Joel A Lewis Youth Against Fascism.pdf
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Joel A Lewis Youth Against Fascism.pdf
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This book is dedicated to the<br />
memory and passionate spirit of<br />
Dr. Neil Rafeek and Shirlee M. Peterson.<br />
"Another World Is Possible!"
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS<br />
Writing a book is in many ways a test of the human will; it is a journey into unexplored<br />
territory wrought with seemingly insurmountable obstacles. It is easy for the historian to<br />
become despondent, panicked and disillusioned. My own personal journey has been<br />
beset with challenges, but key individuals have collectively fostered my intellectual<br />
development while keeping me human and smiling along the way.<br />
I wish to first thank a number of my colleagues. James A. Schmiechen has been both<br />
a mentor and a dear friend, guiding my work and growth for years. No amount of words<br />
can express my deep gratitude and respect for him. Eric Johnson has inspired me to press<br />
forward on days when I wanted to retreat. Stephen Scherer has taught me that there need<br />
be no contradiction between being a dedicated scholar and a fully developed human<br />
being. Susan Pyecroft first inspired my interest in history and encouraged me in my first<br />
study abroad program. Her intellectual and human capacity knows no bounds. John<br />
Dinse has been my intellectual mentor since I was just a teen, providing the inspiration<br />
and support that has guided every step of my academic life. W. Hamish Fraser opened<br />
up new perspectives on working-class and Scottish radicalism to me. It is a true honor to<br />
know Hamish as both an advisor and a friend. Fraser Ottanelli's groundbreaking work on<br />
the CPUSA stimulated my initial interest in the history of American communism. His<br />
gifted insights and methodologies have deeply influenced and in many ways defined my<br />
own perspectives on political radicalism in the inter-war period. Tim O'Neil's poignant<br />
critiques have been vital in identifying and correcting my own "incorrect" interpretations.<br />
Tim Hall provided the faith, funding and advisement that made this research possible.<br />
A special thanks needs to be addressed to a number of present and past members of<br />
the graduate student bodies and staff at Central Michigan University and the University<br />
of Strathclyde. Robert Hendershot, Angela Bartie, Andrew Devenney, Matt McCabe,<br />
Hilary Young, David Walker, Christopher Powell, Jennifer Cavalli, Tom Berney, Lori<br />
Tapia, Jared Klackle, Abbey Cullen, Emily Doerr, Kevin Alt, Jennifer Dowie, Jo Aspinwall,<br />
Alison Armour, Annette Davis and Bettie Ricolo have provided the endless comradery,<br />
laughter, and intellectual support vital to progress in all facets of my life.<br />
I am deeply indebted to a number of archivists, academics and unofficial advisors who<br />
both inspired and enabled this research. In particular, I would like to give a deep thanks<br />
to Audrey Canning, John Powles, Janis McNair, Carole McCallum, Steven Bird, Alain<br />
Kahan and Patrick Ward for their patience, expertise and welcoming demeanor. The<br />
special collections staff at Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and the<br />
Reference Center for Marxist Studies also provided invaluable assistance to me. Alistair
Hulett, Fatima Uygun, Janey Buchan, Kevin Morgan, Maurice Isserman, Robbie Lieberman,<br />
Brigitte Bechtold, David Goldberg, Blaine Stevenson, Sterling Johnson and Arthur<br />
McIvor have provided significant advice and contributions to this research.<br />
A few individuals outside of the academy inspired my initial interest in radical youth<br />
politics and have guided almost every thought I have had on this subject. Mike Waite's<br />
passion for anti-fascism, social justice and history equally match his astounding intellect.<br />
Without Mike's enduring support this book would not exist. Adrienne Brune, Docia<br />
Buffington, Angelo Moreno, Sheltreese McCoy and Brie Phillips showed me the human<br />
face and passion of radical youth politics. Their friendship and spirit have challenged me<br />
to be a better intellectual and inspire me daily to be a better human.<br />
Last, but certainly not least, an exceptional note for my dear family and friends,<br />
especially my mother and father, who have given me the endless love, strength and<br />
support that have nurtured me through the good times and the bad, collectively making<br />
me who I am today. To you I am eternally grateful. Finally, I owe a special debt of<br />
gratitude to my beautiful niece Luighseach Anne-Cwicseolfor <strong>Lewis</strong>. You have given all<br />
of us a fresh perspective on life and are a true "bringer of light" into this world. My only<br />
hope is that we can give to you and your generation a world free from the horrors of<br />
violence and modern warfare.
TABLE OF CONTENTS<br />
INTRODUCTION:<br />
COMMUNIST HISTORIOGRAPHY AND THE YOUTH..........................................1<br />
VANGUARD OF THE RED DAWN:<br />
THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE LENINIST GENERATION .................................10<br />
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM:<br />
THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE POPULAR FRONT GENERATION...................37<br />
NATIONALISM:<br />
FROM POISON TO PATRIOTISM ...........................................................................58<br />
UNITY OF YOUTH:<br />
FROM SECTARIANISM TO POPULISM.................................................................77<br />
DEMOCRACY:<br />
FROM DENUNCIATION TO DEFENCE .................................................................99<br />
CONCLUSION:<br />
THE YOUTH STRUGGLE AGAINST WAR..........................................................130<br />
APPENDIX................................................................................................................142<br />
NOTES.......................................................................................................................150<br />
BIBLIOGRAPHY......................................................................................................184
INTRODUCTION: COMMUNIST<br />
HISTORIOGRAPHY AND THE YOUTH<br />
The Young Communist International (YCI) emerged in Berlin in November, 1919,<br />
originating out of the pre-war traditions of anti-militarism and internationalism that<br />
dominated the socialist youth movement. Though youth were a central element of<br />
communist politics during the inter-war period, most historical narratives have traditionally<br />
neglected the impact of the YCLs on the evolution of communism. By 1924 the YCI<br />
had established over sixty Young Communist Leagues (YCL) throughout Europe, the<br />
Americas and Asia. 1 During the twenties, YCLs outside of Germany and the Soviet<br />
Union remained small propagandist sects exerting little impact on labor and youth<br />
politics. While their initial external influence was negligible in the non-communist<br />
world, young communists played a pivotal role in the internal development of the international<br />
communist movement. 2 With the advent of the Nazi Third Reich, young communists<br />
shifted their focus outward, constructing large populist youth movements against<br />
fascism and war throughout Europe and the United States.<br />
The history of the YCI is intimately connected with the origins and development of<br />
the Communist International (Comintern). This study of communist youth is an effort to<br />
further the arguments of Richard Cornell that a study of the YCI "can tell us a great deal<br />
about the nature of communism… [and] how the communist movement developed." 3<br />
The Comintern leadership of the 1920s was composed primarily of adults, but its early<br />
membership base was dominated by youth. 4 Initially the YCI and its national Leagues<br />
claimed affiliation to the Comintern, but asserted complete political independence.<br />
However, in November, 1920 the Russian YCL proposed the complete "political subordination"<br />
of the YCLs "to the leadership of the Parties of their respective countries." 5<br />
This Russian proposal encountered fierce resistance from the YCI Executive Committee<br />
who envisioned the youth movement as the "true vanguard" of international communism.<br />
At the Comintern's Third Congress in 1921 these Russian proposals were finally adopted,<br />
officially subordinating the YCI to the Comintern. The YCI came to accept this new<br />
relationship, relinquishing their prior political independence.<br />
This book begins with the premise that over the course of the inter-war period, the<br />
YCLs changed significantly in their size, structure, political influence and relationship<br />
with the Comintern, bearing little resemblance to their initial organizations by the end of<br />
the thirties. During the twenties, the YCI and its Leagues were charged with the highly<br />
1
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
political role of constructing a new "Leninist Generation" of youth as future recruits for<br />
the Communist Parties. 6 Since the YCLs evolved into recruitment organizations for<br />
Communist Parties, most texts limit their treatment of youth to random footnotes and<br />
passing commentary. During the thirties the YCI shifted its focus to constructing a<br />
"Popular Front Generation" of youth dedicated to anti-fascism and the mass mobilization<br />
of youth movements against the outbreak of a new world war. Though the emphasis and<br />
composition of YCLs changed dramatically in the thirties, most historians have continued<br />
to neglect addressing the central role of youth in communist politics.<br />
Communist Historiography and the <strong>Youth</strong><br />
A diverse literature exists on the history of youth movements since the 1960s, but few<br />
historians have seriously dealt with radical youth during the inter-war era. During this<br />
period, issues of youth politics and culture were central questions within almost all<br />
political movements. 7 In debating issues of war, peace, citizenship and democratic<br />
inclusion, most politicians and activists explicitly linked their analysis of the role of the<br />
youth with the future of their nation.<br />
Existing histories of communist youth in Britain and the United States are primarily<br />
autobiographical narratives, oral histories and analyses of "red diaper" children in communist<br />
families. 8 Political autobiographies, though often gripping in their accounts,<br />
primarily offer a "romanticized" vision of the past where former activists attempt to<br />
legitimize their youthful political allegiances. Such studies offer fascinating personal<br />
insights about political socialization and generational perceptions, but rarely engage in<br />
any serious commentary on the ideological and organizational evolution of the YCLs.<br />
Other texts have discussed the YCLs by focusing exclusively on their relationship to<br />
the general student protest and youth movements. 9 Most surprising, by neglecting themes<br />
of communist youth, standard histories of communism and youth politics have established<br />
the view that the YCLs were of little historical importance.<br />
Indeed, observations of the YCL's evolution raise important questions about the veracity<br />
of communist historiography relating to youth politics in the inter-war period. Has<br />
communist historiography developed upon divergent paths in Britain and the United<br />
States What new themes can comparative methodologies reveal in communist history<br />
How did youth of the twenties view and understand the communist movement Did the<br />
British and American YCLs construct a unique political identity in the context of international<br />
communism What role did ideologies like fascism play in constructing communist<br />
political identity Can the standard dichotomy between "traditionalist" and<br />
"revisionist" scholars adequately cope with these questions<br />
Much of the field of Communist historiography was developed during the Cold War.<br />
Reflecting the contentious political debates of that era, historians, political scientists and<br />
policy analysts sought to explain the nature of the communist movement in order to<br />
2
COMMUNIST HISTORIOGRAPHY AND THE YOUTH<br />
understand Cold War political tensions. Initial scholarly research was highly influenced<br />
by the concept of totalitarianism, as made popular by scholars like Hannah Arendt. 10<br />
Totalitarian theory linked the Soviet experience with the Nazi Third Reich as "enemies of<br />
Western democracy." 11 Scholars in turn applied totalitarian concepts in their analysis of<br />
national parties, focussing upon the monolithic and authoritarian nature of the communist<br />
movement, dismissing many trends of evolution and change.<br />
Early Cold War scholarship focussed primarily on evaluating the relationship between<br />
national parties and the Soviet state. Western historiography became split between<br />
traditionalist scholars who emphasized Soviet connections and revisionists who distanced<br />
their national narratives from Moscow. 12 Another historiographical camp of this period<br />
praised national parties for their association with the early Soviet state while condemning<br />
their later approval of the Stalin state. Much of this scholarship originated out of the<br />
dissident communist movement embodied in Leon Trotsky's critiques of Stalinism. 13<br />
Trotskyist scholarship emphasised the corrupting role of "Stalinism" on national parties,<br />
focussing their narrative almost exclusively upon the degenerative influence of the Soviet<br />
leadership upon the Comintern. 14 Other texts, though not written by Trotskyists, were<br />
informed by a similar approach. Such texts focussed upon the manipulative influence<br />
that Moscow had upon the development of national radical traditions.<br />
These methodologies were almost all ideologically motivated, attempting to either<br />
discredit or rehabilitate Western communist legitimacy. 15 Early scholars presented a<br />
skewed analysis of communism by not addressing that it was both a national and international<br />
phenomenon that evolved in significant and sometimes independent ways during<br />
the inter-war period.<br />
The divergent Cold War experiences of Britain and the United States fostered distinct<br />
differences in historical scholarship concerning Western communism. In the post-WWII<br />
era, the Labour Party and the Welfare State made socialism a central feature of British<br />
political culture. 16 Communists were politically marginalized by the Labour Party, but<br />
continued to exert significant influence in the trade unions, universities and British public<br />
life. 17 In the United States anti-communist hysteria dominated public and political life<br />
almost immediately at the end of WWII. American politics were defined by a fear of<br />
international communism and domestic campaigns which sought to expose "disloyal"<br />
communist elements functioning in the United States. 18 Willie Thompson has noted that<br />
while "discrimination and attacks" upon the CPGB were serious, they lacked "the fury of<br />
the United States witch hunt" and were "not savage enough to cripple it as an organisation<br />
as happened to the CPUSA." 19 Anti-communism became the prevalent discourse of<br />
American public life while socialism became an accepted and integral part of British<br />
culture.<br />
As a result, British communist history has been written primarily by scholars rooted in<br />
the socialist movement, but with wide disagreement as to how to view the role of Moscow.<br />
Three such examples are the works of Henry Pelling, James Klugmann and Walter<br />
3
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
Kendall. Pelling was an established historian of British socialism, the Labour Party and<br />
the labour movement. He published the first scholarly work on the CPGB in 1958,<br />
tracing its origins and development until 1957. Pelling's work was a groundbreaking<br />
effort, but came to the general conclusion that the CPGB was not a British institution, but<br />
simply a tool of Moscow trying to disrupt traditional Labour Party politics. 20 James<br />
Klugmann was a trusted intellectual within the CPGB and who was thus charged with the<br />
task of writing an "official history" of the party. 21 Klugmann’s two volume history of the<br />
CPGB disconnects British associations with Moscow by simply avoiding any serious<br />
discussion of the Comintern. 22 While Klugmann gained exclusive access to archival<br />
material, his emphasis upon the national narrative limits the insights of his work. Walter<br />
Kendall was a devout Labour Party activist who had close associations with dissident<br />
communists like Harry McShane and Alfred Rosmer. 23 Kendall's analysis focuses on the<br />
domestic origins of British revolutionary socialism and the coercive relationship that<br />
developed between the incipient CPGB and the Comintern. 24 Each of these works added<br />
significant contributions to British communist history, but suffered from an overriding<br />
concern with Moscow, focussing principally upon formal policy and party leadership. 25<br />
American communist history was dominated initially by the "Fund for the Republic:<br />
Communism in American Life" series that posited a "traditionalist" view of Moscow<br />
domination. 26 The authors commissioned for this series were primarily veterans of the<br />
"New Deal left" who were disillusioned by their interactions with the CPUSA. 27 The<br />
pivotal work produced in this series was Theodore Draper's study of the origins of the<br />
CPUSA, tracing its development up until 1929. 28 In his work, Draper dismissed the<br />
usage of CP published literature, opting instead to focus almost exclusively on internal<br />
communications and meeting minutes of top committees to show how Soviet influence<br />
was the "determining factor" in all CP policies. 29 Prior to the establishment of the Fund,<br />
the CPUSA attempted to "rehabilitate" their public image through historical publications.<br />
William Z. Foster, Chairman of the CPUSA, published an "official history" of the party<br />
in 1952. Foster was a long-time veteran of the American labor movement and forged a<br />
narrative that simply grafted the history of the party to that of organized labor, playing<br />
down themes of Soviet dominance. 30 Foster's nemesis Earl Browder, former Chairman of<br />
the CPUSA, published a book on Marxist theory and the United States in 1958 subtitled,<br />
"Why Communism Failed in the US." 31 Though Browder's book was not a history of the<br />
CPUSA, the premise of his theoretical analysis centred on how Soviet "dogma" interfered<br />
with the otherwise "healthy" development of American communism. 32 Browder contended<br />
that under his leadership, the CPUSA was an integral and organic part of American<br />
politics and that Soviet interference in 1945 facilitated the party's downfall. 33 With<br />
the exception of Foster's text, initial publications "depicted the American party as undemocratic,<br />
subordinated to Stalinism, and incapable of relating creatively to American<br />
society." 34<br />
4
COMMUNIST HISTORIOGRAPHY AND THE YOUTH<br />
The "New Left" experience in Britain and the United States forged new directions and<br />
methodologies in communist historiography. New Left revisionism began in Britain after<br />
Khrushchev's revelations about Stalin in June, 1956. 35 Dissident communists left the<br />
CPGB in large numbers, attempting to forge a new "alternative" movement centred on<br />
"socialist humanism," separated from Soviet influences and Leninist dogma. E.P.<br />
Thompson and John Saville, former members of the Communist Party Historians' Group,<br />
founded the Reasoner which was transformed within several years into the New Left<br />
Review. The New Left Review was both a political journal and a theoretical publication<br />
that helped to popularize Gramscian and cultural analysis. 36 The New Left Review<br />
inspired other publications like Marxism Today and the History Workshop Journal that<br />
spearheaded new approaches to communist history.<br />
Two of the most influential figures in developing this British tradition were Perry<br />
Anderson and Raphael Samuel. Anderson urged researchers to aspire to writing a "total<br />
history" of the movement. Anderson contended such an approach would balance the<br />
international dynamics of the party with a narrative of the "history of the society of which<br />
it is a component;" he urged historians to address the national political culture that<br />
communists functioned within. 37 Samuel's research explored elements of party culture,<br />
generational perceptions, individual identity and the evolution of British communism<br />
within the Comintern from its initial inception into the Cold War era. 38 Samuel insisted<br />
that narratives should attempt "to explain… [communism] rather than to take up sides." 39<br />
The Anderson-Samuel approach centred on exploring diverse themes to show the variety<br />
of experiences that existed within the evolution of the movement; this methodology did<br />
not claim authoritative answers, but instead raised new questions and techniques in order<br />
to inspire further investigations by other historians. 40<br />
The influence of New Left revisionism hastened American scholars to revisit the<br />
Popular Front era and WWII when the CPUSA consciously attempted to acclimate itself<br />
to American political culture. The two most outstanding works associated with this<br />
movement were produced by Maurice Isserman and Fraser Ottanelli. 41 Isserman's study<br />
of WWII was consciously framed as a response to the New Left movement. 42 Isserman's<br />
analysis utilized a generational analysis to understand the phenomenon of the Popular<br />
Front era and the evolution of the movement beyond WWII; such generational distinctions<br />
have also been embraced by CPGB historians. 43 Ottanelli's study of the Great<br />
Depression and Popular Front eras was framed as a response to the "traditionalist"<br />
narrative on this period published by Harvey Klehr. 44 Ottanelli's periodization choice<br />
highlighted "a continuity in the Party's experience centred around an indigenous quest for<br />
policies, organizational forms, language, and overall cultural forms that would adapt the<br />
Communists' radicalism to domestic realities and political traditions." 45 Both of these<br />
pivotal works dealt with elements of youth politics and the evolution of American<br />
communism during its formative years, addressing both international and nation factors<br />
5
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
in their narrative. 46 This being said, the primary emphasis of these texts was still upon<br />
the Communist Party, leaving a continued historical void on communist youth.<br />
The opening up of Soviet Comintern archives in 1991 reinvigorated debates over<br />
Moscow domination, Western "autonomy" and the highly contentious issue of espionage.<br />
47 British and American scholars took highly divergent approaches to the use of<br />
these previously inaccessible documents. Andrew Thorpe published the first work on the<br />
CPGB and the Comintern utilizing these sources. 48 Thorpe characterized the "control<br />
mechanisms" between the CPGB and the Comintern as ambiguous, allowing sufficient<br />
room for ideological deviation and autonomous political manoeuvring; a relationship<br />
where results and "competence often mattered more than strict obedience." 49 Thorpe's<br />
treatment of his sources highlights instances of successful "dissent" and "deviation,"<br />
characterizing them as reflections of a consistent negotiation of power between the party<br />
and the Comintern. 50 Other historians have criticized Thorpe's interpretations, asserting<br />
the same documents also show that in the end, despite dissent, the Comintern line prevailed,<br />
reflecting a Stalinist culture of submission to authority. 51 Whatever its shortcomings,<br />
Thorpe's analysis represented a self proclaimed "post-revisionist" attempt to analyze<br />
the relations of national parties to the Comintern. 52<br />
Other scholars studying the Comintern archives came to very divergent conclusions on<br />
the CPUSA's relationship to Moscow. In 1995 John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr<br />
produced The Secret World of American Communism followed by a second volume in<br />
1998 entitled The Soviet World of American Communism, reprinting selective Comintern<br />
documents. 53 These two volumes attempt to expose "the party's clandestine activities,"<br />
emphasizing that "the CPUSA was never an independent political organization" by<br />
highlighting Comintern dictates and Soviet funding. 54 Haynes and Klehr followed up<br />
these publications in 1999 with a lengthy narrative depicting the role of the CPUSA in<br />
Soviet espionage. 55 Revisionist scholars immediately attacked Haynes and Klehr,<br />
contending their approach was biased and intended to justify McCarthyism. 56 Haynes<br />
and Klehr rebutted these critiques by publishing vicious personal attacks against revisionists,<br />
labelling many of them as "Stalinists" and "elitists," denouncing them as "equally<br />
repugnant" as Holocaust deniers. 57 Instead of spurning healthy historical debate about<br />
Comintern documents, the Haynes-Klehr thesis has predominately led to "petty slanders"<br />
on both sides of the revisionist and traditionalist rift, causing many historians to simply<br />
"entrench" themselves in their previous scholarly assumptions. Both schools neglect the<br />
diversity of both clandestine and public experiences of communists during the inter-war<br />
era, particularly neglecting to highlight the role of youth.<br />
Thesis and Methodology<br />
This research on the young communist movement is informed by existing historiography,<br />
but attempts to supersede the conflicts between revisionists and traditionalists by adopt-<br />
6
COMMUNIST HISTORIOGRAPHY AND THE YOUTH<br />
ing a synthesized methodology and exploring different source materials. The relationship<br />
between national and international forces must be addressed in any history of communism.<br />
Instead of sifting through internal documentation to prove an authoritative conclusion<br />
on Comintern control, this study focuses upon the propaganda produced by the<br />
Comintern, the YCI and the YCLs in Britain and the United States during the inter-war<br />
period.<br />
My methodology is to use "propaganda analysis" to explore the construction of political<br />
identity by studying the evolution of Leninist theory through the medium of youth<br />
propaganda in a comparative context. 58 Building on the methodology of Maurice Isserman<br />
and Kevin Morgan, this research utilizes generational analysis to reperiodize the<br />
inter-war period, recognizing the existence of two distinct generations of communist<br />
youth. By focussing on propaganda as a form of political education, this methodology<br />
explores the values that the international and national leadership utilized in their conscious<br />
construction of communist youth identity.<br />
The works of the American Institute for Propaganda Analysis in the thirties drew strict<br />
distinctions between the nature and methodologies of education and propaganda. Education<br />
was defined as "an orderly presentation of evidence" that avoided "linguistic devices<br />
which stress emotion and obscure thought" while propaganda relied heavily upon the<br />
utilization of such linguistics to manipulate the receiver of the information towards a<br />
"predetermined end." 59 This research rejects the strict dichotomy between education and<br />
propaganda, instead conceptualizing propaganda as a specific form of ideological education<br />
intended to construct a predetermined political identity.<br />
Lenin formulated an explicit methodology on ideological education and the utilization<br />
of political propaganda. The communist movement was dominated by an obsession with<br />
ideology and its impact upon political theory and practice. Lenin vehemently contended<br />
that there were both "correct" and "incorrect" ideologies, positing that Marxism was a<br />
"proletarian science" that superseded all other ideologies. 60 Lenin instructed communist<br />
youth to study and assimilate this "correct ideology" into all facets of their life, defining<br />
themselves as "true" Bolsheviks by overcoming the "old separation of theory and practice."<br />
61 To provide ideological education, Lenin placed primary emphasis upon the<br />
utilization of newspapers and pamphlets to interpret events and instil political values. 62<br />
The production of revolutionary propaganda was the foremost task of communists. 63<br />
This study draws extensively on propaganda source material to trace the evolution of<br />
communist theory and its impact upon political identity.<br />
Social theory and social history have added significant contributions to addressing<br />
concepts of identity. In her study of British national identity, Linda Colley utilized an<br />
innovative approach, focussing extensively on the concept of the "antithesis" that provided<br />
the basis for identity construction. Communist political identity is understood here<br />
primarily in terms of identity negation where competing visions of "Us" are often submerged<br />
to a dominant shared discourse defined as the antithesis of "Them;" where "men<br />
7
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
and women decide who they are by reference to who and what they are not." 64 Communist<br />
rhetoric, particularly after the rise of fascism, relied increasingly upon simple "dualisms"<br />
in their propaganda to differentiate their movement from perceived ideological<br />
opponents. 65 Due to this rhetorical style, Colley's methodology offers unique insights<br />
into the nature and function of communist propaganda in identity construction. In terms<br />
of identity negation, Lenin consciously constructed communism as a rejection of the<br />
theories, practices and organizational forms of the Second International. 66 Then during<br />
the Popular Front era of the thirties, communism was constructed in complete negation to<br />
fascism. This transition was and continues to be a source of intense controversy from<br />
political contemporaries and historians since the inter-war period.<br />
In evaluating this phenomenon, this book distinguishes between the existence of two<br />
distinct generations of communist youth who posited two divergent political identities. 67<br />
The first generation of communist youth, reflecting the period of 1919-1933, is termed<br />
here as the Leninist Generation. The Leninist Generation was founded on a rejection of<br />
the Second International, framing their revolutionary political identity in strict opposition<br />
to all elements of social-democratic political culture. With the rise of Nazi fascism and<br />
the looming threat of world war, a new generation of communist youth was constructed<br />
encompassing the period of 1933-1945. This Popular Front Generation framed their<br />
identity in negation to the perceived political values of fascism, positing their movement<br />
as defenders of progressive Western political traditions. To justify this transition, the<br />
Comintern revised Leninist theory on the contentious issues of nationalism, unity and<br />
democracy to legitimize their anti-fascist program.<br />
This book is broken down into two sections, one providing a chronological narrative<br />
of young communist organizations and practices to provide a historical framework, the<br />
other addressing the thematic evolution of communist theory. Each chapter traces the<br />
influence of the Comintern and the YCI on each of these generations, using the examples<br />
of the British and American YCLs as case studies to explore the development of communist<br />
theory, practice and political identity. In order to understand the evolution of communist<br />
identity, this research makes constant reference to evolving and competing<br />
definitions of social democracy and fascism that framed and defined the worldview of<br />
communist propaganda. This research appreciates the important insights of other works,<br />
but does not intend to explore the "clandestine" world of Western communism or the<br />
"personal" world of individual activists. Propaganda was the primary medium communists<br />
used to recruit and indoctrinate its membership base. Instead of focussing on who<br />
defined policy or how individuals acclimated to policy, this study explores the propaganda<br />
and rhetoric communists utilized to communicate and interpret policy, ideology<br />
and political values to its membership base. 68 By studying the evolution of communist<br />
propaganda, this research seeks to evaluate the values and political identity that the<br />
leadership of the international communist movement consciously sought to construct in<br />
their youth membership base in Britain and the United States. Finally, this research<br />
8
COMMUNIST HISTORIOGRAPHY AND THE YOUTH<br />
highlights the important role of the Bulgarian General Secretary of the Comintern during<br />
the Popular Front, Georgi Dimitrov. Dimitrov's unique definition of fascism facilitated a<br />
theoretical revision of Leninism on the issues of nationalism, the unity of youth and<br />
democracy. His conceptions of the Popular Front established a new paradigm and<br />
framework for young communists to function within, enabling the British and American<br />
YCLs to significantly reconstruct their political identity.<br />
9
1<br />
VANGUARD OF THE RED DAWN:<br />
THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE LENINIST<br />
GENERATION<br />
All we have to do is recruit young people… without fearing them. This is a time of war.<br />
The youth… will decide the issue of the whole struggle.<br />
-Lenin, 1905 1<br />
The workers had to pay for the fraud for years of an International which, in truth, never<br />
existed, and paid at the cost of 90 millions of cripples, 10 millions of dead and of nameless<br />
misery for the lack of a strong and determined international organization. The<br />
young workers ought to remember this.<br />
-Executive Committee of the Young Communist International, 1920 2<br />
In November, 1919 the Young Communist International established itself as the youth<br />
coordinating body of the Communist International. 3 The YCI was neither a creation of<br />
Lenin's Bolshevik Party nor did it originate in the young Soviet Republic. 4 The YCI<br />
grew out of the anti-war struggles of the socialist youth, proclaiming itself as the direct<br />
organizational heir of the pre-war Socialist <strong>Youth</strong> International (SYI). During World<br />
War I, socialist youth increasingly rejected the "national defense" positions of the Socialist<br />
Parties of the Second International (SI), facilitating generational tensions over the antiwar<br />
militancy of the youth. 5 Lenin's Bolshevik Party capitalized upon this dynamic,<br />
courting the SYI to leave the Second International en masse in 1919. During the twenties,<br />
the YCI sought to construct a "Leninist Generation" of revolutionary youth, free<br />
from the ideologies and traditions of the Second International. The Leninist Generation<br />
demanded a strict oppositional political culture, denouncing all other traditions, organizations<br />
and ideologies for enabling the survival of capitalism and betraying the advance of<br />
revolution. 6 This YCI analysis blurred the important ideological discrepancies of postwar<br />
political movements, significantly underestimating the dangers of fascism.<br />
The YCI's initial program and political identity was constructed in part by the<br />
Comintern, but also in reaction to the experiences of youth during WWI. Young communists<br />
insisted capitalism and imperialism were the causes of modern warfare. In order<br />
to abolish modern warfare, young communists asserted that capitalism needed to be<br />
destroyed. The YCI contended that in following the "correct" lead of the Comintern, the<br />
10
THE LENINIST GENERATION<br />
youth could advance "a class war" to truly "put an end to all wars." Young communists<br />
fostered a culture of intolerance to all other movements and any "deviations" from<br />
Comintern lines, overemphasizing the "correctness" of their own program. The Leninist<br />
Generation scorned all open opponents and even potential allies, insisting only their<br />
revolutionary program could save the youth from the horrors of future imperialist war.<br />
The Bolsheviks used these questions of war and peace to attract socialist youth to the<br />
Comintern. It was also these same issues that created a line of historical continuity<br />
between the divergent experiences of the Leninist and Popular Front Generations of<br />
communist youth.<br />
The Socialist <strong>Youth</strong> Struggle <strong>Against</strong> War<br />
Beneath their rhetoric of revolution and class warfare, the socialist movement has always<br />
been concerned with issues of international peace and anti-war strategies. 7 The First<br />
International (1864-1876) extensively discussed "militarism against the enemy abroad"<br />
and internationalist "position[s] to be taken up with regard to war." 8 The Second International<br />
(1889-1914) contended peace was "the first and indispensable condition of any<br />
worker emancipation" and that war was "the most tragic product of present economic<br />
relations." 9 This socialist analysis of war focused primarily on the social impact of<br />
militarism, especially upon the youth. The Second International identified potential<br />
tensions between socialist internationalism and national defense during times of war, but<br />
did little other than passing anti-war resolutions to actively address this problem. 10 Lenin<br />
later commented on the nature of the socialist peace position stating, "Socialists have<br />
always condemned wars between nations as barbarous and brutal… [but] wars cannot be<br />
abolished unless classes are abolished and socialism is created." 11 The Comintern insisted<br />
that the failures of the Second International necessitated a new revolutionary<br />
organization to deal with the threat of imperialist war. 12<br />
Prior to World War I, socialist youth were highly influenced by the anti-militarist<br />
thought of Karl Liebknecht. 13 At its founding Congress at Stuttgart in 1907, the SYI<br />
primarily debated issues of peace and "the struggle against militarism." 14 Unlike adults<br />
who focussed on political and trade-union policies, young socialists centred their agitation<br />
upon peace politics as the social strata most directly impacted by war. As the<br />
chairman of the International Bureau of the SYI, Karl Liebknecht had a profound impact<br />
on radicalizing youth on the question of militarism. 15 For Liebknecht, questions of youth<br />
and militarism were of dire importance for the entire socialist movement. Liebknecht<br />
contended that it was necessary to bring the youth into the forefront of socialist activism<br />
through revolutionary anti-militarism; a position Privalov asserts was distinct from<br />
reformists who viewed the youth with "caution and contempt." 16 Countering this reformist<br />
disposition, Liebknecht stated:<br />
11
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
We want to win over not only the adult workers, but also the children of the proletariat,<br />
the working-class youth. For the working-class youth is the working class-to-be, he is<br />
the future of the proletariat. He who has the youth, has the future.... The proletarian<br />
youth must be systematically inflamed with class consciousness and hate against militarism.<br />
<strong>Youth</strong>ful enthusiasm will take hold of the hearts of the young workers inspired by<br />
such agitation. These young workers belong to Social-Democracy, to Social-Democratic<br />
anti-militarism. If everyone carries out his task, they must and will be won. He who has<br />
the young people has the army. 17<br />
Liebknecht believed that militarism represented the ultimate "brutalization of youth."<br />
Active anti-militarist campaigns could attract the youth to socialism while subverting<br />
bourgeois power. 18<br />
The SYI attempted to stake out an independent course for youth politics centred on<br />
revolutionary anti-militarism. However, the reformists of the Second International urged<br />
youth groups to remain predominately educational and cultural organizations, leaving<br />
politics to the adults. In the end, the anti-militarist outlook of the SYI helped to forge a<br />
unique socialist youth culture. This outlook in turn had a profound impact on the development<br />
of the movement with the outbreak of WWI:<br />
Being strongly against war, and hostile to imperialist rivalries among the European powers,<br />
the proponents of an independent, political youth international were united by the<br />
emotionally charged issue of anti-militarism. They wanted the youth international to be<br />
free to carry out a vigorous anti-militarist, anti-war, and anti-capitalist campaign. 19<br />
Young socialists made anti-militarism and sustainable international peace the central<br />
tenants of their ideological outlook. Anti-militarism provided young socialists with a<br />
distinct experience during WWI, laying many of the foundations of the Communist<br />
International. During WWI the SYI found itself in close alliance with the Russian<br />
Bolsheviks; alliance forged in reaction to the savagery of modern warfare and the perceived<br />
martyrdom of a generation of youth betrayed to war by the Second International.<br />
World War, Betrayal and the New <strong>Youth</strong> Activism<br />
The experiences of WWI radicalized socialist youth, drawing them into close association<br />
with the burgeoning communist movement. History has paid little attention to the<br />
leading role of socialist youth during this period. 20 While Lenin became the hegemonic<br />
voice of the revolutionary anti-war movement, this was due primarily to the prestige he<br />
gained with the success of the Bolshevik Revolution. 21 During WWI, the SYI led the first<br />
attempts to re-establish international socialist actions. Gil Green, National Secretary of<br />
the YCLUSA, reflected upon the role of socialist youth during the war stating:<br />
The YCL was born in a period of great social upheaval. It was conceived upon the turbulent<br />
background of the World War and the great Russian Revolution. Its main task<br />
became that of educating youth in the lessons of these two world shaking events.... It<br />
was necessary to brand these shameful betrayals [of the Second International].... Our<br />
League owes its existence to the militant struggle conducted against the last world war. 22<br />
12
THE LENINIST GENERATION<br />
By upholding their pre-war traditions of anti-militarism and internationalism, the SYI<br />
facilitated the re-emergence of the socialist anti-war movement, laying much of the vital<br />
basis for the later formation of the Comintern.<br />
Socialist youth proclaimed a poignant critique of the role and structure of the Second<br />
International. At the outset of WWI, most sections of the SYI initially followed the<br />
"national defence" positions of Socialist Party leaders. The federated structure of the<br />
Second International had prevented the anti-war factions of the international leadership<br />
from initiating any actions that were binding upon all national sections. Young communists<br />
later criticized the Second International as a "loose federation of independent<br />
national parties;" the International lacked the leadership and structure to enforce any<br />
"Congress resolutions or decisions." 23 When put to the test, the Second International<br />
failed to initiate any meaningful actions to prevent or to end the war. As a result, young<br />
socialists increasingly began to embrace Lenin's critique that for the prevention of future<br />
imperialist wars, the very structure and functions of the International needed revision;<br />
any new attempts to coordinate internationalism needed an organization "capable of<br />
shaping, rather than merely reacting to historical events." 24<br />
In the spring of 1915 the SYI reconvened itself in Switzerland to coordinate youth<br />
actions against the war. Willi Münzenberg of the Swiss <strong>Youth</strong> League coordinated this<br />
call to action, bringing together young socialists from ten nations for an International<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> Conference in Berne during April, 1915. 25 The conference opened on a note of<br />
self-criticism that also articulated a forward vision concerning the war:<br />
The Conference notes with profound regret the fact that, like the socialist organizations<br />
of the elders, the socialist youth organizations in most of the countries at the outbreak of<br />
the war were not guided by the [anti-war] decisions.... In the face of the horrible results<br />
of the present war, which callously uses for cannon fodder young people who have<br />
scarcely passed school age, the Conference stresses the necessity of making clearer than<br />
ever… the nature of the war and of militarism… of rallying them more firmly and in<br />
greater numbers to the banner of revolutionary socialism. 26<br />
A YCLGB pamphlet of 1927 reflected on the importance of this conference:<br />
This Conference was the first meeting of representatives of Socialist organisations after<br />
the outbreak of the war.... It declared itself emphatically against social-patriotism, and<br />
placed its sections under the obligations of international solidarity for revolutionary action<br />
against the war… The International <strong>Youth</strong> Days, according to the slogans of the International<br />
Bureau, were held not only in the neutral but also in the belligerent countries.<br />
They are among the few actions of an international character during the war, of which<br />
the revolutionary labour movement can boast. 27<br />
The Berne conference revitalized international youth activism and helped to radicalize<br />
and reconfigure the international socialist movement. The SYI openly criticized the<br />
positions of the Second International, urging youth to coordinate international revolutionary<br />
activities despite any hostility from adult socialists. Münzenberg later boasted that<br />
Berne represented the first time that socialist youth articulated a completely "independent<br />
position with regard to political events." 28 Young communists later boasted that the<br />
13
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
international anti-war initiatives of the youth at Berne "laid the foundation of a new and<br />
better International – what was to be the Communist International." 29<br />
Socialist youth embraced two concrete initiatives at Berne to facilitate youth internationalism.<br />
Outside of daily anti-militarist propaganda, socialist youth in each nation were<br />
to coordinate an annual International <strong>Youth</strong> Day dedicated to the "revolutionary struggle<br />
for peace and freedom." On a set day, socialist youth were to hold a series of "demonstrations,<br />
rallies, meetings and speeches designed to generate [anti-war] enthusiasm<br />
among youth," the first being in October 1915 and later ones held the first Sunday of<br />
each September. 30 Young communists later recalled how they faced militant persecution<br />
from "the police and military powers" who intended "to break up and destroy these<br />
meetings." 31 Despite intense state persecution, young socialists continued this day of<br />
international youth solidarity throughout WWI.<br />
The Berne conference began publication of the Jugend-Internationale under the editorial<br />
supervision of Münzenberg to disseminate their oppositional position to the war. 32<br />
The Jugend-Internationale featured youth articles as well as writings by Liebknecht and<br />
Lenin, facilitating closer relations between the youth and the evolving communist movement.<br />
33 Lenin regularly commented on the ideological positions posited by the Jugend-<br />
Internationale, attempting to educate youth in his own "correct analysis" of the war. The<br />
main youth sentiments Lenin condemned were pacifism and disarmament. Although he<br />
recognized the "good intentions" of such youth positions, Lenin posited:<br />
One of the principal premises advanced, although not always definitely expressed, in favour<br />
of disarmament is this: we are opposed to war, to all war in general, and the demand<br />
for disarmament, is the most definite, clear and unambiguous expression of this<br />
point of view.... Socialists cannot be opposed to all war in general without ceasing to be<br />
socialists.... Disarmament is the ideal of socialism. There will be no wars in socialist society;<br />
consequently, disarmament will be achieved, but whoever expects that socialism<br />
will be achieved without a social revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat is not a<br />
socialist.... To put "disarmament" in the programme is tantamount to making the general<br />
declaration: We are opposed to the use of arms. There is as little Marxism in this as there<br />
would be if we were to say: We are opposed to violence! 34<br />
Lenin argued that "incorrect" positions against war distorted the violent realities of<br />
capitalist society and the necessity of social revolution. If youth wanted to abolish war,<br />
Lenin insisted that they needed to be willing to fight a potentially violent class war.<br />
The Berne Conference laid the groundwork for the establishment of the Zimmerwald<br />
Conference of September, 1915 in Switzerland. Initially the Zimmerwald movement was<br />
a loose coalition of socialists who opposed the war. The Zimmerwald Conference<br />
brought together "men and women who were prominent in the political and trade-union<br />
labour movements," including delegates from France and Germany, to issue a broad<br />
"joint declaration that 'This is not our war.'" 35 The majority at Zimmerwald majority<br />
supported pacifist sentiments towards a negotiated peace and universal disarmament. 36<br />
Zimmerwald provided Lenin and the Russian Bolsheviks a platform to spread Lenin's<br />
concepts of revolutionary defeatism and to clarify their unique critiques of the war,<br />
14
THE LENINIST GENERATION<br />
especially amongst the youth. 37 As the Zimmerwald movement progressed, Lenin was<br />
able to build a "powerful and articulate minority" of revolutionaries, including the leadership<br />
of the SYI, known as the Zimmerwald Left. 38<br />
For socialist youth, Zimmerwald forged a closer link between youth and Bolshevism.<br />
Münzenberg consistently supported Lenin's revolutionary positions against the war. 39 As<br />
socialist youth drew closer to the Zimmerwald Left, Lenin began to characterize the<br />
Bolshevik Party as a movement of the youth. Within his rhetoric, Lenin linked both the<br />
youth and the Bolshevik Party with the future, depicting relations between the two<br />
movements as natural and complementary:<br />
Is it not natural that youth should predominate in our party, the revolutionary party We<br />
are the party of the future, and the future belongs to the youth. We are a party of innovators,<br />
and it is always the youth that most eagerly follows the innovators. We are a party<br />
that is waging a self-sacrificing struggle against the old rottenness, and youth is always<br />
the first to undertake a self-sacrificing struggle. 40<br />
As the war drew on, the Bolsheviks continued to court the socialist youth; their revolutionary<br />
positions gained attraction among the youth as pacifist initiatives failed to end the<br />
war. These experiences eventually led the SYI to leave the Second International, renaming<br />
itself the Young Communist International.<br />
The First Period (1919-1924): The Origins of the Leninist <strong>Youth</strong><br />
With the advent of the Russian Revolution, Lenin and the Zimmerwald Left founded a<br />
new International to lead a coordinated revolutionary offensive against capitalism and<br />
imperialism. The era of 1919-1924 in communist history is known as the "First Period."<br />
During this time, communists directed their attention to recruiting young socialists,<br />
relying heavily upon the revolutionary initiatives of youth. The Comintern courted the<br />
SYI to abandon the Second International, focussing on constructing a new Leninist<br />
Generation of youth. Communists urged youth to reject socialist traditions of class<br />
collaboration and compromise. Their propaganda played upon themes of martyrdom,<br />
betrayal, and revolution associated with the war. Socialist youth increasingly believed<br />
Bolshevism represented their generation's desires for both "peace and social revolution." 41<br />
Lenin challenged youth to carry forward a revolutionary "war against war" under the<br />
leadership of the Comintern.<br />
The SYI had its first official post-war meeting scheduled for August, 1919 in the<br />
Hungarian Soviet Republic. Throughout the months leading up to this meeting, representatives<br />
of the Comintern sent lengthy appeals to the SYI Executive to entice their organization<br />
to leave the Second International. Comintern leaders appealed to the socialist<br />
youth utilizing themes of sacrifice and martyrdom associated with the experiences of<br />
WWI. Gregory Zinoviev denounced the betrayals of the Second International, highlighting<br />
the suffering and martyrdom of youth: 42<br />
15
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
It was the proletarian youth that suffered most during the war of 1914-1919. But it was<br />
also the proletarian youth that first raised the voice of protest against that destructive<br />
war. When the official Socialist and Social-Democratic parties went over to the bourgeoisie<br />
and began to praise the bandit-war as a war of "Right" and "freedom," the organizations<br />
of the youth rose up against this treachery.... We are convinced that the<br />
working youth can have nothing in common with this fraudulent, lying, treacherous "International."<br />
The working youth of all the world are uniting themselves as one man with<br />
the living International, with the Communist International… the working youth will<br />
fight on the foremost barricade for the victory of the Soviet system. Long live the Proletarian<br />
<strong>Youth</strong>! Long live the <strong>Youth</strong>’s Communist International! 43<br />
Zinoviev's later appeals contended that without the revolutionary leadership of the<br />
Comintern that the "slaughter" of WWI would inevitably be repeated:<br />
The Third (Communist) International was formed at a moment when the imperialist<br />
slaughter of 1914-1918, in which the imperialist bourgeoisie of the various countries<br />
sacrificed twenty million men, had come to an end. Remember the imperialist war! This<br />
is the first appeal of the Communist International to every toiler wherever he may live<br />
and whatever language he may speak.... Remember that unless the capitalist system is<br />
overthrown a repetition of this criminal war is not only possible but is inevitable. 44<br />
Zinoviev formulated his appeals around an associational language that portrayed the<br />
Second International as the enemy of the youth. He declared the Second International as<br />
allies of the bourgeoisie, blaming them for the deaths of young workers during the war.<br />
In negation to this "treacherous International," the Comintern was portrayed as the<br />
"living" ally of youth leading to the "victory of the Soviet system" and a new era of<br />
international peace. 45<br />
The formation of the YCI was a unique phenomenon within the Comintern. After<br />
considerable courting, the socialist youth transferred their political allegiance away from<br />
the Second International en-masse. Due to the overthrow of Béla Kun's Hungarian<br />
Soviet Republic in August, 1919, the SYI's first post-war conference was rescheduled for<br />
Berlin in November, 1919. This meeting resulted in the "capture of the old Socialist<br />
youth international and its transformation into the Communist <strong>Youth</strong> International." 46<br />
Communist parties formed their initial membership through splits within the Social-<br />
Democratic parties and the merger of small revolutionary parties, rarely winning over<br />
larger parties in their entirety. The CPGB reflected on this phenomenon in terms of the<br />
political psychology of youth stating, "The minds of young workers are open and receptive.<br />
They are more able to assimilate revolutionary ideas and grasp their significance<br />
than the adult workers whose ideas have been definitely shaped and formed." 47 As the<br />
section of society most dramatically impacted by WWI, youth were receptive to revolutionary<br />
appeals framed in anti-war rhetoric. The YCI later commented on the different<br />
perceptions of generations after the war:<br />
It is the disillusioned youth, a product of the world war and the ghastly years that have<br />
followed in its wake, who will give the final blow to Capitalism. The older men and<br />
women, somehow or another seem unable to get away from the outlook which they had<br />
developed in the comparatively peaceful and stable years prior to the war.... We, the<br />
16
THE LENINIST GENERATION<br />
young, who have grown up in the very midst of wars, revolutions and counterrevolutions<br />
– we do not suffer from the same ideas as our fathers. 48<br />
Adults expressed greater reluctance in breaking with their traditional ideologies and<br />
organizational affiliations. Since adult socialist politics centred on industrial struggles,<br />
the organizational links that the trade unions had with the Second International made<br />
potential splits more difficult. 49 Anti-militarism and the revolutionary optimism of the<br />
post-war period made the Comintern appealing to socialist youth.<br />
When the YCI affiliated itself to the Comintern in 1919, it considered its organization<br />
to be politically independent; the Comintern Executive, who demanded complete subordination<br />
to their leadership, promptly squelched this proposition. 50 The YCI had envisioned<br />
itself as the "true vanguard" leading the communist movement while regarding the<br />
Bolsheviks simply as an inspiration to follow. 51 This new generational outlook was<br />
reinforced by the fact that in many places it was the youth who formed the primary basis<br />
of newly formed communist movements. Lazitch and Drachkovitch commented on this<br />
phenomenon of generational conflict stating:<br />
Nearly everywhere the "old" and the "young" no longer spoke the same language. When<br />
the young revolted against the war and its consequences, and thereby against the policies<br />
of the official Social-Democratic parties during the war, their attitudes were not shared<br />
by the Social-Democratic leaders. And when those "elders" repudiated Russian Communism<br />
and were loath to join the Communist International, their arguments had little<br />
influence on the young. 52<br />
The YCI envisioned itself as the leading revolutionary force, setting the example for<br />
adults to follow. 53<br />
Communist leadership increasingly flowed east from Berlin to Moscow as revolution<br />
subsided in Central and Eastern Europe. This eastern shift of power undercut the ability<br />
of Willi Münzenberg to direct an independent YCI Executive based out of Germany. 54<br />
When the Comintern adopted its "Twenty-One Points of Admission" in July, 1920, strict<br />
discipline and submission to democratic centralism became central tenants of their<br />
movement. 55 By the summer of 1921, the Comintern increased the centralization of its<br />
organization, securing ultimate hegemony over the YCI and its national sections. The<br />
Comintern shifted its focus from extensive youth recruitment to enforcing the subservience<br />
of the International to the Comintern Executive.<br />
At its Third Congress in July, 1921, the Comintern dealt specifically with its leadership<br />
over the youth, passing an "eight point" resolution detailing the new dynamics of<br />
this relationship. The Comintern condemned youth vanguardism and clarified what the<br />
"correct relationship" between youth and adults should entail:<br />
In their struggle against the war, the young socialist organisations were supported by the<br />
most dedicated revolutionary groups and became an important focus for the revolutionary<br />
forces. In most countries no revolutionary parties existed and the youth organisations<br />
took over their role; they became independent political organisations and acted as the<br />
vanguard in the revolutionary struggle. With the establishment of the Communist International<br />
and, in some countries, of Communist Parties, the role of the revolutionary<br />
youth organisations changes. Young workers, because of their economic position and<br />
17
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
because of their psychological make-up, are more easily won to Communist ideas and<br />
are quicker to show enthusiasm for revolutionary struggle than adult workers. Nevertheless,<br />
the youth movement relinquishes to the Communist Parties its vanguard role of organising<br />
independent activity and providing political leadership. The further existence of<br />
Young Communist organisations as politically independent and leading organisations<br />
would mean that two Communist Parties existed, in competition with one another and<br />
differing only in the age of their membership.... In this way the Communist Parties will<br />
be able to exert a permanent influence on the movement and encourage political activity,<br />
while the youth organisations, in their turn, can influence the Party. 56<br />
The Comintern subordinated the YCI to its leadership, but youth continued to play a<br />
political role. Indeed, the Comintern insisted on the practical need for deference to the<br />
"vanguard leadership" of the Communist Parties, but continued to stress the importance<br />
of youth. 57 By 1924, the YCI stated they had accepted this new pattern of relations,<br />
openly proclaiming, "As we are a section of the Communist International, we naturally<br />
accept its programme and the basis of its tactics completely." 58<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> propaganda of the First Period focussed extensively on the legacies of Karl<br />
Liebknecht and Rosa Luxembourg as "revolutionary martyrs" after their murder in<br />
January, 1919. 59 Just prior to their deaths, Liebknecht and Luxembourg directly appealed<br />
to the youth in their propaganda, arguing that the "flower of youth" had "been mowed<br />
down" by the imperialist war; they urged young workers to join them in revolution "to<br />
complete the great work of permanent peace." 60 Communist literature personified<br />
Liebknecht and Luxembourg as vital allies of the youth and the revolutionary movement.<br />
A 1926 pamphlet on the history of the YCI invoked this theme of martyrdom stating:<br />
All these sacrifices have not been in vain. The youth and the revolutionary part of the<br />
working class will remember the courageous martyrs. They were the champions of the<br />
new International… the greatest loss to the revolutionary Socialist youth we remember<br />
first of all Karl Liebknecht, who lost his life together with Rosa Luxemburg in the German<br />
revolutionary battle.... Thousands of young comrades gave their lives for the cause<br />
of their class during those revolutionary times. 61<br />
The YCI consistently used the images of Liebknecht and Luxembourg in their appeals to<br />
the youth. An early YCI manifesto declared:<br />
At the name of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxembourg our hearts throb.... Liebknecht<br />
was one of us! A <strong>Youth</strong>! The name Liebknecht is inseparably bound up with the proletarian<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> Movement. He was its teacher. He fought in its ranks. He was its bravest<br />
defender. Liebknecht was the very first, who with his name and person came out for the<br />
Stuttgart resolution, and went to prison for the program of the Young International… a<br />
soldier of the proletarian revolution, full of glowing passion and youthful enthusiasm to<br />
the very death. With the murder of these two comrades… the young workers lost their<br />
truest friend and staunchest supporter. 62<br />
The YCI linked the legacies of Liebknecht and Luxembourg with the causes of revolution<br />
and youth to encourage the youth's allegiance to the Comintern. A later YCI publication<br />
followed this trend, linking a "socialist future" as one built upon "avenging" the martyrdom<br />
of the past asserting, "Liebknecht shall be avenged, a new red dawn will break, and<br />
18
THE LENINIST GENERATION<br />
in the happier, brighter days of some far off tomorrow, Liebknecht's name will be honoured<br />
and remembered." 63<br />
Other elements of youth propaganda centred on "exposing" the treacherous nature of<br />
social democracy. The Comintern used social democracy as a scapegoat in their early<br />
literature to explain why communist revolutions failed outside of Russia. 64 Instead of<br />
critiquing the revolutionary potential of "the masses," the Comintern argued social<br />
democracy facilitated a return to the status-quo of traditional political parties, institutions<br />
and class relations. 65 Communists insisted social democracy betrayed workers during the<br />
post-war period of revolutions by enabling "the established order to absorb and diffuse<br />
protest." 66<br />
The YCI condemned the non-political role social democracy defined for "revolutionary<br />
youth." The YCI highlighted the a-political nature of the program of the Young<br />
Worker's International (YWI). 67 The YCI argued the Second International was consciously<br />
directing youth into cultural pursuits to demobilize radical young workers. The<br />
YCI mocked the YWI, dubbing it as "the International of parades and phrases" that<br />
cloaked their betrayals of young workers through the "extensive use of revolutionary<br />
phrases." 68 YCI publications quoted the Young Workers' International program of 1921,<br />
using their own statements to highlight this process:<br />
[The socialist youth's] tasks are not those of parties, trade unions or cooperative societies,<br />
are neither political or economic, but as a cultural movement it works alongside all<br />
of them, seeking for a new life, Socialism.... Rebirth of personality, active Socialism,<br />
training of Socialist administrators for a future society, -- these should be the slogans of<br />
a proletarian youth movement.... The Yong Workers’ International must leave no room<br />
for doubt that it will not tolerate endeavors to transform the proletarian youth movement<br />
into a political party. 69<br />
According to the YCI, the post-war proletarian youth were a "revolutionary generation"<br />
simply lacking "correct" leadership to direct their revolutionary struggles. Socialist<br />
cultural initiatives distorted the necessity of youth's revolutionary struggle.<br />
At its Fourth Congress in November, 1922 the Comintern set out a new approach to<br />
social democracy referred to as "the United Front." 70 However, while communists<br />
asserted that they stood for unity, they consciously facilitated greater splits within the<br />
working-class movement. Communists used the United Front to put their movement into<br />
greater contact with workers by initiating joint communist and socialist activities. The<br />
goal of the United Front was to split socialist leaders from their working-class membership.<br />
71 United Front propaganda centred on themes of working-class unity, but the YCI<br />
openly boasted of its strategic intent:<br />
We will show to our enemies the bourgeoisie and the social democrats that we laugh at<br />
their endeavors, and that there shall be no peace between us until they are definitely defeated....<br />
The united front tactics which the Young Communist International carried<br />
through nationally and internationally, has greatly promoted the exposure of the true<br />
character of the social democratic youth movement and accelerated the process of de-<br />
19
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
composition within its ranks… [exposing] the role of social democracy as an open enemy<br />
of the working class. 72<br />
The United Front was a divisive strategy formulated to split the ranks of the workingclass<br />
movement between reformists and revolutionaries, striving to promote workingclass<br />
unity only under the "correct" leadership of the communists.<br />
Despite the subordination of youth to the Comintern, considerable continuity persisted<br />
between the pre-war experiences of the SYI and the post-war YCI. First, the YCI justified<br />
their transition to communism by highlighting the capitalism's role in facilitating past<br />
and future imperialist wars, invoking the pre-war anti-militarist traditions of socialist<br />
youth. Second, the communists asserted that socialists had proven incapable of coping<br />
with capitalism and war. Third, communists insisted that their centralized leadership and<br />
strict oppositional political culture were necessary tactics to counter the continual threat<br />
of modern imperialist war:<br />
War is Coming! Coming faster than we dream. The "War to end War" has revealed not<br />
the end of war, but the grim face of approaching conflicts, far more horrible than the last.<br />
For this new blood-bath the capitalists must prepare a new generation of cannon-fodder;<br />
must prepare the new generation, who had little direct experience of the last war, to rush<br />
to the slaughter… no "Labour" government will deliver them from capitalist slavery and<br />
war.... To the young workers over whose heads to-day looms the threat of another capitalist<br />
slaughter for profit, we send our clarion call. 73<br />
Though reactionary movements like fascism were condemned, the Leninist youth continued<br />
to direct their main critiques and attacks against social democracy.<br />
The Second Period (1924-1928): Bolshevization and the Leninist <strong>Youth</strong><br />
Following the death of Lenin on January 21, 1924, the Comintern inaugurated a new era<br />
referred to as the "Second Period," lasting from 1924-1928. During this time, the<br />
Comintern directed the international movement through a process referred to as "Bolshevization."<br />
James Cannon characterized Bolshevization as "a struggle against false<br />
ideology in the party" intended to prevent any deviations from "the ideology of Marxism<br />
and Leninism." 74 The Comintern asserted that previous exposure to social-democratic<br />
practices made many communists potentially unreliable as revolutionaries. The youth<br />
held great potential for the Comintern in this era due to their natural inexperience and<br />
anti-socialist disposition. Bolshevization enabled communist youth to define a greater<br />
role for their movement as enforcers of communist ideology and practices. 75 Bolshevization<br />
resulted in young communists adopting an "adult perspective" to youth mobilization<br />
that enhanced their role within the International, but further alienated their movement<br />
from other youth organizations.<br />
In July, 1924 the Fifth Congress of the Comintern officially endorsed the process of<br />
"Bolshevization." Bolshevization was rooted in the universalizing of the Russian experience<br />
as a "correct formula" for international application. Lenin himself had warned<br />
against potential dangers in this path. 76 When Lenin died, the Comintern dismissed his<br />
20
THE LENINIST GENERATION<br />
warnings, insisting that Bolshevik methods were the only "correct" models for a revolutionary<br />
organization. 77 Draper described Bolshevization in terms of exporting distinct<br />
Russian tactics and forms of organization:<br />
The Russian form of organization differed markedly. At the base of the Russian Communist<br />
party structure were local units or "cells," the great majority of them industrial<br />
rather than territorial in make-up. These industrial cells brought party members together<br />
where they worked instead of where they lived and voted. The type of economic rather<br />
than political organization antedated the Bolshevik revolution and constituted a traditional<br />
difference between Russian and Western practice. 78<br />
The Comintern Executive used this transition to consolidate its power over national<br />
movements. The Soviet Party was by far the largest delegation in the Comintern's<br />
Executive Committee. Soviet leaders utilized Bolshevization to strengthen their ability to<br />
interpret "correct" directives and ideological positions for national parties.<br />
This Bolshevization brought new challenges for communists. Bolshevization transformed<br />
the role of youth within the international movement, creating a number of paradoxes<br />
for young communists. 79 Firstly, in willingly submitting to the Comintern's<br />
centralization, communist youth gained extensive political leverage to direct the development<br />
of the adult movement. Secondly, while Bolshevization intended to create mass<br />
leagues of revolutionary youth, it more often resulted in the further isolation of communist<br />
youth in the West. In the end, Bolshevization fermented a number of trends that<br />
defined the role of communist youth until the advent of the Popular Front.<br />
Compliancy with the will of the Comintern was propagated as the most virtuous characteristic<br />
of the Young Communist Leagues:<br />
The Young Communist Leagues have proved to be everywhere the pioneers and vanguard<br />
of the policy of the Communist International.... In all these Party problems and in<br />
their settlement the YCI and the Young Communist Leagues have actively participated.<br />
It is characteristic that they have everywhere stood for the Communist International and<br />
have proved to be its most faithful support.... Leninism must become flesh and bone in<br />
all Communist Parties and Young Communist Leagues. It must penetrate and determine<br />
all their activities, and we must strive to build up truly Leninist and Bolshevist organizations.<br />
The Young Communist International must become a Young Leninist International!<br />
80<br />
Communist youth were directed to act as an ideological "vanguard of Bolshevism,"<br />
pressuring the adult movements into strict adherence to Comintern directions. Communist<br />
youth could "decide who was a "true" communist and who a deviant "opportunist""<br />
based on the subject's concurrence with Bolshevik principles as interpreted by the<br />
Comintern. 81<br />
Communist youth perceived themselves as ideological leaders to their national adult<br />
parties. 82 All YCL branches were encouraged "to struggle for the policy of the Comintern<br />
against the erroneous policy of their own Party." 83 The YCI stated, "The League must be<br />
an example to the Party and our local organizations must proceed with transformation<br />
whether the Party is moving in that direction or not and thus act as an urge on any<br />
21
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
recalcitrant branches of the adult movement." 84 A 1928 YCI report evaluated the importance<br />
of the role of the YCLs during the Bolshevization period:<br />
The Communist <strong>Youth</strong> International and its sections have, during the past period, proved<br />
themselves again to be the best fighters for the ideas and policy of the Comintern. The<br />
fact that the YCI and its sections have always been in the first ranks of the fight for the<br />
revolutionary Leninist line of the Comintern can, in the first place, be explained by the<br />
fact that the youth is not burdened with the old social democratic traditions. In all big<br />
political questions of the working class, in the discussions of the individual Communist<br />
Parties, our Leagues have most actively supported the line and policy of the<br />
Comintern.... We can to-day say with pride that our youth organisations, with the help of<br />
the Executive, almost always supported the correct attitude, the attitude of the<br />
Comintern, and supported it with great force. 85<br />
Bolshevization further subordinated the youth to the Comintern, but enabled young<br />
people to play a greater role in ideological leadership.<br />
Bolshevization necessitated a "correct" ideological education for youth centred on<br />
Leninism. Lenin placed great emphasis on political education to enable youth to unify<br />
revolutionary "theory and practice" within their movement. 86 The Fourth Congress of the<br />
YCI instructed "communist youth of all countries to occupy themselves systematically<br />
and persistently with the work of Comrade Lenin in order to educate a new generation of<br />
true Bolsheviks." 87 Theoretical education was linked with daily struggles within the<br />
factory, unlike socialist education that emphasised youth cultural activities within<br />
neighbourhood branches.<br />
For example, the Comintern directed the YCLs to establish "shop nuclei" groups<br />
within the factories to facilitate Leninist education. 88 The shop nucleus blended militant<br />
economic struggles with ideological education to politicize youth:<br />
[The YCL's] work and activities must thereby win a permanent influence on the mass of<br />
the young workers. This can only be done by being in continual daily touch with the<br />
working class youth, and by continually making them aware of our work. The chief<br />
place for such a connection is in the shop where the member of the League can make the<br />
influence of the Leagues felt.... This organizational unit is the shop nucleus. It forms the<br />
most important support, the corner stone of our organization. Work in the shop for the<br />
establishment of a nucleus and work in the nucleus when established, that is the first task<br />
of a member of the Young Communist League.... Every factory should be our stronghold!<br />
89<br />
The YCI insisted Leninism required a "militant education, i.e. for an education that is<br />
learned in the struggle which assists the struggle so that theory arises out of experience." 90<br />
Such economic struggles were intended to expose the "true nature" of capitalist power<br />
relations to the youth. The YCI hoped that the shop nucleus could "call upon workers for<br />
their support in our general struggle" by making economic and union work "the main<br />
activity of our [YCL] organization." 91<br />
The Comintern directed YCLs to treat shop nuclei recruits "as a prospective soldier in<br />
the future revolutionary army." 92 Communist youth argued such factory groups were<br />
seizing vital positions of power from their "class enemies." Open participation in such<br />
22
THE LENINIST GENERATION<br />
organizations was a risky venture for young workers and could easily lead to dismissal,<br />
blacklisting and potential legal persecution. 93 Nevertheless, communists insisted such<br />
factory organizations could help avert future wars and advance socialist revolution<br />
through the utilization of a general strike. If war broke out, production could be sabotaged<br />
or redirected to transform the war into a revolutionary civil war. In either case,<br />
communists insisted their presence within industrial organizations was vital to offset the<br />
influence of reformism, raise the class-consciousness of young workers and to ferment<br />
revolution in periods of working-class advance. The YCL's goal of using militant<br />
unionism to unleash a revolutionary civil war often held little resonation with a generation<br />
of war-weary youth.<br />
Bolshevization intended to form mass revolutionary organizations of youth, but instead<br />
resulted in constructing largely sectarian and isolated YCLs in the West. Bolshevization<br />
facilitated opportunities for youth advancement within the communist movement,<br />
but did little to create the mass youth leagues that the Comintern sought. Communist<br />
youth directed their primary energies internally into correcting ideological disputes and<br />
training their members in Leninism. YCL tactics simply mimicked adult and Russian<br />
strategies, neglecting the formulation of distinct youthful tactics. Instead of actively<br />
engaging youth to reject the rising influences of fascism, the YCI spent the Second<br />
Period simply denouncing all other movements and directing their membership's attention<br />
inward of their own "correct" development.<br />
The Third Period (1928-1933): Class <strong>Against</strong> Class and <strong>Youth</strong> Militancy<br />
During the summer of 1928 the Sixth World Congress of the Comintern endorsed a new<br />
"ultra-left" political line referred to as "Class <strong>Against</strong> Class." This era is commonly<br />
referred to as the "Third Period," lasting approximately from 1928-1933. By this time,<br />
Joseph Stalin was the dominant figure of Soviet politics, and in turn, he was able to<br />
exercise extensive influence upon the Comintern. Indeed, the Third Period witnessed the<br />
shift from "Bolshevization" to "Stalinization" of the Comintern. Many historians,<br />
especially after 1956, have blamed the disastrous failures of this era upon the "corruptive"<br />
influence Stalin exerted within the International. Though Stalin dominated<br />
Comintern politics, at times directly intervening in the internal affairs of other parties,<br />
many communists actively identified with and supported Stalin's policies; the Comintern<br />
maintained its leadership through both coercion and consent. Dispositions towards<br />
Stalinist policies were particularly accentuated within the youth movement.<br />
At its Fifth World Congress in 1929, the YCI officially endorsed the Comintern's political<br />
"left turn." Class <strong>Against</strong> Class theory and practice was centred on the premise<br />
that a new revolutionary period had arisen; the world would soon be overwhelmed by a<br />
new era of wars and revolutions. The Comintern characterized this era as "the end of<br />
capitalist stabilisation," facilitating a dire need to "reorientate the Communist Parties [and<br />
23
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
the YCLs] in accordance with the change in the surrounding conditions." 94 The<br />
Comintern instructed its Parties and YCLs to lead a militant attack against all elements of<br />
the social-democratic movement, denouncing them with the slogan of "social-fascists." 95<br />
The YCI's political identity was historically rooted in militant denunciations of social<br />
democracy. This factor led the communist youth to embrace the new Comintern line with<br />
great energy and enthusiasm. 96 Although fascism was rising in its prominence, the YCLs<br />
focussed their political attacks on their perceived adversaries on the left. 97<br />
For communist youth, the Class <strong>Against</strong> Class period did not create a profound shift in<br />
their politics. The Third Period represented an affirmation of militant anti-socialist trends<br />
that existed since the birth of the communist youth movement. McDermott and Agnew<br />
highlight the "endemic hostility of the Comintern leadership towards social democracy"<br />
and the anti-socialist roots of Leninist ideology, countering historians who have focussed<br />
on the rapid and divergent shifts of the Third Period. 98 YCI rhetoric of this period, while<br />
expressing greater urgency for revolutionary actions, continued to highlight elements of<br />
continuity in their policies.<br />
A central element of the YCI's outlook on the youth was insisting on the necessity of<br />
the political role that youth should embrace, unlike the social-democratic emphasis on<br />
cultural activities. During the discussions leading up to the youth's Fifth World Congress,<br />
the YCI insisted it was their role to counter these traditions of social democracy:<br />
Incorrect are the proposals for the giving of a non-political character to the YCL organizations,<br />
i.e., reconstruct them in such a way, that the cultural side should be given the<br />
most important place. In such a way we could not win the broad masses (take as an example<br />
the social-democratic youth organisations), and we will only lose all our revolutionary<br />
traditions, and instead of raising a new revolutionary generation, which should<br />
take the place of the old, we will raise "cultural people," opportunists. 99<br />
The Third Period did not change the YCI's conception of their movement. By increasing<br />
the intensity of their attacks on social democratic tactics, the YCI simply reinforced their<br />
own highly militant political identity.<br />
The main divergence of Class <strong>Against</strong> Class politics was a shift to focussing attacks<br />
on the left-wing of the socialist movement. The YCI's 1929 Programme reflected this<br />
shift in communist strategy and perceptions of their political opponents:<br />
A particularly dangerous shading of Social-Democratic reformism is the so-called "Left"<br />
(Centrist) Social-Democracy, which conceals by means of ostensibly revolutionary<br />
"Left" phrases, its complete and actual agreement with the most reactionary Social-<br />
Democratic reformism, and, its hostility to revolution. The "Left" wing of Social-<br />
Democracy thus serves only as an instrument of more subtle deception of the working<br />
masses; its special role is to deceive and keep under the influence of Social-Democracy<br />
(i.e., of the bourgeoisie) those workers who are already on the road towards Communism.<br />
Therefore, this brand of Social-Democratic reformism is an even more dangerous<br />
enemy than an open opponent of Communism, or the open supporters of socialimperialism.<br />
100<br />
During previous eras "left socialists," while heavily critiqued, were considered potential<br />
allies in countering conservative trends of social democracy. The YCI contended that<br />
24
THE LENINIST GENERATION<br />
such relations were no longer desirable during this new era of revolutionary advances.<br />
The YCI condemned all socialist youth, stating that any sort of unity or amalgamation<br />
"between the YCLs and the Young Socialist organizations is impossible" since socialist<br />
youth were affiliated to "essentially bourgeois parties." 101<br />
Communist youth were receptive to the Class <strong>Against</strong> Class line due to their long traditions<br />
of anti-militarism. After the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, the<br />
Comintern asserted the only way for capitalist nations to pull themselves out of the<br />
"present economic crisis" was "in making war." 102 In his report to the Twelfth Plenum of<br />
the Executive Committee of the Comintern, Susumu Okano insisted:<br />
A new imperialist war, a new intervention against the USSR, will bring to the workers<br />
and toilers of the whole world such suffering, deprivation and bloody sacrifice, as were<br />
not experienced even during the first world imperialist slaughter… the main task of all<br />
Communist Parties is… for the defence of the toilers of capitalist countries against a new<br />
imperialist war. 103<br />
In articles leading up to the Fifth World Congress of the YCI, young communists openly<br />
stated that "the biggest problem that faces the Congress is the war danger" and "how to<br />
carry on anti-militarist work." 104 Other articles emphasised the need for revolutionary<br />
youth actions against war, asserting that during this era marked by "the scramble of the<br />
imperialist powers for new markets" that war was quickly becoming "the only forcible<br />
solution to the crisis" for capitalism. 105<br />
Young communists denounced "capitalist initiatives" for peace like the Geneva Disarmament<br />
Commission of 1930. Despite the peace proposals made by Ambassador<br />
Litvinoff for the Soviet Union, the YCI stated the Commission was destined to failure for<br />
not addressing the root causes of war in capitalism and imperialism. Countering this<br />
"fake" meeting for peace, young communists stated, "For a real struggle for peace it is<br />
necessary first to overthrow the class that breeds war, that needs war, the boss class and<br />
throw overboard their whole system." 106 YCI educational materials insisted youth could<br />
not "compel the imperialists to give up war," but that anti-militarist activities should be<br />
designed to "push these masses into the struggle against imperialism, since only the<br />
destruction of imperialism will remove the causes of war and war itself." 107 Other YCI<br />
articles blatantly stated "when war is declared… [encourage other soldiers to] turn their<br />
guns against their only enemy, the boss class." 108 Class <strong>Against</strong> Class did not initiate new<br />
directions for youth, but simply encouraged a greater left militancy in the tone of youth<br />
rhetoric and activities. The YCI posited, "Today the youth must be prepared and must be<br />
steeled in order to disrupt imperialist war and destroy capitalism." 109<br />
The Leninist Generation consistently opposed "imperialist wars," but failed to target<br />
fascism's unique role in facilitating war, blurring the youth's understanding of other<br />
movements with their "social-fascist" critique. The Comintern enabled communist youth<br />
to play a distinct role within the International, but their external oppositional culture often<br />
proved counter-productive in advancing the youth struggle against war, especially during<br />
the Third Period. In many ways, the "science" of Marxism-Leninism was transformed<br />
25
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
into a pseudo-religious dogma to enforce the will of the Comintern and the Soviet<br />
leadership instead of acting as broad guide of international political action. The YCI<br />
played an active role in enforcing both the Bolshevization and Stalinization of the<br />
Comintern, but often failed to actively counter the rising tide of fascism.<br />
A Class War of Illusions: <strong>Youth</strong> and the "Science" of Marxism-Leninism<br />
The YCI directed its national sections to embrace and promote the "science" of Marxism-<br />
Leninism, believing Lenin had found a "correct formula" for political mobilization and<br />
socialist revolution. This trend led the YCI to neglect forming distinct national policies<br />
that would resonate with youth of the 1920's, opting to mimic the tactics, ideology and<br />
language of the Russian Bolsheviks. Young communists believed the Bolshevik Revolution<br />
could be recreated in the West by energetically applying the "correct" lines of the<br />
Comintern, fermenting and capitalizing upon periods of revolutionary advance. Communists<br />
internalized failures through "Bolshevik self-criticism" or blamed them upon<br />
"illusions" bred by social democrats and bourgeois culture, rarely explaining defeats in<br />
terms of incorrect policies. The YCI contended setbacks were rooted in deviations from<br />
Comintern lines or lack of energy and conviction in application of these "correct lines."<br />
The Comintern failed to adequately address the context of Western political culture,<br />
directing communist youth to strictly follow the Russian experience for guidance. The<br />
Leninist Generation was plagued by a constant deference to the Comintern's interpretation<br />
of this Leninist "science" while the Popular Front Generation would later claim a<br />
more creative inspiration from what they termed to be the "spirit," not the "science of<br />
Marxism-Leninism.<br />
The YCI attacked competing conceptions of youth mobilization outright for maintaining<br />
class rule, failing to adequately analyze or utilize their potential appeal or complexity.<br />
The Leninist Generation propagated a militant political identity, attacking all other<br />
movements for facilitating the "rooting of new illusions in the ranks of the working<br />
youth." 110 The Leninist outlook of the YCI facilitated tactics directed towards highly<br />
destructive methods, informed by what Ottanelli has termed a "cataclysmic view of social<br />
change." 111 On such important and contentions issues as nationalism, youth unity, and<br />
democracy the YCI asserted their own distinct and inflexible Leninist analysis that<br />
considered any other viewpoint illusionary and ultimately counter-revolutionary.<br />
The Leninist and Popular Front generations of the YCI held intensely divergent positions<br />
on the national issue in the West. The Leninist Generation vehemently attacked<br />
nationalism as a poisonous illusion that facilitated war. Young communists exposed how<br />
socialists had betrayed "the most elementary things in the Communist Manifesto, where<br />
Marx stated that the workers have no fatherland under capitalism" by encouraging the<br />
"young generation to defend the fatherland." 112 Early statements of the YCI posited that<br />
deference to nationalist sentiment was dangerous and counterproductive. 113 In a pamphlet<br />
26
THE LENINIST GENERATION<br />
critiquing the post-war nationalist resurgence, the YCI denounced the "narrow-minded<br />
nationalist ideologists and patriotic idealists" who were targeting the youth. The YCI<br />
insisted, "Proletarian Revolution can only be victorious internationally, Communism can<br />
only be realised and sustained by Internationalism." 114 Other YCI statements reiterated<br />
this position stating, "The fight of the proletariat for Communism can only be successful<br />
if it is conducted on an international scale." 115 Until the rise of Hitler, the Leninist<br />
Generation treated nationalist sentiment as a dangerous bourgeois illusion for workingclass<br />
youth to combat.<br />
The YCI contended its "scientific" programme was correct, in turn condemning all<br />
other conceptions of mobilization and youth unity. The YCI argued "the growth of the<br />
Young Communist Leagues to mass organizations is altogether impossible without the<br />
annihilation of the opponent youth organizations" which necessitated a "merciless<br />
