C.&nbsp;M. Geyl |oclc=2023177}}</ref> The transcripts of [[Francisco Franco]]'s, [[Gonzalo Queipo de Llano]]'s, and [[Emilio Mola]]'s radio addresses have been published, but they do not contain the term,<ref>Preston Paul (2012), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=7PKHUTjX0UAC&dq=Carlos+Contreras,+%27En+defensa+de+Madrid:+la+quinta+columna%27,+Mi&pg=PT563 The Spanish Holocaust: Inquisition and Extermination in Twentieth-Century Spain]'', London, {{ISBN|9780393239669}}.</ref> and no other original statement containing this phrase has ever surfaced. Australian journalist [[Noel Monks]], who took part in Mola's press conference on 28 October 1936, claimed that Mola referred to {{lang|es|quinta columna}} on that day,<ref>Preston Paul (2011), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=IsNUHLStdDUC&dq=mola+quinta+columna&pg=PT198 La Guerra Civil Española: reacción, revolución y venganza]'', Madrid, {{ISBN|9788499891507}}.</ref> but by that time the term had already been in use in the Republican press for more than three weeks.<ref>''[https://prensahistorica.mcu.es/es/consulta/resultados_ocr.do Prensa Historica]'' service, ''[https://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/ Hemeroteca Digital]'' service.</ref>

[[Historiographic]] works offer differing perspectives on authorship of the term. Many scholars have no doubt about Mola's role and refer to "fifth column" as "a term coined in 1936 by General Emilio Mola",<ref>Kennedy, David M. (ed.) (2007), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=0bRaa7UuD6EC&dq=fifth+column+the+term+invented&pg=PA79 The Library of Congress World War II Companion]'', New York, {{ISBN|9781416553069}}, p.&nbsp;79; also Lejeune Anthony (ed.) (2018), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=yHh0DwAAQBAJ&dq=quinta+columna+mola+nunca&pg=PT268 Concise Dictionary of Foreign Quotations]'', London, {{ISBN|9781135974893}}; also Romero Salvadó, Francisco J., (2013), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=i5e7wRi-HGcC&dq=ibarruri+quinta+columna&pg=PA199 Historical Dictionary of the Spanish Civil War]'', London, {{ISBN|9780810880092}}, p.&nbsp;199.</ref> though they acknowledge that his exact statement cannot be verified.<ref>Preston Paul (2011), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=aPV1johx8NMC&dq=quinta+columna+mola+nunca&pg=PR211 El holocausto español: Odio y exterminio en la Guerra Civil y después]'', 2011, {{ISBN|9788499920498}}.</ref> In some sources, Mola is named as a person who had used the term during an impromptu press interview, and different—though detailed—versions of the exchange are offered.<ref>One version is {{Langx
|es|"¿Cómo es, general Mola, que piensa usted tomar Madrid con cuatro columnas?; no, no tengo cuatro; son cinco las columnas que tengo, porque en Madrid hay una quinta columna."
|lit=How is it, General Mola, that you intend to take Madrid with four columns?; No, I do no have four; it is five the number of columns I have, because there is a fifth column in Madrid.|label=none}}, Carrillo Alejandro (1943), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=suJYAAAAMAAJ&q=no+tiene+usted+sino+cuatro+columnas,general.+Tengo+la+quinta+columna+en+Madrid Defensa de la revolución en el Parlamento]'', s.n. 1943. Other version is {{Langx
|es|"No tiene usted sino cuatro columnas, general; Tengo la "Quinta Columna" en Madrid"
|lit=You do not have but four columns, General; I have the "fifth column" in Madrid.|label=none}}, Pérez de Oliva, Fernán (1991), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=vk1PJ632CMEC&dq=no+tiene+usted+sino+cuatro+columnas,general.+Tengo+la+quinta+columna+en+Madrid&pg=PA22 Historia de la invención de las Indias]'', Madrid 1991, {{ISBN|9789682317699}}, p.&nbsp;22.</ref> Probably the most popular version describes the theory of Mola's authorship with a grade of doubt, either noting that it is presumed but has never been proven,<ref>Barros Andrew, Thomas Martin (2018), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=BWJjDwAAQBAJ&dq=mola+fifth+column&pg=PA49 The Civilianization of War: The Changing Civil–Military Divide]'', 1914–2014, Cambridge, {{ISBN|9781108429658}}, p.&nbsp;49.</ref> or that the phrase "is attributed" to Mola,<ref>Loeffel Robert (2015), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=MvWKCwAAQBAJ&dq=mola+fifth+column&pg=PR22 The Fifth Column in World War II: Suspected Subversives in the Pacific War and Australia]'', London, {{ISBN|9781137506672}}.</ref> who "apparently claimed" so,<ref>Beevor, Antony (2006), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Q-mayoYS6eIC&dq=mola+fifth+column&pg=PT369 The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939]'', London, {{ISBN|9781101201206}}.</ref> or else noting that {{lang|es|"la famosa quinta columna a la que parece que se había referido el general Mola"}} (the famous fifth column that General Mola seems to have referred to).<ref>Cierva, Ricardo de la (1996), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Jm8fAAAAMAAJ&q=quinta+columna+de+mola+invencion+comunista Historia esencial de la Guerra Civil Española: todos los problemas resueltos, sesenta años después]'', Madrid, {{ISBN|9788488787125}}.</ref> Some authors consider it possible if not likely that the term has been invented by the Communist propaganda with the purpose of either raising morale or providing justification for [[Republican repression in Madrid (1936–1939)|terror and repression]]; initially it might have been part of the [[whispering campaign]], but was later openly floated by Communist propagandists.<ref>Ruiz Julius (2014), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=HqBcAwAAQBAJ&dq=mola+fifth+column&pg=PA185 The 'Red Terror' and the Spanish Civil War]'', Cambridge, {{ISBN|9781107054547}}, p.&nbsp;185. The opposing view is that the Republican repression was inadvertently triggered by Mola, who did not realize what effect his alleged statement would have, Laguna Reyes Albert, Vargas Márquez Antonio (2019), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=u7mPDwAAQBAJ&dq=quinta+columna+mola+nunca&pg=PT10 La Quinta Columna: La guerra clandestina tras las líneas republicanas 1936-1939]'', Madrid, {{ISBN|9788491645894}}.</ref> There are also other theories afloat.<ref>A British correspondent in the Republican zone claimed after the Civil War that "many weeks" before October 1936 he had used the term in ''The Daily Telegraph'' when discussing the Nationalist advance towards Madrid. Allegedly the term was picked up by Republican journalists and in turn somehow filtered out to the Nationalist zone; Mola liked it and started to use it. The alleged reference in ''The Daily Telegraph'' has never been identified. Thomas, Hugh (2018), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=J4VMDwAAQBAJ&q=oswald La guerra civil española]'', Madrid, {{ISBN|9788466344821}}.</ref>

