Power, Treason, and Betrayal

It’s no surprise that the military is full of betrayals. From double agents to defecting generals, these decisions have certainly changed history for the better or worse. With that in mind, here are 20 of the most resounding betrayals.

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1. Benedict Arnold

Famously known for his betrayal, Arnold was an officer in the Continental Army during the U.S. Revolutionary War. While being trusted by George Washington, he defected to the British in 1780 and even offered to hand over West Point. However, the British never managed to capture West Point, although Arnold’s betrayal still shocked the country.

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2. Alfred Redl

Alfred Redl was the head of the counterintelligence branch in the Austro-Hungarian Army. However, he secretly worked as a spy for a decade for the Imperial Russian Army and even gave the Russians the entire Austrian invasion plan for Serbia.

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3. Mildred Gillars

While not a military leader, it’s still worth showing Gillars’ story. She was an American broadcaster that openly spread German propaganda during the Second World War and was also known as Axis Sally. She would make hateful remarks and even attacked the U.S. president and remained on air until two days before Germany surrendered.

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4. Harold Cole

Cole was everything from a petty criminal to a fraud, and during the Second World War, he worked alongside the French Resistance helping downed pilots return to England. However, he betrayed the members to the Gestapo in late 1941 and handed over the names of 150 people working to help pilots escape, 50 of whom were then captured.

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5. Robert Hanssen

Hanssen is responsible for one of the worst intelligence disasters in U.S. history and was an FBI agent from 1976 to 2001. Unfortunately, Hanssen leaked American spy equipment information to the Soviets and even revealed the names of spying agents. Ironically, Hanssen was then tasked with finding a mole within the FBI, which he himself was.

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6. Fritz Duquesne

Duquesne is also known as “The Duke” and was the leader of a German spy ring during the Second World War. Originally of South African descent, he would even serve as an advisor for President Theodore Roosevelt. However, the entire time, he was gathering evidence as a German spy.

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7. Wang Jingwei

This politician in pre-communist China made a deal with Japan to hand over Nanjing in order to run a puppet government. Hence, he would boast about Japan and praise their control, although Japan would eventually be defeated by the Allies, leaving him as nothing more than a traitor.

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8. Vidkun Quisling

In 1939, Quisling, who was a Norwegian politician, traveled to Berlin and had a secret meeting with Adolf Hitler, in which he planted the seed for him to invade Norway. Before this, Hitler had no interest in Norway but quickly shifted sides and started invading the country after the mysterious meeting.

Riksarkivet (National Archives of Norway) from Oslo, Norway on Wikimedia

9. Sandor Szucs

While not a military story, this traitor story shows how not everyone was in the wrong for their actions. In fact, some were well within their rights to betray their countries. For instance, Szucs was a Hungarian football player who tried to defect from the communist regime and wanted to leave with his lover, singer Erzsi Kovacs. Unfortunately, he was set up as a double agent after being arrested near the border.

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10. Jack Strong

Jack Strong was actually Ryszard Kuklinski, who was a Polish colonel that was frustrated with Soviet control. So, he would spend a decade leaking secrets and writing to the CIA, revealing thousands of pages of classified military secrets.

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11. Emilio Aguinaldo

Aguinaldo dreamt of liberating the Philippines but was instead captured and released. When the Japanese occupied his island, he decided to shift sides and cut a deal. He tried to persuade people through speeches to surrender to Bataan, hoping to have the Japanese appoint him as president of their puppet government as a reward.

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12. Ephialtes of Trachis

Ephialtes was the one who betrayed the Greeks at Thermopylae, which is where the 300 movie story comes from. The severely outnumbered Greek army had set up between a mountain pass where they held the line and created a bottleneck to even the odds against the larger Persian army. That was until Ephialtes showed the Persians a secret way to get behind the Greeks and surround them.

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13. Qin Hui

After his emperor was captured, General Yue Fei in China would defeat the Jurchens in fight after fight to reclaim him. However, Qin Hui decided to tell the temporary replacement emperor that if Yue Fei was successful, the temporary emperor would have to abdicate the throne. So, the temporary emperor listened to Qin Hui and had Yue Fei executed for his efforts.

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14. Mir Jafar

If you’ve ever wondered how the small British Empire managed to take control of such a faraway and populated country like India, then the story of Mir Jafar explains this. Mir Jafar was bribed by Robert Clive of the British East India Company and allowed 3,000 British troops to overcome the larger Bengal army.

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15. Andrey Vlasov

Vlasov’s career started with the Bolshevik Revolution, and he was a combat-hardened veteran when World War II rolled around. But after being captured by the Germans, he instead told them how to defeat the Russians.

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16. Themistocles of Athens

After masterminding the Persian defeat at Salamis, Themistocles was ostracized from Athens for his arrogance. He would eventually make his way to Persia where he convinced the king that he was actually on his side all along and got a luxurious retirement out of it.

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17. Russell Kim Philby

Known more commonly as Kim Philby, this double agent was a British Intelligence Officer whose true allegiance lay with the Soviet Union. He was a part of a spy ring that divulged many British secrets during the early Cold War and during World War II.

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18. Lucius Cornelius Sulla

Sulla was a Roman general and statesman for the Late Roman Republic who had no issue using violence to advance his career. In fact, he would march on Rome twice to gain power by force and would use proscription lists to target potential political enemies.

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19. Kobayakawa Hideaki

Hideaki was the fifth son of Kinoshita Iesada and gained the rank of Saemon no Kami in Japan. During the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, he would switch sides and attack the western troops, resulting in an eastern victory.

Utagawa Yoshiiku on Wikimedia

20. Wilhelm Canaris

Admiral Wilhelm Canaris was the head of the Wehrmacht Intelligence and led an anti-Hitler spy ring. He would feed the British the Germans’ war plans and was responsible for three close calls for taking out Hitler before being found out.

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