struggle against opportunism and its exponents in the ranks of the youth and against the<br />
Young Socialist Leagues." 116 The YCI maintained it was necessary to "destroy illusions"<br />
that socialists bred in working-class youth to maximize the revolutionary potential of any<br />
future crises of capitalism. The post-war youth were a "revolutionary generation." The<br />
YCI insisted socialist cultural initiatives, though effective in their unifying appeal, simply<br />
bred further illusions in the youth.<br />
Although the YCI directed YCLs to reject social-democratic tactics, it often commented<br />
on the lack of "youthful methods" communists utilized in carrying out work. A<br />
1928 YCI Congress report lamented:<br />
The Congress had to record once more that YCL work was still too much like Party<br />
work and that YCL methods of work were in most cases slavish imitations of the methods<br />
of work of the Parties and were not adapted to the special requirements and peculiarities<br />
of the working youth.... In many cases the youth is approached only with involved<br />
agitations phraseology. The young people who join us are not introduced into the work<br />
in a methodical way but are frequently given tasks which they cannot carry out even<br />
with the best intentions. The work is not interesting enough, the life of the organisation<br />
is dull and there is little to attract to our organisation young people. 117<br />
In countering socialist cultural programs, the YCI adopted methods that often held little<br />
attraction to the youth. For a movement that relied heavily upon the energetic dedication<br />
of its activists, the perpetual existence of a dull organizational life did little to secure<br />
long-term commitments from the youth. Young communists often made little critique of<br />
the "correctness" of their own strategies to win over youth, instead directing attacks<br />
against their socialist youth counterparts. Any relations with socialist leaders were<br />
intended to "unmask these so-called leaders, and subsequently, [to] attack them in the<br />
most energetic fashion." 118 The YCI contended that "making or tolerating any concessions"<br />
to socialists within any United Front alliances was not permissible. 119<br />
The YCI rejected any notions of youth "class collaboration," arguing such practices<br />
would taint revolutionaries with "bourgeois sentiments." 120 In communist organizing,<br />
"working-class youth were the object of the greatest affection and adulation, while<br />
27
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
student youth and children of the intelligentsia were often condemned as counterrevolutionaries."<br />
121 Movements that appealed to youth en-masse were simply denounced.<br />
The YCI argued broad youth movements were largely "sentimental" and ultimately<br />
"poisonous" to young workers minds:<br />
These petty bourgeois sentimental dreams of "youth" as such, who, irrespective of their<br />
social and economic class position have the same interests and must organize themselves<br />
in order to create, far from the terrible "today," the "new" life of youth, are a gigantic<br />
fraud which also affects the working class… a real flood of poison is shed over the<br />
minds of the young workers from all the sluices of capitalism. Church, press, bourgeois<br />
literature, and "art," cinemas, alcoholism, etc., are working day and night to alienate the<br />
working youth from their class and subject them to the influence of the bourgeoisie. 122<br />
All forms of non-communist youth culture and movements were treated as dangerous<br />
tools of class rule that instilled further illusions in the youth concerning capitalism and<br />
class collaboration. 123<br />
The YCI analysis of capitalist society went further in denouncing Western political<br />
culture, dismissing forms of parliamentary democracy as an illusionary form of class<br />
rule. Young communists embraced Lenin's critique that the state was simply "an organ<br />
of class rule, an organ for the oppression of one class by another." 124 The YCI dismissed<br />
socialist arguments that the expansion of democratic rights had changed power relations<br />
within capitalist society. Lenin contended political democracy did not change the realities<br />
of class relationships. The democratic form of government further solidified class<br />
societies by propagating rhetoric that fermented illusions about equality. Lenin argued<br />
that even the most democratic of states would never bring about equality, nor will it ever<br />
strive to since its economic and political foundations rested in the power of capital:<br />
Every state in which private ownership of the land and means of production exists, in<br />
which capital dominates, however democratic it may be, is a capitalist state, a machine<br />
used by the capitalists to keep the working class and the poor peasants in subjection;<br />
while universal suffrage, a Constituent Assembly, a parliament are merely a form, a sort<br />
of promissory note, which does not change the real state of affairs. The forms of domination<br />
of the state may vary: capital manifests its power in one way where one form exists,<br />
and in another way where another form exists-but essentially the power is in the hands of<br />
capital, whether there are voting qualifications or some other rights or not, or whether<br />
the republic is a democratic one or not-in fact, the more democratic it is the cruder and<br />
more cynical is the rule of capitalism. 125<br />
Although the democratic republic had played a progressive role in replacing feudal<br />
political structures, under the "era of Imperialism" bourgeois democracy had ceased to<br />
play a progressive role in history. Capitalist economics necessitated the maintenance of<br />
the social status quo and bourgeois democracy in turn was both unwilling and unable to<br />
change class relations.<br />
William Rust, an early YCLGB leader, critiqued the interplay of socialists, voting and<br />
the nature of bourgeois democracy. Rust's comments centred on exposing the realities of<br />
social and economic power in the democratic republic:<br />
28
THE LENINIST GENERATION<br />
Although the workers have the right to vote and to elect representatives… they have no<br />
real control. The so-called democracy which we enjoy is a sham and a fraud, and although<br />
Labour leaders tell us that the workers can vote capitalism out of existence by<br />
getting a majority in Parliament, we find on examining the matter closely that the workers'<br />
chances of doing this are about equal to those of a snowball in Satan's well-known<br />
establishment. Democracy is only a cover for the purpose of making the capitalist dictatorship<br />
less obvious. 126<br />
Democracy was simply dismissed as a form of "bourgeois dictatorship." Communists<br />
condemned socialists for their support of such bourgeois democracies. According to the<br />
YCI analysis, socialist democratic reforms distorted the class nature of the democratic<br />
state and hindered the revolutionary development of the working class.<br />
The problems facing the Leninist Generation were not just organizational and theoretical,<br />
but also a linguistic stigma in the form and content of their youth propaganda. In<br />
rejecting the distinct national traditions of socialism attached to the Second International,<br />
the YCI enforced an inflexible internationalist discourse. 127 Aggressive language framed<br />
in the military terminology of international class warfare did little to inspire a generation<br />
intimately familiar with the horrors and sacrifices of violence and war. Many of the<br />
YCI's failures lay in approaching the youth with primarily adult and Soviet slogans that<br />
were alien to the youth. Even when organizing efforts failed to produce mass organizations,<br />
the Leninist YCI continually engaged youth in a militant rhetoric that condemned<br />
their values instead of striving to reflect them.<br />
In the end, Leninist strategy facilitated an "illusionary mindset" in young communists<br />
concerning revolution in the West and their vanguard relationship with the youth.<br />
Lenin's "scientific" critiques became ideological dogma in their universal applicability<br />
instead of acting as a guide to action. Communist youth played a significant role in the<br />
founding and development of the Comintern, but a largely insignificant role in influencing<br />
youth politics. One of the greatest challenges of the Popular Front Generation of the<br />
YCI was to overcome these sectarian legacies. During the thirties young communists<br />
abandoned much of their Leninist militancy, approaching youth with a conciliatory<br />
language that co-opted youth values instead of denouncing them. YCI propaganda<br />
embraced new perspectives concerning nationalism, youth culture and democracy framed<br />
in anti-fascist rhetoric. Unfortunately it took the rise of Hitler and the fresh leadership of<br />
an anti-fascist generation of communist youth to "unmask" the illusions communists held<br />
about the "correctness" of their Bolshevik perspective in preventing war and advancing<br />
socialism.<br />
The British-American Context<br />
Although young communists functioned within distinct national political contexts, the<br />
British and American YCLs employed very similar methods and political rhetoric. This<br />
phenomenon was a conscious strategy reflecting the directives of the YCI. The YCI<br />
29
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
argued that the universalism and international coordination of their programme was a<br />
necessary and positive feature of the communist youth movement:<br />
The next characteristic feature in our organizational development is our continuous development<br />
into a strictly centralized world organization. The Young Communist International<br />
can today with full justification call itself an international league, in which<br />
many languages are spoken, but completely uniform work and struggle is carried on.<br />
Our Executive Committee is no question box, no information bureau, as that of the social<br />
patriotic International of <strong>Youth</strong>.... It actually leads almost the whole work of the individual<br />
sections in a general manner. 128<br />
National variations and diverse strategies were considered social-democratic methods<br />
that needed to be replaced by centralized and uniform methods. Despite this, the British<br />
and American YCLs were faced with very different national challenges in their early<br />
years. 129 Many of the setbacks of the early British and American YCLs were rooted in a<br />
failure to mature and develop to the external realities of the limited national political<br />
spaces open to them, instead focussing on the internal dictates of the YCI.<br />
Post-war Britain was a nation fraught with political realignments that opened up a<br />
variety of political opportunities for working-class radicalism. Prime Minister Lloyd<br />
George commented that between 1917 and 1919 Europe was "filled with the spirit of<br />
revolution… the whole existing order in its political, social and economic aspects is<br />
questioned by the masses of the population from one end of Europe to the other." 130 In<br />
places like Glasgow, where striking workers raised the "red flag" in George Square, the<br />
Prime Minister reacted by bringing a "big howitzer [into] the city chambers, tanks in<br />
Glasgow, machine guns on top of the post office and the hotels, and soldiers who were<br />
not from the front." 131 Lloyd George feared veteran troops would potentially sympathize<br />
with worker's demands and could not be "relied upon to act against" striking workers. 132<br />
The industrial crisis reached such dramatic heights that the Government inquired as to<br />
whether the Royal Air Force had the capacity to "bomb British urban centres such as<br />
Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow" in order to crush any possible popular uprisings. 133<br />
To combat working-class radicalism, employers and the state coordinated efforts in<br />
utilizing both repression and reform to diffuse protests. 134<br />
The Labour Party played a vital role in channelling working-class discontent into less<br />
radical avenues. After he had visited Russia in 1917, Arthur Henderson argued that the<br />
best way to fight against the growing tide of revolutionary fervour was to adopt a Parliamentary<br />
socialist program for the Labour Party. 135 Henderson and other Labour leaders<br />
argued that the mass extension of the election franchise opened new political opportunities<br />
for socialists to capitalize upon. 136 Labour merged the radical energies of British<br />
workers with aspirations of progressive middle-class elements into filling the political<br />
void left by the fledgling Liberal Party. The adoption of Clause IV into their constitution<br />
dedicated the Labour Party to the advancement of socialism, while the reformist influence<br />
of the ILP and the Fabian Society helped Labour to assert that it was a "respectable<br />
party" that was "fit to rule Britain." While the Labour Party was able to absorb adult<br />
30
THE LENINIST GENERATION<br />
radicalism, their neglect of youth mobilization opened opportunities for the YCLGB that<br />
were not fully utilized by the communists. 137<br />
The British YCL was reluctant to put much energy or devotion into the formation of a<br />
mass youth organization. This was not a unique phenomenon within the YCI. Great<br />
opportunities existed within the Communist Parties for youth to advance themselves<br />
politically due to their disassociation with traditions of the Second International. The<br />
Bolshevik style of organization also leant itself to young activists who could act as<br />
"revolutionary cadres" due to their "absence of domestic commitments." 138 Mike Waite<br />
has noted, "One of the reasons why the YCL was relatively small in the twenties was that<br />
the Party itself was often run by young men, and they saw little purpose in 'going back' to<br />
put their efforts into a weaker subsidiary organisation." 139 British socialism was growing<br />
in its strength and the potential for a revolutionary advance did not seem completely<br />
unfounded to communist youth. In this situation, forging a distinctive youth movement<br />
held little attraction for youth who were eligible for Party membership. The ability of<br />
youth who met the proper age requirements to hold dual membership in the Party and the<br />
YCL also stunted the development of the YCL.<br />
The intense internationalism of the early YCI led communist youth to reject their national<br />
traditions in order to follow a "Bolshevik path" to socialism. 140 John Gollan<br />
reflected that the British youth movement was "the oldest and most complex in the<br />
world," but the early YCL did little to engage itself within these well established traditions<br />
of socialist-youth radicalism. 141 The YCL linked the formation of youth movements<br />
directly to "the exploitation of youth by capitalism." 142 The YCL focussed their energies<br />
into industrial organizations based upon the YCI's shop nuclei model. University students<br />
were allowed to join the YCL, but only when they had shown "their complete<br />
subordination" to the movement and their ability for "political and industrial work with<br />
the manual workers." 143<br />
The YCL contended the war represented a clear break in modern history that necessitated<br />
a rejection of past socialist practices and traditions, especially in the field of industrial<br />
relations. The move to separate their organization from the past was a conscious<br />
strategy promoted by the YCL to offset the inability of Labour and the TUC to adapt to<br />
the new post-war conditions:<br />
Such leaders as these can never lead us to victory… [they try] to patch up capitalism and<br />
improve the workers' conditions by improving capitalism.... Their leadership grew up<br />
during the time when conditions were improving and a growing capitalism could afford<br />
to grant concessions to the workers. This was the period of peaceful class-collaboration<br />
trade unionism.... To-day, as we have explained, conditions have changed and the old<br />
peaceful reformist methods are things of the past. 144<br />
The YCL's militant class rhetoric and forms of industrial organization made steady<br />
advances during periods of class tensions. During the General Strike of 1926, even while<br />
having prominent YCL leaders such as Will Rust in prison, the YCL was able to gain<br />
almost 1500 recruits by publishing a daily strike bulletin entitled The Young Striker. 145<br />
31
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
Despite these nominal advances during industrial conflicts, the YCLGB was unable to<br />
sustain a large membership during the twenties.<br />
The YCL did little to make their organization and political rhetoric appealing to the<br />
distinct culture of British youth, depending almost entirely on Comintern tactics. 146<br />
Although the YCI and British EC continually berated the YCLGB for having a "League<br />
life [that was] generally too dull to retain many new members," little practical work was<br />
seriously pursued to change this phenomenon. 147 <strong>Youth</strong> cultural and recreational activities<br />
were dismissed as social-democratic methods to be rejected. As a result, the YCL<br />
continued to live a largely sectarian existence throughout the twenties.<br />
The founding of the YCL had a dramatic impact upon the development of British socialist<br />
youth organizations. The Labour Party and the Independent Labour Party established<br />
their own youth organizations during the early twenties, fearing that the initiative<br />
of socialist-youth mobilization had gone over to the communists. 148 Throughout the interwar<br />
period socialist youth struggled to increase the political elements of their movement<br />
by adopting many of the campaigns of the YCL. 149 In turn, socialist adults continually<br />
sought to "depoliticize" their youth organizations to offset potential radicalism. The<br />
Labour Party and ILP took a highly restrictive and paternalistic attitude towards the<br />
politicization of their youth leagues. A Labour League of <strong>Youth</strong> (LLOY) member<br />
complained that if the "League of <strong>Youth</strong> [were run] like a glorified Sunday School then it<br />
simply will not attract the youth." 150 This phenomenon often facilitated highly contentious<br />
relations between youth and their associated adult parties. 151 Neither the socialist or<br />
communist youth pursued any serious attempts to find a dynamic balance between<br />
culture, recreation and politics within their organizations. Despite mistakes in tactics, the<br />
failures of socialist youth groups, including the YCL, were symptomatic of a "detachment"<br />
that British youth generally experienced with politics during the twenties. 152<br />
Furthermore, the YCLGB also had a major impact on the development of the CPGB.<br />
The main role of the YCL during the twenties was to promote the ideological correctness<br />
of Comintern lines. The Comintern used institutions like the Lenin School in Moscow to<br />
indoctrinate youth with Bolshevik militancy that could be utilized within national sections<br />
to enforce Comintern dictates. 153 During the disruptive transition to Class <strong>Against</strong><br />
Class in 1928, the Comintern encouraged the YCL to lead an ideological attack against<br />
the CPGB leadership. 154 The Comintern berated the CPGB as "a society of great friends"<br />
instead of a "Bolshevik vanguard," prompting the YCL to launch a scathing denunciation<br />
of the CP leadership. 155 A YCL pamphlet later boasted that they had "struggled very<br />
correctly and well for the carrying out of the [new] line in the Communist Parties." 156<br />
Despite the success the YCL had in assisting the Comintern in the formation of a new<br />
party leadership, its own membership numbers dropped to under 900 by mid-1929. 157<br />
The YCL remained plagued by this sectarian and isolated state until the adoption of the<br />
Popular Front.<br />
32
THE LENINIST GENERATION<br />
The communist youth movement in the United States followed a similar evolution,<br />
largely failing to adapt to the distinct national context of American political culture.<br />
WWI facilitated a significant amount of political radicalism, unrest and repression in the<br />
United States. With US entry into WWI in April, 1917 many American youth initially<br />
became "swept into what appeared to be an idealistic crusade to end war and make the<br />
world safe for democracy and peace." 158 During this period a wave of government and<br />
vigilante persecution was unleashed against American socialists for their anti-war activities.<br />
Legislation like the Sedition Act of 1918 expanded legal definitions of treasonous<br />
activities. Radicals could be prosecuted not only for actual acts, but also for any<br />
speeches or writings considered "disloyal, scurrilous or abusive" towards the American<br />
government or the war effort. 159<br />
Instead of relaxing repression after the Armistice, President Wilson's government used<br />
the pretext of the Bolshevik Revolution to expand its "campaign against antiwar<br />
groups… into an antiradical campaign," resulting in America's first officially endorsed<br />
"Red Scare." 160 The American left became increasingly marginalized as "government,<br />
industry, education, and civic organizations participated in an Americanization campaign"<br />
specifically targeting "foreign elements." 161 Industrial strikes swept across the<br />
nation culminating in such intense episodes as the Seattle General Strike and Boston<br />
Police Strike of 1919, intensifying trends of official persecution and social fears. Accompanying<br />
these industrial disputes, a series of politically motivated bombings occurred<br />
throughout 1919-1920 that were ascribed to anarchist inspired acts of "red terror." These<br />
scenarios of intense class conflict inspired revolutionaries to establish an American<br />
communist movement, but they were also used by "opponents of socialism" to rally<br />
patriotic sentiment for "destroying a [perceived] domestic enemy." 162 The incipient<br />
communist movement was victimized by swift government repression and anti-foreigner<br />
campaigns, leaving American communists with few opportunities for successful organizing.<br />
American communists suffered marginalization in the twenties due to a powerful<br />
movement of "traditionalism" that centred upon rejecting immigrant and internationalist<br />
influences. 163 The "Red Scare" of 1919-20 reinvigorated traditionalist outlooks and<br />
prejudices that rejected immigrant influences, especially East European and Slavic<br />
elements. The YWL faced special political challenges as a movement composed primarily<br />
of Finnish, Hungarian and Jewish immigrants. 164 Haynes and Klehr argue that this<br />
foreign composition caused the US movement to be made up predominately of individuals<br />
who shared a "profound alienation from American culture." 165 The Comintern commented<br />
on this factor, stating that the American movement had "been for many years an<br />
organization of foreign workers not much connected with the political life of the country."<br />
166 The alienation experienced by foreign-born communists was often a product of<br />
the larger trends of anti-immigrant discrimination that in turn fuelled their political<br />
radicalism.<br />
33
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
Government repression and lack of domestic support made the potentials for a vibrant<br />
American Young Communist League negligible. The first attempt to form a communist<br />
youth movement in 1919 was unsuccessful. 167 Another attempt was made in 1920 to<br />
form an American YCL, but the Palmer Raids drove the fledgling organization underground.<br />
168 Finally in 1922 the Young Workers League (YWL) was formed as a legal<br />
communist youth organization, one month after the YCL was formally established as an<br />
illegal "underground organization." 169 This trend of splitting the socialist movement and<br />
forming both legal and illegal organizations were not unique to the YCL, but was a<br />
duplication of the trends followed by the adult Workers (Communist) Party to avoid<br />
further legal persecution.<br />
In its early relationship with the YCI, the YWL was not acknowledged as a full member,<br />
but was described as a "sympathizing organization" that the YCI hoped would<br />
"before long… be able to associate with us even more closely." 170 The YWL lamented of<br />
this situation as well, openly stating that they hoped "some day that conditions may arrive<br />
when the Young Workers League can become a section of [the] Young Communist<br />
International." 171 American delegates to the YCI were not reported on as delegates, but<br />
referred to as "observers" who attended YCI Congresses not to receive orders, but to<br />
return to the US to "explain conditions over there" in Europe. 172 This cautious language<br />
reflected the precarious legal existence of the American League.<br />
While persecution set back the early YWL, its appeals to join a "militant vanguard…<br />
in the daily struggle" for "the conquest of power" did not resonate greatly with American<br />
youth. 173 An article in The Nation commented at the time that while the energies of youth<br />
had been "tapped by the war," it was questionable that they could be "harnessed in<br />
peacetime to a social purpose." 174 American youth of the twenties embraced cultural<br />
expressions of rebellion through "flappers, jazz and gin," not calls for the establishment<br />
of a "Workers' Republic." 175 Instead of actively engaging in this modern youth culture,<br />
the early YWL condemned things like the "jazz-spirit" of youth as reactionary. The<br />
YWL contended "jazzism is coming to be as reactionary a force in America as <strong>Fascism</strong> is<br />
in Italy" for breeding a "carefree" attitude in the youth. 176 Along with condemning the<br />
"carefree" culture of youth, the early YWL also condemned efforts to work with university<br />
student youth who had formed an important basis of the Socialist Party. The YWL<br />
stated university students could one day assist a Workers' State with their "management<br />
skills," but that "students as a category in modern society can never become revolutionary"<br />
since they were "mentally and morally subservient to the interest of the masters." 177<br />
One of the major problems facing the United States communist movement was the<br />
issue of "American exceptionalism." Though the American economy suffered some<br />
preliminary slumps and high unemployment due to post-war economic adjustments, the<br />
period of the twenties was a time of massive American economic growth. The potential<br />
class tensions associated with industrial rationalization were outweighed by a hegemonic<br />
culture of optimism linked with high employment rates and economic growth. 178 The<br />
34
THE LENINIST GENERATION<br />
first publication of the YWL contained a sober article lamenting that American workers<br />
had "the least developed class consciousness of any proletariat the world over" and had<br />
"not even begun to think in terms of class consciousness and revolution." 179 The typical<br />
American outlook was not defined primarily by class, but a dominant culture centred on<br />
optimistic constructions of "Americanism." 180 In adapting themselves to the international<br />
outlook, strategies and constraints of the YCI, the YWL had a difficult time coping with<br />
the national realities of American political culture linked with its massive economic<br />
growth.<br />
Like the British YCL, the YWL utilized militant and often sarcastic revolutionary language<br />
intended to dispel illusions youth held concerning their nation. The YWL regularly<br />
invoked rhetoric like "the So-called Land of Opportunity" to expose the realities of<br />
American society under capitalism as obscured by the Americanization movement. 181<br />
The YWL hoped that over time they could "make the American working class revolutionary<br />
in thought, desires and action" by actively "educating and organizing" young<br />
workersthrough industrial struggles. 182 As the twenties progressed, the YWL changed the<br />
format of The Young Worker from a "refined magazine" into a militant newspaper<br />
intended to "educate [YCLers] in the [revolutionary] struggle." 183 Instead of adapting to<br />
the unique elements of American political and youth culture, the YWL continually<br />
embraced a strict international class outlook in accordance to YCI resolutions and<br />
strategies.<br />
The YWL, much like the YCLGB, focussed their primary political energies inward on<br />
the ideological and factional struggles that plagued the Worker's (Communist) Party<br />
(WCP). In a 1938 article in the Young Communist Review, Gil Green took a sobering<br />
look at the early years of the YWL, commenting of the organization's factionalized and<br />
largely isolated existence. 184 Green lamented that throughout the twenties the YWL<br />
remained "a narrow organization with the central task of aiding the Party." 185 Just as the<br />
YCLGB took a lead in internal disputes, the YWL "played no small part in giving active<br />
forces to the Party and in helping it cleanse itself of all corrupt [ideological] alien elements<br />
and influences," including "the expulsion of the Trotzkyites and Lovestonites." 186<br />
Unlike the YCLGB, the YWL had few socialist opponents to blame for their lack of<br />
success. Green admitted that the YWL used "American exceptionalism" and inner-party<br />
struggles as an excuse for perpetuating its isolated existence:<br />
1930 ushered in a new period of sharpening class struggles. It was this crisis of capitalist<br />
economy which caused a special crisis within the ranks and leadership of the YCL.<br />
The new conditions in the country necessitated a new approach; a new outlook, new tactics<br />
and perspectives. One period had come to a close. A new one had begun. The YCL<br />
did not fully understand that its continued isolation from the majority of youth could no<br />
longer be explained by objective conditions or by the requisites of the Party situation.<br />
The factional struggle was over; the Party was united ideologically and organizationally.<br />
Sectarian isolation had become the main danger for the YCL. 187<br />
35
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
Following the lead of the (Workers) Communist Party, the YWL spent most of the<br />
twenties in a state of "isolation and destructive inner factionalism." 188 During the Popular<br />
Front era the YCL adapted to the new conditions of American political culture becoming<br />
one of "the most important radical youth organizations" in the United States. 189<br />
The strict internationalist culture of the Leninist YCI hindered communist youth from<br />
adopting distinct national strategies to maximize their political effectiveness. Internationalism<br />
was a revolutionary tactic forged to advance revolution and combat the threat<br />
of imperialist war. <strong>Fascism</strong> thrived on a rejection of internationalism and the manipulation<br />
of national traditions to crush working-class organizations and advance threats of<br />
war. As will be seen in the next chapter, the Great Depression and the rise of Nazi<br />
fascism prompted communists to revise many of their traditional strategies, critiques and<br />
their understanding of fascism. The Comintern's Popular Front line granted communist<br />
youth much greater flexibility in their rhetoric and strategies. The distinct national<br />
methods embraced by the Popular Front Generation of the British and American YCLs<br />
forged a new communist youth identity intended to rally and organize youth against<br />
fascism.<br />
36
2<br />
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM:<br />
THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE POPULAR<br />
FRONT GENERATION<br />
<strong>Fascism</strong> means the destruction of all the democratic rights won by the people, the establishment<br />
of a kingdom of darkness and ignorance and the destruction of culture; it means<br />
nonsensical race theories and the preaching of hatred of man for man, for the purpose of<br />
kindling wars of conquest.<br />
-Georgi Dimitrov, 1936 1<br />
Many claim that we are giving up Socialism by associating with the democratic forces.<br />
We say that unless we associate with the democratic forces we may never live to see Socialism<br />
because of the menace of fascism which is confronting us.<br />
-John Gollan, YCLGB Secretary, 1938 2<br />
Increasingly after 1933, communists sought to mobilize youth through anti-fascist<br />
propaganda. The YCI insisted its primary goal was to prevent fascism from unleashing<br />
another world war. This shift towards anti-fascism culminated in the official adoption of<br />
the Popular Front in 1935. Popular Front strategy was in part, a product of the shared<br />
experiences of defeat for the working-class movement; communists attempted to heal<br />
their splits with socialists and to adapt Leninism to Western democratic political culture,<br />
in many ways borrowing heavily from the pre-war traditions of the Second International. 3<br />
During this era the YCI rejected much of the oppositional rhetoric and strategies of<br />
traditional Leninism.<br />
Historians like David Beetham have insisted that the Popular Front was nothing but a<br />
deceitful manoeuvre to subordinate Comintern interests to Soviet foreign policy directives.<br />
4 Beetham's analysis contains many important insights, but neglects to highlight<br />
Western communists who enthusiastically identified with the Popular Front and how the<br />
propaganda of the era resonated highly with youth. Popular Front propaganda emphasized<br />
the parallels between Soviet interests, Western interests and the values of youth,<br />
positing a minimalist program that could easily be embraced by almost any anti-fascist<br />
movement. The explicit goal of the Popular Front was an international anti-fascist unity<br />
that would counteract the foreign policy goals of the fascist powers.<br />
Eric Hobsbawm contends the Popular Front was both an anti-fascist defensive tactic<br />
and a new offensive position to advance socialism. It was a new method to "win the<br />
37
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
leadership of a broad alliance of social forces, and maintain this leadership during a<br />
prolonged period of transition" in the struggle for a socialism born out of populist democratic<br />
movements that encapsulated a wide variety of progressive social elements. 5 This<br />
Popular Front revisionism transformed Western communism into a broad movement<br />
engaged in the mainstream of democratic politics, ending the era of the Leninist Generation.<br />
The rise of the Popular Front necessitated "a new way of thinking" for communists<br />
and socialists. 6 As we have seen, the Leninist Generation of the YCI had constructed<br />
communism in opposition to social-democratic theory and practices based on their<br />
perceptions of socialist betrayal, but after the rise of Hitler, communists began to perceive<br />
fascism as the greatest threat to peace, the Soviet Union and the working class. The<br />
Comintern amended its definition of fascism, characterizing its basis in narrow social<br />
terms that enabled the formation of broad anti-fascist alliances; hence a new Popular<br />
Front Generation undertook a complete revision of Leninism on the issues of nationalism,<br />
popular unity and democracy to effectively counter fascism. With a generation of<br />
historical animosity to overcome, GDH Cole correctly asserted that the youth "occupy today<br />
a strategic position of peculiar importance" to undertake the enormous task of<br />
constructing the Popular Front. 7<br />
The Seventh World Congress: The Working Class <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong><br />
Though Mussolini himself characterized fascism as "the resolute negation of… Marxian<br />
socialism" and rejected the "possibility or utility of perpetual peace," the Leninist Generation<br />
underestimated fascism's strength and did little to effectively counter it. 8 <strong>Fascism</strong><br />
was generally understood as a domestic movement of capitalist reaction; the Leninist<br />
method to fight "the specious revolutionary language of fascist demagogy" was by an<br />
"energetic and revolutionary fight against the ruling class." 9 In 1923, the year prior to<br />
Mussolini's full fascist dictatorship, the YCI defined fascism as the "deadliest enemy" of<br />
the working class. The YCI vowed to "ruthlessly smash <strong>Fascism</strong> wherever it shows its<br />
head," dedicating over twenty pages in their resolutions and theses to anti-fascism. 10 By<br />
1924, the YCI shifted the direction of its resolutions and activities to the challenges of<br />
"Bolshevization." The YCI's 1924 resolutions dedicated only one page to the struggle<br />
against fascism, advocating "open military struggle" as the strategy to "best produce<br />
decomposition in the ranks of the fascists." 11 <strong>Fascism</strong> continued to be opposed, but the<br />
YCI failed to strategically target it, characterizing it as simply another form of anticommunist<br />
reaction.<br />
The Third Period's "social-fascist" analysis linked fascism rhetorically with socialists,<br />
bourgeois democracy and anti-communism. This analysis of fascism asserted that<br />
"fascism equals reaction" and that "all capitalist regimes, whether parliamentary or<br />
dictatorial were defined as fascist;" social democrats were now "seen not merely as<br />
38
THE POPULAR FRONT GENERATION<br />
counter-revolutionary, but actually fascist" themselves for opposing communist aims. 12<br />
<strong>Fascism</strong> was a natural manifestation and symptom of capitalist society in crisis. The<br />
Comintern asserted that such crises would produce working-class revolution, not the<br />
victory of reaction. Third Period anti-fascism took on "a more confrontational activism"<br />
in disorderly street confrontations that alienated potential broad community support for<br />
anti-fascism. 13<br />
At the Seventh World Congress of the Comintern in August, 1935, Georgi Dimitrov<br />
presented a new political program termed the "Popular Front." The Popular Front had<br />
dramatic implications for Leninist theory and practice, especially for communists in the<br />
West. 14 Though Congress delegates approved Dimitrov's resolutions with a unanimous<br />
vote, "the Comintern [itself] was far from unanimous in support for Dimitrov's line."<br />
Popular Front tactics appeared "revisionist" and implied a degree of communist culpability<br />
in facilitating the victory of the Nazi Third Reich. 15<br />
The Seventh Congress was initially scheduled for 1934, but was postponed for almost<br />
a year while Dimitrov "struggled hard to convince Stalin of the need for change." 16<br />
Dimitrov and other Comintern leaders knew the Popular Front line represented a clear<br />
break with the past. At the Seventh Congress, Comintern leaders used a continuity of<br />
terms in their reports to ease potential tensions, legitimizing their revisionism in Leninist<br />
terminology. Opening the Congress with a traditional Leninist speech, Wilhelm Pieck of<br />
the German delegation proclaimed that "armed insurrection must be prepared" under "the<br />
slogan of fighting for Soviet Power." 17 Pieck confidently expressed that although the<br />
Nazis had set out to "annihilate Marxism," that there could be no serious "question of the<br />
National-Socialist regime being consolidated for any lengthy period of time." 18 Pieck's<br />
report recited traditional Bolshevik rhetoric and slogans common of the Leninist Generation.<br />
Dimitrov followed with a stunning message. While highlighting trends of continuity,<br />
Dimitrov gave a clear expression of the new Comintern directions by condemning past<br />
practices. Past practices proved ineffective in combating fascism and had assisted in<br />
enabling fascist victory in Germany. Dimitrov denounced the German SPD, but warned<br />
delegates of the disastrous implications of the failed anti-fascist strategies of the KPD.<br />
Dimitrov stated that those who do not "fight the reactionary measures of the bourgeoisie<br />
and the growth of fascism at these preparatory stages, is not in a position to prevent the<br />
victory of fascism, but, on the contrary, facilitates that victory." 19 The victory of fascism<br />
occurred due to "a number of mistakes committed by the Communist Parties," by "people<br />
who intolerably underrated the fascist danger." 20 Dimitrov reflected that communists had<br />
failed in engaging "the masses" on issues of nationalism, popular unity, democracy and<br />
peace, in turn facilitating the victory of Nazi fascism.<br />
Palmiro Togliatti, the Italian communist leader, followed Dimitrov's proclamations<br />
with a new analysis on the implications of fascism upon the maintenance of peace.<br />
39
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
Togliatti warned that if the Popular Front did not stop fascism it would mean the onset of<br />
a destructive world war unlike one ever witnessed by humanity:<br />
But what will the new war be like Army officers, men of science and novelists have<br />
tried to depict the horror of mechanized war… when the most perfected means of destruction<br />
are put into operation on a mass scale. We know only that the next war will be<br />
a general war of all countries, a war in which there will be no distinction between front<br />
and rear, a war of destruction of everything which makes the life of a present-day cultured<br />
nation possible. The next war… will be a war of extermination. It will be a fascist<br />
war. 21<br />
Previous Comintern statements identified fascism as a domestic form of reaction, noting<br />
little of special significance about the movement. Togliatti's analysis suggested fascism<br />
was a distinct phenomenon with international implications since it threatened to unleash a<br />
new world war.<br />
Dimitrov defined fascism as "the open terroristic dictatorship of the most reactionary,<br />
most chauvinistic and most imperialist elements of finance capital;" this narrow definition<br />
intended to "suggest that any social layer, except the most extreme imperialists,<br />
could be anti-fascist." 22 Dimitrov's personified fascism as the greatest enemy of the entire<br />
nation, positing the broad interests of "the people" against an ultra-reactionary segment of<br />
the capitalist class. Dimitrov specifically critiqued Nazi fascism as "the most reactionary<br />
variety of fascism" stating:<br />
Hitler fascism is not only bourgeois nationalism, it is bestial chauvinism. It is a government<br />
of political banditry, a system of provocation and torture.... It is medieval barbarity<br />
and bestiality in its own country, it is unbridled aggression in relation to other<br />
nations and countries. German fascism is acting as the spearhead of international<br />
counter-revolution, as the chief incendiary of imperialist war.... <strong>Fascism</strong> is the power of<br />
finance capital itself. It is the organization of terrorist vengeance against the working<br />
class.... In its foreign policy, fascism is chauvinism in its crudest form, fomenting bestial<br />
hatred of other nations. 23<br />
Hitler's victory forced communists to reformulate their definition of fascism and their<br />
conceptions of social change. <strong>Fascism</strong> was as an international force menacing the peace<br />
and progress of the entire world, threatening the future of both bourgeois democracy and<br />
socialism. The victory of fascism meant a return to a "medieval barbarity" that would<br />
deprive society of hard-won citizenship rights for the advancement of "finance capital."<br />
Dimitrov's conceptions identified fascism as the ultimate counter-revolutionary force<br />
directed initially against the working class, but antagonistic to the general interests of the<br />
nation as a whole.<br />
Dimitrov's reconceptualization of fascism directed communists to abandon their previous<br />
Leninist positions of opposition to the nation. Communists were directed to<br />
organize and lead the most progressive social forces to defend democratic rights, institutions<br />
and culture against domestic fascist threats. By taking a leading role in national<br />
politics, communists could be positioned to influence international policy to counter and<br />
contain fascist threats of imperialist war. This transition was not an easy task for a<br />
movement accustomed to sectarian attacks on all other movements of the left. The<br />
40
THE POPULAR FRONT GENERATION<br />
Comintern placed great hope in youth to break with past practices and to embrace a more<br />
flexible populism centred on anti-fascism.<br />
Nevertheless, the international "left opposition" communist groups denounced the<br />
Popular Front as opportunistic heresy, highlighting the divergence of Dimitrov's positions<br />
with traditional Leninism. While some historians contend that the "milder tone" of<br />
Popular Front rhetoric "in nowise involved a deviation from orthodox communist goals,"<br />
left critics of the Popular Front did not share this opinion. 24 Leon Trotsky was the most<br />
ardent contemporary critic of the Popular Front. 25 Trotsky linked the Popular Front with<br />
"Stalinism" which he described as the "syphilis of the workers' movement." 26 Trotsky<br />
asserted the Popular Front promoted "class collaboration" and was the culmination of<br />
Stalinism being imposed upon the Comintern. Trotsky condemned the early French<br />
populist initiatives of 1935, declaring that "the Third International is dead" and that now<br />
was the time to "theoretically and practically, prepare for the Fourth International." 27 The<br />
Comintern had "outlived" its purpose, Trotsky declaring that his Fourth International was<br />
to be "the world party of Socialist Revolution." 28 This critique of the Popular Front<br />
formed the theoretical basis of the Trotskyist movement which asserted that they represent<br />
a "true Bolshevik" movement. 29 The former CPUSA chairman Jay Lovestone<br />
presented a similar critique. Lovestone vehemently argued that pursuing a line centred<br />
on securing "universal peace" against the threat of fascism was "a monstrous violation of<br />
Marxist and Leninist teachings." 30 Lovestone and Trotsky both hoped disillusionment<br />
with the Popular Front line would add to the strength of their own oppositional communist<br />
groupings.<br />
Transitions within Soviet foreign and domestic policy had profound implications for<br />
international communism. In 1934 Stalin set out to transform the role of the Soviet<br />
Union in international relations from an oppositional position into a constructive force to<br />
counter threats of fascist aggression. 31 Stalin dismissed Bolshevik tradition and joined<br />
the League of Nations, seeking out "protective alliances" with capitalist nations for a<br />
policy of "collective security" against fascism. 32 The overwhelming size of the Red<br />
Army made the Soviets more attractive to potential allies in the West, but Soviet history<br />
and mutual distrust limited Stalin's diplomatic success. Despite this factor, the Soviet<br />
Foreign Commissar Maxim Litvinov continued to make "a real effort to come to terms<br />
with the Western powers for united resistance to Fascist aggression and to use the League<br />
of Nations as an instrument for this purpose." 33 The Soviet Union used their assistance to<br />
Spain to exemplify their "new outlook," insisting that the Spanish Republic and USSR<br />
were defending democracy, not promoting Bolshevik revolution. Communists increasingly<br />
asserted that the struggle in Spain was not about "communism versus fascism," but<br />
embodied an international struggle where social forces were "either on the side of bestial<br />
fascism, or on the side of democracy." 34<br />
Internal Soviet trends facilitated vital propaganda points for the construction of the<br />
Popular Front on the issue of democracy. The adoption of the "Stalin Constitution" in<br />
41
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
1936 was vital for communist Popular Front rhetoric. 35 Communists ceased speaking of<br />
the Soviet Union as a dictatorship, asserting that the "Soviet Union takes its place alongside<br />
of America" as the two "greatest democracies in the world." 36 Louis Fischer, a<br />
contemporary Soviet sympathizer, argued that since "all the hostile classes in the Soviet<br />
Union" had been removed that "Stalin could, without danger to the regime, grant a new<br />
charter of liberty which would release new enthusiasm." 37 The Soviets officially asserted<br />
"the victory of Socialism [had] made possible the further democratization of the electoral<br />
system and the introduction of universal, equal and direct suffrage with secret ballot." 38<br />
One 1939 article in the CPUSA's The Daily Worker went as far as supporting an American<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> Congress resolution against political dictatorship by contending that there was<br />
"no such thing as Communist dictatorship." 39 Popular Front propaganda insisted the<br />
Soviet Union had ceased to be a dictatorship, making it in turn a suitable ally of Western<br />
democracies.<br />
All in all then, the Comintern and Soviet transitions of 1934-1936 facilitated the construction<br />
of a new "democratic discourse" for communists centred on anti-fascism.<br />
Traditional Bolshevik oppositional rhetoric was replaced a populist and inclusive discourse.<br />
Dimitrov insisted communists needed to learn a "new language:"<br />
Furthermore, it must be borne in mind that the broad masses cannot assimilate our decisions<br />
unless we learn to speak the language which the masses understand. We do not<br />
always know how to speak simply, correctly, in images which are familiar and intelligible<br />
to the masses. We are still loath to dispense with abstract formulas which we have<br />
learnt by rote. As a matter of fact, if you scan our leaflets, newspapers, resolutions and<br />
theses, you will find that they are often written in a language and style so heavy that they<br />
are difficult for even our Party functionaries to understand, let alone the rank-and-file<br />
workers. 40<br />
The use of "popular language" was intended to clarify Popular Front positions and create<br />
a new public perception of the communist movement. Popular Front propaganda placed<br />
considerable emphasis on urging communists to think and act differently in relation to<br />
their nation, competing organizations and democratic traditions. By framing their<br />
slogans in a "new language," communists constructed new points of reference in the<br />
construction of their political identity. 41 Dimitrov's definition of fascism constructed a<br />
new communist identity, shifting their source of identity negation and opposition from<br />
social democracy to fascism. The Leninist and Popular Front Generations of the YCI<br />
centred their movement on opposition to imperialist war, but experienced a distinct<br />
generational gap in the construction of their political identity.<br />
<strong>Fascism</strong>: The Enemy of the <strong>Youth</strong><br />
For young communists the Popular Front was not conceptualized as simply another<br />
Moscow directive, but as a policy emanating directly from the experiences of the youth.<br />
Young communists embraced the populist peace politics of the Popular Front with great<br />
42
THE POPULAR FRONT GENERATION<br />
energy and enthusiasm, being the segment of society most dramatically impacted by the<br />
outbreak of a new world war. The YCI had a greater degree of success than the adult<br />
sections of the Comintern in adopting the Popular Front. The YCI framed Dimitrov's<br />
concepts of fascism in emotionally charged metaphors to increase the appeal of antifascism<br />
to the youth. The Popular Front YCI described fascism as "a movement of the<br />
moribund old world" that "parades hypocritically behind the mask of the youth." 42<br />
Raymond Guyot, the French leader of the YCI, described Hitler as "the enemy of humanity<br />
as a whole, the incendiary of the world war, the provocateur who drives the younger<br />
generation to their death." 43 Communist youth insisted their entire generation needed to<br />
unite to defeat this deadly "enemy of the youth."<br />
YCI propaganda defined fascism in opposition to the broad values that the entire<br />
youth held in common, insisting youth unity was the key to anti-fascism. Unlike previous<br />
calls for unity, the Popular Front was directed not just at socialist unity, but a wider<br />
unification of the entire "young generation." The Leninist Generation previously rejected<br />
such notions as "petty bourgeois sentimental dreams." 44 The Popular Front YCI contended,<br />
"The younger generation of all nations, want peace. <strong>Fascism</strong> wants war. <strong>Fascism</strong><br />
is the deadly enemy of the overwhelming majority of the younger generation." 45 Fascists<br />
mobilized young people by making broad appeals to youth of their nation. Communists<br />
identified this methodology of fascist discourse and consciously mimicked fascist propaganda<br />
techniques in order to counter them. Popular Front rhetoric used the broad form of<br />
fascist propaganda while transforming its content into a progressive discourse intended to<br />
mobilize broad segments of youth.<br />
Speeches given at the YCI World Congress of 1935 indicated that the Popular Front<br />
was based on the concrete experiences already initiated by the French and American<br />
YCLs. 46 Past YCI rhetoric consistently praised the activities of the Soviet YCL and<br />
scorned the failures of leagues in the West. The YCI now contended Popular Front<br />
practices originated in the unorthodox anti-fascist activities of YCLs in the West. In his<br />
report to the Comintern Congress, Otto Kuusinen insisted that the unorthodox experiences<br />
of the French and American YCLs had helped to give birth to the Popular Front.<br />
When domestic fascist movements proposed creating a broad "front of the younger<br />
generation," the French and American YCLs made similar broad counter-initiatives that<br />
exposed the fascists as "the enemies of the youth." 47 Kuusinen pointed out the effectiveness<br />
of such non-traditional actions that "politically defeated fascism in the eyes of the<br />
youth," praising the "great political courage and independence" the French and American<br />
youth had expressed. 48 While the Comintern had previously condemned their tactics as<br />
"opportunist deviations," Kuusinen argued that their new methods were something to be<br />
emulated, not denounced. 49 Part of the success of the youth Popular Front in the West<br />
can be attributed to these factors. Communist youth perceived that their anti-fascist<br />
activities helped to initiate the Popular Front transition in Comintern policy.<br />
43
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
The Popular Front program called for a complete revision in the relationship between<br />
the YCI and its affiliated leagues. The Comintern "liberalized" its relations with Communist<br />
Parties in 1935 to allow greater national flexibility, but did not revise the initial<br />
"Twenty-One Points of Admission" it established in 1920. In a divergent trend, the YCI<br />
insisted that it needed to completely transform its relationship with its national sections.<br />
In his speech at the 1935 YCI Sixth World Congress, Wolf Michal described this transformation:<br />
The reconstruction of the <strong>Youth</strong> Leagues therefore means the reconstruction of the<br />
Young Communist International as a whole and its system of leadership. It seems to me<br />
that we must thus widen the conditions of acceptance into the Young Communist International<br />
so that not only Communist youth organizations can join it, but Socialist, national<br />
emancipatory, national revolutionary and anti-fascist youth organizations which<br />
base themselves on international cooperation. The widest democracy must prevail in all<br />
the work and in the character of the Young Communist International and the <strong>Youth</strong><br />
Leagues affiliated to it. Thus, we must reorganize the internal life of the Young Communist<br />
International so that the youth organizations affiliated to it will have the greatest<br />
independence. 50<br />
An article by the YCLGB reiterated the profound impact the YCI Congress had:<br />
The Sixth World Congress of the YCI have had profound and far-reaching effects on the<br />
whole course of development of the world youth movement… the YCI placed as a key<br />
question in achieving these objectives the "necessity for a change in the character of the<br />
youth leagues." We must find such ways, such forms, and methods of work as will assure<br />
the formation in the capitalist countries of a new type of mass youth organisation, to<br />
which no vital interest of the toiling youth will be alien, organisation which, without<br />
copying the party, will fight for all the interests of the youth, will bring up the youth in<br />
the spirit of the class struggle, of proletarian internationalism, in the spirit of Marxism-<br />
Leninism… our League must be a non-party educational organisation of the democratic,<br />
anti-fascist youth, open to all democratic youth. 51<br />
The YCI was no longer to act as an "international general staff" of revolutionary youth<br />
assisting the work of the Comintern. The Popular Front League embraced the "spirit,"<br />
not the "science" of Marxism-Leninism. The new propagated role of the YCI was to act<br />
as an international coordination centre for all "democratic youth" while "leaving national<br />
sections a free hand" in developing their own anti-fascist programs. 52<br />
The YCI urged youth to break with internalized practices of the past and to shift their<br />
attention externally to assisting other youth movements. The Leninist Generation of the<br />
YCL acted primarily as auxiliary and supportive organizations for the Communist<br />
Parties, focussing on internal party disputes and "ideological correctness." In turn, the<br />
Parties often fuelled this internalizing trend by essentially "raiding YCL ranks to seize its<br />
most effective organizers" who were supportive of present Comintern lines. 53 Otto<br />
Kuusinen rebuked this traditional trend in relations between the YCL and the Party:<br />
All Communist Parties, all leaders of the Communist Parties must understand once for<br />
all that the youth movement is the heart of the movement for social emancipation… it<br />
will not do for every functionary of a Young Communist League who had proved himself<br />
to be a capable worker in the youth movement to be immediately taken away from<br />
44
THE POPULAR FRONT GENERATION<br />
this work by the leadership of the Party, as is now often the case. Of course, the Young<br />
Communist League is among other things a school of cadres for the Party. But a school<br />
that is robbed of every capable teacher and leader is of no value. 54<br />
By transforming the existing relations between YCL and the Communist Parties, the YCI<br />
sought to break YCLs out of their traditional sectarian isolation from the youth. The<br />
Popular Front could only be established among the youth by enabling YCLs to focus<br />
their energies externally to counter fascism instead of internally on ideological disputes.<br />
Communists openly reflected upon the profound distinctions between the Leninist and<br />
Popular Front Generations. 55 Earl Browder commented upon these generational distinctions<br />
and the importance of the youth movement:<br />
Never before in all history was there such an opportunity for the people, and especially<br />
the younger generation, to transform the world fully and completely into the sort of place<br />
which the best minds have dreamed about over the centuries. Your generation, it is true,<br />
is threatened with the brutal and senseless slaughter of a new world war. My generation<br />
was similarly threatened. But there are tremendous differences, and most of them are in<br />
favor of your generation. My generation had only the most confused ideas of how to<br />
fight against the war-makers, and understood very little about the world in which we<br />
lived. Your generation has a fairly clear understanding of the world, and knows much<br />
better who are the warmakers and how to fight them.... It can truly be said that your<br />
generation is fortunate, despite the terrible dangers that overhang the world, despite the<br />
difficult tasks to which you must turn your minds and hands. You have at your disposal<br />
those resources, the lack of which brought failure to my generation in America. Yes,<br />
rich treasures are yours for the taking. You can, by thought, effort, and organization, become<br />
the masters of your own destiny.... You cannot pretend to give all the answers to<br />
all the questions thrown up by this historical moment. You must try to seize upon a few<br />
central ideas which can be your guide in meeting and solving all the most pressing and<br />
most immediate problems of the young generation today. 56<br />
The Leninist Generation sought concrete formulas and answers from the Comintern to<br />
direct their movement towards initiating revolution. The Popular Front Generation faced<br />
similar challenges and threats, but was directed to build upon the "rich treasures" embodied<br />
in communist struggles, following "a few central ideas" to guide their struggle against<br />
fascism and war.<br />
The Popular Front facilitated a transformation of the ideological and organizational<br />
composition of the YCI by embracing Dimitrov's new definition of fascism. <strong>Fascism</strong> and<br />
war threatened the future of all youth and Dimitrov urged that now was the time to<br />
expand the YCL's focus, "to learn to swim in the stormy sea of class struggle." 57 Instead<br />
of existing as outside critics of the nation, young communists sought to imbue themselves<br />
into every element of youth life and culture within the nation. Leninism no longer served<br />
as a "scientific method" where youth could simply look up YCI slogans to formulate a<br />
"correct revolutionary line" to pursue. Leninism was now understood as an "inspiring<br />
force" to indoctrinate youth with "Bolshevik values" of "energy, perseverance and<br />
ingenuity" to advance the youth struggle against fascism and war. 58 The YCI challenged<br />
the Popular Front Generation to reformulate their relations to youth, "accepting this youth<br />
45
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
just as it is, with all its living diversification, and not academically; we must educate it as<br />
teachers do. We must not try to make everyone conform to one pattern." 59<br />
In recasting Leninist thought, young communists came to the harsh realization that<br />
past Leninist tactics had ultimately failed in mobilizing youth. The Popular Front YCI<br />
rebuked the Leninist Generation for its "memorized and stereotyped Communist formulas<br />
and slogans" that caused YCLs to live "a life separate from that of the broad masses of<br />
youth." 60 Young communists were urged to learn from the French and American Leagues<br />
who had learned to "speak the fresh, vivid language of the youth;" this language did not<br />
condemn the "fine sentiment and noble ideals" of youth, but instead appropriated them to<br />
prevent the fascists from utilizing them. 61 Dimitrov's redefinition of fascism and Leninism<br />
enabled divergent forms of youth propaganda, facilitating the construction of a new<br />
communist youth identity centred on anti-fascism.<br />
The British-American Context<br />
The British and American YCLs embraced the Popular Front with considerable initiative<br />
and enthusiasm, focussing their political identity on the values of anti-fascism. 62 The<br />
national political climate of Britain and the United States presented very different contexts<br />
and challenges for youth politics. The form of British and American communist<br />
youth propaganda followed similar dynamics while developing a distinctive national<br />
content. The challenge of the British and American YCLs was to define and isolate<br />
domestic fascism within their distinct national political culture while winning youth over<br />
to the internationalist positions of the Popular Front.<br />
The main pressing social issue in Britain during the inter-war period was that of unemployment.<br />
This trend was severely amplified by the international economic crisis<br />
unleashed by the American Wall Street crash of late 1929. Keith Laybourn contends that<br />
by the mid thirties "there may have been at least half the population of Britain existing at<br />
a standard of living which was insufficient to maintain healthy lifestyle." 63 Unlike other<br />
Western industrial economies, Britain successive National Governments rejected the idea<br />
of budget deficits to expand the economy and in the end "there was no serious attempt to<br />
tackle unemployment and the social and economic problems of the depressed areas." 64<br />
When the global economic crisis first started to impact Britain, a second Labour government<br />
was in power under the leadership of Ramsay MacDonald. Contrary to the hopes of<br />
many British workers, MacDonald and the Labour Party did not advance any radical<br />
socialist measures in state policy to deal with the economy or the scourge of unemployment.<br />
The British Fascist movement was born from this disillusionment, rejecting<br />
Labour's sentimental ideas about a future "economic paradise" by promoting a program<br />
centred on action "to escape an economic hell." 65<br />
Sir Oswald Mosley's fascist movement personified itself as a movement of the youth<br />
against the incompetence of the "old world." In his statement announcing the formation<br />
46
THE POPULAR FRONT GENERATION<br />
of the New Party, Mosley stated, "We appeal to youth, which turns in despair form a<br />
world threatened with ruin by the mistakes of its predecessors." 66 A former Liberal MP,<br />
Sellick Davies, spoke of the characteristics of the New Party in positive youthful terms as<br />
possessing a "new vision, courage… a Party of youth, which yet respected the wisdom of<br />
experience." 67 A later pamphlet of the British Union of Fascists, the descendent of<br />
Mosley's New Party, personified fascism as a movement composed of "young realists"<br />
who were inspired by a "physical fire and a spiritual urge to creative action." 68 Fascists<br />
embraced the impatience, disillusionment and vitality of the youth as positive characteristics<br />
to be moulded into action against the "old world." British fascists contended youth<br />
of the twenties had been helpless against the forces of the "old world" because the<br />
"generation who would normally have stood between the men of fifty and the men of<br />
thirty… lie rotting in fifteen million graves." 69 The BUF contended the young generation<br />
of the thirties was a "fascist generation" that needed to embrace their "young manhood to<br />
rescue great nations from decadence" in order to build "a nobler order of civilization." 70<br />
The YCLGB was sensitive to the youth content of BUF propaganda and attempted to<br />
counter its potential influence. The YCL contended that although the fascists spoke of<br />
organizing the "new generation," that in practice "<strong>Fascism</strong> hits at the youth, because it<br />
leads to war, to concentration camps, to wage cuts and unemployment." 71 Pre-empting<br />
the adoption of the Popular Front, in 1934 the YCLGB began characterizing fascism as<br />
"the policy of the most reactionary section of the bankers and bosses" that embraced "the<br />
rule of terror and brutality against the workers." 72<br />
Prior to the Popular Front, the YCLGB had embraced anti-fascist techniques based on<br />
public confrontations similar to the anti-fascist methods of the German Rote Jungfront. 73<br />
YCL anti-fascism utilized violent street confrontations to ward off the BUF threat. 74<br />
Most of the early confrontations with the BUF were directed by the YCL in the Manchester<br />
area. 75 The Manchester YCL was composed primarily of Jewish youth who were<br />
extremely sensitive to the question of fascism; "the growth of British fascism visible on<br />
the streets of Manchester coupled with the rise to power of Hitler in Germany" led many<br />
young Jews to join up with the YCL. 76 Although young Jews embraced the YCL, local<br />
Jewish elites expressed concern about the confrontational form that youth anti-fascism<br />
took. 77 Confrontational anti-fascism was replicated throughout Britain, especially in<br />
districts with high concentrations of Jewish youth. However, the techniques of the<br />
Manchester YCL were ultimately rejected by the YCL and CPGB national leadership<br />
during the transition to the Popular Front period. 78 Violent confrontations often ended up<br />
discrediting both the BUF and YCL in public perception as equally violent organizations.<br />
Mosley hoped to gain public interest in his movement by harnessing media attention.<br />
The BUF was often witnessed "interfering with working-class meetings and distributing<br />
leaflets at factories and depots" to stir up confrontations for media coverage. 79 Mosley<br />
also courted Lord Rothermere to utilize his publishing empire to help spread fascist<br />
doctrine through positive coverage of the BUF. After securing Rothermere's allegiance,<br />
47
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
Mosley decided to add a greater deal of respectability to his movement by courting<br />
potential upper and middle class supporters through mass rallies in 1934. At a large rally<br />
in Olympia, located in a predominately Jewish area of London's east end, the BUF<br />
organized an evening that they asserted would "be a landmark, not only in the history of<br />
fascism, but in the history of Britain." 80<br />
On June 7, 1934 Mosley's Olympia rally took place with over 12,000 in attendance<br />
including "MPs, peers, diplomats, big businessmen and leading journalists." 81 Mosley's<br />
Olympia rally was intended to court the support of "respectable" social elements, but<br />
communist directed counter-initiatives produced a very different result. The London<br />
branches of the YCL issued "special invitations" to branches of the Labour League of<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> and the ILP Guild of <strong>Youth</strong> to coordinate militant actions to disrupt the Olympia<br />
rally. 82 Outside of the rally over 10,000 antifascists demonstrated against Mosley's event,<br />
often getting in random violent skirmishes with the police. Inside the rally several<br />
hundred antifascists began disrupting Mosley's speech. Mosley began directing Blackshirt<br />
stewards to violently eject anyone who spoke up during the meeting.<br />
The violent outbursts of Mosley's Blackshirts resulted in mass public revulsion against<br />
his movement. Many of the Tory MP's who were present made public statements condemning<br />
BUF violence as "wholly unnecessary," contending they had been "appalled by<br />
the brutal conduct of the Fascists." 83 After the Olympia rally the membership base of the<br />
BUF quickly dropped from 40,000 to 5,000 and Mosley lost the vital public support of<br />
Lord Rothermere.<br />
After Olympia John Gollan, the National Secretary of the YCLGB, questioned if different<br />
anti-fascist tactics would be more effective in the future. The new Public Order<br />
legislation of the National Government targeted both communists and the BUF. 84 The<br />
YCL contended that the National Government "seemed to fear bolshevism more than the<br />
Nazi terror." 85 In order to prevent further government actions being taken against the<br />
communists, many urged the redirection of youth anti-fascist militancy into more constructive<br />
forms. John Gollan expressed that in the future "the way to develop the campaign<br />
against fascism was in the town meeting hall, the churches, and the councilmen's<br />
offices – not in the streets." 86<br />
Gollan reflected on new anti-fascist strategies in his speech at the Sixth World Congress<br />
of the YCI. Gollan suggested the most effective way to counter British fascism and<br />
the policies of the National Government was to focus YCL activities on the youth peace<br />
movement. The British YCL needed to adapt the broad contours of the Popular Front to<br />
specific British conditions:<br />
This Congress has heard how such wide movements are developing in France and America.<br />
Our Congress, however, in our opinion, must guard against any tendencies to automatically<br />
transfer the experiences of these countries to every other country. The wide<br />
front of the young generation must be built in each country around burning, vital interests,<br />
that really affect millions of youth, that all the youth are discussing. Undoubtedly,<br />
that question in England is Peace.... The British <strong>Youth</strong> Organizations are the most pow-<br />
48
THE POPULAR FRONT GENERATION<br />
erful in the world, embracing five million members.... This movement has a big future<br />
before it. In every locality the British <strong>Youth</strong> Organisations can get together on the<br />
broadest front yet seen in England, for Peace. There must be no attempt to impose on<br />
this genuine movement of the young generation in Britain, forms of demonstration not in<br />
keeping with their ideas and habits.... The National Peace Day and the work leading to it<br />
can be a combination of the most varied youth activity appealing to all sections of the<br />
youth... the sum total being the greatest demonstration of Britain's youth for Peace ever<br />
yet seen. 87<br />
Gollan insisted future political activities needed to be broad and inclusive in tactics and<br />
objectives so all youth would feel encouraged to take part in the movement. The YCL<br />
National Council argued the YCL needed to be transformed into a broad "mobilising<br />
centre for youth" where recruits were told it was "sufficient for them to be anti-Hitler" to<br />
gain YCL membership. 88<br />
The YCL perceived Hitler as the greatest threat to the future and security of British<br />
youth. The extolled that British youth needed to target the pro-fascist policies of the<br />
National Government to combat fascism domestically and internationally. Such logic<br />
insisted "that the Blackshirts are allied with the National Government, and that the fight<br />
against <strong>Fascism</strong> must be directed at both." 89 The Popular Front Generation sought to<br />
mobilize all segments of youth against these common enemies.<br />
The YCLUSA faced a very different national political climate. The American fascist<br />
movement expressed itself in "patriotic" forms in opposition to the Roosevelt administration.<br />
Due to this dynamic and the New Deal, the YCL forged a close bond with the<br />
Roosevelt administration. 90 American communists had initially attacked Roosevelt's New<br />
Deal as fascistic. 91 While the British National Government became a symbol of resentment<br />
for not assertively tackling unemployment, over time the Roosevelt administration<br />
increasingly became identified as a radical, progressive and popular force for tackling<br />
economic recovery through the New Deal. 92<br />
In 1934 the American left increasingly came to identify with the New Deal as it came<br />
under attack by reactionary elements. 93 Roosevelt began to court alliances in progressive<br />
circles while significantly expanding federal aid to New Deal programs. In July, 1935<br />
Roosevelt garnished further support from the American left after the Wagner Act granted<br />
labor unions federal recognition and legal protection to organize. Roosevelt also established<br />
other agencies like the National <strong>Youth</strong> Administration that offered federal aid to<br />
students and economic relief to unemployed youth. Eleanor Roosevelt expressed particular<br />
concern for improving the conditions of youth and sought active alliances with young<br />
American radicals. 94 The YCLUSA increasingly perceived Roosevelt's New Deal<br />
administration as a vital ally of youth in improving domestic conditions and opposing<br />
international fascism.<br />
Prior to the Popular Front, anti-fascism was not a distinct part of the YCL's political<br />
program, but was simply one aspect of their militant political culture. The Young Worker<br />
dealt primarily with homelessness, unemployment, the Scottsboro Boys, forced labor<br />
49
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
camps, and the threat of imperialist war against the Soviet Union. In fact, many of the<br />
illustrations, formats and themes of the American Young Worker were almost identical to<br />
the YCLGB's Young Worker. Cover illustrations were primarily male dominated,<br />
reflecting on themes of sacrifice and struggle associated with WWI and post-war revolutionary<br />
struggles. (See Appendix) 95 While the threat of war was a consistent theme in the<br />
headlines, the US government was often the primary target of denunciation instead of the<br />
growing fascist movement in Europe. After the onset of the Great Depression, the YCL<br />
addressed fascist tendencies as a natural expression of the progress towards imperialist<br />
war and increased capitalist exploitation. A leading Young Worker comic of November,<br />
1930 showed a caricature of a plump capitalist bringing forth a baby adorned with a<br />
"swastika top-hat" entitled "Capitalism Brings Forth The Little One." (See Appendix) 96<br />
This comic portrayed how fascism was not understood as a distinct movement for a<br />
targeted analysis, but as an organic outgrowth of capitalist reaction.<br />
The YCL significantly underestimated the potential threat of fascism. From January,<br />
1930 until May, 1933 The Young Worker did not carry a single headline mentioning<br />
fascism. The first mention of fascism in The Young Worker headlines came on May 10,<br />
1933 with the US visit of Dr. Hans Luther who was characterized as "the representative<br />
of the bloody Hitler fascist Government of Germany." 97 Though the YCL began to take<br />
the fascist threat more seriously, the ideological discrepancies between fascism and other<br />
movements were still highly distorted in YCL propaganda. In the same May, 1933 issue<br />
of The Young Worker, the YCL carried an article arguing "very little separates the actions<br />
of Dictator Hitler and "democratic" Roosevelt." On the same page a cartoon showed<br />
Roosevelt and Hitler towering above forced labor camps, smiling and shaking hands with<br />
each other. (See Appendix) 98 Fascist terror in Germany was described as an attack<br />
against "militant workers who attempt to defeat hunger and war," contending that in<br />
"America, this same process of fascization is taking place." 99<br />
Though the ideological lines differentiating fascism were often blurred, the YCL began<br />
proposing broad anti-fascist youth alliances prior to the Popular Front. The YCL<br />
said the "increased arrests of young fighters" and "the persecution of the Negro masses"<br />
were evidence that American fascism was trying "to deny the youth the right to live" and<br />
in turn necessitated "united action of all working class youth regardless of political or<br />
religious belief." 100<br />
A major challenge of the Popular Front was revising YCL propaganda techniques.<br />
The YCL addressed problems of propaganda tactics in their internal organizing manuals<br />
prior to the Popular Front. Although The Young Worker still propagated traditional<br />
Leninist slogans, internal organizing manuals increasingly talked about new linguistic<br />
strategies in approaching youth. A 1932 article on youth relief discussed the importance<br />
of simple language in framing debates. A Minnesota YCLer argued that "when we spoke<br />
plainly" that "our meetings were successful;" he found that when YCL organizers "did<br />
not talk about 'Rooshia' and everything, but spoke plainly" that youth were receptive to<br />
50
THE POPULAR FRONT GENERATION<br />
YCL meetings. 101 "Phrase mongering" was a major problem that of the early thirties.<br />
One YCL steel worker chastised his comrades for using "high sounding revolutionary<br />
phrases" stating, "When you ask a worker to join a union, do so with the desire to teach<br />
him to fight for his own needs before you talk revolution." 102 Another YCLer complained<br />
that many comrades in his fraction felt content simply shouting "revolutionary phrases"<br />
instead of actively participating in organizing work. 103 As a result, the YCL openly<br />
recognized that their Bolshevik jargon about dictatorship and revolution held little<br />
resonation with American youth. These articles facilitated a greater element of selfcriticism<br />
within the YCL concerning the effectiveness of their propaganda. By 1935 the<br />
American YCL was commended for its ability to "speak the fresh, vivid language of the<br />
youth." 104<br />
Though the YCL had internal discussions critiquing their techniques, the Young<br />
Worker continued to publicly propagate social-fascist rhetoric. In March, 1934 a leading<br />
Young Worker article on fascism criticized the SYI for "training its young generation in<br />
the spirit of the defense of the bourgeois fatherland and bourgeois-democracy." 105 The<br />
same article reminded YCLers that their chief task was to expose "the real nature of<br />
bourgeois-democracy" and to "bare in mind the directives of the Communist International"<br />
that there existed "only one path of struggle." 106 Gil Green laid out a six point<br />
characterization of American fascism, prompting the YCL to "counter-act every expression<br />
and form of nationalism and chauvinism in the ranks of the toiling youth:"<br />
First, the fact that American Imperialism is the most powerful in the world. Second, the<br />
existence of remnants of feudalism in the South with its oppression of a whole nation of<br />
people – the Negro people. Third, we must fight against all "anti-foreigner" propaganda<br />
which, already used in the last war, was used to whip up nationalist hatred against the<br />
foreign born workers. Fourth, we must fight the activities of the various fascist movements<br />
among the youth of foreign-born parentage in the US. Fifth, we must expose<br />
those who appeal to the young generation to "change the world." Sixth, we must react to<br />
every stop of government transition to fascism. 107<br />
Dimitrov's analysis of fascism enabled the YCL to revise most of Green's positions,<br />
facilitating new forms of anti-fascist rhetoric and activities that coincided with many of<br />
the YCL's existing internal critiques. The YCL adopted a progressive nationalist rhetoric<br />
of democratic citizenship to combat domestic fascist and reactionary influences instead of<br />
positing traditional general denunciations of the nation. 108<br />
The Popular Front YCL identified domestic fascism with reactionary forces that<br />
sought to split the progressive movement in order to undermine Roosevelt's New Deal.<br />
YCL propaganda identified the parallels between Nazi anti-Semitism and techniques<br />
utilized by American reactionaries. A 1938 article in the Young Communist Review<br />
addressed elements of this evolving YCL analysis of fascism:<br />
These reactionaries promote anti-Semitic movements as part of their tactic to oppose<br />
Jew against Gentile, Negro against white, farmer against worker. From the decadent<br />
fount of Big Business springs the Ku Klux Klan, Silver Shirts, and anti-Semitic Father<br />
Coughlin. To protect democracy from the onslaught of the "feudal few" as President<br />
51
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
Roosevelt has called them, the Jews must unite with all other progressives, and participate<br />
in progressive political activity.... Likewise in the United States, the Fords, Girdlers,<br />
DuPonts, and other industrialists and financiers, support and sponsor anti-Semitic<br />
movements, to prevent the people from spotting them, the responsible instigators of the<br />
present economic crisis. "Let us divert the fight against the Jews, and that will keep the<br />
people from all getting together to fight against us." 109<br />
The YCL posited that the most effective way to combat such anti-Semitic and general<br />
devise tactics was to facilitate the greatest youth unity around the Roosevelt administration.<br />
By uniting youth around Roosevelt, the YCL hoped to offset the influence of "the<br />
Liberty League and Hearst" who were using "the unholy trinity of Coughlin, Lemke and<br />
Townsend… to ensnare the masses of youth." 110<br />
The YCL's National Student League (NSL) was the driving force of populist tactics in<br />
the pre-Popular Front period. During the initial Depression years, most university<br />
campuses retained much of the a-political American collegiate culture of the twenties.<br />
As the economic crisis began eroding middle-class savings in 1932, undergraduates<br />
perceived that upon graduation they potentially "would face downward rather than<br />
upward mobility, and experience poverty rather than prosperity." 111 Gil Green reflected<br />
that the Great Depression changed the outlook of American university students, necessitating<br />
a new YCL approach to student politics:<br />
A changed approach to student and non-proletarian youth in general, became necessary.<br />
Previously these sections of youth had kept aloof from any issues of struggle. Vitally affected<br />
by the crisis and the general decline of capitalism, they became drawn into the<br />
stream of the progressive movement.... In this fashion, slowly but surely we emerged<br />
from our internal crisis, began to find our path to the masses of youth through new forms<br />
corresponding to the new conditions. These tactical changes came from a growing realization<br />
that no longer were we alone, no longer were we the sole and only active group<br />
working in the interests of the masses of youth, in the interests of progress. Millions<br />
were becoming progressive in thought and action. These were our friends. 112<br />
During the Popular Front era student politics became the central focus of YCL Popular<br />
Front initiatives. The NSL became the primary outlet for expressing student disillusionment<br />
and frustrations in the fall semester of 1932. Unlike the socialist's Student League<br />
for Industrial Democracy (SLID), the NSL saw itself not as an academic debating society,<br />
but as an active force in radical youth politics.<br />
The rise of international fascism and domestic "red-baiting" campaigns transformed<br />
university democratic culture. American universities rejected the anti-intellectual and<br />
anti-cultural elements of fascism and students and progressive faculty began to actively<br />
organize and identify with anti-fascism. 113 As students and faculty became more active<br />
and visible in radical anti-fascist and peace campaigns, confrontations with university<br />
officials and vigilantly groups became prominent features of campus life, especially<br />
within New York City. William Randolph Hearst capitalized upon this dynamic to<br />
promote an academic "Red Scare" in 1934. One headline article that appeared in 1934 in<br />
The Syracuse Journal entitled "Drive All Radical Professors and Students From the<br />
University" carried the following personal message from Hearst:<br />
52
THE POPULAR FRONT GENERATION<br />
The great champion of genuine Americanism, Mr. W.R. Hearst, recently wired the editor<br />
of this paper as follows: "Please support the actions of the universities in throwing out<br />
these communists and say, furthermore, that they ought to be thrown out of the country."<br />
114<br />
As university radicals came under attack, student activists began proposing further unity<br />
initiatives to counter these trends.<br />
Communist and socialist students proposed the creation of a unified student organization<br />
in response to growing domestic reaction and increased international tensions linked<br />
with fascism. In December, 1935 the NSL and SLID capitalized upon university student's<br />
shared revulsion of fascism to create the American Student Union (ASU). 115 The<br />
ASU became the main expression of the youth Popular Front and proved to be one of the<br />
most successful initiatives launched by American communists. The Popular Front YCL<br />
and Roosevelt himself began to describe American universities as "a fortress of democracy"<br />
due primarily to the vigorous activities of the ASU. 116<br />
All in all then, the British and American YCLs functioned within distinct national<br />
contexts, but shared important general transformations in their strategies and organizational<br />
evolution. Both YCLs shifted their tactics away from confrontational forms of<br />
anti-fascism which reduced direct conflicts of youth with the state and impeded the<br />
ability of "red baiters" to persecute communist youth. 117 Many of the British direct action<br />
campaigns against the BUF had resulted in the arrest of both fascist and communist<br />
activists for violations of the Public Order acts. 118 The American YCL had always faced<br />
a precarious legal existence, being targeted for continuous legal persecution even in the<br />
early thirties, which limited its ability to recruit youth. 119<br />
During the Popular Front both YCLs abandoned illegal Bolshevik methods and confrontational<br />
tactics, readopting many old social-democratic traditions the Leninist Generation<br />
had rejected. The American YCL commented that this transition helped to secure<br />
their legal existence, proving to be "just the thing to bring the masses of youth into the<br />
YCL." 120 By embracing legal forms of organization and tactics the YCL was able to put<br />
itself "in the position of defending a tradition, of defending democratic rights, of defending<br />
legality." 121 The shift made the YCLs more attractive to youth who sympathized with<br />
YCL goals, but who were not willing to submit themselves to potential legal persecution.<br />
The shift to legalistic methods was also important in changing public perception of young<br />
communists as defenders of the democratic state.<br />
The "Oxford Pledge" was a popular youth pacifist slogan during the thirties, being<br />
curiously adopted by both the British and American YCLs in 1933. The Oxford Pledge<br />
was an anti-war pronouncement stating, "This House will in no circumstances fight for its<br />
King and Country." 122 Though it originated in Britain, the Oxford Pledge was adopted in<br />
the United Stated in the spring of 1933 by the NSL and SLID. American radicals utilized<br />
the pledge to encourage youth to vow "their opposition to military service or involvement<br />
in another war." 123 American fascist movements used the Oxford Pledge to discredit<br />
53
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
student radicals. The German-American Bund asserted the Oath showed the American<br />
student movement as "Jewish inspired" and inherently "un-American." 124<br />
The Oxford Pledge came into conflict with YCL anti-fascist sentiments after the adoption<br />
of the Popular Front. Popular Front policy sought to avert fascist war, but did not<br />
rule out the use of military force to counter fascism. The Oxford Pledge specifically<br />
targeted domestic trends of militarism, not external fascist aggression. As the threat of<br />
fascist war increased, the YCLs sought to shift pacifist sentiment into support of "collective<br />
security." While young communists were willing to fight fascism in Spain and<br />
rejected pacifism, their collective security program was not intended to facilitate a<br />
"People's War" against fascism. Collective security sought to prevent a world war by<br />
cutting off material and political support for fascism in the West through economic<br />
boycotts and state legislation. YCL rhetoric argued war could be averted through active<br />
cooperation of "the democracies of the world, with the Soviet Union... taking the initiative<br />
from the hands of fascist aggressors, such action would place it in the hands of the<br />
peace forces." 125 Young communists insisted that "if worst comes to worst" they would<br />
not "fold their hands meekly, [and] be trussed up and thrown on the bonfire of triumphant<br />
savage Nazism." 126 This being said, young communists were later put to a precarious test<br />
in upholding such statements with the actual outbreak of WWII in 1939.<br />
The British <strong>Youth</strong> Parliament (BYP) and the American <strong>Youth</strong> Congress (AYC) of the<br />
thirties were utilized by the YCLs to promote active democratic citizenship. The<br />
YCLGB praised the BYP for facilitating "the broadest and most representative gathering<br />
of the British <strong>Youth</strong> to discuss common problems and to give training of the youth in<br />
democracy and citizenship." 127 The YCLGB invested most of its energy into facilitating<br />
greater youth contacts through the <strong>Youth</strong> Parliament to win youth over to anti-fascism.<br />
The main purpose of the AYC was to engage American youth in democratic politics.<br />
The AYC showed youth that "intelligence and militancy" channelled "through organized<br />
and dramatic action can win definite and concrete results" 128 The YCLUSA boasted that<br />
the AYC was "to a large extent responsible for the fact that there is today no organized<br />
center of reaction among the youth on a national scale." 129<br />
The YCLs used these youth legislative bodies to involve young people in the World<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> Congress (WYC). The Popular Front YCLs relied heavily upon the WYC, not the<br />
YCI, to facilitate youth internationalism. The Congress gained massive attention from<br />
prominent world leaders for its international promotion of anti-fascist solidarity amongst<br />
