Joel A Lewis Youth Against Fascism.pdf

This book is dedicated to the 

memory and passionate spirit of 

Dr. Neil Rafeek and Shirlee M. Peterson. 

"Another World Is Possible!"

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

Writing a book is in many ways a test of the human will; it is a journey into unexplored 

territory wrought with seemingly insurmountable obstacles. It is easy for the historian to 

become despondent, panicked and disillusioned. My own personal journey has been 

beset with challenges, but key individuals have collectively fostered my intellectual 

development while keeping me human and smiling along the way. 

I wish to first thank a number of my colleagues. James A. Schmiechen has been both 

a mentor and a dear friend, guiding my work and growth for years. No amount of words 

can express my deep gratitude and respect for him. Eric Johnson has inspired me to press 

forward on days when I wanted to retreat. Stephen Scherer has taught me that there need 

be no contradiction between being a dedicated scholar and a fully developed human 

being. Susan Pyecroft first inspired my interest in history and encouraged me in my first 

study abroad program. Her intellectual and human capacity knows no bounds. John 

Dinse has been my intellectual mentor since I was just a teen, providing the inspiration 

and support that has guided every step of my academic life. W. Hamish Fraser opened 

up new perspectives on working-class and Scottish radicalism to me. It is a true honor to 

know Hamish as both an advisor and a friend. Fraser Ottanelli's groundbreaking work on 

the CPUSA stimulated my initial interest in the history of American communism. His 

gifted insights and methodologies have deeply influenced and in many ways defined my 

own perspectives on political radicalism in the inter-war period. Tim O'Neil's poignant 

critiques have been vital in identifying and correcting my own "incorrect" interpretations. 

Tim Hall provided the faith, funding and advisement that made this research possible. 

A special thanks needs to be addressed to a number of present and past members of 

the graduate student bodies and staff at Central Michigan University and the University 

of Strathclyde. Robert Hendershot, Angela Bartie, Andrew Devenney, Matt McCabe, 

Hilary Young, David Walker, Christopher Powell, Jennifer Cavalli, Tom Berney, Lori 

Tapia, Jared Klackle, Abbey Cullen, Emily Doerr, Kevin Alt, Jennifer Dowie, Jo Aspinwall, 

Alison Armour, Annette Davis and Bettie Ricolo have provided the endless comradery, 

laughter, and intellectual support vital to progress in all facets of my life. 

I am deeply indebted to a number of archivists, academics and unofficial advisors who 

both inspired and enabled this research. In particular, I would like to give a deep thanks 

to Audrey Canning, John Powles, Janis McNair, Carole McCallum, Steven Bird, Alain 

Kahan and Patrick Ward for their patience, expertise and welcoming demeanor. The 

special collections staff at Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and the 

Reference Center for Marxist Studies also provided invaluable assistance to me. Alistair

Hulett, Fatima Uygun, Janey Buchan, Kevin Morgan, Maurice Isserman, Robbie Lieberman, 

Brigitte Bechtold, David Goldberg, Blaine Stevenson, Sterling Johnson and Arthur 

McIvor have provided significant advice and contributions to this research. 

A few individuals outside of the academy inspired my initial interest in radical youth 

politics and have guided almost every thought I have had on this subject. Mike Waite's 

passion for anti-fascism, social justice and history equally match his astounding intellect. 

Without Mike's enduring support this book would not exist. Adrienne Brune, Docia 

Buffington, Angelo Moreno, Sheltreese McCoy and Brie Phillips showed me the human 

face and passion of radical youth politics. Their friendship and spirit have challenged me 

to be a better intellectual and inspire me daily to be a better human. 

Last, but certainly not least, an exceptional note for my dear family and friends, 

especially my mother and father, who have given me the endless love, strength and 

support that have nurtured me through the good times and the bad, collectively making 

me who I am today. To you I am eternally grateful. Finally, I owe a special debt of 

gratitude to my beautiful niece Luighseach Anne-Cwicseolfor Lewis. You have given all 

of us a fresh perspective on life and are a true "bringer of light" into this world. My only 

hope is that we can give to you and your generation a world free from the horrors of 

violence and modern warfare.

