Joel A Lewis Youth Against Fascism.pdf

YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM
137. See American Youth Congress Continuations Committee, Program Of American Youth Congress, Adopted By Delegates
From 79 Organizations With Total Membership Of 1,700,000 (New York: American Youth Congress, 1934).
138. James Lerner, "United Front Defeats Fascist Youth Group: Nation-Wide Youth Meet in January," Young Worker: Official
Organ, Young Communist League, USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 12, no.18 (August 28, 1934): 1.
139. Eagan, 119. At the Sixth World Congress of the Young Communist International, Comintern representatives made constant
reference to the American Youth Congress as one of the first and most important Popular Front initiatives.
140. The program of the American Congress Against War and Fascism embodied a traditional communist outlook asserting that
capitalism was the cause of war and that the role of anti-war activists was to defend the Soviet Union where "the basic
causes for war… have been abolished." Though the AYC shared a similar anti-war and anti-fascist perspective, its program
attempted to embrace the larger American values of the youth movement and to fuse these values to the anti-fascist
cause. For an interesting view of the political outlook of the Youth Section of the American League Against War and Fascism
see "Call to Youth Congress Against War and Fascism," Young Worker: Official Organ, Young Communist League,
USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 12, no.18 (August 28, 1934): 12. Prior to putting their main organizational
efforts into the AYC, the YCL attempted to use the YCAWF as a coordinating body representing a "true cross
section of the American Youth," helping to promote a national committee in Oct. 1934 composed not just of young socialists
and communists, but also representatives of such non-traditional allies as the YMCA, YWCA, Methodist Youth and
the Boy Scouts. See "Youth Anti-War Congress Broadest Ever Held: Cement Unity in Fight on War and Fascism," Young
Worker: Official Organ, Young Communist League, USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 12, no.21 (October
9, 1934): 1.
141. "Into Action for the Second American Youth Congress," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist
League, USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 13, no.20 (June 4, 1935): 3.
142. Gil Green, "Adding Another Page to American History," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist
League, USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 13, no.23 (June 25, 1935): 12.
143. "Youth of US Achieve Unity: 1,350,000 Represented at Detroit Congress," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the,
Young Communist League, USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 13, no.26 (July 16, 1935): 1.
144. Gil Green, "Gil Green Appeals to YPSL for United Front," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist
League, USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 13, no.27 (July 23, 1935): 7.
145. "Executives of SLID, and NSL Agree on Merger," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist League,
USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 13, no.35 (September 24, 1935): 3.
146. "Student Unity Aids Fight on Fascism." Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist League, USA (Section
of the Young Communist International) 13, no.36 (October 1, 1935): 3.
147. Gil Green, "World Congress Points Way to Unity for American Youth," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young
Communist League, USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 13, no.39 (November 12, 1935): 6.
148. "The Students of America Unite For Peace," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist League, USA
(Section of the Young Communist International) 13, no.40 (November 19, 1935): 9.
149. "The Significance of Student Unity," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist League, USA (Section of
the Young Communist International) 14, no.2 (January 14, 1936): 5.
150. Gil Green. "Building a United Youth League," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist League, USA
(Section of the Young Communist International) 13, no.41 (November 26, 1935): 5.
151. Otto Kuusinen, "We Are Building a United Youth League," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist
League, USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 13, no.43 (December 3, 1935): 5. *Typo on page, has date
listed as November 26, 1935.
152. "YCI Policy Criticized by YPSL," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist League, USA (Section of
the Young Communist International) 13, no.46 (December 24, 1935): 5.
153. In many ways the YPSL rejection of YCL unity represented an historical irony since previous critiques of the YCL had
traditionally been centred on its exclusive revolutionary and working-class character. See Edith Cohen, "Dear Gil Green,"
Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist League, USA (Section of the Young Communist International)
13, no.44 (December 10, 1935): 5.
154. Mac Weiss, "Proletarian Unity and the American Youth Congress" Young Communist Review 1, no.1 (September, 1936):
7, 12.
155. Gil Green, "Which Way for American Youth in the Struggle Against War: Youth Leaders at Debate," YCL Builder 2, no.3
(1936): 41-42.
156. The Trotskyists did not hide their actions or their intent in enacting their policy of entryism into the YPSL which was
designed to counter the Popular Front and to split the YPSL into contending allegiances between the Second and Fourth
Internationals. While the YCL was not justified in declaring that the Trotskyists were openly conscious agents of fascism,
Trotskyist ideology and practice did run completely counter to the goals and tactics of the Popular Front. See "1936 Trotskyist
Resolution on Youth" in The Trotsky Encyclopedia: An On-Line Resource Center for the Study of the International Trotskyist Movement
.
157. "Notes of the Month," Young Communist Review 1, no.1 (September, 1936): 4.
158. Morris Childs, "Traitors to the Working Class," Young Communist Review 2, no.2 (February, 1937): 10.
159. See "1938 Socialist Workers Party Resolution on the Young People’s Socialist League (Fourth Internationalist)," in The
Trotsky Encyclopedia: An On-Line Resource Center for the Study of the International Trotskyist Movement
.
160. Wolf Michael, "Our Power Lies in Unity," Young Communist Review 2, no.3 (March, 1937): 13.
161. "Clippings of the Day," Young Communist Review 3, no.4 (June, 1938): 30.
162. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.3 (May, 1938): 3.
163. Ross, "Events of the Month," 20.
164. Santiago Carrillo, "To the Youth of the World," Young Communist Review 3, no.4 (June, 1938): 9.
165. West, "The YCL Speaks," 24.
166. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.8 (October, 1938): 6.
167. Throughout the speeches of the World Congress, YCI leaders continually praised the Spanish socialist youth for attending
their conference. Although the YCLs in France and the United States were the main targets of praise, the Spanish youth
were acknowledged for their initiative in achieving youth unity. Spanish youth unity became a key factor in rallying international
youth sentiment to the Spanish Republic.
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