Historically speaking, I found our discussion of fellow travelers and Soviet Russia to be very fascinating. We described fellow travelers as Americans that were interested in Soviet Russia. Soviet Russians enticed American intellectuals by having them visit the Soviet Union and in return the communists desired propaganda in the West. These state sponsored tours were deceitful and extremely limited. In their efforts to court them as allies they don’t let them see any of the unfortunate things associated with communism. The Western intellectuals were never left alone for a second and were always with a party official. They did not want the Americans to see any evidence of protest. We talked about one of the main reasons why intellectuals are dissatisfied and disgruntled is because they feel like they have been isolated. I think that Soviet Russians exploited fellow travelers and used their sense of isolation to their advantage. The Soviet Russians manipulated the Western intellectuals to feel a sense of inclusion as they wanted to recruit them as allies. It surprises me that these fellow travelers were taken advantage of and manipulated, as these are intellectual members of society. Therefore, I would have expected them to realize the true agenda of the Soviet Russians. It makes sense to me though that the Soviet Russians recruited these intellectuals during a vulnerable position when they felt underappreciated and alienated from society. I think there is also a part of these intellectuals that wanted to seek power through forming an alliance with the Russians. If they felt dissatisfied in the States, perhaps they thought they could seek power with Russia.
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One reply on “Week 5 blog part 1”
I can speak from experience or prior knowledge that the Soviets were extremely cautious in what they showed the public outside of their country, especially Americans. My mom studied abroad in Russia in 1986 as a college student only a few years before the Soviet Union collapsed. She’s often told stories about how when they would go on excursions to different sites there were always men walking closely behind them or if they were out as a group in downtown St. Petersburg they were constantly being followed. In hindsight she realized that those men that were always close by were KGB officers watching these American students to make sure they never saw anything or did anything they were not supposed to. As young intellectuals going to the Soviet Union I am sure the program aimed to put forth the best of their system even when there was mass control over food and speech. Coming from a Russian background and her father fleeing the country several years prior, she could see right through the facade of the people and the slogans. However, I am sure that many of her classmates may have been convinced in that the system was prospering and their manipulation tactics were working. This was probably in an aim to save face with the Americans and show them that their society is still functioning well enough to allow exchange students to come abroad. Overall, the Soviets were especially planned about everything they did, from Stalinist times and on; always aiming to save face and make it seem as though the actions put forth were for the improvement of society and their people no matter the consequence. Perhaps this steadfastness and arrogance is what enticed the Western intellectuals.