Joel A Lewis Youth Against Fascism.pdf

THE LENINIST GENERATION
radicalism, their neglect of youth mobilization opened opportunities for the YCLGB that
were not fully utilized by the communists. 137
The British YCL was reluctant to put much energy or devotion into the formation of a
mass youth organization. This was not a unique phenomenon within the YCI. Great
opportunities existed within the Communist Parties for youth to advance themselves
politically due to their disassociation with traditions of the Second International. The
Bolshevik style of organization also leant itself to young activists who could act as
"revolutionary cadres" due to their "absence of domestic commitments." 138 Mike Waite
has noted, "One of the reasons why the YCL was relatively small in the twenties was that
the Party itself was often run by young men, and they saw little purpose in 'going back' to
put their efforts into a weaker subsidiary organisation." 139 British socialism was growing
in its strength and the potential for a revolutionary advance did not seem completely
unfounded to communist youth. In this situation, forging a distinctive youth movement
held little attraction for youth who were eligible for Party membership. The ability of
youth who met the proper age requirements to hold dual membership in the Party and the
YCL also stunted the development of the YCL.
The intense internationalism of the early YCI led communist youth to reject their national
traditions in order to follow a "Bolshevik path" to socialism. 140 John Gollan
reflected that the British youth movement was "the oldest and most complex in the
world," but the early YCL did little to engage itself within these well established traditions
of socialist-youth radicalism. 141 The YCL linked the formation of youth movements
directly to "the exploitation of youth by capitalism." 142 The YCL focussed their energies
into industrial organizations based upon the YCI's shop nuclei model. University students
were allowed to join the YCL, but only when they had shown "their complete
subordination" to the movement and their ability for "political and industrial work with
the manual workers." 143
The YCL contended the war represented a clear break in modern history that necessitated
a rejection of past socialist practices and traditions, especially in the field of industrial
relations. The move to separate their organization from the past was a conscious
strategy promoted by the YCL to offset the inability of Labour and the TUC to adapt to
the new post-war conditions:
Such leaders as these can never lead us to victory… [they try] to patch up capitalism and
improve the workers' conditions by improving capitalism.... Their leadership grew up
during the time when conditions were improving and a growing capitalism could afford
to grant concessions to the workers. This was the period of peaceful class-collaboration
trade unionism.... To-day, as we have explained, conditions have changed and the old
peaceful reformist methods are things of the past. 144
The YCL's militant class rhetoric and forms of industrial organization made steady
advances during periods of class tensions. During the General Strike of 1926, even while
having prominent YCL leaders such as Will Rust in prison, the YCL was able to gain
almost 1500 recruits by publishing a daily strike bulletin entitled The Young Striker. 145
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