Some writers, mindful of the origin of the phrase, use it only in reference to military operations rather than the broader and less well-defined range of activities that sympathizers might engage in to support an anticipated attack.{{efn|[[Madeleine Albright]], for example, in a lengthy account of [[Germans|German]] sympathizers in [[Czechoslovakia]] in the first years of [[World War II]], does not use the phrase to describe their actions until she considers their possible response to a German invasion: "Many, perhaps most, of the [[Sudeten Germans|Sudetens]] would have provided the enemy with a fifth column".<ref name=albright>{{cite book |last=Albright |first=Madeleine |title=Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937–1948 |url=https://archive.org/details/praguewinterpers0000albr |url-access=registration |year=2012 |publisher=HarperCollins |location=NY |pages=[https://archive.org/details/praguewinterpers0000albr/page/102 102] |isbn=9780062128423}}</ref>}}

===Second World War===
The notion of a fifth column caught the popular imagination of the public across Europe at the start of the Second World War, especially when people were faced with the rapid occupation of Norway and Denmark by the Nazis, and then the collapse of Belgium, France and the Netherlands. The fear of betrayal was heightened by the rapid [[Battle of France|fall of France]] in 1940, which some blamed on internal weakness and a pro-German fifth column. Reports of treachery were common, and when the French premier [[Paul Reynaud]] announced that "the bridges over the [[Meuse]] had been betrayed", a [[BBC]] employee wrote, "I have no doubt that German thoroughness has succeeded in planting a fifth column at vulnerable points."<ref>{{cite book |last1=de Jong |first1=Louis |title=The German Fifth Column in the Second World War |date=1956 |publisher=Routledge |chapter=Chapter V: Tension in England}}</ref> On 23 May 1940, the month after Germany invaded France, the British government under newly appointed prime minister [[Winston Churchill]] banned the [[British Union of Fascists]] under the [[Treachery Act 1940]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Martin |last=Ceadel |title=Semi-detached Idealists: The British Peace Movement and International Relations, 1854–1945 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press|date=2000 |page=404}}</ref> A series of photos run in the June 1940 issue of ''[[Life magazine|Life]]'' magazine warned of "signs of Nazi Fifth Column Everywhere". In a speech to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] on 4 June, Churchill reassured [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MPs]] that "Parliament has given us the powers to put down Fifth Column activities with a strong hand."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1940-the-finest-hour/we-shall-fight-on-the-beaches |title=We Shall Fight on the Beaches |last=Churchill |first=Winston |date=June 4, 1940 |website=winstonchurchill.org |access-date=25 July 2017}}</ref> In July 1940, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine referred to talk of a fifth column as a "national phenomenon".<ref>Richard W. Steele, ''Free Speech in the Good War'' (St. Martin's Press, 1999, 75–76).</ref>

