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Fifth column
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A fifth column is a group of people who clandestinely undermine a larger group, such as a nation, to which it is regarded as being loyal.
term originated with a 1936 radio address by Emilio Mola, an insurgent general during the 1936–39 Spanish Civil War. As his army approached Madrid, he broadcast a message that the four columns of his forces outside the city would be supported by a "fifth column" of his supporters inside the city, intent on undermining the Republican government from within (see Siege of Madrid).
In fact, this supposed "fifth column" did not prove very effective, as evidenced by the fact that Madrid held out until 1939 despite very heavy fighting.
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Encyclopedia
A fifth column is a group of people who clandestinely undermine a larger group, such as a nation, to which it is regarded as being loyal.
Origin
The term originated with a 1936 radio address by Emilio Mola, an insurgent general during the 1936–39 Spanish Civil War. As his army approached Madrid, he broadcast a message that the four columns of his forces outside the city would be supported by a "fifth column" of his supporters inside the city, intent on undermining the Republican government from within (see Siege of Madrid).
In fact, this supposed "fifth column" did not prove very effective, as evidenced by the fact that Madrid held out until 1939 despite very heavy fighting. Nevertheless, the term caught on and was used extensively, especially by those fighting the Fascists and Nazis. It was especially in wide use in Britain in the early stages of the Second World War. There, fear of the "fifth Column" was used as justification for the mass internment, on the Isle of Man, of German nationals who resided in the United Kingdom. The United States also interned Japanese citizens around the same time with similar justification.
Usage
The term may also refer to a subpopulation, such as an ethnic minority, which is assumed to have loyalties to countries other than the one in which they reside, or who support some other nation in war efforts against that country, this being the result of dual loyalty.
With the grain requisition crises, famines, troubled economic conditions and international destabilization in the 1930s, the leaders of the Soviet Union became increasingly worried about the possible disloyalty of diaspora ethnic groups with cross-border ties (especially Finns, Germans and Poles), residing along its western borders; this eventually led to the start of Stalin's repressive policies towards them, most notably to the national operations of the NKVD and forced population transfer.
In Europe German minority organisations in Poland and Czechoslovakia formed the Selbstschutz, which actively helped the Third Reich in conquering those nations. After 1945, this was cited as justification for the wholesale expulsion of ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Soviet Union, as well as the return to these countries of territories which had been annexed by Germany.
Modern usage
- Today the term "Fifth column" has a pejorative connotation, whereas partisan may be considered either a positive or negative term. When a government is internationally considered to be a dictatorship or authoritarian, resistance groups are looked upon more favourably than fifth columnists, but it can be argued that there is an overlap between the two. For example, from the point of view of the German occupiers and the Vichy Regime, the French Resistance would have been considered "a Fifth column", whereas the members of the Resistance itself considered the Vichy collaborators to be in that role.
- During wartime, citizens of enemy countries are often watched, or interned, because of concerns that they might be a fifth column. During World War II, citizens of enemy nations were interned throughout the War by both Allied and Axis powers. This occurred even concerning the descendants of immigrants who had become citizens of their country of residence. This was the justification for the Japanese American internment along the West Coast of the United States and the Japanese Canadian internment in British Columbia. Thousands of German and other enemy nationals were also held by various US authorities.
- Irish Catholic residents in the UK were sometimes seen in this way by unionists due to "The Troubles" of the late 20th century (see also, for example, Guildford Four, Birmingham Six). Around the time of the First World War, President Woodrow Wilson blamed Irish Americans in the Democratic Party for blocking attempts of the USA to form an alliance with the UK. He also accused German Americans of remaining loyal to Germany and denounced, as potentially traitorous, those whom he called "hyphenated Americans".
- North Koreans in Japan, particularly those affiliated to Chongryun (which is affiliated to the government of North Korea) may sometimes be seen this way by some Japanese, and have been the victims of verbal and physical attacks, more frequently since the government of Kim Jong Il acknowledged it had abducted Japanese nationals and tested ballistic missiles.
- In anti-semitic conspiracy theories Jews are cast as the Fifth Column of a "Jewish Conspiracy." The Russian forgery the Protocols of the Elders of Zion is one infamous example of this defamation.
- Some Israelis, including politicians, rabbis, journalists and historians have referred to the 20% of Arabs now residing in Israel as being a "fifth column" inside the State of Israel as Arab Israelis usually identify more with the Palestinian cause than the Israeli cause.
See also
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