the youth. The stated goal of the World <strong>Youth</strong> Congress was to "bring young people of<br />
all nations into bonds of closer friendship, to develop mutual understanding between<br />
youth of all races… who wish to work for peace." 130 For their work in promoting "greater<br />
mutual understanding among the young people of the world," President Roosevelt<br />
expressed his deep admiration of the World <strong>Youth</strong> Congress. 131<br />
54
THE POPULAR FRONT GENERATION<br />
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt took part in the Second World <strong>Youth</strong> Congress held in<br />
New York at Vassar College in 1938. The Second Congress brought together youth<br />
delegates from 56 countries around the world. Recalling the event, Eleanor later stated:<br />
The more I see of this group made up of young people from many nations, the more important<br />
I realize that it is that in every nation older people who can see the desirability of<br />
certain changes in our civilization should work with them. In this way their thought and<br />
action will not be one-sided and the impetuousness of youth should gain some benefit<br />
from the experience of age. 132<br />
Sheila Cater, a YCL delegate from the British <strong>Youth</strong> Parliament, later reflected how<br />
empowered she had felt when Eleanor Roosevelt, who had been sitting in the front row<br />
during her speech, "put down her knitting to applaud" Cater's speech on inequality in the<br />
British Empire. 133 Delegates at the Second WYC perceived they had the active support of<br />
two of the world's most powerful leaders, President Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin. Unlike<br />
the Leninist Generation, Popular Front youth felt a sense of political inclusion in world<br />
politics due to institutions like the WYC.<br />
The Spanish Civil War was the focal point of Popular Front youth activism and political<br />
propaganda. YCL publications asserted the interests of all youth were represented by<br />
the struggles and sacrifices associated with Spain. Young communists became active in<br />
collecting money, food, medical relief and clothing for the Spanish Republic. The<br />
Spanish Civil War helped create a considerable sense of international solidarity between<br />
the British and American YCLs by participation in the International Brigades. 134 Of the<br />
over 3,000 American and 2,300 British volunteers, a large proportion came from the<br />
ranks of the YCL. 135 For young communists the struggle in Spain became the focal point<br />
of their rhetoric positing democracy against fascist aggression. Both the British and<br />
American YCLs propagated that in order to avert the outbreak of a fascist world war that<br />
"the key to the situation is Spain." 136<br />
Communist Popular Front policies and experiences in Spain seemed contradictory to<br />
many anti-war youth. 137 Young communists took up arms against fascism in Spain while<br />
arguing against domestic militarism. Communists contended the key to containing<br />
fascist aggression was a resolute and unified military struggle in Spain. A complete<br />
military defeat of fascism in Spain could stop the fascist drive for further wars and save<br />
world peace. Communist propaganda insisted the Spanish Republic was "defending the<br />
liberty and peace of the world." 138 Other statements contended, "Germany wants to finish<br />
quickly with Spain in order to direct the guns elsewhere." 139 The disunity of the democracies<br />
in supporting Republican Spain simply facilitated further fascist aggression. In<br />
order to save peace and defeat fascism, communists considered limited anti-fascist wars<br />
of defense to be just.<br />
The divergent policies of the British and American governments on Spain and appeasement<br />
led communist youth to form two very distinct interpretations of their own<br />
national governments. Dimitrov's characterization of fascism identified fascists as<br />
representatives of the most reactionary and imperialistic elements of finance capital.<br />
55
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
Despite his rhetoric of ensuring peace and protecting democracy, the British YCL insisted<br />
Chamberlain was an active and conscious ally of Hitler. Young communists<br />
pointed to the persistence of the "Non-Intervention Pact" and the infamous "Munich<br />
Pact" of September, 1938 as firm evidence that Chamberlain sought to strengthen European<br />
fascism. Munich was a watershed in cementing the anti-Chamberlain sentiment of<br />
the YCL; an event where "eyes were opened, [and] many illusions were smashed." 140<br />
British communist rhetoric placed the blame for the death of their fallen comrades in<br />
Spain upon the "dishonourable" capitulation of Chamberlain to the fascists, vowing to<br />
avenge their deaths by driving the National Government "into the oblivion it deserves." 141<br />
When Chamberlain declared war on Nazi Germany in September, 1939 it was not<br />
difficult for the YCLGB to embrace the Comintern's condemnation of the war. Chamberlain<br />
continued to be characterized as a treacherous imperialist and an ally of Hitler who<br />
could not be trusted to lead an anti-fascist war.<br />
In the United States things were very different. Though Roosevelt did not take any<br />
decisive steps to assist the Spanish Republic, young communists perceived him as an ally<br />
against international fascism. Communist rhetoric contended domestic isolationist and<br />
anti-Soviet sentiment limited Roosevelt's ability to assist Spain. 142 Events like Roosevelt's<br />
famous Chicago "Quarantine Address" of October, 1937 were used by communists<br />
as evidence that Roosevelt was committed to an anti-fascist foreign policy in line with<br />
Soviet "collective security" initiatives. After the Munich Pact, American communist<br />
rhetoric alluded that the United States and the Soviet Union "now stood alone against the<br />
fascist offensive." 143 YCL propaganda insisted that world war could still be averted if the<br />
American public pressured Roosevelt to put his foreign policy statements into consistent<br />
practice:<br />
What can keep America out of war at this tense moment when war is raging in Spain and<br />
China and threatens Central Europe Obviously, it is only the co-operation of the<br />
American people and their Government, with the democratic peoples of the world, that<br />
can keep America out of war by keeping war out of the world.... To keep out of war,<br />
America must act to quarantine the war-makers, support the "Good Neighbour" policy in<br />
the Western Hemisphere, back up the people’s boycott of Japanese goods by withholding<br />
shipment of war materials to Japan. This programme will not lead to war because<br />
the fascists are only strong when the democracies are disunited. 144<br />
United States foreign policy was no longer characterized as inherently imperialist. Under<br />
the leadership of Roosevelt, communists believed American policy could be moulded and<br />
influenced to conform to the "collective security" initiatives of the Popular Front. Even<br />
with the outbreak of World War II, the YCL did not initially direct its propaganda<br />
directly against Roosevelt for his support of Britain. The YCL blamed the "pirate band<br />
of 60 families whose God is profit" for duping the American public and pressuring<br />
Roosevelt into support of an unjust war. 145 When the Soviets entered the war in 1941, the<br />
YCL shifted its rhetoric back into full support of Roosevelt and the war effort.<br />
56
THE POPULAR FRONT GENERATION<br />
In conclusion, the evolution of the Popular Front reveals how Dimitrov's reconceptualization<br />
of fascism facilitated a complete realignment of traditional Comintern politics.<br />
Positions once considered opportunistic heresy by the Leninist Generation were embraced<br />
in the official Comintern Popular Front program. Traditional Leninist antifascism<br />
posited a militant "language of class against capital" that was carried on during<br />
the Popular Front era by the Trotskyist movement. 146 Dimitrov's definition of fascism<br />
produced new forms of propaganda and activities that enabled the construction of a new<br />
communist political identity. The Popular Front transformed young communist's perception<br />
of their relationship with their nation, competing youth organizations and democratic<br />
heritage in Britain and the United States. <strong>Fascism</strong> was conceived as a mass movement<br />
that represented the interests of a small clique of capitalists bent upon unleashing a new<br />
world war. The Leninist and Popular Front Generations of communist youth propagated<br />
that their movement strove to abolish modern imperialist war by attacking the root cause<br />
of war. Dimitrov's definition of fascism created a divergent experience for communist<br />
youth by targeting fascism, not social democracy, as the facilitators of modern imperialist<br />
war. In order to effectively prevent fascism from mobilizing youth for war, young<br />
communists embraced a new populist rhetoric centred on patriotism, unity and the<br />
defense of democracy.<br />
57
3<br />
NATIONALISM:<br />
FROM POISON TO PATRIOTISM<br />
<strong>Fascism</strong> thrives on hate, on nationalism.<br />
-Jim West, 1938 1<br />
The League member believes that true patriotism and true internationalism go hand in<br />
hand.<br />
-YCLGB Constitution, 1943 2<br />
"The working men have no country. We cannot take from them what they have not got."<br />
This infamous dictum of Marx and Engels penned in 1848 still befuddled communists<br />
almost one hundred years later. As an internationalist movement that sought to conquer<br />
political and economic power within the nation-state framework, what should be the<br />
"correct" attitude of communists to the phenomenon of nationalism Could nationalism<br />
be channelled to promote international unity and socialism, or did such sentiment inevitably<br />
lead to notions of racism and international conflict The chapter addresses some of<br />
these precarious issues by tracing the evolution of nationalist rhetoric in communist<br />
youth propaganda.<br />
Nationalism is a powerful ideology for mass mobilization that was initially rejected by<br />
Marxian socialism. Marx's aforementioned declaration facilitated a trend of reductionist<br />
thought on the subject of nationalism. Nationalism was simply a tool of class rule to<br />
distract workers from their true international class interests. Marxism claimed that the<br />
bourgeoisie used nationalism to facilitate racism and national chauvinism to divide "the<br />
masses," with the strategic goal of maintaining class rule. According to this view, the<br />
worst excesses of bourgeois nationalism were manifested in imperialist warfare and<br />
colonial expansion. Revolutionary socialists condemned "socialist nationalism" as a<br />
revisionist trend of the Second International that was incompatible with Marxism. The<br />
Comintern rejected nationalism, outside of colonial-liberation struggles, as a poisonous<br />
ideology incompatible with internationalism.<br />
The Leninist Generation of the YCI rejected nationalism as a facilitator of war and<br />
racism. Socialist youth blamed the outbreak of WWI upon the perceived chauvinistic<br />
national defense policies of the Second International. Though most leaders of the SI<br />
were declared internationalists, they nevertheless capitulated to nationalism when WWI<br />
58
NATIONALISM<br />
put them to the test in 1914. After the war, young socialists perceived their generation<br />
had been betrayed by the nationalism of the SI, switching their political allegiance to the<br />
Comintern in 1919 which asserted that its strict internationalist organization was the only<br />
strategy that could combat nationalism in order to prevent future imperialist warfare<br />
through the advancement of socialism.<br />
In condemning nationalism outright in Europe and America, young communists of the<br />
inter-war era at first dismissed a powerful tool of political mobilization that was utilized<br />
by their opponents. Communists believed their internationalist and class appeals could<br />
undermine the strength of bourgeois nationalism. The Comintern's blanket condemnation<br />
of nationalism ultimately proved counterproductive because, in part, it was inflexible and<br />
based on a narrow class analysis. The internationalist nature of the Comintern allowed<br />
opponents of communism to portray national parties as alien elements, foreign to their<br />
national political culture. On the other hand, fascism capitalized upon nationalist sentiment,<br />
forming broad mass movements to smash working-class radicalism in the West.<br />
The Nazis utilized the bruised national sentiment of Germans rooted in the Versailles<br />
Treaty to gain power in 1933, crushing both the KPD and the SPD within months. Then,<br />
as we have seen, with the threat of impending war and fascist advance hanging over<br />
Europe, Dimitrov's definition of fascism revised traditional Leninist positions against<br />
nationalism while at the same time, Popular Front YCI rhetoric propagated a progressive<br />
nationalist programme to mobilize youth and isolate fascism both culturally and politically.<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> <strong>Against</strong> Patriotism: The Leninist Generation<br />
How did youth of the inter-war period come to define and redefine nationalism When<br />
the Socialist <strong>Youth</strong> International reconvened itself in Berne during WWI, "it declared<br />
itself emphatically against social-patriotism" placing its "sections under the obligations of<br />
international solidarity for revolutionary action against the war." 3 Socialist youth became<br />
attracted to the strict internationalism of the Comintern out of their revulsion against the<br />
war. Lenin personified Marxism as the negation of all forms of nationalism. Lenin<br />
posited an inflexible position arguing, "Marxism cannot be reconciled with nationalism,<br />
be it even of the "most just," "purest," most refined and civilised brand. In place of all<br />
forms of nationalism Marxism advances internationalism." 4 Lenin's stern position against<br />
nationalism proved attractive to socialist youth who blamed national chauvinism for<br />
enabling WWI.<br />
Nationalism in Russia and East European was predominately defined by racial and<br />
imperial conceptions while nationalism in Western Europe and the United States increasingly<br />
became associated with republican conceptions of democratic citizenship. This<br />
trend was intensified by the form and volume of WWI "democratic" propaganda. 5<br />
Republican nationalism proved to be an effective strategy for mass mobilization that<br />
59
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
could be utilized by both reactionary and progressive movements. 6 The Bolshevik<br />
perspective on nationalism, formed primarily out of the Russian experience, was overtly<br />
reductionist in its analysis on mass perceptions of the nation. Like many other "bourgeois<br />
values," nationalism was simply dismissed as an inherently poisonous ideology that<br />
could not be reconciled with revolutionary Marxism. Nationalist sentiment was to be<br />
exposed and condemned by communist youth in the West, not mobilized for the socialist<br />
cause. 7<br />
On the other hand, Lenin's perspectives on nationalism in the colonial nations diverged<br />
significantly from his denunciations of Western nationalism. Nationalist mobilization<br />
proved effective in colonial and oppressed nations as a method to weaken<br />
imperialism. Lenin asserted that colonial nationalist movements could potentially be<br />
progressive due to its anti-feudal class basis:<br />
Nationalism that is more feudal than bourgeois is the principal obstacle to democracy<br />
and to the proletarian struggle. The bourgeois nationalism of any oppressed nation has a<br />
general democratic content that is directed against oppression, and it is this content that<br />
we unconditionally support. At the same time we strictly distinguish it from the tendency<br />
towards national exclusiveness; we fight against the tendency of the Polish bourgeois to<br />
oppress the Jews, etc., etc. This is "unpractical" from the standpoint of the bourgeois and<br />
the philistine, but it is the only policy in the national question that is practical, based on<br />
principles, and really promotes democracy, liberty and proletarian unity. 8<br />
Lenin's analysis of the "class forces" behind democratic nationalism in the colonies<br />
enabled Popular Front communists to legitimize their revision of Lenin's anti-nationalist<br />
positions. Dimitrov asserted fascism represented a reactionary feudal nationalism that<br />
impeded the advancement of democracy and the class struggle in the bourgeois democracies.<br />
Lenin's anti-nationalist positions attracted many socialist youth. The SYI mobilized<br />
youth sentiment during WWI by positing a militant internationalist perspective against<br />
the war. After the war, youth propaganda continued this strategy, appealing to young<br />
workers explicitly in international class terms:<br />
We stand, as it were, at the cross-roads of the ages. The old order of things is passing<br />
away, and a new world, a new regime, is looming in the horizons. Kings and crowns<br />
have been thrown on to the old rubbish heap. The lowly rise into power, and the downtrodden,<br />
the long disinherited part of humanity is coming into its own... As one of the<br />
poor and disinherited you cannot afford to stand aloof. The destiny of your class is being<br />
weighed in the balance. Forward, young rebels! Join hands! At this great hour of<br />
world-reconstruction do your duty. 9<br />
Communist propaganda insinuated that if young people united in international revolution,<br />
the "old order" would soon be swept away. Internationalism was posited as the prime<br />
duty of working-class youth. Another youth article articulated a vehement attack against<br />
nationalist sentiment and patriotism stating:<br />
How can one love a thing that is wrong Indeed, there is something wrong with a country<br />
that starves its workers and feeds its idlers... I cannot love England as it is to-day and<br />
I cannot love Englishmen as such; neither can I love Germans as such. I cannot love any<br />
60
NATIONALISM<br />
men, women or child merely for their nationality; I can only love the working-class all<br />
the world over – that is my class, a slave class. I am a slave; all the world's workers are<br />
slaves. I am a slave in revolt. I am not a patriot, I am an internationalist. 10<br />
Nationalism mobilized "slaves" to fight a war that was not in their class interests.<br />
Internationalism encouraged these "slaves" to unite internationally in service of their<br />
class. Such emotionally charged rhetoric encouraged working-class youth to reject<br />
nationalism for the strict internationalism of the Comintern.<br />
Early YCI publications articulated appeals to the youth in strict internationalist and<br />
class terms. Nationalism and national reconstruction were linked as attributes associated<br />
with the Second International. In the immediate aftermath of the war, socialist parties<br />
throughout Europe assisted their national governments in demobilizing efforts and<br />
economic transitions centred on rationalization and speed-ups to foster reconstruction.<br />
Socialists believed such "national efforts" and their wartime service would accord them<br />
greater state influence and political power to implement their socialist programs. In one<br />
of their first publications, aptly entitled Remove the Frontiers! An Appeal for the International<br />
Organization of all Young Workers, the YCI boldly asserted that "the realization of<br />
economic freedom is impossible through a nationally bounded struggle." 11 To maximize<br />
upon the disillusionment of youth, the YCI assessed that youth had been used by capitalists<br />
during the war to suppress their international class brethren. By following the<br />
program of the YCI, young communists assured the youth that "never again as in the late<br />
war, are hundreds of thousands of the youngest, best and boldest of us to die for the<br />
naked interests of the money-bags of imperialism." 12 The YCI contended "the Communist<br />
International must be an International of Action, or it will be nothing at all." 13 The<br />
YCI encouraged youth to denounce socialists for their national reconstruction efforts<br />
stating, "Tear off their masks! Unveil their real faces and show them to the broad masses<br />
of your friends. Frustrate their tricks with pitiless straightforwardness." 14 The YCI<br />
insisted any capitulation to such forms of nationalist strategies in the West was out of the<br />
question for communist youth.<br />
The Leninist Generation of the YCI posited internationalist class appeals were the<br />
only "correct" method for mobilizing the youth. Internationalist appeals were framed to<br />
dissuade youth from identifying with the bourgeois state. Leninist tactics called for the<br />
revolutionary overthrow of the state as a prerequisite to the establishment of socialism.<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> needed to be indoctrinated with a revolutionary and international class consciousness<br />
to prepare them for a revolutionary seizure of state power. Nationalism led to<br />
identification with the state which promoted reformist tactics while Leninism called for<br />
treasonous tactics to establish working-class power. As revolution subsided in the West,<br />
internationalism increasingly became associated with allegiance to the Comintern and the<br />
Soviet Union. <strong>Fascism</strong> and other anti-communist movements capitalized on this phenomenon<br />
to portray communism as a foreign aligned movement. Fascists posited that<br />
communists stood for the state interests of the Soviet Union while their movement stood<br />
for interests of their own nation.<br />
61
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
As Dimitrov recognized the power of nationalist mobilization, he insisted that communists<br />
needed to drastically reconfigure their attitudes to the nation in order to effectively<br />
counter the fascist threat. The Popular Front YCI insisted that nationalist<br />
propaganda and mobilization were the only effective means of combating fascism in<br />
order to spare their generation from the horrors of another world war. In many ways,<br />
Dimitrov's revision of anti-nationalist positions overturned the entire worldview of<br />
traditional Leninism.<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> and "True Patriotism:" The Popular Front Generation<br />
Georgi Dimitrov set out an inherently divergent path for the international communist<br />
movement in revising Lenin's critique of nationalism. Dimitrov's revisions were intended<br />
to undercut the recruiting abilities of fascism, especially among the youth. Dimitrov<br />
asserted that communists needed to be equipped with a new analysis of fascism and<br />
nationalism to enable more effective methods of anti-fascism. The goal of Dimitrov's<br />
revision was to undermine the effectiveness of fascist propaganda by portraying communists<br />
as the "true patriots" of the nation.<br />
At the Comintern's Seventh Congress, Dimitrov reasserted pre-Bolshevik traditions of<br />
revolutionary nationalism. Dimitrov's thesis linked inclusive concepts of republican<br />
citizenship with proletarian internationalism:<br />
We communists are the irreconcilable opponents, on principle, of bourgeois nationalism<br />
of every variety. But we are not supporters of national nihilism, and should never act as<br />
such.... Proletarian internationalism must, so to speak, "acclimate itself" in each country<br />
in order to sink deep roots in its native land. National forms of the proletarian class<br />
struggle and of the labour movement in the individual countries are in no contradiction<br />
to proletarian internationalism; on the contrary, it is precisely in these forms that the international<br />
interests of the proletariat can be successfully defended. It goes without saying<br />
that it is necessary everywhere and on all occasions to expose before the masses and<br />
prove to them concretely that the fascist bourgeoisie, on the pretext of defending general<br />
national interests, is conducting its egotistical policy of oppressing and exploiting its<br />
own people, as well as robbing and enslaving other nations. 15<br />
Dimitrov's thesis contended effective internationalism was the product of socialist<br />
nationalism. He quoted selected segments of Lenin's writings to legitimize his positions<br />
within traditional Bolshevik conceptions. By highlighting limited passages from Lenin's<br />
1914 essay entitled, "On the National Pride of the Great Russians," Dimitrov constructed<br />
a façade of continuity with Lenin. 16 Dimitrov selectively quoted statements like "we are<br />
full of a sense of national pride," and left out later statements where Lenin denounced all<br />
calls to "defend the fatherland." 17 Dimitrov's position was a significant deviation from<br />
Leninism and inadvertently encouraged the formation of the Fourth International. 18<br />
Other communists later reflected that Dimitrov's positions on nationalism represented<br />
the most profound and important transition that occurred with the Popular Front. James<br />
Klugmann commented on this phenomenon stating: 19<br />
62
NATIONALISM<br />
The second type of issue that arose from the Seventh Congress was the re-establishment<br />
of a Marxist and Leninist concept of patriotism and internationalism. It seems to me that<br />
in the late 1920s and even later, one of the major errors of Communists in Germany was<br />
to hand over deep and wounded national feelings to the fascists on a plate, and to equate<br />
internationalism and anti-nationalism, instead of seeing that genuine, progressive national<br />
feelings and patriotism were the other side of the medal of popular and proletarian<br />
internationalism. And the more the working class emerges as the leader of the defence of<br />
such national feelings, the more it can carry out its international duties. 20<br />
Klugmann identified anti-nationalist positions as incorrect applications of Leninism that<br />
enabled the rise of fascism. Patriotism was no longer a poison or illusion to be shunned,<br />
but was to become an integral part of communist identity. The content of Popular Front<br />
nationalist propaganda was infused with progressive and socialist values for national<br />
mobilization that could serve internationalist duties. Gil Green later reflected on the<br />
practical importance of this new position, stating that the Communist Party had become<br />
the "leader not only of its class but of the nation itself." 21 Unlike the fascist conception of<br />
"national socialism," the new communist position was explicitly framed in terms of<br />
"socialist nationalism" where primary emphasis was still put upon the socialist and<br />
internationalist characteristics of nationalist agitation. 22<br />
The Popular Front program was designed for considerable flexibility in adopting national<br />
forms. The nationalist struggle was framed as a cultural struggle of national<br />
identity, positing progressive socialist values against reactionary values of imperialism<br />
and militarism. Dimitrov asserted that the goal of socialist nationalism was to "avert the<br />
destruction of culture and raise it to its highest flowering as a truly national culture,<br />
national in form and socialist in content." 23 Dimitrov instructed communists to adopt a<br />
uniform approach to international issues while adapting the broad outlines of the Popular<br />
Front to their specific national characteristics:<br />
It is necessary in each country to investigate, study and ascertain the national peculiarities,<br />
the specific national features of fascism and map out accordingly effective methods<br />
and forms of struggle against fascism. Lenin persistently warned us against "stereotyped<br />
methods and mechanical levelling, against rendering tactical rules, rules of struggle,<br />
identical." This warning is particularly to the point when it is a question of fighting an<br />
enemy who so subtly and jesuitically exploits the national sentiments and prejudices of<br />
the masses.... We must, without any delay what ever, react to his various maneuvers,<br />
discover his hidden moves, be prepared to repel him in any arena and at any moment.<br />
We must not hesitate even to learn from the enemy if that will help us more quickly and<br />
more effectively to wring his neck. It would be a gross mistake to lay down any sort of<br />
universal scheme of the development of fascism, to cover all countries and all peoples.<br />
Such a scheme would not help but would hamper us in carrying on a real struggle. 24<br />
Dimitrov again used selective quotes from Lenin to legitimize his revisions. Communists<br />
were ill prepared to counter fascism's mobilization techniques without adapting their<br />
rhetoric to unique national forms. The Comintern had mechanically scripted and dictated<br />
national practices to the Leninist Generation. The Popular Front program instead set out<br />
broad guidelines of strategic principles that were translated into specific national forms.<br />
63
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
History was an integral element of Popular Front nationalist rhetoric. Fascists portrayed<br />
their movement as "defenders of the nation," revising history in their propaganda<br />
to show a common heritage between fascism and the nation. Now, communists were<br />
directed to reclaim and reinterpret the history of their nation to counter this trend.<br />
Popular Front rhetoric sought to reclaim the progressive traditions of the nation to<br />
mobilize public sentiment that identified with these traditions. Dimitrov challenged the<br />
Seventh Congress to actively engage in this national historical struggle:<br />
The fascists are rummaging through the entire history of every nation so as to be able to<br />
pose as the heirs and continuators of all that was exalted and heroic in its past, while all<br />
that was degrading or offensive to the national sentiments of the people they make use of<br />
as weapons against the enemies of fascism. Hundreds of books are being published in<br />
Germany with only one aim -- to falsify the history of the German people and give it a<br />
fascist complexion.... In these books the greatest figures of the German people of the<br />
past are represented as having been fascists, while the great peasant movements are set<br />
down as the direct precursors of the fascist movement.... Communists who suppose that<br />
all this has nothing to do with the cause of the working class, who do nothing to<br />
enlighten the masses on the past of their people, in an historically correct fashion, in a<br />
genuinely Marxist, a Leninist-Marxist, a Leninist-Stalinist spirit, who do nothing to link<br />
up the present struggle with the people's revolutionary traditions and past -- voluntarily<br />
hand over to the fascist falsifiers all that is valuable in the historical past of the nation,<br />
that the fascists may bamboozle the masses. No, Comrades, we are concerned with<br />
every important question, not only of the present and the future, but also of the past of<br />
our own peoples. 25<br />
National histories were vital to utilize in successful anti-fascist campaigns, transforming<br />
both the form and content of communist propaganda. History articles had previously<br />
dealt primarily with WWI and the Russian Revolution. Popular Front communists<br />
consciously began to highlight the progressive and radical traditions of their own national<br />
histories. History was utilized in a cultural struggle to negate the influence of fascism.<br />
Communists sought to portray themselves as integral allies of progressive national<br />
traditions instead of an alien force foreign to those traditions.<br />
The divergence of Popular Front positions on nationalism were particularly accentuated<br />
for the Young Communist International. The YCI was the segment of the<br />
Comintern traditionally associated with staunch internationalism. This attitude to the<br />
national question had been motivated by the fierce anti-militarism of the youth. 26 <strong>Fascism</strong><br />
was described to young communists as an extreme form of reactionary nationalism<br />
bent upon imperialist war. The threat of a fascist world war led the YCI to embrace the<br />
necessary tactical changes to combat this trend. YCI Popular Front pamphlets accentuated<br />
this point stating, "We are prompted by one thought, one desire – to save the<br />
younger generation of the whole mankind from fascism and war." 27 It was the duty of<br />
young communists to engage in the most effective forms of national mobilization to<br />
counter fascism's nationalist appeals. Otto Kuusinen described fascism and the role of<br />
communist youth to YCI delegates in such terms stating, "<strong>Fascism</strong> has been commissioned<br />
by the bourgeoisie to infect the neglected youth with its demagogy, and especially<br />
64
NATIONALISM<br />
with chauvinism.... Communism [now] also has far greater opportunities for work among<br />
the youth than formerly." 28 Though nationalism was a foreign tactic to Western YCLs,<br />
the main focus of communist youth politics had always been the struggle against imperialist<br />
war. For youth, nationalism was considered a necessary strategic tactic to continue<br />
their struggle against imperialist war under the era of fascism.<br />
Wolf Michal stressed to the YCI the importance of laying claim to their national historical<br />
traditions. 29 Popular Front theory insisted fascism was the main enemy of the<br />
nation and the youth. To combat fascism, young communists needed to rally youth<br />
through patriotic and progressive nationalist appeals. National traditions and sentiment<br />
were powerful weapons to draw the youth away from fascism:<br />
An especially important phase of our work… is the proper utilization of the revolutionary<br />
and democratic traditions of the people of each country. We must draw upon the rich<br />
heritage which we have in common with the masses of youth. Every movement in the<br />
history of the different nations, against repression, every revolt against slavery, every rebellious<br />
spokesman for the people, should be studies and learned. In this way we will, in<br />
advance, help cut the ground from under the very feet of the fascists who go to great<br />
lengths to distort this heritage of the peoples of all countries for their own sinister aims. 30<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> were often more susceptible to fascism's demagogic and nationalist appeals.<br />
Michal stressed to the YCI delegates that by "utilizing the weapons of our enemy" young<br />
communists would "be in a position to tear away the masses of the youth from fascism." 31<br />
The British-American Context<br />
Popular Front nationalism opened considerable opportunities but also new challenges for<br />
communist youth in Britain and the United States. 32 The continued ascendancy of the<br />
British Empire, even under successive Labour Governments, made reconciling internationalism<br />
and socialist nationalism unattractive to the Leninist Generation in Britain. In<br />
the US, the early YWL was made up primarily of immigrant youth who shared a "profound<br />
alienation from American culture," making American nationalism an unattractive<br />
and foreign conception to them. 33 Severe state persecution simply fuelled the YWL's<br />
existing disposition against American nationalism. The continued anti-militarist content<br />
of communist nationalist rhetoric smoothed the Popular Front transition for the youth.<br />
While still critiquing the imperialist practices of their respective governments, the British<br />
and American YCLs began propagating a nationalist line that identified their program of<br />
anti-fascism with the progressive traditions of their nation. The British YCL posited that<br />
Chamberlain's opponents represented "the Real Britain" while his administration and<br />
supporters were deemed "enemies of the British youth." 34 In an opposing trend, as<br />
Roosevelt's administration became more progressive domestically and internationally, the<br />
American YCL deemed his opponents "enemies of the youth" and identified themselves<br />
with the "progressive elements [of the nation] in the Democratic Party headed by Roosevelt."<br />
35<br />
65
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
During the period of 1935-36 important transitions occurred in the British and American<br />
YCL press reflecting the shift to Popular Front nationalist rhetoric. The newspapers<br />
of the Leninist Generation had been primarily internationalist in their form and content.<br />
From their inception up until the Popular Front period, both YCLs published a newspaper<br />
entitled The Young Worker. Almost every issue of The Young Worker was published<br />
with a subtitle declaring each YCL as the national section of the Young Communist<br />
International. The Young Worker ceased publication in both Britain and the United States<br />
with the adoption of the Popular Front. In the beginning of 1935, prior to the Popular<br />
Front, the British YCL dropped The Young Worker and began publishing a newspaper<br />
entitled Challenge. With their first official issue in March, 1935 the YCL dropped all<br />
references to the YCI in their headlines and instead embraced a subtitle stating that<br />
Challenge was "A Call to the <strong>Youth</strong>." 36 Further issues addressed working-class issues,<br />
but began framing debates around a broader national and generational based anti-fascist<br />
outlook. In June, 1935 Challenge adopted a new subtitle stating it stood "For Defense Of<br />
The Young Generation." 37 In September, 1935 Challenge broadened its appeal even<br />
more, changing its "Defense" subtitle into the more subtle slogan of "The Paper For<br />
Britain's <strong>Youth</strong>." 38<br />
Though main headlines dealt international politics, the content of Challenge articles<br />
took a distinctive shift towards national appeals. In a statement on the Italian war campaign<br />
in Abyssinia, the YCL made an appeal specifically to British youth stating, "<strong>Youth</strong><br />
of Britain! Show the youth of the world where we stand. Stand firm for World Peace!<br />
<strong>Against</strong> the Fascist War! <strong>Against</strong> a New World Blood Bath!" 39 YCL rhetoric began<br />
asserting that the interests of British workers represented the interests and morality of the<br />
nation as a whole, while the bourgeoisie represented narrow and selfish class interests. A<br />
YCL article on class morality posited its argument in this framework stating, "The falsity<br />
of bourgeois morality is to be found at every step.... In words – for the motherland; in<br />
practice, betrayal of national interests in favour of their own selfish class interests." 40<br />
Though a continuity of themes existed in the anti-fascist and anti-imperialist content of<br />
their media, direct national appeals to the whole of British youth without reference to the<br />
YCI gave YCL literature of the Popular Front a distinctly new national form.<br />
Challenge began setting the tone of their rhetoric in appeals to British national traditions.<br />
In December, 1935 Challenge began advocating Parliament's passage of a "<strong>Youth</strong><br />
Charter" designed to cope with unemployment and the precarious future of British youth.<br />
YCL rhetoric played upon the national traditions of the Chartist Movement of the nineteenth<br />
century. The YCL asserted it was the youth organization that best represented this<br />
well respected populist British tradition. In its first article dealing with the <strong>Youth</strong> Charter<br />
campaign, the YCL made an appeal to the British nation as a whole:<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> demands its rights and heritage.... The whole nation – father and mother, professor,<br />
minister of religion, artists and humanitarians, all youth organizations --- could be<br />
roused by the greatest campaign this country had seen since the days of Chartism, for<br />
support if <strong>Youth</strong>'s Charter before Parliament. The fight must go on inside and outside<br />
66
NATIONALISM<br />
Parliament. <strong>Youth</strong> forces must unite for the greatest social effort to save our generation.<br />
41<br />
Unlike the past where campaigns were specifically put in class terms and appeals to the<br />
revolutionary programme of the YCI, the campaign for the <strong>Youth</strong> Charter was framed in<br />
familiar British national traditions and progressive appeals to the nation as a whole.<br />
Historical national rhetoric became an important political strategy to counter the appeals<br />
of fascism to British youth. In January, 1938 Challenge adopted a regular column<br />
entitled "Literature Comes to Life" as a popular method to develop their nationalist lines.<br />
The first column explained that this would "be a new kind of Book Page, different from<br />
any other paper's, and we believe more useful to our readers." 42 In this column popular<br />
British historical and literary figures were discussed. The book reviews drew historic<br />
parallels between traditional British struggles and the modern democratic struggles of the<br />
YCL. Traditional YCL history articles were centred on the lives of Lenin, Luxemburg<br />
and Liebknecht. British cultural figures like Byron, Shelley, Keats, Milton, Dickens and<br />
Shakespeare began to fill the pages of Challenge as youthful heroes of the Popular Front.<br />
British history was used by the YCL not just to combat fascism, but also to assert the<br />
case for British socialism. One YCL article insisted that "you will find people who think<br />
Communism an un-English idea. Why, if any people can claim such an idea, it is the<br />
people of England.... It is grained in every inch of the tale of our people." In the same<br />
article the author insisted that the modern youth struggle against war and fascism showed<br />
that the YCL were truly "the heirs of England" and its historical traditions. 43 Another<br />
column was begun by Ted Ward in July, 1939 called "The Living Past." In this column<br />
the YCL stated that it would not "look back longingly to the "good old days," but try to<br />
see some of them how they really were, and note the part they played in molding our own<br />
time." The graphic used in this column series portrayed an image of a young couple<br />
looking over the open hills to an industrial town in the background. The image linked<br />
symbols of land and industry in the past with the future of the youth of the nation. (See<br />
Appendix) 44 In these propaganda strategies, the YCL co-opted national traditions and<br />
images of the past to defend against present fascist threats while reflecting on a future<br />
movement towards socialism.<br />
Challenge articles shifted from using language based on class to using broader national<br />
terms like "the people." YCL internal discussion bulletins reflected on the effectiveness<br />
of such rhetorical devices stating, "The basis of our propaganda, our best<br />
medium for recruiting – Defend the People!" 45 Such broad political language was framed<br />
to change the public perception of the YCL and to transform the political identity of YCL<br />
members. John Gollan emphasised the importance of this arguing, "Today the YCL is…<br />
tackling the problems of the people; this has meant that our whole attitude and responsibility<br />
has changed." 46 In an article critiquing Trotskyism, Alec Massie emphasised the<br />
divergence between the broad character of YCL appeals and the narrow class character of<br />
67
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
Trotskyist rhetoric. Massie contend the YCL, unlike the Trotskyists, stood for "the<br />
genuine interests of the youth and of the whole people of Britain." 47<br />
The YCL helped to establish the strong British communist tradition of "people's culture"<br />
with their Popular Front propaganda. A regular feature of Challenge "May Day"<br />
issues was a column dedicated to "Songs of the People." Such cultural columns about<br />
"the people" embraced the traditions of the English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh, reflecting<br />
the multi-national realities of the British Isles. 48 YCL rhetoric attempted to balance<br />
potential conflicts between British and regional national identities. The bonds between<br />
the socialist and nationalist movements, especially in the Celtic regions, had traditionally<br />
been an integral part of working-class agitation. The Leninist Generation tended to<br />
neglect these regional dynamics in their propaganda. 49 These shifts in rhetoric enabled<br />
young communists to portray themselves as champions of the larger national interests of<br />
all the British people while demonizing their fascist opposition as representatives of<br />
British imperialism.<br />
The most consistent target of YCL nationalist propaganda was Chamberlain and his<br />
National Government for their international policies of appeasement. After the election<br />
of Chamberlain's National Government in 1936, the YCL continually attacked Chamberlain<br />
not just as an enemy of the working class, but of the British people as a whole. As<br />
public debates on national defense became more prominent in 1939, the YCL regularly<br />
produced bold statements asserting, "Chamberlain cannot defend the people of Britain,<br />
[and] is the enemy of the people of Britain!" 50 Chamberlain was vehemently attacked as<br />
one of the greatest enemies of British youth for strengthening fascism's drive towards<br />
world war. In an article on the 1939 <strong>Youth</strong> Peace Pilgrimage the YCL stated, "You can’t<br />
have a strong Britain and a safe Britain while Mr. Chamberlain’s Government gives<br />
everything away to the enemies of Britain’s people.... Mr. Chamberlain had better watch<br />
his step; Young Britain’s after him!" 51 The YCL contended the youth peace movement<br />
stood in complete opposition to the National Government and in alliance with "the<br />
people" of Britain. Reflecting upon the National Government's non-intervention policy<br />
with Spain, the YCL posited, "The British <strong>Youth</strong> Movement and the YCL… reflect the<br />
true feeling and the spirit of the people of England, Scotland and Wales, showing the true<br />
difference between them and the pro-Fascist National Government." 52 The YCL's anti-<br />
Chamberlain rhetoric invoked a discourse of "oppositional negations," claiming to stand<br />
for the interests of the people and youth of Britain while Chamberlain was personified as<br />
the enemy of Britain.<br />
The YCL adopted another nationalist rhetorical device by engaging in debates on citizenship.<br />
Communists rejected biological concepts of nationalism associated with fascism<br />
and racial chauvinism. YCL rhetoric propagated that "true nationalism" was rooted in<br />
inclusive citizenship linked with the nation and its historical traditions. 53 Mick Bennett<br />
discussed the YCL's citizenship position by reflecting on the loss of democratic citizenship<br />
under fascism:<br />
68
NATIONALISM<br />
Political liberty is essential to Citizenship. Citizenship is an equal balance between receiving<br />
and exercising rights and giving service and duty to the Community. It is when<br />
the rights disappear or are "sacrificed" and only service remains that Citizenship becomes<br />
a mockery. That is what happens to it under fascism. 54<br />
<strong>Fascism</strong> destroyed traditional concepts of democratic citizenship, positing a biological<br />
concept of national civic inclusion dependant upon individual submission to the authoritarian<br />
state. The YCL contended true democratic citizenship was linked with service to<br />
the community, civil liberties and the right to political dissent.<br />
The YCL's citizenship rhetoric challenged youth to change the perceived pro-fascist<br />
leadership of Britain. The YCL argued, "There are many ways in which youth can help<br />
but perhaps the greatest is through the medium of citizenship." 55 Initiatives like the<br />
British <strong>Youth</strong> Parliament and the British <strong>Youth</strong> Peace Assembly were supported by the<br />
YCL because they reflected "a growing realisation of the need for training in citizenship."<br />
56 Though the YCL kept a critical view about the limitations of "bourgeois democracy,"<br />
they recognized that a youth movement engaged in active citizenship could<br />
influence the politics of the nation. The YCL discovered they could best serve internationalist<br />
obligations by strengthening their position with the framework of the nation.<br />
The transformation of YCL nationalist literature in the United States developed slower<br />
than in Britain. The YCLUSA did not cease publication of The Young Worker until<br />
April, 1936. Up until their last issue, the YCL openly declared its status as the American<br />
section of the Young Communist International. 57 Nevertheless, transitions began to be<br />
implemented in the content of articles in 1935.<br />
The Young Worker retained much of its previous form throughout 1935, but began<br />
adopting certain elements of nationalist propaganda. Articles on American history<br />
slowly began appearing at the end of 1935 that portrayed the YCL as the inheritor of<br />
American national traditions. In November, 1935 the YCL published an article comparing<br />
the philosophies of Lincoln and Lenin, asserting that a parallel dynamic existed in<br />
their revolutionary ideologies and their experiences of leading a nation in Civil War. (See<br />
Appendix) 58 An article in December, 1935 attacked the "patriotism" of William<br />
Randolph Hearst, declaring him a "20 th Century Benedict Arnold," asserting that the YCL<br />
was composed of "real Americans" and young citizens "who really love America." 59 This<br />
trend was accentuated in 1936 with the 160 year anniversary of the American Republic.<br />
In a March, 1936 article entitled "Dear Mr. Browder: The Spirit of '76 is Not Dead," the<br />
YCL regularly used phrases like "our forefathers," contrasting the traditions of the<br />
American Revolution to the political realities youth were facing in 1936. The image<br />
from the article showed a portrayal of an American Revolutionary War military drum<br />
corps, showing a parallel with the forward march of the American YCL. (See Appendix)<br />
60 Though much of the internationalist class form of The Young Worker remained<br />
until its end, the nationalist content of its articles changed dramatically during its last year<br />
of publication.<br />
69
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
After disbanding The Young Worker in April, 1936, the YCLUSA began publishing<br />
three distinct periodicals: The Champion of <strong>Youth</strong>, the Student Advocate and the aptly<br />
named Young Communist Review. Champion was a short lived Popular Front venture<br />
that was supposed to represent the united interests of "factory youth, young farmers,<br />
sharecroppers, students and anti-fascist, anti-war church youth in their battles." 61 Champion's<br />
political line was "couched in patriotic American terms." It asserted that the broad<br />
progressive values of the youth movement represented the true "American dream." 62 The<br />
Student Advocate was the offspring of a merger between the communist National Student<br />
League's Student Review and the socialist Student League for Industrial Democracy's<br />
Student Outlook during the formation of the American Student Union. The Student<br />
Advocate was dominated by members of the YCL and became the liberal mouthpiece for<br />
the Popular Front rhetoric of the ASU. New Deal politicians regularly utilized the<br />
Student Advocate to propagate "for President Roosevelt's policies." 63 During the early<br />
part of 1938, the Student Advocate ceased publication to distance the ASU from its<br />
radical origins when it was perceived to be "a communist organization in opposition to<br />
the national will." 64 Though Champion and the Student Advocate took similar nationalist<br />
stances, their articles reflected the political vision that the YCL and their allies shared in<br />
forging a national alliance between youth and Roosevelt's New Deal administration.<br />
The Young Communist Review was published primarily for the general membership of<br />
the YCL, unlike Champion and the Student Advocate that were directed towards the<br />
larger youth movement. The first issue of the Young Communist Review stated that as the<br />
"official organ" of the YCL, the Review would "afford us the opportunity to popularize<br />
our policy, tactics and educational problems among our membership." 65 A later article<br />
stressed the importance of the magazine was to translate the lessons of the Popular Front<br />
to YCLers; the Review would help members "to change our methods of work in accordance<br />
with our [new] perspectives." 66 The Young Communist Review was a vital educational<br />
tool to facilitate the transition to the Popular Front.<br />
Popular Front propaganda utilized history as a strategy to legitimize American communism.<br />
Earl Browder set the tone for American Popular Front nationalist rhetoric with<br />
his 1936 slogan stating, "Communism is the Americanism of the Twentieth Century." 67<br />
Such slogans enabled the YCL to adopt a historical nationalist rhetoric that was traditionally<br />
used to marginalize American socialists. 68 The YCL recognized the strategic importance<br />
of co-opting American history positing, "History is a weapon of struggle." 69<br />
While traditional YCLUSA propaganda embraced the same revolutionary figures as<br />
the YCLGB, the Americanism strategy prompted the YCL to emphasize American<br />
"historical heroes." YCL Popular Front rhetoric highlighted the lives of Washington,<br />
Lincoln and Frederick Douglas every February to draw parallels between their struggles<br />
and the contemporary struggles of the YCL. Deferment to the legacies of these men was<br />
used to legitimize YCL positions with statements like, "Our history is studded with really<br />
liberating, really revolutionary events, such as the Revolutionary War of 1776 and the<br />
70
NATIONALISM<br />
Civil War, whose results represent the real foundations of true Americanism." 70 Such<br />
articles drew parallels between the American Revolution, the Civil War and the situation<br />
in Spain. The YCL argued it was treasonous to American traditions to abandon Spain to<br />
fascist aggression. An article in February, 1937 stated, "Now, when the Spanish people<br />
demand no more than that which we demanded in 1776 and 1861, it is disloyalty to the<br />
great American tradition to refuse their appeal." 71 By highlighting the legacies of traditional<br />
American heroes, the YCL insinuated that there was nothing foreign about revolutionary<br />
movements in the US and therefore the YCL clearly represented "true<br />
Americanism."<br />
YCL rhetoric highlighted the careers of other American revolutionaries and founding<br />
fathers of the United States. A 1938 editorial was very blunt about the goal of such<br />
techniques insisting, "The traditions of our people must be a part of our very bones. We<br />
must know Jefferson, Lincoln, and all the heroes of our history, almost as well as we<br />
know our grandfathers." 72 The new constitution adopted by the YCL in 1939 boldly<br />
asserted this American outlook stating, "The Young Communist League… cherishes the<br />
ideals of Americanism embodied in the democratic traditions of our nation and its great<br />
patriots, such as Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Andrew Jackson, Frederick Douglass,<br />
and Abraham Lincoln." 73 Instead of portraying themselves as foreign Bolsheviks, the<br />
Popular Front Generation insisted that they were guided politically by the principles of<br />
Americanism.<br />
Though the American YCL kept up much of its traditional working-class outlook, they<br />
used similar rhetorical devices as the YCLGB in embracing a broad language centred on<br />
"the people." In an article condemning the influence of Trotskyism, the YCL stated,<br />
"[Those who go] against the Peoples Front, goes against the youth and against the whole<br />
people and are allies of the enemy." 74 The YCL insisted the goal of their movement was<br />
to spur "the people" into political action since "the enemies of the people are strong,<br />
unscrupulous, well organized, and well financed. Only an aroused people will be able to<br />
defeat them." 75 Associational rhetoric was also used to demonize political enemies with<br />
assertions such as, "Let us in our work show the same great love for the people and the<br />
same fierce hatred toward the enemies of the people, the fascists." 76 The YCL framed<br />
statements about "the people" to highlight their common values with statements like,<br />
"The cause of the people, however, the cause of peace and democracy and ultimately<br />
Socialism, is rooted in human decency, brotherhood, and struggle." 77 The logic of such<br />
statements insinuated that those who did not stand with the YCL in turn did not stand<br />
with "the people" of the nation, and were therefore ultimately lacking human decency and<br />
were out of sync with "true" American traditions.<br />
Broad rhetoric embracing "the people" was also used in the YCL interpretation of<br />
American history. In an editorial about the 4 th of July the YCL decreed, "It is high time<br />
the people took this holiday back to themselves; it is high time that the Fourth of July<br />
become a day of re-dedication to the ideals which animated the American Founding<br />
71
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
Fathers." 78 Using non-specific social terms like "the people" allowed the YCL to make<br />
generalized statements about the character and values of the American public and its<br />
national traditions. The YCL insisted their political program represented American<br />
values and traditions put into practice, increasingly portraying socialism as patriotic and<br />
inherently American. A 1939 article on the YCL constitution stated, "We who believe in<br />
Socialism love our country not only for what it is but for what it can become, not for its<br />
suffering of today but for this promise of the future—when America shall belong to the<br />
people." 79 The YCL believed "fascism in America will come in the guise of a defense of<br />
the traditional rights of the American citizens… [it] will seek to come to power wrapped<br />
in the folds of the American flag." 80 To counter this fascist trend the YCL needed to<br />
embrace and champion the progressive elements of American history.<br />
The "American people" were characterized as an inspiration for communists and antifascists<br />
internationally. Popular Front propaganda exalted the struggles and traditions of<br />
American workers with the same rhetoric traditionally used to praise Soviet workers.<br />
The Leninist Generation had primarily acknowledged the heritage and legacy of the<br />
"Russian people" whose Bolshevik Revolution inspired workers internationally. 81 The<br />
YCLUSA regularly used America's historic links with May Day to portray the traditions<br />
of the American people as a progressive inspiration to the whole world:<br />
The American labor movement has made many significant contributions to the worldwide<br />
struggle of the masses for freedom. America has given the international working<br />
class many heroes, many martyrs. Men such as Tom Mooney, or Angelo Herndon have<br />
significance for the peoples of the world in a way that transcends the borders of our continent.<br />
And the self sacrifice of the American division of the International Brigade, the<br />
Abraham Lincoln Boys, inspires the working people, the oppressed people all over the<br />
world to redoubled efforts to defeat the fascists on Spanish soil....We march in an<br />
American tradition, in the spirit of the Haymarket martyrs, for the security, peace, and<br />
democracy which the American people will not be denied. 82<br />
In 1939, a Review reader submitted a patriotic May Day photo as part of an editorial<br />
column. The photo showed a "Negro comrade" who had just returned from Spain<br />
marching with an American Flag in a Chicago parade. The reader commented that the<br />
photo was "inspiring," hoping that the Review would publish similar patriotic photos in<br />
the future. (See Appendix) 83 Popular Front rhetoric sought to find the common bonds of<br />
revolutionary democracy that existed between the Soviet and American historical experience.<br />
84 The YCLGB also referenced American history, glorifying the struggles of the<br />
American people under the leadership of President Lincoln. 85<br />
Rhetoric about "the people" linked American traditions of the past with the international<br />
anti-fascist struggles of the present. In an article about the death of Dave Doran in<br />
Spain the YCL reflected, "Dave was a native son. He personified the best traditions of<br />
the American people.... He realized it was the fight of all progressive humanity to defeat<br />
world fascism, to preserve world peace. It therefore was the fight of the American<br />
people—his fight." 86 Such associational language was used to link the past and present<br />
while articulating a forward vision of a socialist America. The preamble to the 1939 YCL<br />
72
NATIONALISM<br />
constitution stated, "The American people will realize tomorrow its historic American<br />
dream—a land of a free and equal people, of peace and plenty, a land of Socialism." 87<br />
YCL propaganda ceased to demonize American national traditions, instead positing that<br />
US States political culture and traditions represented universal progressive values.<br />
The associational rhetorical techniques used by the YCLGB to demonize Chamberlain<br />
were adapted to American conditions by the YCLUSA in support of the Roosevelt<br />
administration and the New Deal. Popular Front propaganda associated Roosevelt's New<br />
Deal program as the personification of the "will of the people." The American YCL<br />
adopted slogans of "constructive associations," portraying themselves as allies of Roosevelt<br />
and the American people as the New Deal increasingly came under attack. The YCL<br />
insisted, "Big Business forces in America are utilizing the crisis to defeat the progressive<br />
measures of the Roosevelt administration and negate the will of the people… they are<br />
now out to spike the President's proposals at all costs." 88 The YCL also scorned "left<br />
opponents" of the New Deal and Roosevelt:<br />
Today, we support the New Deal, and some socialists are completely confused. They<br />
overlook the new factor, that today Big Business has split away from the New Deal and<br />
is its most bitter enemy. This change in class relationships changes everything, and only<br />
a foolish pedant or an enemy of the people would apply the same formulations to the<br />
New Deal today as in 1933. 89<br />
The YCL expressed it was its duty to help "the process of lining up all reactionaries in<br />
one party and the progressive majority of the people who support the New Deal, the CIO<br />
program, the American <strong>Youth</strong> Congress program, in another party." 90 In addressing the<br />
World <strong>Youth</strong> Congress, the YCL associated the New Deal with the aspirations of the<br />
youth and as the embodiment of the American democratic spirit articulating, "The<br />
American youth of today is a different kind of youth than you may have heard about. It<br />
is the youth… which wants a new deal, wants to preserve democracy and wants to enjoy<br />
it." 91 The YCL continued to critique some elements of Roosevelt's administration, but<br />
generally contended that the New Deal represented the national "will of the youth" and<br />
"the people" and deserved YCL support. 92<br />
During the 1938 election the YCL shifted the emphasis of its domestic political rhetoric<br />
to nationalist appeals of citizenship. The YCL insisted active citizenship and participation<br />
in national politics were vital elements of the anti-fascist struggle. Popular Front<br />
rhetoric asserted the YCL was "the best organization in America giving youth training in<br />
the principles of American citizenship." 93 Reflecting upon the results of the 1938 election,<br />
Carl Ross lamented that the "education of young voters in their responsibilities as<br />
citizens remains a central problem of the progressive camp… it would appear that the<br />
large percentage of young voters still do not vote!" 94 In 1939 YCL statements took on an<br />
increasingly patriotic tone with statements like, "Our members are not only good citizens<br />
of the YCL but loyal intelligent citizens of the United States of America." 95 Such slogans<br />
were framed to deflect the attacks of "redbaiters" and to counter the tactics that anti-New<br />
Deal forces were employing for the upcoming 1940 election:<br />
73
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
Clearly in our fight against the spread of these ideas, we must take hold of this incompatibility<br />
between fascism and Americanism. A most appropriate place to drive home<br />
this incompatibility is in citizenship training for young people, at young citizens day<br />
ceremonies. Here we must move at once, for the reactionaries, Hearst and the Republicans,<br />
are organizing Young Citizens' Day ceremonies using the slogan 'I am an American'<br />
deliberately to build up a chauvinist, intolerant, and super-patriotic feeling among<br />
the youth, to set the young voters against the New Deal, and to distort the true meaning<br />
of Americanism. 96<br />
Such campaigns were utilized by the YCL to portray it as a patriotic American organization<br />
dedicated to strengthening democracy by promoting active citizenship.<br />
Spain: Nationalism, Internationalism and <strong>Youth</strong><br />
Communists also used nationalist rhetoric to discuss foreign policy issues. In sum, it was<br />
Spain that served as the vital reference point for Popular Front nationalist propaganda.<br />
The British and American YCLs used distinct nationalist propaganda techniques in<br />
rallying youth support for the Spanish Republic. Though the Spanish solidarity campaign<br />
was an inherently internationalist phenomenon, the YCLs framed their appeals in primarily<br />
nationalist terms. The British YCL utilized the geographic proximity of Britain to<br />
Spain and the fascist nations to infer that a fascist victory in Spain was not in Britain's<br />
national interests; the outcome of Spanish events had direct implications for the future of<br />
the British nation. In an article on the International Brigades the YCL proclaimed, "What<br />
happens in Spain will determine what happens elsewhere during the next few years. A<br />
victory for Germany and Italy will mean war for all of us instead of a few." 97 John<br />
Gollan addressed the 1938 YCL convention in similar terms stating, "[Chamberlain's]<br />
policy is bringing nearer the day when air squadrons of fascism will bomb Prague, Paris<br />
and London.... Defence of Spain means our defence." 98 Articles on fascist bombing<br />
campaigns pleaded that "helping Spain's people to defeat fascism means saving ourselves<br />
from Barcelona's fate!" 99 After the withdrawal of the International Brigades in 1939, the<br />
urgency of YCL statements was heightened. The YCL appealed to the British people to<br />
demand a change in government policy using bold statements like, "If we are to save our<br />
own homes, let us allow the Spanish Government to buy arms so that it can defeat these<br />
fascist powers." 100 Other Challenge articles asserted that securing the Spanish Republic's<br />
"legal right to buy arms" was the best defense that the British people had against future<br />
fascist aggression. 101 Other articles took on an emotional and personal tone stating,<br />
"Never forget Spain's people are defending our future, saving our families and friends by<br />
sacrificing theirs." 102 The violence perpetuated against the Spanish Republic served as a<br />
foreshadowing of the destructive capacity the fascist powers were willing to inflict upon<br />
their perceived enemies. The YCLs Spanish rhetoric attempted to find a balance between<br />
national and international interests, insisting the victory of the Spanish Republic was<br />
intimately linked with the future of the British nation.<br />
74
NATIONALISM<br />
The YCLUSA could not utilize geography in its Spanish rhetoric and developed other<br />
unique forms of nationalist propaganda. YCL Spanish propaganda was directed at<br />
overcoming the strength of isolationist sentiment in the US. The YCL drew historic<br />
parallels between the Spanish Republic and the support the United States provided other<br />
republics in the past:<br />
A situation amazingly similar to the present on with relation to Spain, developed here in<br />
America relative to the new revolutionary government of France in the 18th century.<br />
But at that time, President George Washington and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson<br />
openly declared their friendship for and aided the French government, while in our day,<br />
President Roosevelt and Secretary of State Hull deny the legal government of Spain<br />
those rights which are theirs according to every tenet of international law. 103<br />
Such rhetoric inferred assistance to the Spanish Republic would represent continuity with<br />
inherently American historical traditions. Much of the conservative American press<br />
framed the struggle in Spain as one between Communism and Christianity. The YCL<br />
countered this trend by highlighting a common political culture between the US and<br />
Spain. The YCL argued, "In Spain, Young Communists have contributed in the noblest<br />
way there is today, on that decisive salient in the struggle for democracy against fascism."<br />
104 The YCL wrote of Spanish anti-fascists in patriotic terms with statements like,<br />
"The iron will of the Spanish youth to create a free, independent Spain comes from an<br />
indomitable love for their country." 105 Isolationism was denounced as inherently un-<br />
American. International solidarity was interpreted as a highly patriotic phenomenon that<br />
linked American and Spanish youth. The fight in Spain was not interpreted as a communist<br />
struggle, but as a patriotic crusade for all freedom-loving democratic youth.<br />
The YCL insisted a fascist victory in Spain clearly ran counter to American national<br />
interests. Such rhetoric was designed to overcome isolationism and give the Spanish<br />
struggle a greater sense of urgency. In an article on Latin American fascism, the YCL<br />
argued a victory for fascism in Spain was against America's national interests in the<br />
Western hemisphere:<br />
Great danger arises from the fact that Roosevelt and the American people may not fully<br />
realize the importance of aiding Spain as the precondition for defeating fascism in Latin<br />
America. Spain is the cultural motherland of all Latin America. Hitler aspires to conquer<br />
Spain as a springboard— for the conquest of Spain would reduce the Atlantic to the<br />
size of a small pond across which fascist aggression could proceed with comparative<br />
ease. 106<br />
The YCL had previously praised Roosevelt's "Good Neighbour" policy as a basis for<br />
peace and cooperation with Latin America. YCL propaganda asserted that a fascist<br />
victory in Spain would overturn this progress, directly threatening American national<br />
interests. The US government could best defend its national interests by adopting a<br />
consistent anti-fascist policy in Spain and Europe. The YCL articulated its policy in<br />
Spain was designed to stop "the fascist war-makers" and was the only realistic policy that<br />
could "keep America out of war." 107 In short, the interests of the Spanish people were<br />
intimately linked with those of American youth.<br />
75
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
In both Britain and the United States, Dimitrov's analysis of fascism challenged traditional<br />
communist notions of nationalism, facilitating unique opportunities for communist<br />
youth propaganda. Popular Front theory embraced a flexible concept of nationalism,<br />
enabling YCLs to embed their rhetoric with distinct national symbols and traditions that<br />
resonated with their nation's youth. The Leninist Generation's propaganda was framed in<br />
strict internationalist terms, dominated by a consistent deference to the Comintern on all<br />
national matters. Though the Popular Front line emanated from the Comintern, young<br />
communists distanced themselves from the Comintern in their rhetoric. 108 By engaging in<br />
nationalist propaganda, British and American young communists invoked a language that<br />
was responsive to their distinct national political culture. Communist rhetoric justified<br />
internationalism through nationalist rhetoric and traditions, positing that modern antifascist<br />
struggles were intimately linked with their own progressive national histories.<br />
<strong>Fascism</strong> utilized nationalism to destroy radical working-class movements. Young<br />
communists insisted nationalism had to be utilized to unite and mobilize all segments of<br />
the nation against fascism. The Popular Front Generation propagated a balance between<br />
nationalism and internationalism, insisting they were the "true patriots" of the nation.<br />
76
4<br />
UNITY OF YOUTH:<br />
FROM SECTARIANISM TO POPULISM<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> unity gives us hope that after victory we will all understand that there are no reasons<br />
for a division; that the enemy, the common enemy, is fascism and the social forces<br />
which support it.<br />
-Santiago Carrillo, 1936 1<br />
As a member of the family of progressive youth organizations, the Young Communist<br />
League aims to establish friendly and cooperative relations with all of them. It does so<br />
with no selfish purpose, but because it realizes the necessity of common action and unity<br />
of youth to defeat the menace of fascism, to preserve peace, and to realise a secure and<br />
happy future for our generation.<br />
-Carl Ross, 1939 2<br />
"Workers of the World Unite!" This simple and familiar urge for unity proved to be a<br />
daunting challenge to Marxist revolutionaries. The Communist Manifesto predicted that<br />
global capitalism would eliminate "national differences" and spurn workers into international<br />
cooperation. The outbreak of WWI desolated many of these hopes. In turn, the<br />
Zimmerwald Left sought to reinvigorate internationalism, directing its aspirations into the<br />
foundation of the Comintern. Communists lamented that unity initiatives rarely culminated<br />
in international revolution. If this was the case, what then should be the "correct"<br />
attitude of communists towards unity Should non-communist initiatives be supported<br />
Could unity and cooperation across class lines ever play a progressive role in communist<br />
politics This chapter looks at how inter-war communist youth constructed and then<br />
reconstructed concepts of class mobilization and youth unity.<br />
The Leninist Generation understood Marxist-Leninist ideology in strict class terms.<br />
According to Marxism, class struggle is the driving force of historical change and the<br />
working class is the agent of modern social advance. Revolutionary Marxists rejected<br />
any class collaboration, insisting that the "emancipation of the working class must be the<br />
work of the working class itself." 3 Lenin linked class collaboration with the "opportunism"<br />
of the Second International that had facilitated WWI. He insisted on "purging" all<br />
remnants of class collaboration from the ranks of revolutionary Marxism. 4 The<br />
Comintern sought to create new revolutionary parties, free from the "opportunism" of the<br />
Second International. Communist Parties would alone "represent the interests of the<br />
77
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
really foremost and really revolutionary class," the working class. 5 As the sole vanguard<br />
of the working class, communists argued against both class collaboration and sustained<br />
cooperation with other political parties.<br />
In its early years, the YCI condemned the spirit of compromise and class collaboration<br />
inherent in the Second International's "betrayal" of youth. Antithetically, the Comintern's<br />
program represented "a dashing and resolute will to struggle, held fast and rendered<br />
inseparable by common action" of the revolutionary working class. 6 The YCI asserted<br />
their "one organization alone… is the expression of revolt of the young workers." 7<br />
Communist youth sought to smash all other youth groups in order to win over their<br />
working-class membership. This oppositional strategy was the only "correct" path to<br />
overthrow capitalism and abolish future imperialist war.<br />
The Leninist Generation had intentionally facilitated splits and mutual hostilities between<br />
the socialist and communist youth movements. Dimitrov recognized that such<br />
working-class disunity enabled the rise of fascism. The Nazis capitalized upon the lack<br />
of working-class unity in Germany to consolidate their regime, ultimately destroying<br />
both the SPD and KPD. In order to halt fascism's advance, YCLs embraced Dimitrov's<br />
populist policies, rejecting many of their Leninist traditions. The Popular Front Generation<br />
sought to facilitate broad coordination among all youth organizations, irrespective of<br />
class or ideology. 8 The key principle of the Popular Front was anti-fascist unity.<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> <strong>Against</strong> Opportunism: The Leninist Generation<br />
The Leninist Generation scorned nearly all other youth groups as "class traitors" or<br />
"counter-revolutionaries." In many ways, this disposition was a direct emulation of<br />
Lenin's political personality. Lenin had exhibited a ruthless hostility to all opponent<br />
organizations, insisting on the "correctness" of his own analysis. Lenin asserted that the<br />
role of the true revolutionary was "not to convince, but to break up the ranks of the<br />
opponent, not to correct the mistake of the opponent, but to destroy him, to wipe his<br />
organisation off the face of the earth." 9 This spirit of militant struggle was one of the<br />
most defining features of the early communist movement that brought it both brutal scorn<br />
and praise. 10<br />
As noted earlier concerning the United Front, though communists spoke of the need<br />
for "unity," they insisted that such unity needed to be formed under their "correct"<br />
leadership. The YCI contended, "Unity among the young workers is possible, and will<br />
be accomplished, only on the platform of the Comintern and the YCI." 11 United Front<br />
campaigns were intentionally framed to discredit socialist leaders. The Comintern<br />
openly admitted the strategic goal of unity proposals stating, "The Communist vanguard<br />
can only gain if new layers of workers are convinced by their own experience that<br />
reformism is an illusion and that compromise is fatal… [since] the cornerstone of reformism<br />
is the solidarity of the 'reformist-socialists' with the bourgeoisies of their 'own'<br />
78
UNITY OF YOUTH<br />
countries." 12 The YCI asserted the role of the YCLs was to "abolish" opponent socialist<br />
youth groups and to prevent the working-class youth from "retreat into the arms of the<br />
Second International." 13<br />
With the perceived threat of further imperialist wars looming over their generation, the<br />
ECYCI astutely proclaimed, "Having mapped out our course, scorning with cruel thoroughness<br />
all half measures and compromises, we must follow it to the bitter end." 14 The<br />
YCI asserted that communist tactics were the only "correct" positions under the current<br />
historical period:<br />
Capitalism has guided humanity into a blind alley, from which there is but one outlet –<br />
world revolution… its victory depends on the struggle, the will and the power of the proletariat.<br />
The proletarian world revolution can conquer only if the proletariat completely<br />
frees itself from reformist illusions, leaves the allies of the bourgeoisie in the camp of<br />
the Second International, and enters the struggle under the leadership of the Communist<br />
Parties and of the Communist International.... The working class can gain final victory<br />
only if it manifests the greatest courage, self-sacrifice and discipline, and learns to fight<br />
with its class enemies in all situations. 15<br />
The "world revolution" necessitated "correct leadership" to lead the working class.<br />
Driven by their Leninist faith, the YCI insisted that the Comintern was the only organization<br />
that could provide this correct and difficult leadership.<br />
The YCI constituted themselves as the "true revolutionary leaders" of the workingclass<br />
youth. To win youth over to their "correct leadership," all other youth movements<br />
needed to be opposed and destroyed:<br />
The Young Communist Leagues conduct an energetic struggle… against the numerous<br />
religious societies, the national sports clubs, the militarist, chauvinist, pacifist and other<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> organizations. They also aim to do away with the Social-Democratic, Syndicalist,<br />
and Anarchist influence on the <strong>Youth</strong>, and to liquidate the <strong>Youth</strong> organizations of this<br />
tendency. 16<br />
Coordinated activities with other youth groups were intentionally designed to discredit<br />
and expose their leadership. The ultimate goal of communist "unity" initiatives was to<br />
"liquidate" other organizations, winning its membership over to the YCL. In his unpublished<br />
1929 history of the YCI, Mick Jenkins stated, "United Front tactics operated from<br />
above had the purpose of exposing the leaders and no other purpose." 17<br />
YCI statements disclosed an overt hostility to all other youth organizations. A 1924<br />
YCI pamphlet openly proclaimed, "We will show to our enemies the bourgeoisie and the<br />
social democrats… that there shall be no peace between us until they are definitely<br />
defeated." 18 The Communist Parties reinforced these positions issuing statements like,<br />
"The aim of the YCL is to become the mass organisation and leader of the young workers,<br />
and it, therefore, sees no necessity whatever for any other organisations of the<br />
working-class youth." 19 Traditional YCI policies, instead of rallying mass movements of<br />
working-class youth, often discredited young communists as alien and disruptive elements<br />
among the youth.<br />
79
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
Communist hostility stemmed from the premise that other organizations simply "bred<br />
illusions" within the minds of young workers. Opponent groups represented a perceived<br />
conscious effort by "the bourgeoisie to dominate the youth intellectually" in order to<br />
distort the true nature of capitalist society. 20 All other youth organizations were deemed<br />
class traitors for distracting youth from the revolutionary class struggle. Constructive<br />
coordination and unity was considered opportunist and undesirable by the YCI leadership.<br />
21 Socialist youth were specifically targeted for retarding the revolutionary development<br />
of young workers. The YCI insisted socialist youth stood for "class collaboration<br />
in place of the class struggle, and seeks therefore to train the working youth too in the<br />
spirit of class peace." 22 In 1922 the YCI stated:<br />
Your enemies, however, are not only the capitalists; they often stand right in your midst.<br />
They call themselves your friends, but they are much worse than your open enemies, because<br />
they see to confuse you in the struggle for your vital interests. What would you<br />
say to the friend, who, before you enter the battle against a deadly enemy would give<br />
you a gun without munition, or one that does not shoot You would despise him and<br />
thrust him from you. Take heed! There are such doubtful friends at work.... They are<br />
the leaders of the Young Socialist movement. 23<br />
Socialist youth leaders were not simply political opponents. YCI propaganda emphatically<br />
declared that socialists were "despicable" enemies of the working-class youth.<br />
The "social-fascist" rhetoric of the Third Period (1928-1933) intensified splits within<br />
the working-class youth, in the end, enabling the rise of Nazi fascism. The Comintern<br />
significantly underestimated the ability of fascism to mobilize disillusioned youth. With<br />
the rise of the Third Reich, the YCI was forced to seriously revise its conceptions of<br />
fascism and youth unity. The Popular Front Generation abandoned most its traditional<br />
Leninist positions, attempting to build broad youth unity around a program of antifascism<br />
and collective security.<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> of the World Unite: The Popular Front Generation<br />
Dimitrov insisted the continuation of traditional Leninist practices served to strengthen<br />
the position of fascism, leaving the entire young generation defenceless. <strong>Fascism</strong> had<br />
succeeded in establishing and securing power by making broad appeals to the entire<br />
youth of the nation to struggle against the perceived decadence and corruption of adults.<br />
Dimitrov urged the Comintern to reconsider its positions on youth and fascism to counter<br />
fascism's appeals to the youth:<br />
<strong>Fascism</strong> also triumphed for the reason that it was able to penetrate the ranks of the<br />
youth… while the revolutionary proletariat did not develop the necessary educational<br />
work among the youth and did not pay enough attention to the struggle for its specific<br />
interests and demands. <strong>Fascism</strong> grasped the very acute need of the youth for militant activity,<br />
and enticed a considerable section of the youth into its fighting detachments…<br />
seeing no prospects for the future, large sections of the youth proved to be particularly<br />
receptive to fascist demagogy. 24<br />
80
UNITY OF YOUTH<br />
While fascism framed its appeals to the youth, Dimitrov asserted that in reality it was the<br />
deadliest enemy of the entire young generation.<br />
The ability of fascism to mobilize youth was, in part, a reflection of the failures of<br />
communists to appeal to the youth. During his addresses to the Comintern's Seventh<br />
Congress, Dimitrov scorned the YCLs as sectarian organizations whose "approach to the<br />
socialist youth and other non-communist youth is not always correct." 25 The YCLs were<br />
instructed that they "must strive in every way to unite the forces of all non-fascist mass<br />
organizations of the youth." 26 Though such positions were traditionally considered<br />
opportunist, Dimitrov insisted this was the only correct tactic to mobilize the youth<br />
against fascism.<br />
Otto Kuusinen spoke on behalf of the Comintern Executive Committee at the 1935<br />
YCI World Congress. Kuusinen reiterated Dimitrov's positions, emphasizing the theme<br />
of youth unity. Kuusinen warned the YCI against an over reliance on "the old doctrinaire<br />
formulas," urging youth to "realize that times have changed ." 27 Kuusinen urged young<br />
communists to make broad appeals to mobilize "the entire youth…in a common<br />
fight…for our rights, the rights of the youth." 28 Other youth groups were no longer<br />
considered to be "enemy organizations" to be approached with "the purpose of destroying<br />
or weakening" them. All non-fascist youth movements were considered potential allies<br />
to be transformed "from centers of bourgeois influence… into centers of proletarian<br />
influence." 29 Kuusinen admitted that these revisions of Leninist theory necessitated an<br />
entire change in communist practice. Under the Popular Front era he insisted, "The<br />
central task of the Young Communist International now is to establish unity of the youth<br />
movement against fascism, war and capitalist oppression." 30 Such unity would "inoculate"<br />
the youth from fascist values, stripping the fascists of a potential mobilizing base.<br />
Kuusinen praised the noble "ideals of youth," highlighting the divergence between<br />
"reactionary ideals and revolutionary ideals" by associating the former with fascism and<br />
the later with the youth. 31 The struggle against fascism and the anticipation of war<br />
necessitated a complete revision of the role of the YCI and its relationship with other<br />
youth movements.<br />
Likewise, Wolf Michal stressed the common values of youth and anti-fascism, positing<br />
a unique and new perspective for the YCI. Michal's speech utilized "youth metaphors,"<br />
associating fascism with the forces of a corrupt and decadent old world and youth<br />
with the progressive forces of peace, democracy and socialism. In his opening statement<br />
Michal stressed that "youth want to live, to work and fight, they want to advance, to<br />
make the world more beautiful....The youth regard the old world with distrust." 32 In<br />
negation to this positive statement, Michal exposed the treacherous realities of fascism<br />
stating, "Never in history was the youth so shamelessly deceived, never were their hopes<br />
shattered so, as by the fascists. <strong>Fascism</strong> is a movement of the moribund old world." 33<br />
<strong>Fascism</strong> represented a negation of the values and aspirations of all youth. In Michal's<br />
analysis, fascist values and the youth had nothing in common insisting, "We, and with us<br />
81
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
the younger generation of all nations, want peace. <strong>Fascism</strong> wants war. <strong>Fascism</strong> is the<br />
deadly enemy of the overwhelming majority of the younger generation." 34 Opposition to<br />
this common enemy could facilitate the unity of the entire young generation.<br />
Michal reiterated Kuusinen's positions on the practical implications of Popular Front<br />
theory. Transitions in theory had to be translated into a new series of practices for the<br />
youth:<br />
The question arises: are the Young Communist Leagues capable of accelerating the<br />
broad united front of all the forces of the youth if they retain their former character, if<br />
they work as they formerly did Our answer to this question can only be in the negative.<br />
If we do not change the content, form and method of our work, we shall not be in a position<br />
successfully to serve the cause of uniting the forces of the younger generation of<br />
youth. As regards the youth, we have no interests apart from or contradictory to their interest,<br />
requirements and aims. Their interests are our interests, their demands are our<br />
demands, their aims are our aims. 35<br />
Popular Front rhetoric downplayed divergences between communists and other youth<br />
movements, emphasizing the common values of youth. Michal insisted that the antifascist<br />
struggle necessitated a new approach to youth alliances:<br />
We do not deceive ourselves as to the differences of principle and world outlook existing<br />
between these organizations and ourselves. But in the struggle against fascism, and for<br />
the material needs of youth, for freedom and peace, they can be our allies… we are<br />
prompted by one thought, one desire – to save the younger generation of the whole mankind<br />
from fascism. 36<br />
By championing a broad program "for peace, for freedom, for happiness, for progress, for<br />
the sum total of rights of the young generations," the YCL could unite the youth against<br />
the dual threat of fascism and imperialist war. 37<br />
The first task of the YCI was to heal the splits that existed within the working-class<br />
youth. The Comintern put considerable faith in the ability of young communists to forge<br />
a common anti-fascist platform with socialist youth. Unity between the adult parties was<br />
quite unlikely after so many years of intentional animosity. Kuusinen acutely observed,<br />
"On the question of uniting the Parties, it is obvious that the possibility of a union of the<br />
Socialist and Communist youth organizations in a number of countries is all the<br />
greater." 38 Dimitrov stated that united anti-fascist actions were desirable, but that political<br />
unity between adult parties could only be achieved by socialist acceptance of:<br />
1) The complete independence from the bourgeoisie and complete rupture of the bloc of<br />
Social-Democracy with the bourgeoisie. 2) The condition that unity of action be first<br />
brought about. 3) The condition that the necessity of the revolutionary overthrow of the<br />
rule of the bourgeoisie and the establishment of the Dictatorship of the proletariat in the<br />
form of Soviets be recognized. 4) The condition that support of one's own bourgeoisie<br />
in imperialist war be rejected. 5) The condition that the party be constructed on the basis<br />
of democratic centralism, which ensures unity of will and action. 39<br />
In essence, Dimitrov argued that adult political unity would only be achieved by complete<br />
socialist acceptance of Leninism.<br />
82
UNITY OF YOUTH<br />
In stark contrast to these specific and unrealistic demands, no strict guidelines were<br />
formulated for youth unity. Dimitrov insisted that the YCLs could not fulfil their primary<br />
task "of achieving unity with the socialist youth" if they kept "on trying, as they have<br />
done hitherto, to construct their organizations as if they were Communist Parties of the<br />
youth." 40 Kuusinen asserted YCL admission requirements ought to be revised and that<br />
"the doors of our youth organizations must be thrown wide open!" 41 Unlike the past,<br />
