10 Biggest Betrayals in History You Didn't Know About
#10: James Armistead Lafayette
When you hear the name Lafayette, your first thought may be of the heroic French officer, who fought in both the American and French Revolutionary Wars. Instead, were discussing an enslaved American from the same era, who served under Lafayette. James was born a slave, but volunteered for the Continental Army, which promised him freedom. They asked him to spy on British general Benedict Arnold, who thought he was just a runaway slave. This allowed him to do the job amazingly well. Thankfully, in 1784 he was granted his freedom for his heroism.
#9: Operation Trust
In the 1920s, the Soviet Union was a newly formed revolutionary state. In 1917, they got their start in the Russian Constituent Assembly election. When Lenins radical Bolsheviks lost, they destroyed democracy in favor of authoritarianism. Understandably, not everyone was pleased. This led to Operation Trust in the 20s, a fake anti-Bolshevik organisation, created by the government. It was called the Monarchist Union of Central Russia, which was a front to capture monarchists. In 1993, historian John Costello was allowed to access Trusts records. Turned out, it was a total mess, with no real way to tell who was a monarchist or not.
#8: The Zinoviev Letter
Britain between the two world wars was teeming with fresh political ideologies, from anarchy to communism to fascism. Many were terrified of the communists revolting in Britain, much like they had in Russia. This fear was so great, in 1924, it cost the Labour party the election. This was because of a published letter from the Soviets, which encouraged British communists to revolt. The right-wing conservatives published the letter, which later turned out to be forged. This would only be realised decades later, after the damage had been done. So it turned out Britain wasnt at major risk of a communist uprising, after all.
#7: Hans-Joachim Tiedge
Most people agree, the worst person to turn into a spy is your own counter-intelligence agent. This is exactly what happened in West Germany in the 1980s. For most of the 20th century, Germany was divided into East and West, respectively communist and capitalist. Espionage between the two was major, with over 150 West German spies being caught in the east in the 80s alone. Somehow, the wests counter intelligence officer, Hans Tiedge, evaded capture. That ended up not being a concern for Tiedge, who was a double agent. In 1985, he defected to the east entirely, which caused huge damage to the wests intelligence agency.
#6: William Sebold
Originally born in the German Empire in 1899, Sebold immigrated to America following World War I. In 1939 he returned home to visit his mother, where he was pressured by the Gestapo to become a Nazi spy. He reported this to the Americans, then quickly became a double agent. Eventually, hed be a major player in the Duquesne Spy Ring, a secret Nazi group. In 1941, Sebold had aided the FBI in identifying all its members. This then resulted in a monumental number of convictions. In total, 33 people were convicted, with their sentences lasting over 300 years combined.
#5: Theodore Hall
For a brief period, America was the strongest nation globally by an overwhelming margin. This was following World War II, when they were the sole owners of atomic weapons. This dominance wouldve lasted longer, if not for the efforts of Theodore Hall. He was the youngest physicist hired for the Manhattan project. As the war came to a close, he became worried at the thought of America being the sole atomic power. This was a concern of many physicists who worked on the project, with a few petitioning Truman not to use it against Japanese people. Eventually, Hall gave the Soviets detailed plans for the atomic bomb.
#4: Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy
The French revolution was an extremely complicated event, with a myriad of factors driving it. One such factor was a bizarre scandal involving a diamond necklace and Marie Antoinette. The Queens reputation had taken huge hits by 1784, making many disinterested in the monarchy. Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy made things even worse, by tricking someone into thinking the Queen wanted a 2 million livre necklace. Jeanne then stole the jewelry and had it sold on the black market. The offenders were put on trial, in a scramble to save face. It had the opposite effect, fueling more hatred of the monarchy. Jeanne was branded with a V for voleuse, or thief, then sentenced to life in prison.
#3: Karl Schulmeister
The Napoleonic wars were a period of immense turmoil in Europe, following the chaos of the French revolution. At its helm was Napoleon Bonaparte, whose head spymaster was the German Karl Schulmeister. Initially, he worked for the Austrian Empire, but became a double agent for the French Republic. Without him, Austerlitz wouldnt have been such an overwhelming victory for Napoleon. This was the famous battle that caused the Holy Roman Empire to be dissolved. This turned him into one of the most important spies of the era. Schulmeister was even sent to the British isles to spy on Frances greatest foe.
#2: Harold Cole
The worst traitor of World War II is a huge claim to make, yet its how Harold Cole has been described. Originally from Londons East End, Cole started working for the Gestapo by 1941. His cover was that he was a British agent, working to release POWs from Vichy France. In this job, he managed to get at least 150 French freedom fighters arrested. Many of them were executed and sent to concentration camps. Cole survived the war, but angered both the Axis and Allies. This got him shot by French police while resisting arrest in 1946, not long after the war had ended.
#1: Wu Sangui
The Ming dynasty was one of the longest lived Chinese empires. They ruled from 1368 all the way until 1644. In the end, one sole traitor Wu Sangui was a major factor in their downfall. Wu was originally a Ming general, but decided to let their northern Manchu enemies through the Great Wall. This was because a peasant rebel had taken Beijing, capturing Wus family in the process. The Manchus then descended on Beijing, but decided to start the Qing dynasty instead of restoring Ming. Wu didnt stay loyal to them either, eventually starting his own rebellion in 1673, which lasted 8 years and ended in defeat.
Were there any huge betrayals we forgot to mention, that you feel are barely known about? Leave them in the comments section below!