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION: 

COMMUNIST HISTORIOGRAPHY AND THE YOUTH..........................................1 

VANGUARD OF THE RED DAWN: 

THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE LENINIST GENERATION .................................10 

YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM: 

THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE POPULAR FRONT GENERATION...................37 

NATIONALISM: 

FROM POISON TO PATRIOTISM ...........................................................................58 

UNITY OF YOUTH: 

FROM SECTARIANISM TO POPULISM.................................................................77 

DEMOCRACY: 

FROM DENUNCIATION TO DEFENCE .................................................................99 

CONCLUSION: 

THE YOUTH STRUGGLE AGAINST WAR..........................................................130 

APPENDIX................................................................................................................142 

NOTES.......................................................................................................................150 

BIBLIOGRAPHY......................................................................................................184

INTRODUCTION: COMMUNIST 

HISTORIOGRAPHY AND THE YOUTH 

The Young Communist International (YCI) emerged in Berlin in November, 1919, 

originating out of the pre-war traditions of anti-militarism and internationalism that 

dominated the socialist youth movement. Though youth were a central element of 

communist politics during the inter-war period, most historical narratives have traditionally 

neglected the impact of the YCLs on the evolution of communism. By 1924 the YCI 

had established over sixty Young Communist Leagues (YCL) throughout Europe, the 

Americas and Asia. 1 During the twenties, YCLs outside of Germany and the Soviet 

Union remained small propagandist sects exerting little impact on labor and youth 

politics. While their initial external influence was negligible in the non-communist 

world, young communists played a pivotal role in the internal development of the international 

communist movement. 2 With the advent of the Nazi Third Reich, young communists 

shifted their focus outward, constructing large populist youth movements against 

fascism and war throughout Europe and the United States. 

The history of the YCI is intimately connected with the origins and development of 

the Communist International (Comintern). This study of communist youth is an effort to 

further the arguments of Richard Cornell that a study of the YCI "can tell us a great deal 

about the nature of communism… [and] how the communist movement developed." 3 

The Comintern leadership of the 1920s was composed primarily of adults, but its early 

membership base was dominated by youth. 4 Initially the YCI and its national Leagues 

claimed affiliation to the Comintern, but asserted complete political independence. 

However, in November, 1920 the Russian YCL proposed the complete "political subordination" 

of the YCLs "to the leadership of the Parties of their respective countries." 5 

This Russian proposal encountered fierce resistance from the YCI Executive Committee 

who envisioned the youth movement as the "true vanguard" of international communism. 

At the Comintern's Third Congress in 1921 these Russian proposals were finally adopted, 

officially subordinating the YCI to the Comintern. The YCI came to accept this new 

relationship, relinquishing their prior political independence. 

This book begins with the premise that over the course of the inter-war period, the 

YCLs changed significantly in their size, structure, political influence and relationship 

with the Comintern, bearing little resemblance to their initial organizations by the end of 

the thirties. During the twenties, the YCI and its Leagues were charged with the highly 

1

YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM 

political role of constructing a new "Leninist Generation" of youth as future recruits for 

the Communist Parties. 6 Since the YCLs evolved into recruitment organizations for 

Communist Parties, most texts limit their treatment of youth to random footnotes and 

passing commentary. During the thirties the YCI shifted its focus to constructing a 

"Popular Front Generation" of youth dedicated to anti-fascism and the mass mobilization 

of youth movements against the outbreak of a new world war. Though the emphasis and 

composition of YCLs changed dramatically in the thirties, most historians have continued 

to neglect addressing the central role of youth in communist politics. 

Communist Historiography and the Youth 

A diverse literature exists on the history of youth movements since the 1960s, but few 

historians have seriously dealt with radical youth during the inter-war era. During this 

period, issues of youth politics and culture were central questions within almost all 

political movements. 7 In debating issues of war, peace, citizenship and democratic 

inclusion, most politicians and activists explicitly linked their analysis of the role of the 

youth with the future of their nation. 