youth were not expected to accept Leninism to gain YCL membership or affiliation to the<br />
YCI. YCI propaganda asserted youth would be allowed complete independence in<br />
guiding the development of socialist youth unity. Michal stated, "The members of both<br />
organizations should freely decide the organizational forms and the name of the amalgamated<br />
organizations as well as its connections with parties and affiliation with the<br />
Internationals." 42 Though the Comintern deemed such possibilities unlikely, YCLs were<br />
actually theoretically given the opportunity to disaffiliate from the YCI if their socialist<br />
comrades deemed it a necessary condition for unification.<br />
Michal reiterated the common values of socialist and communist youth. A common<br />
anti-fascist and anti-war platform was the only pre-requisite to achieve the political unity<br />
of working-class youth:<br />
From the rostrum of the World Congress of the Young Communist International, we declare<br />
that we consider the Socialist youth as our closest allies. We say to the young Socialists,<br />
our class brothers: We want to work in common with you, shoulder to shoulder<br />
in a comradely way, for the interests of the youth and in the spirit of struggle against our<br />
common enemy – fascism – in order to hinder the outbreak of imperialist war and to<br />
wrest the workers and the toiling youth from the clutches of hunger, want and lack of<br />
rights. We and the young Socialists are allies because we are the sons of one class, because<br />
we have a common doctrine – Marxism, because we have a common foe – fascism,<br />
and because we have a great, invincible ideal in common, socialism… further<br />
maintenance of the split of the working class youth cannot be justified. 43<br />
Socialist youth groups were no longer considered enemy organizations to be exposed and<br />
liquidated. The Popular Front Generation insisted the splits that had been intentionally<br />
bred in the socialist movement had to be overcome by the youth in order to defeat<br />
fascism.<br />
"Unity" became the watchword and central basis of the Popular Front. Those who<br />
were willing to work with the communists were praised, while those opposing Popular<br />
Front tactics were demonized as fascist agents, saboteurs and reactionaries. This strategy<br />
was designed specifically to discriminate against Trotskyist influences that still posited<br />
traditional Leninist outlooks. Michal insisted that within youth Popular Front groups that<br />
"there is no place in these organizations for… the opponents of unity." 44 The divergence<br />
in the orthodox theory and practice of Trotskyism with Popular Front communism made<br />
the two movements highly incompatible and antagonistic. 45 Dimitrov predicted that the<br />
Trotskyists would continually "do their utmost to prevent the establishment of working<br />
class unity and the development of the People's Front movement against fascism and<br />
war." 46<br />
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YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
Indeed, Trotskyist positions on unity reflected an orthodox Bolshevik view against<br />
class collaboration and international collective security. At the founding conference of<br />
the Fourth International the Trotskyists discussed the threat of the fascist powers, but still<br />
contended that the "United States remains the dominant imperialist force" and that its<br />
domination of the world could only be "smashed by the proletarian revolution." 47 The<br />
Trotskyists asserted they represented "true Bolshevism" while the Comintern claimed to<br />
represent the "true spirit" of Leninism under the era of fascist advance. The YCI insisted<br />
its anti-Trotskyist positions were necessary to stave off youth reversion into traditional<br />
Bolshevik tactics that were incompatible with the Popular Front.<br />
Dimitrov's analysis suggested that fascism maintained power by "successfully applying<br />
the well-known crafty motto of divide and rule." Popular anti-fascist unity was the<br />
only method that could "offer determined resistance to fascism, preventing it from<br />
coming to power." 48 Popular Front rhetoric characterized fascism as a common enemy of<br />
all youth, urging the establishment of broad anti-fascist alliances. Regardless of their<br />
class or ideological background, all youth movements, outside of the Trotskyists, were<br />
considered potential allies if they were willing to stand in unity with young communists<br />
against fascism.<br />
The British-American Context<br />
The Popular Front transformed the YCLs in Britain and the United States from small<br />
isolated organizations into mass movements of anti-fascist youth. YCI literature of the<br />
Leninist Generation continually scorned the British and American Leagues for their small<br />
sizes and sectarian practices. These YCLs exhibited an incorrect "vanguard" attitude,"<br />
neglecting "the necessity of embracing the broad masses of the young workers" due to<br />
their "infantile sickness of radicalism." 49 The YCI continued stating, "Their talk about<br />
struggle and militant tactics is the meaningless chatter of phrasemongers who have no<br />
idea that it is necessary to draw the masses into the struggle and to lead them." 50 With the<br />
rise of the Third Reich, the British and American YCLs sought out broad anti-fascist<br />
alliances with other organizations before finally adopting the Popular Front. By legitimizing<br />
such populist activities in 1935, the Comintern facilitated new political opportunities<br />
for the British and American Leagues to become powerful forces in their national<br />
youth political culture.<br />
The Comintern's traditional Leninist program severely retarded the development of<br />
socialist youth unity in Britain. During the inter-war period Britain had a politically<br />
influential socialist movement. Unlike the United States, the British had a well established<br />
tradition of socialist youth activism. Leninism had a divisive impact of the development<br />
of socialist youth, intentionally developing deep splits among working-class<br />
youth. In many of the mining and industrial communities of Britain, the YCL stood in<br />
direct competition with both traditional youth organizations and socialist youth groups. 51<br />
84
UNITY OF YOUTH<br />
Though the YCL propagated for unity, especially with the ILP Guild of <strong>Youth</strong>, such<br />
initiatives were often rejected as inherently insincere and potentially dangerous ventures.<br />
52 Aversion against unity emanated from a desire to show the respectability of the<br />
Labour movement and the common knowledge that communists sought to disrupt and<br />
ultimately destroy opponent organizations. These early years of mutual animosity<br />
stagnated the growth of both the socialist and communist youth movements.<br />
The Leninist Generation portrayed a façade of youth reconciliation in their rhetoric,<br />
even though much of their literature advanced a blatant hostility towards other socialist<br />
youth. In a 1926 pamphlet entitled The United Front of the <strong>Youth</strong> the YCL admitted they<br />
had theoretical differences with the ILP Guild of <strong>Youth</strong>, but contended that they were<br />
"always prepared to discuss those differences, and win or be won to a change of ideas." 53<br />
In the same pamphlet the YCL dismissed allegations that they were "plotting the destruction<br />
of the Guilds" as "absolutely absurd," positing that "those who fight against the<br />
United Front fight against Socialism!" 54 The pamphlet's cover image was of two youth's<br />
shaking hands, crushing a capitalist and military officer in their grip. (See Appendix)<br />
The cover used a simple general slogan stating, "Two hands are better than one." In their<br />
Congress report of the same year the YCL described the Labour League of <strong>Youth</strong> and the<br />
ILP Guild as their "most dangerous" opponents, and that "a genuinely militant and<br />
revolutionary class policy for the young workers can be pursued only on the basis of the<br />
programme of the YCI." 55 The watchwords of YCL propaganda centred on themes of<br />
unity, but unity could only be acceptable upon socialist acceptance of a proscribed<br />
Leninist program.<br />
Positions of hostility and insistence on the "correctness" on the YCI were intensified<br />
during the Third Period. In a 1930 League training manual the YCL scorned comrades<br />
for "under-estimating the necessity for sharpening the struggle against the "Socialist"<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> Movement." 56 This manual urged YCLers to approach socialist youth while at the<br />
same time chastising these groups as tools of the "bourgeoisie to bring the masses under<br />
its spell, and all these organizations are our bitter enemies." 57 Though animosity ebbed<br />
and waned to different intensities throughout the period, the Leninist Generation supported<br />
a general oppositional line against all other British youth organizations, especially<br />
the socialist youth.<br />
In 1933 the YCL relaxed its traditional oppositional positions, fermenting new attempts<br />
at unity with the ILP Guild. After the ILP split from the Labour Party in 1932, the<br />
Ninth Annual Conference of the Guild voted unanimously for its National Guild Committee<br />
to enter into unity negotiations with the YCI. Since the Guild had left the Labour<br />
Party it lost its affiliations with the SYI. The Guild insisted that any common agreements<br />
"should not mean the submergence of the ILP Guild of <strong>Youth</strong> into the Young Communist<br />
International." 58 The YCI contended the Guild's only choice was either to merge with the<br />
YCLGB under the centralized leadership of the Comintern or to rejoin the SYI and their<br />
"united front with the bourgeoisie." 59 The joint work of the Guild and YCL was to be<br />
85
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
centred upon "exposing the policy of the leaders of the Labour Party, the League of<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> and the Trade Union, and all who drag our movement backwards." 60 Though<br />
communist rhetoric was softened on scorning the Guild, YCI dictates still necessitated<br />
the Guild's acceptance of communist principles. At this point, the YCI contended unity<br />
could only be achieved by acceptance of the "correct" theory and practice of the<br />
Comintern.<br />
In 1934 the YCL went further to soften their oppositional rhetoric against both the ILP<br />
Guild and the Labour League of <strong>Youth</strong>, courting their organizations for socialist unity.<br />
The YCL began directing their attacks at reformist adults who were limiting the political<br />
scope of socialist youth activities. The YCL denounced the Labour Party leadership for<br />
not allowing the LLOY to hold an annual conference to set a youth policy and for upholding<br />
"a ban on Socialist <strong>Youth</strong> working with Communist <strong>Youth</strong> in struggle against<br />
<strong>Fascism</strong> and War." 61 Similar rhetoric was directed against the ILP leadership for attempting<br />
to divert unity efforts between the Guild and YCL. 62 The YCL contended that adults<br />
sought to limit the activities of socialist youth due to the "clearer vision of the youth,<br />
their lack of old traditions, combined with courage and a desire for action" as opposed to<br />
the "leaders who have no stomach for self-sacrificing struggle." 63 The YCL offered<br />
socialist youth "Unity and Comradeship in Action" for any who were willing to "fight<br />
sincerely against war." 64 The YCI supported the development of this unity arguing that<br />
"in the struggle for the United Front and for their own independence, [socialist youth]<br />
will be able to find the path which will help them to become bold and firm fighters<br />
against <strong>Fascism</strong>, for Socialism." 65 Such inclusive and supportive rhetoric met with<br />
success in Britain and in "May 1934, the whole Guild voted to affiliate" to the YCI. 66 In<br />
affiliating to the YCI, the Guild was urged to "fight against… [any] association with the<br />
Trotskyists" since they stood against the YCI's vision of unity. 67 Such inclusive rhetoric<br />
towards socialist youth and denunciations of Trotskyism became regular features of<br />
Popular Front propaganda.<br />
With the adoption of the Popular Front line, John Gollan declared the YCL's new goal<br />
was "rallying the young generation for a happy future." 68 Gollan dropped much of the<br />
YCL's traditional rhetoric, making direct appeals to socialist youth and the "whole<br />
middle-class youth." 69 Gollan contended that "the struggle for Peace and against <strong>Fascism</strong>"<br />
required the YCL to work "in a radically different manner from what we have ever<br />
done previously" since the "whole young generation must be swung into the fight… for<br />
the defence of the youth." 70 Unity and "friendly co-operation" necessitated that young<br />
communists transform "the structure, the forms of work and, indeed, the whole character<br />
of our YCL." 71<br />
Popular Front initiatives contrasted past practices with fresh prospects for the future.<br />
Gollan reflected on previous relations between socialist and communist youth, detailing<br />
the YCL's new perspective on future relations:<br />
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UNITY OF YOUTH<br />
At the earliest possible moment we must overcome the fact of two political organisations<br />
of the working-class youth… we are prepared to do everything in our power to bring<br />
about the speediest possible unification of the Socialist <strong>Youth</strong> in our country... A few<br />
years ago we felt ourselves to be poles apart… we were suspicious of each other, and felt<br />
hostile one against the other... To-day we feel ourselves more and more to be comrades<br />
in arms, close allies in a common cause, bound by a hundred ties.... We, Young Communists,<br />
declare our readiness to amalgamate our forces with those of the LLY as a<br />
means of achieving unification.... We are prepared to merge on the basis of the struggle<br />
for the interests of the youth. 72<br />
Previous proposals for unity always centred on socialist acceptance of Leninism. Popular<br />
Front rhetoric made much broader appeals, insisting socialist unity could be based solely<br />
on "the struggle for the interests of the youth." Gollan appealed to the LLOY for unity<br />
stating, "The National Government and the Employers are threatening the whole future of<br />
our generation… they are the hated and despised enemies of youth… let us unite all our<br />
forces." 73 A united socialist youth league was the key to developing the Popular Front in<br />
Britain.<br />
The YCL encountered enthusiasm and support from the LLOY in their unity proposals.<br />
CPGB documents reveal the Party also supported this initiative, contending that the<br />
LLOY program "provides a sound platform for uniting the socialist youth of Britain." 74<br />
In 1935 the leadership of the LLOY became frustrated with the lack of autonomy and<br />
political support granted to them by the Labour Party. A young Labour militant named<br />
Ted Willis was at the forefront of these critiques, insisting the Labour Party was stifling<br />
the growth of the LLOY. Willis became receptive to YCL appeals for unity, contending<br />
the young communists were granted greater independence and initiative than Labour<br />
youth. 75<br />
The Labour Party was extremely hostile to proposals of youth unity, dismissing notions<br />
that the YCL's initiatives represented a sincere change of tactics. 76 A pamphlet<br />
produced in 1935 denounced the Popular Front, insisting the goal of the communists was<br />
"the complete destruction of the Industrial and Political Labour Movements." 77 Labour<br />
posited that communists still stood for the "overthrow of the existing social system by<br />
violence" which made any united activities incompatible between the youth. 78 As LLOY<br />
members began working with the YCL, in direct violation of Labour Party policy, the<br />
NEC scolded the youth in April, 1936 for claiming that is "should be a <strong>Youth</strong> Movement…<br />
independent of the control of the Party." 79 The Labour Party National Executive<br />
Committee (NEC) forced the LLOY's official paper, the New Nation, to fall in ideological<br />
line with Labour's official positions against the Popular Front. 80 In reaction to this,<br />
Ted Willis began publishing an "unofficial" newspaper for the LLOY called Advance,<br />
reflecting the LLOY's growing support of the Popular Front.<br />
Advance immediately came under fire by the Trotskyists and Labour's NEC as a Stalinist<br />
and "communist front" publication, contending Willis was a pawn being used by<br />
the YCL. 81 In retaliation, the NEC disbanded the youth National Advisory Committee in<br />
1937 and prevented the LLOY from holding a National Conference until March, 1938. 82<br />
87
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
During this period youth resentment of the NEC intensified, culminating in greater<br />
support for Willis and youth unity. The 1938 National Conference elected Ted Willis as<br />
its leader and Advance was adopted as its official newspaper. The NEC pressed Willis to<br />
recant on his Popular Front efforts to which Willis replied that "he has always made clear<br />
his desire to work for the merger of the YCL with the Labour League of <strong>Youth</strong> and we<br />
would continue to work to attain this end." 83<br />
The YCL paid close attention to these developments in the LLOY. YCL literature<br />
made public appeals to the Labour Party and the LLOY to find a common ground upon<br />
which "the YCL and its members could enter the Labour League of <strong>Youth</strong>" to build a<br />
"mass united organization of Labour <strong>Youth</strong>." 84 The NEC was unreceptive to these<br />
appeals, consistently expressing grave concern and hostility about Willis' leadership. 85<br />
After receiving a detailed memorandum from John Huddlestone "concerning the "dangerous<br />
work" of the League of <strong>Youth</strong>," the NEC decided to disband its national leadership<br />
in the summer of 1939. 86 The NEC took this initiative without even consulting the<br />
LLOY. The expulsion of Ted Willis prompted a large section of the LLOY membership<br />
to follow Willis into the YCL. Though the YCL had hoped that a united socialist youth<br />
league would be created within the existing LLOY to keep Labour Party affiliation, it<br />
openly welcomed Willis and his followers into their ranks.<br />
YCL rhetoric and actions were also directed at coordinating activity among all British<br />
youth. This strategy was a profound switch from traditional Leninist tactics. The YCL's<br />
national leadership insisted, "It is time to rid ourselves of that self-satisfied, frank disbelief<br />
in the possibilities for democratic activity of the youth movements that still lurks in<br />
our branches, preventing mass work from being done." 87 United activity could transform<br />
the political perspective of all participants. The YCL contended, "Unity adds something<br />
more than the mere numbers united; it transforms the outlook of the movement." 88<br />
United activity could show youth the common values held by their generation, dissuading<br />
organizations from pursuing an isolated existence.<br />
Popular Front concepts shifted the YCL's focus from an internal to an external perspective<br />
centred on influencing the development of the youth movement. Mick Bennett<br />
urged the YCL to transform its methods to adapt to the Popular Front:<br />
Our policy arises from the experiences and lives of the youth, therefore, it is a policy of<br />
the youth…our policy has so much in common with the highest ideals of youth.... Comrade<br />
Gollan explained how all youth, provided that they believe in democracy and are<br />
against <strong>Fascism</strong>, can find a place in the YCL. This is not yet the spirit and the general<br />
idea which runs through the whole of our work and League life.... We have got to learn<br />
from the other youth movements… this conviction has to be ingrained with us. 89<br />
The new role of the YCL was to "serve the British youth," not just the Communist<br />
Party. 90 The YCL National Congress stated that the YCL "is an indispensable necessity<br />
for the successful development of the youth struggle… being the best inspirers and most<br />
active workers on all fronts of youth activity." 91<br />
88
UNITY OF YOUTH<br />
The Leninist YCL denounced all other movements as enemies of working-class youth.<br />
The Popular Front YCL unequivocally rejected this notion. Young communists were<br />
urged to work locally in "gathering of all democratic forces of youth in your area" in a<br />
movement where "clarity, conviction and actions" were to count more than "correct"<br />
slogans and ideology. 92 John Gollan pleaded that now was not the time to contemplate<br />
the "maturity of ideas," but to "seek and find ways and means to speedily bring about the<br />
betterment in life of the young generation which all of us must agree is so urgently<br />
required." 93 Another article by Gollan reflected on the implications of this position:<br />
Unity will win, and to all prepared to travel this road to a peace alliance, no matter who<br />
they are, with them we will loyally work for the agreed-upon programme. They are not<br />
asked to give up their principles. All they are asked is to unite on a common programme<br />
of action to save all of us from destruction. 94<br />
The mantra of the Popular Front YCL centred on identifying common goals and enemies<br />
to initiate coordinated youth actions instead of focussing on "correct" theory and practice.<br />
The YCL used Challenge to facilitate greater bonds and democratic discussion among<br />
the youth, beginning a weekly "<strong>Youth</strong> Forum" column in October, 1938 that contained<br />
guest articles from other youth leaders. This "<strong>Youth</strong> Forum" enabled "young men and<br />
women of differing religious, political and social organisations will discuss the problems<br />
before the young generation, and particularly the problem of genuine co-operation for<br />
peace and social justice." 95 This column discussed British problems and solutions to<br />
youth issues that were being advanced in other nations. A Challenge article by John<br />
Moon, the head of the National Association of Boys’ Clubs, discussed the development<br />
of the National <strong>Youth</strong> Administration in the US. Moon urged that a similar organization<br />
be established in Britain in close consultation with the united youth movement. 96<br />
The YCL's unity program promoted discrimination against Trotskyist youth. Here the<br />
YCL's position was based on both Soviet slander and a sincere conviction that Trotskyism<br />
was incompatible with the Popular Front. 97 Trotskyists promoted traditional Bolshevik<br />
methods. The YCL insisted, "No democratic youth organisation will tolerate the<br />
presence in their ranks of a known Trotskyist." 98 The YCL condemned "all expressions<br />
of Trotskyism and the sectarianism upon which Trotskyism fastens." 99 YCL statements<br />
further exposed how Trotskyist influences were "trying to bring about desertions and<br />
splits in the League of <strong>Youth</strong>;" a tactic that the YCL said "no true supporter of workingclass<br />
unity can support." 100 Such strategies were central to the old Leninist YCL, but<br />
were now denounced during the Popular Front.<br />
The YCL contended Trotskyism intentionally deterred the progression towards broad<br />
unity. The Trotskyist publication <strong>Youth</strong> Militant was quoted to show the "real intent" of<br />
Trotskyists stating, "It is the duty of Militants to carry on the exposure of these dangerous<br />
delusions… raising the issues of class struggle and the overthrow of any government." 101<br />
The same YCL article continued denouncing Trotskyism stating:<br />
They called on their supporters to go into the BYPA, not with the object of co-operating<br />
to build it, but to discredit, disrupt and wreck it… they are beginning to worm their way<br />
89
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
in not in order to help their development into a mass movement expressing unity… but<br />
to make them nests of "opposition," points of support for the Trotskyist intrigues.... Inevitably,<br />
they do all this under the cover of "left" sounding phrases, with which they<br />
mask their real purpose… the "pull" of old ideas and habits leads, in practice, to resistance<br />
against the operation of our policy. It is this atmosphere in which sectarianism<br />
flourishes and which provides fertile soil for the plating of Trotskyist influences in our<br />
midst. 102<br />
The YCL contended that their anti-Trotskyist campaigns clarified the impact of sectarianism<br />
among the youth. Ideological confusion was "fostered and exploited by the Trotskyists,<br />
who are carrying on a vicious wrecking campaign against our line." 103 The YCL<br />
further contended that Trotskyist theory in practice "shielded Chamberlain by their false<br />
phrases" directed against Popular Front unity. 104 YCL logic deducted that since Trotskyists<br />
opposed broad youth unity, they were either consciously or unconsciously allies of<br />
reaction and fascism.<br />
The British <strong>Youth</strong> Parliament became an important unity platform for the YCL.<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> Congress movements affiliated to the international World <strong>Youth</strong> Congress became<br />
a standard feature of the Popular Front internationally. 105 The British youth movement<br />
had official representation of various organizations at the World <strong>Youth</strong> Congresses, but<br />
did not create a British <strong>Youth</strong> Parliament until 1939. 106 Discussion of a <strong>Youth</strong> Parliament<br />
began during the early struggles for the <strong>Youth</strong> Charter. The Charter movement had<br />
initially been supported primarily by socialist youth and working-class agitation in the<br />
Trade Union Congress. The YCL hoped a <strong>Youth</strong> Parliament would broaden the appeal of<br />
the <strong>Youth</strong> Charter and "become a real expression of the will of the whole of the youth for<br />
peace, democracy and social justice" so that "the charter will be achieved." 107 The YCL<br />
insisted a broad <strong>Youth</strong> Parliament could become "a Genuine Assembly of all the democratic<br />
youth of Britain." 108<br />
The <strong>Youth</strong> Parliament received broad support and participation from throughout Britain.<br />
The YCL received wishes of success from prominent individuals like "the<br />
Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York, the Chief Rabbi, Viscount Cecil…<br />
and Brigadier General Sir Wyndham Deedes" for their service to the <strong>Youth</strong> Parliament<br />
that focussed "the attention of youth on the duties of citizenship." 109 At the foundation of<br />
the <strong>Youth</strong> Parliament in March, 1939 "twenty-seven national youth organizations" sent<br />
representatives including "the Junior Imperial League and the Federation of University<br />
Conservative and Unionist Association." 110 Even though the <strong>Youth</strong> Parliament contained<br />
such potentially reactionary elements, the YCL pledged at its Eleventh National Congress<br />
that it would "share this democratic spirit and… [would] find ways of making the <strong>Youth</strong><br />
Parliament the success it needs to be." 111 During its first meeting the YCL ridiculed the<br />
Trotskyist elements "who were there not to obtain the widest unity for the maximum<br />
progress, but who wanted to use the Parliament as a place in which to air their obnoxious<br />
views… and "revolutionary" phrases." 112 The YCL contended that the rest of the delegates,<br />
regardless of ideology, showed a deep united commitment to anti-fascism demon-<br />
90
UNITY OF YOUTH<br />
strating that if "our youth could have a greater say in Government, there would be an<br />
enormous change for the better for the whole population." 113 The YCL believed that the<br />
open "democratic discussion" of the <strong>Youth</strong> Parliament could be developed to mobilize<br />
anti-fascist sentiment and activities among the entire youth. 114<br />
One of the main focuses of Popular Front activities and rhetoric was the peace movement<br />
that arose out of the 1934 British "Peace Ballot" initiative. 115 Gollan contended that<br />
in Britain, peace was the vital issue that could facilitate broad youth unity. 116 In 1935 the<br />
British <strong>Youth</strong> Peace Assembly (BYPA) was established, bringing together youth of<br />
diverse political, religious and philosophical backgrounds. Leninist YCL rhetoric would<br />
have condemned this venture as opportunistic. A 1935 Challenge article instead praised<br />
this initiative of British youth:<br />
The important organizations of Britain's <strong>Youth</strong> have decided to establish an Assembly of<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> for peace.... Representatives were present from the following organisations, some<br />
of them as observers: Younger Generation Movement, Student Christian <strong>Youth</strong> Movement,<br />
Young Communist League, Young Liberals, Young Conservatives, British Federation<br />
of Co-operative <strong>Youth</strong>, National Union of Students, Boy Scouts' Association,<br />
Girl Guides, YWCA, Labour League of <strong>Youth</strong>, League of Nations <strong>Youth</strong>, University<br />
Labour Federation, Fabian Nursery, Young Theosophists, Holiday Fellowship, Christian<br />
Endeavour, International Friendship League... The Assembly is to discuss questions relating<br />
to peace and to agree upon common action for the maintenance of peace.... In a<br />
situation as exists to-day, this historic coming together of the <strong>Youth</strong> bodies will contribute<br />
much to the preservation of world peace. 117<br />
The BYPA held common perspectives with the YCL on peace and anti-fascism. The<br />
BYPA identified both "the threat of warmongers at home and abroad," highlighting the<br />
connections between domestic and international policies that threatened the youth with<br />
war. 118 Communists contended this common sentiment could inspire mass actions against<br />
the National Government. One YCL statement argued, "<strong>Youth</strong> wants work, peace and a<br />
future. Baldwin's National Government denies these things. Prepare now… away with<br />
the enemies of youth!" 119 Instead of investing in the future of British youth, the YCL<br />
contended Baldwin was directing precious government investments into war; Baldwin<br />
offered youth "a larger Army and a larger Navy and a fifty per cent increase in our<br />
chance of dying young." 120 As the BYPA developed, the YCL found fresh allies in<br />
struggles for collective security, support of Spain and their continued campaigns against<br />
the National Government.<br />
The YCLUSA was transformed from a small propagandist sect into one of the most<br />
influential American youth organizations of the inter-war era. 121 During the twenties,<br />
both the YWL and the YPSL were small organizations with little political influence. 122<br />
The Leninist Generation's strict oppositional culture and factional splits marginalized<br />
revolutionary youth, retarding the popularization of socialism among young American<br />
workers. The YWL rejected coalition politics, insisting the workers' struggle could only<br />
"go onward under the revolutionary banner of the hope of the proletarian masses of the<br />
world, the Communist International!" 123 Unity rhetoric was focussed internally on<br />
91
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
ideological disputes, encouraging strict discipline to posit against any further factional<br />
splits. 124 With its internalized outlook the YWL had very little influence on youth politics<br />
in the twenties.<br />
As we have seen, the Third Period intensified the oppositional culture of YCLs, advancing<br />
an "ultra-left" condemnation of all other youth movements, especially the<br />
socialist youth. For example, in a revealing pamphlet entitled Who Are the Young<br />
Communists, the YCL attacked organizations like the YMCA, YWCA and the Boy's<br />
Club Federation. The YCL insisted that these groups intentionally split the ranks of the<br />
working-class youth, securing their allegiance to organizations that were "openly financed<br />
and controlled by the bosses" to "fool the young workers." 125 The YPSL was<br />
scorned for carrying on "no struggle against the bosses… [and] no militant fight against<br />
war" which reflected how they systematically "betray the young workers." 126 The YCL<br />
represented the "true class struggle" against the "misleaders of labor," encouraging<br />
revolutionary unity "in the common struggle against the bosses and their government." 127<br />
Though Third Period rhetoric frequently spoke of unity, the YCL contended workingclass<br />
unity should only occur under their "correct" leadership.<br />
Up to this point, the main initiatives for youth unity came from the National Student<br />
League and the Student League for Industrial Democracy. 128 Robert Cohen observed that<br />
because the NSL was created from below by students in 1931, it did not inherit either the<br />
"extreme sectarianism" or "Comintern dogma" of the YCL, enabling pragmatism in<br />
approaching socialist and liberal students. 129 The NSL facilitated student unity by initiating<br />
common activities between communist, socialist and liberal youth. In March, 1932<br />
the NSL organized a broad delegation of students to investigate a miner's strike in<br />
Harlan, Kentucky. The Harlan delegation received major national press attention and<br />
even political audience in Washington DC. 130 During this month, the Young Worker<br />
carried only one brief two-sentence article about the delegation, dedicating the majority<br />
of this issue to anti-YPSL statements in line with Third Period rhetoric. 131 Joe Lash of the<br />
YPSL later recalled that the Harlan delegation showed how "Socialist and Communist<br />
students and non-affiliated students could work together," even if it was a practice not yet<br />
officially adopted or endorsed by either the Comintern or the YCL. 132<br />
After the Harlan experience the NSL and SLID came into closer contact through joint<br />
work linked with the Student Congress <strong>Against</strong> War that took place December, 1932 in<br />
Chicago. At this conference the NSL showed a pragmatic and flexible spirit of unity<br />
towards both young socialists and pacifist youth. The NSL rephrased their resolutions<br />
that non-communist youth took issue with in order to build the largest consensus against<br />
war. Young Worker articles contended that the SLID had "tried their best to disrupt the<br />
Congress and prevent a real united front of students against imperialist war." 133 The NSL<br />
and SLID held a very different view of the events than this propagated YCL opinion.<br />
One socialist activist praised the mutually accommodating spirit of the event stating, "In<br />
Chicago the most encouraging sign at the whole affair was the honest bid the Commu-<br />
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UNITY OF YOUTH<br />
nists made for a united front." 134 The NSL continued promoting unity with socialist<br />
students during the National Student Strike <strong>Against</strong> War in April, 1934. The success of<br />
the student strike led the NSL and SLID to begin discussions of amalgamating their<br />
organizations. The NSL and SLID recognized they could have a larger impact on student<br />
politics by uniting their small organizations.<br />
It was at this time that the YCL began to slowly shift its rhetoric closer to the populist<br />
outlook of the NSL. The YCL praised the NSL's initiatives in building progressive<br />
influence and consensus politics among the youth. When the Young Worker announced<br />
the April, 1934 Campus Strike <strong>Against</strong> War, it recognized the event as a joint venture of<br />
both the NSL and SLID. This article did not attack either the NSL or SLID for taking up<br />
this effective joint venture which was a new phenomenon for YCL rhetoric. 135 This trend<br />
towards unity and populism continued in the YCL press throughout 1934. Articles<br />
highlighted youth initiatives that "have as its aim the unity of the youth in the struggle<br />
against war and fascism," toning down previous class centred and oppositional rhetoric. 136<br />
The YCL used consensus political rhetoric to describe the first meeting of the American<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> Congress in August, 1934. The AYC concept was initiated by Viola Lima, a<br />
young woman who had just returned from a cordial visit to Nazi Germany. Communist<br />
and socialist delegates questioned Lima's motivations, contending she intended to transform<br />
the AYC into a fascist organization. The radical students convinced the majority of<br />
organizations to draw up a new AYC program, undermining Lima's leadership. 137 The<br />
YCL praised this event as "the most important" event for youth since the delegates had<br />
successfully "united their forces to smash a budding fascist youth movement." The YCL<br />
deducted that such consensus tactics were effective in facilitating the "coordination of<br />
forces against unemployment, fascism and war." 138 The AYC represented "the first<br />
manifestation of the popular front in the youth movement" within the United Stated and<br />
the international youth movement. 139 With the establishment of the AYC, the YCL<br />
shifted its focus away from the communist dominated American League <strong>Against</strong> War and<br />
<strong>Fascism</strong> and into more authentic and representative youth bodies. 140<br />
The AYC brought together diverse elements of the American youth prior to the Popular<br />
Front. The second meeting of the AYC was held in Detroit on July 4, 1935. At this<br />
meeting the national executive held a special symposium, inviting top representatives<br />
from the Socialist, Communist, Democrat and Republican Parties to address the question<br />
of "The Position of my Party on the Program of the American <strong>Youth</strong> Congress." This<br />
symposium facilitated significant communication across political lines on youth issues. 141<br />
Just prior to the Detroit Congress, Gil Green praised how young people from "varied<br />
walks of life" were able to come together to "discuss their common problems – their<br />
traditional right to life, liberty and the pursuit happiness." 142 Once the Congress was over,<br />
a Young Worker headline boldly declared that over one million US youth had achieved<br />
complete organizational unity. 143 Later in July, Gil Green made appeals to the YPSL for<br />
greater unity. Green claimed the AYC taught both the YPSL and YCL "valuable les-<br />
93
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
sons" about unity; the YCL was now using "numerous occasions publicly" to criticize<br />
their past mistakes and to show "its sincere and consistent efforts to achieve unity." 144<br />
The NSL and SLID capitalized upon the success of the AYC to advance their proposals<br />
for amalgamation. In September, 1935 communist and socialist student representatives<br />
met to recommend "immediate unification… to their respective conventions" to<br />
create the American Student Union. 145 The YCL propagated that they would not ask<br />
students to adopt "a Communist program," but that they wished only for the ASU to be<br />
"opposed to war and fascism" since American students could all agree on a minimal<br />
program of "struggle for the defence of peace." 146 Upon returning from the YCI Congress<br />
in Moscow, Gill Green praised the ASU initiative as a "merger that will create tremendous<br />
enthusiasm in the ranks of youth and attract thousands who today remain outside of<br />
our respective organizations." Green contended that youth unity stemmed from mutual<br />
recognition that fascism threatened "the very existence of humanity, of culture and of<br />
progress." 147<br />
Joint youth activities produced dramatic results that were not previously possible.<br />
After the student Armistice Day protests of 1935, the YCL observed the "anti-war<br />
movement is too powerful, too militant and purposeful to be evaded" which culminated<br />
in a series of meetings with President Roosevelt and "a greater spirit of cooperation from<br />
school administrators." 148 The YCL contended the ASU was vital for "the whole growing<br />
peoples movement against fascism and war;" it represented a true "coalition of every<br />
progressive force on campus against every reactionary force or interest affecting the<br />
student body." 149 The ASU quickly became the most influential Popular Front youth<br />
organization in the United States.<br />
The YCL and YPSL achieved poor results in unity initiatives between their organizations<br />
outside of the ASU and AYC. The YPSL dismissed many of the YCL's proposals<br />
for amalgamation. Gil Green outlined a unity program intended to create a "genuine nonparty<br />
youth organization." The unified league would utilize "the greatest diversity of<br />
organizational forms." International affiliation would "be decided democratically by both<br />
organizations after joint discussion." 150 Kuusinen urged the YCL and YPSL to reject<br />
their "separate identity," forming a new league that would reject "the principles of<br />
democratic centralism," opting instead for a "self-imposed discipline" and a "greater<br />
degree of autonomy." Under the unity proposals, the YCL and the YPSL would "cease to<br />
exist," leaving only a "single unified youth league" in the United States. 151<br />
The YPSL exhibited an extremely hostile and unreceptive attitude towards the YCL's<br />
proposals. Ironically, the YPSL was shifting its outlook towards traditional Leninist<br />
outlooks it had previously scorned the YCL for. The YPSL mocked Gil Green in its<br />
press, referring to him as "Ex-Revolutionary Green." They further denounced his new<br />
positions for rejecting the YCL's "working-class character" and for asserting that a new<br />
organization should "cease to be a disciplined movement." 152 A similar article from the<br />
Young Circle League asserted the YPSL was correct in rejecting YCL unity. The Young<br />
94
UNITY OF YOUTH<br />
Circle League insisted the new YCL program was "dulling the class consciousness of the<br />
working youth" when it should instead "draw a sharp class line and talk in class terms" to<br />
combat fascism. 153<br />
Despite the YPSL's hostilities, the YCL continued making unity proposals. The YCL<br />
contended the YPSL attitude was formed by misunderstandings and the influence of<br />
Trotskyism. Max Weiss contended the YPSL was forming their political strategies in<br />
negation to YCL practices, not from strategic principles:<br />
In the past period the YPSL has begun to take on more and more the color of a faction<br />
whose policy is dictated exclusively by what the YCL does or does not do. When we are<br />
for, they are automatically against; when we are against, they are automatically for. We<br />
must help the YPSL shake off the incubus of these factional, sectarian methods.... We<br />
must not fight against the sectarian aim of the YPSL by an equally sectarian, negative attitude<br />
to their proposals. 154<br />
The key to forging socialist unity was utilizing a proper attitude that would overcome<br />
past practices. In a debate with Gus Tyler of the YPSL, Gil Green contended the YPSL<br />
position was based on a misunderstanding of the Popular Front:<br />
What are the arguments against the united front.... It was said that the united front with<br />
the Communists was impossible because we were too far left, we repelled the masses.<br />
Then overnight the argument turned. We suddenly changed colors and became too far to<br />
the right. Where is the logic and sense in all this… people [ought to be] judged not by<br />
their words but by their deeds. We are ready to match our words with our deeds. 155<br />
Green's observations asserted that the YPSL's positions were illogical stances bred<br />
primarily by their traditional anti-communist prejudices.<br />
The YCL vigilantly attacked the entrance of Trotskyists into the YPSL. Communists<br />
constantly scapegoated the Trotskyists for holding back the development of socialist<br />
youth unity. 156 Trotskyism was deemed a "poisonous ideology" that was "polluting" the<br />
minds of socialist youth and "making the YPSL a sectarian organization." 157 Trotskyism<br />
relied upon "high sounding [revolutionary] phrases" that were alienating, denying "the<br />
need for allies in the struggles of the working class" and looking "upon other sections of<br />
the population as a reactionary mass." 158 YCL accusations against the YPSL were not<br />
completely unfounded. Trotskyism was quickly becoming the dominant ideology of the<br />
YPSL. As a result, the YPSL left the Socialist Party in 1938, becoming the youth group<br />
of the newly formed Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party. 159 Even without organizational<br />
unity, elements of the socialist youth continued to work with the YCL in a variety of<br />
campaigns and organizations throughout the Popular Front.<br />
YCL propaganda continually strove to facilitate the greatest possible anti-fascist unity<br />
among youth. The YCI stressed to the YCLUSA that "only a united youth can save itself<br />
from fascism and war." 160 The YCL observed that in the United States there existed<br />
"unity in Liberal opinion throughout the country" against fascism and war. The YCL<br />
contended its role was to translate, guide and facilitate this unity of opinion into concrete<br />
organizational and active political unity. 161 Unity was vital to strengthen the entire<br />
progressive and pro-labor forces of the United States. Popular Front reports stressed that<br />
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YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
"reactionary anti-labor forces are the only ones who benefit" from splits among progressives.<br />
162 The YCL believed that their unity message appealed directly to the "hearts and<br />
minds of youth" because they represented a "generation whose very lives are at stake if<br />
we cannot maintain world peace." 163<br />
Popular Front propaganda hoped to rally domestic support for an international alliance<br />
of anti-fascist nations. International articles in the YCL press stressed there was "only<br />
one way to defeat fascism: national as well as international unity among peaceful and<br />
democratic countries; unity among the youth of all tendencies desiring peace, culture and<br />
liberty." 164 <strong>Youth</strong> held common values threatened by a common enemy:<br />
The will of the people is for peace. Collective action will fulfill that will.... We Communists<br />
believe that in such collaboration and joint action lies the salvation of the peaceloving<br />
peoples of the world. That is why we are such strong advocates of unity amongst<br />
all organizations, irrespective of ultimate aims or program—but unity TODAY, NOW,<br />
for peace and democracy. Without peace and democracy, none of these peace organizations<br />
can think of attaining their ultimate program. 165<br />
This spirit of cooperation laid the basis for the "strength of the American youth movement<br />
[which] lies in the unity of all forces around a minimum, positive, energetic,<br />
hopeful, and co-operative program." 166 The Popular Front Generation posited a cooperative<br />
minimal program that could defend and extend social advances in the United States<br />
and defeat international fascism.<br />
All the <strong>Youth</strong> United for Spain<br />
Spanish youth unity became the rallying symbol for YCL rhetoric in Britain and the<br />
United States. Trends towards Spanish unity began prior to Franco's revolt. In 1935<br />
representatives of the Spanish YPSL attended the YCI World Congress instead of the<br />
SYI conference. 167 Unity initiatives were broadened as the two organizations began<br />
issuing a joint newspaper in February, 1936. This joint publication "expressed the<br />
feelings of the young socialists and the young communists" on the upcoming Popular<br />
Front coalition election. 168 After the February elections, the YCL and YPSL agreed on a<br />
full merger to create the United Socialist <strong>Youth</strong> League (JSU). The JSU contended the<br />
merger's "repercussions will be formidable from the international point of view and the<br />
national point of view," boasting that within months their joint organization would grow<br />
to over 100,000 members. 169 In its propaganda images, the JSU adopted the broad slogan<br />
"Toda la juventud unida por España," or "All the youth united for Spain." 170 With the<br />
outbreak of the Civil War and the international fascist invasion of Spain, the JSU increased<br />
in its size and unity and became a vanguard force in youth recruitment for<br />
Spanish antifascism. The youth Popular Front continually praised the JSU as its greatest<br />
triumph and rallying symbol.<br />
YCI propaganda contended the Spanish model showed the correctness of their approach<br />
to unity and the youth. Articles in the World <strong>Youth</strong> Review consistently associ-<br />
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UNITY OF YOUTH<br />
ated the themes of youth and unity with Spain. YCI articles stated, "The cause of Spain<br />
is the cause of youth!" 171 <strong>Youth</strong> were unified internationally "by a great spirit of construction,"<br />
while the fascist forces in Spain represented "the enemy’s work of destruction"<br />
against the aspirations of youth. 172 The JSU showed anti-fascist youth worldwide<br />
how "a deep love for unity" was in reality "the only sure and effective weapon with<br />
which to resist and conquer the aggressions of Hitler and Mussolini." 173 Raymond Guyot,<br />
General Secretary of the YCI exclaimed that "unity and once more unity will permit the<br />
young Communists all over the world to render more efficient aid to Republican<br />
Spain." 174 Spain was used a "rallying call" for all anti-fascist youth:<br />
Under fire and beneath the banner of struggle for effective help for the Spanish people,<br />
unity was forged between the advanced youth of all countries. Long live the United Socialist<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> of Spain! An example of unity and heroism for the youth of the whole<br />
world! That is the cry of young anti-fascists all over the world in solidarity with the<br />
United Socialist <strong>Youth</strong>.... Your motto, "United as in Spain," at the side of your Spanish<br />
brothers, must triumph. Long live the anti-fascist unity of struggle of the youth of the<br />
world! 175<br />
The example of the JSU showed how unity, both domestically and internationally,<br />
empowered youth to effectively combat fascism.<br />
The British and American YCL held very similar interpretations of Spain in their<br />
rhetoric. The British YCL challenged fatalistic attitudes towards the inevitability of a<br />
new world war. Such propaganda invoked the example of Spain stating, "The unity of<br />
the Spanish has been the bulwark of democratic Europe against fascist aggression and<br />
war… that is the spirit of Spain." 176 The YCLUSA similarly stressed how the "whole<br />
Spanish people was united in a struggle to the end against the fascists" and that this<br />
showed American youth "what a powerful weapon unity was." 177 Challenge proclaimed<br />
that the "heroic struggle of the Spanish people has… awakened millions in Britain and<br />
America… it showed them the way to defeat fascism, by uniting their forces to oppose<br />
it." 178 Spanish youth unity "almost single-handedly… brought the peoples of all democratic<br />
countries closer together than they have ever been in history." 179 Both YCLs denounced<br />
the influence of Trotskyism on the Spanish POUM. In the context of the Civil<br />
War, the revolutionary "slogans of the Trotzkyites means alienating these large sections<br />
of the Spanish people, thus weakening the government, thus making possible a fascist<br />
victory." 180 Spain imbued communists with the notion that anti-fascist unity for defense<br />
required difficult choices for revolutionaries. At times, such as the case of the POUM,<br />
communists came to justify outright brutal suppression of other revolutionary movements<br />
in order to preserve and strengthen anti-fascist coalitions.<br />
The International Brigades were extolled for facilitating anti-fascist unity. The Brigades<br />
symbolized international youth solidarity to rouse British and American youth into<br />
support of the Popular Front. The Spanish Popular Front government used images of the<br />
International Brigades to propagate themes of anti-fascist unity. One propaganda poster<br />
showed an International Brigader supporting a smiling Spanish soldier who confidently<br />
97
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
saluted his clenched fist in the air. The image was brandished with the slogan, "La<br />
unidad del ejército del pueblo será el arma de la Victoria," or 'The unity of the people's<br />
army will be the weapon of Victory." 181 After the Austrian Anschluss in 1938, both<br />
YCLs asserted the need for anti-fascist unity by reflecting on the experiences of the<br />
International Brigades. One article on Austria and Spain stated, "Never forget for a<br />
moment that your pals, your brothers, are fighting in the most difficult spots in Spain<br />
alongside of the Spanish people… offering their lives in the supreme sacrifice in order to<br />
halt the fascist advance." 182 The International Brigades "proved to the people of Spain<br />
that it was not alone, that it had millions of friends, and gave them increased courage and<br />
inspiration to carry on the fight." 183 The diverse ideological and international composition<br />
of the Brigades showed youth the power of anti-fascist unity.<br />
The ideas of the Popular Front significantly reconstructed communist youth identity,<br />
tactics and relations with other youth movements. Gil Green reflected on this transition<br />
stating:<br />
Of course we've changed! So has everything else.... In those days, instead of cooperation<br />
there was friction; instead of friendship and tolerance there was hostility and antagonism.<br />
That was bad. We can all see that now. But whose fault was it.... The YCL in<br />
those days had to swim against the stream.... Cordial relations between ourselves and<br />
most other youth organizations were almost impossible. Because we refused to be lulled<br />
into a false sense of security, because we refused to partake of the opium of illusion, we<br />
were looked upon as troublemakers.... It took the economic crash of 1929, the subsequent<br />
rise of fascism and drift towards war, to knock some sense (forgive the word) into<br />
some people.... Our mistake in this whole matter was that we did not swiftly enough reorientate<br />
to the new conditions. 184<br />
Green's analysis contended YCL theory and practice was not static, but needed to change<br />
with the times. The experiences of WWI and the early twenties led the Leninist Generation<br />
to embrace a strict oppositional culture. <strong>Fascism</strong> forced the YCI to revise its previous<br />
ideological dictates to transform the YCLs from small sectarian organizations into<br />
broad populist youth movements. Cooperation, coalitions and broad unity were the<br />
necessary tactics dictated by the era of fascism. Popular Front theory enabled young<br />
communists to evolve from isolated propagandists into skilled political leaders of the<br />
international youth anti-fascist movement.<br />
In sum, by embracing Dimitrov's theory of fascism, the entire communist conception<br />
of popular unity and coalition politics was transformed. Dimitrov identified that fascism<br />
was only able to gain and consolidate power by exploiting divisions that existed within<br />
progressive and working-class movements. The Leninist Generation insisted that collaboration<br />
and consensus politics had enabled WWI and betrayed the revolution. As a<br />
result, they intentionally facilitated division, contending they alone should dominate<br />
working-class politics. The Popular Front Generation posited that without constructing<br />
broad coalitions, fascism would be given free reign to unleash a new world war. Broad<br />
appeals enabled effective alliance building to isolate fascism domestically and internationally.<br />
98
5<br />
DEMOCRACY:<br />
FROM DENUNCIATION TO DEFENCE<br />
It is because the victory of fascism would set back the struggle for Socialism that they<br />
unite in defense of Democracy, limited as it is under capitalism.<br />
-Joe Cohen, 1936 1<br />
At present the struggle for Communism, for us, means the struggle for democracy, because<br />
that means the struggle and unity of the people against the most reactionary section<br />
of finance capital – <strong>Fascism</strong>. Without this struggle there can be no social progress<br />
of any kind. Therefore there are not two roads, one road to Communism and one to Democracy,<br />
with two signposts pointing two ways. Socialism will not be possible unless<br />
this fight is waged for democracy.<br />
-Mick Bennett, 1938 2<br />
"Between capitalist and communist society there lies the period of the revolutionary<br />
transformation… in which the state can be nothing but the revolutionary dictatorship of<br />
the proletariat." 3 In his Critique of the Gotha Programme, Marx contested that a specific<br />
form of dictatorship would establish a new "social democracy." To many, such a notion<br />
appears paradoxical. How can a dictatorship give birth to democracy What do Marxists<br />
mean when they use terms like "dictatorship" and "democracy" As the citations from<br />
Cohen and Bennett suggest, by the mid 1930s young communists redefined their conceptions<br />
of democracy based off from a new understanding of fascism. This chapter explores<br />
the divergent positions taken by the Leninist and Popular Front Generations on<br />
these contentious issues.<br />
As already noted, traditional Marxist-Leninist ideology appears paradoxical on the<br />
issue of democracy. Marxist writings extensively interchange the use of the terms<br />
"democracy" and "dictatorship." This phenomenon stems from Marx's critique of the<br />
limitations of political democracy in class societies. In order to establish a "true democracy,"<br />
Marx maintained state power had to be utilized by the working class to establish a<br />
socialist system that would extend political notions of equality into social and economic<br />
life. 4 Leninism further blurred the lines between democracy and dictatorship. 5 Lenin<br />
contended that "the state," no matter how democratic, was simply an instrument of<br />
violence to maintain class rule. "Bourgeois democracy" in reality represented a "Dictatorship<br />
of the Bourgeoisie." The Bolshevik Revolution established a new type of "prole-<br />
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YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
tarian democracy" in the form of the "Dictatorship of the Proletariat." 6 Communists<br />
sought to "overthrow" this "bourgeois dictatorship" to establish a "proletarian dictatorship"<br />
that Lenin contended was a true "democracy for the people."<br />
Prior to the Popular Front, many conceptualized communists as "enemies of democracy."<br />
The Leninist Generation fed this trend by propagating themselves as enemies of<br />
the "bourgeois republic," supporters of "proletarian dictatorship" and promoters of<br />
authoritarian leadership in their international structure. In an odd twist of this equation,<br />
Hitler portrayed communists as foreign enemies of the German nation who used institutions<br />
like democracy to "hurl us into an epoch of chaos." 7 Although fascists opposed all<br />
forms of democracy, Hitler utilized democratic structures to gain state power. 8 Hitler<br />
contended that only a fascist dictatorship could "save" the German nation from Bolshevism.<br />
Georgi Dimitrov identified fascism as the common enemy of all democratic movements,<br />
both proletarian and bourgeois. Communist theory had previously described<br />
fascism as another form of "bourgeois dictatorship" born out of the revolutionary crisis of<br />
democratic republics. Dimitrov insisted that Nazi fascism represented a new form of<br />
"ultra-reactionary" class rule in opposition to all forms of democracy. The Third Reich<br />
rejected all notions of democratic liberties and traditions, substituting the concept of<br />
majority rule with the principle of minority leadership in the personal form of the Führer<br />
and his Nazi Party. To effectively combat fascism, Dimitrov insisted that communists<br />
needed to champion and defend democratic liberties, traditions and institutions. Traditional<br />
"anti-democratic" denunciations isolated communists, alienating them from<br />
mainstream anti-fascist political culture, especially in Britain and the United States.<br />
Popular Front propaganda predominately abandoned Leninist rhetoric about proletarian<br />
dictatorship, contending that only democracy could save the world from fascism.<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> <strong>Against</strong> Reformism: The Leninist Generation<br />
The Leninist Generation denounced "bourgeois democracy" as an "illusion." Lenin and<br />
the Comintern insisted, "The most democratic bourgeois republic is no more than a<br />
machine for the suppression of the working class by the bourgeoisie, for the suppression<br />
of the working people by a handful of capitalists… "equality," i.e., "pure democracy," is<br />
a fraud." 9 Lenin asserted that workers should "take advantage of bourgeois democracy<br />
which, compared with feudalism, represents a great historical advance, but not for one<br />
minute must you forget the bourgeois character of this "democracy," its historical conditional<br />
and limited character." 10 Lenin envisioned the democratic republic as a transitory<br />
stage in the establishment of a more egalitarian and democratic political order. 11 Communists<br />
posited themselves as opponents and critics of the bourgeois democratic republic,<br />
seeking to establish a new social, political and economic order called socialism that<br />
they considered to represent "true democracy."<br />
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DEMOCRACY<br />
Young communists did not speak of themselves as "enemies of democracy," but as<br />
class enemies of the bourgeois state and champions of "Soviet democracy." In their early<br />
propaganda, the YCI emphasized that the YCL's central task was to "undermine the<br />
apparatus of the bourgeois state" and "the destruction of the bourgeois order." 12 YCI<br />
rhetoric embraced a language of urgency and action. Communists strove to make young<br />
workers "conscious of the fact that if they are to be able to live, the capitalist society must<br />
die" and that this "consciousness is the backbone of the will to fight for and set up the<br />
proletarian dictatorship." 13 Bourgeois democracy was intimately linked with capitalist<br />
economies. Faith in such a political system distorted the class nature of the state and in<br />
turn distracted youth from achieving "working-class liberation."<br />
Communist propaganda dismissed Western notions of citizenship and legality as<br />
"bourgeois illusions." Under the bourgeois state young workers were considered "oppressed<br />
and enslaved;" the dictatorship of the proletariat, representing a higher form of<br />
"Soviet democracy," enabled young workers to "become free citizens of the proletarian<br />
state." 14 As "slaves," young workers were encouraged to participate in both legal and<br />
illegal work to advance the revolution and undercut identification of young workers to<br />
the state. 15 The "proletarian state" would provide young workers "true" democracy and<br />
citizenship. 16<br />
The class nature of the state defined the phenomenon of both democracy and dictatorship.<br />
In one of his few theoretical publications, Stalin attempted to clarify the "Leninist"<br />
position concerning class, democracy and dictatorship:<br />
The dictatorship of the proletariat must be a state that is democratic in a new way (for<br />
the proletarians and the non-propertied in general) and dictatorial in a new way (against<br />
the bourgeoisie).... Democracy under capitalism is capitalist democracy, the democracy<br />
of the exploiting minority, based on the restriction of the rights of the exploited majority<br />
and directed against this majority.... Under the dictatorship of the proletariat, democracy<br />
is proletarian democracy, the democracy of the exploited majority, based on the restriction<br />
of the rights of the exploiting minority and directed against this minority. 17<br />
The Second International betrayed socialism by not addressing these class realities,<br />
putting their primary faith instead in parliamentary reforms. YCI rhetoric contrasted the<br />
strategic outlook of socialist and communist workers. An article on the Russian Revolution<br />
praised the clarity of Soviet workers who "did not expect any manna to fall from the<br />
parliamentary heaven." The article went on to scorn "all pseudo-Marxists" who pursued<br />
democratic reforms instead of preparing workers for "an armed insurrection" that would<br />
bring "an age of socialist brotherhood and equality." 18 In its initial programme, the<br />
Comintern insisted that the struggle against reformism could not be framed as a simple<br />
"theoretical difference of opinion." Such a movement necessitated an unyielding "struggle<br />
against the centrists and democrats" that supported "defense of democracy which<br />
preserves the private ownership of the means of production." 19<br />
The communist position against "bourgeois democracy" was formulated as a critique<br />
of its limited nature, not as a rejection of egalitarian concepts. By positing themselves<br />
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YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
against democracy, the Leninist Generation was portrayed along with fascism as "enemies<br />
of democracy" and supporters of dictatorship. 20<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> <strong>Against</strong> Dictatorship: The Popular Front Generation<br />
In a dramatic turnaround, Dimitrov insisted that the only way to effectively combat<br />
fascism was for communists to redefine themselves as champions of all forms of democracy<br />
and opponents of dictatorship. Dimitrov identified fascism as an enemy of all forms<br />
of democracy. <strong>Fascism</strong> had destroyed Weimar democracy and threatened to undermine<br />
all democratic states, including the Soviet Union. Popular Front propaganda downplayed<br />
traditional anti-democratic rhetoric, profoundly transforming communist's political<br />
identity. 21 Dimitrov insisted that fascism had produced a "new era" of class struggle<br />
centred on democracy:<br />
The situation is quite different in the capitalist countries at present. Now the fascist<br />
counter-revolution is attacking bourgeois democracy in an effort to establish the most<br />
barbaric regime of exploitation and suppression of the toiling masses. Now the toiling<br />
masses in a number of capitalist countries are faced with the necessity of making a definite<br />
choice, and of making it today, not between proletarian dictatorship and bourgeois<br />
democracy, but between bourgeois democracy and fascism. 22<br />
Unity of "all democratic elements" created "an insurmountable barrier" that would<br />
"prevent [fascism] from coming to power in countries of bourgeois democracy." 23 Under<br />
this new era, Dimitrov insisted "it is not at all a matter of indifference to us what kind of<br />
political regime exists in any given country." 24<br />
As previously noted, Dimitrov defined fascism "as the open terrorist dictatorship of<br />
the most reactionary, most chauvinistic and most imperialist elements of finance capital."<br />
25 "Incorrect" definitions of fascism characterized it as simply another form of<br />
bourgeois dictatorship:<br />
The accession to power of fascism is not an ordinary succession of one bourgeois government<br />
by another, but a substitution of one state form of class domination of the bourgeoisie<br />
-- bourgeois democracy -- by another form -- open terrorist dictatorship. It would<br />
be a serious mistake to ignore this distinction. 26<br />
Workers had a stake in protecting bourgeois democracy against its substitution by a<br />
fascist dictatorship. Dimitrov stated, "The proletariat of all countries has shed much of<br />
its blood to win bourgeois democratic liberties, and will naturally fight with all its<br />
strength to retain them." 27 Togliatti emphasized that communists could not be content<br />
"passively registering events" as fascism destroyed these gains; communists needed to<br />
put "the defence of bourgeois-democratic liberties at the centre" of their program. 28<br />
Comintern leaders reemphasized Dimitrov's positions to the YCI's Sixth Congress.<br />
Otto Kuusinen emphasized the changed character of the struggle against fascism and the<br />
importance of traditional democratic slogans:<br />
In the international movement for a united youth front new slogans have, as you know,<br />
recently come into use – new slogans which basically are rather old slogans: the slogan<br />
102
DEMOCRACY<br />
of freedom, the slogan of peace, and the slogan of the fight for democracy. It is therefore<br />
only natural that doubts have arisen on this question in the minds of many of our<br />
comrades.... The comrades who have these doubts fail to realize that times have<br />
changed, that slogans are not petrified things, but that their living content changes in accordance<br />
with time and circumstance. 29<br />
Kuusinen told the YCI if they applied this "new tactical orientation" that they would<br />
achieve "great successes in every sphere of our world movement." 30 Wolf Michal closed<br />
his speech to the YCI highlighting similar themes stating:<br />
We have inscribed on our banners: Democratic liberties and rights of the people and<br />
their youth, against fascism and imperialist war, for peace. We march together with all<br />
enemies of reaction and friends of freedom, with all enemies of imperialist way and<br />
friends of peace, with all who are prepared to fight for a place under the sun for the<br />
younger generation. 31<br />
Traditionally such slogans were denounced by the YCI for breeding "democratic illusions."<br />
The Popular Front posited that democratic slogans were the key to facilitating<br />
broad anti-fascist unity. 32<br />
The new Soviet "Stalin Constitution" of 1936 played a vital role in facilitating Popular<br />
Front propaganda. 33 Communists shifted their rhetoric from positive statements defending<br />
proletarian dictatorship into negative statements condemning dictatorship. Dimitrov<br />
confidently accessed this transition boasting, "The Stalin Constitution is an attractive<br />
mobilizing force for the masses of the people in the capitalist countries." 34 Dimitrov's<br />
description of the Stalin Constitution was framed in both communist language and more<br />
traditional democratic rhetoric of citizenship and equality:<br />
The Stalin Constitution demonstrates to the whole world the victory of socialism, giving<br />
legislative form to the socialist society which is already built in the U.S.S.R., a society<br />
without antagonistic classes, without exploitation, without crises or unemployment. The<br />
Stalin Constitution does not limit itself to a formal proclamation of democratic liberties,<br />
the equality of all citizens of the U.S.S.R., equality of rights for all races and nations and<br />
the right to work, rest and education, but actually assures the necessary material conditions<br />
and means for giving effect to these rights and liberties. 35<br />
Maurice Thorez, General Secretary of the French CP, commented that the new Constitution<br />
guided "the development of the dictatorship of the proletariat into a socialist democracy<br />
of the whole people." 36<br />
Britain and the United States had long democratic heritages that were integral to their<br />
political culture and national identity. Much of the Anglo-American propaganda of WWI<br />
had centred on democratic rhetoric and the promise of prosperity and expanded citizenship<br />
after the war. 37 Dimitrov asserted that the destruction of these democracies, which<br />
was on the Nazi horizon, would have profound impacts on international politics; the<br />
victory of British and American democracy was essential to the struggle against fascism.<br />
On the subject of Britain, Dimitrov asserted:<br />
England plays a tremendous role in the whole of the political life of the world. Her position<br />
most definitely influences a number of bourgeois democratic countries and the international<br />
situation in general.... The English working class won democratic rights<br />
earlier than the working people of other countries. The democratic regime they won has<br />
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YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
made it possible for them to influence the policies of their country to a greater extent<br />
than is the case with the proletariat of a number of other countries. The English workers<br />
possess powerful means for the struggle for democracy… and will fulfill with honor its<br />
international obligations in defense of democracy, culture and peace. 38<br />
Dimitrov described the nature of American fascism and the importance of United States<br />
democratic influence in the world stating:<br />
American fascism tries to portray itself as the custodian of the Constitution and "American<br />
Democracy." It does not yet represent a directly menacing force.... And what would<br />
be the international significance of this success of fascism As we know, the United<br />
States is not Hungary, or Finland, or Bulgaria, or Latvia. The success of fascism in the<br />
United States would vitally change the whole international situation. Under these circumstances,<br />
can the American proletariat content itself with organizing only its classconscious<br />
vanguard, which is prepared to follow the revolutionary path No. 39<br />
According to Dimitrov's analysis, by defending and extending their national democratic<br />
heritages, the British and American YCLs could fulfil both their national and international<br />
duties in the struggle against fascism.<br />
The Popular Front Generation did not define democracy simply as a political process<br />
or system of governance. <strong>Fascism</strong> represented itself as "the antithesis of the whole world<br />
of immortal principles of 1789;" fascism was "a reaction against the movement of the<br />
enlightenment" that set the basis for democracy and modern culture. 40 Dimitrov characterized<br />
fascists as "barbarians… who trample human culture under foot, who burn the<br />
works of human genius in bonfires." 41 Young communists interpreted democracy broadly<br />
as a reflection of modernity intimately linked with inclusive egalitarian traditions,<br />
cultures, and lifestyles rejected by fascism. 42 Young communists contended that "all<br />
phases of [youth] activity – dramatic, choral, literary, social, athletic – [are] contributing<br />
to the fight to make democracy work, by practising it." 43 Democracy was a constructive<br />
social attitude that informed active engagement with all facets of modern youth culture.<br />
Communists continued to critique the limitations of bourgeois democracy, but stressed<br />
the common democratic heritage and shared anti-fascist values of youth. Young communists<br />
were encouraged to actively utilize democratic structures, traditions and culture to<br />
influence state policy and isolate fascist influences among the youth. The democratic<br />
language and youthful activities of the Popular Front Generation maximized the inclusive<br />
and broad nature of the anti-fascist movement. Dimitrov's definition of fascism enabled<br />
communist youth to engage in more effective mobilization tactics, especially in Britain<br />
and the United States, as champions, not opponents of democracy.<br />
The British-American Context<br />
The Popular Front's pro-democracy rhetoric transformed the British and American YCLs<br />
from perceived enemies of democracy into integral members of youth political culture<br />
during the thirties. Early Young Worker propaganda in Britain and the United Stated<br />
employed similar forms, but a divergent focus in the content of their rhetoric on democ-<br />
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DEMOCRACY<br />
racy. YWL rhetoric dismissed American democracy from its onset. Early YCLGB<br />
rhetoric was less oppositional on the issue of political democracy. As a constitutional<br />
monarchy, the evolution of British political democracy was closely related to the politicization<br />
and radicalization of the working class. 44 Early YCLGB literature was sensitive to<br />
this phenomenon. The majority of British articles emphasized international news, tradeunion<br />
activities and working-class conditions instead of direct attacks on the Labour<br />
Party or parliamentary democracy. In a revealing political article of January, 1924 the<br />
YCL praised the election of Ramsay MacDonald as Labour's first Prime Minister. The<br />
YCL offered their "sincere hope" that this "Labour Government will prove itself a real<br />
Workers' Government" and would use its power "to make definite demands on the<br />
capitalist system." 45 Another pamphlet made concessions to parliamentary initiatives,<br />
urging young workers to "rid themselves of these tyrants, peaceably if possible" through<br />
parliamentary democracy. 46<br />
After the downfall of MacDonald's Labour Government, YCLGB literature on political<br />
democracy took an increasingly cynical and oppositional tone. 47 In a 1925 League<br />
training manual, the YCLGB propagated a traditional Leninist critique of bourgeois<br />
democracy:<br />
The ruling capitalist uses a form and a disguise to deceive the masses. This disguise is<br />
democracy. This deludes the workers into a belief that they can change their conditions<br />
by use of the ballot box and that other methods are unnecessary.... The capitalists naturally<br />
play up democracy for all their might as it is one of their best weapons for keeping<br />
the workers quiet.... Democracy which is supposed to mean formal political equality is a<br />
sham and a lie… the capitalists do not believe in democracy and never limit themselves<br />
to Parliamentary methods. 48<br />
The manual continued stating that the YCL could only form a mass youth organization<br />
for socialism through "full training… on the teachings of Marx and Lenin" and following<br />
"in practice the lead given by the experiences of the Russian Revolution." 49 This transition<br />
in YCLGB rhetoric was facilitated both by Comintern directives and the direct<br />
experiences of a failed Labour Government.<br />
Though the YCL and the CPGB participated in elections, their purpose was to use<br />
political campaigns and institutions for propaganda purposes. As a result, the YCL<br />
dismissed parliamentary democracy as a distraction from the real centres of class struggle<br />
in the workplace. After the successive failures of two Labour Governments, the British<br />
YCL increasingly promoted working-class radicalism outside of parliamentary politics.<br />
The YCL attached these parliamentary failures primarily to "the treachery and corruption<br />
of the Labour Government." 50 Labour "deceive[d] the young workers… into believing<br />
that by voting alone everything can be achieved" while the YCL strove to "expose the<br />
sham and lying character of the boasted "democratic" Parliamentary voting system." 51<br />
Just prior to the Popular Front, the YCL transformed their democratic rhetoric, insisting<br />
that their movement was one of the most democratic in Britain. The YCL in turn<br />
critiqued the lack of democracy within other socialist youth movements. In the early<br />
105
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
thirties, the YCL complained of the lack of internal democracy within the ILP Guild of<br />
<strong>Youth</strong>, contending its leadership was not following the political opinions of its membership.<br />
In 1933 the Guild membership passed a resolution to establish organizational unity<br />
with the YCL. The YCL pointed out that the "Guild National Committee did not carry<br />
out their own decision" and failed to meet with YCI representatives. 52 The YCL continually<br />
asserted that Socialist Parties had an undemocratic influence on the youth. In a 1934<br />
pamphlet the YCL expressed, "The question of the autonomy of the Socialist <strong>Youth</strong><br />
organizations in relation to the parties is a burning one in Britain today." 53 The YCL<br />
selectively quoted Lenin on the issue of the youth stating, "Without complete independence<br />
the youth can neither make themselves into good Socialists nor make preparations to<br />
carry Socialism forward." 54 The YCL propagated that the Comintern offered youth the<br />
ability to "move and express itself," offering "comradely Bolshevik support" and "assistance."<br />
55 They downplayed the phenomenon of democratic centralism, asserting the<br />
precarious notion that the YCL had direct democratic control over their organization,<br />
unlike socialist youth groups. 56 In reality, little democratic autonomy existed within the<br />
YCL prior to the Popular Front.<br />
Popular Front propaganda urged the maximum democratic youth participation in national<br />
political life by contrasting British conditions with the state of youth in other<br />
nations. <strong>Fascism</strong> was characterized by the maximum exclusion of youth input into<br />
politics; the British youth movement needed to forged as an antithesis to these exclusionary<br />
features of fascism. 57 In their campaign for the <strong>Youth</strong> Charter, the YCL insisted that<br />
the Charter could not "be the property of any one youth organisation" but needed to "be<br />
worked out in and through the widest joint discussion of all youth." 58 Challenge ran a<br />
statement column entitled "We Stand For" on page two of each issue in 1935 that supported<br />
decreasing Britain's voting age to 18 to give youth greater input into national<br />
politics. 59 The YCL contrasted British conditions where "you are not allowed to vote<br />
until you are 21 and… your vote does not give you much say in the running of the<br />
country" with conditions in the Soviet Union. Under the Stalin Constitution, youth could<br />
vote at age 18 and were regularly elected to the Soviet government. 60 Challenge articles<br />
emphasized the "youthfulness of the members" of the Soviet government, contending its<br />
inclusive democratic character deterred apathy within Soviet youth. 61 The YCL contrasted<br />
this with British elections dominated by an "atmosphere of pressure brought to<br />
bear on the electors by the capitalists, landlords, bankers and other capitalist sharks."<br />
The YCL propagated that the 1938 Soviet elections were "the freest election… in the<br />
history of the world" in the "most democratic of any country of the world." 62<br />
The YCL promoted extra-parliamentary actions by giving regular coverage to activities<br />
of other youth movements. 63 The Leninist Generation neglected giving positive<br />
coverage to other youth groups. In stark contrast, the Popular Front Generation regularly<br />
used Challenge to advertise for the activities of other youth groups. Democracy necessitated<br />
coalition building and cooperation to defend and expand democratic rights. Chal-<br />
106
DEMOCRACY<br />
lenge offered such a forum to build these coalitions. The second issue of Challenge<br />
started a regular feature entitled "What's Doing." This column carried news of YCL, Co-<br />
Operative Circle, LLOY and ILP Guild of <strong>Youth</strong> activities. 64 In the August, 1935 issue<br />
of Challenge, the YCL renamed this column "What's Doing in the <strong>Youth</strong> Movement."<br />
The column was expanded to include news of "religious bodies, Scouts and other youth<br />
organizations" and their "actions against war." 65 Such columns could utilize the "pressure<br />
of public opinion" to influence successive National Governments to be more responsive<br />
to "the popular demands of the youth." 66 The YCL insisted that if youth wanted "work,<br />
wages and peace" they had to recognize that "no one will give them… you have to fight<br />
for it." 67<br />
Despite the fact that both Baldwin and Chamberlain's National Governments were<br />
"democratically elected," the YCL insisted they were not democratic and therefore should<br />
not be trusted by the youth. YCL rhetoric urged youth not to "be deceived by their<br />
speeches" on democracy since in practice the National Government was "against democracy"<br />
and "stands for friendship" with fascism. 68 The key to understanding Chamberlain<br />
was to look past his rhetoric and to evaluate his actual political activities:<br />
Half the world is in flames. Democracy is in danger. Our country is being disgraced<br />
and ruined by the pro-fascist policy of Mr. Chamberlain the Prime Minister, who has<br />
time to write greetings to the Hitler <strong>Youth</strong>, who has time to attend displays by the "Ballila"<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> Organisation of Mussolini, but who cannot find time to discuss questions of<br />
defence with the leaders of the National <strong>Youth</strong> Campaign or any other British youth<br />
leaders. 69<br />
The YCLNC highlighted the divergences between the rhetoric and reality of the National<br />
Government stating, "The Prime Minister is daily betraying democracy in other European<br />
countries, and is a hypocrite when he says he is trying to defend democracy in our<br />
own." 70 The YCL stated that in reality "association with fascist powers brings fascist<br />
methods in Britain" and that "our rights in the free youth movements [will] go by the<br />
board if this man Chamberlain is allowed to carry on." 71<br />
YCL rhetoric utilized an associational framework that coupled Chamberlain with fascism<br />
while portraying the youth as defenders of democracy. YCL rhetoric spoke of<br />
Britain as a nation polarized between a pro-fascist minority aligned behind Chamberlain<br />
and the majority of youth who stood for democracy. The Popular Front Generation<br />
insisted that their program both reflected and complimented the democratic outlook of<br />
the youth:<br />
We must always remember that the overwhelming majority of the youth in Britain are<br />
democratic. If the question were put to the youth of Britain "Are you in favour of democracy"<br />
the majority would answer – yes! Therefore, we are working among the<br />
youth of our generation in circumstances in which the majority are favourable towards<br />
the general idea which is embodied in our policy – to defend democracy and peace. And<br />
this is the fact which we should never lose sight of. If we explain our policy correctly<br />
among the youth, we will find that the youth are sympathetic towards our policy. 72<br />
107
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
Chamberlain's policies represented "the disruption of democracy and the forces of<br />
freedom" while British youth were "anti-fascist, democratic, wanting to work and to fight<br />
back against fascism and the enemies of liberty." 73 The YCL direct its energies "in<br />
uniting all democratic youth against the pro-Fascist Chamberlain Government." 74<br />
Challenge headlines and comics continually characterized Chamberlain as a fascist.<br />
Challenge rhetoric equated support of Chamberlain with support of Hitler, urging youth<br />
to fight against the National Government. One headline in October, 1938 protested that<br />
"Service for Chamberlain Means Help for Hitler! Our Country Needs a Government<br />
That Can be Trusted!" (See Appendix) 75 Service for Chamberlain in practice meant<br />
service to Hitler and in turn betrayed the interests of British democracy and the youth.<br />
Challenge comics often posed Chamberlain in scenes with Mussolini, portraying them as<br />
Hitler's two most consistent allies. Other comics asserted that the three leaders held<br />
similar plans for regimenting the youth and destroying democracy through military<br />
conscription. One comic entitled "The Noose of Conscription" showed these three<br />
leaders sneaking up upon a sleeping lion with a rope noose. The lion, the traditional<br />
symbol of Britain, represented the British youth movement that was sleeping, but that<br />
could ferociously lash out against the fascists if awakened. (See Appendix) 76 The YCL<br />
envisioned it was its duty to keep democratic youth "awakened" in order to guard against<br />
the fascist plots of Chamberlain. By organizing and supporting democratic youth activities<br />
against Chamberlain, the YCL believed it was facilitating opportunities for "youth<br />
itself to speak, to make its voice heard and heeded in the very highest quarters." 77<br />
The YCL applied their democratic analysis to other issues of service and defense.<br />
Challenge began a defence policy column in October, 1938 entitled "Make Britain Safe."<br />
The first article dealt with the issue of the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) programmes under<br />
Chamberlain. The YCL maintained the ARP was not being adequately utilized because<br />
the National Government was "a government of the rich, friends of fascism, supported by<br />
fascists and the fascist minded." According to this analysis only a "People's Government"<br />
headed by Labour could create a situation where "ARP regulations will be under<br />
democratic control" which was the only "way to make Britain safe." 78 Other articles<br />
stressed that if the ARP were democratic and more inclusive, youth would be willing "to<br />
give service in a democratic and voluntary way." 79<br />
"Make Britain Safe" also addressed issues of democracy within the British military.<br />
In an article on the Territorial Army (TA), an anonymous soldier complained that while<br />
he and all of his TA comrades were "completely anti-fascist," that the upper-class leadership<br />
of the TA and other "men in high places" held a deep "sympathy for the fascists."<br />
The soldier felt that situation could not be rectified "until the TA is entirely reorganized<br />
on a democratic, progressive basis" which would make it "a democratic army of democratic<br />
men." 80 The next week the YCL expanded on this analysis of service, democracy<br />
and defense. Contrasting the experience of the TA and the Red Army, the YCL claimed<br />
that within the Red Army "men and commanders are on terms of equality" and that "Red<br />
108
DEMOCRACY<br />
Army men have a share in deciding the policy for which they serve." 81 Unlike the TA,<br />
the YCL claimed the Red Army was inspired by "service for a people's Government,<br />
service for the whole community, service for Socialism and Democracy." 82 If Chamberlain<br />
actually supported democracy, the YCL stated he would "seek friendship with other<br />
democratic peoples and their governments… pool our resources for defence with those of<br />
other democratic peace-loving countries… and refuse to give dictators what they want." 83<br />
Columns like "Make Britain Safe" helped youth to understand the YCL's analysis of<br />
Chamberlain's policies and how he obstructed the defence of democracy.<br />
The Popular Front programme led to a new YCL attitude towards the Labour Party.<br />
Specifically, the YCL supported a number of LLOY candidates in the 1935 General<br />
Election to show youth's "capacity to play a more responsible part in taking power" in a<br />
government that "stands for the defence of youth." 84 The YCL revised their traditional<br />
election strategies of running communist candidates in Labour strongholds. The YCL<br />
contended that "unless progressives go into the next General Election on a two-candidate<br />
fight… democracy in Britain will end ignominiously." 85 Other articles urged youth to<br />
"work and vote for the return of a Labour Government which will fight for <strong>Youth</strong>s<br />
Charter of Life," emphasizing that the National Government were "enemies of <strong>Youth</strong>!" 86<br />
The YCL stated that they supported Labour because "only by democracy will the workers<br />
ever have a chance to defend themselves, and eventually build a system which knows no<br />
class distinction." 87 The YCL believed that a strong Labour opposition in Parliament<br />
could "defend the liberties of our people, and it can force even the National Government<br />
to be less ruthless with the workers." 88 The YCL argued that previous Labour Governments<br />
had failed because "years of leadership by people like MacDonald had made<br />
Labour hopelessly weak and divided;" a new Labour leadership, in coordination with the<br />
YCL, could "unify youth and lead them forward." 89 Under the leadership of Major Atlee,<br />
MP the YCL believed that a new People's Government "would be a heavy blow" to the<br />
fascists. 90<br />
As future historians would later agree, the YCL began to assert in 1938 that only a<br />
Labour Government could facilitate voluntary service for the defense of democracy. 91<br />
Without a People's Government led by Labour, the YCL argued fascism would be<br />
strengthened and Britain would be ill prepared to defend itself. The YCL argued, "Every<br />
day that goes by without this unity of… democratic and progressive forces is a day lost<br />