In August 1940, ''[[The New York Times]]'' mentioned "the first spasm of fear engendered by the success of fifth columns in less fortunate countries".<ref>''The New York Times'': [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/08/25/96932000.pdf Delbert Clark, "Aliens to Begin Registering Tuesday," August 25, 1940]. Retrieved June 27, 2012.</ref> One report identified participants in Nazi "fifth columns" as "partisans of authoritarian government everywhere", citing [[Poland]],<ref>{{Cite book |title=The German Fifth Column in Poland |last=Polish Ministry of Information |publisher=Dale Street Books |year=2014 |isbn=9781941656099 |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=3–6}}</ref> [[Czechoslovakia]], [[Norway]], and the [[Netherlands]]. During the [[Norwegian campaign|Nazi invasion of Norway]], the head of the Norwegian fascist party, [[Vidkun Quisling]], proclaimed the formation of a new fascist government in control of Norway, with himself as Prime Minister, by the end of the first day of fighting. The word "[[quisling]]" soon became a byword for "collaborator" or "traitor".<ref>{{cite news |work=The New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/06/16/121427281.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/06/16/121427281.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |first=Otto D. |last= Tolischus |title=How Hitler Made Ready: I – The Fifth Column |date=June 16, 1940 |access-date= July 7, 2012}}</ref>

''The New York Times'' on 11 August 1940, featured three editorial cartoons using the term.<ref>{{cite news |work=The New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/08/11/94836997.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/08/11/94836997.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |first=Frederick R. |last=Barkley |title=Nation Shapes Defense against Foes at Home |date= August 11, 1940| access-date= July 7, 2012}}</ref> [[John Langdon-Davies]], a British journalist who covered the Spanish Civil War, wrote an account called ''The Fifth Column'' which was published the same year. In November 1940, Ralph Thomson, reviewing Harold Lavine's ''Fifth Column in America'', a study of Communist and fascist groups in the US, in ''The New York Times'', questioned his choice of that title: "the phrase has been worked so hard that it no longer means much of anything".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Thomson |first1=Ralph |title=Books of the Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/11/27/94016453.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/11/27/94016453.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |access-date=April 25, 2015 |work=The New York Times |date=November 27, 1940}}</ref>

[[File:Seuss cartoon.png|thumb|[[Dr. Seuss]] cartoon in [[PM (newspaper)|''PM'']] dated 13 February 1942, with the caption "Waiting for the Signal from Home"]]
Immediately following the Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], US Secretary of the Navy [[Frank Knox]] issued a statement that "the most effective Fifth Column work of the entire war was done in Hawaii with the exception of Norway".<ref>{{cite web |last=Niiya |first=Brian |url=http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Frank_Knox/ |title=Frank Knox |publisher=Densho Encyclopedia |access-date=August 27, 2014}}</ref> In a column published in ''[[The Washington Post]]'', dated 12 February 1942, the columnist [[Walter Lippmann]] wrote of imminent danger from actions that might be taken by [[Japanese American]]s. Titled "The Fifth Column on the Coast", he wrote of possible attacks that could be made along the [[West Coast of the United States]] that would amplify damage inflicted by a potential attack by Japanese naval and air forces.<ref>{{cite web |last=Niiya |first=Brian |url=http://encyclopedia.densho.org/The_Fifth_Column_on_the_Coast/ |title=The Fifth Column on the Coast |publisher=Densho Encyclopedia |access-date=August 27, 2014}}</ref> Suspicion about an active fifth column on the coast led eventually to the [[internment of Japanese Americans]].

During the [[Philippines campaign (1941–1942)|Japanese invasion of the Philippines]], an article in the ''[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]'' in December 1941 said the indigenous [[Moro people|Moro Muslims]] were "capable of dealing with Japanese fifth columnists and invaders alike".<ref>{{cite news |date= December 22, 1941 |title=80 Japanese Troop Ships Are Sighted Off Luzon (Continued From Page1) |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oJRRAAAAIBAJ&pg=2732,2587117&hl=en |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |page = 7 |access-date= October 30, 2014}}</ref> Another in the ''[[Vancouver Sun]]'' the following month alleged that the large population of Japanese immigrants in [[Davao Region|Davao]] in the Philippines welcomed the invasion: "the first assault on Davao was aided by numbers of Fifth Columnists–residents of the town".<ref>{{cite news |last= Curtis |first= Herbert |date= January 13, 1942 |title= Japanese Infiltration Into Mindanao |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sDRlAAAAIBAJ&pg=2656,1332631&hl=en |newspaper= Vancouver Sun |page = 4 |access-date= October 30, 2014}}</ref> However, postwar analysis of both Japanese and American military records, including the interrogation of surviving Japanese officers, fail to support the claims of a Japanese fifth column existing in the Philippines prior to the outbreak of hostilities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Fall of the Philippines-Chapter 7 |url=https://history.army.mil/books/wwii/5-2/5-2_7.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501062733/http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/5-2/5-2_7.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 1, 2008 |access-date=2024-04-20 |website=history.army.mil}}</ref>

===Later usage===
{{Prose|section|date=August 2025}}
[[File:Smash Communism's Fifth Column.jpg|thumb|Australian Prime Minister Menzies proposed a [[1951 Australian Communist Party ban referendum|federal referendum on 22 September 1951]] asking voters to give the Commonwealth Government the power to make laws regarding communists and communism.]]

