Joel A Lewis Youth Against Fascism.pdf

UNITY OF YOUTH
ated the themes of youth and unity with Spain. YCI articles stated, "The cause of Spain
is the cause of youth!" 171 Youth were unified internationally "by a great spirit of construction,"
while the fascist forces in Spain represented "the enemy’s work of destruction"
against the aspirations of youth. 172 The JSU showed anti-fascist youth worldwide
how "a deep love for unity" was in reality "the only sure and effective weapon with
which to resist and conquer the aggressions of Hitler and Mussolini." 173 Raymond Guyot,
General Secretary of the YCI exclaimed that "unity and once more unity will permit the
young Communists all over the world to render more efficient aid to Republican
Spain." 174 Spain was used a "rallying call" for all anti-fascist youth:
Under fire and beneath the banner of struggle for effective help for the Spanish people,
unity was forged between the advanced youth of all countries. Long live the United Socialist
Youth of Spain! An example of unity and heroism for the youth of the whole
world! That is the cry of young anti-fascists all over the world in solidarity with the
United Socialist Youth.... Your motto, "United as in Spain," at the side of your Spanish
brothers, must triumph. Long live the anti-fascist unity of struggle of the youth of the
world! 175
The example of the JSU showed how unity, both domestically and internationally,
empowered youth to effectively combat fascism.
The British and American YCL held very similar interpretations of Spain in their
rhetoric. The British YCL challenged fatalistic attitudes towards the inevitability of a
new world war. Such propaganda invoked the example of Spain stating, "The unity of
the Spanish has been the bulwark of democratic Europe against fascist aggression and
war… that is the spirit of Spain." 176 The YCLUSA similarly stressed how the "whole
Spanish people was united in a struggle to the end against the fascists" and that this
showed American youth "what a powerful weapon unity was." 177 Challenge proclaimed
that the "heroic struggle of the Spanish people has… awakened millions in Britain and
America… it showed them the way to defeat fascism, by uniting their forces to oppose
it." 178 Spanish youth unity "almost single-handedly… brought the peoples of all democratic
countries closer together than they have ever been in history." 179 Both YCLs denounced
the influence of Trotskyism on the Spanish POUM. In the context of the Civil
War, the revolutionary "slogans of the Trotzkyites means alienating these large sections
of the Spanish people, thus weakening the government, thus making possible a fascist
victory." 180 Spain imbued communists with the notion that anti-fascist unity for defense
required difficult choices for revolutionaries. At times, such as the case of the POUM,
communists came to justify outright brutal suppression of other revolutionary movements
in order to preserve and strengthen anti-fascist coalitions.
The International Brigades were extolled for facilitating anti-fascist unity. The Brigades
symbolized international youth solidarity to rouse British and American youth into
support of the Popular Front. The Spanish Popular Front government used images of the
International Brigades to propagate themes of anti-fascist unity. One propaganda poster
showed an International Brigader supporting a smiling Spanish soldier who confidently
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