Fifth Column in the United States

Fifth Column (in Politics)

Related to political science, the following is a definition of Fifth Column in the U.S. practice of politics: A treasonous group who secretly undermine a nation from within.

The term was coined by the Nationalist General Emilio Mola Vidal during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). As four of his army columns moved on Madrid, he referred to his militant supporters within the capital as a “fifth column,” who weakened the loyalist government with a campaign of sabotage and uprisings.