"Traitors" are judged so simply from the point of view of the people in power (and their backers). When those people are no longer in power, the former traitors are often hailed as the new heroes or martyrs by the new people in power...who will select as the new "traitors" those who act in a way they don't like.
Such is the hypocrisy and opportunism of people in the grip of any politically partisan struggle.