* German minority organizations in [[Czechoslovakia]] formed the [[Sudetendeutsches Freikorps|Sudeten German Free Corps]], which aided [[Nazi Germany]]. Some claimed they were "self-defense formations" created in the aftermath of [[World War I]] and unrelated to the German invasion two decades later.<ref>Robert G.L. Waite, ''Vanguard of Nazism: The Free Corps Movement in Post-War Germany, 1918-1923'' (1952), 88</ref> More often their origins were discounted and they were defined by the role they played in 1938–39: "The same pattern was repeated in Czechoslovakia. [[Konrad Henlein|Henlein]]'s Free Corps played in that country the part of fifth column".<ref>Yale Law School: [https://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/12-20-45.asp Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Volume 4, 215, December 20, 1945]. Retrieved July 19, 2012</ref>
* The [[United Front Work Department]] has been used by the Chinese government to influence elite individuals and organizations especially among [[Taiwanese people|Taiwanese]] and [[overseas Chinese]] communities around the world.<ref>United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, [http://www.zytzb.cn/publicfiles/business/htmlfiles/tzb2010/gathw/200911/574135.html '华侨、华人工作的基本任务] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402183749/http://www.zytzb.cn/publicfiles/business/htmlfiles/tzb2010/gathw/200911/574135.html |date=2012-04-02 }}, March 23, 2009.</ref> UFWD has been accused of promoting pro-unification sentiment in Taiwan as well as election interference in some countries.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 11, 2024 |title=Songs, pandas and praise for Xi: how China courts young Taiwanese |url=https://www.economist.com/china/2024/07/11/songs-pandas-and-praise-for-xi-how-china-courts-young-taiwanese |url-access=subscription |access-date=2024-07-12 |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |issn=0013-0613 |archive-date=2024-07-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240711232322/https://www.economist.com/china/2024/07/11/songs-pandas-and-praise-for-xi-how-china-courts-young-taiwanese |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cooper |first=Sam |author-link=Sam Cooper (journalist) |title=Canadian intelligence warned PM Trudeau that China covertly funded 2019 election candidates: Sources |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/9253386/canadian-intelligence-warned-pm-trudeau-that-china-covertly-funded-2019-election-candidates-sources/ |access-date=2022-11-11 |website=[[Global News]] |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-11-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221110223407/https://globalnews.ca/news/9253386/canadian-intelligence-warned-pm-trudeau-that-china-covertly-funded-2019-election-candidates-sources/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In September 2024, [[Linda Sun]], a staffer for New York governor [[Kathy Hochul]] was arrested for accusation of being a foreign agent due to her affiliation with UFWD affiliated organization that is [[Henan Association of Eastern America]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Areddy |first=James T. |date=October 21, 2024 |title=How Beijing Recruited New York Chinatowns for Influence Campaign |url=https://www.wsj.com/world/china/beijing-chinatown-influence-campaign-3f7914f0 |url-access=subscription |access-date=October 21, 2024 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]}}</ref>
* In 1945, a document produced by the [[US Department of State]] compared the earlier efforts of Nazi Germany to mobilize the support of sympathizers in foreign nations to the superior efforts of the international communist movement at the end of World War II: "a communist party was in fact a fifth column as much as any [German] Bund group, except that the latter were crude and ineffective in comparison with the Communists".<ref>Thomas G. Paterson, ''Meeting the Communist Threat: Truman to Reagan'' (Oxford University Press, 1988), 10</ref> [[Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.]], wrote in 1949: "the special Soviet advantage—the warhead—lies in the fifth column; and the fifth column is based on the local Communist parties".<ref>Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., ''The Politics of Freedom'' (Heinemann, 1950), 92-3</ref>
* In 1979, [[Saddam Hussein]], the [[President of Iraq]], orchestrated a [[1979 Ba'ath Party Purge|purge]] of political dissidents within the [[Ba'ath Party (Iraqi-dominated faction)|Ba'ath Party]]. Hussein claimed that he had uncovered a fifth column within the organization and ordered [[Muhyi Abdul-Hussein Mashhadi]] to confess his alleged involvement and that of 68 other politicians, who were promptly arrested.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Batatu |first=Hanna |title=Syria's Peasantry, the Descendants of Its Lesser Rural Notables, and Their Politics |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1999 |isbn=0-691-00254-1 |location=Chichester, West Sussex, UK |pages=282–283}}</ref> Twenty-two of the arrested, including Mashhadi, were executed.<ref>Bay Fang. "[https://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/040719/19iraq.htm When Saddam ruled the day]." ''U.S. News & World Report''. 11 July 2004. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116075402/http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/040719/19iraq.htm |date=16 January 2014}}</ref><ref>Edward Mortimer. "[http://www.nybooks.com/articles/3519 The Thief of Baghdad]." ''New York Review of Books''. 27 September 1990, citing Fuad Matar. ''Saddam Hussein: A Biography''. Highlight. 1990. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723145337/http://www.nybooks.com/articles/3519 |date=23 July 2008}}</ref>
