Joel A Lewis Youth Against Fascism.pdf

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UNITY OF YOUTH:
FROM SECTARIANISM TO POPULISM
Youth unity gives us hope that after victory we will all understand that there are no reasons
for a division; that the enemy, the common enemy, is fascism and the social forces
which support it.
-Santiago Carrillo, 1936 1
As a member of the family of progressive youth organizations, the Young Communist
League aims to establish friendly and cooperative relations with all of them. It does so
with no selfish purpose, but because it realizes the necessity of common action and unity
of youth to defeat the menace of fascism, to preserve peace, and to realise a secure and
happy future for our generation.
-Carl Ross, 1939 2
"Workers of the World Unite!" This simple and familiar urge for unity proved to be a
daunting challenge to Marxist revolutionaries. The Communist Manifesto predicted that
global capitalism would eliminate "national differences" and spurn workers into international
cooperation. The outbreak of WWI desolated many of these hopes. In turn, the
Zimmerwald Left sought to reinvigorate internationalism, directing its aspirations into the
foundation of the Comintern. Communists lamented that unity initiatives rarely culminated
in international revolution. If this was the case, what then should be the "correct"
attitude of communists towards unity Should non-communist initiatives be supported
Could unity and cooperation across class lines ever play a progressive role in communist
politics This chapter looks at how inter-war communist youth constructed and then
reconstructed concepts of class mobilization and youth unity.
The Leninist Generation understood Marxist-Leninist ideology in strict class terms.
According to Marxism, class struggle is the driving force of historical change and the
working class is the agent of modern social advance. Revolutionary Marxists rejected
any class collaboration, insisting that the "emancipation of the working class must be the
work of the working class itself." 3 Lenin linked class collaboration with the "opportunism"
of the Second International that had facilitated WWI. He insisted on "purging" all
remnants of class collaboration from the ranks of revolutionary Marxism. 4 The
Comintern sought to create new revolutionary parties, free from the "opportunism" of the
Second International. Communist Parties would alone "represent the interests of the
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