The Red Threat

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, power was not immediately consolidated or agreed upon. The Red Army was led by Vladmir Lenin, who fought specifically for their Bolshevik form of socialism. Meanwhile, The White Army, made up of various other factions of socialists, fought for their form of government. The color red was used in leftwing European movements long before Russian socialism, but in specifically Russian, and later Chinese socialism, red represents the blood of the workers that sacrificed for the revolution and the country. The reference to the color would stick, as the Bolsheviks carried out mass killings later referenced as “The Red Terror” as they consolidated power in 1918. Incidentally, both the flags of the Soviet Union and China are primarily red. Because of all this, Americans began to refer to communists as “the Reds” when The Cold War broke out, hence the title “The Red Scare” or “Red Threat” when referencing the decades of communist witch hunts. Why the Color Red?

President Dwight D. Eisenhower led the country as it entered into the Cold War after serving as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces during World War II. However, the Cold War was fought in a different way than most wars, and was an especially stark contrast to the devastation of World Wars I and II. The United States and the Soviet Union competed covertly, legally, technologically, culturally, and most terrifyingly- -through a nuclear arms race. Americans would watch on their family television sets as the United States beat the Soviet Union to land a man the moon, and school children learned what to do in the event of a nuclear attack.

The U.S. along with other democratic nations, passed several measures attempting to curb the Soviet Union’s influence on developing countries. These indirect ways of fighting each other were why it was termed a “cold” war. American life was affected every day as the atmosphere of paranoia, fear, and suspicion spread rapidly. Citizens began to distrust their neighbors and question any behavior that deviated from the social norm. Even the small possibility that one’s coworker might be a spy was enough to drive Americans and lawmakers to sell each other out as a risk to the country.

Though no war was fought on United States or Soviet soil, several countries became proxies for the two countries’ ideological feud. These wars, known as proxy wars, competed for each country’s military resources. The United States used them to contain Communism’s spread into countries with American diplomatic interests. The Middle East, and the ‘Near East’ (including China, Vietnam), and Latin America were the most vulnerable areas of the world to be fought over in these proxy wars, and ultimately led to greater instability for these countries. In 1957, President Eisenhower enacted the Eisenhower Doctrine, committing military assistance specifically to Middle East countries threatened by Communist aggression. With many of these proxy wars, the decision to send U.S. military and was partially to contain Communism, and partially to protect American economic self-interest.

Senator Joseph McCarthy is one of the most notable names in American Cold War history. Fellow Travelers focuses on his efforts to expose Communist and homosexual subversion in the United States. The House Committee on UnAmerican Activities (HUAC), whose goal was to root out, expose, and punish Communist spies and sympathizers, was actually never staffed by Senator McCarthy. Similar committees had existed since World War II ended, with one such committee accusing The Federal Theatre Project of being infiltrated by Communists. HUAC became a permanent committee in 1945.

While Communist espionage very much existed, there were few Communists actually living and working in the United States. The culture of fear and suspicion, however, was pervasive. Interrogation tactics were forceful, dramatic, and invasive. Panic and persecution plagued D.C. with the press, such as The Washington Star, fueling the propaganda. Thousands of state and federal employees were fired under suspicion or “proof” of being a threat to United States security--merely because of their suspected beliefs, sexual orientation, or even country of origin. The film and performing arts industry was hit hard in Hollywood, with over 500 employees losing their jobs and being blacklisted including opera librettists and composers Arnold Schoenberg, Bertolt Brecht, Leonard Bernstein, and Aaron Copland. Many colleges and universities were also susceptible to these types of investigations of their faculty in particular, for any sort of foreign or loosely political ties.

McCarthy led aggressive campaigns until 1954, when his tactics ultimately led to the downfall of HUAC, basically by association. McCarthy finally went too far when he accused the U.S. Army of harboring Soviet spies. In 1959, former President Truman deemed HUAC, “the most unAmerican thing in the country today.”

If the opera is set in Washington during this time of fear and persecution, how do you think the music of the opera might convey this tension? What kind of emotional atmosphere do you expect to see and hear in the opera?