* [[Zainichi Koreans]] living in [[Japan]], particularly those affiliated with the organization [[Chongryun]] (which is itself affiliated with the government of [[North Korea]]) are sometimes seen as a "fifth column" by some Japanese, and have been the victims of verbal and physical attacks. These have occurred more frequently since the government of [[Kim Jong Il]] acknowledged it had [[North Korean abductions of Japanese|abducted Japanese citizens from Japan]] and [[List of North Korean missile tests|tested ballistic missiles]] near the waters of and over mainland Japan.<ref>{{cite web|last=Greimel |first=Hans |date=October 24, 2006 |url=http://www.plesserholland.com/pdf/10.24.06-Kang-AP-NK.pdf |title=Test sparks N. Korea backlash in Japan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070205074933/http://www.plesserholland.com/pdf/10.24.06-Kang-AP-NK.pdf |archive-date=February 5, 2007 |url-status=dead |access-date=April 3, 2024 |quote=North Koreans in Japan have long been vilified as a communist fifth column}}</ref>
* A significant number of [[Arab citizens of Israel|Israeli Arabs]], who compose approximately 20% of [[Israel]]'s population, identify more with the [[Palestinian nationalism|Palestinian cause]] than with the State of Israel or [[Zionism]]. As a result, many [[Israeli Jews]], including politicians, [[rabbi]]s, journalists, and historians, view them (and/or the main Israeli Arab political group, the [[Joint List]]) as a fifth column.<ref>"... they hurl accusations against us, like that we are a 'fifth column'." (Roee Nahmias, "[https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3285075,00.html Arab MK: Israel committing 'genocide' of Shiites]", [[Ynetnews]] August 2, 2006)</ref><ref>"... a fifth column, a league of traitors" (Evelyn Gordon, "[http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1157913624780 No longer the political fringe]{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}", ''[[The Jerusalem Post]]'' September 14, 2006)</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Lieberman goes after Arab Joint List: They are a fifth column |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-lieberman-goes-after-arab-joint-list-they-are-a-fifth-column-1.8061036 |access-date=1 November 2020 |work=Haaretz.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Krauss |first1=Joseph |title=Israel's Arabs poised to gain new voice after tight election |url=https://apnews.com/article/4afb54069bff44a1b0e0564dd5adb917 |access-date=1 November 2020 |work=AP NEWS |date=18 September 2019 |quote=Arab citizens have close family, cultural and historical ties to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, and largely identify with the Palestinian cause. That has led many Israelis to view them as a fifth column and a security threat.}}</ref>
* [[Counter-jihad]] literature has sometimes portrayed Western Muslims as a "fifth column", collectively seeking to destabilize Western nations' identity and values for the benefit of an international Islamic movement intent on the [[Eurabia|establishment of a caliphate in Western countries]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Akbarzadeh|first1=Shahram|last2=Roose|first2=Joshua M.|title=Muslims, Multiculturalism and the Question of the Silent Majority|journal=Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs|date=September 2011|volume=31|issue=3|pages=309–325|doi=10.1080/13602004.2011.599540|s2cid=145595802}}</ref> Following the 2015 attack by French-born Muslims on the offices of ''[[Charlie Hebdo shooting|Charlie Hebdo]]'' in Paris, the leader of the [[UK Independence Party]] [[Nigel Farage]] said that Europe had "a fifth column living within our own countries".<ref>{{cite news|work=National Review |url=http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/395914/ukips-farage-multiculturalism-creating-fifth-column-west-brendan-bordelon |first=Brendan |last=Bordelon |title=UKIP's Farage: Multiculturalism Creating 'Fifth Column' in West |date= January 7, 2015 | access-date= January 8, 2015}}</ref> In 2001, Dutch politician [[Pim Fortuyn]] talked about Muslim immigrants being a "fifth column", on the night he was dismissed as leader of [[Liveable Netherlands]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.historischnieuwsblad.nl/nl/artikel/32279/fortuyn-ramp-voor-politiek-en-vaderland.html|title=Fortuyn: ramp voor politiek en vaderland|date=November 18, 2013|language=nl}}</ref>
[[File:Совещание о мерах социально-экономической поддержки регионов.webm|thumb|right|200px|start=18:12|Putin says (at 18'23"): "Yes, of course, they will back the so-called fifth column, national traitors – those who make money here in our country but live over there, and 'live' not in the geographical sense of the word but in their minds, in their servile mentality", and mentions the fifth column two more times, at 19'57" and 20'33"<br><small>(Closed captions available)</small>]]
* In 2022, Russian president [[Vladimir Putin]] called Russian citizens [[2022 anti-war protests in Russia|who are against]] the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine|Russian invasion of Ukraine]] as fifth columnists and "national traitors".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Radnitz |first1=Scott |last2=Mylonas |first2=Harris |title=Putin's warning about Russian 'fifth columns' has a long, sordid lineage |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/30/putin-fifth-column-traitors-russia-arrests/ |access-date=7 April 2022 |work=washingtonpost.com |language=en}}</ref>
