Fellow traveller

In some political contexts the term fellow traveler refers to a person who sympathizes with the beliefs of a particular organization, but does not belong to that organization. The phrase must be understood as referring to people who "walk part of the way" with an organization, without committing themselves to it. The term is most often applied to a sympathizer of Communism, or particular Communist states such as the Soviet Union, who is nonetheless not a "card-carrying member" of a Communist Party.

The Russian Revolution

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, the term "fellow traveler" (Russian language: poputchik; it was sometimes used untranslated also in the Central European countries as well as English) was sometimes applied to Russian writers who accepted the revolution's ends but were not active participants. Some writers were able during the relatively open era of the New Economic Policy to write on subjects in the manner of their choosing, but during various periods of repressions that followed, particularly after the ascendancy of Joseph Stalin and his Great Purge, many found their position difficult. Some emigrated when the authorities refused to allow publication of anti-regime works, while others ceased writing altogether, sometimes coerced into doing so. A prominent example of the literary fellow travelers is Mikhail Bulgakov, author of The Master and Margarita.

Fellow travelers as Communist sympathizers

In Europe, the term was used to describe those who, without being Communist Party members of their respective countries, had Communist sympathies, and sometimes acted in close connection with the Comintern and the Soviet regime: attending communist meetings, writing in communist journals, and even fighting alongside communists in Spain (in the 1930s), Greece (in the late 1940s), and Latin America (in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s). Many journalists, intellectuals and artists have been described (and sometimes referred to themselves) as fellow travelers, among them André Gide, André Malraux, Ernest Hemingway, Romain Rolland, Jean-Paul Sartre and Martha Gellhorn.

The Greek Junta

The Greek military junta of 1967-1974 used the term Synodiporia (literally: The ones walking the street together or fellow travellers) as an umbrella term to denote leftist sympathisers and in general all domestic democratic opponents of the junta. Diethnis (i. e. international) Synodiporia was used by the Greek junta for the international supporters of the domestic leftist sympathisers and their allies.

In the United States

In the United States, the term has long been used to describe those who, while not a potential Communist, nevertheless may hold views shared by Communists. Partly because of political controversies surrounding the subject, the term is in this context often used as or considered to be a political pejorative.

During the Red Scare, a period of American history which started before the end of World War II and lasted until the U.S. House of Representatives eliminated the HCUA in the late 1960’s, the American Communist party was decimated by fears that they would violently overthrow the United States government.

The FBI played a lead role in the destruction of American Communists, along with politicians such as Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-Wisc). Instead of protecting citizens against self incrimination, any citizen, when questioned by a Congressional committee about their possible membership in the American Communist Party or a Communist Front organization, and who invoked the fifth amendment, was seen as guilty, and branded as a Fifth Amendment Communist.

J. Edgar Hoover's "Masters of Deceit"

A fellow traveler is one of five types of dangerous subversives as defined by FBI director J. Edgar Hoover in his book, "Masters of Deceit: The Story of Communism in America and How to Fight It," who might promote the goal of a Communist overthrow of the United States government. The five types were:

• 1) The card-carrying Communist. A Communist who openly admits membership in the Communist party.

• 2) The underground Communist. A Communist who hides his Communist party membership.

• 3) The Communist sympathizer. A potential Communist who holds Communist views. While the card-carrying Communist was known as a 'Red,' a Communist sympathizer was sometimes known as a 'Pink' or 'Pinko.'

• 4) The fellow traveler. Someone who is not a potential Communist but nevertheless may hold views shared by Communists. A Fellow traveler was also called 'Pink' or 'Pinko.'

• 5) The dupes. Someone who is obviously not a Communist or a potential Communist but whose views may coincide with some of those of the American Communists. Examples are a prominent religious leader who opposed increased military expenditures and war, or a prominent jurist who opposed Red-baiting tactics on civil liberty grounds. A dupe was also called 'Pink' or 'Pinko.'

See also

• Useful idiot
• Pinko
• Fraternal party
• Communist front