Existing histories of communist youth in Britain and the United States are primarily 

autobiographical narratives, oral histories and analyses of "red diaper" children in communist 

families. 8 Political autobiographies, though often gripping in their accounts, 

primarily offer a "romanticized" vision of the past where former activists attempt to 

legitimize their youthful political allegiances. Such studies offer fascinating personal 

insights about political socialization and generational perceptions, but rarely engage in 

any serious commentary on the ideological and organizational evolution of the YCLs. 

Other texts have discussed the YCLs by focusing exclusively on their relationship to 

the general student protest and youth movements. 9 Most surprising, by neglecting themes 

of communist youth, standard histories of communism and youth politics have established 

the view that the YCLs were of little historical importance. 

Indeed, observations of the YCL's evolution raise important questions about the veracity 

of communist historiography relating to youth politics in the inter-war period. Has 

communist historiography developed upon divergent paths in Britain and the United 

States What new themes can comparative methodologies reveal in communist history 

How did youth of the twenties view and understand the communist movement Did the 

British and American YCLs construct a unique political identity in the context of international 

communism What role did ideologies like fascism play in constructing communist 

political identity Can the standard dichotomy between "traditionalist" and 

"revisionist" scholars adequately cope with these questions 

Much of the field of Communist historiography was developed during the Cold War. 

Reflecting the contentious political debates of that era, historians, political scientists and 

policy analysts sought to explain the nature of the communist movement in order to 

2

COMMUNIST HISTORIOGRAPHY AND THE YOUTH 

understand Cold War political tensions. Initial scholarly research was highly influenced 

by the concept of totalitarianism, as made popular by scholars like Hannah Arendt. 10 

Totalitarian theory linked the Soviet experience with the Nazi Third Reich as "enemies of 

Western democracy." 11 Scholars in turn applied totalitarian concepts in their analysis of 

national parties, focussing upon the monolithic and authoritarian nature of the communist 

movement, dismissing many trends of evolution and change. 

Early Cold War scholarship focussed primarily on evaluating the relationship between 

national parties and the Soviet state. Western historiography became split between 

traditionalist scholars who emphasized Soviet connections and revisionists who distanced 

their national narratives from Moscow. 12 Another historiographical camp of this period 

praised national parties for their association with the early Soviet state while condemning 

their later approval of the Stalin state. Much of this scholarship originated out of the 

dissident communist movement embodied in Leon Trotsky's critiques of Stalinism. 13 

Trotskyist scholarship emphasised the corrupting role of "Stalinism" on national parties, 

focussing their narrative almost exclusively upon the degenerative influence of the Soviet 

leadership upon the Comintern. 14 Other texts, though not written by Trotskyists, were 

informed by a similar approach. Such texts focussed upon the manipulative influence 

that Moscow had upon the development of national radical traditions. 

These methodologies were almost all ideologically motivated, attempting to either 

discredit or rehabilitate Western communist legitimacy. 15 Early scholars presented a 

skewed analysis of communism by not addressing that it was both a national and international 

phenomenon that evolved in significant and sometimes independent ways during 

the inter-war period. 

The divergent Cold War experiences of Britain and the United States fostered distinct 

differences in historical scholarship concerning Western communism. In the post-WWII 

era, the Labour Party and the Welfare State made socialism a central feature of British 

political culture. 16 Communists were politically marginalized by the Labour Party, but 

continued to exert significant influence in the trade unions, universities and British public 

life. 17 In the United States anti-communist hysteria dominated public and political life 

almost immediately at the end of WWII. American politics were defined by a fear of 

international communism and domestic campaigns which sought to expose "disloyal" 

communist elements functioning in the United States. 18 Willie Thompson has noted that 

while "discrimination and attacks" upon the CPGB were serious, they lacked "the fury of 

the United States witch hunt" and were "not savage enough to cripple it as an organisation 

as happened to the CPUSA." 19 Anti-communism became the prevalent discourse of 

American public life while socialism became an accepted and integral part of British 

culture. 

As a result, British communist history has been written primarily by scholars rooted in 

the socialist movement, but with wide disagreement as to how to view the role of Moscow. 