* Members of the American and European [[far-right]] have been widely described as fifth columnists in light of Russian interference in the [[2016 United States presidential election]] and presidency of [[Links between Trump associates and Russian officials|Donald Trump]] leading up to the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]]. American conservative journalist [[Tucker Carlson]], in particular, has faced allegations of fifth columnist behavior, especially after he decided to visit Russia and [[The Vladimir Putin Interview|interview Vladimir Putin]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.americanprogress.org/article/russias-5th-column/ | title=Russia's 5th Column | date=March 15, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1177/0263395718776215 | title=Who is the modern 'traitor'? 'Fifth column' accusations in US and UK politics and media | date=2019 | last1=Chernobrov | first1=Dmitry | journal=Politics | volume=39 | issue=3 | pages=347–362| doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/russian-federation/disturbing-return-fifth-column | title=The Disturbing Return of the Fifth Column | journal=Foreign Affairs | date=August 26, 2022 | last1=Mylonas | first1=Harris | last2=Radnitz | first2=Scott}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/opinion/the-brief-putins-fifth-column-in-the-eu/|title=The Brief — Putin's fifth column in the EU – Euractiv|newspaper=www.euractiv.com |date=September 26, 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://abovethelaw.com/2022/02/this-is-what-a-fifth-column-looks-like/ | title=This is What a Fifth Column Looks Like - Above the Law | date=February 24, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.salon.com/2024/02/08/hillary-clinton-drags-useful-idiot-tucker-carlson-for-putin-interview/ | title=Hillary Clinton drags "useful idiot" Tucker Carlson for Putin interview | date=February 8, 2024}}</ref>
* In 2024, following claims that taxpayer funds were [[UNRWA October 7 controversy|improperly given to the UNRWA]] due to family interests in Gaza during the [[Gaza war]],<ref>{{cite news |last1=Turner |first1=Camila |title=Humza Yousaf gave £250k to Gaza after overruling his officials |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/03/08/humza-yousaf-gave-250k-gaza-despite-official-advice/ |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=8 March 2024}}</ref> [[Humza Yousaf]], the [[First Minister of Scotland]], revealed that he had been subjected to "smears" throughout his political life including allegations he was a "fifth columnist" because of his faith and race.<ref>{{cite news |title=Humza Yousaf: Scottish first minister denies conflict of interest over £250K Gaza donation |url=https://news.sky.com/story/humza-yousaf-scottish-first-minister-denies-conflict-of-interest-over-250k-gaza-donation-13090590 |work=Sky News |date=9 March 2024}}</ref>
* On August 25, 2025, the official Arabic-language account for [[Israel|the State of Israel]] on [[Twitter|X, formerly known as Twitter]], cited the growing number of mosques in Europe as evidence of [[colonization]], calling for Europe to "wake up and remove this fifth column," and tagging a large anti-Muslim account.<ref>{{Cite tweet |user=IsraelArabic |number=1959994177523200317 |title=في العام 1980في العام 1980، كان في أوروبا أقل من مئة مسجد فقط. أما اليوم، فهناك أكثر من 20 ألف مسجد. هذا هو وجه الاستعمار الحقيقي. وهذا ما يحدث بينما أوروبا غافلة ولا تكترث للخطر. والخطر لا يكمن في وجود المساجد بحد ذاتها، فحرية العبادة هي من حقوق الانسان الأساسية ولكل شخص الحق في الايمان وعبادة ربه، ان المشكلة تكمن في المضامين التي يتم تعليمها في بعض هذه المساجد وهي لا تقتصر على التقوى والعمل الصالح، بل تركز على تشجيع العنف المتصاعد في شوارع أوروبا، ونشر الكراهية للأخر وحتى لمن يستضيفهم في بلاده والتحريض ضدهم بدلا من تعليم المحبة والوئام والسلام. على أوروبا ان تستيقظ وتبعد هذا الطابور الخامس @realMaalouf}}</ref>
* [[Donald Trump]] has made repeated references to perceived internal enemies, using the phrases "the enemy from within" and "the enemy within" to refer to "the crazy lunatics that we have — the fascists, the Marxists, the communists, the people that we have that are actually running the country" in general and political opponents such as [[Nancy Pelosi]] and [[Adam Schiff]] specifically.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cooper |first1=Jonathan J. |title=Who does Trump see as 'enemies from within'? |url=https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-enemies-from-within-5c4a34776469a55e71d3ba4d4e68cf62 |access-date=30 September 2025 |work=AP News |date=26 October 2024 |language=en}}</ref> On 30 September 2025, Trump spoke before an assembly of U.S. generals, calling for the use of the military against "the enemy within."<ref>{{cite news |last1=NPR Washington Desk |title=Trump defends use of the U.S. military against the 'enemy within' |url=https://www.kedm.org/npr-news/2025-09-30/trump-defends-use-of-the-u-s-military-against-the-enemy-within |access-date=30 September 2025 |work=NPR News |date=30 September 2025 |language=en}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
The title of [[Ernest Hemingway]]'s only play "[[The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories|The Fifth Column]]" (1938) is a translation of [[Emilio Mola]]'s phrase {{lang|es|la quinta columna}}. In early 1937, Hemingway had been in Madrid, reporting the war from the loyalist side, and helping make the film ''[[The Spanish Earth]]''. He returned to the US to publicize the film and wrote the play, in the [[Hotel Florida (Madrid)|Hotel Florida]] in Madrid, on his next visit to Spain later that year.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Meyers|first=Jeffrey|title=Hemingway|publisher=Paladin. Grafton Books|year=1987|isbn=0-586-08631-5|location=London|pages=316–7}}</ref>

