The Fifth Column

The Fifth Column is a group of people that secretly work to undermine a nation to which it seems to belong to. It was first used during the Spanish Civil War when Emilio Mona said that four columns of his troops would be supported by a fifth within Madrid. This term was later used by Britain during the early years of World War II to fight the Nazis or Fascists. The Defense Regulation 18b that Britain passed in 1939 allowed the capture of people associated with the Nazi party. This was due to fear or a fifth column rising in Britain that might soon overpower it. On May 23, 1940 Oswald Mosley was arrested due to his possible involvement with the Fascist Party. It was believed that he was arrested due to the help of a fifth-column. Oswald Mosley was a leader of the British Union of Fascists. They were arrested in May, 1940 when amendment 1A was introduced to 18b. It stated that detentions were to bed held for the far-right. This was due to a rising threat of internal conflict that might have happened in Britain. More than a thousand people total were arrested because of the Defense Regulation 18b. In June 1940 a school teacher was imprisoned for "advancing defeatist theories" to his students. He told his students that Germany would get closer and closer to Britain, and that they would soon start eating cats and dogs to survive. He was arrested because he invoked fear into the nation of Britain. The British government did not want people to worry about losing the war. This would create chaos in the country and Britain would not stand a chance against Germany when all of its people would doubt its victory.