for peace and a day won for fascist advance" and that British youth "would gladly and<br />
voluntarily support all measures of a People's Government of Peace and Democracy to<br />
check reaction at home and abroad." 92 After Chamberlain signed the infamous Munich<br />
Agreement, the YCL argued that a People's Government was "doubly imperative." Only<br />
Labour could counter "Chamberlain's policy of betrayal" by standing "four square with<br />
democracy in all parts of the world." 93 Britain's youth were eager to give "service to<br />
defend liberty" and "service to the cause of democracy," but "not service in the cause of<br />
Hitler or his friends in Britain or of Chamberlain." 94 National Government programmes<br />
109
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
that proposed "compulsory national service and training for all youth" were condemned<br />
as reflections of "Nazism in Britain" that could only be countered by "ridding ourselves<br />
of our fascist-minded Government." 95 Under a People's Government democracy would<br />
be strengthened since "all youth, like scouts, are prepared to give service to the community,<br />
but not to be compelled blindly to follow a policy alien to democracy." 96 In this<br />
urgent situation, the YCL insisted that it must "become the best friends and assistants, not<br />
only of the Communist Party, but of the whole Labour Movement." 97<br />
Young communists emphasized the importance of active citizenship to defeat Chamberlain<br />
by strengthening youth participation in democracy. Mick Bennett laid out the<br />
YCL's position stating, "Democracy is in a crisis. All liberties won in our present democracy<br />
are in danger from fascism. To grow stronger democracy must resist.... Training in<br />
Citizenship is essential for defending democracy." 98 YCL rhetoric used statements like<br />
"training in citizenship" and "strengthening of democracy" synonymously. 99 Other<br />
Challenge articles stressed the importance of youth participation arguing "the work of<br />
youth in this great democracy is tremendously important" and that the greatest input of<br />
youth came "through the medium of citizenship." 100 Citizenship campaigns made the<br />
British public recognize that "youth has the right to be heard and to decide issues of<br />
policy" unlike the past where it had simply been acceptable for adult "leaders to commit<br />
their members to National Service." 101 The YCL maintained that in order to show "the<br />
advantages of democracy" the youth movement had "the duty to be active in all kinds of<br />
ways" to promote the "principles of progress, peace and brotherhood." 102 Democracy was<br />
no longer critiqued for its systematic shortcomings, but from the lack of active citizenship<br />
and engagement in civic and political life.<br />
The YCL believed the British <strong>Youth</strong> Parliament was a vital asset to strengthening<br />
youth participation in politics. The <strong>Youth</strong> Parliament's engaged youth in active citizenship<br />
and participation in British democracy:<br />
The <strong>Youth</strong> Parliament will bring together the youth… on the background of the threat<br />
everywhere to democracy and their ideals… to train young people for democratic citizenship....<br />
It is intended that these discussions shall centre around considerations of the<br />
whole question of the growth of the British constitution, the struggle of the people for<br />
their democratic rights, the machinery of British democracy, and, most important, the responsibility<br />
of young people to play their full part in the life of the community.... An important<br />
object of the <strong>Youth</strong> Parliament will be to demonstrate exactly how the<br />
democratic machine works in Britain.... Such an event must play a vital part in the fight<br />
for the defence and extension of democracy. 103<br />
Even though the <strong>Youth</strong> Parliament was made up of varying ideological and theological<br />
perspectives, the YCL contested that "every free expression of opinion by youth… is a<br />
blow against Chamberlain" and helped to strengthen democracy in Britain. 104 The YCL<br />
asserted communication among the youth would spurn young people into greater political<br />
action and strengthen the development of "democratic culture."<br />
The YCL promoted democratic culture by highlighting Britain's democratic heritage.<br />
This phenomenon was intrinsically distinct from the Leninist Generation that highlighted<br />
110
DEMOCRACY<br />
the imperialist role of Britain in world history. A World <strong>Youth</strong> Review article by Mick<br />
Bennett drew historical parallels between the youth Popular Front movement and past<br />
British traditions. Bennett stated the youth were "the inheritors of the traditions which<br />
have given to England the name of the Mother of Democracy." 105 In the next issue of<br />
World <strong>Youth</strong> Review Bennett continued invoking such associational language stating,<br />
"You who represent the youth of Britain who work in the factory, mine, office, school or<br />
university, are heirs to the long tradition of struggle for freedom and democracy." 106 The<br />
YCL also published special historical pamphlets highlighting "Champions of Freedom in<br />
British History," arguing that these heroes had established a "tradition of freedom which<br />
the youth of this country is now as ever eager to serve." 107<br />
YCL rhetoric spoke of two British political traditions, one being "shameful" and imperialist,<br />
the other being the "honourable" democratic culture of "the people." Reflecting<br />
on the <strong>Youth</strong> Pilgrimage the YCL stated, "British youth movement bitterly resent the<br />
hatred and shame which Chamberlain's policy has brought upon the country. It will<br />
never permit the world to think that the cruel old men of the National Government are the<br />
spokesmen of British traditions." 108 One Challenge article stressed the links between<br />
education, progressive history and democratic citizenship:<br />
It is time, too, that our history books contained less about kings and more about the people<br />
who made history, such as Wat Tyler, the Chartists, and all the fighters for freedom<br />
since. Our democratic traditions must be brought in our educational system, and together<br />
with the more practical training in Citizenship, would assist our youth to serve as<br />
citizens of an enlightened democracy. All sections of the <strong>Youth</strong> Movement should teach<br />
its members the traditions of democracy and the need to defend them. 109<br />
Another article stressed the role struggle had played in developing British democracy and<br />
the "great traditions" of the British people:<br />
The Democratic rights that we posses to-day were not given to us because of the benevolence<br />
of our rulers; they were won for us by men like Ernest Jones, who underwent imprisonment<br />
many times for this beliefs and for his activity… let us remember how our<br />
freedom was won for us, and let us carry on the great tradition left for us by the Chartists.<br />
110<br />
Such rhetoric linked "rulers" with an authoritarian past and the youth with traditions of<br />
democratic struggle. Other history articles drew thematic parallels between history and<br />
the modern youth movement. An article on the "Peasant's Revolt of 1831" argued that it<br />
represented "the first people's movement in England" and that it was "the start of a<br />
glorious tradition" that led historically to "our struggle for Democracy and defence of the<br />
people." 111 The YCL urged youth to acknowledge that "there are people who do not like<br />
these democratic fighting traditions of the people" and to highlight that "Britain's youth<br />
are, above all, sincerely for the defence of democracy." 112 YCL propaganda consciously<br />
used histories of democratic struggle to counter fascist conceptions of history and culture,<br />
linking the youth movement to "honourable" democratic traditions and Chamberlain to<br />
"dishonourable" imperial histories. By making youth aware of democratic struggles of<br />
the past, they would be inspired to defend democracy as active citizens.<br />
111
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
The YCL actively promoted "people's culture." People's culture was embraced in reaction<br />
to fascism's attacks against modern and democratic culture. 113 Articles in the<br />
World <strong>Youth</strong> Review highlighted how within the Hitler <strong>Youth</strong> "violence is glorified,<br />
contempt is thrown on all cultural and intellectual activity, opposition declared against<br />
every humanist and progressive tendency." 114 In opposition to Nazi attacks on culture,<br />
young communists asserted their movement represented "the forces of culture, the forces<br />
of civilisation." 115 The YCL encouraged their members to advance anti-fascist culture by<br />
utilizing poetry, literature, plays, art and music in their publications, social functions and<br />
campaigns. The YCL contrasted the "bright and colourful" campaigns of the Popular<br />
Front to the "old dry street corner meetings" of the past, insisting such tactics would<br />
"attract youth to our ranks." 116 YCL cultural articles highlighted how poetry was an<br />
extremely effective genre for democratic propaganda. Challenge reflected that "poems<br />
can rouse people, can educate and inspire" and that if they reflected "the idea of liberty<br />
and of happiness and of comradeship" that they would help the YCL to "defend humanity<br />
and the ideals of mankind." 117<br />
YCL poetry and lyrics contained constant references to themes of democracy, freedom<br />
and liberty alongside vehement denunciations of fascism and Chamberlain. One poem<br />
from January, 1939, inspired by William Blake's "Auguries of Innocence," linked fascism<br />
and Chamberlain to images of betrayal and profit and youth to images of liberty and the<br />
future:<br />
He who shall turn the youth to war<br />
True men his company shall bar.<br />
Who brands the child with a swastika<br />
Shall wake one day and sweat with fear:<br />
Those who work for private gain<br />
Shall call the youth and call in vain.<br />
The Czech's betrayer, cold and suave<br />
Shall go unmourned into his grave<br />
All those with tongue inside the cheek<br />
Democracy and freedom speak<br />
Shall feel their treacherous knees grow weak:<br />
These cynics who betray their land<br />
At last shall feel the people's hand:<br />
The furious people's final roar<br />
Are waves that beat on Heaven's shore.<br />
The man whose dream's humanity<br />
Shall wake one day to Liberty. 118<br />
"People's culture" stressed how such expressions could interpret the past and present in<br />
order to inspire actions for the future. Good cultural propaganda did not reflect a "fantasy,<br />
no escape from the real world," but showed the "pattern of the life we wish for" and<br />
gave "the inspiration to attain it." This article further asserted that "such music will live<br />
in us and make us unconquerable." 119<br />
YCL campaigns utilized modern forms of song, film and theatre to attract and inspire<br />
youth. In 1938 the YCL published a song sheet for the youth movement entitled The<br />
112
DEMOCRACY<br />
Road to Victory: Marching Song of the <strong>Youth</strong>! The YCL Executive Committee urged<br />
YCLers that "No Rally or Meeting to go by without mass singing of the popular youth<br />
song The Road to Victory." 120 The Road to Victory boldly proclaimed:<br />
We are marching on the road to victory<br />
And the just claims of youth we'll not barter<br />
For the youth alone the future can decide<br />
We will fight for peace and security<br />
For the gems in Democracy's treasure<br />
And our birth right to work and leisure 121<br />
Films and theatre were praised for their ability to use villainous characters to show "the<br />
fundamental struggle between fascism and democracy." Such productions could "strike a<br />
powerful blow in defence of democracy." 122 Since fascists were enemies of modern and<br />
democratic culture, the YCL contended "people's culture" could promote and popularize<br />
anti-fascism.<br />
The YCL also addressed youth fitness, leisure and lifestyles in their democracy campaigns.<br />
123 Fascists used sports and fitness programs to regiment the youth. The YCL<br />
vehemently condemned the Nazi "Strength Through Joy" programme. The YCL identified<br />
the organization as un-democratic, intending "to give the employers and Nazis<br />
complete control over every German man and woman['s]" leisure and to politicize it to<br />
advance fascism's aims. 124 The YCL countered proposals for regimented fitness and<br />
leisure in Britain with their own campaign entitled "Rally <strong>Youth</strong> to Fitness For Democracy."<br />
The YCL proposed that the aims and tactics of their campaign were different.<br />
"Rallying" implied democratic consent from youth. The significant difference was that<br />
under fascism "youth are not rallied but regimented." 125 <strong>Youth</strong> were advised that "those<br />
who wish to bring our sport on to a totalitarian basis are far from inactive" and were<br />
trying to infuse youth activities with "militarism and regimentation." 126 By promoting<br />
active participation and youth input, the YCL believed a democratic national fitness<br />
campaign could enable "the new generation" to redefine leisure with "the new, the<br />
modern, the true conception of leisure as the most important thing in life." 127<br />
The YCL promoted lifestyle choices that reflected modernity and democratic political<br />
culture. Challenge carried a classifieds column in 1938 entitled "What Shall We Do<br />
Today." Advertisements highlighted youth cultural events like dances, many of which<br />
were promoted as fundraisers to support Spain and other anti-fascist campaigns. 128<br />
Articles on "rambling" were framed to show the political nature of youth's free access to<br />
land within a democratic society. One article stated that in a time where youth were<br />
being asked to "defend our country" that they ought to be "allowed to see the country"<br />
that they were "expected to defend." 129<br />
YCL lifestyle articles tackled controversial modern youth issues like gender and sex.<br />
In January, 1939 Challenge started a weekly column for young women entitled "Keep Fit<br />
and Beautiful." This column was intentionally framed to cause debate within the youth<br />
about modern expressions of femininity concerning fashion, make-up and women's<br />
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YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
health in democratic societies. The first article by Liane argued it was necessary for<br />
women to "look well in order to feel well" and that "untidy hair and red-rimmed eyes"<br />
helped cause "apathy and listlessness" within young women. Liane continued stating that<br />
"women who can combine good grooming with an intelligent interest in and knowledge<br />
of things of the mind is the perfect specimen of womanhood" and that a "trim appearance"<br />
was an important expression of "these days of enlightened thought." 130 Other<br />
women reacted to Liane's column, starting a democratic debate about gender and modernity.<br />
One critic stated that "a truly beautiful woman is one whose beauty is her own and<br />
not the product of somebody's preparations." 131<br />
Challenge also dealt openly with issues of sex in relations to health and modernity,<br />
giving readers an opportunity to ask potentially taboo questions about sex. 132 Other<br />
articles dealt with more controversial aspects of sex and gender, openly discussing issues<br />
like abortion. One article dealing with the illegal abortion of a young rape victim pleaded<br />
with readers to "bring sex into the open." The article condemned the "system that<br />
perverts sex into filth, that hides the truth, and that denies young men and women knowledge<br />
of their bodies that would give them happiness… let them know all that modern<br />
science and medicine can tell them." 133 For the YCL, information and free access to<br />
healthy and progressive lifestyle choices were essential characteristics of youth culture in<br />
a modern democratic society.<br />
American young communist rhetoric was framed in response to the diluted class consciousness<br />
of American workers and popular perceptions of democracy in the United<br />
States. YWL rhetoric on democracy was highly oppositional from the outset. Denunciations<br />
of American democratic politics were framed to develop the class consciousness of<br />
American youth. In their first political statement, the YWL dismissed the American<br />
democratic state as an instrument to "keep the workers in subjugation" and that its armed<br />
class nature was "camouflaged under the term democracy." 134 The YWL claimed that the<br />
repressive aftermath of WWI was revealing the "true nature" of American democracy; the<br />
"veils of democracy" were being "tossed aside one by one" by both the American state<br />
and American workers. 135 Other articles highlighted the persecution of radical workers<br />
and the lack of judicial protection for child labor. The YWL asserted that such phenomenon<br />
undercut the "proud boast of Americans that the United States was the most<br />
democratic country in the world… that it was really serving the interests of the people." 136<br />
Though dismissive of reformism and the democratic process, the YWL was not politically<br />
nihilistic. 137 The YWL asserted that attacks on American workers demanded "that it<br />
begin to act politically" and that supporting a Labor Party could help "save the working<br />
class of America from further and complete enslavement." 138 With the onset of Bolshevization,<br />
YWL rhetoric varied little from official YCI propaganda.<br />
American communists traditionally put little emphasis upon participation in democratic<br />
politics since American democracy utilized a two-party system. In the early twenties,<br />
American communists had campaigned tirelessly for a Farmer-Labour Party. Initial<br />
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DEMOCRACY<br />
Popular Front strategies urged communists to reinvigorate this campaign, arguing that<br />
there existed a "tendency towards mass breakaways from the two traditional parties of<br />
American capitalism." 139 Dimitrov supported this move, insisting that American workers<br />
needed to "dissociate themselves from the capitalist parties without delay." 140 Eventually<br />
during the Popular Front era, the YCL shifted its electoral support to the Democratic<br />
Party.<br />
The 1936 presidential election was the pivotal moment in transforming communist<br />
election strategies. Quite shockingly, communists shifted their strategy from third party<br />
tactics into supporting the Democratic Party after November. During the 1936 election,<br />
Earl Browder asserted the "reactionary block" could not be "defeated by the Democratic<br />
Party and Roosevelt" because they had "surrendered all strategic points to reaction." 141<br />
Though critical of Roosevelt, American communists openly stated that the Republican<br />
Party's "Landon-Hearst-Wall Street ticket is the chief enemy of the liberties, peace, and<br />
prosperity of the American people," representing the American "road to fascism and<br />
war." 142 After the 1936 election, the communists conceded "the campaign and the reelection<br />
of Roosevelt serve also to prepare and strengthen the forces of… the People's<br />
Front." 143<br />
Reflecting on the dynamics of 1936, Earl Browder forged a new strategy for American<br />
communists termed the "Democratic Front," making the New Deal an integral element of<br />
their democratic rhetoric. 144 Although critical of its limited nature, the YCL argued that<br />
"we support the progressive features of the New Deal and work to extend them, because<br />
there is a vast difference between a Roosevelt New Deal and a Hoover program." 145 The<br />
YCL asserted that the defense of the New Deal was vital to defending democracy. An<br />
YCL editorial stated, "If the reactionaries in American life get their chance to smash the<br />
social legislation and the progressive achievements of the Roosevelt administration, then<br />
the road to native American fascism… will have been made that much easier." 146 American<br />
fascism would not portray itself as a foreign-born movement. <strong>Fascism</strong> would cloak<br />
itself under the "guise of a defense of the traditional rights of the American citizens"<br />
while in practice working "to undermine American liberty and destroy the American<br />
ideal." 147<br />
YCL activism and rhetoric reveals how communist youth became interested in actively<br />
participating in American politics. The YCL began supporting the New Deal and<br />
the Democratic Party in their electoral campaign literature. The YCL contended that<br />
their electoral work was vital to preserving American democracy:<br />
The elections are over. But the issue facing the American people during the last election<br />
campaign, is still before the nation. <strong>Fascism</strong> or democracy – progress or reaction – that<br />
was the alternative we faced before and on November 3.... All the discredited forces who<br />
were defeated in the last election have gained a new lease on life. They hope to nullify<br />
the results of the election.... Even though Roosevelt's proposal does not go far enough, it<br />
must be supported. The enemies of the proposal are the same gentlemen who received<br />
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YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
such a sound thrashing last November. They are back again. And they must now receive<br />
such a knockout blow, that they will not recover so easily. 148<br />
Roosevelt's political opponents were described as "enemies of democracy." The YCL<br />
insisted that in "the national congressional elections the progressive political youth<br />
forces… must strive at all times to direct their main fire against the candidates of the<br />
reactionary Liberty-League elements." 149<br />
The Democratic Front strategy enabled the YCL to effectively engage the American<br />
political system to advance the interests of youth. Electoral campaigns helped to further<br />
politicize youth by including them in New Deal democratic struggles. In 1938 the YCL<br />
argued that the "election campaign cannot be purely an electoral struggle, a question of<br />
votes. We must participate in and help stimulate the widest mass struggles of the youth<br />
for jobs and for better conditions for the youth generally." 150 By encouraging youth to<br />
"support those candidates for Congress in the coming elections who best represent their<br />
interests," the YCL believed youth would understand and reject "the Republican Party<br />
reactionaries, masquerading behind a mask of progressivism… [who] will attempt to<br />
rally young voters around its banner." 151 Even after the outbreak of WWII when Roosevelt<br />
and the YCL held divergent positions on foreign policy, the YCL still personified<br />
itself and the youth movement as the greatest allies of the New Deal.<br />
By 1939, the YCL had acclimated itself to the two-party system and American democratic<br />
politics. They consistently published bold statements about defending democracy,<br />
one article stating:<br />
[Our] Declaration must have a strong point about our stand for the defense of democracy.<br />
Our position on this question is indisputable! We are determined to defend and extend<br />
our democracy against any enemy, within or without. We are opposed to all who<br />
undermine our democracy.... That also applies to the privileges which have been stated<br />
in the American Bill of Rights. The League stands for the defense of these rights unequivocally!<br />
152<br />
Increasingly the YCL reconciled their democratic rhetoric and activities to American<br />
political culture and democratic traditions.<br />
The YCL maintained that youth activism could influence state policy and improve the<br />
conditions of youth. The YCL rejected YPSL positions that insisted youth "need not<br />
concern itself with trying to influence governments, but need only organize independent<br />
action." 153 The YCL countered this with urges for greater democratic initiatives arguing,<br />
"Let's not rely on our governments… let's influence the government policy so that it<br />
corresponds with the policy of the people." 154 By actively participating in democratic<br />
politics, youth could "make our voice heard and can be enabled to decide on our own<br />
future lives." 155 The YCL asserted that the depression years had facilitated a new "democratic<br />
spirit" in youth; this new generation was composed "not [of] disillusioned<br />
youth, but youth who question… who are on the move, fighting for a place under the<br />
sun." 156 This generation was fighting for "democracy and still more democracy, for a…<br />
democracy which the American people will not be denied." 157 The YCL contended that<br />
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DEMOCRACY<br />
by fighting "to defend and extend our democracy" through active participation, American<br />
youth were "building a new kind of world—free of oppression." 158<br />
The YCL's analysis posited that the Roosevelt administration was a key factor in retarding<br />
the development of American fascism. The YCL refashioned Leninist analysis in<br />
their rhetoric to justify their approach to the New Deal and democracy. In a theoretical<br />
article on democracy and dictatorship, the YCL addressed the issue of the class forces<br />
that opposed the New Deal and democracy:<br />
Under Roosevelt democracy exists, flourishes, and is being extended. The masses of the<br />
people, under Roosevelt, are making unprecedented use of their democratic liberties to<br />
better their lot. That explains the rage of the reactionary Tories, the economic royalists,<br />
their hatred of Roosevelt… therefore the menace to democracy, whether under capitalism<br />
or under socialism, comes from the biggest capitalists and financiers who are either<br />
already fascist, or fast becoming so... Socialist democracy and capitalist democracy<br />
therefore are seen to have a common enemy, to be menaced by the same reactionaries,<br />
economic royalists, and fascists... the capitalist countries and the USSR are traveling in<br />
parallel directions—namely the preservation and extension of democracy. 159<br />
The YCL concluded that the class forces of fascism threatened both socialist and capitalist<br />
democracy with dictatorship. By supporting Roosevelt and the New Deal, the YCL<br />
attempted to "convince young people that they are sincere allies of democracy… [and]<br />
represent the best defenders of democracy – that the fascists rather than the Communist<br />
represent the true menace of dictatorship." 160<br />
The YCLUSA critiqued how other socialist youth movements addressed the issue of<br />
democracy. 161 The American YCL stressed that Trotskyism prevented the YPSL from<br />
embracing Popular Front positions on democracy. The YCL argued that when Trotskyists<br />
assert that the struggle "in America [was] between Socialism and Capitalism [that]<br />
they play into the hands of the fascists who are trying to split the Peoples' Front;" the<br />
youth struggle in this era was instead "the issue of Democracy against <strong>Fascism</strong>." 162 Other<br />
articles asserted that such "pseudo-revolutionary" positions "exposed them [the Trotskyists]<br />
in their real light" by distracting socialist youth from investing "every ounce of<br />
energy into the campaign to save democracy." 163 To "guarantee the healthy and progressive<br />
growth" of other youth organizations, especially the YPSL, the YCL insisted that<br />
"Trotskyism and its influence must be eliminated." 164 The YCL posited that the Trotskyists<br />
were "enemies of every honest, democratic, non-Communist movement." 165 Although<br />
YCL accusations were often unfounded, Trotskyist critiques of democracy were<br />
generally incompatible with the Popular Front.<br />
The YCL urged maximum youth inclusion into American political life. The YCL<br />
lamented "that during the years when youth are growing into voting age there is very<br />
little participation by them… in community, state and national affairs." 166 In a unity<br />
appeal to young Catholics, the YCL asserted the "democratic process in action, the<br />
exercise of democracy by the people, is the only means of preserving democracy." 167<br />
Institutions like the American <strong>Youth</strong> Congress were praised for increasing youth participation<br />
in democracy, allowing youth to "speak in the name of the best interests of the<br />
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YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
American younger generation." 168 They applauded its ability to "win youth for democracy<br />
by effective participation in the life which democracy makes possible for youth." 169<br />
Similar praise was heralded for the World <strong>Youth</strong> Congress where youth were "trying to<br />
find a solution to their own problems in their own way… to preserve their free institutions."<br />
170 Such institutions helped bring the "attention of the federal and state governments<br />
and the whole progressive movement" to the conditions of American youth." 171<br />
The YCL encouraged youth struggles outside of traditional American democratic institutions<br />
in unions and university campuses. The YCL contended that such struggles<br />
were essential to "the reinterpretation of democracy and the reorientation of our economic<br />
and political life along democratic paths." 172 In order to expand democracy, the<br />
YCL urged youth to strengthen "activities in the union… because the unions are paramount<br />
in the People's Front movement." 173 Unions were essential "to achieve industrial<br />
and political democracy for the people of the United States and… to achieve and retain<br />
democracy throughout the world." 174<br />
Student activism was vital for the democratic movement. The YCL applauded the<br />
ASU "as the most constructive force in campus life" for its ability to raise issues "of<br />
concern to the whole democratic community." 175 The YCL spoke of the ability of the<br />
college campus to "teach youth in the spirit of democracy," praising it as a "fortress of<br />
democracy." 176 ASU pamphlets utilized this same slogan, asserting its interests and<br />
activities were "inseparable from those of democracy and the widest equalization of<br />
opportunity." 177 The YCL argued the health of American democracy was strengthened by<br />
union and student activism.<br />
In their campaigns for national defense, the YCLUSA embraced similar themes as<br />
British propaganda. The YCL centred its rhetoric on democratizing existing institutions<br />
while discouraging youth participation in non-democratic military institutions. The<br />
Popular Front YCL continued to denounce "the ROTC and American militarism" for<br />
preparing youth for war, not defense. 178 The YCL supported national defence, but did not<br />
trust the ideological motivations of the traditional military establishment. The YCL<br />
believed the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) could be either progressive or reactionary,<br />
depending upon who was allowed to administer the program. 179 The YCL asserted<br />
that the Army was attempting "substitution or inclusion of military training" within the<br />
CCC instead of serving for the best "defense of American national interests by providing<br />
youth with jobs, vocational training, and education in citizenship and democracy." The<br />
YCL pushed for an "expanded permanent CCC program under a civilian administration"<br />
where "further democratization… [could] be achieved." 180 The YCL propagated that<br />
institutions like the National <strong>Youth</strong> Administration should provide pilot training programs,<br />
not the US military. The YCL insisted "that national security rests upon greater<br />
democracy;" providing defense training under "supervision of a civilian agency, rather<br />
than by the military forces themselves, is a democratic measure." 181<br />
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DEMOCRACY<br />
Another component of the YCL's definition of fascism identified the potential disparity<br />
between military interests and the broad interests of the nation. The YCL argued that<br />
democratic control of national defense was vital to prevent fascist influences from<br />
undermining American security. The YCL believed that pro-fascist and pro-war elements<br />
existed within the US military. 182 Democratic civilian control became the litmus<br />
test of how the YCL judged most government programs, especially on the issue of<br />
national defense. In an article on rearmament, the YCL extolled its outlook on the<br />
interplay between defense, arms, and democracy:<br />
Communists are not pacifists… we have never and do not now oppose armaments as a<br />
matter of principle.... But armaments by themselves do not necessarily constitute<br />
strength in the fight against fascism. Arms can be used in two ways—either for or<br />
against fascist aggression, either for or against the people. Therefore arms by themselves<br />
are not a safeguard, but a threat. If they are to be a safeguard, guarantees must be<br />
established that these arms will be used against the aggressor and not against the victim....<br />
An antiseptic against the fascist microbe within our national organism must be<br />
consistently applied if the arms of the nation are not to be used against the interests of<br />
the nation and its people.... There is no place in the US Army for pro-fascist antidemocratic<br />
officers. 183<br />
To counter fascist trends in the military, the YCL urged "democratic groups to take a<br />
greater interest in the welfare of the soldiers, sailors, marines" stressing that the "men<br />
who defend our country should not be left to the mercy of those who would betray it." 184<br />
Democratization was the only solution to implement and sustain a consistent anti-fascist<br />
national defense policy.<br />
YCL propaganda worked to address the international dynamics of anti-fascism and the<br />
defense of democracy. One of the greatest challenges of the YCL was to overcome<br />
traditional US isolationism while explaining that collective security did not advocate a<br />
"people's war" against fascism. Isolationist and pacifist sentiment was prevalent<br />
throughout the American youth movement. The YCL clarified that such sentiments in<br />
practice helped to strengthen fascism and serve the cause of reaction:<br />
It is clear that the fight against fake "isolation" and "neutrality" is the fight against the<br />
most reactionary militarists in America. Hearst, De Pont, Morgan and their cohorts are<br />
the sponsors of war budgets; they are the enemies of collective security; they are the<br />
apostles of "no foreign entanglements," a slogan to conceal their own identification with<br />
the fascists abroad, a slogan so plainly echoed by the fascists in Europe today. 185<br />
Reactionary forces manipulated isolationist sentiment to lend support to domestic and<br />
international fascism. International cooperation was the key to defending democracy at<br />
home and abroad since the "United States is a powerful, influential nation, and her<br />
cooperation with the democracies of the world, with the Soviet Union, would materially<br />
alter the course of events." 186<br />
The YCL utilized open dialogue with youth to critique and clarify diverse opinions on<br />
the interrelationship between Roosevelt, democracy and collective security. This dialogue<br />
would "help clarify and direct thousands of young people who are ready and<br />
willing to defend our democracy." 187 The YCL stated it was their role "to answer many<br />
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YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
questions raised by students who are beginning to break with isolationism" and to convince<br />
them of the need for a "positive program for collective security." 188 In an article on<br />
the National Council of Methodist <strong>Youth</strong>, the YCL addressed Methodist anti-Roosevelt<br />
sentiment. The Methodist NC had directed their anti-militarist rhetoric against Roosevelt,<br />
not fascism. The YCL insisted such critiques "not only ignore the facts, but such<br />
theories harmonize with the program and practice of the fascists themselves." 189 The<br />
YCL hoped their clarifications would help shift Methodist opinion into the "mainstream"<br />
of American youth sentiment that stood clearly against fascism.<br />
Active citizenship was a vital element of the YCL's pro-democracy rhetoric. During<br />
the 1938 election the YCL adopted the slogan, "Defend Democracy By Practicing<br />
Democracy – Be An Active Citizen And Registered Voter!" 190 In the YCI press, the<br />
American communists insisted citizenship training was the key to increasing youth<br />
democratic participation. Carl Ross argued, "The essential problem [for American youth]<br />
is the preparation for the exercise of citizenship, instruction of young Americans in the<br />
principles of democracy by means of wider discussion and activity." 191 The YCL maintained<br />
that "education of youth for citizenship in our democracy" prepared young people<br />
"for active participation in the labour and progressive movement." 192<br />
The YCL maintained that citizenship centered on active participation in all facets of<br />
the nation's life, not just voting. The Leninist Generation had actively discussed citizenship<br />
in terms of Soviet democracy. The Popular Front Generation shifted their rhetoric to<br />
focussing upon citizenship under American democracy. During the 1938 elections, the<br />
Republican Party increasingly began using a political rhetoric centered on citizenship.<br />
The YCL intentionally framed their rhetoric to counter this trend. Increasingly the YCL<br />
centred almost all of its democratic rhetoric in a language of citizenship. 193 Gil Green<br />
contended that the YCL facilitated democratic citizenship in its members by engaging<br />
them in an active political life:<br />
We ask those people who dare question our stand on democracy: Take a look at our organization<br />
and see for yourself. Democracy is only possible when its citizenry is active,<br />
intelligent and wide-awake. What organization of young people can boast of such a high<br />
percentage of membership participation as ours What organization of young people can<br />
boast of a membership so alert and wide-awake.... And what organization of young people<br />
so imbues its members with a love for democracy as ours, and trains them to be<br />
ready to give their lives, if need be, in its defense 194<br />
An article on the 1938 election stated that the "responsibilities and obligations of citizenship"<br />
inspired the YCL to dedicate its organization to "uphold the constitution of the<br />
United States." 195 An article on the 1939 YCL National Convention referred to delegates<br />
primarily as "citizens," not as communists. 196 The main item for convention discussion<br />
was how the YCL could "help the young generation of today become the model citizens<br />
of tomorrow." 197 The YCL contended that by instilling "the spirit of democratic citizenship<br />
among the youth" it could "strengthen the movement for democracy and security." 198<br />
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DEMOCRACY<br />
The Leninist Generation embraced the Soviet experience as a definitive model for<br />
socialist revolution. Conversely, the Popular Front Generation asserted that the path to<br />
socialism in the United States was intimately linked with American democratic traditions.<br />
The YCL utilized American history and traditions in their rhetoric to link American<br />
"democratic culture" and socialism. YCL history articles used an associational rhetoric,<br />
drawing parallels between modern youth struggles and traditional American democratic<br />
struggles. In a statement to the World <strong>Youth</strong> Congress, the YCL urged delegates to<br />
embrace "the memory of American youth… struggling for the fulfilment of democracy in<br />
that country which gave democracy to the world, one hundred and seventy five years<br />
ago." 199 The YCL articulated the communist position on American democracy, history<br />
and the struggle for socialism by stating:<br />
The Communist Party of the United States is an American Party. It is carrying on the<br />
struggle for Socialism under American conditions. Foremost in this struggle for Socialism<br />
is the extension and maintenance of all existing democratic institutions....Our program<br />
for socialism is organically linked up with, is a necessary outgrowth from, the<br />
traditional American democracy as founded by Thomas Jefferson, whose political descendants<br />
we are. 200<br />
Other YCL statements on American history reiterated these assertions, arguing that "the<br />
road to socialism in our own country… lies through the growth and development of the<br />
People's Front," and that socialism would be "determined by the histories" of the United<br />
States which demanded the extension of American democracy, not its destruction. 201 In<br />
contrast to their traditional Leninist rhetoric, the YCL propagated, "We believe in American<br />
democracy" and that socialist transformation "will be solved against the background<br />
of the specific American historical conditions." 202<br />
Nevertheless, the Popular Front Generation did not abandon all aspects of their revolutionary<br />
rhetoric. The YCL attempted to integrate American revolutionary and democratic<br />
traditions with their vision of socialism and democracy. One article on the Fourth of July<br />
stated that the study of American history was vital to show how "the traditions of revolutionary<br />
America exposes that… the struggle for democracy today is a natural stage in the<br />
great American revolutionary tradition." 203 Earlier Popular Front rhetoric stressed the<br />
parallels between the sentiments of George Washington and Thomas Paine with the<br />
revolutionary internationalism of the communist movement. (See Appendix) 204 Such<br />
rhetorical statements about American history were an integral part of the larger American<br />
communist Americanization and democracy campaigns that boldly stated that "Communism<br />
is the Americanism of the Twentieth Century." 205<br />
Campaigns for "people's culture" were one of the most vital and enduring legacies of<br />
the American Popular Front. 206 The YCL recognized that cultural initiatives were an<br />
effective method for appealing to the youth. The Popular Front Generation contrasted<br />
their cultural initiatives with the "drab and colorless" tactics of the Leninist Generation:<br />
At the very outset of all our appeals to young people, we must show them a hope, something<br />
to live for; the movement which is rectifying evils.... I mean that our words themselves<br />
must paint pictures. How drab and colorless at times seem the words of our<br />
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YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
comrades… we must remember that speaking, writing, and teaching are arts. This<br />
means that all of us must become artists… we should make our own all aspects of our<br />
native folk-cultures, making them "socialist in content, while regional or national in<br />
form." 207<br />
The Leninist Generation rejected such cultural tactics as sentimental social-democratic<br />
methods that distracted youth from the class struggle. An article by Joe Starobin, editor<br />
of the Young Communist Review, critiqued how some older comrades did not understand<br />
the value of lively cultural initiatives. Such cultural approaches were vital to attracting<br />
the youth, especially in YCL publications:<br />
The basic problem which confronted the magazine in the past year is posed by the question:<br />
for whom are we publishing… [our readers] wanted a youthful magazine, full of<br />
short stories, poems, skits and sketches, livelier illustrations, political articles educationally<br />
presented… the YCL became a youth organization, wielding political influence not<br />
only because it had attracted young people to a struggle for their economic needs, but<br />
basically because it satisfied their cultural, recreational and human needs… to win a person<br />
politically today, one must win him as a human being.... Our leading people are still<br />
too narrowly occupied with politics, failing to appreciate that politics means everything.<br />
208<br />
The YCL focussed on appealing to youth through the medium of youth culture, not the<br />
revolutionary formulas and slogans of the Leninist Generation. 209 During the Popular<br />
Front era, the YCL urged members to "acquire a thorough knowledge… of music of art,"<br />
reflecting their "knowledge…of the civilized world," standing in stark contrast to the<br />
"barbarism" of fascist culture. 210<br />
The YCL infused its cultural propaganda with American traditions to portray the YCL<br />
as integral members of the American youth movement defending democracy. In 1938<br />
the YCL supported the creation of "The Young Labor Poets" who published a cultural<br />
magazine entitled Sing Democracy. The YCL described the work of the Young Labor<br />
Poets in terms of a shared British-American democratic heritage:<br />
Claiming the democratic spirit of Whitman, Shelley, Byron and Burns as their guide and<br />
inspiration.... The present application of this tradition, they declare, lies in poems that<br />
will sing out the songs of the fight for peace and democracy; poems that will sing of the<br />
CIO and the sweep of unionization; poems of the factory, poems of the field.... We mean<br />
poetry for the people. 211<br />
Communists contended that immigrant influences had forged an internationalist, democratic<br />
and inclusive political culture in the United States. Joe Starobin, spoke of how the<br />
"hopes, struggles and ambitions of immigrant people" had created in America a "new<br />
nation and a new culture;" such a culture could be utilized to "undermine the forces of<br />
barbarism who mock, insult, and deny the fundamental ideals of the Declaration of<br />
Independence." 212<br />
The YCL blended traditions of African American and union struggles with patriotic<br />
rhetoric about American democracy. One article highlighted the importance of the<br />
cultural traditions of African Americans, drawing parallels between "slave songs of<br />
protest" and modern movements for emancipation from fascism. 213 In 1939 the YCL<br />
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DEMOCRACY<br />
published a songbook entitled Songs Of America. 214 Selections from Songs of America<br />
were published monthly in the Young Communist Review to advertise for the songbook.<br />
One song by Sonny Vale entitled "Fighting For Democracy" praised the AFL-CIO "rank<br />
and file" for fighting "in good old Yankee style," ending each verse with a chorus of<br />
"We've got to fight – `Cause we know we're right – We're fighting for Democracy!" 215<br />
Other songs blended themes of freedom and patriotism with class rhetoric. One song<br />
entitled "A Song For the Fourth of July" stated, "If a man has nothing, nothing at all, how<br />
can a man be free – In a land of plenty, plenty for all, that's where a man is free." 216<br />
The YCL incorporated forms of popular entertainment into democratic culture campaigns.<br />
The YCL published a "peppy cheer song" that encouraged youth to, "Get a life<br />
with a purpose – Get a point of view – It's not hard – Just sign a card – And make your<br />
dreams come true!" 217 Some YCL branches attempted to blend traditional culture with<br />
popular youth activities. An YCL branch in Colorado held a "barn party" for Halloween<br />
to bring together Colorado farmers and Mexican farm hands. The YCL made it a popular<br />
event, utilizing beer, pop, pumpkin pie and a "snappy little Spanish band" that got the<br />
"dancing girls swinging it to their hot tune." 218 The YCL utilized CPUSA pamphlets like<br />
Give a Party For the Party that highlighted using popular party activities that could<br />
attract, entertain and politicize youth. 219 During the Popular Front the YCL even revised<br />
their traditional rejection of jazz music and swing dancing. The New York branch of the<br />
YCL held a "swing concert" in Madison Square Garden in 1939, attended by over 10,000<br />
youth. 220 The YCL began to praise jazz as "democratic music" since it was "characterized<br />
by the fellow-feeling among the players… and the folk nature of its melodies and lyrics."<br />
221 Leninist Generation propaganda had focussed cultural articles almost entirely on<br />
praising Soviet initiatives. The Popular Front Generation rejected many of these practices,<br />
seeking to construct an authentic modern American democratic and socialist youth<br />
culture.<br />
Much like their British comrades, the YCLUSA contended that leisure and lifestyle<br />
issues were vital to the health of youth and democratic society. Leisure initiatives<br />
attracted young people to the YCL and were an integral part of their "character building"<br />
campaigns. The YCL critiqued how their organization traditionally had a "tendency to<br />
cast aside the recreations and frivolities of youth;" the Popular Front program needed to<br />
clarify that there "must be no contradiction between being young and being a Communist."<br />
222 In 1938 the YCL began to clarify this new outlook on youth leisure in their<br />
official statements:<br />
At our Eighth National Convention the YCL was characterized as "an organization for<br />
education, action and recreation. We seek to provide cultural and social activities and<br />
sport and recreational facilities for young people. We want to teach them an appreciation<br />
of literature, drama, art and music. We want to enrich their lives, to build their bodies,<br />
to develop their characters, to train them for leadership."… Through our serious<br />
political work coupled with wholesome, healthy activities and popular methods, let us<br />
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YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
show that we have no interests separate or apart from the needs and interests of the<br />
American young people. 223<br />
Traditionally the YCL had constructed itself strictly as a vanguard political organization<br />
to lead youth to socialist revolution. The Popular Front Generation instead contended<br />
that leisure and recreation were vital elements of their youth program for a democratic<br />
society.<br />
In 1939 the YCL began a campaign of "character building" among the youth to<br />
strengthen democracy. Earl Browder defined character building as the "accumulation of<br />
consistent and sustained habits of life and work, which best fit the individual into society,<br />
and equip him to sustain and improve society." 224 The YCL posited that character building<br />
was an anti-fascist activity arguing, "<strong>Fascism</strong> does not build character, <strong>Fascism</strong><br />
destroys character." 225 Just as the YCLGB criticized fascists for "regimenting the youth,"<br />
Henry Winston insisted YCL character building was based on the premise that "we<br />
respect the human personality and are opposed to any form of regimentation." 226 The<br />
YCL also believed anti-fascism could inform a progressive consumer lifestyle. In their<br />
domestic campaigns the YCL consistently called for a "people's boycott of all Japanese<br />
goods." 227 Classified advertisements in the Young Communist Review promoted modern<br />
services like swing dance lessons, unionized luncheonettes, beauty salons, tobacconists,<br />
breweries and tour cruises to the Soviet Union. The YCL believed progressive lifestyles<br />
centred on modernity and character building could strengthen democracy by highlighting<br />
"the opportunities under American democracy in contrast to the denial of rights and<br />
freedom in the fascist states." 228<br />
Spain: The Frontline of World Democracy<br />
Here again we see that, as in other issues, the Spanish Civil War linked the political<br />
rhetoric and campaigns of the British and American YCLs. Young communists insisted<br />
the Civil War was a conflict between fascism and democracy, not capitalism and communism.<br />
Both YCLs spoke of the Spanish struggle as an episode that was organically<br />
linked with the future of democracy and the youth of the world. One American article<br />
urging youth activism stated, "The youth of Spain calls on us to help them.... Every ounce<br />
of energy into the campaign to save democracy in Spain." 229 Other American articles<br />
broadened the call for Spain arguing, "The struggle of the Spanish people for democracy<br />
and against fascism is not the struggle of the Spaniards alone. It is the task of the people<br />
of the entire world to come to the aid of the Spanish people." 230<br />
YCL rhetoric linked the Spanish Republic with youth and democracy. For example,<br />
an article on the Lincoln Brigade stated that Spain was "the cause of all humankind;" in<br />
reality Spain "was and remains the universal cause: against vice, immorality, cruelty,<br />
greed, wanton barbarism, blackmail and violence for which the wretched swastika and<br />
the craven fasces stand." 231 YCLGB rhetoric echoed these same general sentiments with<br />
124
DEMOCRACY<br />
statements like, "We speak for all youth when we say: Spain's fight is ours – it is the fight<br />
of humanity against tyranny – the fight of freedom against those who seek to destroy<br />
it." 232 A Challenge article stated that in order to prevent the betrayal of "Britain’s people<br />
and democracy" that everyone needed to be set "into action for peace, for democracy, for<br />
Spain and for the British people!" 233 Articles in the World <strong>Youth</strong> Review linked the<br />
future of Spain with the future of youth worldwide. One article commented that a<br />
growing "realisation among young people that fascism can bring only ruin and despair"<br />
led youth to recognize "that its destiny is intimately linked with that of young Spain." 234<br />
YCI rhetoric praised the resistance of the Spanish youth. The YCI posited to the Spanish<br />
youth that young people worldwide had "become conscious of their allegiance to democracy<br />
mainly because of the struggle which you have put up." 235 The Spanish JSU made<br />
similar associational pleas to world youth. Santiago Carrillo insisted, "Your future, like<br />
ours, is being decided on the battle fields of Spain; if you do your duty as Spanish young<br />
people are doing theirs… to save the peace and independence of all democratic nations…<br />
fascism will soon be crushed." 236 For communist youth, the anti-fascist struggles of Spain<br />
and its youth served as an international inspiration at the heart of their pro-democracy<br />
rhetoric.<br />
To aid Spanish democracy, the British and American YCLs participated in fundraising<br />
and material support campaigns. YCLGB activities in support of Spain were a central<br />
feature of its Popular Front program. Within days of Franco's revolt in 1936, the British<br />
left and anti-fascist youth swung into action in support of Spanish democracy, organizing<br />
not just political demonstrations, but practical aid and assistance. In areas like London,<br />
national committees were immediately formed to send medical aid to "relieve the suffering<br />
in Spain" and to "assist the Spanish Democrats against fascist aggression." 237 Challenge<br />
headlines urged youth to pressure the National Government into lifting the arms<br />
embargo against Spain. Challenge headlines like "Every Gun in Spain Defends Us in<br />
Britain" made the point that Spanish anti-fascists were helping to protect both British and<br />
Spanish democracy and were essential to defeating dictatorship. (See Appendix) 238<br />
In the beginning of 1937 the British YCL, in association with other youth, sent three<br />
food-ships to Spain in opposition to National Government policy and a naval blockade of<br />
Spain. The YCL characterized this work as "the greatest work the British YCL has ever<br />
done in its history," work that reflected the true democratic "feeling and spirit of the<br />
people." 239 The YCLGB also coordinated their efforts with French youth, giving up<br />
"cinemas, chocolates and other luxuries, and sending the equivalent to the fund" to aid<br />
Spanish democracy. 240 One article in the beginning of 1939 stated that in a period of less<br />
than 2 months that British youth had independently collected and sent almost £5000 in<br />
aid to Spain. 241 Outside of food, medical and financial aid, the YCL also sponsored<br />
knitting competitions and encouraged young women to adopt Spanish children who had<br />
become refugees in the war through the activities of the Save the Children Clubs. 242<br />
125
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
"Aid Spain" campaigns helped American youth to gain a sense of international solidarity<br />
and a deeper understanding of world affairs. The YCLUSA stated that while<br />
Spanish youth protected democracy on the battlefield, that American "YCLers must fight<br />
with collection-cans, parties and dances to send money to Spain, and with letters, pens<br />
and soapboxes to lift the embargo on Spain." Such campaigns attracted new members<br />
who "joined because of the intensified activity… in behalf of the stubbornly democratic<br />
people of Loyalist Spain." The YCL not only sent financial aid, but also purchased<br />
"medical supplies, cigarettes and sweets" in order to "raise the morale" of the troops<br />
fighting fascism. 243 The YCL believed that their activities for Spain helped to inspire<br />
other American youth movements to support the Spanish Republic and democracy. The<br />
YCL praised the 1938 convention of the YWCA for passing a unanimous resolution that<br />
supported "lifting the embargo against Spain and in encouraging aid to the Loyalist<br />
cause, in the effort to maintain democracy in the YWCA and in the world at large." 244<br />
The YCL contended that such youth aid could help Spain to "emerge victorious" and that<br />
"America's youth will be saved from the task of shedding their blood in defense of<br />
American and world democracy." 245 Through aid and self sacrifice, the YCLs in Britain<br />
and the United States felt they could give effective aid to the Spanish Republic and rally<br />
public sentiment in support of Spanish democracy.<br />
Internationally, communist youth portrayed the Soviet Union as the greatest ally of<br />
Spain, democracy and the youth. While the Leninist Generation urged youth to defend<br />
the Soviet Union, Popular Front propaganda asserted that Soviet foreign policy was<br />
designed to protect democracy and youth throughout the world. The YCLGB contended<br />
that Soviet support of Spain and Czechoslovakia showed British youth how "the vast<br />
resources of Socialist Russia" supported by "the most powerful military in the world"<br />
could be utilized for their own defense and the international defense of democracy. 246<br />
The YCL justified the need for Soviet offers of military aid by asserting that the British<br />
military was ill-equipped and would be unable to withstand any attacks by the fascists. 247<br />
After the Munich Pact the YCL asserted, "At a word from the British Government, the<br />
strength of the Red Army can be ours, its power and vigour and its armament can be<br />
added to our defence against fascist aggression.... We need a Government that will make<br />
it ours." 248 One Challenge article entitled "This Army is Ready to Defend You" bluntly<br />
asserted that the Red Army would defend British youth, even if the National Government<br />
would not. (See Appendix) 249<br />
The American YCL spoke of how the Soviet Union was prepared to take "its place<br />
alongside of America against the barbarian forces… in Spain" and to offer a "firm<br />
handshake from 180,000,000 people, one sixth of the earth, and its mighty Red Army." 250<br />
For their assistance to Spain, the YCL praised that "one great nation that remained true to<br />
the principles of democracy, the firm ally of Republican Spain throughout the war—the<br />
Soviet Union." 251 Other articles boasted of how the "strength of the Soviet Union and the<br />
Red Army" were the only consistent allies that could be relied upon to check fascist<br />
126
DEMOCRACY<br />
aggression against democracy. 252 In an article on foreign policy and Spain, Joe Cohen<br />
argued that "in supporting the Spanish people and giving material and diplomatic aid to<br />
the cause of democracy and peace" the Soviet Union served "not only to its own welfare,<br />
but also the interests of labor and progress throughout the world." 253<br />
The British and American YCLs contrasted the foreign policies of their own respective<br />
governments. The British YCL posited a complete opposition to the policies of<br />
Chamberlain's National Government. The YCL blamed the defeat of democracy in Spain<br />
upon Chamberlain's "treacherous" foreign policies. The YCL asserted that Chamberlain<br />
was consciously instituting pro-fascist policies; his support of non-intervention and<br />
"policy of appeasement expressed in honest terms, is the policy of assistance to fascist<br />
aggression and the destruction of democracy." 254 The YCL insisted it was the duty of all<br />
democratic forces to remove the National Government to save democracy in Britain and<br />
Spain:<br />
Spain's people have fought and will continue to fight. There is no question of that. They<br />
will go down fighting, rather than live as slaves. They are fighting fascism, which is our<br />
enemy as much as it is theirs. They can fight Hitler's and Mussolini's men; but they cannot<br />
fight Chamberlain's ban on arms. That is our job. 255<br />
The YCLUSA also denounced Chamberlain for his betrayal of Spain and democracy in<br />
very similar terms. John Gates, the former YCLUSA Battalion Commissar for the<br />
Lincoln Brigade, reflected upon the defeatist role of Chamberlain's Spanish policy:<br />
How, then, can we explain the defeat of Republican Spain The answer is to be found in<br />
the policy laid down at Munich. This infamous pact decided the fate of the Spanish<br />
people. The Munich pact was the logical development and culmination of the policy of<br />
non-intervention and so-called neutrality. Ostensibly a means of saving peace, it was, in<br />
fact, a policy of saving fascism. Today the facts are plain for all to see. Nonintervention<br />
was a mask for intervention in Spain and has resulted in the victory of Mussolini....<br />
Munich made possible the invasion of Spain on an unparalleled scale by Mussolini,<br />
while at the same time it tightened the arms embargo against Spain.... We have good<br />
reason not to place too much faith and trust in the actions of the British and French governments.<br />
256<br />
Santiago Carrillo, the head of the Spanish JSU, stated that without Chamberlain's recognition<br />
of Franco at the end of February, 1939 that "Germany and Italy would never have<br />
been able to defeat the Spanish army and the Spanish people." 257 Communists argued that<br />
Chamberlain's rejection of collective security and Republican Spain was a conscious<br />
manoeuvre, reflecting how "he admires fascism and wants to see Hitler and Mussolini<br />
destroy democracy in Europe." 258<br />
In contrast to the British experience, the American YCL perceived Roosevelt as a potential<br />
close ally of Spanish democracy. While the YCL supported Roosevelt, they<br />
insisted that the President's lack of initiatives to defend peace and democracy needed to<br />
be "contrasted with the constant attempt of the Soviet Union" to check "the fascists in<br />
Spain." 259 Further articles on Spain in the early part of 1937 continued this comparison,<br />
exalting the "brilliant example of Soviet solidarity" and lamenting that "Roosevelt's<br />
127
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
present policy does not coincide with his speeches on peace before the election." 260 After<br />
Roosevelt gave his infamous Chicago "Quarantine Speech" in October, 1937 the YCL<br />
increasingly identified him as a potential ally for Spain and collective security. The YCL<br />
asserted that "the struggle against the international and domestic reactionary forces…<br />
demands today the implementation of President Roosevelt's Chicago speech." 261 The<br />
YCL insisted that the only way to achieve this was "uniting all labor, progressive and<br />
democratic forces of the people to put pressure upon Congress to adopt a course of action<br />
in line with President Roosevelt's Chicago speech." 262<br />
The YCL blamed the Roosevelt's inability to act on behalf of Spain, not upon his own<br />
personal will, but upon the existence of pro-fascist elements in the government. The<br />
YCL blamed inconsistencies in his foreign policy practices on the influence of domestic<br />
reactionaries, most notably within the State Department:<br />
It seems that President Roosevelt, Secretary Hull and powerful Congressional leaders<br />
decided that the arms embargo upon Republican Spain was a grave mistake, nothing<br />
more than helpful to Hitler and Mussolini. Breckenridge Long, the former ambassador<br />
to Italy, informed the President that it was within his power to lift the embargo by proclamation<br />
without revision of the Neutrality Acts… the reactionary clique at the State<br />
Department has been exposed as operating even against the desires of the President of<br />
the Nation, running circles around the Secretary of State, in pursuance of their profascist<br />
policies. Observe how a handful of fascist-minded men nullify the wishes of the<br />
majority of the American people. 263<br />
When the Spanish Republic finally fell, the YCL did not blame Roosevelt, but the<br />
American embargo that was "maintained by the Hoover and Coughlin reactionaries" that<br />
"prevented the United States from giving the aid that could have brought victory." 264<br />
A large number of YCLers in Britain and the United States joined the ranks of the<br />
International Brigades to fight for Spanish democracy. The YCLGB spoke praised the<br />
legacy and role of the British volunteers in Spain. At their 11 th National Congress the<br />
YCL boldly stated, "Chamberlain doesn’t represent the real Britain. The real Britain is<br />
represented by the British youth who upheld the honourable traditions of British history<br />
in the International Brigade in Spain." 265 When the British volunteers returned from<br />
Spain the YCL invoked similar images of anti-fascist youth representing Britain's democratic<br />
heritage:<br />
We cheer and cheer, for these are our heroes, men who faced death and fascism, and<br />
conquered it in Spain… men who left home and work to fight great odds and cruelty because<br />
they believed in liberty.... This International Brigade, formed by men of all<br />
classes, that arose at the call of freedom, is part of the heritage, part of the most noble<br />
traditions of our people. The Brigade is Britain. 266<br />
To the YCL, the International Brigades represented "no ordinary army that marched out<br />
to do battle with the Fascists. It was the Peoples' Front with a gun on its shoulder,<br />
meeting the issue of <strong>Fascism</strong> versus Democracy." 267<br />
The YCLUSA countered arguments that the communists in Spain were trying to establish<br />
a Soviet Republic by highlighting "the unselfish work of our boys" in the Interna-<br />
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DEMOCRACY<br />
tional Brigades, who were not advancing Bolshevik revolution, but fighting "bravely in<br />
behalf of Spanish democracy." 268 The YCL insisted that they needed to "make all of<br />
America conscious of the role our boys have played in the struggle for Spanish and world<br />
democracy." 269 The YCL used support of the Brigades as an assessment of other people's<br />
sincere dedication to democracy insisting, "It was the test of a man's democratic understanding<br />
and sincerity over here, whether his trade union, his lodge, his church, or<br />
political organization contributed to provide medical supplies, ambulances, medicines,<br />
foodstuffs, and gifts to the Lincoln boys and the Spanish people." 270 The YCL invoked<br />
the experience of the American volunteers to reinforce to the youth movement that if<br />
"American democracy is to live, it must be concerned with the preservation of democracy<br />
in other countries." 271 Other articles insisted that the Abraham Lincoln Brigade showed<br />
that "the continuation of American democracy… was bound up with the preservation of<br />
democracy and peace in other parts of the world." 272 By upholding American democratic<br />
traditions through direct intervention in Spain, the YCL insisted their comrades' in Spain<br />
upheld "the honor of our people." 273<br />
As we have seen, Dimitrov's reconceptualization of fascism and democracy had a profound<br />
impact on the development of distinctive new forms of communist youth propaganda<br />
and activities. While the Leninist Generation had confidently denounced<br />
"bourgeois democracy" as a moribund system they would displace through proletarian<br />
dictatorship, the Popular Front Generation proudly boasted of their role in defending all<br />
forms of democracy and modernity from fascism. Popular Front propaganda reflected on<br />
the intimate links between democracy, youth and modernity in the struggle against<br />
fascism. <strong>Fascism</strong> threatened all facets of youth culture and democracy. To show there<br />
sincerity to defending democracy, many YCLers flocked to the cause of the Spanish<br />
Republic through material assistance, propaganda and at times, giving the ultimate<br />
sacrifice of their lives to defeat fascism. These new democratic initiatives ultimately<br />
enabled British and American communist youth to creatively reconstruct their political<br />
identity around innovative conceptions of fascism and democracy.<br />
129
6<br />
CONCLUSION:<br />
THE YOUTH STRUGGLE AGAINST WAR<br />
Capitalism is war! The reconstruction of capitalism means, therefore, the perpetuation<br />
of war! To help do this means to desire new wars! Capitalism is the cause of war. To<br />
abolish war we must abolish capitalism. This is the whole crux of the matter.<br />
-Harry Young, YCLGB 1923 1<br />
We have differing philosophical, political and religious views; we represent various<br />
opinions; but we are inspired by the one single wish to save our generation from war.<br />
-Gil Green, YCLUSA 1936 2<br />
The study of communist youth propaganda reveals considerable divergences of rhetoric,<br />
world view and political identity between the Leninist and Popular Front Generations.<br />
This being said, the above mentioned quotes highlight how the two inter-war<br />
generations were connected and informed by a common perspective centred on peace and<br />
war. The Leninist Generation sought to mobilize the anti-war sentiment of youth to<br />
advance an international revolution against capitalism and war. Capitalism was perceived<br />
as the root cause of imperialist war. Young communists promoted a revolutionary<br />
"war against war" to abolish modern warfare by establishing international socialism.<br />
Since social democrats were viewed as subverting communist revolution, young communists<br />
propagated that socialists were the enemies of peace and the youth. To be a young<br />
communist meant to reject the Second International's view that peace and socialism could<br />
be established and preserved without revolution.<br />
During the Popular Font era, fascism was defined as a movement bent on war. Communists<br />
had previously posited that capitalist competition, in its unyielding quest for new<br />
markets and resources, facilitated war for the sake of increased profits. 3 Fascist war was<br />
a distinctly new phenomenon. <strong>Fascism</strong> advocated war on all aspects of modernity. They<br />
openly declared their intent to destroy the Soviet Union and to unleash a new world war<br />
that would destroy the hated Versailles settlement. Fascist war was not motivated simply<br />
by profit, but was driven also by an ideology of nation chauvinism bent on racial extermination,<br />
authoritarian order and global conquest to overturn all progressive advances<br />
since the era of the Enlightenment.<br />
Georgi Dimitrov identified fascist war as a different phenomenon from traditional<br />
imperialist war. In so doing, Dimitrov enabled British and American young communists<br />
130
THE YOUTH STRUGGLE AGAINST WAR<br />
to understand and define fascism from a new youth perspective. <strong>Fascism</strong> was not an<br />
economic system, but an ideology that utilized mass propaganda to mobilize nations for<br />
the sole purpose of war. <strong>Fascism</strong> rejected all notions of internationalism and egalitarian<br />
premises of human brotherhood that were central to the maintenance of peace. 4 <strong>Fascism</strong><br />
declared international law and disarmament initiatives aimed at peace anathema to their<br />
movement. 5 War was not a by-product of fascism; war was the goal of fascism.<br />
Dimitrov declared that a larger fascist world war was not inevitable. Since capitalist<br />
competition was a source of modern warfare, Dimitrov contended that capitalist cooperation<br />
could be utilized for maintaining peace if it was forged in alliance with the Soviet<br />
Union. Dimitrov identified that not all segments of the capitalist class supported fascism;<br />
fascism represented the interests of a small ultra-imperialist clique of the capitalist class.<br />
By exploiting this internal division, a unified working-class movement could lead a broad<br />
Popular Front against fascism and war to successfully halt fascist aggression. Peace<br />
would cause fascist regimes to collapse under their own internal contradictions without<br />
the need of a larger anti-fascist war.<br />
<strong>Fascism</strong> was portrayed as a rejection of civilization. Communists were portrayed as<br />
defenders of civilization. <strong>Youth</strong> were the future of civilization. World war threatened to<br />
decimate all aspects of modern civilization. The Popular Front identified where the<br />
interests of the capitalist democracies, the Soviet Union and the youth aligned on the<br />
issue of anti-fascism. Peace was the paramount issue to defend civilization, the future<br />
and the youth. Anti-fascism represented a clash of two mutually antagonistic forms of<br />
civilization. During the Popular Front, to be a young communist meant to be an antifascist.<br />
Thus while the form and content of youth propaganda changed radically, both the<br />
Leninist and Popular Front Generations justified their ideology through the vantage point<br />
of war and peace.<br />
By identifying this common thread of youth perspectives, we can understand how<br />
propaganda informed communist youth identity through the complicated twists and turns<br />
of inter-war Comintern strategy. When dramatic shifts occurred, the YCI consistently<br />
invoked symbols of war and peace to justify their changed position. Bolshevik and<br />
Stalinist political culture was not a faith based solely on blind obedience, but a complex<br />
negotiation of political identities that relied heavily upon propaganda to legitimize<br />
Comintern positions. When Comintern dictates appeared contradictory, communist<br />
propaganda invoked themes of continuity to rationalize change. The large membership<br />
fluctuations of the inter-war period, especially in the YCL's, reveal that communist<br />
propaganda was often ineffective in prescribing Comintern legitimacy to the youth.<br />
When youth did not agree with YCL positions, instead of mounting asserted internal<br />
dissent that would lead to expulsion, they often simply quit the YCL. What is far more<br />
fascinating in communist studies is not to identify these cases of dissent, but to address<br />
the phenomenon of youth consent. How did young communist propaganda utilize the<br />
theme of peace to maintain youth allegiance<br />
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YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
The Leninist Generation justified their revolutionary program by focussing on themes<br />
of war and peace. Communist propaganda did not assert that social democracy wanted<br />
war, but that socialists had proven they were incapable of coping with imperialist war and<br />
were facilitating new wars by subverting communist revolution. According to YCI<br />
propaganda, revolution was the only solution for peace. In one of their first public<br />
statements entitled No More War, the YCLGB stated:<br />
Is it the "fate" of humanity always to be at war Will mankind always be divided into<br />
antagonistic camps, which men call "their Country, their Fatherland" And must they<br />
always slaughter one another with murderous weapons, murder, mutilate and burn, laying<br />
waste to beautiful towns and cities Must the world always be one vast slaughterhouse<br />
Must the world always be one vast arsenal with each war yet greater and more<br />
terrible than the other.... Will war always leer at us from its horrid death-mask Yes!<br />
Always! As long as capitalism exists! So long as capitalism exists, so long as the state<br />
is in the hands of the capitalists, so long as the bourgeoisie hold power, then so long will<br />
there be wars! War is the vital necessity for the capitalist class. 6<br />
The 1922 "Manifesto and Program" of the American YWL made similar assertions about<br />
the dire future of youth if capitalism was not overthrown:<br />
Capitalism thrives on waste; and over the bodies of the millions of slaughtered and<br />
maimed workers who have fought the battles for the master class, have been built up the<br />
fabulous fortunes and the power of the bourgeoisie.... The young must bear the brunt of<br />
all the fighting, suffering, and economic oppression that results from war.... During the<br />
war just passed, they gave up their lives on behalf of the financiers and industrial capitalists<br />
of this country.... The very flower of youth and manhood perished.... The basis for<br />
wars will exist so long as capitalism remains.... The young of the working-class form the<br />
backbone of all imperialist armies of the world. Their blood is shed so that capitalism<br />
may expand.... The slogan of the revolutionary youth must be: Down With All Capitalist<br />
Wars! In this struggle, the young workers must lead the way. Upon them falls the task<br />
of crushing that mighty instrument – Militarism, and with it Capitalism. 7<br />
Leninist Generation rhetoric unequivocally linked capitalism with war in dire, almost<br />
apocalyptic imagery. A future of capitalist war could only be averted by revolution and<br />
proletarian dictatorship. The Comintern's leadership and Leninist theory were the<br />
necessary tools that would enable communist youth to hasten a "Red Dawn" of peace.<br />
Dimitrov's defined fascism as war. This conception of fascism was the key to legitimizing<br />
the youth Popular Front. Dimitrov insisted that his definition of fascism revealed<br />
its "true character" as an international force for imperialist war. As previously highlighted,<br />
fascist regimes represented "the open terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary,<br />
most chauvinistic and most imperialist elements of finance capital." 8 In an article<br />
appropriately entitled "<strong>Fascism</strong> is War," Dimitrov reflected on the implications of this<br />
phenomenon:<br />
Two years ago, in August, 1935, the Seventh Congress of the Communist International...<br />
pointed to the indissoluble connection between the struggle against fascism and the<br />
struggle for peace. <strong>Fascism</strong> is war, declared the Congress. Coming to power against the<br />
will and interests of its own countrymen, fascism seeks a way out of its growing domestic<br />
difficulties in aggression against other countries and peoples, in a new redivision of<br />
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the globe by unleashing world war. As far as fascism is concerned, peace is certain<br />
ruin.... Now both the friends and foes of peace are openly speaking of the menace of a<br />
new world war which has come upon us. And it would also be difficult to find seriousminded<br />
people who at all doubt that it is precisely the fascist governments that are foremost<br />
in the desire for war.... The international proletariat and all progressive and civilized<br />
mankind will not tolerate their military aggression and acts of robbery, and are<br />
ready to do everything to prevent them from fulfilling their plans of igniting the flames<br />
of a new world war.... The relation between the forces of war and the forces of peace is<br />
not what it was in 1914. Tremendous world historical changes have taken place since<br />
that time.... This, however, requires that the tremendous forces and means at the disposal<br />
of the international labor movement be united and directed toward an effective and unyielding<br />
struggle against fascism and war. 9<br />
Dimitrov's analysis reiterated the theme of clashing civilizations. "Serious-minded"<br />
people could see that fascism desired war. Fascist world war could be prevented by the<br />
united action of "all progressive and civilized mankind" who represented the "forces of<br />
peace." War was personified in fascism as a rejection of progress and civilization. The<br />
Popular Front was propagated as the only strategy that could effectively unite the forces<br />
of peace to resist "the menace of a new world war."<br />
The Popular Front Generation did not place its hopes for peace in a distant socialist<br />
future, but rather reflected on the past to assist them in their present struggles to preserve<br />
peace. Young communists rejected notions of passivity and historical inevitability.<br />
Peace was not an abstract notion for a millenarian future. Peace was the pressing issue of<br />
the day dominating all elements of youth politics. <strong>Fascism</strong> used small-scale military<br />
campaigns to test the will of the international community and to prepare their forces for a<br />
larger world war. Popular Front rhetoric insisted coordinated youth anti-fascist activities<br />
could defend peace now. <strong>Youth</strong> could influence state policy and inspire the "forces of<br />
peace" to unite in struggle against fascism and war.<br />
The British and American YCLs adapted Popular Front rhetoric to reflect their unique<br />
role in the international struggle for peace. Their propaganda interpreted the unfolding of<br />
world events and sought to empower youth with the ability to impact world politics.<br />
Both YCLs rejected the notion that war was necessary to counter fascist provocations.<br />
The YCLGB directed their peace rhetoric against Chamberlain, violations of international<br />
law and youth apathy:<br />
Let us look the facts in the face. Yes, the working class, its youth, and the overwhelming<br />
majority of the people, want peace and a struggle against war. They are the most<br />
powerful force for world peace. Outside of these forces of peace are however forces of<br />
war – fascism.... This pro-fascist policy of Chamberlain and the capitulation of Daladier<br />
has brought nothing to the cause of peace, but resulted only in the increased danger of<br />
war. Can the working class and its youth, can the socialist youth movement, conduct itself<br />
passively towards the provocative drive of fascism and reaction towards war Under<br />
no circumstances.... War is not inevitable if international law is observed and<br />
complete justice for the peoples established in accordance with the peaceful and democratic<br />
will of the peoples in each nation....The working youth of the whole world should<br />
be made clear, that the sun of peace will rise over Europe only when the working class<br />
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YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
of the whole world and its youth will unite its forces for struggle against the fascist inciters<br />
to war. 10<br />
YCL rhetoric did not accept the inevitability of war, but warned of the increased "danger<br />
of war" associated with Chamberlain's "pro-fascist" policies. If Chamberlain's government<br />
were replaced, a new government could resist fascist aggression by supporting<br />
"international law." Working-class youth could help "the sun of peace" to "rise over<br />
Europe" by uniting in struggle against Chamberlain. <strong>Youth</strong> could not be passive observers<br />
of history while fascism threatened world war.<br />
The YCLUSA used a broader rhetoric of youth to encourage peace activism. American<br />
young communists focussed on the common interests that all youth had in the<br />
maintenance of peace. Instead of challenging the values of youth, Popular Front rhetoric<br />
utilized an inclusive language of common principles that would resonate with American<br />
youth. For example, in appealing to Catholic youth Gil Green spoke of the youth's<br />
"crusade for peace:"<br />
We are both crusaders for the well-being, happiness and perpetuation of mankind. You<br />
believe in the brotherhood of man, we in the international solidarity of peoples of every<br />
nationality and race. For this, we have both incurred the hatred of fascism. We both abhor<br />
war and detest the war makers; we both crusade for peace. And for this too, have we<br />
both incurred the hatred of fascism... But while the world is a family of nations, like any<br />
other family, it has its freak, the black sheep who is a disgrace to the family record. That<br />
freak today is to be seen in the fascist dictatorships and their war-making policies.... It is<br />
no accident that war has been precipitated by the Fascist countries— they are the aggressors.<br />
11<br />
<strong>Fascism</strong> was personified as an aggressive movement for war that stood against the<br />
common values of all mankind. <strong>Youth</strong> had the ability to find a common ground for<br />
struggle in their "crusade for peace." Anti-fascism and peace were the common values<br />
that linked all American youth.<br />
Communist leaders during the Popular Front often compared the experiences of the<br />
Leninist and Popular Front Generations by utilizing the theme of peace. In a 1939 article<br />
entitled "Your Generation and Mine," Earl Browder reflected on the experiences of the<br />
Leninist and Popular Front Generations. Browder's analysis centred on the intimate<br />
connections between youth, peace activism and the Soviet Union:<br />
Never before in all history was there such an opportunity for the people, and especially<br />
the younger generation, to transform the world fully and completely into the sort of place<br />
which the best minds have dreamed about over the centuries. Your generation, it is true,<br />
is threatened with the brutal and senseless slaughter of a new world war. My generation<br />
was similarly threatened. But there are tremendous differences, and most of them are in<br />
favor of your generation. My generation had only the most confused ideas of how to<br />
fight against the war-makers, and understood very little about the world in which we<br />
lived. Your generation has a fairly clear understanding of the world, and knows much<br />
better who are the warmakers and how to fight them. And your generation has powerful<br />
forces consciously working with it – the Soviet Union, and the labor and peoples' democratic<br />
movements all over the world. 12<br />
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THE YOUTH STRUGGLE AGAINST WAR<br />
Browder contested that the "fight against the war-makers" was the central theme that<br />
united communist generations. The experiences of confusion and defeat of the Leninist<br />
Generation enabled youth to learn from the past. Browder openly admitted that the<br />
Leninist Generation "understood very little about the world" while the Popular Front<br />
Generation knew "much better." Communism was not posited as a static revolutionary<br />
dogma, but as a flexible movement inspired by the desire to transform the world into a<br />
place without war.<br />
In 1938 Maurice Thorez directed a speech to communist youth entitled "A New <strong>Youth</strong><br />
Shall Rise." Like Browder, Thorez also spoke of the continuity of peace activism that<br />
connected the Leninist and Popular Front Generations:<br />
We had heard the call of Lenin and together with our elders, we answered it. We answered<br />
the call of the Third International along with those who were still covered with<br />
the blood and mud of their trenches, carrying the marks of multiple wounds on their bodies,<br />
and in their breasts the scars of illnesses which were to take them from us prematurely.<br />
We made an oath that we would fight with all our hearts and all our strength so<br />
that our children should never know war.... I can tell you, we have never failed in keeping<br />
this oath. We fought against war and for peace in 1920 by joining the Third International....<br />
We fought for peace and against war by launching and achieving our great idea,<br />
the People's Front.... Yes, comrades, we shall do everything to avoid the horrors of a<br />
new war, for the youth, for our children, ourselves, our great people.... Yes! <strong>Fascism</strong> is<br />
war, we said it, and there were some who laughed at us. <strong>Fascism</strong> is war. Though we are<br />
slandered, never have we asked for military intervention in Spain.... We are in the tradition<br />
of proletarian internationalism, fighting for liberty and for peace, and love of our<br />
country. 13<br />
Thorez reiterated Dimitrov's contention that "<strong>Fascism</strong> is war." His generation had<br />
embraced communism to fight "against war and for peace." The Popular Front Generation<br />
rallied to the Comintern to fight "for peace and against war." The implied goal of<br />
communism was no longer to fight a class "war against war," but to embrace effective<br />
methods to maintain peace. War and peace were the central issues that connected the<br />
experiences of these radically distinct generations.<br />
The controversial and potentially contradictory element of the Popular Front that<br />
Thorez addressed was the issue of "military intervention" against fascism. Though<br />
communists fought for the Spanish Republic, Thorez identified that the Popular Front<br />
would do "everything to avoid the horrors of a new war." This distinction between<br />
"collective security" for peace and "military intervention" for an anti-fascist war facilitated<br />
one of the greatest crises in young communist political identity. How were communist<br />
youth to react if a fascist world war did break out<br />
The notorious "Molotov-Ribbentrop Non-Aggression Pact" of 1939 caused major rifts<br />
in the anti-fascist and communist movements. Popular Front propaganda openly stated<br />
that communists would do everything to avoid a new world war. After years of diplomatic<br />
courting failed to materialize into larger collective security alliances with the West,<br />
Stalin showed the world that he would do anything to prevent Soviet engagement in a<br />
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YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
world war. On May 3, 1939 Stalin dismissed Maxim Litvinov as Foreign Commissar,<br />
replacing him with the less than cordial character of Vyacheslav Molotov. Litvinov was<br />
a long-seasoned ambassador to the West, having lived a number of years in both Belfast<br />
and London. Throughout the thirties Litvinov had fostered extremely cordial relations<br />
with politicians and public figures throughout the West. Molotov on the other hand was<br />
a brash and hardened character who had been an instrumental and unquestioning henchman<br />
of Stalin during collectivization and the Great Purges. Molotov also was not Jewish,<br />
making him a more appropriate character for any negotiations with the anti-Semitic Third<br />
Reich. Sir William Seeds, the British ambassador to the USSR, reflected on this transfer<br />
of personalities stating, "Litvinov's disappearance means chiefly the loss of an admirable<br />
technician or perhaps shock-absorber, and that we are faced with a more truly Bolshevik<br />
as opposed to diplomatic or cosmopolitan modus operandi." 14 Though the diplomatic<br />
community saw the importance of this transition, the young communist press primarily<br />
stayed silent on this issue. 15<br />
Less than two weeks before signing this infamous pact, Stalin hosted a mission of<br />
low-level diplomats from Britain and France to form a collective security pact. The<br />
French delegation had been given full negotiating powers to conclude a pact with the<br />
Soviets, while the British delegation was instructed to "proceed slowly," further souring<br />
the attitudes of Molotov and Stalin towards Britain. Stalin had already warned the British<br />
and the French after the Munich Conference that the Soviet Union would not be "drawn<br />
into conflict by warmongers who are accustomed to have others pull the chestnuts out of<br />
the fire for them." 16 Unknown to most communists, Stalin and Molotov were conducting<br />
secret negotiations with the Nazis, assuming that the British, French and Poles would not<br />
succumb to Soviet territorial demands in Eastern Europe. The failures of the three-power<br />
talks to produce an agreeable pact of reciprocity in cooperation hastened Molotov to<br />
progress further in his German negotiations. On August 19, 1939 Molotov signed a<br />
lucrative trade agreement with the Third Reich, followed by the infamous "nonaggression"<br />
pact with Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop on August 23, 1939. A London<br />
Times editorial initially asserted that the pact could be utilized as "a valuable contribution<br />