In the US, an Australian radio play, ''[[The Enemy Within (radio show)|The Enemy Within]]'', proved to be very popular, though this popularity was due to the belief that the stories of fifth column activities were based on real events. In December 1940, the Australian censors had the series banned.<ref>{{cite book |first=Robert |last=Loeffel |title=The Fifth Column in World War II: Suspected Subversives in the Pacific War and Australia |publisher=Palgrave |year=2015 |pages=85}}</ref>

British reviewers of [[Agatha Christie]]'s 1941 novel ''[[N or M?]]'' used the term to describe the plot's depiction of two British turncoats working on behalf the German government in Britain during World War II.<ref>''The Times Literary Supplement,'' November 29, 1941 (p. 589); ''The Observer,'' December 7, 1941 (p. 3)</ref>

In [[Frank Capra]]'s film ''[[Meet John Doe]]'' (1941), newspaper editor Henry Connell warns the politically naïve protagonist, John Doe, about a businessman's plans to promote his own political ambitions using the apolitical John Doe Clubs. Connell says to John: "Listen, pal, this fifth-column stuff is pretty rotten, isn't it?", identifying the businessman with anti-democratic interests in the United States. When Doe agrees, he adds: "And you'd feel like an awful sucker if you found yourself marching right in the middle of it, wouldn't you?"<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=McGilligan | editor-first=Patrick |last=Riskin |first=Robert |title=Six Screenplays |url=https://archive.org/details/sixscreenplaysby00robe |url-access=registration |date=1997|publisher=University of California Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/sixscreenplaysby00robe/page/664 664], 696}}</ref>

In the film ''[[All Through the Night (film)|All Through the Night]]'' (1942), "Gloves" Donahue ([[Humphrey Bogart]]) tries to stop a secret Nazi fifth column trying to sink a battleship in New York.

[[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''[[Saboteur (film)|Saboteur]]'' (1942) features [[Robert Cummings]] asking for help against "fifth columnists" conspiring to sabotage the American war effort.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}} The film was also released under the name ''Fifth Column'' in Dutch ({{lang|nl|Die van de 5de kolom}}), Finnish ({{lang|fi|Viidennen kolonnan mies}}) and French ({{lang|fr|Cinquième colonne}}). Soon the term was being used in popular entertainment.

Several World War II–era animated shorts include the term. Cartoons of [[Porky Pig]] asked any "fifth columnists" in the audience to leave the theater immediately.<ref>{{IMDb title|qid=Q56300401|title=Meet John Doughboy}}</ref> In [[Looney Tunes]]' ''Foney Fables'', the narrator of a comic fairy tale described a wolf in sheep's clothing as a "fifth columnist". There was a [[Merrie Melodies]] cartoon released in 1943 titled ''[[The Fifth-Column Mouse]].''{{primary source inline|date=June 2020}} Comic books also contained references to the fifth column.<ref>{{cite book |last= Goodnow |first= Trischa |title= The 10 Cent War: Comic Books, Propaganda, and World War II |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=dbnPDQAAQBAJ&q=comic+book+references+to+fifth+column&pg=PT127|isbn= 9781496810311 |date= January 20, 2017 |publisher= Univ. Press of Mississippi}}</ref>

Graham Greene, in ''[[The Quiet American]]'' (1955), uses the phrase "Fifth Column, Third Force, Seventh Day" in the second chapter.{{primary source inline|date=June 2020}}

In the 1959 British action film ''[[Operation Amsterdam]]'', the term "fifth columnists" is used repeatedly to refer to Nazi-sympathizing members of the [[Royal Netherlands Army|Dutch Army]].

