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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THE LENINIST GENERATION<br />
radicalism, their neglect of youth mobilization opened opportunities for the YCLGB that<br />
were not fully utilized by the communists. 137<br />
The British YCL was reluctant to put much energy or devotion into the formation of a<br />
mass youth organization. This was not a unique phenomenon within the YCI. Great<br />
opportunities existed within the Communist Parties for youth to advance themselves<br />
politically due to their disassociation with traditions of the Second International. The<br />
Bolshevik style of organization also leant itself to young activists who could act as<br />
"revolutionary cadres" due to their "absence of domestic commitments." 138 Mike Waite<br />
has noted, "One of the reasons why the YCL was relatively small in the twenties was that<br />
the Party itself was often run by young men, and they saw little purpose in 'going back' to<br />
put their efforts into a weaker subsidiary organisation." 139 British socialism was growing<br />
in its strength and the potential for a revolutionary advance did not seem completely<br />
unfounded to communist youth. In this situation, forging a distinctive youth movement<br />
held little attraction for youth who were eligible for Party membership. The ability of<br />
youth who met the proper age requirements to hold dual membership in the Party and the<br />
YCL also stunted the development of the YCL.<br />
The intense internationalism of the early YCI led communist youth to reject their national<br />
traditions in order to follow a "Bolshevik path" to socialism. 140 John Gollan<br />
reflected that the British youth movement was "the oldest and most complex in the<br />
world," but the early YCL did little to engage itself within these well established traditions<br />
of socialist-youth radicalism. 141 The YCL linked the formation of youth movements<br />
directly to "the exploitation of youth by capitalism." 142 The YCL focussed their energies<br />
into industrial organizations based upon the YCI's shop nuclei model. University students<br />
were allowed to join the YCL, but only when they had shown "their complete<br />
subordination" to the movement and their ability for "political and industrial work with<br />
the manual workers." 143<br />
The YCL contended the war represented a clear break in modern history that necessitated<br />
a rejection of past socialist practices and traditions, especially in the field of industrial<br />
relations. The move to separate their organization from the past was a conscious<br />
strategy promoted by the YCL to offset the inability of Labour and the TUC to adapt to<br />
the new post-war conditions:<br />
Such leaders as these can never lead us to victory… [they try] to patch up capitalism and<br />
improve the workers' conditions by improving capitalism.... Their leadership grew up<br />
during the time when conditions were improving and a growing capitalism could afford<br />
to grant concessions to the workers. This was the period of peaceful class-collaboration<br />
trade unionism.... To-day, as we have explained, conditions have changed and the old<br />
peaceful reformist methods are things of the past. 144<br />
The YCL's militant class rhetoric and forms of industrial organization made steady<br />
advances during periods of class tensions. During the General Strike of 1926, even while<br />
having prominent YCL leaders such as Will Rust in prison, the YCL was able to gain<br />
almost 1500 recruits by publishing a daily strike bulletin entitled The Young Striker. 145<br />
31