to peace" if it contained "a clause providing that the pact will be invalidated by any act of<br />
aggression on the part of a contracting party against a third party." 17 When the public<br />
portions of the pact were released to the press later in the week, any hopes for such<br />
clauses were shattered. While communist propaganda did not portray this pact as a profascist<br />
manoeuvre, public opinion increasingly perceived it as a Nazi-Soviet alliance,<br />
undercutting much of the legitimacy of the Popular Front.<br />
Communist propaganda attempted to rationalize the Non-Aggression Pact by highlighting<br />
the foreign policies of Britain and France. This rhetorical strategy was not new.<br />
Throughout the thirties young communist propaganda denounced Chamberlain and<br />
Daladier as pro-fascist politicians. Although their official government rhetoric spoke of<br />
preserving peace, young communists asserted these political leaders could not and should<br />
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THE YOUTH STRUGGLE AGAINST WAR<br />
not be trusted by the youth. An article in the May, 1939 edition of World <strong>Youth</strong> Review<br />
associated Chamberlain and Daladier as conscious allies in the drive towards war:<br />
The four plotters are still the masters in London and Paris, as they are in Berlin and<br />
Rome. While two of them destroy the independence of people, strengthen their bases,<br />
occupy new strategic points, the other two are busy scattering and weakening the forces<br />
of peace. Two of them act: and the other two talk, and talk well sometimes. But their<br />
acts deny their words. Their words serve only to placate public opinion.... Firmly attached<br />
to peace, the younger generation has no desire to become the victim of that<br />
"blackmail of war" which some are trying to complete by their theories of cowardice,<br />
surrender and fatalism. The "blackmail of war" the theory of servility, can have no echo<br />
in the hearts of the younger generation.... Chamberlain and Daladier at Munich preserved<br />
the regimes of Hitler and Mussolini from destruction. 18<br />
A potential contradiction was unravelling in Popular Front propaganda. Servility was<br />
associated with capitulation towards fascism. Chamberlain and Daladier were contended<br />
to be "pro-fascist" for capitulating to the fascist's "blackmail of war" at Munich. Chamberlain<br />
and Daladier contended their diplomacy had saved "peace for our time." 19 YCI<br />
rhetoric asserted youth would never stand for such a fatalist policy. How then could<br />
propaganda interpret Soviet policy if Stalin reached a similar diplomatic agreement with<br />
Hitler<br />
Stalin had alluded to a potential diplomatic break with the West over the issue of an<br />
anti-fascist war in his report to the Eighteenth Party Congress on March 10, 1939.<br />
YCLers capitalized upon this speech to blame Chamberlain and Daladier for forcing<br />
Stalin's hand. Although young communists asserted that the Soviet's diplomatic move<br />
was one designed to maintain peace, they had a difficult time further rationalizing Soviet<br />
positions in the upcoming months.<br />
Political events began unfolding at a whirlwind pace, throwing extra complications<br />
into YCL propaganda. On September 2, 1939, the day before the official British declaration<br />
of war, the YCLGB ran a front page story urging youth that peace could still be<br />
saved:<br />
At this eleventh hour, let us, the youth of the nation, upon whose shoulders there rests so<br />
great a responsibility, weigh up the situation. Let us decide what we can do, while there<br />
is yet time, to avoid the catastrophe that will rob so many of us of our lives and which<br />
may destroy our whole future... Let us be clear. Even now peace can still be saved. It<br />
depends, not on Hitler, but on what the British people does now. Yet the youth movement's<br />
whole attention is being directed into what tasks – perhaps all necessary – they<br />
could perform in a war, instead of considering what action they can unitedly take now to<br />
preserve peace.... The Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact has split and divided the<br />
war-makers. It is a new blow for peace struck by the Soviet Government, which has<br />
consistently opposed Fascist aggression.... We, the young people, who have most to lose<br />
in war, appeal to the whole Labour Movement. In peace or war Chamberlain cannot be<br />
trusted. 20<br />
The YCL continued to invoke a continuity of images to propagate on the theme of peace<br />
and the youth. Chamberlain had consistently been denounced as pro-fascist. The Soviet<br />
Government was still personified as anti-fascist. The YCL struggled to continually<br />
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YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
interpret the unfolding of event through this dichotomy centred on peace. This position<br />
became increasingly difficult to maintain once Chamberlain was ousted from power by<br />
Winston Churchill. Even then, the YCL asserted that Churchill could not get their full<br />
support until he removed "the Men of Munich" from his cabinet. 21<br />
Since the United States did not enter WWII in 1939, the YCLUSA did not face the<br />
same public pressures as the YCLGB. The YCL carried on similar rhetorical attacks<br />
against the Chamberlain and Daladier, attempting to interpret the "true meaning" of<br />
Soviet diplomacy:<br />
Chamberlain, the Prince of Cynics, speaks of carrying on a war to the finish against the<br />
Mad Dog of Europe, Hitler; but was it not Chamberlain who carefully and lovingly<br />
nursed Hitler from the time that he was a weak little pup to the mad dog that he is today....<br />
This war was not inevitable. This terrible conflict which menaces all humanity<br />
could have been averted. If Britain and France had accepted the proffered aid of the Soviet<br />
Union, their combined strength would have been so overwhelming as to prevent Hitler<br />
from starting war, or if he were so foolish as to do so, would have been smashed and<br />
defeated him in short order.... The very fact that they drifted consciously into war against<br />
Germany and rejected the help of the Soviet Union, arouses the suspicion that their aim<br />
is to transform the war into a war against the Soviet Union. They did not want the help<br />
of the Soviet Union because they knew that would be the guarantee of the complete destruction<br />
of fascism in Germany, in all Europe, and the complete victory of democracy....<br />
But Hitler needed war. <strong>Fascism</strong> cannot live without ceaseless expansion and conquest....<br />
Soviet diplomacy threw a monkey wrench that destroyed all the machinations of world<br />
imperialism.... A profound change has therefore come about in the world as a result of<br />
the failure to build a peace front and avert imperialist war.... The fight for democracy<br />
and peace goes on, but takes on new forms. 22<br />
The "new forms" of YCL peace activism centred on exposing the war's "imperialist<br />
nature." The YCL insisted that Chamberlain and Daladier had consciously brought this<br />
war upon the youth, not to fight fascism, but to attack the Soviet Union. <strong>Fascism</strong> was<br />
still personified as war. The YCL contended that without war and expansion the fascist<br />
regimes would quickly collapse. War would embolden fascism; peace would ultimately<br />
destroy fascism. By this logic, the YCL maintained that the struggle for peace was still<br />
an anti-fascist struggle. YCL propaganda urged youth to influence government policy<br />
from a pro-war stance into seeking a negotiated peace and entering collective security<br />
pacts with the Soviet Union. Although the YCL legitimized and interpreted world events<br />
through the rhetoric of peace, the Non-Aggression Pact ultimately destroyed the American<br />
Popular Front youth alliances.<br />
Although WWII marked the end of many Popular Front alliances, YCL propaganda<br />
reveals that a significant change occurred in communist theory concerning war and<br />
peace. The form and content of YCL peace propaganda contained serious deviations<br />
from those of the Leninist Generation. 23 In November, 1939 the YCI published an antiwar<br />
declaration to the youth framed not to instigate a revolutionary upheaval, but urging<br />
youth to defend its rights and to continue its struggle for peace:<br />
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THE YOUTH STRUGGLE AGAINST WAR<br />
This war is not a just war. The example of Spain and China shows that youth never<br />
hesitates when it is a matter of a just cause, for which it fights boldly and selfsacrificingly<br />
with arms in hand.... But those who are drawing you, young workers and<br />
peasants, into the war under the pretence of the defence of democracy, are the worst<br />
enemies of democracy and liberty.... They want to establish a reactionary alliance<br />
against the working class, against the Soviet Union, buttress of peace and socialism....<br />
Militant unity of all young proletarians against imperialist war – such is the demand of<br />
the moment.... The unshakeable unity of the working youth will arise in struggle against<br />
the high cost of living, against the sacrifices forced by the capitalist upon the working<br />
youth; in struggle for the demands and the rights of the youth; in struggle against the depriving<br />
of the working youth of their political liberties; in struggle against all consequences<br />
of the war; in struggle for peace. 24<br />
This YCI manifesto contained little resemblance to traditional Leninist propaganda. The<br />
YCI focussed on a continuity of policy that did not abandon Popular Front positions on<br />
nationalism, unity and democracy. The YCLGB propaganda did not urge youth to<br />
revolution, but encouraged them to "defend the true ideals of peace and brotherhood" by<br />
joining in the "great united campaign of youth against the war." Their propaganda sought<br />
to expose that "behind the smoke-screen of words" that "the men who organized, controlled<br />
and profited from the last war are controlling this new one." 25 Although mass<br />
desertions occurred from the YCLs during this period, one can contend that even greater<br />
numbers would have disavowed the YCL had it called for "revolutionary defeatism"<br />
instead of a negotiated peace.<br />
When the Soviet Union entered WWII in 1941, the YCLs asserted that Soviet participation<br />
changed the nature of the war and the prospects for a future peace. After the<br />
Teheran Meeting of 1943, both YCLs propagated that an Allied victory would hasten a<br />
new era of world peace based on international cooperation. The YCLGB stated that<br />
"there would be no more wars for many years to come, because the people of all countries<br />
who want peace will be strong enough to hold the warmongers in check." 26 The<br />
YCLUSA went even farther in their unorthodox analysis of Teheran. Embracing Earl<br />
Browder's analysis, the YCL disbanded in October, 1943, reforming itself as the "American<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> for Democracy." The YCL asserted that in a peaceful post-war era there was<br />
no need for a Leninist youth movement in the USA. 27 This notion was soon revised when<br />
William Foster replaced Earl Browder as chairman of the CPUSA in 1945.<br />
The rhetoric of the Leninist Generation informed a revolutionary youth identity centred<br />
on strict oppositional positions. Leninism was a "science" for social revolution,<br />
universal in its applicability and unquestionable in its "correct" positions. The Leninist<br />
Generation was defined by a "cataclysmic view of social change." 28 The Popular Front<br />
program was dictated by the Comintern, but its emphasis on distinct national forms and<br />
broad coalitions facilitated considerable flexibility in communist propaganda methods.<br />
Communist youth identity was transformed into a constructive social force to counter the<br />
inherent destructive nature of fascism and war. Throughout its history, from its founding<br />
statements at Stuttgart in 1907 to the Teheran Meeting of 1943, young communists<br />
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YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
consistently legitimized their existence and evolution through the rhetoric of peace.<br />
Though they ultimately failed in their mission to avert two world wars, communist youth<br />
played an active and vital role in the evolution of communism and the development of<br />
inter-war youth radicalism.<br />
Dimitrov's theory of fascism as an enemy of all facets of modern democratic life directed<br />
communist youth to posit themselves as defenders, not opponents of the nation,<br />
youth and democracy, enabling British and American youth to reconstruct their definitions<br />
of fascism and democracy. The British and American YCLs reconstructed their<br />
political identity by invoking symbols and traditions of their unique national democratic<br />
heritages. The YCLs reconciled their communist identity with their native democratic<br />
political institutions and national youth cultures by abandoning their traditional authoritarian<br />
rhetoric centred on proletarian dictatorship. Popular Front rhetoric increasingly<br />
contended that democracy and modernity were inseparable in the struggle against fascism.<br />
The YCLs contended that fascism rejected youth modernity, seeking through<br />
regimentation, authoritarianism and militarism to "imbue into youth the soul of slaves<br />
and mercenaries." Communists countered this fascist demagogy by supporting modern<br />
and democratic youth cultures that appealed to youth's "love of liberty and progress." 29<br />
By embracing democracy and modern youth culture, young communists constructed a<br />
new communist identity in Britain and the United States, distinct from their Leninist<br />
heritage.<br />
The re-conceptualization of the democratic experience in the struggle for peace led the<br />
YCLs to begin asserting a native national path for developing socialism through the<br />
extension of democracy. Popular Front theory utilized certain elements of Lenin's class<br />
critiques of democracy, but completely revised his tactical positions against democracy.<br />
For the Popular Front Generation, Leninist theory represented a method for analyzing the<br />
modern world, but did not offer effective anti-fascist tactics with its consistent denunciations<br />
of democracy. Gil Green contended that the YCL's revisionism was not a rejection<br />
of Marxism. Green argued that the Popular Front program represented the "true spirit" of<br />
Marxist analysis by changing communist tactics to deal with concrete changes in reality:<br />
Conditions are changing and men are changing. What was correct yesterday may be incorrect<br />
today. What was progressive yesterday may be reactionary today.... Today, the<br />
situation in the world has greatly altered. Would it be Marxism, to repeat like parrots<br />
what we said seventeen years ago It would not! It would be nothing more than a caricature<br />
of Marxism. Marxism is not, and cannot be a dogma. It is a guide to action.... Our<br />
task is to help youth interpret the changed world of 1939. And in this present-day world,<br />
fascism, the aggressor, is out to wipe democracy from the face of the earth.... That is true<br />
Marxism. That is creative Marxism. 30<br />
Green's comments about the changing nature of the world, Marxism and the struggle for<br />
democracy reflected a new dynamic in international communist theory and practice.<br />
The Leninist Generation consciously based their practices on strict adherence to<br />
Comintern dictates. The Comintern had posited that Leninism was a scientific blending<br />
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THE YOUTH STRUGGLE AGAINST WAR<br />
of theory and practice that dictated correct strategic practices for socialist revolution.<br />
Green's analysis of the flexible and "creative" nature of Marxism undercut this current of<br />
Comintern dogma, reflecting the possibilities of alternative strategies in the West for the<br />
construction of socialism.<br />
The Cold War brought about new challenges for communists, particularly in their relationship<br />
with Moscow. By infusing the struggle for socialism with Western traditions,<br />
Popular Front theory undercut the traditional basis of the Comintern's authority, opening<br />
new paths for the evolution of Western communism. Though the Comintern was officially<br />
dissolved in 1943, many communists continued traditions of deference to Moscow<br />
for leadership initiatives. Institutions like the Cominform and domestic anti-communist<br />
initiatives put communists in an even more precarious position throughout the 1950s.<br />
Those YCLers who stayed within the movement after the international crises of 1956<br />
were often the champions of de-Stalinization and democratic initiatives. Veterans of the<br />
Popular Front Generation of the YCL would later be in the forefront of the Eurocommunist<br />
movement and attempts to democratize the British and American parties. John<br />
Gollan became the head of the CPGB in 1956, attempting to cope with the dual crises of<br />
de-Stalinization and the Hungarian Uprising. Many British YCLers who left the movement<br />
rallied to broad New Left inspired initiatives like the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament<br />
(CND). After years of FBI harassment and six years of incarceration, Gil Green<br />
continued to work within the CPUSA the rest of his life to rally his comrades from the<br />
Popular Front era. Santiago Carrillo continued to struggle under the Franco regime to<br />
revive Spanish democracy, becoming the dominant voice of Eurocommunism and<br />
Spanish reforms during the late 1970s.<br />
When further crises plagued communists in 1989, YCL veterans of the Popular Front<br />
Generation led the movement for change. British Popular Front YCLers like Bill Wainwright<br />
openly supported calls for the transformation of the CPGB into the Democratic<br />
Left. Supporters of the Morning Star newspaper rejected this initiative, reforming<br />
themselves as the Leninist inspired Communist Party of Britain. The Democratic Left<br />
has since disbanded in England and Wales, but continues on as a broad grassroots campaign<br />
in Scotland. In the United States, Gil Green and Pete Seeger re-emerged in the late<br />
early nineties to lead the reform minded pro-Gorbachev supporters of the CPUSA in<br />
opposition to Gus Hall's supposed support of the 1991 Soviet coup. Green and Seeger<br />
networked with younger activists like Angela Davis to form the Committees of Correspondence<br />
for Democracy & Socialism (CCDS). Much like the Popular Front Generation,<br />
CCDS activists sought to bring about a broad unity of the American left against a<br />
perceived period of reactionary politics. Though the CCDS floundered in many of its<br />
goals, the CPUSA and YCL have since revisited the Popular Front era and the writings of<br />
Dimitrov under the leadership of individuals like Sam Webb, Jessica Marshall, Docia<br />
Buffington, Tony Pecinovsky and Abdul Hassan. For such communists, the international<br />
struggle for peace, democracy and socialism have become inseparable notions.<br />
141
APPENDIX<br />
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS<br />
AFL<br />
ALAFW<br />
ARP<br />
ASU<br />
AYC<br />
BUF<br />
BYP<br />
BYPA<br />
CCC<br />
CCDS<br />
CIO<br />
CND<br />
Cominform<br />
Comintern<br />
CPGB<br />
CPUSA<br />
ECCI<br />
ECYCI<br />
ECYCLGB<br />
ECYCLUSA<br />
ILP<br />
IWUSYO<br />
JSU<br />
KPD<br />
NECLP<br />
LLOY<br />
LNUY<br />
American Federation of Labor<br />
American League <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong> and War<br />
Air Raid Precautions<br />
American Student Union<br />
American <strong>Youth</strong> Congress<br />
British Union of Fascists<br />
British <strong>Youth</strong> Parliament<br />
British <strong>Youth</strong> Peace Assembly<br />
Civilian Conservation Corps<br />
Committees of Correspondence for Democracy & Socialism<br />
Congress of Industrial Organizations<br />
Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament<br />
Communist Information Bureau<br />
Communist International<br />
Communist Party of Great Britain<br />
Communist Party of the United States of America<br />
Executive Committee Communist International<br />
Executive Committee Young Communist International<br />
Executive Committee Young Communist League Great Britain<br />
Executive Committee Young Communist League USA<br />
Independent Labour Party<br />
International Working Union of Socialist <strong>Youth</strong> Organizations<br />
Juventudes Socialistas Unificadas<br />
Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands<br />
National Executive Committee of the Labour Party<br />
Labour League of <strong>Youth</strong><br />
League of Nations Union of <strong>Youth</strong><br />
142
APPENDIX<br />
Nazi<br />
NCYCLGB<br />
NCYCLUSA<br />
NSL<br />
NYA<br />
PCE<br />
POUM<br />
RILU<br />
SI<br />
SLID<br />
SPD<br />
SWP<br />
SYI<br />
TA<br />
TUC<br />
WCP<br />
WWI<br />
WWII<br />
WYC<br />
YCI<br />
YCL<br />
YCLer<br />
YCLGB<br />
YCLUSA<br />
YMCA<br />
YPSL<br />
YWCA<br />
YWI<br />
YWL<br />
Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei<br />
National Council Young Communist League Great Britain<br />
National Council Young Communist League USA<br />
National Student League<br />
National <strong>Youth</strong> Administration<br />
Partido Comunista de España<br />
Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista<br />
Red International of Labor Unions (or Profintern)<br />
Socialist International or Second International<br />
Student League for Industrial Democracy<br />
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands<br />
Socialist Workers Party<br />
Socialist <strong>Youth</strong> International<br />
Territorial Army<br />
Trade Unions Congress<br />
Workers Communist Party<br />
World War One<br />
World War Two<br />
World <strong>Youth</strong> Congress<br />
Young Communist International<br />
Young Communist League<br />
Young Communist League Member<br />
Young Communist League Great Britain<br />
Young Communist League USA<br />
Young Men's Christian Association<br />
Young People's Socialist League<br />
Young Women's Christian Association<br />
Young Worker's International<br />
Young Worker's League<br />
143
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
ILLUSTRATIONS REFERENCED IN TEXT<br />
Illustrations 1 & 2 (Page 49). Michael, "The Sacrifice of <strong>Youth</strong>," The Young Worker: Organ of the Young<br />
Communist League of Britain 1, no.2 (September, 1923): Cover. Erik, "International <strong>Youth</strong> Day," The<br />
Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Worker's League 2, no. 9 (September, 1923): Cover.<br />
144
APPENDIX<br />
Illustration 3 (Page 49). Bard, "Capitalism Brings Forth The Little One," The Young Worker: Official<br />
Organ of the Young Communist League USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 8, no.24<br />
(November 27, 1930): 4.<br />
Illustration 4 (Page 49). Roosevelt, Hitler and Labor Camps (Source: "Birds of a Feather," The Young<br />
Worker: Official Organ of the Young Communist League USA (Section of the Young Communist International)<br />
11, no.7 (May 10, 1933): 5.)<br />
145
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
Illustration 5 (Page 66). Ted Ward, "The Living Past: Where the Cry of Freedom Rang," in Challenge: For<br />
the Defense of the People 5, no. 28 (January 15, 1939): 6.<br />
Illustration 6 (Page 68). "Two Revolutionists: Lincoln and Lenin," The Young Worker: Official Organ of<br />
the Young Communist League USA 13, no.38 (November 5, 1935): 5.<br />
Illustration 7 (Page 68). "Dear Mr. Browder, The Spirit of '76 is Not Dead: Young '36 Replies," The Young<br />
Worker: Official Organ of the Young Communist League USA 14, no.12 (March 24, 1936): 5.<br />
146
APPENDIX<br />
Illustration 8 (Page 71). Chicago May Day Photo, "That's What They Think: Letters From Our Readers,"<br />
Young Communist Review 4, no.5 (July, 1939): 24.<br />
Illustration 9 (Page 84). YCLGB, The United Front of the <strong>Youth</strong> (London: YCLGB, 1926).<br />
147
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
Illustration 10 (Page 107). "Service for Chamberlain Means Help for Hitler: Our Country Needs a Government<br />
That Can be Trusted," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no.41 (October 22, 1938): 1.<br />
Illustration 11 (Page 107). "The Noose of Conscription," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no.43 (November<br />
5, 1938): 9.<br />
148
APPENDIX<br />
Illustration 12 (Page 120). Forest S. Adams, "Right to Revolution Stressed by George Washington in<br />
1776," The Young Worker: Weekly Organ of the Young Communist League, USA 14, no.7 (February 18,<br />
1936): 5.<br />
Illustration 13 (Page 124). Gabriel Carritt, "Every Gun in Spain Defends us in Britain," Challenge: The<br />
Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 5 (February 4, 1939): 8.<br />
Illustration 14 (Page 125). Ted Ward, "This Army is Ready to Defend You," Challenge: The Voice of<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 8 (February 25, 1939): 3.<br />
149
NOTES<br />
INTRODUCTION: COMMUNIST HISTORIOGRAPHY AND THE YOUTH<br />
1. Tim Davenport, "Young Communist International (1919-1943) Organizational History," in Early American Marxism: A<br />
Repository of Source Material, 1864-1964 Online Archive . Although<br />
Young Communist Leagues existed in South Africa, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Abyssinia and Rhodesia, the primary<br />
drive for communist movements in Africa came during the anti-colonial movements of the post-WWII period. During the<br />
time of the Comintern, three International Bureaus existed covering the Americas, Europe and Asia. Where Communist<br />
Parties and YCLs existed in colonial nations outside of these areas, the movements were overseen by the parties of the Imperial<br />
nation that had dominion over that particular colony. See Geoffrey Stern, Atlas of Communism (New York: Macmillan<br />
Publishing Co., 1991), 78-79.<br />
2. See Richard Cornell, Revolutionary Vanguard: The Early Years of the Communist <strong>Youth</strong> International, 1914-1924 (Toronto:<br />
University of Toronto Press, 1982).<br />
3. Ibid., viii.<br />
4. At the Second Congress of the Communist International, Willie Münzenberg insisted that the question of youth was the<br />
most significant question facing the Comintern. Münzenberg urged for the widest possible discussion of the position of<br />
youth before the entire Comintern Congress. Münzenberg's proposals for discussion were postponed by Grigory Zinoviev<br />
in order to allow sufficient time for debate with the British delegation over communist parliamentary tactics. At its Third<br />
World Congress, the Comintern thoroughly discussed the question of youth and adopted a series of resolutions to define<br />
the "correct relationship" between adults and the youth. See "Minutes of the Second Congress of the Communist International:<br />
Thirteenth Session, August 6, 1920," in The History of the Communist International Internet Archive<br />
.<br />
5. YCLGB, A Short History of the Young Communist International (London: Dorrit Press, 1927), 14.<br />
6. For commentary on the Comintern initiatives to create a "Leninist Generation" of youth see Gidon Cohen and Kevin Morgan,<br />
"Stalin's Sausage Machine: British Students at the International Lenin School, 1926-37," Twentieth Century British<br />
History 13, no.4 (November, 2002): 327-355.<br />
7. In a 1938 editorial on political radicalism, Harvey Zorbaugh commented on the inter-war youth stating, "Observers were<br />
mindful of the upheavals that have taken place in one part of the world after another, and of the role that youth had played<br />
in those upheavals – China, where youth had become the incarnation of aggressive nationalism; Russia, where youth had<br />
been the backbone of communism; Italy, where youth had been the vanguard of fascism; Germany, where youth was the<br />
spearhead of Hitlerism. The question began to be asked: Which way America's youth" Harvey W. Zorbaugh, "Which<br />
Way America's <strong>Youth</strong>," Journal of Educational Sociology: The Challenge of <strong>Youth</strong> 11, no.6, (Feb., 1938): 322-334. For<br />
commentary on other youth movements, including fascist youth movements, of the interwar period see John R. Gillis,<br />
"Conformity and Rebellion: Contrasting Styles of English and German <strong>Youth</strong>, 1900-33," History of Education Quarterly<br />
13, no.3 (Autumn, 1973): 249-260; H.W. Koch, The Hitler <strong>Youth</strong>: Origins and Development 1922-1945 (New York: Stein<br />
and Day, 2000); Walter Lacquer, Young Germany: A History of the German <strong>Youth</strong> Movement (New York: Transaction,<br />
1984); David I. Macleod, Building Character In The American Boy: The Boy Scouts, The YMCA, And Their Forerunners,<br />
1870-1920 (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1983).<br />
8. For the US see Paul Mishler, Raising Reds: The Young Pioneers, Radical Summer Camps, and Communist Political Culture<br />
in the United States (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999); Judy Kaplan and Linn Shapiro, ed., Red Diapers:<br />
Growing Up in the Communist Left (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1998). For Britain see Phil Cohen, Children of<br />
the Revolution: Communist Childhood in Cold War Britain (London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1997).<br />
9. For the US see Robert Cohen, When the Old Left Was Young: Student Radicals and America's First Mass Student Movement,<br />
1929-1941 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993); Eileen Eagan, Class, Culture, and the Classroom: The Student<br />
Peace Movement of the 1930's (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1981); Hal Draper, "The Student Movement<br />
of the Thirties: A Political History," in As We Saw the Thirties: Essays on Social and Political Movements of a Decade,<br />
ed. Rita James Simon (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1967), 151-189. For the case of Britain see James Springhall,<br />
<strong>Youth</strong>, Empire and Society: British <strong>Youth</strong> Movements 1883-1940 (London: Croom Helm, 1977); James Hinton, Protests<br />
and Visions: Peace Politics in 20 th Century Britain (London: Hutchinson Press, 1989); Arthur Marwick, "<strong>Youth</strong> in Britain,<br />
1920-60: Detachment and Commitment," Journal of Contemporary History 5, no.1 (1970): 37-51.<br />
10. For a discussion of the impact of the "totalitarian" model on Cold War historiography see Alfred G. Meyer, "Coming to<br />
Terms With the Past… and With One's Older Colleagues," Russian Review 45, no.4 (October, 1986): 401-408.<br />
11. By its very nature, totalitarian theory has been extremely contentious and used in a variety of contexts. Though the term<br />
originated prior to WWII, Hannah Arendt popularized its usage with her 1951 publication The Origins of Totalitarianism.<br />
Generally speaking, totalitarianism refers to a political state ruled by a single party that utilizes propaganda, state regulations,<br />
education and terror to control and guide all facets of public and private life. Critics of totalitarian theory have contended<br />
that the concept blurs the important divergences in ideology, practices and motivations that existed between the<br />
communist and fascist movements, denouncing publications like The Black Book of Communism that contend the Nazi<br />
Reich and Soviet Union were "totalitarian twins." Many social scientists and historians have argued that such analysis is<br />
150
NOTES<br />
reductionist in its methodology and was fuelled primarily by politically motivated anti-communist sentiment. See Hannah<br />
Arendt, The Origins Of Totalitarianism (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1951); C. J. Friedrich and Z. K. Brzezinski, Totalitarian<br />
Dictatorship and Autocracy (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1956); John Wesley Young, Totalitarian Language:<br />
Orwell's Newspeak and its Nazi and Communist Antecedents (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1991);<br />
Vladimir Shlapentokh, A Normal Totalitarian Society: How The Soviet Union Functioned And How It Collapsed<br />
(Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 2001); Nicolas Werth, Karel Bartošek, Jean-Louis Panne, Jean-Louis Margolin, Andrzej<br />
Paczkowski and Stéphane Courtois, The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression (Cambridge: Harvard<br />
University Press, 1999).<br />
12. For critical commentary on the importance of stressing Comintern connection see David Mayfield, "What Is The Significant<br />
Context Of Communism A Review Of The University Of Michigan Conference On International Communism, 14–<br />
15 November 1986," Social History 13 (October 1988), 352. For comments on "new techniques" and the Comintern see<br />
Bryan Palmer, "Communist History: Seeing It Whole. A Reply To Critics," American Communist History 2, no.2 (December,<br />
2003): 209–211.<br />
13. The Trotskyist critique centred on identifying the divergences between Leninism and Stalinism, contending that Trotskyism<br />
represented the true traditions of Bolshevism. Trotskyists constructed their movement on identifying how this divergence<br />
translated into the practices of the Comintern, corrupting the initial revolutionary role of Communist Parties, turning<br />
them into appendages of Stalin's political will. See Leon Trotsky, The Revolution Betrayed. What Is The Soviet Union And<br />
Where Is It Going (New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company, 1937). For a scholarly evaluation of the Trotskyist critique<br />
of Stalinism see Robert H. McNeal, "Trotskyist Interpretations of Stalinism," in Stalinism: Essays in Historical Interpretation,<br />
ed. Robert C. Tucker (New York: W.W. Norton, 1977), 30-52.<br />
14. In a 1969 theoretical article, Eric Hobsbawm articulated that the major trends of communist historiography generally followed<br />
an approach dominated by two schools of inquiry, "the sectarian and the witch-hunting;" an "industry" whose output<br />
Hobsbawm considered to be "on the whole disappointing." As understood by Hobsbawm, the "sectarians" typically<br />
represented former communists or Trotskyists whose primary motivation was to discredit party lines as inherently "incorrect"<br />
due to their revision of Leninism. On the opposite spectrum, the "witch-hunters" discredit the sincerity of the populist<br />
and democratic rhetoric of Western communist, refusing to believe that any tangible revision of Leninism occurred in<br />
the evolution of the movement. What these two trends hold in common is that their inquiry is ultimately fuelled by political<br />
motivations to ridicule and discredit communists. The witch-hunters, often disillusioned communists themselves, were<br />
dominated by a commitment to showing the parties as "sinister, compulsive, potentially omnipresent bodies, half religion<br />
and half plot, which could not be rationally explained because there was no sensible reason for wishing to overthrow the<br />
pluralist-liberal society." Eric Hobsbawm, "Radicalism and Revolution in Britain" in Revolutionaries, ed. Eric Hobsbawm<br />
(London: Abacus, 1973), 12. In a recent book review, Geoffrey Roberts has referenced these two schools as being dominated<br />
by "Cold War psycho-babble;" the sectarians attempting to portray the slavish "Stalinist" mindset of the party<br />
leadership, the witch-hunters attacking the perceived naivety or psychological dysfunctions of the rank-and-file. See<br />
Geoffrey Roberts, "Review of Class or Nation: Communists, Imperialism and Two World Wars, by Neil Redfern," Communist<br />
History Network Newsletter 18 (Autumn, 2005): 11.<br />
15. The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace exerted an extremely influential role on the development of communist<br />
historiography. While the archival collections established at the Hoover have been vital in tracing the historical<br />
development of international communism, the Mission statement of the Hoover clearly exhibits a defined ideological<br />
agenda stating, "This Institution supports the Constitution of the United States, its Bill of Rights and its method of representative<br />
government. Both our social and economic systems are based on private enterprise from which springs initiative<br />
and ingenuity.... Ours is a system where the Federal Government should undertake no governmental, social or economic<br />
action, except where local government, or the people, cannot undertake it for themselves.... The overall mission of this Institution<br />
is, from its records, to recall the voice of experience against the making of war, and by the study of these records<br />
and their publication, to recall man's endeavors to make and preserve peace, and to sustain for America the safeguards of<br />
the American way of life. This Institution is not, and must not be, a mere library. But with these purposes as its goal, the<br />
Institution itself must constantly and dynamically point the road to peace, to personal freedom, and to the safeguards of the<br />
American system." See, "Hoover Institution Mission Statement," in Hoover Institution: Stanford University Website<br />
.<br />
16. The distinctions in methodology and ideological outlooks between historians of the CPGB and the CPUSA were discussed<br />
in great length with Kevin Morgan, Mike Waite and the archivists of the Working Class Movement Library in Salford and<br />
the Labour History archives in Manchester during research conducted in January, 2005. The political culture of the British<br />
Welfare State and experiences of social-democracy during the Cold War created a distinct intellectual outlook upon the<br />
history of socialism in Britain. Another factor to consider in the British academy is the enduring intellectual legacy of the<br />
Communist Party History Group that produced such eminent intellectual figures as Christopher Hill, EP Thompson, Eric<br />
Hobsbawm and Perry Anderson. For a discussion of the influence of the Welfare State and socialism upon British national<br />
identity see <strong>Joel</strong> <strong>Lewis</strong>, "Class Struggle and the Nation: A Historical and Statistical Study of Scottish National Identity"<br />
(CHSBS Graduate Paper Submission, Central Michigan University, 2004). A critical discussion of the theory and legacies<br />
of the CPGB Historians Group can be found in <strong>Joel</strong> <strong>Lewis</strong>, "The Communist Party Historians' Group: An Evaluation of<br />
Theory and Historiographical Legacy" (Unpublished Article, Strathclyde University, 2002).<br />
17. The Labour Party and the TUC leadership both shared a long history of denouncing and marginalising radical influences<br />
within the ranks of the labour movement. Labour's overwhelming political goals became dominated by a PR agenda to<br />
show Labour to be a party "Fit to Rule Britain," divorcing itself officially from radicalism and Bolshevism. Later events<br />
like the J.R. Campbell Trial, the Zinoviev scandal, the General Strike of 1926 and the capitulation of MacDonald to form a<br />
National Government in coalition with Tories fostered a further gulf between the "official Labour" movement and radicalism.<br />
The "anti-communist" crusade of the Atlee Government therefore was not a break with earlier practices of Labour,<br />
but was part of a larger historical continuity in Labour attempting to gain "public respectability." See <strong>Joel</strong> <strong>Lewis</strong>, "The<br />
Ideology and Tactics of Revolution, Reform and Repression: The British Labour Party and Communist Party 1920-1924"<br />
(MPhil diss., Strathclyde University, 2002)<br />
18. George Moss has contended that Truman's domestic "loyalty program" of 1947 was inspired not just by domestic pressures,<br />
but also by public interpretations of international events that overestimated the domestic strength of communism<br />
through its association with the international communist movement. See George Moss, America in the Twentieth Century<br />
(New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1989), 266-270. The most damaging experiences that condemned the public perception of the<br />
CPUSA came from the infamous Smith Act trial of 1949; a trial of the major leaders of the CPUSA intended specifically<br />
to dismiss the political legitimacy of the party. To show the "monolithic and seditious" nature of the communist move-<br />
151
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
ment, government prosecutors opted not to focus on individual "criminal" acts to substantiate their case, but instead directed<br />
their case against the language used by communists to show the treasonous nature of their movement. Prosecutors<br />
quoted extensively from "classical texts" of Marxism-Leninism to expose the "true nature" of the CPUSA, dismissing any<br />
historical arguments that the ideological and strategic outlook of the CPUSA had changed over its history. Contending<br />
"what all communists do by suggesting what one of them once intended," prosecutors gave a selective presentation of evidence<br />
to link the CPUSA with a language intended to promote violence and treason. Defense lawyers attempted to present<br />
quotes centring on "peace" and "democracy" to offset this potentially damaging line of argument. The tactics of the defence<br />
were predictable and the prosecution countered it by introducing the infamous and highly damaging "Aesopian language<br />
thesis." Aesopian language is generally defined as a form of "communications that convey an innocent meaning to<br />
outsiders but hold a concealed meaning to informed members of a conspiracy or underground movement." The introduction<br />
of this line of argument, which was considered acceptable by the court, made any statements made by the defense<br />
generally ineffective: "According to the Aesopian language thesis, communist language was hardly ever meant literally.<br />
CPUSA communicated in codes of metaphors, synecdoches, and antitheses. If Dennis produced a text which claimed<br />
"peace" as the communists' objective, it was to be read as intending "war." The trick was to catch the communistinfluenced<br />
writer off his guard, saying what he really meant. Thus if a "classic text" happened to admit violence as a<br />
means, it indeed meant violence; if in the text one found "nonviolence, " it too of course meant violence… From the moment<br />
the judge allowed the Aesopian language thesis to stand as relevant evidence, nothing the communist defendants<br />
could say about the very distant relationship between language and the world would constitute a convincing defense since<br />
the court had allowed the tautological interpretation that subversive language was misleading." See Alan Filreis, "Words<br />
With "All The Effects Of Force": Cold-War Interpretation," American Quarterly 39 (Summer, 1987), 307; Peter L.<br />
Steinberg, The Great "Red Menace": United States Prosecution of American Communists, 1947-1952 (West port: Greenwood<br />
Press, 1984).<br />
19. Willie Thompson, The Good Old Cause: British Communism 1920-1991 (London: Pluto Press, 1992), 83.<br />
20. See Henry Pelling, The British Communist Party: A Historical Profile (London: A. and C. Black, 1958).<br />
21. The Communist Party Historians Group, an organization of some of the leading intellectuals in Britain, offered in 1956 to<br />
produce an history for the party. The CPGB leadership, fearing the treatment that the group would give to some of the<br />
more "embarrassing" moments of the party's history, declined the offer and opted instead to charge Klugman with the task.<br />
See Jeremy Tranmer, "The End Of History The Historiography Of The British Communist Party And The Death Of<br />
Communism," in Politique, Societe et Discours du Domaine Anglophone Website .<br />
22. See James Klugmann, History of the Communist Party of Great Britain 1919-1924 (London: Lawrence and Wishart,<br />
1969); James Klugmann, History of the Communist Party of Great Britain 1925-1926 (London: Lawrence and Wishart,<br />
1969).<br />
23. For an insightful review on Kendall's political and intellectual development see Tony Carew, "Walter Kendall (1926-<br />
2003): Remarks by Tony Carew at the Memorial Meeting, Conway Hall, London, February 14, 2004," in The Global Labour<br />
Institute Website .<br />
24. See Walter Kendall, The Revolutionary Movement In Britain, 1900-21: The Origins Of British Communism (London:<br />
Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1969).<br />
25. For comments on the "traditionalist" emphasis on policy and leadership see John McIlroy and Alan Campbell, ""Nina<br />
Ponomareva’s Hats": The New Revisionism, the Communist International, and the Communist Party of Great Britain,<br />
1920-1930," in The History Cooperative Online Archive .<br />
26. Although he was a consultant for the Fund For the Republic project, Earl Browder, the former Chairman of the CPUSA,<br />
commented on the "traditionalist" view of the series stating, "What I miss in Draper is the understanding that he is writing<br />
about an organic part of American history, and not merely a study of the American section of the Communist International.<br />
The two phases are intertwined and interacting, in real life, and are more and more contradictory – but in reading<br />
Draper one becomes conscious of the contradiction not in the form of the Living Struggle between American reality and<br />
Leninist dogmas, but as a great gap, an abyss, across which there was never any real contact and therefore never any real<br />
struggle." Quoted in Maurice Issermann, Which Side Were You On The American Communist Party During the Second<br />
World War (Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 1982), ix.<br />
27. John Earl Haynes contends that the authors involved in this project were united by a shared interpretation of "Communism<br />
as an antidemocratic political movement that sought to replace America’s system of democratic liberties with a tyrannical<br />
regime and also regarded the CPUSA as subordinate to Soviet Communism." See John Earl Haynes, "An Essay on Historical<br />
Writing on Domestic Communism and Anti-Communism," in John Earl Haynes Historical Writings Online Archive<br />
.<br />
28. See Theodore Draper, The Roots of American Communism (New York: Viking Press, 1957); Theodore Draper, American<br />
Communism and Soviet Russia (New York: Viking Press, 1960). Theodore and his infamous younger brother Hal Draper<br />
were both involved in radical youth politics during the thirties. Theodore Draper was a member of the Young Communist<br />
League and an avid supported of the Popular Front. His younger brother Hal was a devout Trotskyist and member of the<br />
Young People's Socialist League. Hal gained notoriety in 1938 as a pivotal figure in leading the YPSL out of the Socialist<br />
Party, helping to found the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party. Theodore broke with the YCL in 1939 during the era of the<br />
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, continuing on to become an avid liberal critic of the communist movement. For a sample of<br />
Theodore's YCL writings on the Popular Front see Theodore Draper, "If The Democracies Unite," Young Communist Review<br />
3, no.6 (August, 1938): 12-13.<br />
29. In the same passage, Draper commented that he had gotten his internal documents, that were usually marked "Read and<br />
Destroy," from "a good fairy that works for historians." See Draper, American Communism, 5-6.<br />
30. See William Z. Foster, History of the Communist Party of the United States (New York: International Publishers, 1952).<br />
31. Relations between Browder and Foster had been sour for a number of years, not just from severe ideological disagreements,<br />
but stemming from a deep personal conflict concerning who ought to be leader of the CPUSA. In the early days of<br />
Foster's conversion from syndicalism to Leninism, Browder acted as one of his chief assistants in the internal politic fights<br />
of the CPUSA. Beginning in late 1924, Foster spent a majority of the next decade attempting to win the favor of the<br />
Comintern to install himself as leader of the Party. This internal leadership struggle came to a climax in the middle of<br />
1929 when Lovestone, flexing his muscles as Party leader with a large majority, attempted to lead an internal revolt<br />
against the "Class <strong>Against</strong> Class" line of the Comintern. In the aftermath of a series of Moscow meetings, Browder came<br />
into favor with the Comintern to become leader of the CPUSA, leaving Foster essentially isolated and bitter towards his<br />
152
NOTES<br />
political displacement by his former protégé. During the Popular Front era, a political line the Foster vehemently opposed,<br />
personal tensions continued to rise between Foster and Browder, with Foster waiting primarily on the political sidelines for<br />
the opportune moment to denounce Browder. For a highly dramatized and insightful narrative of the 1929 American<br />
Commission meeting and Foster's role in trying to secure for himself a position of leadership see Theodore Draper, American<br />
Communism,405-441.<br />
32. Though Browder was demonized by his former comrades both domestically internationally, Browder never fully turned<br />
his back on the CPUSA by either cooperating with Federal investigations or denouncing the party in public which would<br />
have strengthened "totalitarian theorists." The closest that Browder ever came in "exposing" the CPUSA to any public<br />
scorn was by sharing collections of private documents and materials with his close confidant and former CPUSA "fellow<br />
traveller" Phillip Jaffe. See Earl Browder, Marx and America: Why Communism Failed in the US (New York: Duell,<br />
Sloan and Pearce, 1958); Phillip J. Jaffe, The Rise and Fall of American Communism (New York: Horizon Press, 1975).<br />
33. In a 1957 interview with reporter Mike Wallace, Browder stated, "I think that it is very necessary for America to assimilate<br />
intellectually, emotionally the experience of the 1930's when the Communist Party was an influence here… and not merely<br />
to throw it off as something extraneous… that what occurred in those years was not a victory of an alien experience, but an<br />
authentic part of America's experience. And if America cannot assimilate that and understand it… it will leave a trauma in<br />
the national mind that will cause trouble for our country in the future." Quoted in Jaffe, 182. Browder's Popular Front<br />
strategy centred upon emphasising the "Americanism" of the CPUSA. For the major work that developed Browder's<br />
"Americanism" thesis see Earl Browder, Who Are the Americans (New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1936).<br />
34. John McIlroy and Alan Campbell, ""Nina Ponomareva's.""<br />
35. In what was intended to be a "secret speech" to the top leaders of the CPSU, Khrushchev openly denounced the legacy of<br />
Joseph Stalin and "exposed" the crimes of Stalin's regime. On June 5, 1956 the New York Times obtained a copy of the<br />
speech and printed its text in full, creating a period of immense crisis for communist parties internationally. According to<br />
the analysis offered by the Times, Khrushchev had exposed Stalin as "a savage, half-mad, power-crazed despot whose<br />
reign had been enforced by terror, torture and brute force." Quoted in Lawrence Lader, Power on the Left: American Radical<br />
Movements Since 1946 (New York: W.W. Norton, 1979), 121.<br />
36. For a review of some of the theoretical and methodological trends that came out of the New Left Review see Perry Anderson,<br />
Considerations on Western Marxism (London: New Left Review Books, 1976).<br />
37. Perry Anderson, "Communist Party History," in People's History and Social Theory, ed. Raphael Samuel (London:<br />
Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1978), 148.<br />
38. See Raphael Samuel, "The Lost World of British Communism," New Left Review 154 (1985): 3-53; "Staying Power:<br />
TLWBC, Part Two," New Left Review 156 (1986): 63-113; "Class Politics: TLWBC, Part Three," New Left Review 165<br />
(1987): 52-91.<br />
39. Raphael Samuel, "The Lost World," 14.<br />
40. Narratives on the CPGB that have been influenced by "New Left" revisionism include Geoff Andrews, Nina Fishman and<br />
Kevin Morgan, Opening the Books. Essays on the Social and Cultural History of the British Communist Party (London:<br />
Pluto Press, 1995.); Geoff Andrews, Endgames and New Times. The Final Years of British Communism 1964-1991 (London:<br />
Lawrence & Wishart, 2004); Noreen Branson, History of the Communist Party of Great Britain, 1927-1941 (London:<br />
Lawrence and Wishart, 1985); Noreen Branson, History of the Communist Party of Great Britain, 1941-1951 (London:<br />
Lawrence and Wishart, 1997); Kevin Morgan, <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong> and War: Ruptures and Continuities in British Communist<br />
Politics 1935-1941 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1989); Andy Croft, A Weapon in the Struggle: The Cultural<br />
History of the Communist Party in Britain (London: Pluto Press, 1998); John McIlroy, Kevin Morgan and Alan<br />
Campbell, Party People, Communist Lives: Explorations In Biography (London: Lawrence & Wishart, 2001).<br />
41. See Isserman, Which Side; Fraser M. Ottanelli, The Communist Party of the United States: From the Depression to World<br />
War II (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1991).<br />
42. In his preface, Isserman reflected upon the relationship of the sixties with CP revisionism stating, "But the collapse of the<br />
apocalyptic expectations of the late 1960's created a hunger among this new generation of left-wing activists for a tradition<br />
that could serve as both a source of political reference and an inspiration in what now was clearly to be a prolonged struggle.<br />
Issermann, Which Side, ix. Isserman also produced a text on New Left student radicalism that attempted to bridge the<br />
gaps in the history between the communist left and the New Left. See Maurice Isserman, If I Had a Hammer: The Death<br />
of the Old Left and the Birth of the New Left (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1993).<br />
43. In an upcoming publication on the CPGB, Kevin Morgan comments on generational analysis, arguing that "no concept is<br />
more important in making sense of the attitudes and alignments of communists." Kevin Morgan, "Communists and British<br />
Society, 1920-1991: People of a Special Mould: Chapter 7, Trajectories and Collisions," (Unpublished Manuscript: Email<br />
Correspondence, January 2005), 2.<br />
44. See Harvey Klehr, The Heyday of American Communism: The Depression Decade (New York: Basic Books, 1984).<br />
45. Ottanelli, 5.<br />
46. For examples of recent "revisionist" trends in historiography for the CPUSA see Robbie Liberman. My Song is my<br />
Weapon: People’s Songs, American Communism, and the Politics of Culture, 1930-1950 (Chicago: University of Illinois<br />
Press, 1989); Michael E. Brown, New Studies in the Politics and Culture of U.S. Communism. (New York: Monthly Review<br />
Press, 1993); Mark Naison, Communists in Harlem During the Depression (Urbana: University of Illinois Press,<br />
1983); Paul Buhle, Marxism in the United States: Remapping the History of the American Left (New York: Verso, 1991).<br />
47. For a critical commentary on the development of communist historiography and the role of "espionage" in influencing<br />
modern studies see Maurice Isserman, "Open Archives and Open Minds: "Traditionalists" Versus "Revisionists" After<br />
Venona," American Communist History 4, no.2 (Fall, 2005): 215-223.<br />
48. See Andrew Thorpe, The British Communist Party and Moscow, 1920-43 (Manchester: Manchester University Press,<br />
2000).<br />
49. Andrew Thorpe, "Comintern 'Control' of the Communist Party of Great Britain," English Historical Review 113, (1998):<br />
645-646.<br />
50. John Mcilroy and Alan Campbell, "A Peripheral Vision: Communist Historiography In Britain," American Communist<br />
History 4, no.2 (Fall, 2005): 142-143.<br />
51. David Howell, "Review of Thorpe, British Communist Party," English Historical Review 116 (2001): 916.<br />
52. Prior to his study of the CPGB, Thorpe edited an essay collection that explored the relationship of national parties to the<br />
Comintern during the inter-war period. See International Communism and the Communist International, 1919-43, ed.<br />
Tim Rees and Andrew Thorpe (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1998).<br />
153
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
53. John Earl Haynes, Harvey Klehr and Kyrill M. Anderson, The Soviet World of American Communism (New Haven: Yale<br />
University Press, 1998). Outside of scholarly collaboration on a variety of projects, Haynes and Klehr authored a 1992<br />
publication that closed with the statement that, "American communism is a sad tale of wasted commitment and wasted<br />
life." To their scholarly credit, Haynes and Klehr included a lengthy chapter addressing the role and development of the<br />
YCL and their interaction with other youth movements. See John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, The American Communist<br />
Movement: Storming Heaven Itself (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1992), 182.<br />
54. Ellen Schrecker, "Review of The Soviet World of American Communism," The Journal of American History 85, no.4<br />
(March, 1999): 1647-1648.<br />
55. See John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage In America (New Haven: Yale University<br />
Press, 1999).<br />
56. For a revisionist critique of Haynes and Klehr and the larger phenomenon of Cold War "triumphalism" see Cold War<br />
Triumphalism : The Misuse Of History After The Fall Of Communism, ed. Ellen Schrecker (New York: New Press, 2004).<br />
To their credit, Haynes and Klehr deemed Senator McCarthy's campaigns "reckless," but have concluded that the intense<br />
anti-communist campaigns were completely warranted.<br />
57. See John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, In Denial: Historians, Communism, & Espionage (San Francisco: Encounter<br />
Books, 2003). Haynes and Klehr did identify Maurice Isserman as an example of what they considered a "good revisionist,"<br />
but posited their blanket denunciations against all other historians who questioned their conclusions and approach.<br />
58. Propaganda analysis became intimately linked with totalitarian theory during the Cold War. Prior to the Cold War, propaganda<br />
analysis made extensive use of communist literature to explain the phenomenon of Western communism, not to explicitly<br />
condemn it. In a 1939 article, two of the pioneering American theorists of propaganda studies defined propaganda<br />
as "the manipulation of symbols to influence controversial attitudes." Within the same journal in 1951, propaganda came<br />
to be accepted as "defined broadly as ranging from agitation to political education, becomes the means of transmission, the<br />
essential link of expression, at once highly rigid and infinitely flexible, which continually enlightens the masses, prepares<br />
them, leads them gradually to join the vanguard." This trend within propaganda studies was not new within the Cold War,<br />
but was greatly intensified by totalitarian theory. The tactic of linking together the Communist and Fascist movements as<br />
totalitarian relatives became a regular feature of propaganda studies that still survives after the end of the Cold War. During<br />
WWII, William Garber evaluated the roots and implications of "propaganda studies" contending: "The Institute for<br />
Propaganda Analysis, which devoted itself to the critical survey of current propaganda, has suspended its operations for<br />
the duration of the war. The reason given is interesting: that the approach utilized by the Institute might serve to disturb the<br />
unity needed for the war effort. This serves to raise several questions. Was there not something defective about the type of<br />
analysis employed by the Institute that its directors were forced to the conclusion that they might be hindering national defense<br />
Might not propaganda analysis be employed to strengthen a democracy's unity and morale Was there not something<br />
fallacious in the Institute's definition of propaganda, in that it made no distinction between truth and falsity, between<br />
good and evil, but labeled as propaganda everything which is "the expression of opinion or action by individuals or groups<br />
deliberately designed to influence opinions or actions of other individuals or groups with reference to predetermined<br />
ends"" See Harold D. Lasswell and Dorothy Blumenstock, "The Volume of Communist Propaganda in Chicago," The<br />
Public Opinion Quarterly 3, no. 1 (Jan., 1939), 63; Jean-Marie Domenach, "Leninist Propaganda," The Public Opinion<br />
Quarterly 15, no. 2 (Summer, 1951), 265; J. A. Lynch, "The Role of Propaganda in a Liberal Democracy," Peabody Journal<br />
of Education 17, no. 6 (May, 1940), 370-371; William Garber, "Propaganda Analysis-To What Ends" The American<br />
Journal of Sociology 48, no. 2 (Sep., 1942), 240.<br />
59. Marvin Bressler, "Mass Persuasion and the Analysis of Language: A Critical Evaluation," Journal of Educational Sociology<br />
33, no. 1 (Sep., 1959): 18-19.<br />
60. See V.I. Lenin, "The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism," in V.I. Lenin Internet Archive<br />
.<br />
61. V.I. Lenin, "The Tasks of the <strong>Youth</strong> Leagues: Speech Delivered At The Third All-Russia Congress of The Russian Young<br />
Communist League," in The V.I. Lenin Internet Archive .<br />
62. On the subject of political newspapers Lenin stated, "In our opinion, the starting-point of our activities, the first step towards<br />
creating the desired organisation, or, let us say, the main thread which, if followed, would enable us steadily to develop,<br />
deepen, and extend that organisation, should be the founding of an All-Russian political newspaper. A newspaper is<br />
what we most of all need… The role of a newspaper, however, is not limited solely to the dissemination of ideas, to political<br />
education, and to the enlistment of political allies. A newspaper is not only a collective propagandist and a collective<br />
agitator, it is also a collective organiser. In this last respect it may be likened to the scaffolding round a building under<br />
construction, which marks the contours of the structure and facilitates communication between the builders, enabling them<br />
to distribute the work and to view the common results achieved by their organised labour. With the aid of the newspaper,<br />
and through it, a permanent organisation will naturally lake shape that will engage, not only in local activities, but in regular<br />
general work, and will train its members to follow political events carefully, appraise their significance and their effect<br />
on the various strata of the population, and develop effective means for the revolutionary party to influence these events."<br />
See V.I. Lenin, "Where to Begin," in The V.I. Lenin Internet Archive .<br />
63. For communists, propaganda promoted a certain form of political education that linked theory with concrete practical<br />
activities. At the Second Comintern Congress, Willie Münzenberg of the YCI, who later became the chief Comintern<br />
propagandist in Western Europe, reflected on the differences between the three Internationals in terms of propaganda and<br />
activities stating, " If the First International predicted the development of the future and tried to find the paths it would<br />
take, and if the Second International rallied and organised the proletariat, then the Communist International is the International<br />
of open mass action, the International of revolutionary realisation, of the deed… That is the great practical success<br />
of revolutionary propaganda, and it is far more valuable for the proletarian revolution than the issue of a thousand new<br />
party cards." See "Minutes of the Second Congress of the Communist International: Evening Session of July 29," in The<br />
History of the Communist International Internet Archive ;<br />
Helmut Gruber, "Willi Munzenberg's German Communist Propaganda Empire 1921-1933," The<br />
Journal of Modern History 38, no.3 (September, 1966): 278-297.<br />
64. Linda Colley, Britons: Forging the Nation 1707-1837 (New Haven: Yale UP, 1992), 5-6. For a recent study on the evolution<br />
of communist identity see Cris Shore, Italian Communism: The Escape From Leninism (London: Pluto, 1990).<br />
65. William Glaser reflected on the "dualist" nature of political propaganda during the Cold War era. Glaser reflected on how<br />
communist propaganda invoked a "two-valued orientation" that "characteristically arrange all the approved concepts in<br />
one pile and all disapproved concepts in the another. They then use the concepts with the favourable connotations to de-<br />
154
NOTES<br />
scribe themselves and the persons and the things they like and all the concepts of the unfavourable connotations to describe<br />
the persons and things they dislike… Each side contends that the other does not sincerely believe what it says." See<br />
William Glaser, "The Semantics of the Cold War," The Public Opinion Quarterly 20, no.4 (Winter, 1956-57): 691-716.<br />
For another insightful commentary on Cold War language, symbols and propaganda see Ole R. Holsti, "The Study of International<br />
Politics Makes Strange Bedfellows: Theories of the Radical Right and the Radical Left," The American Political<br />
Science Review 68, no.1 (March, 1974): 217-242.<br />
66. See V.I. Lenin, "Opportunism and the Collapse of the Second International," in The V.I. Lenin Internet Archive<br />
.<br />
67. By its very nature, periodization is an artificial historical tool that can obscure trends of continuity by focusing on dramatic<br />
divergence and change. The decision to reperiodize the inter-war era by generations was not an artificial choice, but<br />
flowed directly from the language utilized in Popular Front propaganda. Communists contended that the Great Depression<br />
and the Nazi Reich redefined world politics, necessitating a new approach to communist theory and practice. Popular<br />
Front propaganda contended that the youth of the thirties had a distinctly different world outlook and that this "new generation"<br />
was far more receptive to Popular Front theory and tactics. The Comintern and YCI therefore put great emphasis<br />
upon themes of "youth" and an "anti-fascist generation" in their Popular Front program. For a communist comparison of<br />
the distinctions between generations see Earl Browder, "Your Generation and Mine," Young Communist Review 4, no.3<br />
(May, 1939): 4-6.<br />
68. To "deny" that the communist movement was directed by the Comintern distorts the realities of this period and democratic<br />
centralism. The problem with studies like Thorpe's is that it focuses on individual cases of dissent that dismiss the<br />
Comintern's ability to coerce conformity. Numerous examples from the inter-war period show that continued dissent typically<br />
resulted in expulsion and demonization. The problem with the Haynes-Klehr approach is that it focuses upon the<br />
treasonous and slavish mindset that facilitated consent to the Comintern, not addressing the historical context or propaganda<br />
that bred active consent in "Stalinist" culture. The Comintern was consciously formed as a highly centralized institution<br />
for strategic reasons and continued to exert its leadership until it was dissolved in 1943. Individuals followed<br />
Comintern directives because they were interpreted to them through effective propaganda that bred consent and active<br />
agreement; communists were also well aware that active dissent could be met with coercion. High membership fluctuation<br />
in this period reflects the tensions involved in this process and relationship.<br />
VANGUARD OF THE RED DAWN: THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE LENINIST GENERATION<br />
1. Quoted in Victor Privalov, The Young Communist International and its Origins (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1971), 7-8.<br />
2. ECYCI, Remove the Frontiers! An Appeal for the International Organization of all Young Workers (Berlin: ECYCI,<br />
1920), 4.<br />
3. The Communist International, also known as the Third International or the Comintern, was founded in March, 1919 under<br />
the leadership of V.I. Lenin to create a new, highly centralized organization of international revolutionaries. The goal of<br />
the Comintern was to replace the "discredited" & reformist leadership of the Second International with a "World Communist<br />
Party" to lead the working class in an international socialist revolution.<br />
4. The Bolshevik Party was established in 1903 during a split within the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party between<br />
Menshevik reformists and Bolshevik revolutionaries. In 1918 the Bolsheviks changed their name to the "All-Russian<br />
Communist Party (Bolsheviks)," often known simply as the "Communist Party."<br />
5. The Second International, later known as the Labour and Socialist International, was founded in 1889 as a federalist body<br />
of political parties and labor unions to continue the movement for international socialism under the Marxist traditions of<br />
the First International. After the death of Engels in 1895, the Second International increasingly came under the "reformist"<br />
influences of the German evolutionary socialist Eduard Bernstein. With the outbreak of WWI, the Second International<br />
fell into disarray, helping to facilitate the establishment of the Comintern.<br />
6. Rejecting the Wilsonian vision of post-war reconstruction, the SYI came to accepting the basis of Lenin's April Thesis that<br />
capitulation to capitalist traditions and institutions under the post-war era of "Imperialism" would serve to strengthen capitalism,<br />
betray the revolution and in turn enable the perpetuation of future imperialist wars. See Arno Mayer, Wilson vs.<br />
Lenin: Political Origins of the New Diplomacy 1917-1918, (Cleveland: Meridian Books, 1964).<br />
7. See R. Craig Nation, War on War: Lenin, the Zimmerwald Left, and the Origins of Communist Internationalism (London:<br />
Duke University Press, 1989), ix.<br />
8. Karl Liebknecht, "Anti-Militarism of the Old and the New International" in Karl Liebknecht Internet Archive<br />
.<br />
9. Quoted in Nation, 10.<br />
10. Albert S. Lindemann, A History of European Socialism (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983), 188.<br />
11. V.I. Lenin, "Socialism and War," in The Lenin Anthology, ed. Robert C. Tucker (New York: W.W. Norton, 1975), 183.<br />
Historical discourse has rarely addressed the continuities concerning peace that existed between the Second and Third Internationals.<br />
See Martin Ceadal, "The First Communist Peace Society: The British Anti-War Movement 1932-1935,"<br />
Twentieth Century British History 1, no.1 (1990): 58-86.<br />
12. See V.I. Lenin, "Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism," in The Lenin Anthology, ed. Robert C. Tucker (New York:<br />
W.W. Norton, 1975), 204-274.<br />
13. Karl Liebknecht was a member of the left wing of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) and is considered the main<br />
founder of the Socialist <strong>Youth</strong> International. Despite several terms in prison, Liebknecht consistently fought for a revolutionary<br />
anti-militarist policy, being the only member of the German Reichstag to vote against war in December, 1914.<br />
14. Victor Privalov, The Young Communist International and its Origins (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1971), 29.<br />
15. Cornell, Revolutionary Vanguard, 11.<br />
16. Privalov, 28-29.<br />
17. Karl Liebknecht, "Anti-militarism in Germany and German Social-Democracy " in Karl Liebknecht Internet Archive<br />
; Karl Liebknecht,<br />
"The Anti-militarist Tasks of German Social-Democracy " in Karl Liebknecht Internet Archive<br />
.<br />
18. Karl Liebknecht, " The Future Belongs to the People: Education in Germany in War Time" in Karl Liebknecht Internet<br />
Archive .<br />
155
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
19. Richard Cornell, <strong>Youth</strong> and Communism: An Historical Analysis of International Communist <strong>Youth</strong> Movements (New<br />
York: Walker and Co., 1965), 14.<br />
20. R. Craig Nation, following the intellectual lead of Branko Lazitch and Milorad M. Drachkovitch, is one of the few historians<br />
to emphasize this generational dynamic with the Communist movement stating, "Not surprisingly, the first generation<br />
of communist activists was predominately youthful, radicalized by the war, and inspired by the image of a world healed<br />
and remade, the image of a communist society. See Nation, 230.<br />
21. Before the success of the Bolshevik Revolution, many have argued that Lenin was primarily a marginalized, although well<br />
known figure within the socialist movement. The Bolsheviks utilized the slogan of "Land, Bread and Peace" to gain Russian<br />
popular support. With the success of the revolution and the establishment of the Comintern, Lenin assumed leadership<br />
of the anti-war and revolutionary movements, including the socialist youth. See Stanley W. Page, "Lenin's<br />
Assumption of International Proletarian Leadership," The Journal of Modern History 26, no. 3 (September, 1954): 233-<br />
245.<br />
22. Gil Green, "Sweet Sixteen, the YCL Anniversary," Young Communist Review 3, no.2 (April, 1938): 3,5.<br />
23. YCLGB, League Training Syllabus (London: YCLGB, 1925), 56. Albert Lindemann described the failures of the Second<br />
International with the outbreak of the war: "According to these resolutions socialists were to do all in their power to prevent<br />
the outbreak of war; if war broke out nevertheless, they were to direct their efforts to ending it quickly. It left ambiguous,<br />
however, whether these efforts were to be of an exclusively revolutionary nature of whether they could take the<br />
less audacious form of working for a simple negotiated peace. After the war broke out, and even after it became clear that<br />
the conflict was destined to be long and bloody, the leaders of the International took no initiative either to foment revolutionary<br />
opposition or to work for a negotiated peace." See Albert S. Lindemann, The 'Red Years:' European Socialism<br />
Versus Bolshevism, 1919-1921 (Berkley: University of California Press, 1974), 16.<br />
24. Kevin McDermott and Jeremy Agnew, The Comintern: A History of International Communism From Lenin to Stalin (New<br />
York: St. Martin's Press, 1997), 4.<br />
25. Helmut Gruber, International Communism in the Era of Lenin: A Documentary History (Greenwich: Fawcett Publications,<br />
1967), 53.<br />
26. "The War and the Tasks of the Socialist <strong>Youth</strong> Organizations," in The Bolsheviks and the World War, ed. Olga Hess<br />
Gankin and H.H. Fisher (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1960), 308.<br />
27. YCLGB, A Short History of the YCI, 9-10.<br />
28. Willi Münzenberg, "The International <strong>Youth</strong> Conference at Berne, April 5-7, 1915," in The Bolsheviks and the World War,<br />
ed. Olga Hess Gankin and H.H. Fisher (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1960), 306.<br />
29. YCI, After Twenty Years: The History of the <strong>Youth</strong> International (London: Dorrit Press, 1927), 7.<br />
30. Cornell, Revolutionary Vanguard, 20.<br />
31. "The Day of <strong>Youth</strong>," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Workers League 1, no.5 (August-September, 1922):<br />
3.<br />
32. Nation, 72.<br />
33. John Riddell, Lenin's Struggle for a Revolutionary International, Documents: 1907-1916, The Preparatory Years (New<br />
York: Monad Press, 1986), 280.<br />
34. V.I. Lenin, "The "Disarmament" Slogan," in V.I. Lenin Internet Archive .<br />
35. Julius Braunthal, History of the International, Volume II: 1914-1943 (New York: Frederick A. Praeger Publishers, 1967),<br />
42.<br />
36. See "International Socialist Conference at Zimmerwald Manifesto," in History of the Second International Internet Archive<br />
.<br />
37. The concept of revolutionary defeatism was one advanced by Lenin as a strategy to bring an end to WWI and to advance<br />
socialist revolution. Lenin insisted that the working class had nothing to gain with the military victory of their own nation<br />
during an imperialist war and should instead use their military training to bring defeat to their own nation, transforming the<br />
"imperialist war into a civil war." See V.I. Lenin, "The Defeat of Russia and the Revolutionary Crisis," in V.I. Lenin<br />
Internet Archive . In order to make defeatism a viable<br />
strategy, Lenin had the Soviet delegation insist at the Hague International Peace Congress in 1922 that "the only possible<br />
method of combating war is to preserve existing, and to form new, illegal organisations in which all revolutionaries taking<br />
part in a war carry on prolonged anti-war activities," preparing workers for a defeatist policy before the actual outbreak of<br />
war. See V.I. Lenin, "Notes On The Tasks Of Our Delegation At The Hague," in V.I. Lenin Internet Archive<br />
. Prior to the Zimmerwald Conferences, the Russian<br />
Bolsheviks had previously been a largely marginalized, though articulate sect within the Second International. See Page,<br />
241-242.<br />
38. Ibid, 242.<br />
39. Branko Lazitch and Milorad M. Drachkovitch, Lenin and the Comintern Volume I (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press,<br />
1972), 19.<br />
40. Quoted in Gorsuch, 16. Privalov contends that the attitude of Lenin in dealing with the youth was crucial in attracting the<br />
youth to Bolshevism stating, "(Lenin) advocated patience in dealing with young people's mistakes, and the need to correct<br />
them through persuasion and not by force. He stressed that the older generation was often incapable of dealing properly<br />
with young people, and that, under the new conditions, the young people were bound to have a different approach to socialism<br />
from their fathers." See Privalov, 54.<br />
41. Eric Hobsbawm, Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century 1914-1991 (London:Pantheon, 1995),59.<br />
42. Zinoviev was the Russian Chairman of the Comintern and a leading member of the Zimmerwald Left and the Bolshevik<br />
Party. Zinoviev was Lenin's closest associate and accompanied him on a sealed train back into Russia after the abdication<br />
of the Tsar during the February Revolution in 1917. Although he was Lenin's closest ally, Zinoviev was replaced by Leon<br />
Trotsky as Lenin's second in command after Zinoviev promoted negotiations with Bolshevik opponents in the Railway<br />
Union after the October Revolution.<br />
43. Gregory Zinoviev, "To the Proletarian <strong>Youth</strong>," in The Gregory Zinoviev Archive<br />
. *The initial transcription done by Sally Ryan for the<br />
Zinoviev archive stated, "The proletarian youth it was that suffered most during the war of 1914-1919. But the proletarian<br />
youth it was also that first raised the voice of protest against that destructive war." This grammatically incorrect translation<br />
has been changed in this dissertation. Any inconsistencies and changes in translations have been identified and any<br />
incorrectness remains my own.<br />
156
NOTES<br />
44. "Minutes of the Second Congress of the Communist International: The Statutes of the Communist International," in The<br />
History of the Communist International Internet Archive .<br />
45. The Comintern avoided ideological debates on Leninism by using an associational language centred on betrayal, playing<br />
on the disillusionment and fears of the youth. Zinoviev portrayed youth's association with the Comintern as a natural phenomenon<br />
for those who felt betrayed by the actions of the Second International. Denunciations of the Second International<br />
and appeals to the martyrdom of Liebknecht became a standard formula in the formation of political culture for the<br />
Leninist Generation. Comintern literature continually stated that if youth did not take part in a revolutionary "war against<br />
war" under their "correct leadership" that their generation would be plagued with further imperialist war in the future.<br />
Throughout the war Lenin published articles dealing with the slogan of "war against war," insisting that such slogans were<br />
simply empty phrases unless such a struggle was led under a "correct revolutionary leadership." One article in 1915 on the<br />
subject of "defeatism" stated, "A "revolutionary struggle against the war" is merely an empty and meaning less exclamation,<br />
something at which the heroes of the Second International excel, unless it means revolutionary action against one’s<br />
own government even in wartime. One has only to do some thinking in order to understand this. Wartime revolutionary<br />
action against one’s own government indubitably means, not only desiring its defeat, but really facilitating such a defeat.<br />
("Discerning reader": note that this does not mean "blowing up bridges," organising unsuccessful strikes in the war industries,<br />
and in general helping the government defeat the revolutionaries.)… A revolution in wartime means civil war; the<br />
conversion of a war between governments into a civil war is, on the one hand, facilitated by military reverses ("defeats")<br />
of governments; on the other hand, one cannot actually strive for such a conversion without thereby facilitating defeat…<br />
Without such action, millions of ultra-revolutionary phrases such as a war against "the war and the conditions, etc." are not<br />
worth a brass farthing. See V.I. Lenin, "The Defeat of One's Own Government in the Imperialist War," in The V.I. Lenin<br />
Internet Archive .<br />
46. Cornell, <strong>Youth</strong> and Communism, 21.<br />
47. CPGB, The Role and Tasks of the Young Communist League (London: CPGB, 1927), 5.<br />
48. O. Carlson, "Our Martyrs," in Manuals For Proletarian Anniversaries, No. 1: January Fifteenth, The Murder of Karl<br />
Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, ed. ECYCI (London: YCLGB, 1923), 7,8.<br />
49. For commentary on the importance of the formation of the Comintern sponsored Red International of Labor Unions<br />
(RILU) in 1921 in winning over working-class adults see William Z. Foster, History of the Three International: The World<br />
Socialist and Communist Movements From 1848 to the Present (New York: Greenwood Press, 1968), 318-326.<br />
50. Witold S. Sworakowski, "The Communist <strong>Youth</strong> International," in World Communism: A Handbook 1918-1965, ed. Witold<br />
S. Sworakowski (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 1973), 93.<br />
51. Cornell, Revolutionary Vanguard, 27.<br />
52. Lazitch and Drachkovitch, 221.<br />
53. The Program adopted by the YCI at its first meeting in November, 1919 boldly stated, "The working class youth is the<br />
most active and revolutionary part of the proletariat." Though later statements by the YCI invoked a greater degree of deference<br />
to the leadership of the Comintern, especially to the Russian Bolshevik Party, the early public statements of the<br />
communist youth asserted that they were the most revolutionary elements of the communist movement, leading the adults<br />
away from reformism and the influences of the Second International. See ECYCI, "The Program of the Young Communist<br />
International as Adopted at the Berlin Congress of the YCI, November 1919," in The Programs of the Young Communist<br />
International (Berlin: Publishing House of the Young International, 1923), 23.<br />
54. Sworakowski, 93.<br />
55. The "Twenty-One Points of Admission" were consciously designed to exclude all reformist elements from the Comintern<br />
and to show an organizational break with the federated structure of the Second International. See L.J. Macfarlane, The<br />
British Communist Party: Its Origin and Development Until 1929 (London: MacGibbon and Key, 1966), 63.<br />
56. ECCI, "The Communist International and the Communist <strong>Youth</strong> Movement," in The History of the Communist International<br />
Internet Archive .<br />
57. Since the Comintern posited they were a "World Communist Party," references to the "vanguard" role of the Communist<br />
Party can also be understood as a suggestion of the Comintern's leadership since it was the role of the Communist Parties<br />
to apply the "correct decisions" of the Comintern within their national context.<br />
58. ECYCI, The Draft Programme of the Young Communist International (London: Publishing House of the YCI, 1924), 22.<br />
59. After Lenin's death in Jaunary, 1924 the YCI linked together memorials of Lenin with Rosa Luxemburg and Karl<br />
Liebknecht. The month of January was utilized in communist youth propaganda to highlight the teachings and legacies of<br />
these leaders and their importance to the youth movement.<br />
60. Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, "A Call to the Workers of the World," in the Rosa Luxemburg Internet Archive<br />
.<br />
61. Arvid Vretling, <strong>Youth</strong> in the Class Struggle: Being a Short History of the Young Communist Movement (ECYCI, 1926),<br />
15.<br />
62. "International Liebknecht Day," <strong>Youth</strong>: Official Organ of the Young Workers League 1, no.1 (February, 1922): 3.<br />
63. O. Carlson, "Karl Liebknecht," in Manuals For Proletarian Anniversaries, No. 1: January Fifteenth, The Murder of Karl<br />
Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, ed. ECYCI (London: YCLGB, 1923), 15.<br />
64. The Comintern directed its critiques not only against the Second International, but also internally stating that communists<br />
were "incorrectly" applying Comintern directives or too mechanically attempting to apply directives "based on Russian<br />
conditions." The Comintern was receptive to internal and external critiques, but their early public statements never critiqued<br />
the "revolutionary potential" of the masses. See V.I. Lenin, "Five Years Of The Russian Revolution And The Prospects<br />
Of The World Revolution Report To The Fourth Congress Of The Communist International, November 13, 1922," in<br />
The History of the Communist International Internet Archive .<br />
65. F.L. Carsten, Revolution in Central Europe, 1918-1919 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1972), 325-326.<br />
66. D. Kirby, War, Peace and Revolution: International Socialism at the Crossroads 1914-1918 (New York: St. Martin's<br />
Press, 1986), 151.<br />
67. In 1921, after loosing their youth leagues to the Comintern, the Socialist International and the Amsterdam International<br />
(2.5 International) each set up new international youth organizations, the Young Workers International and the International<br />
Working Union of Socialist <strong>Youth</strong> Organizations respectively. With the amalgamation of the Amsterdam International<br />
back into the Socialist International in 1923, the IWUSYO followed suit and joined the Young Worker's<br />
International.<br />
157
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
68. ECYCI, The Fundamental Problems of the Young Communist Movement (Berlin: The Committee, 1922), 74-75.<br />
69. Quoted in Ibid., 66<br />
70. See ECCI, "Theses on Comintern Tactics: 5 December 1922," in The History of the Communist International Internet<br />
Archive .<br />
71. The United Front tactic involved several elements of activity, all of which ultimately aimed to destroy the socialist movement.<br />
The communists would openly propagate their intent to destroy social democracy while at the same time sending<br />
out initiatives to the socialist rank-and-file for joint activity. When socialist leaders would prohibit their membership from<br />
joint activity, the communists would use the potential crisis to insist that socialists stood against working-class unity and<br />
were actively splitting the movement. If socialists did participate in coalitions, the communists would blame any failures<br />
of the activities upon the reformism of socialists, once again attempting to discredit the movement. The United Front was<br />
intentionally formulated to limit the political mobility of the social-democratic leadership and to portray them as "class<br />
traitors," no matter what actions they took in relation to communist initiatives.<br />
72. ECYCI, From Third to Fourth: A Report on the Activities of the YCI Since Its Third World Congress (Stockholm: ECYCI,<br />
1924), 6,20,74.<br />
73. J.L. Douglas, Be Prepared For War! An Exposure of the Scout Association and Similar Attempts to Militarize the Young<br />
Workers (London: YCLGB, 1925), 5, 22.<br />
74. James P. Cannon, "The Bolshevization of the Party," in The James P. Cannon Internet Archive .<br />
75. Since its founding, the Comintern had consciously reached out to previously marginalized elements in the labor movement<br />
who were free from the ideological traditions of social democracy. Lenin argued that in forming Communist Parties that<br />
socialists needed to form a "party of a new type;" a strictly centralized body of "professional revolutionaries." See V.I.<br />
Lenin, "One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: The Crisis in Our Party" in The Lenin Anthology, ed. Robert C. Tucker (New<br />
York: W.W. Norton, 1975), 115-119.<br />
76. See V.I. Lenin, "Foreign Communist Parties and the Russian Spirit" in The Lenin Anthology, ed. Robert C. Tucker (New<br />
York: W.W. Norton, 1975), 626-627.<br />
77. After the death of Lenin in January, 1924 the Soviet and Comintern leadership increasingly began justifying their domestic<br />
and international positions by stating that their practice reflected the true legacy of "Leninism." In a speech delivered to<br />
the Second All-Union Congress of Soviets just days after Lenin's death, Stalin presented a moving eulogy linking Lenin's<br />
life with various elements of Soviet and Comintern policy, justifying his positions by arguing that they represented a correct<br />
interpretation of Leninist theory in practice. See J.V. Stalin, "On The Death Of Lenin: A Speech Delivered at the<br />
Second All-union Congress of Soviets," in The Joseph Stalin Internet Archive .<br />
78. Draper, 154-155.<br />
79. Bolshevization was intended to reconfigure the leadership structure of the communist movement. Strict discipline to the<br />
will of the International became a pre-requisite for leadership and resulted in the displacement of former intellectual leaders<br />
with more "proletarian" elements that the Comintern felt would be more "pliant" to Bolshevism. See Albert S. Lindemann,<br />
A History of European Socialism (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983), 272-273.<br />
80. ECYCI, From Third to Fourth, 18,30,36.<br />
81. Cornell, Revolutionary Vanguard, 300.<br />
82. Richard Cornell argues that during this period the "communist youth organizations had ceased to be independent political<br />
organizations united by a belief in the imminence of revolutions" and instead became Comintern functionaries for exposing<br />
and correcting disputes in the adult parties. What is neglected by Cornell's analysis is the willingness and energetic attitude<br />
that young communists expounded in embracing this new role. See Ibid., 287, 256-257.<br />
83. ECYCI, "Conference of the European Sections of the YCI," in The International of <strong>Youth</strong> (London: YCLGB, 1926), 7.<br />
84. R. Gyptner, From Isolation to the Masses: An Analytical Study of Organization, A Text Book For Young Communist<br />
Leagues (Berlin: ECYCI, 1923), 39.<br />
85. ECYCI, The Communist <strong>Youth</strong> International: Report on Activity Between the 4 th and 5 th Congress, 1924-1928 (London:<br />
Dorrit Press, 1928), 21-21.<br />
86. V.I. Lenin, "The Tasks of the <strong>Youth</strong> Leagues."<br />
87. ECYCI, Resolutions Adopted at the Fourth Congress of the Young Communist International (ECYCI, 1924), 19.<br />
88. The "Instruction Manual" written by Gyptner for the YCI in 1923 described the "Shop Nuclei" in the following terms: "In<br />
the labor organizations we work amongst the masses who have already the first glimmerings of truth, about the class war,<br />
the necessary opposition to the master class etc. Our work amongst them is only a partial one with very definite limits. In<br />
the workshops on the other hand, we approach a body of workers not necessarily organized in the unions and usually indifferent<br />
if not actually opposed to our work… We must have our basic units, our roots in the workshops. It is here from<br />
where our power must come. The combination of our members in a workshop is not a fraction as in a labor or other organization<br />
it is the nucleus upon which our organization must rest. The work then of these nuclei transcends in importance<br />
all other work. The nucleus is the unit of our new organization." Gyptner, 14-15.<br />
89. ECYCI, Instructions of the Building up of Nuclei and the Practical Work as the Basic Units of Communist Organization<br />
(Stockholm: ECYCI, 1924), 6.<br />
90. ECYCI, Fundamental Problems, 31.<br />
91. Ibid., 12, 17.<br />
92. Communist International Executive, Principles on Party Organization: Thesis on the Organization and Structure of the<br />
Communist Parties Adopted at the 3 rd Congress of the Communist International (Calcutta: Mass Publications, 1975), 47.<br />
93. See Arthur McIvor and Hugh Paterson, "Combating the Left: Victimisation and Anti-Labour Activities on Clydeside,<br />
1910-1939," in Militant Workers: Labour and Class Conflict on the Clyde 1900-1950, Essays in Honour of Harry<br />
McShane (1891-1988), ed. Robert Duncan and Arthur McIvor (Edinburgh: John Donald, 1992), 129-154.<br />
94. Dmytro Manuilsky, "On the End of Capitalist Stabilisation," The Communist International 9, no.17-18 (October 1, 1932):<br />
600.<br />
95. Earl Browder defined social fascism by analyzing the social function that socialist parties played. Browder stated, "When<br />
we speak of the Socialists as social fascists, we are not merely abusing them, we are giving the scientific description a<br />
