Treasonous Traitors Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mir Jafar

Mir Jafar was a general in the Bengal Army. In 1757 he betrayed his country and aided the British East India Company. At the Battle of Plassey the Bengal Army of 50,000 strong was to meet a 3,000 man British East India Company force. Siraj ud-Daulah, was the nawab (president) of Bengal (present day Bangladesh, India, and parts of other countries). The British had bribed Mir Jafar and promised to make him the nawab, a position he eagerly sought. On the battlefield Jafar allowed the British force to gain ground and rout the parts of the army that had sided with Sirja. Sirja was captured and executed. Mir Jafar became nawab, but he was far from independent.

The Battle of Plassey gave the British the foothold they needed to control India and Bangladesh for nearly 200 years. Mir Jafar's treachery was an important factor in their victory. His descendants are forever condemned to shame.

Answer: by switching sides

Joachim Murat's story is one of rapid rise through the ranks. Napoleon saw his bravery, leadership and potential. Murat was even allowed to marry the boss's 17-year-old sister, Caroline. Among his many honors, Murat was offered the Kingdom of Naples.

Joachim and Caroline ruled Naples as a kingdom independent of France, much to the chagrin of Napoleon. Murat was not satisfied with Naples. He planned an invasion of Sicily with his troops and French troops. Napoleon refused to approve the use of French troops, and Murat's invasion failed. Caroline sided with her husband over her brother. When Murat began to realize that Napoleon's Empire was doomed he turned on his brother-in-law, and fought on the Allied side during the War of the Sixth Coalition.

Napoleon was exiled, but surprisingly returned to power. Murat turned again, declaring his support for Napoleon. He declared war on Austria, but was defeated at the Battle of Tolentino. Murat fled. When he tried to enter Italy he was arrested, tried, convicted and shot by a firing squad.

Answer: Wang Jingwei

Wang Jingwei was a prominent member of Chiang Kai-shek's government. Japan invaded China in 1937. In 1938 Wang set up his own government in Nanjing and collaborated with the Japanese. His actions were seen as a betrayal.

Answer: La Malinche

La Malinche was an interpreter for the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortez during his invasion of Mexico in the 16th century. She was known as Malintzin and her name is synonymous with traitor in Mexico.

La Malinche had been enslaved and was sold to the Spanish, serving them as a translator. But she was more than just a translator. She was the crucial liaison between Cortez and Montezuma, an enthusiastic supporter of the Spanish conquest. Her aid to Cortez ultimately led to the fall of the Aztec Empire.

Answer: Dutch

Margaretha MacLeod, nee Zell, was born in the Netherlands. She met her husband, Rudolph MacLeod, an officer of the Dutch East India Company, through an ad in a newspaper. They moved to Java and had two children. Rudolph MacLeod was an abusive alcoholic. The marriage ended in divorce.

She moved to Paris where she became an exotic dancer to support herself. She began using the stage name "Mata Hari", which means "eye of the day" or "sun" in Malay. In WWI she used her beauty to seduce military leaders; it is believed by some historians that she accepted money from both sides in return for espionage activity.

There is, however, no tangible proof that she actually supplied any intelligence of value to either side. Still, she was captured by the French in February 1917 and executed by firing squad in October 1917. Some historians view her as a scapegoat for France's lapses in WW1. Whether true or not, the name Mati Harti will forever be associated with espionage.

Answer: Ezra Pound

Ezra Pound was one of the most influential poets of the 20thy century. He was also extremely antisemitic. During WWII he made over 200 radio broadcasts from Rome for Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, in which he unabashedly railed against Jews.

He was also openly critical of President Roosevelt and the U.S. government, and was arrested for treason. Doctors found him unfit to stand trial in 1945. He was remanded to St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, DC, where he spent 12 years. The charges against him were eventually dismissed.

Answer: False

False. Ana Montez was a spy for the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. She spied for 17 years, providing Cuba with valuable intelligence from her position as an intelligence analyst with the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency. She was arrested in 2001, and served over 20 years in prison. She was critical of U.S. policy in Central America and its embargo of Cuba.

Answer: Vidkun Quisling

Vidkun Quisling was a Norwegian military officer and diplomat during WWII. He was posted in the Soviet Union, where he became sympathetic towards communism. At some point he diverged completely to fascism. In Norway he started a controversial antisemitic political party. Quisling actively headed the Nazi government in Norway. He actively participated in the deportation of Norwegian Jews. The term "quisling" (traitor, collaborator) has entered the English language.

Quisling's wife Maria died in 1980. She was buried in a family plot in a cemetery in Gjerpen, Norway. Maria's will provided funds for the plot for 50 years from her death. But in 2025 the Church City Mission announced it will no longer pay the ground rent because ever since Quisling's remains were interred there in 1959 the site has become a gathering place for Nazi sympathizers.

Answer: The Battle of Thermopylae

Ephialtes of Trachis has been called "the most notorious traitor in ancient Greek history". It was he who betrayed the Greek forces at the Battle of Thermopylae by leading the Persian forces through a secret mountain passage. As a result, the Persians were able to out flank the Greeks, leading to their defeat.

Answer: Cambridge Five

Harold "Kim" Philby was a member of the Cambridge Five. The group all met at Cambridge University and included Philby and four others: Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean, Anthony Blount, and John Cairncross.

Philby spied for the Soviet Union for over 20 years. He was head of the Soviet Desk at British Foreign Intelligence (MI6). He spent 2 years in Washington, DC, as MI6 liaison with the CIA. His treachery led to hundreds of deaths during and after WWII. He identified British agents working undercover in the Soviet Union, resulting in their deaths or imprisonment. He also identified British agents working in other communist-bloc countries. Soviet agents working for the British were identified and killed along with all their relatives.

After being accused as a spy he not only continued to work at MI6, he was awarded the OBE, and was not prosecuted because a trial would have been an embarrassment to Britain and America. While MI5 (Britain's FBI) was building a case against him, he somehow was able to defect to the Soviet Union, where spent the remainder of his life.