Three such examples are the works of Henry Pelling, James Klugmann and Walter 

3


Kendall. Pelling was an established historian of British socialism, the Labour Party and 

the labour movement. He published the first scholarly work on the CPGB in 1958, 

tracing its origins and development until 1957. Pelling's work was a groundbreaking 

effort, but came to the general conclusion that the CPGB was not a British institution, but 

simply a tool of Moscow trying to disrupt traditional Labour Party politics. 20 James 

Klugmann was a trusted intellectual within the CPGB and who was thus charged with the 

task of writing an "official history" of the party. 21 Klugmann’s two volume history of the 

CPGB disconnects British associations with Moscow by simply avoiding any serious 

discussion of the Comintern. 22 While Klugmann gained exclusive access to archival 

material, his emphasis upon the national narrative limits the insights of his work. Walter 

Kendall was a devout Labour Party activist who had close associations with dissident 

communists like Harry McShane and Alfred Rosmer. 23 Kendall's analysis focuses on the 

domestic origins of British revolutionary socialism and the coercive relationship that 

developed between the incipient CPGB and the Comintern. 24 Each of these works added 

significant contributions to British communist history, but suffered from an overriding 

concern with Moscow, focussing principally upon formal policy and party leadership. 25 

American communist history was dominated initially by the "Fund for the Republic: 

Communism in American Life" series that posited a "traditionalist" view of Moscow 

domination. 26 The authors commissioned for this series were primarily veterans of the 

"New Deal left" who were disillusioned by their interactions with the CPUSA. 27 The 

pivotal work produced in this series was Theodore Draper's study of the origins of the 

CPUSA, tracing its development up until 1929. 28 In his work, Draper dismissed the 

usage of CP published literature, opting instead to focus almost exclusively on internal 

communications and meeting minutes of top committees to show how Soviet influence 

was the "determining factor" in all CP policies. 29 Prior to the establishment of the Fund, 

the CPUSA attempted to "rehabilitate" their public image through historical publications. 

William Z. Foster, Chairman of the CPUSA, published an "official history" of the party 

in 1952. Foster was a long-time veteran of the American labor movement and forged a 

narrative that simply grafted the history of the party to that of organized labor, playing 

down themes of Soviet dominance. 30 Foster's nemesis Earl Browder, former Chairman of 

the CPUSA, published a book on Marxist theory and the United States in 1958 subtitled, 

"Why Communism Failed in the US." 31 Though Browder's book was not a history of the 

CPUSA, the premise of his theoretical analysis centred on how Soviet "dogma" interfered 

with the otherwise "healthy" development of American communism. 32 Browder contended 

that under his leadership, the CPUSA was an integral and organic part of American 

politics and that Soviet interference in 1945 facilitated the party's downfall. 33 With 

the exception of Foster's text, initial publications "depicted the American party as undemocratic, 

subordinated to Stalinism, and incapable of relating creatively to American 

society." 34 

4


The "New Left" experience in Britain and the United States forged new directions and 

methodologies in communist historiography. New Left revisionism began in Britain after 

Khrushchev's revelations about Stalin in June, 1956. 35 Dissident communists left the 

CPGB in large numbers, attempting to forge a new "alternative" movement centred on 

"socialist humanism," separated from Soviet influences and Leninist dogma. E.P. 

Thompson and John Saville, former members of the Communist Party Historians' Group, 

founded the Reasoner which was transformed within several years into the New Left 

Review. The New Left Review was both a political journal and a theoretical publication 

that helped to popularize Gramscian and cultural analysis. 36 The New Left Review 

inspired other publications like Marxism Today and the History Workshop Journal that 

spearheaded new approaches to communist history. 