name of the political role which they are performing. That socialism was to prepare the road for fascism, to prevent the<br />
struggle of the masses against fascism, and to tolerate and support the establishment of the fascist governments. Socialists<br />
in words, fascists in deeds! That is what social fascism means. It is an accurate, scientific, descriptive term applied to the<br />
158
NOTES<br />
Socialist Party." See Earl Browder, The Meaning of Social-<strong>Fascism</strong>: Its Historical and Theoretical Background (New<br />
York: Workers Library Publishers, 1933), 14-15.<br />
96. The ECYCI was forced to warn the youth on multiple occasions that the YCLs had gone "too far left," undercutting their<br />
ability to mobilize a mass movement of the youth. The primary concern of Comintern pronouncements of this period focused<br />
on the "right danger" as the chief problem facing the adult movement. Divergent to this trend in the adult movement,<br />
the YCI Plenum of 1930 increasingly began discussing the "left danger" that faced the youth movement. The YCI<br />
denounced the YCLs for their "discrepancy between word and deed," asserting that "The Young Communist organizations<br />
have in doing so often covered up their political passivity and organisational helplessness with radical phrases." See<br />
ECYCI, "Results of the YCI Plenum," The International of <strong>Youth</strong>: Organ of the Executive Committee of the Young Communist<br />
International (no vol.), no. 1 (April-May, 1930): 3-7.<br />
97. Though many communists later denounced the excesses of the Class <strong>Against</strong> Class period as a "suicidal move" directed by<br />
the Comintern, the militancy of this era did not represent a deviation from Leninism, but a militant intensification of traditional<br />
oppositional Leninist methods. While the Comintern and YCI spoke of their work during the Second and Third Periods<br />
as essential in building up a "truly Leninist" movement, communist leaders like Trotsky condemned the tactics and<br />
theories employed after 1924 essentially as heresy against the principles of Leninism, asserting that his international opposition<br />
represented "the real disciples of Marx and of Lenin." For Trotsky's detailed critique of the "revisionist trends" of<br />
the Comintern after 1924 and a denunciation of the "Class <strong>Against</strong> Class" program adopted by the Sixth World Congress<br />
see Leon Trotsky, "The Third International After Lenin, The Draft Program of the<br />
98. Communist International: A Criticism of Fundamentals," in The Leon Trotsky Internet Archive<br />
.<br />
99. McDermott and Agnew, 98-99.<br />
100. ECYCI, "The YCI Before its Fifth Congress," The International of <strong>Youth</strong>: Organ of the Executive Committee of the Young<br />
Communist International (no vol.), no. 7 (August, 1928): 8.<br />
101. ECYCI, Programme of the Young Communist International (London: YCLGB, 1929), 80.<br />
102. Ibid., 82.<br />
103. Otto Kuusinen, XII Plenum ECCI: Prepare For Power (London: Utopia Press, 1932), 29.<br />
104. Susumu Okano, "The War in the Far East and the Tasks of the Communists in the Struggle <strong>Against</strong> Imperialist War and<br />
Military Intervention <strong>Against</strong> the USSR," in XII Plenum ECCI Theses and Resolutions (London: Modern Books, 1932),<br />
49.<br />
105. "Fifth World Congress of Communist <strong>Youth</strong>," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Workers (Communist)<br />
League 7, no.11 (September, 1928): 6.<br />
106. Gil Green, "The War Danger and the <strong>Youth</strong>," Young Worker 8, no.15 (July 21, 1930): 5<br />
107. "Geneva Points to War," Young Worker 8, no.23 (November 17, 1930): 4.<br />
108. Agitprop Department of the Executive Committee of the Young Communist International, "Read and Learn: To All Readers<br />
of the <strong>Youth</strong> International," The International of <strong>Youth</strong>: Official Organ of the Executive Committee of the Young Communist<br />
International (no vol.), no. 1 (April-May, 1930): 39.<br />
109. YCLUSA, Who Are the Young Communists (New York: <strong>Youth</strong> Publishers, 1931), 21.<br />
110. V.E. Chemadanov, Young Communists and the Path to Soviet Power: Report to the January Plenum of the Young Communist<br />
International (New York: <strong>Youth</strong> Publishers, 1934) 29.<br />
111. ECYCI, Resolutions Adopted at the Fourth Congress, 77.<br />
112. Ottanelli, 215.<br />
113. M. Young, "Twenty Years Ago and Now," The International of <strong>Youth</strong>: Official Organ of the Executive Committee of the<br />
Young Communist International 1, no. 6 (August, 1934): 5.<br />
114. As a sector of society that had been mobilized for war by taping into national sentiment, youth could potentially have been<br />
mobilized by the revolutionary left by translating disillusionment into a revolutionary national discourse. George Mosse<br />
has offered an interesting theoretical critique of the failures of the early communist movement for neglecting the national<br />
polemic in applying their political lines in the West. By centring their militant language within an international discourse<br />
centring on Bolshevik slogans, communists failed to adequately tap into "the power of veterans in defeated or disgruntled<br />
nations" whose strong sense of camaraderie could have been mobilized to establish "some new social order when peace<br />
time came." While Mosse's commentary is interesting in hindsight, it is largely a-historical to contend that young communists<br />
would have operated much differently since their internationalism was formed in revulsion to the nationalist sentiment<br />
that facilitated the war. See Georege L. Mosse, "Two World Wars and the Myth of the War Experience," Journal of<br />
Contemporary History 21, no.4 (Oct, 1986): 496. Some of the greatest successes in youth mobilization after WWI came<br />
with Mussolini in Italy by fusing together national sentiment with disillusionment from the war. See Michael A. Ledeen,<br />
"<strong>Fascism</strong> & <strong>Youth</strong>," in Universal <strong>Fascism</strong>: The Theory and Practice of the Fascist International, 1928-1936 (New York:<br />
Howard Fertig, 1972), 3-25.<br />
115. ECYCI, Remove the Frontiers!, 7, 5.<br />
116. ECYCI, Draft Programme, 81.<br />
117. Ibid., 77-78.<br />
118. YCLGB, Results of Two Congresses, 12.<br />
119. Communist International Executive, Principles on Party Organization, 20.<br />
120. YCLGB, Results of Two Congresses: Being an Abridged Report of the 6 th Congress of the Communist International, and<br />
5 th Congress of the Young Communist International, Held in Moscow, July-September, 1928 (London: YCLGB, 1928),<br />
16. In openly proclaiming their attacks against the Second International, the YCI destroyed any illusions socialist youth<br />
had of their intents; Cornell arguing that young socialists became keenly aware of "the patent insincerity of the Communist<br />
proposals" for unity. See Cornell, <strong>Youth</strong> and Communism, 28.<br />
121. The communist position against class collaboration was based on the Marxist conception of history, or historical materialism.<br />
Communists firmly believed that the working-class was an independent agent of historical change if given "correct"<br />
communist leadership to guide them in their revolutionary historical mission to overthrow capitalism.<br />
122. Gorsuch, 17.<br />
123. ECYCI, Fundamental Problems, 17,19.<br />
124. Bolshevik rhetoric of historical change further intensified youth sectarian outlooks with consistent over-optimistic statements<br />
like "History is on our side, we will surely win." See J.L. Douglas, 22.<br />
125. V.I. Lenin, "The State and Revolution: The Marxist Theory of the State and the Tasks of the Proletariat in the Revolution,"<br />
in The Lenin Anthology, ed. Robert C. Tucker (New York: W.W. Norton, 1975), 315.<br />
159
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
126. V.I. Lenin, "The State:A Lecture Delivered at the Sverdlov University July 11, 1919," in The Lenin Internet Archive<br />
.<br />
127. William Rust, The Case for the YCL (London: YCLGB, 1927), 7.<br />
128. In a 1995 interview with David Holzel, Harvey Klehr noted that one of the greatest legacies of Lenin upon the development<br />
of the socialist movement was the transformation of traditional socialist language. Klehr stated, "Lenin really transformed<br />
the language of socialism into a very military language. To Lenin, the Bolshevik party was a military-style<br />
operation. He was building an organization to fight czarism. It had to be underground. He argued that an open Party, like<br />
most socialist parties had been until that time, would be unable to fight the kind of battles that were necessary. That you<br />
needed professional revolutionaries. Shock forces. Cadres. Those are military kinds of terms. Of course all communist parties<br />
around the world mimicked that organizational structure, and that language. It's very stilted, tough kind of language."<br />
See "Harvey Klehr: Life of the Party," in Jewish Angle .<br />
129. ECYCI, From Third to Fourth, 40.<br />
130. In his studies of German communism, Eric Weitz has argued that political movements do not function and arise under<br />
conditions of their own choosing, but must mature and develop within the social and historical context with which they are<br />
provided. See the introductory arguments of Eric Weitz, Creating German Communism, 1890-1990: From Popular Protests<br />
to Socialist State (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997)<br />
131. Quoted in Steven White, "Ideological Hegemony and Political Control: The Sociology of Anti-Bolshevism in Britain<br />
1918-20," Journal of the Scottish Labour History Society, no.9 (June, 1975): 3.<br />
132. Nan Milton, John MacLean (London: Pluto Press, 1973), 190.<br />
133. Harry McShane and Joan Smith, Harry McShane: No Mean Fighter (London: Pluto Press, 1978), 107-108.<br />
134. David Childs, The Two Red Flags: European Social Democracy and Soviet Communism Since 1945 (London: Routledge,<br />
2000), 1.<br />
135. See Arthur McIvor, Organized Capital (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996) and Arthur McIvor, “A Crusade<br />
for Capitalism: The Economic League, 1919-1939," Journal of Contemporary History 23, no.4 (October, 1988): 631-655.<br />
136. J.M. Winter, "Arthur Henderson, the Russian Revolution, and the Reconstruction of the Labour Party," The Historical<br />
Journal 15, no.4 (December, 1972): 753.<br />
137. Tom Forester, The Labour Party and the Working Class (London: Heinemann, 1976), 44.<br />
138. See Zig Layton-Henry, "Labour's Lost <strong>Youth</strong>," Journal of Contemporary History 11 (July, 1976): 275-308.<br />
139. Kevin Morgan, "Communists and British Society, 1920-1991: People of a Special Mould," 7.<br />
140. Waite, 38.<br />
141. Britain's socialist youth traditions centred on the Socialist Sunday Schools. The Socialist Sunday Schools were established<br />
during the 1890's by the Social Democratic Federation and spread quickly throughout Britain, inspiring similar initiatives<br />
in the United States. See Kenneth Teitelbaum and William J. Reese, "American Socialist Pedagogy and Experimentation<br />
in the Progressive Era: The Socialist Sunday School," History of Education Quarterly 23, no.4 (Winter, 1983): 429-454.<br />
142. Quoted in John Moss, "The British <strong>Youth</strong> Movement," (July, 1953),1.: CP/CENT/YOUTH/02/12.<br />
143. N/A, "The History of the British <strong>Youth</strong> Movement," (194), 1: CP/CENT/YOUTH/02/02.<br />
144. YCLGB, Ammendments and Resolutions to be Submitted to the First Annual Conference, 5 th & 6 th of August 1922 (London:<br />
YCLGB, 1922), 4.<br />
145. YCLGB, The Young Workers and the General Strike (London: YCLGB, 1926), 17.<br />
146. L.J. MacFarlane, The British Communist Party (London: Macgibbon and Kee, 1966), 173.<br />
147. Waite, 64-65.<br />
148. YCLGB, Report of the Fifth National Congress of the Young Communist League of Great Britain (London: YCLGB,<br />
1928), 11.<br />
149. The irony of British socialist-youth movements during the twenties is that while the highly political character of the YCL<br />
stunted its development, the aggressively non-political and cultural initiatives of socialist youth in turn retarded their<br />
growth. See Zig Layton-Henry, 276.<br />
150. Discussion of the overlapping campaigns of the YCL and other socialist youth movements will be further explored in<br />
Chapters three and five.<br />
151. Quoted in Michelle Webb, "The Rise and Fall of the Labour League of <strong>Youth</strong>," Socialist History: <strong>Youth</strong> Culture and Politics<br />
26, (2004): 51.<br />
152. James Klugmann asserts that this situation occurred because "unlike Social Democracy, Communism had no fear of youth<br />
rebellion." See James Klugmann, Vol. I, 226.<br />
153. Arthur Marwick, "<strong>Youth</strong> in Britain, 1920-1960: Detachment and Commitment," Journal of Contemporary History 5, no.1,<br />
(1970): 38.<br />
154. Cohen and Morgan contend that one of the important transitions enabling the Popular Front era was the disbandment of<br />
the Lenin School which allowed Communist Parties and YCL a greater national flexibility. See Gidon Cohen and Kevin<br />
Morgan, "Stalin's Sausage Machine," 327-355.<br />
155. Matthew Worley, Class <strong>Against</strong> Class: The Communist Party in Britain Between the Wars (London: I.B. Tauras,<br />
2002),138.<br />
156. Quoted in Noreen Branson, History of the Communist Party of Great Britain, 1927-1941 (London: Lawrence and Wishart,<br />
1985),46.<br />
157. YCLGB, Where Shall We Start (London: YCLGB, 1930), 8,10.<br />
158. MacFarlane, 219.<br />
159. Thomas F. Neblet, "<strong>Youth</strong> Movements in the United States," Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social<br />
Science 194, (November, 1937): 143.<br />
160. Dumas Malone and Basil Rauch, War and Troubled Peace: 1917-1939 (New York: Meredith Publishing, 1960),43.<br />
161. Ibid, 69.<br />
162. Thomas Ricento, "The Discursive Construction of Americanism," Discourse and Society 14, no.5 (2003): 614.<br />
163. Seymour M. Lipset and Gary Marks, It Didn't Happen Here: Why Socialism Failed in the United States (New York: W.W.<br />
Norton, 2000),237.<br />
164. This move towards traditionalism was a conservative rejection of both internationalism and the burgeoning modern youth<br />
culture of the "roaring twenties." See Lynn Dumenil and Eric Foner, The Modern Temper: American Culture and Society<br />
in the 1920s (New York: Hill & Wang, 1995).<br />
165. This trend towards organizing in immigrant communities was a product of the splits that occurred within the Socialist<br />
Party where most of the various language federations joined native comrades in founding the American communist<br />
160
NOTES<br />
movement. See "The Language Branch Question," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Workers League 2,<br />
no.4, (April, 1923): 12.<br />
166. John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, Storming Heaven, 58.<br />
167. Quoted in Harvey Klehr, The Heyday, 5.<br />
168. Oliver Carlson attempted to follow the lead of his European comrades in seizing the Young People's Socialist League and<br />
transferring its allegiance to the Third International, capitalizing upon splits that were occurring within the Socialist Party.<br />
169. Theodore Draper, The Roots of American Communism (New York: Viking Press, 1963), 343.<br />
170. Tony Pecinovsky, "A History of the Young Communist League, USA Part 1: The Early Years," in YCLUSA Online<br />
.<br />
171. ECYCI, Resolutions and Theses of the Fourth Bureau Session (Berlin: ECYCI, 1923),100.<br />
172. Martin Abern and Paul Stevens, "The Young Workers League is Discovered!," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the<br />
Young Workers League (November, 1922): 7.<br />
173. "YCI Observers Return," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Workers League 2, no.2 (February, 1923): 11.<br />
174. Oliver Carlson, "What Means This Independence," The Young Worker (Formerly <strong>Youth</strong>) 1, no.3 (May, 1922): 17.<br />
175. Paula S. Fass, The Damned and the Beautiful: American <strong>Youth</strong> in the 1920's (New York: Oxford University Press, 1977),<br />
20-21.<br />
176. Ibid., 25.<br />
177. Thurber <strong>Lewis</strong>, "Jazzophobia," The Young Worker 2, no.4 (April, 1923):19-20.<br />
178. Harry Ganes, "Can Students Be Revolutionary," The Young Worker: Formerly <strong>Youth</strong> (May, 1922): 14. Although the<br />
YWL did not make a major impact of contemporary youth movements, their newspaper entitled The Young Worker provided<br />
an extensive "reportage of then-existing conditions" of young workers resulting in an impressive continuous fourteen-year<br />
run in circulation. See Dale Reipe, "Young Worker: Chicago and New York, 1922-1936," in The American<br />
Radical Press: 1880-1960, Vol.1 ed. Joseph R. Conlin (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1974), 244-245.<br />
179. Modern industry in the twenties began implementing the production rationalization models of Frederick Taylor, a production<br />
model also known as Taylorism. Taylorism focused on increasing the productive capacity of industrial workers and<br />
implementing new management styles that dictated all elements of the labor process. For a Marxist critique of Taylorism<br />
and its impact upon the labor process and modern capitalism see Harry Braverman, Labor and Monopoly Capital: The<br />
Degradation Of Work In The Twentieth Century (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1974).<br />
180. E. Elston "The Task Before Us," <strong>Youth</strong>: Official Organ of the Young Workers League 1, no.1 (February, 1922): 5.<br />
181. The influential Americanization ideologist Winthrop Talbot argued that during this era of growth that "even human prickly<br />
pears seem to lose their thorns, and poisonous human varieties generally become harmless." Contrasting the generational<br />
experiences of the twenties and thirties, W. Wallace Weaver reflected on the youth outlook of the twenties stating, "No<br />
generation ever approached its career with higher hopes than the one which finished high school and college during the<br />
last years of the postwar boom. Magazines and newspapers reflected the optimism and exaggerated it with special cases of<br />
astounding success. It was the era of Babson, Barton, Ford, Insull, Mitchell, and Young in business; of Coolidge, Hoover,<br />
Smith, Walker, and Mellon in politics; of "Babe" Ruth, Jack Dempsey, Bobby Jones, and Bill Tilden in sports. Anything<br />
less than a "country club" standard of living was unthinkable for the self-respecting novice. It was the golden age of prodigality,<br />
and no sport was more popular than that of explaining why it was a logical outcome of providential forethought."<br />
See Ricento, 625; W. Wallace Weaver, "Modern <strong>Youth</strong>-Retrospect and Prospect," Annals of the American Academy of Political<br />
and Social Science 194, (November, 1937): 2.<br />
182. Martin Abern, "The End of the Rope," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Workers League 2, no.11 (November,<br />
1923): 5.<br />
183. Martin Abern, "Who's Red.. And Why," The Young Worker (Formerly <strong>Youth</strong>) 1,no.4 (June-July, 1922): 13.<br />
184. Shirley Waller, "History of the American Socialist <strong>Youth</strong> Movement to 1929," in Early American Marxism: A Repository<br />
of Source Material, 1864-1964 Online Archive .<br />
185. Though Green rose to leadership of the YCL prior to the Popular Front, he led the YCL throughout the 1930s as Earl<br />
Browder's most consistent supporter and advocate.<br />
186. Gil Green, "Sweet Sixteen," 4.<br />
187. Ibid., 4.<br />
188. Ibid., 4.<br />
189. Quoted in Ontanelli, 13.<br />
190. John Patrick Diggins, The Rise and Fall of the American Left (New York: W.W. Norton, 1992), 172.<br />
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM: THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE POPULAR FRONT GENERATION<br />
1. Georgi Dimitrov, The People's Front <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong> and War (London: Farleigh Press, 1937), 6.<br />
2. John Gollan, Defend the People: Report by John Gollan to the Tenth National Conference of the Young Communist<br />
League, Glasgow, Easter, 1938 (London: YCLGB, 1938), 7.<br />
3. Communists advanced a minimalist defensive program based on democratic popular unity to defeat the forces of fascism<br />
and halt the outbreak of a new world war. Highly misunderstood by many left contemporaries, the Popular Front was not<br />
just a defensive position based on limited class collaboration, but was also a long-term offensive strategy for communists<br />
and the working class. See Helen Graham and Paul Preston, "The Popular Front and the Struggle <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong>," in<br />
The Popular Front in Europe, ed. Helen Graham and Paul Preston (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1987), 1-2.<br />
4. The transition to the Popular Front was not just a simple subordination of the revolutionary movement to the immediate<br />
diplomatic interests of Stalin's Soviet Union as some have contended. Many historians have contended that the Popular<br />
Front era was nothing more than a strategic posturing to Stalin's foreign policy goals, blurring many of the unorthodox<br />
anti-fascist dynamics that were already occurring in Western communist movements during the early thirties. For an example<br />
of this historical position see David Beetham, Marxists in Face of <strong>Fascism</strong>: Writings by Marxists on <strong>Fascism</strong> From<br />
the Inter-War Period (New Jersey: Barnes and Noble, 1984), 23.<br />
5. Hobsbawm, "Fifty Years," 245.<br />
161
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
6. Jim Fyrth argues that "Communist thinking moved rather more slowly towards unity" of the democratic movement based<br />
on the social forces model of the Popular Front. See Jim Fyrth, "Introduction: The Thirties," in Britain, <strong>Fascism</strong> and the<br />
Popular Front, ed. Jim Fyrth (London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1985), 11.<br />
7. G.D.H. Cole, The People's Front, 44.<br />
8. Benito Mussolini and Giovanni Gentile, "The Doctrine of <strong>Fascism</strong>," in World Future Fund Totalitarian Philosophy Archive<br />
.<br />
9. ECYCI, Resolutions and Theses of the Fourth, 42.<br />
10. Ibid.,17-42.<br />
11. ECYCI, Resolutions Adopted at the Fourth Congress, 81.<br />
12. Beetham, 17, 19.<br />
13. Tim Kirk and Anthony McElligott, "Community, Authority and Resistance to <strong>Fascism</strong>," in Opposing <strong>Fascism</strong>: Community,<br />
Authority and Resistance in Europe, ed. Tim Kirk and Anthony McElligott (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,<br />
1999), 7.<br />
14. McDermott and Agnew, 119.<br />
15. Bolshevization and the purges of the Third Period resulted in the "creation of a solid rank of disciplined Bolshevik cadres<br />
in the communist parties." Communists were willing to accept Comintern strategies out of general discipline, even if they<br />
lacked conviction in their support. See Jonathan Haslam, "The Comintern and the Origins of the Popular Front 1934-<br />
1935," The Historical Journal 22, no. 3 (September, 1979):687.<br />
16. McDermott and Agnew, 126.<br />
17. Wilhelm Pieck, "Report of the Activities of the Executive Committee of the Communist International July 26, 1935," in<br />
Report of the Seventh World Congress of the Communist International (London: Modern Books, 1936), 40, 56.<br />
18. Ibid., 61.<br />
19. Georgi Dimitrov, "The Working Class <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong>: Report Delivered on August 2, 1935 on the Second Point of the<br />
Agenda," in Report of the Seventh World Congress of the Communist International (London: Modern Books, 1936), 8.<br />
20. Ibid., 17.<br />
21. Ercoli, "The Fight <strong>Against</strong> War and <strong>Fascism</strong>," in Report of the Seventh World Congress of the Communist International<br />
(London: Modern Books, 1936), 65. As an Italian political exile and member of the Comintern secretariat, Togliatti was<br />
known internationally under the pseudonym of Ercole Ercoli.<br />
22. Dave Renton, <strong>Fascism</strong>: Theory and Practice (London: Pluto Press, 1999), 77.<br />
23. Dimitrov, "The Working Class <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong>: Report," 6-7.<br />
24. Kermit E. McKenzie, "The Soviet Union, the Comintern and World Revolution: 1935," Political Science Quarterly 65, no.<br />
2 (June, 1950): 237.<br />
25. Once considered one of Lenin's closest associates and a hero of the Bolshevik Revolution, Trotsky became increasingly<br />
marginalized and was eventually expelled from the Soviet Union and the Comintern after Stalin's ascension to power. As<br />
Trotsky continued his critiques of Stalinism and the Comintern apparatus, the Comintern began internationally propagating<br />
the assertion that Trotsky had become a "Gestapo Agent" and that his followers were saboteurs and conscious agents<br />
of fascism. Regardless of the fact or fiction of assertions on both sides, throughout the thirties Trotsky became a rallying<br />
symbol of Leninists opposed to the Popular Front and an increasingly demonized character within the Comintern, especially<br />
after the infamous "Moscow Trials" began. According to Trotsky's critique, what was developing in the Soviet Union<br />
under Stalin was not a "socialist society," but a system of "state capitalism" that was systematically betraying the<br />
international revolution for the sake of consolidating Stalin's personal power. See Leon Trotsky, "Revolution Betrayed:<br />
What is the Soviet Union and Where is it Going," in Leon Trotsky Internet Archive<br />
.<br />
26. Quoted in McNeal, "Trotskyist Interpretations," 30.<br />
27. Leon Trotsky, "Whither France Once Again, Whither France Part II: Socialism and Armed Struggle,"<br />
in Leon Trotsky Internet Archive .<br />
28. Leon Trotsky, "On the Founding of the Fourth International," in Leon Trotsky Internet Archive<br />
.<br />
29. In a recent historical article by the American Socialist Workers Party contended that "Popular Front, as presented by Dimitrov<br />
and applied by Communist Parties around the world in the 1930s and ’40s, had no continuity with the Bolshevik<br />
Party." See Martín Koppel, "Bolshevism Versus Class Collaboration: A Reply To Young Communist League’s Defense<br />
Of Stalinist Popular Frontism," The Militant 69, no.17 (May, 2005): 3. The International Bolshevik Tendency movement<br />
contends that the Popular Front solidified Trotskyist splits due to their essential differences in "methodology and programme."<br />
See International Bolshevik Tendency, "Marxist Bulletin: Bolshevism and Trotskyism, Defending Our History,"<br />
in International Bolshevik Tendency Online .<br />
30. Jay Lovestone, The People's Front Illusion: From "Social <strong>Fascism</strong>" to the "People's Front" (New York: Worker's Age<br />
Publishers, 1936), 4.<br />
31. Isaac Deutscher, Stalin: A Political Biography (New York: Oxford University Press, 1966), 417.<br />
32. Lenin and the Comintern had previously condemned the League of Nations as a bogus institution that could not cope with<br />
the modern problems of imperialist war and international peace. The Second Congress of the Comintern resolved that<br />
"without the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism, no international arbitration courts, no talk about a reduction of armaments,<br />
no "democratic" reorganisation of the League of Nations will save mankind from new imperialist wars." The Popular<br />
Front Generation instead posited that the participation of the USSR in the League of Nations could help to transform<br />
the institution into a genuinely constructive international apparatus to preserve peace. See V.I. Lenin, "Terms of Admission<br />
Into the Communist International," in V.I. Lenin Internet Archive .<br />
33. Increasingly throughout the thirties the Western "democratic powers," most notably Prime Minister Chamberlain of Britain,<br />
capitulated to fascist demands that overturned the power balance of the Versailles Treaty, enabling a German rearmament<br />
leading toward WWII. During this period Western politicians continually clung on to the empty shell of the nonintervention<br />
pact concerning Spain, even once it was clear that the fascists were actively assisting Franco. See G.D.H.<br />
Cole, A History of Socialist Thought Volume V: Socialism and <strong>Fascism</strong>, 1931-1939 (London: MacMillan and Co., 1961),<br />
23.<br />
34. Quoted in Tom Buchanan, "Anti-<strong>Fascism</strong> and Democracy in the 1930's," European History Quarterly 32, no.1 (2002): 41.<br />
162
NOTES<br />
35. Leninist state theory had posited that the "dictatorship of the proletariat" was a temporary transitional period for the securing<br />
the class rule of the proletariat and initiating the transition to a socialist economy. With the economic growth<br />
unleashed by the "Five Year Plans," the collectivization of agriculture and the purging of all oppositional class elements,<br />
communists argued that the necessary period of the proletarian dictatorship had ceased. Although this period is often remembered<br />
historically as one of the greatest period of Stalinist domestic oppression, communists at the time dismissed<br />
such reports as "propaganda" and "slander."<br />
36. Joseph Starobin, "21 Years of Soviet Power," Young Communist Review 3, no. 9 (November, 1938): 34.<br />
37. Louis Fischer, "Louis Fischer," in The God That Failed: Why Six Great Writers Rejected Communism, ed. Richard<br />
Crossman (New York: Bantam Books, 1959), 195.<br />
38. Central Committee of the CPSU (B), History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks) Short Course (New<br />
York: International Publishers, 1939),342.<br />
39. Quoted in George Rawick, "The New Deal and <strong>Youth</strong>: The Civilian Conservation Crops, The National <strong>Youth</strong> Administration<br />
and the American <strong>Youth</strong> Congress"(PHD diss., University of Wisconsin, 1957), 355.<br />
40. Georgi Dimitrov, "The Working Class <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong>: Speech in Reply to Discussion," in Report of the Seventh World<br />
Congress of the Communist International (London: Modern Books, 1936), 19.<br />
41. Postmodern linguistic theory emphasizes that political discourse is a vital element in the construction of political identity;<br />
an intricate process where "language does not just mirror or reflect reality" but increasingly shapes new outlook on political<br />
realities. See Joseph Natoli, A Primer to Postmodernity (Malden: Blackwell, 1998), 68-71.<br />
42. Wolf Michal, <strong>Youth</strong> Marches Towards Socialism: Report Made Sept. 26, 1935, to the Sixth World Congress of the Young<br />
Communist International (New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1936), 10.<br />
43. Raymond Guyot, "Unity of <strong>Youth</strong> Throughout the World," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 1 (January, 1939): 2.<br />
44. ECYCI, Fundamental Problems, 17,19.<br />
45. Michal, 13.<br />
46. In this way, the Popular Front should not just be understood as simply an outside imposition from adults in the Comintern,<br />
but was personified as a process where adult communists were learning new methods and political outlooks from young<br />
communists in the West.<br />
47. Kuusinen, <strong>Youth</strong> and <strong>Fascism</strong>, 8-9.<br />
48. Ibid., 13.<br />
49. Otto Kuusinen, "The Movement of the <strong>Youth</strong> and the Struggle <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong> and the Danger of War," in Report of the<br />
Seventh World Congress of the Communist International (London: Modern Books, 1936),5.<br />
50. Michal, 24.<br />
51. Alec Massie, "Anniversary of the Sixth World Congress, YCI," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist<br />
League 1, no.6 (September, 1938): 9,12,13.<br />
52. "Conference of European Young Communist Leagues," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 7 (July, 1939): 140. The uniformity of<br />
the "form" of youth methods during the Popular Front had less to do with YCI directives and was more closely associated<br />
with the greater international contacts communist youth developed during the Popular Front. Communist international<br />
youth contacts were facilitated by massive participation in the International Brigades and the annual World <strong>Youth</strong> Congress<br />
where communist youth developed their international methods in coordination and unity with other anti-fascist youth<br />
from throughout the world.<br />
53. Harvey Klehr, The Heyday, 307-308.<br />
54. Kuusinen, <strong>Youth</strong> and <strong>Fascism</strong>, 28.<br />
55. In his most recent publications on the British communism, Kevin Morgan has commented on the importance of a generational<br />
analysis, arguing that "no concept is therefore more important in making sense of the attitudes and alignments of"<br />
communists. See Morgan, "Communists and British Society," 2.<br />
56. Earl Browder, "Your Generation," 4-5.<br />
57. Quoted in Ibid., 27.<br />
58. Al Steele, "Education in the YCL," Young Communist Review 1, no.1 (September, 1936): 11.<br />
59. Michal, 17.<br />
60. Ibid., 17.<br />
61. Ibid., 41.<br />
62. Prior to the adoption of the Popular Front, the British and American sections of the YCI were considered important sections<br />
of the International, but their small sizes and sectarian practices also made them some of the most disappointing national<br />
sections. Though the YCLUSA was praised as an exemplary organization at the Seventh World Congress, delegates<br />
also noted that the youth Popular Front of the Americans was still a rather new trend and represented a distinct break from<br />
their past experiences of isolation.<br />
63. Keith Laybourn, Britain on the Breadline: A Social and Political History of Britain Between the Wars (Gloucester: Alan<br />
Sutton, 1990), 1.<br />
64. Ibid., 37.<br />
65. C.E.M. Joad, The Case For the New Party (Norfolk: J.C. Bird, 1931), 13.<br />
66. Sir Oswald Mosley, Why We Left the Old Parties (London: David Allen, 1931), 4.<br />
67. Sellick Davies, Why I Joined the New Party (London: New Party, 1931), 6.<br />
68. W.E.D. Allen, <strong>Fascism</strong> in Relation to British History and Character (London: BUF Publications, 1933), 2.<br />
69. Lucifer, "<strong>Youth</strong> in Flames: What Did You Do For Us in the Great War Daddies!" in The Letters of Lucifer and Leading<br />
Articles From "The "Blackshirt," ed. British Union of Fascists (London: British Union of Fascists, 1934), 3.<br />
70. Sir Oswald Mosley, Blackshirt Policy (Chelsea: BUF Publications, 1933), 7.<br />
71. YCLGB, Ten Points <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong> (London: YCLGB, 1934), 13.<br />
72. Ibid., 13.<br />
73. The primary source of anti-fascist activities during the rise of Hitler was directed by the Rote Jungfront, the KPD youth<br />
organization. See Eve Rosenhaft, Beating the Fascists The German Communists and Political Violence 1929-1933<br />
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983).<br />
74. This replication of elements of German anti-fascism was due primarily to the fact that after "its foundation in October<br />
1932 the British Union of Fascists adopted all the main techniques of the German Nazis" including mass public rallies designed<br />
to increase the visibility of their movement. See Martin Pugh, "The British Union of Fascists and the Olympia Debate,"<br />
The Historical Journal 41, no. 2 (June, 1998): 529.<br />
163
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
75. Neil Barrett, "The Anti-Fascist Movement in South-East Lancashire," in Opposing <strong>Fascism</strong>: Community, Authority and<br />
Resistance in Europe, ed. Tim Kirk and Anthony McElligott (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 50.<br />
76. Sharon Gerwitz, "Anti-Fascist Activity in Manchester's Jewish Community in the 1930's," Manchester Region History<br />
Review 4, no.1 (Spring/Summer, 1990): 19.<br />
77. Barrett, 54.<br />
78. Gerwitz, 26.<br />
79. W. Payne, A London Busman Reports on the Fight <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong> (London: European Workers' Anti-Fascist Congress<br />
British Delegation Committee, 1934), 10.<br />
80. Quoted in Gerald D. Anderson, Fascists, Communists, and the National Government: Civil Liberties in Great Britain,<br />
1931-1937 (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1983), 101.<br />
81. James Eaden and David Renton, The Communist Party of Great Britain Since 1920 (New York: Palgrave, 2002), 49.<br />
82. Ivor Montagu, Blackshirt Brutality: The Story of Olympia (London: Workers' Bookshop, 1934), 8.<br />
83. National Council of Labour, What is this <strong>Fascism</strong> (London: Victoria House, 1934), 2.<br />
84. This dynamic of using "public order" legislation was a replication of the trends that occurred in the Weimar Republic that<br />
targeted the militant anti-fascist struggles of German communists.<br />
85. Anderson, 120.<br />
86. Anderson, 148.<br />
87. John Gollan, Raise High the Banner: Speech of Comrade Gollan at the 6 th World Congress of the Young Communist International<br />
(London: YCLGB, 1935), 14.<br />
88. YCLGB National Council, "Organisation and Role of the League," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist<br />
League 2, no.2 (April, 1939): 110.<br />
89. YCLGB, Ten Points, 14.<br />
90. While many expressed critiques and hesitation about the potential "fascistic trends" embodied in the New Deal, the progressive<br />
and radical nature of the program became more apparent as reactionary elements began attacking it. For a contemporary<br />
"left critique" of the potential reactionary nature of the New Deal see Raymond Swing, Forerunners of<br />
American <strong>Fascism</strong> (New York: Julian Messner Inc., 1935), Chp. 1. For discussion of some of the "reactionary" business<br />
critiques of the New Deal see Paul K. Conkin, The New Deal (New York: Thomas Crowell, 1975), 33-34. For two divergent<br />
critiques of the evolving CPUSA analysis and relationship to the New Deal see Bernard Bellush and Jewel Bellush,<br />
"A Radical Response to the Roosevelt Presidency: The Communist Party (1933-1945)," Presidential Studies Quarterly 10,<br />
no.4 (1980): 645-661 and Anders Stephanson, "The CPUSA Conception of the Rooseveltian State," Radical History Review<br />
24, (1980): 160-176.<br />
91. Although he consistently warned against "ultra-left" positions that mechanically equated the policies of Roosevelt and<br />
Hitler, Earl Browder often highlighted the reactionary elements of early New Deal policies in 1933. "The "New Deal" is a<br />
policy of slashing the living standards at home and fighting for markets abroad for the single purpose of maintaining the<br />
profits of finance capital. It is a policy of brutal oppression and preparation for imperialist war. It represents a further<br />
sharpening and deepening of the world crisis… Under the "New Deal," we have entered a period of the greatest contradiction<br />
between the words and deeds of the heads of government." Earl Browder, What is the New Deal (New York: Workers'<br />
Library Publishers, 1933),15,17.<br />
92. At the time John Dewey described the New Deal not just as a political program, but as a progressive force transforming<br />
the popular perceptions of liberalism and the nature of the state. Dewey contended the New Deal shifted liberalism away<br />
from dogmatic "laissez-faire doctrine" to a new philosophical basis where "government had become popular and in theory<br />
the servant of the people." See John Dewey, "The Future of Liberalism," in New Deal Thought, ed. Howard Zinn (New<br />
York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1966), 31.<br />
93. The American left increasingly identified with Roosevelt in 1934 after public revelations of a supposed plot for a fascist<br />
style coup funded by the Morgan and DuPont families. See Clayton Cramer, "An American Coup D'Etat," History Today<br />
45, no.11 (1995): 42-47. While the Butler coup seemed like an extreme and unusual case of reactionary American politics,<br />
US corporate support for international and domestic fascist initiatives was quite widespread throughout the thirties.<br />
Executives from General Motors not only provided the Nazis with military machinery and technologies vital to Hitler's rearmament<br />
program through their Adam Opel AG Germany subsidiary, but gave many public statements in support of Hitler<br />
and the Third Reich. The DuPont family, who were major investors in General Motors, were known to have openly<br />
financed such fascistic organizations as the Black Legion and the American Liberty League. Both organizations were rumoured<br />
to have political associations with the American Nazi party and the German-American Bund during the 1936<br />
presidential election campaign of Republican Alf Landon against Roosevelt. General Motors was not alone in their material<br />
support of the Third Reich; a profitable relationship that was also replicated by Ford Motor Company. Ford's relationship<br />
with the Third Reich was not just one of material but also ideological support. Hitler himself kept a life-sized photo<br />
of Henry Ford in his office, praising him as a "great anti-Semite" and bestowing upon him the "Grand Cross of the German<br />
Eagle" as a personal gift for Ford's 75 th birthday. Though both Ford and General Motors were later exonerated within public<br />
memory for Allied production during WWII when they were coined as the "Arsenal of Democracy," their corporate alliances<br />
with domestic and foreign fascist movements were well known and recorded during the thirties. The importance of<br />
highlighting American corporate complicity with fascism is that for domestic anti-fascists the threat of fascism was not<br />
just some distant phenomenon in Europe, but was perceived as a potential domestic threat to American democracy and the<br />
working-class movement. See <strong>Joel</strong> <strong>Lewis</strong>, "Business, U.S. – Third Reich," in Germany and the Americas: Culture, Politics,<br />
and History, A Multidisciplinary Encyclopedia, ed. Thomas Adam (Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2005), 198; Charles<br />
Higham, Trading With the Enemy: The Nazi-American Money Plot, 1933-1949 (New York: Barnes & Noble, 1983),165;<br />
Reinhold Billstein, "How the Americans Took Over Cologne—and Discovered Ford Werke's Role in the War," in Working<br />
For the Enemy: Ford, General Motors, and Forced Labor in Germany During the Second World War, ed. Nicholas<br />
Levis (New York: Berghan Books, 2000),104-105.<br />
94. In a 1934 New York Times interview Eleanor Roosevelt stated, "I live in real terror when I think we may be losing this<br />
generation. We have got to bring these young people into the active life of the community and make them feel that they<br />
are necessary." Quoted in "National <strong>Youth</strong> Administration," in The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Online Archive<br />
.<br />
95. Michael, "The Sacrifice of <strong>Youth</strong>," The Young Worker: Organ of the Young Communist League of Britain 1, no.2 (September,<br />
1923): Cover. Erik, "International <strong>Youth</strong> Day," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Worker's League<br />
2, no. 9 (September, 1923): Cover.<br />
164
NOTES<br />
96. Bard, "Capitalism Brings Forth The Little One," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Communist League USA<br />
(Section of the Young Communist International) 8, no.24 (November 27, 1930): 4.<br />
97. "Prepare National <strong>Youth</strong> Day," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Communist League USA (Section of the<br />
Young Communist International) 11, no.7 (May 10, 1933): 1.<br />
98. "Birds of a Feather," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Communist League USA (Section of the Young<br />
Communist International) 11, no.7 (May 10, 1933): 5.<br />
99. NECYCLUSA, "Unite <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong>, Hunger and War! Young Communist League Calls For United Fight," The Young<br />
Worker: Official Organ of the Young Communist League USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 11, no.6<br />
(April 26, 1933): 8.<br />
100. Ibid., 8.<br />
101. "How We Organized a United Front for <strong>Youth</strong> Relief," YCL Builder 1, no.3 (November, 1932): 7.<br />
102. Walter Francis, "Leadership Working Below and Developing Struggles Thru Solid Personal Contacts With the Young<br />
Workers," YCL Organizer 1, no.1 (September, 1932): 9, 10.<br />
103. "How a Fraction Should Work: A Problem and an Answer," YCL Builder 1, no.7 (May, 1933): 15.<br />
104. Michal, 41.<br />
105. "Militarization and Fascization of the <strong>Youth</strong> and the Tasks of Young Communist Leagues," The Young Worker: Official<br />
Organ of the Young Communist League USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 12, no.7 (March 27, 1934):<br />
1a.<br />
106. Ibid., 2a.<br />
107. Gil Green, "Tasks of YCL, USA in the Fight <strong>Against</strong> Boss War and <strong>Fascism</strong>," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the<br />
Young Communist League USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 12, no.7 (March 27, 1934): 4a.<br />
108. See Henry Winston, Character Building and Education in the Spirit of Socialism (New York: New Age Publishers, 1939).<br />
109. Phil Schatz, "Civilization <strong>Against</strong> Hitler," Young Communist Review 3, no.10 (December, 1938): 13-14.<br />
110. Gil Green, "The Path Towards <strong>Youth</strong> Unity," Young Communist Review 1, no.1 (September, 1936): 6.<br />
111. Cohen, When the Old Left, 19.<br />
112. Gil Green, "Sweet Sixteen," 5.<br />
113. Abraham Edel, The Struggle for Academic Democracy: Lessons From the 1938 "Revolution" in New York's City Colleges<br />
(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1990), 39-40.<br />
114. Quoted in James Wechler, Revolt on the Campus (New York: Covici and Friede, 1935), 224-225.<br />
115. Eileen Eagan, Class, Culture and the Classroom: The Student Peace Movement of the 1930's (Philadelphia: Temple University<br />
Press, 1981), 134.<br />
116. Joseph Starobin, "Fourth Annual Congress of American Students Union," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 2 (February, 1939):<br />
35.<br />
117. Leaders of the YCLGB had grown accustom to legal persecution since their inception, especially when Bolshevik antimilitarist<br />
techniques made YCLers vulnerable to persecution under sedition laws. Prior to and during the 1926 General<br />
Strike, the British Government severely persecuted leading members of the CPGB and the YCL under the "Incitement to<br />
Mutiny Act of 1797." At the time the YCL commented that the "vicious attacks by the Government of reaction" had not<br />
broken the will of the YCL, but had instead resulted in making it "more stronger and united." See YCLGB, A Congress of<br />
Young Fighters: A Report of the Fourth Congress of the Young Communist League of Great Britain (London: YCLGB,<br />
1926), 35.<br />
118. See Robert Benewick, A Study of British <strong>Fascism</strong>: Political Violence and Public Order (London: Allen Lane, 1969), Chp.<br />
11 "The Public Order Act."<br />
119. See "Hoover Government Bans Young Worker: Ban of <strong>Youth</strong> Paper Seen as War Step, Plot to Gag Labor," The Young<br />
Worker 9, no.1 (January 1, 1931): 1; "Membership in YCL Sedition Says Court: Get Ten Years For Anti-War Leaflet,"<br />
The Young Worker 9, no.5 (February 16, 1931): 1.<br />
120. Mike Martini, "A Lesson From New York" Young Communist Review1, no. 3 (December, 1936): 7.<br />
121. Fred Cox, "A People's Movement in the South" Young Communist Review 2, no. 3 (March, 1937): 11.<br />
122. Although it was a powerful youth statement against war, the timing of its passage only ten days after Hitler's ascension to<br />
the German chancellorship created an element of social fear that progressive British youth had inadvertently strengthened<br />
the militant resolve of the fascists. See Martin Ceadel, "The 'King and Country' Debate, 1933: Student Politics, Pacifism<br />
and the Dictators," The Historical Journal 22, No. 2 (June, 1979): 397-422.<br />
123. Terry Cooney, "New Readings on the Old Left," American Literary History 11, no. 1 (Spring, 1999): 159.<br />
124. G. Wilhelm Kunze, "Race and <strong>Youth</strong>," in Free America! Six Addresses on the Aims and Purposes of the German American<br />
Bund (New York: AV Publishing, 1939), 14.<br />
125. Strack, "Answering Questions On Collective Security," 11.<br />
126. Joe Cohen, "In Review – War Our Heritage," Young Communist Review 2, no.1 (January, 1937) : 6.<br />
127. "For Peace and Social Advance by the Defeat of the Chamberlain Government," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the<br />
Young Communist League 2, no.4 (April, 1939): 105.<br />
128. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.1 (March, 1938): 5.<br />
129. Mac Weiss, "Four Years of the American <strong>Youth</strong> Congress," Young Communist Review 3, no.10 (December, 1938): 3.<br />
130. Elizabeth Shields-Collins, "We Shall One Day Achieve Our Goal," in Official Program of the Second World <strong>Youth</strong> Congress<br />
(New York: Academy Press, 1939), 1.<br />
131. "The World <strong>Youth</strong> Congress Movement" World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 1 (January, 1939): 16.<br />
132. Quoted in Joseph Lash, Eleanor Roosevelt: A Friend's Memoir (New York: Doubleday, 1964), 6.<br />
133. Margot Kettle, "Recollections of a Younger World," 16.<br />
134. The greatest service that young Communists gave the Spanish Republic was not in their literature and domestic campaigns<br />
of solidarity, but in the voluntary military service they offered as members of the International Brigades. Willi Münzenberg,<br />
the founding leader of the young communist movement, proposed the idea of the International Brigades to international<br />
Communist Leader Georgi Dimitrov in September, 1936 to lend international military and political assistance to the<br />
Spanish Republic. Throughout the short history of the International Brigades, over 40,000 volunteers representing over 50<br />
nationalities fought in Spain, offering their lives in the protection of "democracy, freedom and the peace of the world."<br />
135. Exact figures for the participation of young communists in the International Brigades are difficult to calculate since older<br />
YCLers could hold joint membership in the Communist Party. Observations about the "large proportion" of YCLers in the<br />
Brigades is based off from observations in YCL propaganda that made constant reference to the "significant" and "leading"<br />
contributions that youth were contributing to the efforts of the Brigades. Other secondary sources on the Spanish<br />
165
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
Civil War have also commented on phenomenon of the International Brigades as a "generational youth struggle," positing<br />
the experiences of young people's generational experiences with WWI and the Spanish Civil War. The primary data on<br />
the Brigades in YCL propaganda dealt specifically with deaths, often revealing little about the numbers and identities of<br />
YCLers fighting in Spain since international "non-intervention" regulations prohibited "outside" interference in Spain.<br />
Many volunteers commented after their return, especially in the United States, about the intense state persecution that they<br />
experienced, which may have been a factor in the YCL's discreteness of revealing information about members volunteering<br />
in Spain. See John Gerassi, The Premature Antifascists: North American Volunteers In The Spanish Civil War, 1936-<br />
39: An Oral History (New York: Praeger, 1986.).<br />
136. John Gollan, "British <strong>Youth</strong> and the Struggle <strong>Against</strong> Chamberlain," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1. no. 1 (January, 1939): 4.<br />
137. See Joe Cohen, "In Review – War Our Heritage," 6.<br />
138. "Long Live Republican Spain!," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 3 (March, 1939): 45.<br />
139. "The Situation in Spain and the Tasks of the <strong>Youth</strong>," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 3 (March, 1939): 47.<br />
140. Raymond Guyot, "International <strong>Youth</strong> Day – Anti-War Day," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 9 (September, 1939): 170.<br />
141. Bob Cooney, "The British Volunteers," The Volunteer for Liberty: Organ of the International Brigades 2, no.35 (November<br />
7, 1938): 8.<br />
142. See Edward Bennett, Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Search for Security: American-Soviet Relations, 1933-1939 (Wilmington:<br />
Scholarly Resources, 1985).<br />
143. Ottanelli, 178.<br />
144. Carl Ross, "<strong>Youth</strong> in the United States," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1. no. 1 (January, 1939): 10.<br />
145. Rudy Ward, "Why We Want the War to Stop," Young Communist Review 4, no.9 (December, 1939): 23.<br />
146. Renton, <strong>Fascism</strong>: Theory, 112.<br />
NATIONALISM: FROM POISON TO PATRIOTISM<br />
1. Jim West, "The YCL Speaks to the Catholics," Young Communist Review 3 no.5 (July 1938): 25.<br />
2. YCLGB, Constitution and Principles of the YCL (London: YCLGB, 1943), 7.<br />
3. YCLGB, A Short History of the Young Communist International, 9.<br />
4. VI Lenin, "Critical Remarks on the National Question," in VI Lenin Internet Archive .<br />
5. While initial British WWI propaganda imagery centered on nationalist appeals to traditional Imperial values, the tone and<br />
visual rhetoric became transformed as the war dragged on, especially after the entrance of the USA. Later visual appeals<br />
centered around concepts of citizenship with appeals like "The Nation Needs You!" Perhaps the most infamous appeals<br />
centered on citizenship and nationalism was Lloyd George's appeal that when British troops returned, they would come<br />
back to "A Land Fit For Heroes." For a lengthy discussion and visual reproduction of the US and British propaganda<br />
campaigns during WWI see Martin Hardie and Arthur Sabin, War Posters (London: A & C Black, 1920) and Maurice<br />
Rickards, Posters of the First World War (New York: Walker, 1968).<br />
6. US entry into WWI was largely facilitated by an intense propaganda campaign by President Wilson asserting that the war<br />
was one to "Save Democracy" and that this would be "The War to End All Wars."<br />
7. Though Lenin's strict analysis ultimately forged Comintern policy, not all contemporary revolutionary socialists shared<br />
Lenin's condemnation of nationalist movements in the West. For these socialists who based their conception of nationalism<br />
within republican conceptions of citizenship, there was no inherit internal contradiction between their socialist internationalism<br />
and nationalist aspirations. Identifying that the socialist movement first had to be advanced within its national<br />
context, these revolutionaries expressed a socialist form of nationalism that was tempered by a greater internationalist perspective.<br />
James Connolly and John MacLean were two of the most influential and articulate contemporaries of Lenin who<br />
espoused this divergent perspective on nationalism. Although it was unlikely that Connolly and MacLean could have won<br />
over the hard-headed Lenin to their positions on nationalism, the exclusion of their important voices within the initial<br />
Comintern meetings limited the scope of debates on the nationalist question in the West. Though Ireland was a unique<br />
case in Western Europe that theoretically fit within Lenin's criteria of an "oppressed nation," Connolly's conceptions of nationalism<br />
and internationalism were divergent to Lenin's. For Connolly and other Irish socialists, the struggle for the Irish<br />
Republic was always set in the rhetoric of a socialist nationalism that was in turn developed into an internationalist view:<br />
"Always presupposing that the rapprochement is desired between Sinn Feiners who sympathise with Socialism… Socialists<br />
who realise that a Socialist movement must rest upon and draw its inspiration from the historical and actual conditions<br />
of the country in which it functions and not merely lose themselves in an abstract ‘internationalism’ (which has no<br />
relation to the real internationalism of the Socialist movement), on the other." (James Connolly, "Sinn Fein, Socialism and<br />
the Nation," in the James Connolly Internet Archive .)<br />
The main criterion that Connolly used to conceptualize nationalism was the class content of the movement and the ultimate<br />
socialist goal of the nationalist movement. Connolly contended that Irish nationalism could "not merely a morbid<br />
idealising of the past," but needed to assert a concrete socialist "political and economic creed capable of adjustment to the<br />
wants of the future." The advent of the Irish Socialist Republic would not just serve the needs of the Irish, but would act in<br />
an internationalist role. Connolly contended that such an Irish Republic would "be of such a character that the mere mention<br />
of its name would at all times serve as a beacon-light to the oppressed of every land." (James Connolly, "Socialism<br />
and Nationalism," in the James Connolly Internet Archive .) While the form of nationalist agitation would have similar characteristics to bourgeois nationalism,<br />
the content and the ultimate goal of Irish Socialist Nationalism would be inherently different. Connolly consistently<br />
warned Irish socialists that their nationalism could not be "imbued with national or racial hatred," but needed to be directed<br />
towards preserving an "alliance and the friendship of those hearts who, loving liberty for its own sake, are not afraid<br />
to follow its banner when it is uplifted by the hands of the working class." (James Connolly, "Socialism and Irish Nationalism,"<br />
in the James Connolly Internet Archive .) For<br />
Connolly, Irish revolutionary socialism was naturally "reconciled with nationalism" and served to facilitate an internationalist<br />
perspective. To cement together the Irish nationalist and socialist movements, Connolly was prepared to "seal the<br />
bond of union with his own blood if necessary," which was his eventual martyred fate during the Easter Uprising of 1916.<br />
John MacLean posited a similar analysis to Connolly on the issue of Scottish nationalism and socialism that was divergent<br />
to the opinions of Lenin and the Comintern. The consistent anti-war activity of MacLean and his unyielding commitment<br />
166
NOTES<br />
to revolutionary agitation, even in the face of harsh imprisonment, had made MacLean a working-class hero in Glasgow<br />
and earned him the deepest respect of Lenin. Due to his positions on Scottish nationalism and his unyielding commitment<br />
to a socialist form of Scottish Republicanism, MacLean quickly lost favor with the Comintern and became a virtual political<br />
outcast in British communism. Unlike the Bolsheviks who put great faith in the nationalism of the anti-colonial<br />
movements to destroy imperialism, MacLean asserted that the best revolutionary advances could be made by striking at<br />
the heart of the British Empire. In divergence from English traditions, MacLean argued that Scottish society had traditionally<br />
been based in a form of Celtic Clan Communism. From this basis MacLean hoped to mobilize Scottish nationalist<br />
sentiment towards socialist revolution, arguing that "Bolshevism, to put it roughly, is but the modern expression of the<br />
communism of the mir." (John MacLean, "All Hail, the Scottish Workers Republic!," in the John MacLean Internet Archive<br />
.) MacLean was a convinced convert of Lenin's<br />
theory of imperialism and that an impending imperialist war would soon again break out, this time between the United<br />
States and Britain. By first striking a blow at the heart of the British Empire in Glasgow, MacLean argued that a revolutionary<br />
mobilization of Scottish nationalism by socialists could avert this impending war and lead to the destruction of the<br />
Empire. (John MacLean, "Election Manifesto 1923," in the John MacLean Internet Archive .) Although shunned and outcast from the ranks of the Comintern, MacLean spent the last<br />
years of his life advocating the importance of nationalism as a strategic method for revolutionary socialists. With the advent<br />
of the Popular Front, the concepts, legacies and symbolic martyrdom of both Connolly and MacLean became important<br />
rallying points for British communists.<br />
8. VI Lenin, "The Right of Nations to Self-Determination" in VI Lenin Internet Archive .<br />
9. "An Appeal to the Young," The Red Flag: Organ of the Young Socialist League 1, no. 1 (1920): 4.<br />
10. James Stewart, "Patriotism," The Red Flag: Organ of the Young Socialist League 1, no. 1 (1920): 10.<br />
11. ECYCI, Remove the Frontiers!,7.<br />
12. Ibid., 8.<br />
13. Ibid., 4.<br />
14. Ibid., 9.<br />
15. Georgi Dimitrov, "The Fascist Offensive and the Tasks of the Communist International," in The United Front: The Struggle<br />
<strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong> And War (San Francisco: Proletarian Publishers, 1975), 79-80.<br />
16. See Ibid., 79.<br />
17. VI Lenin, "On the National Pride of the Great Russians," in VI Lenin Internet Archive .<br />
18. Trotsky was by far the most outspoken critic of this new line on nationalism because he saw it as completely incompatible<br />
with Lenin's teachings. Trotsky had previously written, "Lenin’s internationalism is by no means a form of reconciliation<br />
of Nationalism and Internationalism in words but a form of international revolutionary action." Leon Trotsky, "Nationalism<br />
In Lenin," in Leon Trotsky Internet Archive < http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/works/1925/lenin/10.htm>.<br />
Many of the disillusioned communists of the twenties who had already been purged from the "official parties" saw in this<br />
speech by Dimitrov the signal to declare the Third International dead and to form the Fourth International.<br />
19. James Klugmann joined the CPGB in 1933 as a member of the infamous communist student groups at Cambridge University.<br />
Later in the thirties Klugmann became the Secretary of the Paris based World Student Association and was an active<br />
member of the European youth anti-fascist movements. See Graham Stevenson, "James Klugmann Biography," in Compendium<br />
of Communist Biography Online Archive .<br />
20. James Klugmann, "The Crisis of the Thirties: A View From the Left," in Culture and Crisis in Britain in the Thirties, ed.<br />
Jon Clark, Margot Heinemann, David Margolies and Carole Snee (London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1979), 25.<br />
21. Gil Green, "20 Years of the Communist Party," Young Communist Review 4, no.7 (September, 1939): 25.<br />
22. John Schwarzmantel has reflected on the lack of academic studies of communist nationalism in the West being due primarily<br />
between the negative linguistic associations of the words nationalism and socialism and their co-opting by the Nazi<br />
movement. Schwarzmantel states, "We may also note that much research on nationalism has focused on ‘radical Right’ or<br />
fascist and Nazi nationalism. Movements of this kind achieved an extremely virulent combination of nationalism with<br />
what was claimed to be socialism… In fascist and Nazi movements, a racialist and antidemocratic nationalism was exploited<br />
and manipulated to gain mass support, and was turned against the institutions of working-class politics. One result<br />
of this was that the connection between nationalism and socialism seemed to be the preserve of fascist-type movements,<br />
and to have no wider significance for the study of either nationalism or socialism." John Schwarzmantel, "Nation Versus<br />
Class: Nationalism and Socialism in Theory and Practice," in The Social Origins of Nationalist Movements: The Contemporary<br />
West European Experience, ed. John Coakley (London: Sage Publications, 1992), 47-48.<br />
23. Dimitrov, "The Fascist Offensive," 81.<br />
24. Georgi Dimitrov, "Unity of the Working Class <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong>," in The United Front: The Struggle <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong> And<br />
War (San Francisco: Proletarian Publishers, 1975), 97.<br />
25. Dimitrov, "The Fascist Offensive," 77-78.<br />
26. One of the first publications of the YCLGB stated the youth position on war and nationalism in the following terms, "Declare<br />
war against capitalist war, and fight side by side with the other members of your class for the freedom of the class<br />
you belong to." Within this framework, the call to reach across national borders to other working-class youth was propagated<br />
specifically in terms of fighting against war. Though internationalism was still important for communist youth as<br />
they began nationalist agitation, the traditional motivation to be an internationalist was to prevent imperialist war. James<br />
Stewart, The Hope of the Future: An Appeal to Young Workers (London: YCLGB, 192), 12.<br />
27. Michal, 38.<br />
28. Kuusinen, <strong>Youth</strong> and <strong>Fascism</strong>, 7.<br />
29. Wolf Michal was the communist pseudonym used by the Hungarian Mihály Farkas. Farkas was a leading member of the<br />
Hungarian revolutionary youth movement after WWI and joined the Czechoslovakian Communist Party in 1921 after the<br />
downfall of Bela Kunn's Hungarian Soviet Republic. Farkas was imprisoned for a short period during the twenties, but<br />
continued playing a leading role in international communist youth politics after his release. During the Popular Front era,<br />
Farkas adopted the Wolf Michal pseudonym and served as Second Secretary of the YCI under the leadership of the French<br />
YCLer Raymond Guyot who served as General Secretary of the YCI. See "Mihály Farkas," in The Institute for the History<br />
of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution Archives .<br />
30. Michal, 42.<br />
31. Ibid., 54.<br />
167
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
32. The shift towards a nationalist centred political rhetoric was a particularly difficult one for communist youth in Britain and<br />
America. Traditionally both leagues had experienced an intensely sectarian past based upon a militant class based oppositional<br />
culture, identifying with the Russian Revolution and internationalism. As victorious powers in WWI who spearheaded<br />
military intervention against the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution, both Britain and the US were identified<br />
as aggressive imperialist nations who stood in direct opposition to the goals of international communism and who were the<br />
main potential sources of imperialist war.<br />
33. Haynes and Klehr, Storming Heaven, 58.<br />
34. Mick Bennett, "Defense," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 1 no.8 (November, 1938):<br />
11.<br />
35. Joe Clark and Phil Schatz, "Book Reviews," Young Communist Review 3 no.2 (April 1938): 24.<br />
36. In January, 1935 one issue of Challenge was produced to highlight the campaigns raging against "The Slave Act." Within<br />
the first issue there were no references to the YCI, a standard in The Young Worker.<br />
37. See Challenge 1, no.5 (June, 1935): 1.<br />
38. See Challenge 1, no.8 (September, 1935): 1.<br />
39. National Council YCLGB, "War Will Involve the World," Challenge 1, no.8 (September, 1935): 5.<br />
40. "Concerning Morals," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 1, no.6 (September 1938): 27.<br />
41. "Challenge Proposes a <strong>Youth</strong> Charter For Parliament," Challenge 1, no.11 (December, 1935): 1.<br />
42. "Our New Feature," Challenge: The Paper For All <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no.1 (January 6, 1938): 9.<br />
43. Miles Carpenter, “Which Is Your England," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 1 (January 7, 1939): 11.<br />
44. Ted Ward, "The Living Past: Where the Cry of Freedom Rang," in Challenge: For the Defense of the People 5, no. 28<br />
(January 15, 1939): 6.<br />
45. ECYCLGB, "Planning For the Campaign," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 1, no.3<br />
(June, 1938): 11.<br />
46. Johnnie Gollan, "Some Questions on Defence," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 1, no.4<br />
(July, 1938): 3.<br />
47. Alec Massie, "Trotskyism and the <strong>Youth</strong> Movement," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League<br />
1, no.4 (July, 1938):12.<br />
48. "Songs of the People," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no.17 (April 28, 1938): 6.<br />
49. Popular Front rhetoric was initially hesitant in framing its appeals to the multi-national dimensions of Britain. Even during<br />
the Popular Front, the Communist Party exhibited a reluctance to address the national experiences and aspirations of<br />
Scotland as reflected in the November 1936 edition of Left Review, which was centered on Scottish nationalism. In this<br />
edition, the Scottish novelist Neil Gunn was given the opportunity to defend himself against the communist accusations<br />
that his nationalist ideology ought to be equated with the "Aryan theoreticians of Hitler <strong>Fascism</strong>." Gunn attempted to refute<br />
his accusers by stating that not only did a great number of workers have a serious interest in Scottish nationalism, but<br />
that the Gaelic society he was trying to reflect was one infused with a "proletarian humanism with a deep significance."<br />
The response given by James Barke denied Scottish interest in nationalism, containing a shallow theoretical assessment of<br />
nationalism, a condemnation of the SNP and a further association of Scottish nationalism with the "burning of books and<br />
concentration camps." In a more insightful piece, Edgell Rickword granted some legitimacy to national concerns, but<br />
openly stated that the Scottish struggle must be fought on a British basis since "no oppressed nation can free itself from a<br />
modern imperialism without the support of the working class of the oppressing nation." See Neil Gunn, “Scotland a Nation,”<br />
Left Review 2, no.14 (1936), 735, 737; James Barke, “The Scottish National Question,” Left Review 2, no.14 (1936),<br />
744; Edgell Rickword, “Stalin on the National Question,” Left Review 2, no.14 (1936), 747-748.<br />
50. YCLGB National Council, "Report of the National Council For 1938/1939," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the<br />
Young Communist League 2, no.4 (April, 1939): 90.<br />
51. Charles Gibson, "Look Out Chamberlain, We Are Coming For You!," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 1 (January 7,<br />
1939): 5.<br />
52. YCLGB, We March To Victory: Report to the 9 th National Conference of the Young Communist League (London:<br />
YCLGB, 1937), 14.<br />
53. Traditional Leninist rhetoric rejected notions of citizenship within the bourgeois state, centering its appeals in a language<br />
of class and internationalism. The purpose of this propaganda was to dispel conceptions of citizenship that identified the<br />
interests of workers with the interests of the state and nation. Since the fascists actively engaged in nationalist propaganda<br />
based upon biology and race, communists countered their rhetoric with a progressive nationalism centered upon active<br />
citizenship.<br />
54. Mick Bennett, "There Will Be no Democracy Tomorrow Unless We Defend it Today," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5,<br />
no. 5 (February 4, 1939): 8<br />
55. "How They Are Getting Together," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 11 (March 18, 1939): 2.<br />
56. "The BYPA," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 2, no.4 (April, 1939): 123.<br />
57. See The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Communist League USA 14, no.17 (April 28, 1936): 1.<br />
58. "Two Revolutionists: Lincoln and Lenin," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Communist League USA 13,<br />
no.38 (November 5, 1935): 5.<br />
59. "Poison Gas and Patriotism," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Communist League USA 13, no.45 (December<br />
31, 1935): 6.<br />
60. "Dear Mr. Browder, The Spirit of '76 is Not Dead: Young '36 Replies," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young<br />
Communist League USA 14, no.12 (March 24, 1936): 5.<br />
61. "Champion is the Name," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Communist League USA 14, no.17 (April 28,<br />
1936): 8.<br />
62. Champion was eventually disbanded in 1938. See Martin Glaberman and George P. Rawick, "Champion of <strong>Youth</strong> and<br />
Champion Labor Monthly: New York, 1936-1938," in The American Radical Press: 1880-1960, Vol.1 ed. Joseph R.<br />
Conlin (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1974), 78.<br />
63. George P. Rawick, "Student Advocate: New York, 1936-1938," in The American Radical Press: 1880-1960, Vol.1 ed.<br />
Joseph R. Conlin (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1974), 271.<br />
64. Ibid., 272.<br />
65. "Our First Issue," Young Communist Review 1, no.1 (September, 1936): 2.<br />
66. H Hennie, "What's Wrong With Our Review," Young Communist Review 2, no.3 (March, 1937): 18.<br />
67. See Earl Browder, Who Are the Americans (New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1936).<br />
168
NOTES<br />
68. See Thomas Ricento, "The Discursive Construction of Americanism."<br />
69. Joe Clark, "Our Fourth of July," Young Communist Review 3, no.5 (July, 1938):8.<br />
70. Alfred Steele, "Lincoln, Douglass, Washington," Young Communist Review 3, no.12 (February, 1939): 16<br />
71. Joseph Clark, "Flesh of our Flesh," Young Communist Review 2, no.2 (February, 1937): 8.<br />
72. "Editorials" Young Communist Review 3, no.5 (July, 1938): 5<br />
73. "Preamble to the Constitution of the Young Communist League, Adopted at the Ninth National Convention, May, 1939,"<br />
Young Communist Review 4, no.4 (June, 1939): 31<br />
74. Joe Cohen, "The Soviet Union and Spain," Young Communist Review 1, no.2 (December, 1936): 9<br />
75. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.3 (May, 1938): 5<br />
76. Bob Thompson, "Dave Doran as War Commissar," Young Communist Review 3, no.7 (September, 1938): 24.<br />
77. Richard H. Rovere, "Books, 1938," Young Communist Review 3, no.11 (January, 1939): 21.<br />
78. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.4 (June, 1938):5<br />
79. Helen Vrabel, "Our Declaration of Principles: Shall it be Changed," Young Communist Review 4, no.2 (April, 1939): 5<br />
80. "Thumbnail Reviews," Young Communist Review 3, no.7 (September, 1938): 28.<br />
81. Earl Browder published a pamphlet entitled North America and the Soviet Union: The Heritage of Our People in 1937<br />
containing an address he delivered to the Communist Party of Canada. In his speech Browder linked the revolutionary<br />
legacies of the Soviet and American nations as inspirations to mobilize anti-fascists throughout the world. See Earl<br />
Browder, North America and the Soviet Union: The Heritage of Our People (New York: Worker's Library Publishers,<br />
1937).<br />
82. Mac Weiss, "May Day, An American Tradition," Young Communist Review 3, no.3 (May, 1938): 14-15.<br />
83. "That's What They Think: Letters From Our Readers," Young Communist Review 4, no.5 (July, 1939): 24.<br />
84. Due to its overwhelming immigrant population, the United States was intimately linked historically and culturally to nations<br />
throughout the world. This internationalism of the American Republic enabled the nationalist rhetoric of the YCL to<br />
take on a unique balance between nationalism and internationalism.<br />
85. "Men Are Created Equal," Challenge: The Paper For All <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no.1 (January 6, 1938): 9.<br />
86. Gil Green, "In the Spirit of Dave Doran," Young Communist Review 3, no.5 (July, 1938): 4-5.<br />
87. "Preamble to the Constitution," 31.<br />
88. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.3 (May, 1938): 5.<br />
89. Francis Franklin, "What is Dialectics," Young Communist Review 3, no.9 (November, 1938): 15.<br />
90. Carl Ross, "After the Primaries," Young Communist Review 3, no.8 (October, 1938): 3.<br />
91. "Greetings to the World <strong>Youth</strong> Congress," Young Communist Review 3, no.6 (August, 1938): 4.<br />
92. The YCL typically did not direct attacks against Roosevelt after 1936, but kept articulating a vehement criticism towards<br />
elements in the Democratic Party that who did not express the willingness to keep advancing the New Deal and to implement<br />
the anti-fascist foreign policies that Roosevelt supported.<br />
93. Carl Ross, "Events of the Month," Young Communist Review 3, no.5 (July, 1938): 20.<br />
94. Carl Ross, "The Elections Results," Young Communist Review 3, no.10 (December, 1938): 26.<br />
95. Gil Green, "Creative Marxism," Young Communist Review 4, no.4 (June, 1939): 6.<br />
96. Carl Geiser, "I Was in a Fascist Concentration Camp," Young Communist Review 4, no.5 (July, 1939): 10.<br />
97. Phil Gillan, The Defence of Madrid (London: YCLGB, 1937), 7.<br />
98. Gollan, Defend the People, 2, 4.<br />
99. "Helping Spain's People," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 5 (February 4, 1939): 4.<br />
100. Mr. Alfred Barnes M.P., "If We Are to Save Our Own Homes," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 5 (February 4,<br />
1939): 1.<br />
101. Gabriel Carritt, "Every Gun in Spain Defends Us in Britain," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 5 (February 4, 1939): 4.<br />
102. Molly McCulloch, "When Barcelona Fell," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 5 (February 4, 1939): 7.<br />
103. Clark, "Flesh of Our Flesh," 8.<br />
104. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.1 (March, 1938): 3.<br />
105. Wolf Michael, "Our Power Lies in Unity," Young Communist Review 2, no.3 (March, 1937): 13.<br />
106. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.10 (December, 1938): 9.<br />
107. Joseph Starobin, "Czechoslovakia and World Peace," Young Communist Review 3, no.8 (October, 1938): 18<br />
108. One of the most contentious aspects of Popular Front history is evaluating the extent to which communist movements in<br />
the West persisted in following Comintern directives. Popular Front propaganda gave the appearance of distinct national<br />
lines, obscuring many of the internationalist links that persisted between the YCLs and the Comintern. This research does<br />
not attempt to engage in these debates centred on the use of internal documentation to prove the extent of "Moscow control"<br />
of Western communists. Communist publications were the main source to which members were exposed to the political<br />
values and dynamics of their movement. During the Leninist Generation, constant references were made to<br />
Comintern directives and resolutions as the basis for communist politics in the west. While many of these links certainly<br />
persisted during the Popular Front era, YCL propaganda rarely made mention of the Comintern or YCI, instead giving an<br />
appearance of decentralization and national independence in their youth literature.<br />
UNITY OF YOUTH: FROM SECTARIANISM TO POPULISM<br />
1. Santiago Carrillo, "Forward to Victory," Young Communist Review 1, no.2 (December, 1936): 12.<br />
2. Carl Ross, "The American <strong>Youth</strong> Movement," Young Communist Review 4, no.3 (May, 1939): 35.<br />
3. Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, "Strategy and Tactics of the Class Struggle" in Marx and Engels Internet Archive <<br />
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1879/09/17.htm>. This article was published as part of a series of letters<br />
from Marx and Engels to the leadership of the SPD in 1879 to argue against the trend of transforming the SPD from party<br />
from a revolutionary to a reformist platform. The main theoretical issue addressed in these letters was the issue of class<br />
collaboration.<br />
4. VI Lenin, "The Position and Tasks of the Socialist International" in VI Lenin Internet Archive<br />
.<br />
5. VI Lenin, "Left-Wing Communism, An Infantile Disorder: Several Conclusions" in VI Lenin Internet Archive <<br />
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1920/lwc/ch10.htm>.<br />
169
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
6. ECYCI, Remove the Frontiers!, 9.<br />
7. Young, No More War, 11.<br />
8. This position was severely modified on the basis of working with Trotskyist influenced youth groups. Though young<br />
communists were willing to work with all segments of youth including conservative youth on the basis of a minimum antifascist<br />
program, they consistently insisted that Trotskyism represented an ideology that was incompatible with the goals of<br />
the Popular Front and that no common action would be tolerated with the followers of Trotsky. Though many of the anti-<br />
Trotsky positions became increasingly irrational and were reprehensible in their representation of Trotskyists as class<br />
enemies and agents of fascism, the traditional Bolshevism of the Trotskyist movement made many of their theories and<br />
practices incompatible with the revisionism of the Popular Front. The reality that lay behind these Popular Front tensions<br />
is that Trotskyism represented a trend of revolutionary Bolshevism that strategically relied upon entryism and disruption of<br />
existing organizations as potential opponents and that this position was not compatible with the revisionism of the Popular<br />
Front. While Trotskyism was incompatible with the Popular Front, it did represent an existing left revolutionary and<br />
working-class tradition and assertions that it stood for fascism were blatantly false distortions.<br />
9. VI Lenin, "Report to the Fifth Congress of the R.S.D.L.P. on the St. Petersburg Split and the Institution of the Party Tribunal<br />
Ensuing Therefrom," in VI Lenin Internet Archive .<br />
10. One of the earliest complaints waged by socialists against the communists is that they were intentionally destroying any<br />
unity that existed within the working class movement. Young socialists who did not join the YCI asserted that they opposed<br />
both Capitalist Dictatorship and Bolshevik Terror, insisting that the programme of the YCI "did not serve the aims<br />
of the youth but exclusively those of the Russian Communists." See "The Programme of the Social Democratic Internationals<br />
of <strong>Youth</strong>," in ECYCI, Fundamental Problems, 65-81.<br />
11. ECYCI, Programme, 82.<br />
12. ECCI, "Theses On The United Front Adopted by the EC, December 1921," in Communist International History Internet<br />
Archive .<br />
13. ECYCI, Fundamental Problems, 81.<br />
14. Gyptner, From Isolation, 6.<br />
15. ECYCI, Draft Programme of the Young, 45-46, 47.<br />
16. Ibid., 56.<br />
17. Mick Jenkins, "History and Programme of the YCL Vol. 2," (CP/IND/MISC/5/4: YCLGB, 1929), 22.<br />
18. ECYCI, From Third to Fourth, 6.<br />
19. CPGB, The Role and Tasks of the YCL, 7.<br />
20. ECYCI, Programme of the YCI (No City/Publisher, 1929), 29.<br />
21. Denunciations and vehement attacks were not just directed against outward organizations, but were also an internalized<br />
phenomenon within the young communist movement. The YCI insisted it was necessary to win the most committed following<br />
to a "correct" Bolshevik line, even if this meant expelling large numbers of their own activists. In evaluating the<br />
development of their movement, the YCI insisted that "new groupments of forces and many expulsions were necessary"<br />
within the communist movement to create a solid base of Leninist cadres. To be a young communist meant to accept<br />
without hesitation the international leadership of the Comintern on issues of communist theory and practice. International<br />
discipline and Bolshevik self-criticism were expounded as the highest virtues for young communists to emulate as evidence<br />
of their Leninist divergence with Social Democracy. During the period of Bolshevization, the YCI directed the energies<br />
and outlook of their membership inward towards denouncing ideological deviations from Comintern policy within<br />
the youth and adult movements. The YCI asserted that their position was "correct" since it struggled "against both the<br />
Right opportunist digressions and the ultra-left mistakes" by evaluating their comrades strictly from the "standpoint of<br />
Leninism and of bolshevism." The trend towards an internalized youth culture to enforce Comintern dictates was intensified<br />
during the turbulent years of the Third Period. See ECYCI, From Third to Fourth, 4; ECYCI, Resolutions Adopted at<br />
the Fourth, 11.<br />
22. Ibid., 33.<br />
23. "Manifesto of the Second Congress of the Young Communist International," <strong>Youth</strong>: Official Organ of the Young Workers'<br />
League 1, no.1 (February, 1922): 11.<br />
24. Dimitrov, "The Fascist Offensive," 22-23.<br />
25. Ibid., 65.<br />
26. Ibid., 66.<br />
27. Kuusinen, <strong>Youth</strong> and <strong>Fascism</strong>,12, 25.<br />
28. Ibid., 11.<br />
29. Ibid., 18.<br />
30. Ibid., 22.<br />
31. Ibid., 26.<br />
32. Michal, <strong>Youth</strong> Marches, 8.<br />
33. Ibid., 9.<br />
34. Ibid., 13.<br />
35. Ibid., 15.<br />
36. Ibid., 38.<br />
37. Ibid., 41.<br />
38. Kuusinen, <strong>Youth</strong> and <strong>Fascism</strong>, 24.<br />
39. Dimitrov, "The Fascist Offensive," 88.<br />
40. Georgi Dimitrov, "<strong>Youth</strong> <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong>," in The United Front: The Struggle <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong> And War (San Francisco:<br />
Proletarian Publishers, 1975), 150.<br />
41. Kuusinen, <strong>Youth</strong> and <strong>Fascism</strong>, 21.<br />
42. Michal, 36.<br />
43. Ibid., 26.<br />
44. Ibid., 21.<br />
45. Assertions in the communist press that slandered Trotsky and his followers as terrorists and agents of fascism were false<br />
and unwarranted, but both movements vehemently asserted that their ideological positions made them political enemies.<br />
46. Georgi Dimitrov, "The Tenth Anniversary of Stato Operaio," in The United Front: The Struggle <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong> And War<br />
(San Francisco: Proletarian Publishers, 1975), 223.<br />
170
NOTES<br />
47. Though the Comintern openly embraced similar positions in the past, the Popular Front strategy condemned such assertions<br />
as reactionary and unrealistic, therefore making any coordination with the Trotskyist movement incompatible and<br />
undesirable by many. See "Founding Conference of the Fourth International 1938: Thesis On the World Role of American Imperialism," in<br />
Toward a History of the Fourth International Online Archive .<br />
48. Georgi Dimitrov, "The People's Front," in The United Front: The Struggle <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong> And War (San Francisco:<br />
Proletarian Publishers, 1975), 199.<br />
49. R. Khitarov, "Right and Left Deviations in the <strong>Youth</strong> Movement," The International of <strong>Youth</strong>: Organ of the Executive<br />
Committee of the Young Communist International no.1, (April-May, 1930): 9.<br />
50. In striving to be "ideologically correct" Leninists in opposition to other youth organizations, the British and American<br />
YCL's often directed their political energies to internal ideological struggles within the Communist Parties since other<br />
groups had already been systematically denounced. See Ibid., 13.<br />
51. For an excellent study of the impact of British communism in communities and the interrelationship of the movement with<br />
others on a local level see Stuart Macintyre, Little Moscows: Communism and Working-Class Militancy in Inter-War Britain<br />
(London: Croom Helm, 1980). <strong>Youth</strong> campaigns for socialist unity in Britain were part of a larger phenomenon during<br />
the twenties to counter the growing coercive power of organized employer's organizations. See Arthur McIvor,<br />
Organized Capital.<br />
52. Blame for mutual animosity between these organizations was rooted in divergences in theoretical outlook and in the practical<br />
applications of tactics within the larger Labour movement. Discrimination and hostility against communist activists<br />
was also a regular feature of Labour politics at the leadership level throughout the inner-war period that was often translated<br />
into the socialist youth movements. Though Labour Party discrimination against communists became more of a<br />
dogma than a principled strategic stance over the years, the CPGB inflicted much damage in its early years to intentionally<br />
breed animosity between itself and the Labour Party. After the Labour Party first refused affiliation of the CPGB in 1921,<br />
the CP released an extremely hostile pamphlet describing the correspondence between the two parties. What is obvious<br />
from the CP reply was that while discrimination emanated from the Labour Party executive, the CP was not at all an innocent<br />
victim in bringing this discrimination upon itself. The CP statement boldly stated, "The reply it will be seen, is a<br />
definite refusal that our objects 'do not appear' to be in accord with those of the Labour Party. To be quite frank we never<br />
supposed they were. Our worst enemy will not accuse us of ever pretending they were." CPGB, The Communist Party<br />
and the Labour Party: All the Facts and all the Correspondence (London: CPGB 1921), 7. When the CP finally came<br />
down to a less aggressive stance on socialist unity with the Popular Front era is was realised that coordinated unity between<br />
the CPGB and Labour Party would be very unlikely and therefore great hope was put into the youth movement to be<br />
able to heal the splits in the socialist movement.<br />
53. YCLGB, The United Front of the <strong>Youth</strong> (London: YCLGB, 1926), 6.<br />
54. Ibid., 9, 10.<br />
55. YCLGB, A Congress of Young Fighters, 8, 20.<br />
56. YCLGB, Where Shall We Start (London: YCLGB, 1930) 10.<br />
57. Ibid., 16.<br />
58. YCLGB, For <strong>Youth</strong> Unity: Being the Reply of the Young Communist International to the Independent Labour Party Guild<br />
of <strong>Youth</strong> (London: YCLGB, 1933), 5.<br />
59. Ibid., 10.<br />
60. Ibid., 11.<br />
61. YCLGB, Lenin and the <strong>Youth</strong> Movement (London: YCLGB, 1934), 3.<br />
62. The irony of the anti-YCL attitude of the ILP was that while it initially denounced the YCL for its revolutionary communist<br />
tactics, the ILP later scorned the YCL for giving up the struggle for revolutionary socialism with the adoption of the<br />
Popular Front. A 1937 pamphlet from the ILP attacked the Popular Front and British communists for abandoning the class<br />
struggle: "As a Revolutionary Socialist Party, the Independent Labour Party bases its policy on the class struggle.… The<br />
ILP is therefore opposed to the tactic of the Popular Front, which aims at combining the working class forces with the<br />
"democratic" elements within the Capitalist parties in opposition to <strong>Fascism</strong> and Reaction. This tactic ignores the fact that<br />
<strong>Fascism</strong> and Reaction are inseparable from Capitalism and can only be defeated by the overthrow of Capitalism.… The<br />
ILP rejects the view that it is necessary to adopt the Popular Front tactic and to modify the class struggle in order to win<br />
the support of the middle class. The winning of effective support from the middle class can only be achieved within the<br />
framework of the fight for a Socialist solution, by showing this class that their best interests are served by assisting the<br />
working class to establish Socialism." See ILP, Through the Class Struggle to Socialism: The ILP Attitude and Resolutions<br />
Adopted at Annual Conference, Easter, 1937 (London: ILP, 1937), 3.<br />
63. Ibid., 4.<br />
64. Ibid., 8.<br />
65. V. Chemodanov, Struggle or Go Down: The Right of <strong>Youth</strong> Independence in the Struggle for Socialism (London: YCLGB,<br />
1934), 16.<br />
66. William Potter, "Lessons of the ILP," in Marxism and the British Labour Party: The Open Turn Debate<br />
.<br />
67. YCLGB, Young Workers Advance! One Fight! One Foe! One Front! A Brief Report on the Meeting of the Representative<br />
of the ILP Guild of <strong>Youth</strong> and the Young Communist International, Paris, May 5-6 th (London: YCLGB, 1934), 8.<br />
68. Gollan, Raise High the Banner, 1.<br />
69. Ibid., 2.<br />
70. Ibid., 3.<br />
71. Ibid., 5.<br />
72. Ibid., 11-12.<br />
73. Gollan's pamphlets of 1935 contained elements of traditional Leninist rhetoric speaking of creating a "Soviet Britain," but<br />
the YCL position on youth unity against common enemies began falling in line with Popular Front theory. See John Gollan,<br />
Answer If You Dare! <strong>Youth</strong> Challenges the National Government (London: YCLGB, 1935), 14-15.<br />
74. Secretariat of the Communist Party of Great Britain, Correspondence on Merger of the Young Communist League with the<br />
Labour League of <strong>Youth</strong> (London: Internal Memo, June 24 th , 1936. (CP/CENT/CIRC/70/04), 2.<br />
75. Martin Upham, "The History of British Trotskyism to 1949: The Bolshevik-Leninists And The Militant Group," in Revolutionary<br />
History .<br />
76. Throughout the thirties the overwhelming majority of the Labour Party leadership sought an aggressive anti-communist<br />
policy, resorting to methods of mass expulsions of Labour leaders and members to hinder unity campaigns within Britain<br />
171
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
and the Second International as a whole. For a detailed narrative of the role of the British Labour Party National Executive<br />
in attempting to destroy unity efforts of the communists and Labour Popular Front sympathizers see G.D.H. Cole, A<br />
History of Socialist Thought, 85-89. See also J.S. Middleton, "The Labour Party and the So-Called Unity Campaign: An<br />
NEC Memorandum to All Members of Affiliated Organisations," in William Gillies Papers (LP/WG/COM/25).<br />
77. National Council of Labour, British Labour and Communism (London: National Council of Labour, 1935), 9.<br />
(WG/COM/13).<br />
78. Ibid., 4.<br />
