Joel A Lewis Youth Against Fascism.pdf
Joel A Lewis Youth Against Fascism.pdf
Joel A Lewis Youth Against Fascism.pdf
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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 />
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