Joel A Lewis Youth Against Fascism.pdf

NATIONALISM
Parliament. Youth forces must unite for the greatest social effort to save our generation.
41
Unlike the past where campaigns were specifically put in class terms and appeals to the
revolutionary programme of the YCI, the campaign for the Youth Charter was framed in
familiar British national traditions and progressive appeals to the nation as a whole.
Historical national rhetoric became an important political strategy to counter the appeals
of fascism to British youth. In January, 1938 Challenge adopted a regular column
entitled "Literature Comes to Life" as a popular method to develop their nationalist lines.
The first column explained that this would "be a new kind of Book Page, different from
any other paper's, and we believe more useful to our readers." 42 In this column popular
British historical and literary figures were discussed. The book reviews drew historic
parallels between traditional British struggles and the modern democratic struggles of the
YCL. Traditional YCL history articles were centred on the lives of Lenin, Luxemburg
and Liebknecht. British cultural figures like Byron, Shelley, Keats, Milton, Dickens and
Shakespeare began to fill the pages of Challenge as youthful heroes of the Popular Front.
British history was used by the YCL not just to combat fascism, but also to assert the
case for British socialism. One YCL article insisted that "you will find people who think
Communism an un-English idea. Why, if any people can claim such an idea, it is the
people of England.... It is grained in every inch of the tale of our people." In the same
article the author insisted that the modern youth struggle against war and fascism showed
that the YCL were truly "the heirs of England" and its historical traditions. 43 Another
column was begun by Ted Ward in July, 1939 called "The Living Past." In this column
the YCL stated that it would not "look back longingly to the "good old days," but try to
see some of them how they really were, and note the part they played in molding our own
time." The graphic used in this column series portrayed an image of a young couple
looking over the open hills to an industrial town in the background. The image linked
symbols of land and industry in the past with the future of the youth of the nation. (See
Appendix) 44 In these propaganda strategies, the YCL co-opted national traditions and
images of the past to defend against present fascist threats while reflecting on a future
movement towards socialism.
Challenge articles shifted from using language based on class to using broader national
terms like "the people." YCL internal discussion bulletins reflected on the effectiveness
of such rhetorical devices stating, "The basis of our propaganda, our best
medium for recruiting – Defend the People!" 45 Such broad political language was framed
to change the public perception of the YCL and to transform the political identity of YCL
members. John Gollan emphasised the importance of this arguing, "Today the YCL is…
tackling the problems of the people; this has meant that our whole attitude and responsibility
has changed." 46 In an article critiquing Trotskyism, Alec Massie emphasised the
divergence between the broad character of YCL appeals and the narrow class character of
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