79. "Memorandum by the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party to be Presented to the League of <strong>Youth</strong> Conference<br />
at Manchester on April 11, 12 and 13, 1936," in William Gillies Papers (LP/WG/LOY/7), 2.<br />
80. "Minutes of the League of <strong>Youth</strong> Advisory Committee Held at the Offices of the London Labour Party on Sunday, May<br />
10 th , 1936," in William Gillies Papers (LP/WG/LOY/10), 1.<br />
81. Duncan Hallas, "Revolutionaries and the Labour Party: The Trotskyists and Entrism," in Duncan Hallas Internet Archive<br />
.<br />
82. Arthur Marwick, "<strong>Youth</strong> in Britain," 46.<br />
83. "Minutes of a Meeting of the League of <strong>Youth</strong> National Advisory Committee Held at the House of Commons on March<br />
9 th , 1938," in William Gillies Papers (LP/WG/LOY/21i), 1.<br />
84. NCYCL, "Your Conference Can Take Decisions Which Can be of Far-Reaching Importance for <strong>Youth</strong>: Young Communist<br />
League to Labour <strong>Youth</strong> Conference," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no.9 (March 3, 1938): 10.<br />
85. In a 1938 memorandum on the development of the LLOY, the Labour Party NEC dedicated well over half of this 17 page<br />
document particularly to the issue of chastising Willis and exposing his coordinated activities with the YCL. The NEC<br />
gave a detailed list of the activities of every major national youth movement that the LLOY was working in coordination<br />
with and contended that communist participation in any of these coalitions, no matter how small, made LLOY participation<br />
incompatible with Labour's ban on united front activity. See Labour Party NEC, "League Of <strong>Youth</strong> Memorandum.<br />
Progress Made Since The Reconstitution Of The League," in William Gillies Papers (LP/WG/LOY/22).<br />
86. Wolf Michal, "The Capitulators of the Second International Split the Labour <strong>Youth</strong> Movement," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1,<br />
no. 7 (July, 1939): 142.<br />
87. John Douglas, "More and Better Activity," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 1, no.1<br />
(April, 1938): 16.<br />
88. "The National <strong>Youth</strong> Campaign," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 2, no.4 (April, 1939):<br />
134.<br />
89. Mick Bennett, "Building the Young Communist League," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist<br />
League 1, no.2 (May, 1938): 3-4.<br />
90. Molly McCulloch, "Who Can Be a Member of the League," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist<br />
League 1, no.3 (June, 1938): 21.<br />
91. "For Peace and Social Advance by the Defeat of the Chamberlain Government," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the<br />
Young Communist League 2, no.4 (April, 1939): 108.<br />
92. W. Spence, "Decisions Influencing All <strong>Youth</strong>," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 2, no.4<br />
(April, 1939): 118-119.<br />
93. John Gollan, We Ask For Life: Based on the Report of John Gollan to the Eighth National Conference of the Communist<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> Movement (London: YCLGB, 1936), 20.<br />
94. John Gollan, "Democracy Wasn't A Gift – Our Fathers Had to Fight For Every Freedom We Enjoy Today," Challenge:<br />
For the Defense of the People 4, no.32 (August 20, 1938): 9.<br />
95. Prior to the Popular Front, guest columns in the YCL press emanated from other national sections of the YCI or the<br />
Comintern leadership and were almost never open to members of other youth organizations to express alternative views.<br />
See J.L. Cottle, "Christian and Political Organisations: The Conditions of Co-Operation," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong><br />
4, no.41 (October 22, 1938): 11.<br />
96. John Moon, "We Need a National <strong>Youth</strong> Administration in Britain," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no.42 (October 29,<br />
1938): 11.<br />
97. While Stalin's campaign against Trotskyism, embodied in the Moscow "Show Trials," was primarily based on unwarranted<br />
slander and false accusations, the British YCL confirmed its anti-Trotskyist disposition during the Spanish Civil War.<br />
British communists perceived that the Spanish POUM was a Trotskyist organization. When the POUM led revolts<br />
against the Spanish Republican government communists used this as evidence to show that Trotskyist theory in practice<br />
simply assisted fascism. Trotskyists also identified their movement with traditional Bolshevism, denouncing the Popular<br />
Front. One of the main British Trotskyist groups in the late 1930's referred to itself as the "Bolshevik-Leninist group" to<br />
show their opposition to the Popular Front and their insistence on returning to traditional Bolshevik practices and theories.<br />
98. Bennett, "Building the Young," 8.<br />
99. Alec Massie, "Trotskyism and the <strong>Youth</strong> Movement: Part 1," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist<br />
League 1, no.3 (June, 1938): 29.<br />
100. YCLGB, We March To Victory, 16.<br />
101. Alec Massie, "Trotskyism and the <strong>Youth</strong> Movement: Part 2," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist<br />
League 1, no.4 (July, 1938): 13.<br />
102. Ibid, 13, 14, 17, 18.<br />
103. YCLGB Executive Committee, "Some Problems Facing the League." Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young<br />
Communist League 1, no.6 (September 1938): 4.<br />
104. Gollan, "Democracy Wasn't A Gift," 9.<br />
105. The American <strong>Youth</strong> Congress was founded in 1934 primarily as a youth lobbying body to criticize the failures of Roosevelt's<br />
relief programs for youth. In May, 1936 the Canadian youth followed the lead of their American counterparts and in<br />
coordination with the YCLC established the Canadian <strong>Youth</strong> Congress reflecting "how intensely young Canadians felt the<br />
need for action to save their generation." See Tim Buck, "The Story of the Communist Movement in Canada, Chapter<br />
Nine: Canada's <strong>Youth</strong> Comes Of Age," in The Comintern Internet Archive: The Communist Party of Canada<br />
.<br />
106. The main organizational representation for British youth at the World <strong>Youth</strong> Congress came from the British <strong>Youth</strong> Peace<br />
Assembly and the League of Nations Union <strong>Youth</strong> Groups.<br />
107. J. Picton, "The Campaign For the Charter," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 1, no.1<br />
(April, 1938): 15.<br />
172
NOTES<br />
108. "10th Annual Conference of the Young Communist League, City Halls, Glasgow, Easter, For Peace, Work, Wages," Challenge:<br />
The Voice Of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no.8 (February 24, 1938): 11.<br />
109. "National Parliament of <strong>Youth</strong>: Archbishop's Good Wishes," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> (October 22, 1938): 5.<br />
110. "<strong>Youth</strong> Parliament to Discuss Bills to Change Working Conditions," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 6 (February 11,<br />
1939): 12.<br />
111. "11 th National Conference of the Young Communist League," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 3 (January 21, 1939):<br />
5.<br />
112. W.W., "All Change Here: For Three Days I Was an MP," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no.13 (April 1, 1939): 3.<br />
113. Ibid, 3.<br />
114. "The BYPA," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 2, no.4 (April, 1939): 124.<br />
115. Waite, 95.<br />
116. Gollan, Raise High the Banner, 14.<br />
117. "Historic <strong>Youth</strong> Peace Assembly," Challenge: The Paper For Britain's <strong>Youth</strong> 1, no.9 (October, 1935): 1.<br />
118. "Latest News From the <strong>Youth</strong> Peace Front," Challenge: The Paper For Britain's <strong>Youth</strong> 1, no.11 (December, 1935): 7.<br />
119. YCLGBNC, "Young Communist League Speaks to 2,000,000 New Voters," Challenge: The Paper For Britain's <strong>Youth</strong> 1,<br />
no.9 (October, 1935): 5.<br />
120. "<strong>Youth</strong> Wants a Chance For a Bright and Happy Britain: Out With Baldwin!," Challenge: The Paper For Britain's <strong>Youth</strong><br />
1, no.10 (November, 1935): 1.<br />
121. Unlike Britain, the socialist and communist movements of the United States emerged from WWI isolated in immigrant<br />
communities, suffering severe state and vigilantly persecution. With the splits that occurred in the formation of the<br />
American communist movement, Comintern directives on communist oppositional culture, especially with the "socialfascist"<br />
line of the Third Period, had a highly disruptive and destructive impact for American socialism. For a historical<br />
background of the tensions between socialists and communists, especially the animosities created during the Third Period<br />
see the 1935 open debates of Norman Thomas and Earl Browder in Which Way For American Workers, Socialist or Communist<br />
A Debate of Norman Thomas vs. Earl Browder: Madison Square Garden, New York, November 27, 1935 (New<br />
York: Socialist Call, 1935).<br />
122. For a historical background on the growth and development of the YPSL see Patti McGill Paterson, "The Young Socialist<br />
Movement in America from 1905 to 1940: A Study of the Young People's Socialist League." (Unpublished PHD Dissertation:<br />
University of Wisconsin, Madison 1974) or Todd Stewart Hutton, "Historical-Sociological Analysis Of Goal Transformation<br />
In A Social Movement Training Organization: The Young People's Socialist League of America, 1920-1929,"<br />
(Unpublished PHD Dissertation: Duke University, New York 1982).<br />
123. "Young Workers League Greets Fifth Year of Communist International," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young<br />
Workers League of America 3, no.6 (March 15, 1924): 1.<br />
124. The YCI insisted that in the event of factional divisions, it was the duty of the YWL to look to the ECYCI to "solve all the<br />
main questions" since they could be relied upon to adopt a "clear and firm policy for future work" that would maintain<br />
ideological and organizational unity. See ECYCI, "A Letter From the YCI to the American League on the End of the Factional<br />
Struggle," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Workers League of America 4, no.19 (June 6, 1925): 3.<br />
125. YCLUSA, Who Are the Young Communists, 15.<br />
126. Ibid, 17.<br />
127. Ibid., 18, 21-22. In another YCL publication of the Third Period the YCL proposed a similar critique of the YPSL centred<br />
on a lack of action in coordinating and unifying young workers in struggle. In an article on a "toy shop" strike in the<br />
Bronx, the YPSL was condemned for advising no "definitive action" to unite the young workers who were "all waiting for<br />
militant leadership," whereas the YCL stepped in and "immediately called all of the workers on strike." In the same publication<br />
the YCL asserted that its united front program was intended to unify the youth membership of as many organizations<br />
as possible in "militant joint struggle" in order to expose the "treacherous policy of the Socialists." See Ruth P., "An<br />
Experience With YPSL Leadership at a Strike," YCL Builder 1, no.5-6 (March-April, 1933): 9; "Study Section: The United<br />
Front," YCL Builder 1, no.5-6 (March-April, 1933): 23.<br />
128. During the Popular Front era many of the previous tensions preventing socialist unity still existed between the YCL and<br />
YPSL. Certain tension existed between student's liberal flexibility in their approach and the YCL's traditional reliance on<br />
Comintern formulas in the early thirties. Though the NSL was initially condemned for many of their unorthodox initiatives,<br />
the YCL leadership eventually came to praising the effectiveness of their student activities.<br />
129. Cohen, 38-41.<br />
130. After the delegation visited Kentucky, both with the Justice Department and the White House set up meetings with the<br />
student activists to investigate the conditions in Harlan. See Ibid.,51.<br />
131. "Students Delegation to Kentucky," Young Worker: Weekly Publication of Young Communist League of USA (Section of<br />
the Young Communist International) 10, no.10 (March 28, 1932): 1. In February, 1932 a 19 year old member of the YCL<br />
National Executive Committee, William Simms, was shot by a "deputized gun thug for the Kentucky coal operators" for<br />
his participation in organizing the young miners in the Harlan Country strike. See "Mine Thugs Kills Simms, YCL Organizer<br />
in Kentucky Strike: American <strong>Youth</strong> Must Carry on Struggle," Young Worker: Weekly Publication of Young Communist<br />
League of USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 10, no.6 (February 15, 1932): 1. While the YCL may<br />
have toned down their connections with the Harlan delegation to protect the students from potential violence, it was obvious<br />
that the liberal and non-militant composition of the delegation was out of sync with Third Period propaganda. Another<br />
YCL article of 1932 condemned any manifestations of "rotten liberalism" within the communist youth as "the worst<br />
form of right opportunism" that could only be cured through a "sharp struggle" internally to enforce a truly Bolshevik outlook<br />
and practices within the YCL membership. See District Buro YCL Dist. 1, "Statement of the Boston Buro on Rotten<br />
Liberal Toleration of Opportunism," YCL Organizer: Issued by Young Communist League 1, no.1 (September, 1932): 17.<br />
132. Quoted in Cohen, 54.<br />
133. "Students Unite <strong>Against</strong> Bosses War: Expose Socialist Leaders; Endorse Nat'l <strong>Youth</strong> Day," Young Worker: Weekly Publication<br />
of Young Communist League of USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 11, no.1 (January 11, 1933):<br />
1.<br />
134. Quoted in Cohen, 87.<br />
135. See "College Votes For Anti-War Strike April 6," Young Worker: Weekly Publication of Young Communist League of<br />
USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 12, no.8 (April 10, 1934): 1.<br />
136. "Conferences Prepare Big <strong>Youth</strong> Day," Young Worker: Weekly Publication of Young Communist League of USA (Section<br />
of the Young Communist International) 12, no.9 (April 24, 1934): 1.<br />
173
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
137. See American <strong>Youth</strong> Congress Continuations Committee, Program Of American <strong>Youth</strong> Congress, Adopted By Delegates<br />
From 79 Organizations With Total Membership Of 1,700,000 (New York: American <strong>Youth</strong> Congress, 1934).<br />
138. James Lerner, "United Front Defeats Fascist <strong>Youth</strong> Group: Nation-Wide <strong>Youth</strong> Meet in January," Young Worker: Official<br />
Organ, Young Communist League, USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 12, no.18 (August 28, 1934): 1.<br />
139. Eagan, 119. At the Sixth World Congress of the Young Communist International, Comintern representatives made constant<br />
reference to the American <strong>Youth</strong> Congress as one of the first and most important Popular Front initiatives.<br />
140. The program of the American Congress <strong>Against</strong> War and <strong>Fascism</strong> embodied a traditional communist outlook asserting that<br />
capitalism was the cause of war and that the role of anti-war activists was to defend the Soviet Union where "the basic<br />
causes for war… have been abolished." Though the AYC shared a similar anti-war and anti-fascist perspective, its program<br />
attempted to embrace the larger American values of the youth movement and to fuse these values to the anti-fascist<br />
cause. For an interesting view of the political outlook of the <strong>Youth</strong> Section of the American League <strong>Against</strong> War and <strong>Fascism</strong><br />
see "Call to <strong>Youth</strong> Congress <strong>Against</strong> War and <strong>Fascism</strong>," Young Worker: Official Organ, Young Communist League,<br />
USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 12, no.18 (August 28, 1934): 12. Prior to putting their main organizational<br />
efforts into the AYC, the YCL attempted to use the YCAWF as a coordinating body representing a "true cross<br />
section of the American <strong>Youth</strong>," helping to promote a national committee in Oct. 1934 composed not just of young socialists<br />
and communists, but also representatives of such non-traditional allies as the YMCA, YWCA, Methodist <strong>Youth</strong> and<br />
the Boy Scouts. See "<strong>Youth</strong> Anti-War Congress Broadest Ever Held: Cement Unity in Fight on War and <strong>Fascism</strong>," Young<br />
Worker: Official Organ, Young Communist League, USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 12, no.21 (October<br />
9, 1934): 1.<br />
141. "Into Action for the Second American <strong>Youth</strong> Congress," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist<br />
League, USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 13, no.20 (June 4, 1935): 3.<br />
142. Gil Green, "Adding Another Page to American History," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist<br />
League, USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 13, no.23 (June 25, 1935): 12.<br />
143. "<strong>Youth</strong> of US Achieve Unity: 1,350,000 Represented at Detroit Congress," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the,<br />
Young Communist League, USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 13, no.26 (July 16, 1935): 1.<br />
144. Gil Green, "Gil Green Appeals to YPSL for United Front," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist<br />
League, USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 13, no.27 (July 23, 1935): 7.<br />
145. "Executives of SLID, and NSL Agree on Merger," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist League,<br />
USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 13, no.35 (September 24, 1935): 3.<br />
146. "Student Unity Aids Fight on <strong>Fascism</strong>." Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist League, USA (Section<br />
of the Young Communist International) 13, no.36 (October 1, 1935): 3.<br />
147. Gil Green, "World Congress Points Way to Unity for American <strong>Youth</strong>," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young<br />
Communist League, USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 13, no.39 (November 12, 1935): 6.<br />
148. "The Students of America Unite For Peace," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist League, USA<br />
(Section of the Young Communist International) 13, no.40 (November 19, 1935): 9.<br />
149. "The Significance of Student Unity," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist League, USA (Section of<br />
the Young Communist International) 14, no.2 (January 14, 1936): 5.<br />
150. Gil Green. "Building a United <strong>Youth</strong> League," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist League, USA<br />
(Section of the Young Communist International) 13, no.41 (November 26, 1935): 5.<br />
151. Otto Kuusinen, "We Are Building a United <strong>Youth</strong> League," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist<br />
League, USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 13, no.43 (December 3, 1935): 5. *Typo on page, has date<br />
listed as November 26, 1935.<br />
152. "YCI Policy Criticized by YPSL," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist League, USA (Section of<br />
the Young Communist International) 13, no.46 (December 24, 1935): 5.<br />
153. In many ways the YPSL rejection of YCL unity represented an historical irony since previous critiques of the YCL had<br />
traditionally been centred on its exclusive revolutionary and working-class character. See Edith Cohen, "Dear Gil Green,"<br />
Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist League, USA (Section of the Young Communist International)<br />
13, no.44 (December 10, 1935): 5.<br />
154. Mac Weiss, "Proletarian Unity and the American <strong>Youth</strong> Congress" Young Communist Review 1, no.1 (September, 1936):<br />
7, 12.<br />
155. Gil Green, "Which Way for American <strong>Youth</strong> in the Struggle <strong>Against</strong> War: <strong>Youth</strong> Leaders at Debate," YCL Builder 2, no.3<br />
(1936): 41-42.<br />
156. The Trotskyists did not hide their actions or their intent in enacting their policy of entryism into the YPSL which was<br />
designed to counter the Popular Front and to split the YPSL into contending allegiances between the Second and Fourth<br />
Internationals. While the YCL was not justified in declaring that the Trotskyists were openly conscious agents of fascism,<br />
Trotskyist ideology and practice did run completely counter to the goals and tactics of the Popular Front. See "1936 Trotskyist<br />
Resolution on <strong>Youth</strong>" in The Trotsky Encyclopedia: An On-Line Resource Center for the Study of the International Trotskyist Movement<br />
.<br />
157. "Notes of the Month," Young Communist Review 1, no.1 (September, 1936): 4.<br />
158. Morris Childs, "Traitors to the Working Class," Young Communist Review 2, no.2 (February, 1937): 10.<br />
159. See "1938 Socialist Workers Party Resolution on the Young People’s Socialist League (Fourth Internationalist)," in The<br />
Trotsky Encyclopedia: An On-Line Resource Center for the Study of the International Trotskyist Movement<br />
.<br />
160. Wolf Michael, "Our Power Lies in Unity," Young Communist Review 2, no.3 (March, 1937): 13.<br />
161. "Clippings of the Day," Young Communist Review 3, no.4 (June, 1938): 30.<br />
162. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.3 (May, 1938): 3.<br />
163. Ross, "Events of the Month," 20.<br />
164. Santiago Carrillo, "To the <strong>Youth</strong> of the World," Young Communist Review 3, no.4 (June, 1938): 9.<br />
165. West, "The YCL Speaks," 24.<br />
166. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.8 (October, 1938): 6.<br />
167. Throughout the speeches of the World Congress, YCI leaders continually praised the Spanish socialist youth for attending<br />
their conference. Although the YCLs in France and the United States were the main targets of praise, the Spanish youth<br />
were acknowledged for their initiative in achieving youth unity. Spanish youth unity became a key factor in rallying international<br />
youth sentiment to the Spanish Republic.<br />
174
NOTES<br />
168. "Spain Marches Ahead to Build the United <strong>Youth</strong> League," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist<br />
League, USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 14, no.7 (February 18, 1936): 7.<br />
169. "Spanish YCL and YPSL Now Agreed on Unity," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist League,<br />
USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 14, no.13 (March 31, 1936): 2.<br />
170. "Toda la juventud unida por España," in Art's Not Dead Vintage Propaganda Posters Online Gallery<br />
.<br />
171. Calmat, "The Cause of Spain is the Cause of <strong>Youth</strong>!," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 3 (March, 1939): 46.<br />
172. Luisa Rivaud, "Young Spain Fights and Works," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 1 (January, 1939): 8.<br />
173. Manuel Azcarate, "The Young Spanish Émigrés Carry on the Struggle <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong>," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 7<br />
(July, 1939): 136.<br />
174. Raymond Guyot, "The Light of Hope," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 4 (April, 1939): 80.<br />
175. "Message From the Soviet <strong>Youth</strong> to the <strong>Youth</strong> of Spain," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 8 (August, 1939): 156-157. Even as<br />
the Republican cause in Spain began to waver under the superior arms of Franco and the fascist invading forces, the JSU<br />
continued to appeal to youth in terms of anti-fascist unity. As WWII began unfolding in September, 1939 the JSU placed<br />
a "call upon all young Socialists and young anti-fascists to act so as to achieve international unity of action of the working<br />
and anti-fascists youth, a unity which is essential for saving peace and liberty." See JSU, "The Unified Socialist <strong>Youth</strong> of<br />
Spain Appeals to <strong>Youth</strong> of the Whole World," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 9 (September, 1939): 176.<br />
176. Malcolm Dunbar, "It's Not Too Late to Send Arms to Spain," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 5 (February 4, 1939):<br />
3.<br />
177. Roy Bell, "In Review," Young Communist Review 1, no.2 (December, 1936): 15.<br />
178. "The Struggle in Spain is Not Over!," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 10 (March 11, 1939): 1.<br />
179. "Spain, Britain and the Popular Front," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 11 (March 18, 1939): 3.<br />
180. Jack Kling, "They Shall Not Pass," Young Communist Review 2, no.2 (February, 1937): 7.<br />
181. "La unidad del ejército del pueblo será el arma de la Victoria," in Art's Not Dead Vintage Propaganda Posters Online<br />
Gallery .<br />
182. "Appeal For Action on Spain and Austria," Young Communist Review 3, no.2 (April, 1938): 6.<br />
183. John Gates, "They Stormed the Heavens," Young Communist Review 4, no.3 (May, 1939): 20.<br />
184. Gil Green, "Changing Horizons," Young Communist Review 4, no.3 (May, 1939): 10.<br />
DEMOCRACY: FROM DENUNCIATION TO DEFENSE<br />
1. Joe Cohen, "<strong>Youth</strong> Defends Spain," Young Communist Review 1, no.1 (September, 1936): 8.<br />
2. Bennett, "Building the Young Communist League," 1.<br />
3. Karl Marx, "Critique of the Gotha Programme," in Marx and Engels Internet Archive<br />
.<br />
4. Marxist ideology posits a stern class critique of the limits of democracy within the context of the "bourgeois republic."<br />
Due to the existence of private property and class divisions, the apparatus of the State, even in the bourgeois republic, was<br />
understood simply as an instrument to maintain class rule and that political democracy was primarily a façade to the distort<br />
the class nature of the state. Though the socialists of the Second International increasingly downplayed this critique in<br />
promoting their own vision of reformism, revolutionary Marxists like Lenin asserted that the class nature of the democratic<br />
state needed to be constantly exposed and understood by the working class.<br />
5. Not all revolutionary contemporaries of Lenin agreed with his positions of the role of the Communist Party and the establishment<br />
of a "single party" dictatorship. Rosa Luxemburg sternly rebuked some of Lenin's main concepts concerning the<br />
party, democracy and dictatorship stating, "The basic error of the Lenin-Trotsky theory is that they too, just like Kautsky,<br />
oppose dictatorship to democracy. "Dictatorship or democracy" is the way the question is put by Bolsheviks and Kautsky<br />
alike. The latter naturally decides in favor of "democracy," that is, of bourgeois democracy, precisely because he opposes<br />
it to the alternative of the socialist revolution. Lenin and Trotsky, on the other hand, decide in favor of dictatorship in contradistinction<br />
to democracy, and thereby, in favor of the dictatorship of a handful of persons, that is, in favor of dictatorship<br />
on the bourgeois model. They are two opposite poles, both alike being far removed from a genuine socialist policy…<br />
This dictatorship consists in the manner of applying democracy, not in its elimination, but in energetic, resolute attacks<br />
upon the well-entrenched rights and economic relationships of bourgeois society, without which a socialist transformation<br />
cannot be accomplished. This dictatorship must be the work of the class and not of a little leading minority in the name of<br />
the class – that is, it must proceed step by step out of the active participation of the masses; it must be under their direct<br />
influence, subjected to the control of complete public activity; it must arise out of the growing political training of the<br />
mass of the people." See Rosa Luxemburg, "Democracy and Dictatorship," in Rosa Luxemburg Internet Archive<br />
.<br />
6. See V.I. Lenin, "The Dictatorship Of The Proletariat," in V.I. Lenin Internet Archive .<br />
7. Adolf Hitler, "Proclamation To The German Nation, February 1, 1933," in the Online Hitler Historical Museum: Hitler's<br />
Speeches Archive .<br />
8. In a 1926 speech entitled "Might Makes Right," Hitler identified democracy as one of the primary problems of the German<br />
nation. Hitler stated, "Unfortunately, the contemporary world stresses internationalism instead of the innate values of race,<br />
democracy and the majority instead of the worth of the great leader. Instead of everlasting struggle the world preaches<br />
cowardly pacifism and everlasting peace. These three things, considered in the light of their ultimate consequences, are<br />
the causes of the downfall of humanity." Quoted in Communism, <strong>Fascism</strong> and Democracy: The Theoretical Foundations,<br />
ed. Carl Cohen (New York: Random House, 1972), 385.<br />
9. "First Congress of the Communist International: Speech at the Opening Session of the Congress," in V.I. Lenin Internet<br />
Archive .<br />
10. V.I. Lenin, ""Democracy" and Dictatorship," in V.I. Lenin Internet Archive .<br />
11. For commentary on ideological divergences concerning democracy and self-determination in the post-WWI politics see<br />
Anthony Whelman, "Wilsonian Self-Determination and the Versailles Settlement", International and Comparative Law<br />
175
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
Quarterly 43, no.1 (January, 1994): 99-115 or A. G. Hyde-Price, "Lenin, the State and Democracy: From Parliamentarism<br />
to Soviet Power." (Unpublished PHD Dissertation: University of Kent, Canterbury 1983)<br />
12. ECYCI, The Draft Programme, 24, 26.<br />
13. ECYCI, Fundamental Problems, 42.<br />
14. ECYCI, The Programmes of the Young Communist International, 43.<br />
15. "Illegality and Work Among the Masses," The International of <strong>Youth</strong>: Organ of the Young Communist International 3,<br />
no.1 (March, 1923): 16.<br />
16. YCI rhetoric created perceived contradictions within early communist literature. For the communists, terms like "bourgeois<br />
democracy" and "the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie" became mutually interchangeable as well as similar structural<br />
descriptions of "proletarian" forms of government. Statements about "democratic centralism" also conjured up images of<br />
ideological contradiction that the YCI did little to clarify. In their ideological statements the communists attempted to<br />
clarify the class meaning of these statements. Instead of clarifying these perceived contradictions, young communist literature<br />
often simply "slandered" their critics and posited positive statements about the "true character" of their movement.<br />
17. Joseph Stalin, "The Foundations of Leninism: Lectures Delivered at the Sverdlov University," in Problems of Leninism<br />
(Peking: Foreign Language Press, 1976): 44-45<br />
18. Lazar Schatzkin, "Ten Years of Proletarian Dictatorship," The International of <strong>Youth</strong>: Organ of the Young Communist<br />
International 7, no.5 (November, 1927): 64-65, 68.<br />
19. "Theses on the Fundamental Tasks of the Communist International," in Minutes of the Second Congress of the Communist<br />
International Internet Archive .<br />
20. In his address to the annual Labour Party conference, Chairman Joseph Compton stated, "<strong>Fascism</strong> and Communism alike<br />
are a challenge to our democratic institutions and to the system of society based on political, social and economic equality<br />
which we seek to establish." Criticism that linked fascism and communism were also advanced in the United States. The<br />
American Legion identified fascism and communism as similar "alien isms" that sought to "spread propaganda in the<br />
United States designed to forcibly change our form of government." See "Labour Party and Democracy: Growing Menace<br />
of Dictatorship, Fascist and Communist Challenge," The Times (Oct 03, 1933): 9; col A; American Legion National<br />
Americanism Commission, Isms: A Review of Alien Isms, Revolutionary Communism and their Active Sympathizers in the<br />
United States (Indianapolis: American Legion, 1937), 266.<br />
21. Reflecting on the importance of this period and Dimitrov's thesis, James Klugmann stated, "It put the struggle for democracy<br />
back into the centre of the fight for socialism. In the 1927-32 period democracy was considered almost a dirty word<br />
in the Communist movement, something that needed to be exposed as an ideology of the bourgeoisie. It was of enormous<br />
importance for us to develop a concept of socialist democracy, to be achieved through the winning of power, taking over<br />
all that had been won in the struggle for democracy under capitalism and qualitatively extending and expanding it. Every<br />
liberty that concerned the people became of concern to a revolutionary, to a Marxist, and in this way the working class<br />
could take the lead in the whole community in the fight for democracy." James Klugmann, "Crisis in the Thirties," 25.<br />
22. Dimitrov, "Unity of the Working Class <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong>," 110.<br />
23. Dimitrov, "The People's Front," 199.<br />
24. Ibid., 109.<br />
25. Dimitrov, "The Fascist Offensive and the Tasks of the Communist International," 10.<br />
26. Ibid., 12.<br />
27. Dimitrov, "Unity of the Working Class <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong>," 110.<br />
28. Ercoli, "The Fight <strong>Against</strong> War and <strong>Fascism</strong>," 22.<br />
29. Kuusinen, <strong>Youth</strong> and <strong>Fascism</strong>, 25.<br />
30. Ibid., 27.<br />
31. Michal continued on the theme of democratic slogans quoting Lenin in stating, "Liberty, needless to say, is a very vital<br />
slogan for any revolution, be it Socialist or democratic." See Michal, <strong>Youth</strong> Marches., 62, 42.<br />
32. In his address to the Comintern Dimitrov spoke of the reluctance of some comrades in "formulating positive democratic<br />
demands in order not to create democratic illusions among the masses." See Dimitrov, "Unity of the Working Class,"109.<br />
33. The dictatorship of the proletariat was considered an historically necessary transitory stage to protect the gains of the revolution.<br />
Communists posited that within the Soviet Union internal class conflict had ceased and that the Stalin Constitution<br />
represented a transition from the dictatorship of the proletariat into a full socialist democracy.<br />
34. Georgi Dimitrov, "On the Threshold of a New Year," in The United Front: The Struggle <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong> And War (San<br />
Francisco: Proletarian Publishers, 1975), 218.<br />
35. Ibid., 218.<br />
36. Maurice Thorez, "The Contribution of Lenin and Stalin to Marxism," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 7 (July, 1939): 151.<br />
37. British and American young communists had framed their anti-democratic propaganda to maximize youth disillusionment<br />
in order to urge revolutionary change. Young communists sought to expose the "reality" of this propaganda to advance<br />
their own political movement. One scathing YWL article asserted that "instead of a land fit for heroes to live in," that<br />
young workers found themselves "suppressed by the very government for which they fought." While the young communists<br />
sought to reflect the realities of young workers in Britain and the United States, their confrontational and militant denunciations<br />
of working-class perceptions of democracy did not result in the revolutionary mass mobilizations of youth for<br />
which it was intended. With the advance of domestic and international fascism in 1933 the Popular Front generation of<br />
the YCL rejected the Leninist militant denunciations of democracy and sought out a more effective and inclusive democratic<br />
language to facilitate mass mobilizations of anti-fascist youth in support of democracy. See "A Land Fit For Heroes,"<br />
The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Workers League 2, no.10 (October, 1923): 8. For an analysis of the wartime<br />
propaganda themes used in Britain see Gary Messinger, British Propaganda and the State in the First World War<br />
(New York: Manchester University Press, 1993). For a detailed bibliographical review of the literature on American wartime<br />
propaganda see Ralph Lutz, "Studies of World War Propaganda, 1914-33 Bibliographical Article," The Journal of<br />
Modern History 5, no.4. (Dec., 1933): 496-516.<br />
38. Dimitrov, "The People's Front," 210-211.<br />
39. Dimitrov, "The Fascist Offensive and the Tasks," 41-42.<br />
40. Mussolini Quoted in Georges Cogniot, "The French Revolution and its Cultural Work," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 7<br />
(July, 1939): 149.<br />
41. Georgi Dimitrov, "Silence Is Impossible -- Action Is Wanted," in The United Front: The Struggle <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong> And<br />
War (San Francisco: Proletarian Publishers, 1975), 165.<br />
176
NOTES<br />
42. For an insightful commentary on the historical and intellectual origins of modernity and democracy see Jonathon Israel,<br />
Radical Enlightenment: Philosophy and the Making of Modernity 1650-1750 (Oxford University Press, 2002).<br />
43. Henry Winston, "Status of the League," Young Communist Review 4, no.3 (May, 1939): 16.<br />
44. With the extension of the British franchise after WWI and the intimate organizational connections between the Labour<br />
Party and the trade unions, early YCLGB rhetoric was less oppositional on the issue of political democracy. For a discussion<br />
of the evolution of British democracy and the revolutionary use of Parliament for the communist movement in Britain<br />
see V.I. Lenin, "Letter to Sylvia Pankhurst," in V.I. Lenin Internet Archive .<br />
45. ECYCLGB, "After the Election," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Communist League of Great Britain 1,<br />
no.5 (January, 1924): 7.<br />
46. Harry Young, No More, 12.<br />
47. For a detailed and critical commentary about the infamous "Zinoviev Letter," the "Red Scare" and the J.R. Campbell trial<br />
that was used to help bring down MacDonald's Labour Government see J.R. Campbell, The Communist Party on Trial.<br />
J.R. Campbell’s Defence (London: CPGB,1925).<br />
48. ECYCLGB, League Training, 13-14.<br />
49. Ibid., 37.<br />
50. Alec Massie, The Chartist <strong>Youth</strong> Programme: A Straight-From-the-Shoulder Answer of the Young Workers to the Attacks<br />
of the Employers and the Labour Government (London: YCLGB, 1930), 12-13.<br />
51. YCLGB, Young Workers and the General Election: Young Workers Vote Communist! (London: YCLGB, 1929), 6-7.<br />
52. YCLGB, For <strong>Youth</strong> Unity, 4.<br />
53. V. Chemodanov, Struggle or Go Down, 2.<br />
54. Ibid., 15.<br />
55. YCLGB, Lenin and the <strong>Youth</strong> Movement, 6.<br />
56. The YCL stated that democratic centralism simply reflected "unlimited loyalty" to internationalism and that any assertion<br />
"that there is no democracy in the Communist International" was simply a "lie of the class enemy." The YCL also stated<br />
that in the actual functioning of democratic centralism that it was often difficult to "transmit directions from the leadership<br />
to the branches" so that in reality the YCL organization depended upon the "initiative and independence" of local branches<br />
to continue their work in a disciplined fashion. The YCL contrasted these aspects of communist internal democracy in<br />
practice to the regular interference that adult socialists placed upon youth work with young socialists functioned in an independent<br />
fashion. Ironically, Ted Willis of the LLOY left his organization to join the YCL in 1939 due to the fact that<br />
"every semblance of democracy in the League (LLOY) has been trodden under… (and) a youth organisation which labours<br />
under such heavy restrictions has no chance to work and grow." Other former members of the LLOY like Betty<br />
Morrison supported such sentiments stating, "I believe I can best serve the Labour Movement in the ranks of the YCL" and<br />
that the un-democratic policies of Labour Party adults had made joining the YCL "the only course open to young Socialists."<br />
See YCLGB, For <strong>Youth</strong> Unity, 11; YCLGB, Young Workers Advance!, 12; Ted Willis, "I've Decided That the Best<br />
Way I Can Help Defeat Chamberlain is to Join the YCL," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no.28 (July 15, 1939): 3.;<br />
"You Want to Help Stop Hitler: These League of <strong>Youth</strong> Members Show the Way to do It," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong><br />
5, no.30 (July 29, 1939): 8.<br />
57. The YCL insisted that it needed to embed its literature with a democratic spirit in contrast to the exclusionary rhetoric of<br />
fascism. One educational article stated, "There is no surer path to the hearts of the masses of the young people of this<br />
country than popular propaganda… for the defence of its rights and for democracy." See John Douglas, "Mass Propaganda<br />
and Education," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 1, no.2 (May, 1938): 9.<br />
58. Gollan, We Ask For Life, 13.<br />
59. "We Stand For," Challenge: The Fighting Fortnightly Paper 1, no.1 (March 1, 1935): 2.<br />
60. "Democracy Still Lives Here: Just What the Soviet Changes Really Mean," Challenge: The Fighting Fortnightly Paper 1,<br />
no.3 (April 6, 1935): 8.<br />
61. Grant Hardie, "There's No Room For "Mr. Apathy" in the Land of Socialism: I Visit the Soviet Parliament," Challenge:<br />
The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no.25 (June 24, 1939): 5.<br />
62. "Our Elections Are Free," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no.4 (January 27, 1938): 7.<br />
63. Though the form and content of YCL democratic rhetoric changed, the YCL continued to assert that the true realm of<br />
democratic youth struggle lay outside of parliamentary politics. In an interview after the re-election of the National Government<br />
in 1935 John Gollan urged British youth to "fight now both inside and outside of Parliament, for youth's demands<br />
and the defeat of this Government." In another article Gollan continued that since youth had united for democracy and<br />
"worked together for the defeat of the National Government" that there wasn't "any reason why we should not work together<br />
now" John Gollan, "John Gollan Sums it All Up," Challenge: The Paper For Britain's <strong>Youth</strong> 1, no.11 (December,<br />
1935): 4; "The Spirit of <strong>Youth</strong> Holds the Stage," Challenge: The Paper For Britain's <strong>Youth</strong> 1, no.11 (December, 1935): 5.<br />
64. "What's Doing," Challenge: The Fighting Fortnightly Paper 1, no.2 (March 23, 1935): 6.<br />
65. "What's Doing in the <strong>Youth</strong> Movement,"Challenge: For the Defense of the Young Generation 1, no.7 (August, 1935): 6.<br />
66. YCLGB, We March To Victory, 4.<br />
67. "You Can Decide," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> (February 24, 1938): 11.<br />
68. "Chamberlain Must Go: The People Must Decide," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> (February 24, 1938): 6.<br />
69. "<strong>Youth</strong> Have the Right to Decide What They Will Serve" Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 8 (February 25, 1939): 5.<br />
70. YCLGB National Council, "Report of the National Council For 1938/1939," 90.<br />
71. John Gollan, "We Won't Get Peace From the Munich Agreement," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no.39 (October 8,<br />
1938): 7.<br />
72. Bennett, "Building the Young Communist League," 2-3.<br />
73. "11 th National Conference of the Young Communist League," 5.<br />
74. Alec Massie, "Freedom, But Not Routinism," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 1, no.3<br />
(June, 1938): 14.<br />
75. "Service for Chamberlain Means Help for Hitler: Our Country Needs a Government That Can be Trusted," Challenge: The<br />
Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no.41 (October 22, 1938): 1.<br />
76. "The Noose of Conscription," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no.43 (November 5, 1938): 9.<br />
77. "<strong>Youth</strong> Have the Right to Decide What They Will Serve," 5.<br />
78. H.C. Creighton, "Make Britain Safe," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no. 40 (October 15, 1938): 5.<br />
177
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
79. George Poole, "Make Britain Safe: All <strong>Youth</strong> Should be Allowed to Join in ARP," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no.<br />
47 (December 3, 1938): 4.<br />
80. Anonymous TA Soldier, "Make Britain Safe: The Enemy Has Friends in High Places," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4,<br />
no. 42 (October 29, 1938): 5.<br />
81. "Biggest Army in the World is Democratic," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 13 (April 1, 1939): 8.<br />
82. "Make Britain Safe: Policy is the Keystone in the Fabric of Defence," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no. 43 (November<br />
5, 1938): 4.<br />
83. "Make Britain Safe: We Need The Right Policy, Strong <strong>Youth</strong>, Democratic Army, Bomb-Proof Shelters, A United Democratic<br />
People," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no. 44 (November 12, 1938): 4.<br />
84. J.B. Urquhart, "The Youngest Candidate," Challenge: The Paper For Britain's <strong>Youth</strong> 1, no.10 (November, 1935): 4.<br />
85. H. Donald Moore, "I Believe in the Freedom Our Forefathers Fought For: Let Us Unite Before it is Too Late," Challenge:<br />
The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no.18 (May 5, 1938): 5.<br />
86. "Return a Labour Government," Challenge: The Paper For Britain's <strong>Youth</strong> 1, no.10 (November, 1935): 5.<br />
87. Eric Organ, "<strong>Youth</strong> Speaks on the Elections," Challenge: The Paper For Britain's <strong>Youth</strong> 1, no.10 (November, 1935): 5.<br />
88. Cyril Lacey, "My Message to Challenge Readers," Challenge: The Paper For Britain's <strong>Youth</strong> 1, no.11 (December, 1935):<br />
7.<br />
89. Mick Bennett, "No One Can Stand Aside: Join the Young Communist League – Help Defeat the Government," Challenge:<br />
The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no.9 (March 3, 1938): 5.<br />
90. John Gollan, "This is What a People's Government Would do For Peace," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no.11 (March<br />
17, 1938): 5.<br />
91. In his 1969 publication entitled The People's War: Britain 1939-1945, Angus Calder explored the relationship between<br />
democracy, the Labour Party and voluntary service for anti-fascism. In a later review of this work, Ira Katznelson's affirmed<br />
Calder's contentions that only Labour could have negotiated the "two competing valuations of the role of class and<br />
nation, the image of the united national family and the class image of 'us' and 'them.'" See Angus Calder, The People's<br />
War: Britain 1939-1945 (New York: Pantheon Books, 1969); Ira Katznelson, "Book Review of The People's War: Britain<br />
1939-1945," Political Science Quarterly 86, no.3 (September, 1971): 526-528.<br />
92. Mick Bennett and John L. Douglas, "For a People's Government of Peace and Social Advance," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion<br />
Magazine of the Young Communist League 1, no.2 (May, 1938): 17.<br />
93. John Gollan, "The Opponents of <strong>Fascism</strong> Are Becoming Stronger," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no. 48 (December<br />
10, 1938): 5.<br />
94. "Service As Free Men or As Slaves," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 4 (January 28, 1939): 6.<br />
95. Wal Hannington, "Do You Want to be Forced Into "Labour Service," to be Taken From Your Home, Sent to Militaristic<br />
Training Camps," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no. 9 (March 3, 1938): 3.<br />
96. "What Have You To Say About It," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 4 (January 28, 1939): 5.<br />
97. "The <strong>Youth</strong> Trade Union Movement," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 2, no.4 (April,<br />
1939): 131.<br />
98. Bennett, "There Will Be no Democracy," 8.<br />
99. "The BYPA," 123.<br />
100. "How They Are Getting Together," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 11 (March 18, 1939): 2.<br />
101. "The National <strong>Youth</strong> Campaign," 135.<br />
102. Mick Bennett and John L. Douglas, "On the <strong>Youth</strong> Charter of Social Justice," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the<br />
Young Communist League 1, no.2 (May, 1938): 21.<br />
103. A.K. "The National Parliament of <strong>Youth</strong>," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 3 (March, 1939): 59.<br />
104. ECYCLGB, "Principles of Leadership and Some Ideas on Mass Work," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young<br />
Communist League 2, no.3 (March, 1939): 78.<br />
105. Mick Bennett, "The <strong>Youth</strong> Pilgrimage To London," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 3 (March, 1939): 48.<br />
106. Mick Bennett, "The <strong>Youth</strong> Pilgrimage to London Part 2," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 4 (April, 1939): 74.<br />
107. YCLGB, <strong>Youth</strong> on the March (London: YCLGB, 1939), 10.<br />
108. Bennett, "The <strong>Youth</strong> Pilgrimage To London," 48.<br />
109. Bennett, "There Will Be no Democracy," 8.<br />
110. "100 Years Ago: Song of the Lower Classes," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 5 (February 4, 1939): 10.<br />
111. John Douglas, "Nine Days That Shook England," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no. 35 (September 10, 1938): 10.<br />
112. John Gollan, "Our Heritage is Democracy: Unite to Defend It," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no. 16 (April 21, 1938):<br />
7.<br />
113. British communists asserted, as did many other intellectuals of the thirties, that "the burning of books outside Berlin University"<br />
and "the exiling of hundreds of intellectuals, have caused other countries to regard Nazi as a synonym for barbarian."<br />
Publications like Left Review were designed specifically to counter fascist attacks upon modernist culture by<br />
bringing together artists, intellectuals, poets and writers to promote anti-fascist politics and democratic culture. See Alexander<br />
Henderson, "What the Nazis Have Done For Culture," Left Review 3, no.6 (July, 1937): 325.<br />
114. Peter Toenning, "Growing Criminality of German <strong>Youth</strong>," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 3 (March, 1939): 61.<br />
115. "Young Intelligentsia of the Country of Highest Culture," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 4 (April, 1939): 82.<br />
116. Harry Ireland, "What's Wrong With the League in Glasgow," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist<br />
League 1, no.4 (July, 1938): 26.<br />
117. W.W., "All Change Here: Poetry and People," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no. 49 (December 17, 1938): 3.<br />
118. "New Auguries of Innocence (After William Blake)," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 1 (January 7, 1939): 10.<br />
119. Miles Carpenter, "The Heart Remembers When the Mind Forgets," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 14 (April 8,<br />
1939): 6.<br />
120. ECYCLGB, "Planning For the Campaign," 11.<br />
121. Robert Sayers, The Road to Victory: Marching Song of the <strong>Youth</strong>! (London: People's Songs, 1938), 1-2.<br />
122. George LeBaron, "Big Film Shocker For Hitler," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 19 (May 13, 1939): 8.<br />
123. A critique of leisure opportunities was not a new phenomenon for the YCL. The Leninist YCLGB had continually pushed<br />
a critique of "worker's sport vs. boss' sport" which was used by the bosses to "distract the workers' attention from things<br />
that matter, to draw young workers under militaristic influences." See William Rust, What the Young Communist League<br />
Stands For (London: YCLGB, 1925), 20-21.<br />
124. "Our Leisure and What They Want to do With It," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no.6 (February 11, 1939): 9.<br />
178
NOTES<br />
125. Mick Bennett, "Our Ideal is Fitness For Democracy," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no.10 (March 11, 1939): 5.<br />
126. Ted Ward, "Should We Have a Fitness Standard in Britain," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no.7 (February 18, 1939): 4.<br />
127. Ted Ward, "Can You Use Your Leisure," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no.3 (January 21, 1939): 9.<br />
128. See "What Shall We Do Today," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no.50 (December 24, 1938): 11.<br />
129. "This Bill Makes Every Rambler a Potential Criminal," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no.17 (April 29, 1939): 8.<br />
130. Liane, "Keep Fit and Beautiful," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no.2 (January 14, 1939): 9.<br />
131. Janet Norwood, "The Fight's On: Cosmetics Versus the Rest," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no.3 (January 21, 1939):<br />
10.<br />
132. See Anonymous London Doctor, "Sex and Health Sport-Loving <strong>Youth</strong> Wants the Answer," Challenge: A Call to the<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> 1, no.4 (April 27, 1935): 3.<br />
133. W.W., "All Change Here: Let's Be Sane About Sex!," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no.29 (July 21, 1938): 3. For a<br />
youth reaction to W.W.'s column see "If I Had Been Taught About My Body My Whole Life Would Have Been Different!,"<br />
Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no.30 (July 28, 1938): 9.<br />
134. National Organizational Committee of the YWL, "Manifesto and Program Tentative Draft," The Young Worker: Official<br />
Organ of the Young Workers League 1, no.1 (March-April, 1922): 10.<br />
135. Abern, "Who's Red," 10.<br />
136. Herbert Zam, "Judicial Murder in America," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Workers League 2, no.4<br />
(April, 1923): 18.<br />
137. Due to legal persecution, the American communist youth movement was split between the legal aboveground YWL and<br />
the illegal YCL throughout the twenties. The YWL was less oppositional on the issue of democracy while the YCL<br />
propagated for a Soviet style government. The YWL served as a legal educational organization for young workers to criticise<br />
and expose the realities of American society and democracy. The underground and illegal YCL instead worked for<br />
the "complete forcible overthrow of the capitalist state and the establishment in its place… the dictatorship of the proletariat,<br />
as expressed in the historic form of Workers' Councils (Soviets)." See YCL of A, "Urge Establishing of Soviet State in<br />
Program of American Section of the Young Communist International," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young<br />
Workers League 1, no.5 (August-September, 1922): 12.<br />
138. Harry Ganes, "Form a Labor Party!," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Workers League 2, no.1 (January,<br />
1923): 12.<br />
139. Gil Green, Young Communists and Unity of the <strong>Youth</strong>: Speech Delivered at the Seventh World Congress of the Communist<br />
International (New York: <strong>Youth</strong> Publishers, 1936), 3.<br />
140. Dimitrov, "The Fascist Offensive and the Tasks," 42.<br />
141. Earl Browder, The Communist Position in 1936: Radio Speech Broadcast March 5, 1936 (New York: Worker's Library<br />
Publishers, 1936), 4.<br />
142. Earl Browder, Democracy or <strong>Fascism</strong>: Report of the Central Committee to the Ninth National Convention of the Communist<br />
Party of the USA (New York: Worker's Library Publishers, 1936), 10.<br />
143. Earl Browder, The Results of the Elections and the People's Front (New York: Worker's Library Publishers, 1936), 17.<br />
144. See Earl Browder, The Democratic Front: For Jobs, Security, Democracy and Peace (New York: Workers Library Publishers,<br />
1938).<br />
145. Ross, "After the Primaries," 32.<br />
146. "Our May Day: An Editorial," Young Communist Review 4, no.3 (May, 1939): 13.<br />
147. "Thumbnail Reviews," Young Communist Review 3, no.7 (September, 1938): 28.<br />
148. "The Supreme Court: An Editorial," Young Communist Review 2, no.3 (March, 1937): 3.<br />
149. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.3 (May, 1938): 5.<br />
150. Weiss, "America's <strong>Youth</strong> Problem," 13.<br />
151. Carl Ross, "Events of the Month," Young Communist Review 3, no.2 (April, 1938): 11.<br />
152. Vrabel, "Our Declaration of Principles," 6.<br />
153. Carl Ross, "Events of the Month," Young Communist Review 3, no.6 (August, 1938): 17.<br />
154. Starobin, "In Clarification of a Policy," 18.<br />
155. Gil Green, "A World Congress For Peace," Young Communist Review 1, no.2 (October, 1936): 6.<br />
156. Joe Clark and Phil Schatz, "Book Reviews," Young Communist Review 3, no.2 (April, 1938): 24.<br />
157. Weiss, "May Day, An American Tradition," 15.<br />
158. Vrabel, "Our Declaration of Principles," 6.<br />
159. John Gates, "Our Stand <strong>Against</strong> Dictatorship," Young Communist Review 4, no.6 (August, 1939): 10.<br />
160. Carl Ross, "What Happened at the American <strong>Youth</strong> Congress," Young Communist Review 4, no.6 (August, 1939): 7.<br />
161. The YCLGB insisted that the lack of democracy within other socialist youth movements prevented them from embracing<br />
their Popular Front positions. The YCLUSA, like the YCLGB insisted they were one of the most democratic youth<br />
movements of their nation. For their internal practices and external support of democracy, Henry Winston boasted of the<br />
YCL in 1939 stating, "We are proud of the fact that our organization is the most democratic youth organization in the<br />
country." See Henry Winston, Character Building and Education, 13.<br />
162. Joe Cohen, "<strong>Youth</strong> Defends Spain," Young Communist Review 1, no.1 (September, 1936): 8<br />
163. Cohen, "The Soviet Union and Spain," 9.<br />
164. Carl Ross, "Events of the Month," Young Communist Review 3, no.4 (June, 1938): 17.<br />
165. The same editorial highlighted that while the terminology of Trotskyist rhetoric differed from "ultra-reactionaries such as<br />
Rep. Dies," that in practice there was "little difference in form and now practically none in (the) content" of their critiques.<br />
Members of the YPSL also began reflecting these anti-Trotskyist expressions after working with them for several<br />
years. One YPSL organizer, Eleanora Deren felt that the Trotskyists constant breeches of YPSL discipline that she interpreted<br />
to be a "stab in the back" to the American socialist-youth movement." See Editorials," Young Communist Review 3,<br />
no.9 (November, 1938): 5; Paterson, "The Young Socialist Movement in America," 210. Deren was later to become the<br />
famous Avant-Garde filmmaker known as Maya Deren.<br />
166. Leon Kaplan, "Experiment in Citizenship," Young Communist Review 4, no.6 (August, 1939): 28.<br />
167. West, "The YCL Speaks," 25.<br />
168. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.4 (June, 1938): 6.<br />
169. Weiss, "Four Years of the American <strong>Youth</strong> Congress," 5.<br />
170. "Greetings to the World <strong>Youth</strong> Congress," 3.<br />
171. Mac Weiss, "America's <strong>Youth</strong> Problem," Young Communist Review 3, no.7 (September, 1938): 11, 12.<br />
179
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
172. The YCL believed these youth struggles under "present-day bourgeois democracy" would help youth "to realize the need<br />
for establishing Socialism." See "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.8 (October, 1938): 5; Dave Grant, "Socialist<br />
Slander on the Sherman Investigation," Young Communist Review 3, no.1 (March, 1938): 25.<br />
173. "National Board Meeting Discussion," Young Communist Review 3, no.1 (March, 1938): 18.<br />
174. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.11 (January, 1939): 10.<br />
175. Ed Brant, "How They Did It," Young Communist Review 3, no.9 (November, 1938): 26.<br />
176. Carl Ross, "Events of the Month," Young Communist Review 3, no.5 (July, 1938): 20. This rhetorical strategy was similar<br />
to the Leninist Generation's rhetoric that spoke of the factory as a "fortress of class struggle," In an article entitled "Every<br />
Factory a Revolutionary Fortress" the YCL spoke of the Bolshevik tactic of "concentrating on the key points of our enemy<br />
– the factories." The YCL tactic of concentrating their forces and organizing efforts on the University Campus came from<br />
a similar outlook as the Leninist generation; namely trying to organize youth to be able to "cripple the capitalist war machine."<br />
See "Study Section: Every Factory a Revolutionary Fortress," YCL Builder 1, no.3 (November 15, 1932): 24-25.<br />
177. Joseph Lash, The Campus: A Fortress of Democracy (New York: American Student Union, 1938), 8-9.<br />
178. Celeste Strack, "War or Peace – The Students Answer," Young Communist Review 1, no.2 (December, 1936): 14, 6.<br />
179. The CCC was one of the most popular public programs of the New Deal. The CCC was established in March, 1933 to<br />
provide work for young unemployed men. Early CCC recruits typically did not receive any skills training due to pressures<br />
from organized labor, fearing that CCC workers would be used to replace skilled union labor. The YCL's critiques of the<br />
CCC centred around the issue of regimentation, comparing the CCC camps to forced labor camps in Nazi Germany. An<br />
article in August, 1933 stated, "The forced labor, war camps of the "New Deal," have received their baptism in blood. Today's<br />
Young Workers carries the stories of yet two more young workers brutally killed in the camps. What is behind these<br />
murders Behind them is the brutal determination of Wall Street and its Roosevelt government to prepare the youth for<br />
war, to establish forced labor as a system in the US, to stop the growing tide of struggles for real unemployment relief by<br />
the youth… The youth must make as one of the main points of their struggle the driving out of the whole military machine<br />
from the camps." See "Murder in the Labor Camps," The Young Worker: Official Organ, Young Communist League USA<br />
(Section of the Young Communist International) 11, no.12 (August 16, 1933): 8.<br />
180. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 4, no.1 (March, 1939): 14.<br />
181. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.12 (February, 1939): 7.<br />
182. YCL propaganda highlighted cases like that of the retired military officer General Moseley to show the potentially fascist<br />
and treasonous tendencies that existed in the military. The YCL contended that Moseley was plotting to "assassinate<br />
President Roosevelt and even to overthrow the American government by force" to reverse the President's progressive domestic<br />
and foreign policy positions. Moseley's anti-Semitic and anti-Roosevelt views were well known publicly and in a<br />
speech of 1939 he did assert that the military would offer the American public "salvation" if Roosevelt went too far in his<br />
New Deal programs. See John Gates, "Our Stand <strong>Against</strong> Dictatorship," 10; Max Wallace, The American Axis: Henry<br />
Ford, Charles Lindbergh, And The Rise Of The Third Reich (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2003).<br />
183. Gil Green, "Armaments For What," Young Communist Review 3, no.11 (January, 1939): 4,5,26.<br />
184. Two Former Army Members, "The Men Who Defend Our Country," Young Communist Review 4, no.6 (August, 1939): 3.<br />
185. Strack, "War or Peace," 14.<br />
186. Celeste Strack, "Answering Questions," 11.<br />
187. "Recruiting Drive," Young Communist Review 4, no.7 (September, 1939): 29.<br />
188. Ibid., 12.<br />
189. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.1 (March, 1938): 7.<br />
190. Ross, "Events of the Month," 23.<br />
191. Carl Ross, "The Position of American <strong>Youth</strong>," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 6 (June, 1939): 115.<br />
192. "Six Point Programme For American <strong>Youth</strong>," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 6 (June, 1939): 122.<br />
193. One election article stated, "A most appropriate place to drive home this incompatibility is in citizenship training for<br />
young people, at young citizens day ceremonies. Here we must move at once, for the reactionaries, Hearst and the Republicans,<br />
are organizing Young Citizens' Day ceremonies using the slogan 'I am an American' deliberately to build up a<br />
chauvinist, intolerant, and super-patriotic feeling among the youth." The YCL contended its citizenship days should focus<br />
on five points: "1) Creating a sense of duty and responsibility that accompanies the rights of citizenship; 2) Giving to the<br />
entire citizenry a clearer appreciation of its duties, responsibilities and obligations; 3) Developing a clearer understanding<br />
of the relation of local government to our state and nation; 4) Assisting in creating a high degree of community spirit; 5)<br />
Counteracting unwholesome propaganda by generating intelligent and creative participating citizenry." See Carl Geiser, "I<br />
Was in a Fascist," 27; Leon Kaplan, "Experiment," 28.<br />
194. Green, "Creative Marxism," 6.<br />
195. Ibid., 29.<br />
196. Nancy Cardozo, "Joe Delegate Comes to the Convention," Young Communist Review 4, no.2 (April, 1939): 8.<br />
197. "In Memory of Dave Doran," Young Communist Review 4, no.2 (April, 1939): 10.<br />
198. Ross, "The Elections Results," 26.<br />
199. "Greetings to the World <strong>Youth</strong> Congress," 4.<br />
200. May Himoff, "Questions and Answers," Young Communist Review 3, no.5 (July, 1938): 33.<br />
201. Francis Franklin, "Our Twelve Weeks Course of Study," Young Communist Review 3, no.2 (April, 1938): 21.<br />
202. Other articles warned young communists not to "apply everything that is related" in Russian history to the US because<br />
"not every event in Russian history occurred in America;" that while the Soviet experience offered lessons, that young<br />
communists should not "try to apply mechanically everything that was done by the C.P.S.U. to the United States." See<br />
Dave Grant, "Socialist Slander on the Sherman Investigation," 23; "How to Study," Young Communist Review 4, no.7<br />
(September, 1939): 15.<br />
203. Clark, "Our Fourth of July," 8.<br />
204. Forest S. Adams, "Right to Revolution Stressed by George Washington in 1776," The Young Worker: Weekly Organ of the<br />
Young Communist League, USA 14, no.7 (February 18, 1936): 5.<br />
205. Though much of this style of American rhetoric was abandoned with the denunciation of Earl Browder in 1945, such<br />
themes later became the basis for the CPUSA "Bill of Rights Socialism" program. See Sam Webb, "Keynote to the 28th<br />
National Convention of the Communist Party, USA," in CPUSA Keynote and Special Reports Internet Archive<br />
.<br />
206. Although he is usually associated in dominant popular memory with the CPUSA, Pete Seeger actually joined the Young<br />
Communist League in 1937 as a classical music student at Harvard. After joining the YCL, Seeger became a prominent<br />
180
NOTES<br />
figure in the cultural activities of American communism, going on to collaborate with other socialist musicians like Leadbelly,<br />
Woody Guthrie, Lee Hays, Millard Lampell, Sis Cunningham, Brownie McGhee, Paul Robeson and Sonny Terry.<br />
For more information on the YCL and Seeger see David King Dunaway, How Can I Keep From Singing: Pete Seeger.<br />
(New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co, 1981).<br />
207. Francis Franklin, "Education As An Art," Young Communist Review 3, no.1 (March, 1938): 7,8,9.<br />
208. Joseph Starobin, "Wise For Its Year," Young Communist Review 4, no.1 (March, 1939): 3,4.<br />
209. For the YCL, the transition to a culture centred politics transformed not just their rhetoric and activities, but helped to shift<br />
their organizational structures from the factory nuclei basis back into the traditional socialist structure of the community<br />
branch. This reversion back into community branches was justified by the YCL in terms of cultural policy, arguing that<br />
during the Popular Front if the YCL was to serve as "an educational organization, and not a vanguard organization operating<br />
among the youth," that the cultural activities of the community was where YCLers would "find their most natural life."<br />
See Phil Schatz, "Empire Statesmanship," Young Communist Review 4, no.1 (March, 1939): 6.<br />
210. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.11 (January, 1939): 10.<br />
211. The Young Labor Poets, "Two Poems," Young Communist Review 3, no.1 (March, 1938): 14.<br />
212. Joseph Starobin, "This Fourth of July: Editorial," Young Communist Review 4, no.5 (July, 1939): 30.<br />
213. See Alex Kold, "Slave Songs of Protest," Young Communist Review 3, no.12 (February, 1939): 19-21.<br />
214. The songbook was published by the YCL National Activities Department that furnished "branches with skits, songs, advice<br />
on forming choruses dramatic groups, game suggestions" and other cultural initiatives. See "The Composer of Fighting<br />
For Democracy," Young Communist Review 4, no.1 (March, 1939): 29.<br />
215. Sonny Vale, "Fighting For Democracy," Young Communist Review 4, no.1 (March, 1939): 29.<br />
216. Hoffman Hays and John Garden, "A Song For the Fourth of July," Young Communist Review 4, no.5 (July, 1939): 18-19.<br />
217. Leo Rifkin and Lawrence Adams, "Make Your Dreams Come True: A YCL Cheer Song," Young Communist Review 4,<br />
no.3 (May, 1939): 26.<br />
218. Hannas Hatschik, "Colorado Shindig," Young Communist Review 3, no.11 (January, 1939): 24-25.<br />
219. See David Engerman, "Give a Party For the Party," American Communist History 1, no.1 (June, 2002): 73-89.<br />
220. Tony Pecinovsky, "Shaking and Making US History: A History of the YCL," in People's Weekly World Newspaper Online<br />
Archive .<br />
221. James Dugan, "Stop Before You Jitter," Young Communist Review 4, no.5 (July, 1939): 3.<br />
222. The YCL praised the progressive youth aspect of the Stalin Constitution which propagated that "all citizens are guaranteed…<br />
the right to leisure." See Elwood Dean, "YCL'ers Are Also Human," Young Communist Review 4, no.2 (April,<br />
1939): 13; Joseph Starobin, "21 Years of Soviet Power," Young Communist Review 3, no.9 (November, 1938): 34..<br />
223. Phil Schatz, "In the Old Summertime!," Young Communist Review 3, no.4 (June, 1938): 3, 27.<br />
224. Browder, "Your Generation and Mine," 6.<br />
225. Geiser, "I Was in a Fascist Concentration Camp," 27.<br />
226. Winston, Character Building and Education, 10.<br />
227. Carl Ross, "<strong>Against</strong> a Ludlow Agreement," Young Communist Review 3, no.1 (March, 1938): 16.<br />
228. Roy Ashburg, "Sports For Democracy," Young Communist Review 3, no.12 (February, 1939): 22.<br />
229. Cohen, "The Soviet Union and Spain," 9.<br />
230. Kling, "They Shall Not Pass," 14.<br />
231. "Welcome Home to the Lincoln Brigade," Young Communist Review 3, no.10 (December, 1938): 6.<br />
232. Challenge Editorial Board, "Dear Comrade Carillo," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no.20 (May 19, 1938): 9.<br />
233. "Answer Mussolini By Sending Guns and Food To Spain," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 3 (January 21, 1939): 1.<br />
234. Jean Hemmen, "Young International Volunteers Heroic Example," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 1 (January, 1939): 11.<br />
235. "Message to the <strong>Youth</strong> of Spain," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no.5 (May, 1939): 113.<br />
236. Carillo, "To the <strong>Youth</strong> of the World," 9.<br />
237. The Spanish Medical Aid Committee, The Spanish Medical Aid Committee: Report of the Committee (London: London<br />
Caledonian Press, 1936), 1.<br />
238. Gabriel Carritt, "Every Gun in Spain Defends us in Britain," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 5 (February 4, 1939): 8.<br />
239. YCLGB, We March To Victory, 9, 14.<br />
240. Marcel Cachin, "Redouble Your Efforts to Help Spain: A French Communist Senator's Special Message to Challenge,"<br />
Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no.5 (February 3, 1938): 11.<br />
241. "British <strong>Youth</strong> 'Adopt' Two Spanish Towns," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 1 (January 7, 1939): 8.<br />
242. Maud Burns, "Girls and Defence," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 1, no.5 (August,<br />
1938):19. See also Bridget Roberts, "British Girls Adopt Spanish Children," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no.26 (June<br />
30, 1938): 5.<br />
243. "John Little Returns From Spain," Young Communist Review 3, no.4 (June, 1938): 25.<br />
244. Margaret Vernon, "The YWCA Convention," Young Communist Review 3, no.4 (June, 1938): 10.<br />
245. Green, "Armaments For What," 5.<br />
246. "This Army is Ready to Defend You: Let's Get a Government That Will Take its Help," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4,<br />
no.21 (March 24, 1938): 6.<br />
247. "Britain's Air Force Can Be Beaten Easily," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 4, no.23 (April 7, 1938): 10.<br />
248. YCI articles insisted that the fate of democracy, Spain, the Soviet Union and youth were intimately linked together, arguing<br />
that "Stalin has an unshakeable faith in the forces of youth, which inspire him with profound confidence" and that this<br />
confidence would serve to "strengthen the faith of youth in its own power and in its victory" against fascism. See Ted<br />
Ward, "This Army is Ready to Defend You;" Otto Meier, "The Young Generation and the 18 th Congress of the Bolshevik<br />
Party," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 6 (June, 1939): 114.<br />
249. Ted Ward, "This Army is Ready to Defend You," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 8 (February 25, 1939): 3.<br />
250. Starobin, "21 Years of Soviet Power," 34.<br />
251. Gates, "They Stormed the Heavens," 20.<br />
252. John Gates, "The Nature of This War," Young Communist Review 4, no.8 (October, 1939): 4.<br />
253. Cohen, "The Soviet Union and Spain," 9.<br />
254. John Gollan, "British <strong>Youth</strong> and the Struggle <strong>Against</strong> Chamberlain," 4.<br />
255. W.W. "Why Did Barcelona Fall We Are to Blame in Britain!," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no. 5 (February 4,<br />
1939): 3.<br />
256. Gates, "They Stormed the Heavens," 20, 21.<br />
181
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
257. Santiago Carrillo, "Young Spain <strong>Against</strong> the Betrayal," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 4 (April, 1939): 70.<br />
258. "The 11 th National Conference of the Young Communist League of Great Britain," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 5 (May,<br />
1939): 96.<br />
259. Strack, "War or Peace – The Students Answer," 14.<br />
260. Kling, "They Shall Not Pass," 14.<br />
261. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.1 (March, 1938): 6.<br />
262. Ross, "<strong>Against</strong> a Ludlow Agreement," 16.<br />
263. "Clippings of the Day," Young Communist Review 3, no.3 (May, 1938): 30.<br />
264. "Czechoslovakia and Spain: An Editorial," Young Communist Review 4, no.2 (April, 1939): 11.<br />
265. "The 11 th National Conference of the Young Communist League of Great Britain," 96.<br />
266. W.W. "At the Call of Freedom They Will March Again," 3.<br />
267. Cohen, "<strong>Youth</strong> Defends Spain," 8.<br />
268. "Recruiting Drive," 29.<br />
269. Clare Schechter, "Letters to the Editor," Young Communist Review 3, no.5 (July, 1938): 32.<br />
270. "Welcome Home to the Lincoln Brigade," 6.<br />
271. West, "The YCL Speaks," 25.<br />
272. Starobin, "This Fourth of July: Editorial," 30.<br />
273. Strack, "Answering Questions On Collective Security," 12.<br />
CONCLUSION: THE YOUTH STRUGGLE AGAINST WAR<br />
1. Young, No More War, 11.<br />
2. Green, "A World Congress For Peace," 6.<br />
3. See V.I. Lenin, "The Impending Catastrophe and How To Combat It: Abolition of Commercial Secrecy," in The V.I. Lenin Internet<br />
Archive .<br />
4. In his propaganda rhetoric, Hitler utilized youthful imagery to link internationalism with decay and militant nationalism<br />
with the youth. In a May Day speech in 1923 Hitler stated, "If the first of May is to be transferred in accordance with its<br />
true meaning from the life of Nature to the life of peoples, then it must symbolize the renewal of the body of a people<br />
which has fallen into senility. And in the life of peoples senility means internationalism. What is born of senility Nothing,<br />
nothing at all. Whatever in human civilization has real value, that arose not out of internationalism, it sprang from the soul<br />
of a single people. When peoples have lost their creative vigor, then they become international Everywhere, wherever intellectual<br />
incapacity rules in the life of peoples, there internationalism appears… So the first of May can be only a glorification<br />
of the national creative will over against the conception of international disintegration, of the liberation of the<br />
nation's spirit and of its economic outlook from the infection of internationalism. That is in the last resort the question of<br />
the restoration to health of peoples." See Adolf Hitler, "Munich: Speech Of May 1, 1923," in the Online Hitler Historical<br />
Museum: Hitler's Speeches Archive .<br />
5. In a recent review of Mussolini's imperial policy Willie Thompson reflected, "However, when it came to racism in the<br />
broader sense of relations with people of colour, of conviction of Europe's inherent superiority and of contempt for the<br />
lives and property of people known as non-Europeans, of preparedness to treat them as expendable instruments, fascist attitudes<br />
were as ferocious as could be imagined. Similar outlooks were characteristic of all colonial regimes, but to the<br />
everyday racism typically prevalent in such situations was added in the fascist case a glorification of brutality, an obsession<br />
with ruling by fear, of responding to every hint of real or imagined resistance with sadistic and generalized terror.<br />
Such responses were personally encouraged and indeed insisted upon by Mussolini himself." See Willie Thompson, "The<br />
Fascist Regime and the Abyssinia Crisis," Socialist History 28 (Spring, 2006): 2.<br />
6. Young, No More War, 7-8.<br />
7. National Organizational Committee of the YWL, "Manifesto and Program," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the<br />
Young Workers League (Formerly <strong>Youth</strong>) 1, no.2 (March-April, 1922): 10-11.<br />
8. Dimitrov, "The Fascist Offensive and the Tasks of the Communist International," 10.<br />
9. Georgi Dimitrov, "<strong>Fascism</strong> Is War," in The United Front: The Struggle <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong> And War (San Francisco: Proletarian<br />
Publishers, 1975), 262, 263, 268, 269.<br />
10. Wolf Michal, "The Secretary of the Socialist <strong>Youth</strong> of France and Munich," Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the<br />
Young Communist League 1, no.8 (November, 1938): 22, 23, 25, 27.<br />
11. West, "The YCL Speaks to the Catholics," 24.<br />
12. Browder, "Your Generation and Mine," 4.<br />
13. Maurice Thorez, "A New <strong>Youth</strong> Shall Rise," Young Communist Review 3, no.8 (October, 1938): 10, 12.<br />
14. Derek Watson, "Molotov's Apprenticeship in Foreign Policy: The Triple Alliance Negotiations in 1939," Europe-Asia<br />
Studies 52, no.4 (June, 2000): 700.<br />
15. Throughout the summer of 1939, The World <strong>Youth</strong> Review and The Young Communist Review did not carry any articles<br />
about or by Molotov, whereas statements from Litvinov had been regular features of previous issues. Challenge did not<br />
carry any statements from Molotov until June 10, 1939. In an article entitled, "What's Holding Up The Pact," the YCL<br />
highlighted themes of continuity in Soviet foreign policy, avoiding any serious discussion that the nature of Soviet policy<br />
was changing under Molotov. See "What's Holding Up The Pact Molotov, Russia's Premier, Tells You Here," Challenge:<br />
The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no.23 (June 10, 1939): 4-5.<br />
16. "The Russian View "No Inconsistency", Ambassadors See M. Molotoff From Our Special Correspondent," The London<br />
Times no. 48391 (August 23, 1939): 12.<br />
17. Watson, 714, 703.<br />
18. Elie Duguet, "<strong>Youth</strong> Rises <strong>Against</strong> Aggression," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 5 (May, 1939): 93, 94.<br />
19. See "Neville Chamberlain's "Peace For Our Time" Speech," in History of the United Kingdom: Primary Documents<br />
Archive .<br />
20. NCYCLGB, "Crisis: The People's Action Can Decide the Issue," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 5, no.34 (September 2,<br />
1939): 1.<br />
21. On the same day that Churchill became the new British Prime Minister the Axis powers ended the period of the "phoney<br />
war" by invading Western Europe. This situation put the YCLGB in an awkward rhetorical and strategic position since<br />
182
NOTES<br />
throughout the Popular Front era they had asserted that Churchill could potentially be trusted to lead an anti-fascist People's<br />
Government if it was based on a Popular Front style coalition with Labour. Since Churchill was in power and the<br />
YCL could no longer argue that the Axis powers were going to go East to attack the Soviet Union and that this was a<br />
"phoney war," the YCL had to reframe elements of its anti-war rhetoric. Instead of attacking Churchill as they had Chamberlain,<br />
the YCL continually asserted that Churchill needed to remove all of "the Men of Munich" from his cabinet in order<br />
to form a true anti-fascist government. See "We Don't Want Any Gestapo Here: They're Going to See Him About the<br />
Men of Munich," Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong> 6, no.30 (July 25, 1940): 1.<br />
22. Gates, "The Nature of This War," 4, 24, 25.<br />
23. Unlike the traditional Leninist anti-war program that called for "revolutionary defeatism" in order to turn the "imperialist<br />
war into a civil war" through socialist revolution, the YCI did not direct its national sections to take such a traditional<br />
stance. The Trotskyist movement took notice of the communist position against war and its divergence with Leninism, asserting<br />
instead that their own positions represented a correct Leninist stance by calling for international socialist revolution.<br />
Prior to the outbreak of war, the Trotskyist Fourth International denounced those who questioned if "revolutionary<br />
defeatism" might be an incorrect tactic to apply in any war with the fascist powers. The Trotskyists condemned such assertions<br />
as "extremely dangerous concession to the social-patriots," countering that even in wars with the fascist powers<br />
that "all the fundamental rules of proletarian "defeatist" policy in relation to imperialist war retain their full force." Once<br />
war was officially declared the Trotskyists mocked the communist's essentially pacifist position in a scathing article entitled<br />
"Will The Communist Party Go Communist" The Trotskyists insisted that by not embracing "revolutionary defeatism"<br />
that the Comintern position had "nothing in common with Lenin’s policy." In other articles the Trotskyists went on<br />
to denounce the communist call for a negotiated peace stating that "revolutionary socialist’s support neither imperialist<br />
war nor imperialist peace." See Editorial Board of the Russian Opposition, "A Step Towards Social-Patriotism: On the<br />
Position of the Fourth International Toward the Struggle <strong>Against</strong> War and <strong>Fascism</strong>," in The New International Internet Archive<br />
; "Will The Communist Party Go<br />
Communist," in Worker's International News Internet Archive: 1938-1949 ; "Spotlight on Centrism," in Worker's International News Internet Archive: 1938-<br />
1949 .<br />
24. ECYCI, "Manifesto of the Young Communist International," Young Communist Review 4, no.9 (December, 1939): 12, 13.<br />
25. Mick Bennett, <strong>Youth</strong> and the War (London: YCLGB, 1940), 13,14.<br />
26. YCLGB, Make Life Worth While: A Course For Members of the Young Communist League (London: YCLGB, 1944), 13.<br />
27. See Earl Browder, Eugene Dennis, Roy Hudson and John Williamson, Shall the Communist Party Change Its Name<br />
(New York: NCCPUSA, 1944).<br />
28. Ottanelli, 215.<br />
29. Raymond Guyot, "The Unity of the Working Class <strong>Youth</strong> Will Triumph," World <strong>Youth</strong> Review 1, no. 7 (July, 1939): 133.<br />
30. Gil Green, "Creative Marxism," 5, 27.<br />
183
BIBLIOGRAPHY<br />
PRIMARY SOURCES<br />
ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS:<br />
Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland<br />
Centre For Political Song<br />
CPGB Scottish Committee Archive<br />
The Gallacher Memorial Library<br />
The James & Martin Milligan Collection<br />
The Norman & Janey Buchan Collection<br />
The Spanish Civil War Collection<br />
Michigan State University Library, East Lansing, Michigan, USA<br />
American Radicalism Special Collections<br />
People's History Museum Labour History Archive, Manchester, England<br />
British <strong>Fascism</strong> and Anti-<strong>Fascism</strong> Collection<br />
Communist Party of Great Britain Collection<br />
Labour Party Collection<br />
Margot Kettle Papers<br />
Socialist Sunday School Collection<br />
Spanish Civil War Collection<br />
William Gillies Papers<br />
Young Communist League of Great Britain Collection<br />
Reference Center For Marxist Studies, New York City, New York, USA<br />
American Student Union Collection<br />
Young Communist League Collection<br />
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA<br />
Hatcher Graduate Library Spanish Civil War Microfilm Collection<br />
Labadie Collection<br />
University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, Great Britain<br />
Aldred Collection<br />
Labour History Collection<br />
Working Class Movement Library, Salford, England, Great Britain<br />
British <strong>Fascism</strong> and Anti-<strong>Fascism</strong> Collection<br />
184
BIBLIOGRAPHY<br />
Communist Party Collection<br />
Independent Labour Party Collection<br />
Labour League of <strong>Youth</strong> Collection<br />
Labour Party Collection<br />
Mick Jenkins Papers<br />
Socialist Sunday School Collection<br />
Spanish Civil War Collection<br />
Young Communist League Collection<br />
NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS:<br />
Challenge: The Voice of <strong>Youth</strong><br />
Champion of <strong>Youth</strong><br />
Daily Worker: Official Newspaper of the Communist Party of Great Britain<br />
Daily Worker: Official Newspaper of the Communist Party USA<br />
Dynamic: Magazine of the Young Communist League, USA<br />
Fourth International: Published by the National Committee of the SWP<br />
Left Review<br />
Marxist Bulletin<br />
Marxism Today<br />
Our <strong>Youth</strong>: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League Great Britain<br />
People's Weekly World<br />
Student Advocate<br />
The Communist International<br />
The International of <strong>Youth</strong>: Organ of the Executive Committee of the Young Communist International<br />
The London Times<br />
The Militant: Official Organ of the Socialist Workers Party<br />
The New International<br />
The Volunteer for Liberty: Organ of the International Brigades<br />
The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Communist League USA<br />
The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Workers League<br />
The Young Worker: The Organ of the Young Communist League Great Britain<br />
Worker's International News<br />
World <strong>Youth</strong> Review<br />
YCL Builder<br />
YCL Organizer: Issued by Young Communist League USA<br />
Young Communist Review<br />
BOOKS, MEMORANDA AND PAMPHLET MATERIALS:<br />
"Memorandum by the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party to be Presented to the League of <strong>Youth</strong><br />
Conference at Manchester on April 11, 12 and 13, 1936," in William Gillies Papers (LP/WG/LOY/7).<br />
"Minutes of a Meeting of the League of <strong>Youth</strong> National Advisory Committee Held at the House of Commons on March<br />
9 th , 1938," in William Gillies Papers (LP/WG/LOY/21i).<br />
"Minutes of the League of <strong>Youth</strong> Advisory Committee Held at the Offices of the London Labour Party on Sunday, May<br />
10 th , 1936," in William Gillies Papers (LP/WG/LOY/10).<br />
Allen, W.E.D. <strong>Fascism</strong> in Relation to British History and Character. London: BUF Publications, 1933.<br />
185
YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM<br />
American Legion National Americanism Commission. Isms: A Review of Alien Isms, Revolutionary Communism and<br />
their Active Sympathizers in the United States. Indianapolis: American Legion, 1937.<br />
Barbusse, Henri. You Are the Pioneers: Being a Report of the World Young Congress <strong>Against</strong> <strong>Fascism</strong> and War. London:<br />
Utopia Press, 1933.<br />
Bennett, Mick. Battle for <strong>Youth</strong>. London: YCLGB, 1942.<br />
Bennett, Mick. Conquer Your Future Now. London: YCLGB, 1942.<br />
Bennett, Mick. <strong>Youth</strong> for Victory! London: YCLGB, 1942.<br />
Bennett, Mick. <strong>Youth</strong> and the War. London: YCLGB, 1940.<br />
Bittelman, Alex. Fifteen Years of the Communist Party. New York City: Workers Library Publishers, 1934.<br />
Bittelman, Alex. From Left-Socialism to Communism. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1933.<br />
British Young Workers' Delegation. Report of Second British <strong>Youth</strong> Delegation to the USSR. London: YCLGB, 1927.<br />
British Young Workers' Delegation. <strong>Youth</strong> in Red Russia: Official Report of the First British Young Workers' Delegation<br />
to Soviet Russia. London: National Campaign Committee, 1926.<br />
Browder, Earl, and Norman Thomas. Which Way for American Workers, Socialist or Communist A Debate of Norman<br />
Thomas vs. Earl Browder: Madison Square Garden, New York, November 27, 1935. New York: Socialist Call,<br />
1935.<br />
Browder, Earl, Eugene Dennis, Roy Hudson and John Williamson, Shall the Communist Party Change Its Name New<br />
York: NCCPUSA, 1944.<br />
Browder, Earl. Democracy or <strong>Fascism</strong>: Report of the Central Committee to the Ninth National Convention of the<br />
Communist Party of the USA. New York: Worker's Library Publishers, 1936.<br />
Browder, Earl. North America and the Soviet Union: The Heritage of Our People. New York: Worker's Library<br />
Publishers, 1937.<br />
Browder, Earl. The Communist Position in 1936: Radio Speech Broadcast March 5, 1936. New York: Worker's Library<br />
Publishers, 1936.<br />
Browder, Earl. The Democratic Front: For Jobs, Security, Democracy and Peace. New York: Workers Library<br />
Publishers, 1938.<br />
Browder, Earl. The Meaning of Social-<strong>Fascism</strong>: Its Historical and Theoretical Background. New York: Workers<br />
Library Publishers, 1933.<br />
Browder, Earl. The Results of the Elections and the People's Front. New York: Worker's Library Publishers, 1936.<br />
Browder, Earl. What is the New Deal. New York: Workers' Library Publishers, 1933.<br />
Browder, Earl. Who Are the Americans. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1936.<br />
BYPA. <strong>Youth</strong> Unite For Peace. London: BYPA, 1938.<br />
Campbell, J.R. The Communist Party on Trial. J.R. Campbell’s Defence. London: CPGB, 1925.<br />
Carlson, O. "Karl Liebknecht." in Manuals for Proletarian Anniversaries, No. 1: January Fifteenth, The Murder of Karl<br />
Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, ed. ECYCI. London: YCLGB, 1923, 15.<br />
Carlson, O. "Our Martyrs." in Manuals for Proletarian Anniversaries, No. 1: January Fifteenth, The Murder of Karl<br />
Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, ed. ECYCI. London: YCLGB, 1923, 7-8.<br />
Central Committee Communist Party of Great Britain. "Our Party and the War Crisis: Political Letter of the Central<br />
Committee Communist Party of Great Britain." (London: Internal Memo, July 5th, 1939) in CPGB Central/Executive<br />
Committee Minutes and Papers: Communist Party Central Circulars (CP/CENT/CIRC/70/04).<br />
Central Committee Communist Party of Great Britain. "Unity is the Watchword: Report of the Central Committee<br />
Communist Party of Great Britain." (London: Internal Memo, January 9 th , 1936) in CPGB Central/Executive Committee<br />
Minutes and Papers: Communist Party Central Circulars (CP/CENT/CIRC/70/04).<br />
Central Committee of the CPSU.B., History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Bolsheviks. Short Course. New<br />
York: International Publishers, 1939.<br />
Chemadanov, V.E. Young Communists and the Path to Soviet Power: Report to the January Plenum of the Young<br />
Communist International. New York: <strong>Youth</strong> Publishers, 1934.<br />
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BIBLIOGRAPHY<br />
Chemodanov, V. Struggle or Go Down: The Right of <strong>Youth</strong> Independence in the Struggle for Socialism. London:<br />
YCLGB, 1934.<br />
Clark, Joseph. Life With a Purpose: Why You Should Join the Young Communist League. New York, N.Y.: National<br />
Committee of the Young Communist League, 1940.<br />
Cole, G. D. H. The People's Front. London, V. Gollancz, ltd., 1937.<br />
Communist International Executive. Principles on Party Organization: Thesis on the Organization and Structure of the<br />
Communist Parties Adopted at the 3 rd Congress of the Communist International. Calcutta: Mass Publications, 1975.<br />
Communist Party of Great Britain. Pamphlets 1935-1939. London: CPGB, 1935-39.<br />
Communist Party of Great Britain. Speeches & Documents Of The Sixth (Manchester) Conference Of The Communist<br />
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BOOKS, THESES AND DISSERTATIONS:<br />
Aaron, Daniel. Writers on the Left, Episodes in American Literary Communism. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World,<br />
1961.<br />
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