The [[V (franchise)|''V'' franchise]] is a set of TV shows, novels and comics about an [[Alien invasion|alien invasion of Earth]]. A group of aliens opposed to the invasion and assist the human Resistance Movement is called The Fifth Column.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://musingsofamiddleagedgeek.blog/2019/08/29/the-enduring-legacy-and-ongoing-relevance-of-kenneth-johnsons-v/ | title=The enduring legacy, and ongoing relevance of Kenneth Johnson's "V"... | date=August 29, 2019}}</ref>

In the episode "Flight Into the Future" from the 1960s TV show ''[[Lost In Space]]'', Dr. Smith is referred to as the fifth columnist of the Jupiter 2 expedition. In the first episode, he was a secret agent sent to sabotage the mission who got caught on board at liftoff.{{primary source inline|date=June 2020}}

There is an American weekly news podcast called "The Fifth Column",<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wethefifth.com/|title=The Fifth Column / Podcast|website=The Fifth Column / Podcast|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-27}}</ref> hosted by [[Kmele Foster]], [[Matt Welch]], [[Michael C. Moynihan]], and Anthony Fisher.{{primary source inline|date=June 2020}}

[[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s 1941 story "The Day After Tomorrow", originally titled "[[Sixth Column]]", refers to a fictional fifth column that 
{{cquote|destroyed the European democracies from within in the tragic days that led up to the final blackout of European civilization. But this would not be a fifth column of traitors, but a sixth column of patriots whose privilege it would be to destroy the morale of invaders, make them afraid, unsure of themselves.
|author=Robert A. Heinlein
|title="The Day after Tomorrow (original title: Sixth Column)"
|source=Signet Paperback #T4227, Chapter 3, page 37
}}

In ''[[Foyle's War]]'', series 2 episode 3, "War Games", one line reads: "It's the Second salvage collection I've missed, they've got me down as a fifth columnist."{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

In ''[[Fallout: London]]'', a [[Mod (computer gaming)#Total conversion|total conversion mod]] for the 2015 [[Bethesda Softworks]] [[action role-playing game]] ''[[Fallout 4]]'', there is a populist faction known as the "5th Column" whose declared aim is to tear down the existing government and rebuild it.  Their propaganda style and black uniforms are a likely reference to the [[British Union of Fascists]], which was founded in 1932 by [[Oswald Mosley|Sir Oswald Mosley]] and banned by the British government in 1940 after the start of [[World War II]] amid suspicion that its supporters might form a pro-[[Nazi Germany|Nazi]] "fifth column".

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Alien invasion#Alien infiltration|Alien infiltration]]
* [[Black propaganda]]
* [[Copperhead (politics)]]
* [[Demographic threat]]
* [[Dual loyalty]]
* [[Entryism]]
* [[False flag]]
* [[Front organization]]
* [[Irregular military]]
* [[Jash (term)]]
* [[Quisling]]
* [[Sleeper cell]]
* [[Stab-in-the-back myth]]
* [[Stay-behind]]
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

=== References ===
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Wiktionary|fifth column}}
{{Library resources box}}
* {{cite book|last1=Mylonas |first1=Harris |last2=Radnitz |first2=Scott |title=Enemies Within: The Global Politics of Fifth Columns|publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/enemies-within-9780197627945?cc=us&lang=en&|date=2022|isbn=978-0-19-762794-5}}
* {{cite book|title=The German Fifth Column in Poland|location=London|publisher=Polish Ministry of Info|date=1941}}
* {{cite book|title=Fifth Column at Work|first=Bohumil|last=Bilek|location=London|publisher=Trinity|date=1945}}
* {{cite book|first=Robert|last=Loeffel|title=The Fifth Column in World War II: Suspected Subversives in the Pacific War and Australia|publisher=Palgrave|date=2015}}
* Britt G. ''The Fifth column is Here'' / George Britt. New York: Wilfred Funk, Inc., 1940
* Lavine H. ''Fifth column in America'' / Harold Lavine (1915-). New York: Doubleday, Doran, Incorporated, 1940

{{Media manipulation}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1936 introductions]]
[[Category:1930s in Madrid]]
[[Category:1936 in Spain]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Deep politics]]
[[Category:Intelligence operations by type]]
[[Category:Irregular military]]
[[Category:Psychological warfare techniques]]
[[Category:Spanish Civil War]]
[[Category:Urban warfare]]