Joel A Lewis Youth Against Fascism.pdf

INTRODUCTION: COMMUNIST
HISTORIOGRAPHY AND THE YOUTH
The Young Communist International (YCI) emerged in Berlin in November, 1919,
originating out of the pre-war traditions of anti-militarism and internationalism that
dominated the socialist youth movement. Though youth were a central element of
communist politics during the inter-war period, most historical narratives have traditionally
neglected the impact of the YCLs on the evolution of communism. By 1924 the YCI
had established over sixty Young Communist Leagues (YCL) throughout Europe, the
Americas and Asia. 1 During the twenties, YCLs outside of Germany and the Soviet
Union remained small propagandist sects exerting little impact on labor and youth
politics. While their initial external influence was negligible in the non-communist
world, young communists played a pivotal role in the internal development of the international
communist movement. 2 With the advent of the Nazi Third Reich, young communists
shifted their focus outward, constructing large populist youth movements against
fascism and war throughout Europe and the United States.
The history of the YCI is intimately connected with the origins and development of
the Communist International (Comintern). This study of communist youth is an effort to
further the arguments of Richard Cornell that a study of the YCI "can tell us a great deal
about the nature of communism… [and] how the communist movement developed." 3
The Comintern leadership of the 1920s was composed primarily of adults, but its early
membership base was dominated by youth. 4 Initially the YCI and its national Leagues
claimed affiliation to the Comintern, but asserted complete political independence.
However, in November, 1920 the Russian YCL proposed the complete "political subordination"
of the YCLs "to the leadership of the Parties of their respective countries." 5
This Russian proposal encountered fierce resistance from the YCI Executive Committee
who envisioned the youth movement as the "true vanguard" of international communism.
At the Comintern's Third Congress in 1921 these Russian proposals were finally adopted,
officially subordinating the YCI to the Comintern. The YCI came to accept this new
relationship, relinquishing their prior political independence.
This book begins with the premise that over the course of the inter-war period, the
YCLs changed significantly in their size, structure, political influence and relationship
with the Comintern, bearing little resemblance to their initial organizations by the end of
the thirties. During the twenties, the YCI and its Leagues were charged with the highly
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