10 Soldiers Who Turned Out to Be Traitors

10 Soldiers Who Turned Out to Be Traitors

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today, were diving deep into the most monumental betrayals in military history.

Vidkun Quisling

In Scandinavia, the term quisling means someone who collaborates with an occupying force. Its no coincidence that its the last name of Vidkun Quisling, a Norwegian politician and military officer. Before the wars outbreak, he founded the Norwegian fascist party. It wasnt too popular, still only a minor party when the Nazis invaded. During the invasion, he tried to put himself in power via radio broadcast. It didnt work, but two years later, the Nazis finally gave Quisling what he wanted. Following the war, his crimes landed him a death sentence by firing squad, ending his life in Oslo in 1945.

Alfred Redl

The First World War didnt just start overnight. Tensions between empires were super high in the decades prior. It was like a pressure cooker desperate to explode, with the Austro-Hungarian Empire smack bang in the middle. This meant espionage was a big deal before the war, with Alfred Redl becoming the most remembered spy of the era. He was Austrias head of counterintelligence, meaning he was responsible for hunting spies. Turned out, he was a Russian spy himself, and had been for 11 years. It all crashed in 1913, when his successor discovered his treachery. Some evidence suggests he was blackmailed over his sexuality, adding a tragic element to his betrayal.

Wang Jingwei

Sun Yat-sen was the revolutionary who founded modern China, taking down the Qing dynasty in 1911, then replacing it with a short-lived democracy. While hes remembered as a hero to many, his friend Wang Jingwei is not. After Yat-sen died in 1925, Wang Jingwei lost the power struggle for rule over the Kuomintang party. While he remained a member, he became increasingly displeased with their policies. This meant that when Japan invaded in 1937, he rallied to their cause, betraying his people, and becoming leader of Japans Chinese puppet state. If hed lived to the wars conclusion, he would probably have been executed, but he died in 1944, leaving behind a legacy as a traitor who never saw justice.

John A. Walker, Jr.

In 1955, Walker joined the U.S. Navy, becoming a warrant officer by 1967. This role made him the head honcho of Americas submarine communications. Unfortunately for him, he was struggling financially by this point. So what did he do? He walked into the Soviet embassy, sold them a classified document, and asked to become a spy. The Soviets accepted, and he sold them secrets for almost 20 years, until his drunk ex-wife called the FBI. She revealed his secrets, which resulted in him getting a life sentence. Walker died in prison in 2014, 77 years old, only 1 year away from being eligible for parole.

Wilhelm Canaris

Born in the Kingdom of Prussia, Canaris saw Germany fall to Nazi rule in the 1930s. Initially, he was a strong supporter of the regime. This helped him secure a position as Abwehr chief, Germanys counterintelligence service. When he saw the brutal realities of the Poland invasion, he began to work against the Nazis. He relayed tons of information to the fascists enemies, particularly the British. Because of him, Germanys military intelligence agency became a safe space for anti-Nazi conspirators. When Hitler eventually got wind of this, he was arrested in 1944. Only a few weeks before the wars conclusion, Canaris was executed. Apparently, before he died, he denied being a traitor, claiming to serve his country and his country alone.

Oleg Penkovsky

Almost everybody knows about the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, when America and the Soviet Union clashed in the Caribbean. Fewer people know Oleg Penkovsky, one of the most notable Cold War spies in history. His actions arguably prevented World War III. In the 60s, he was a Soviet intelligence officer, but was secretly working with both MI6 and the CIA. Thanks to him, the U.S. knew almost everything about Soviet nuclear missiles, allowing them to call the USSRs bluffs. He believed he was preventing a global catastrophe, and thats exactly what he was doing. How did the Soviets respond? Unfortunately, they caught him, gave him a show trial, and had him executed in 1962. Not the send-off such a hero deserved.

Mir Jafar

The East India Company was arguably the most evil corporation in human history. At their peak, they owned most of India, alongside an army larger than the British Empires. One individual who helped them achieve such absurd wealth was Mir Jafar. He was born in the Mughal Empire, but eventually became a Bengali military commander. In 1757, Jafar betrayed Bengals ruler, handing over the province after the Battle of Plassey. Bengal was one of Indias wealthiest provinces, making it a huge blow to Indian sovereignty. Jafar then ruled Bengal as a British puppet, getting kicked out briefly when they turned against him. India wouldnt be free from British rule until two centuries later.

Benedict Arnold

Not everyone in America supported the Thirteen Colonies cause. Many were still loyal to the British crown, such as Benedict Arnold. He became major general of the Continental Army, but in 1780 defected to the British. Arnold was trusted with defending West Point Fort in New York. Secretly, he was planning to surrender it to the Kings men, but when this plot was exposed, he fled the fort entirely. The British made him a brigadier general, and he went on to fight the army he used to defend. They never fully trusted him, but they let him move to London after the war, since he wasnt welcome in America.

Lü Bu

In the 3rd century AD, China was fragmented into three rival kingdoms. In the tumultuous period preceding it, legendary warrior Lü Bu rose to prominence. In the Eastern Han dynastys dying days, Lü Bu was sworn to Ding Yuan, a powerful warlord. As soon as rival Dong Zhuo offered him riches, he quickly chopped his leaders off and swapped sides. Lü Bu became Dong Zhuos right-hand man, until someone asked him to betray him, so he did. Following this, he allied with even more warlords, like Yuan Shu and Liu Bei. After his disastrous defeat at the Battle of Xiapi, Han leader Cao Cao had him hanged, ending his cycle of treachery.

Cassius & Brutus

Julius Caesar was considered a traitor to the Roman Republic by his contemporaries. Now, we instead remember Cassius and Brutus as the ultimate traitors. The pair were Roman politicians and allies of Julius Caesar. That was until Caesar declared himself dictator for life, threatening the end of the Roman Republic. To save democracy, Brutus and Cassius organized his execution. Instead of reviving the republic, it triggered a civil war, which directly led to Augustus founding the Roman Empire. Their attempt to preserve liberty ultimately accelerated authoritarianism. Two thousand years later, their legacy is still a complicated one.

Do you know any soldiers who were instead so loyal, it cost them dearly? Let us know in the comments section!