Two of the most influential figures in developing this British tradition were Perry 

Anderson and Raphael Samuel. Anderson urged researchers to aspire to writing a "total 

history" of the movement. Anderson contended such an approach would balance the 

international dynamics of the party with a narrative of the "history of the society of which 

it is a component;" he urged historians to address the national political culture that 

communists functioned within. 37 Samuel's research explored elements of party culture, 

generational perceptions, individual identity and the evolution of British communism 

within the Comintern from its initial inception into the Cold War era. 38 Samuel insisted 

that narratives should attempt "to explain… [communism] rather than to take up sides." 39 

The Anderson-Samuel approach centred on exploring diverse themes to show the variety 

of experiences that existed within the evolution of the movement; this methodology did 

not claim authoritative answers, but instead raised new questions and techniques in order 

to inspire further investigations by other historians. 40 

The influence of New Left revisionism hastened American scholars to revisit the 

Popular Front era and WWII when the CPUSA consciously attempted to acclimate itself 

to American political culture. The two most outstanding works associated with this 

movement were produced by Maurice Isserman and Fraser Ottanelli. 41 Isserman's study 

of WWII was consciously framed as a response to the New Left movement. 42 Isserman's 

analysis utilized a generational analysis to understand the phenomenon of the Popular 

Front era and the evolution of the movement beyond WWII; such generational distinctions 

have also been embraced by CPGB historians. 43 Ottanelli's study of the Great 

Depression and Popular Front eras was framed as a response to the "traditionalist" 

narrative on this period published by Harvey Klehr. 44 Ottanelli's periodization choice 

highlighted "a continuity in the Party's experience centred around an indigenous quest for 

policies, organizational forms, language, and overall cultural forms that would adapt the 

Communists' radicalism to domestic realities and political traditions." 45 Both of these 

pivotal works dealt with elements of youth politics and the evolution of American 

communism during its formative years, addressing both international and nation factors 

5


in their narrative. 46 This being said, the primary emphasis of these texts was still upon 

the Communist Party, leaving a continued historical void on communist youth. 

The opening up of Soviet Comintern archives in 1991 reinvigorated debates over 

Moscow domination, Western "autonomy" and the highly contentious issue of espionage. 

47 British and American scholars took highly divergent approaches to the use of 

these previously inaccessible documents. Andrew Thorpe published the first work on the 

CPGB and the Comintern utilizing these sources. 48 Thorpe characterized the "control 

mechanisms" between the CPGB and the Comintern as ambiguous, allowing sufficient 

room for ideological deviation and autonomous political manoeuvring; a relationship 

where results and "competence often mattered more than strict obedience." 49 Thorpe's 

treatment of his sources highlights instances of successful "dissent" and "deviation," 

characterizing them as reflections of a consistent negotiation of power between the party 

and the Comintern. 50 Other historians have criticized Thorpe's interpretations, asserting 

the same documents also show that in the end, despite dissent, the Comintern line prevailed, 

reflecting a Stalinist culture of submission to authority. 51 Whatever its shortcomings, 

Thorpe's analysis represented a self proclaimed "post-revisionist" attempt to analyze 

the relations of national parties to the Comintern. 52 

Other scholars studying the Comintern archives came to very divergent conclusions on 

the CPUSA's relationship to Moscow. In 1995 John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr 

produced The Secret World of American Communism followed by a second volume in 

1998 entitled The Soviet World of American Communism, reprinting selective Comintern 

documents. 53 These two volumes attempt to expose "the party's clandestine activities," 

emphasizing that "the CPUSA was never an independent political organization" by 

highlighting Comintern dictates and Soviet funding. 54 Haynes and Klehr followed up 

these publications in 1999 with a lengthy narrative depicting the role of the CPUSA in 

Soviet espionage. 55 Revisionist scholars immediately attacked Haynes and Klehr, 

contending their approach was biased and intended to justify McCarthyism. 56 Haynes 

and Klehr rebutted these critiques by publishing vicious personal attacks against revisionists, 

labelling many of them as "Stalinists" and "elitists," denouncing them as "equally 

repugnant" as Holocaust deniers. 57 Instead of spurning healthy historical debate about 

Comintern documents, the Haynes-Klehr thesis has predominately led to "petty slanders" 

on both sides of the revisionist and traditionalist rift, causing many historians to simply 

"entrench" themselves in their previous scholarly assumptions. Both schools neglect the 

diversity of both clandestine and public experiences of communists during the inter-war 

era, particularly neglecting to highlight the role of youth. 

