6 of History’s Biggest Traitors

Life throughout different periods of history hasn’t necessarily been without challenges, but are attempts to make one’s own existence better or easier at the expense of others ever forgivable? War, politics, and desire have caused numerous men and women to betray alliances and allegiances, and the outcomes were often unexpected, leading to downfall, banishment, or even death. These notable turncoats come from varying parts of the world, different eras, and disparate backgrounds, but they all have one thing in common: history has remembered them as disloyal above all.

The name perhaps most synonymous in America with the word “traitor” is that of Benedict Arnold. From a challenging childhood Arnold emerged a moderate success by his thirties, working as an apothecary and sea merchant. From his home in New Haven, Connecticut, he became one of the American Revolution’s most vocal supporters. He joined the Sons of Liberty along with the militia and fought bravely in many battles, at one point suffering a debilitating gunshot wound to the thigh. Eventually, Arnold was named the military governor of Philadelphia.

While Arnold was successful, he was by no means wealthy and longed to join the upper echelons of society. After the death of his first wife, Margaret, 37-year-old Arnold began to court 18-year-old Peggy Shippen, a young lady from one of the most highbrow families in Philadelphia, despite her father having Loyalist leanings. After their marriage, money began to trouble him even more as he struggled to keep his new wife in the life she was accustomed to.

As he contended with his court case along with his slow-to-heal leg injury, Arnold became increasingly disillusioned with the military and the Patriot cause. He had also been passed over for several promotions, fueling his bitterness. In May, he sent an emissary to a friend of Peggy’s, John Andre, a British major.

In the letter, he postulated a potential defection but wanted two assurances first: that he would be rewarded and that Britain would see the war through to the end. He was granted these, and he and Andre began communicating regularly.

Within the next year, Arnold was providing Andre with troop locations and other sensitive military information. Arnold was given command of West Point in August 1780, which gave him even more vital information regarding the Continental Army. He began crafting a plan for his final betrayal, in which he planned to turn West Point over to the British. Arnold began transferring his assets to England.

The plan was revealed in September when Andre was captured carrying incriminating evidence regarding the plot and Arnold. Arnold managed to escape behind British lines before he himself was captured, and would commence openly fighting for the British army. He wouldn’t get what he had aspired for himself, as he was seen as untrustworthy by even the British officials. After the war, Arnold was passed over for several promotions and lived in England and Canada, never really finding true success.

Immortalized in the (fictional) line Et Tu, Brute?, Marcus Junius Brutus is best remembered as one of the assassins of Julius Caesar, but the depth of his betrayal is a less familiar story. Brutus and Caesar had a long history together, as Caesar had a relationship with Brutus’ mother and, by many accounts, thought of him as a son. Brutus actually fought against his mentor in the civil wars that made up the years preceding Caesar’s ascension to dictator, but upon his victory, Caesar forgave his friend and welcomed him back into the fold.

However, Brutus would be lured by the senators plotting against Caesar, echoing concerns that he was becoming a tyrant. Gaius Cassius Longinus spearheaded the effort, recruiting Brutus to join him and other senators on March 15th, 44 BCE to assassinate Caesar. The dictator was stabbed 23 times by a group of 50-60 senators.

Though only one wound would prove fatal, that was all it took to end Caesar’s reign. Brutus would not survive much longer than his former confidant, as he quickly fell out of favor with the Roman people after the assassination. He took his own life following the loss of a battle just two years later.

3. Sidney Reilly: Inspiration for James Bond

A master spy, Russian-born Sidney Reilly (AKA Georgi Rosenblum), is said to be the inspiration for Ian Fleming’s James Bond. However, unlike Bond, it seems he had no allegiances. In his early working life, he spent time as a businessman, arms dealer, and Scotland Yard spy. During World War I, he spent time in the US, organizing arms deals for Russia, and was then recruited to spy for Britain’s MI6.

In 1918, MI6 sent him to Russia to work on an initiative to overthrow the Bolshevik government. He did so successfully, feeding his handlers a great deal of information. At the same time, he was approached by the Japanese and began handing them information on the Russians as well.

After the attempted assassination of Vladimir Lenin took place in August, Russian leaders began rooting out aspects of foreign spy networks, and Reilly’s face was soon prevalent in newspapers and on posters as a wanted man. He fled Russia and headed to Western Europe successfully, but a tribunal was held in his absence, and he was sentenced to death should he ever set foot inside Russian territory again.

In 1924, a letter allegedly written by leaders in the Communist International was intercepted and urged British communists to promote revolution in their country. This letter was leaked to the press just before the general election in England, potentially affecting the outcome. Later, it was postulated that the letter was written by Reilly or that he at least played an active part in its interception and release.

In 1925, Reilly returned to Russia in order to meet with members of The Trust, a new anti-communist organization. Little did Reilly know, he was about to be double-crossed himself, as his contact was actually a Soviet spy, and the entirety of The Trust was a shell organization designed to capture Reilly and those like him. Sidney Reilly was shot on November 5, 1925 in a Russian forest, though throughout Europe, rumors of his survival persisted, and his posthumous fame grew.

Despite his legendary betrayal, little is known about the life of Ephialtes, a Greek who forsook his home country in the hope of monetary reward. During the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE, the Greeks led by Spartan king Leonidas were in a standoff at a narrow mountain pass, facing Xerxes and his Persians. Ephialtes approached the Persians and offered to show them a path, known only to locals, that would take them around the Greek position and allow for a flank attack. This enabled the Persians to win the battle and move past Thermopylae, while Ephialtes’ name became interchangeable with the word “traitor” throughout Greece.

5. Vidkun Quisling: A Puppet President

One of World War II’s most notorious traitors, Vidkun Quisling, was once Minister-President of Norway. He had previously attempted to form a Norwegian national-socialist party in 1933, where he would serve as leader. However, the party fell out of favor, especially after the actions of Germany’s Nazi party, with similar values, became apparent.

In April 1940, Germany invaded Norway, and Quisling took to the media, announcing a coup against Norwegian leadership and the creation of an impromptu provisional government, hoping to curry favor with and backing from the Nazis. His attempt failed, and a new regime with a German leader was installed by the Nazis five days later.

However, Josef Terboven, the new governmental leader, named Quisling to the Minister-President position, hoping to curry favor with native Norwegians. Quisling kept this position, working closely with Hitler until the conclusion of the war when he was arrested. He was convicted and sentenced to death, soon executed by firing squad.

Raised in Berlin, Stella Goldschlag was a popular blonde student from a Jewish family. She was a young adult when World War II broke out and witnessed many family members and friends taken away to concentration camps.

She married Manfred Kubler in 1941 and worked in a factory as the war progressed. Stella managed to escape a roundup of Jewish workers at her place of employment because the Nazi officers participating didn’t believe that a Jew could be blonde. However, her husband was taken to Auschwitz and never heard from again. Her parents were later sent to the death camp as well.

Stella, instead of suffering the same fate, was offered a job as a “catcher,” in which she would turn fellow Jews over to the Nazi forces. She took the opportunity initially with a promise that her parents would not be deported to Auschwitz. However, their deportation later went through, and Stella continued her work as a catcher. Benefits for catchers included protection from deportation and payment of 200 marks per head that they turned over successfully in addition to regular pay.

Stella was responsible for turning over hundreds of Jews, perhaps thousands by some estimates, resulting in their arrests and murders. After the war, she served time in Soviet prisons for her role, then was convicted by a West German court in 1972, though she received no additional punishment. Still, she would lead an isolated remainder of her life, suffering from poor health. She attempted suicide in 1984, then completed it in a second attempt in 1994.