Thesis and Methodology 

This research on the young communist movement is informed by existing historiography, 

but attempts to supersede the conflicts between revisionists and traditionalists by adopt- 

6


ing a synthesized methodology and exploring different source materials. The relationship 

between national and international forces must be addressed in any history of communism. 

Instead of sifting through internal documentation to prove an authoritative conclusion 

on Comintern control, this study focuses upon the propaganda produced by the 

Comintern, the YCI and the YCLs in Britain and the United States during the inter-war 

period. 

My methodology is to use "propaganda analysis" to explore the construction of political 

identity by studying the evolution of Leninist theory through the medium of youth 

propaganda in a comparative context. 58 Building on the methodology of Maurice Isserman 

and Kevin Morgan, this research utilizes generational analysis to reperiodize the 

inter-war period, recognizing the existence of two distinct generations of communist 

youth. By focussing on propaganda as a form of political education, this methodology 

explores the values that the international and national leadership utilized in their conscious 

construction of communist youth identity. 

The works of the American Institute for Propaganda Analysis in the thirties drew strict 

distinctions between the nature and methodologies of education and propaganda. Education 

was defined as "an orderly presentation of evidence" that avoided "linguistic devices 

which stress emotion and obscure thought" while propaganda relied heavily upon the 

utilization of such linguistics to manipulate the receiver of the information towards a 

"predetermined end." 59 This research rejects the strict dichotomy between education and 

propaganda, instead conceptualizing propaganda as a specific form of ideological education 

intended to construct a predetermined political identity. 

Lenin formulated an explicit methodology on ideological education and the utilization 

of political propaganda. The communist movement was dominated by an obsession with 

ideology and its impact upon political theory and practice. Lenin vehemently contended 

that there were both "correct" and "incorrect" ideologies, positing that Marxism was a 

"proletarian science" that superseded all other ideologies. 60 Lenin instructed communist 

youth to study and assimilate this "correct ideology" into all facets of their life, defining 

themselves as "true" Bolsheviks by overcoming the "old separation of theory and practice." 

61 To provide ideological education, Lenin placed primary emphasis upon the 

utilization of newspapers and pamphlets to interpret events and instil political values. 62 

The production of revolutionary propaganda was the foremost task of communists. 63 

This study draws extensively on propaganda source material to trace the evolution of 

communist theory and its impact upon political identity. 

Social theory and social history have added significant contributions to addressing 

concepts of identity. In her study of British national identity, Linda Colley utilized an 

innovative approach, focussing extensively on the concept of the "antithesis" that provided 

the basis for identity construction. Communist political identity is understood here 

primarily in terms of identity negation where competing visions of "Us" are often submerged 

to a dominant shared discourse defined as the antithesis of "Them;" where "men 

7


and women decide who they are by reference to who and what they are not." 64 Communist 

rhetoric, particularly after the rise of fascism, relied increasingly upon simple "dualisms" 

in their propaganda to differentiate their movement from perceived ideological 

opponents. 65 Due to this rhetorical style, Colley's methodology offers unique insights 

into the nature and function of communist propaganda in identity construction. In terms 

of identity negation, Lenin consciously constructed communism as a rejection of the 

theories, practices and organizational forms of the Second International. 66 Then during 

the Popular Front era of the thirties, communism was constructed in complete negation to 

fascism. This transition was and continues to be a source of intense controversy from 

political contemporaries and historians since the inter-war period. 

In evaluating this phenomenon, this book distinguishes between the existence of two 

distinct generations of communist youth who posited two divergent political identities. 67 

The first generation of communist youth, reflecting the period of 1919-1933, is termed 

here as the Leninist Generation. The Leninist Generation was founded on a rejection of 

the Second International, framing their revolutionary political identity in strict opposition 

to all elements of social-democratic political culture. With the rise of Nazi fascism and 

the looming threat of world war, a new generation of communist youth was constructed 

encompassing the period of 1933-1945. This Popular Front Generation framed their 

identity in negation to the perceived political values of fascism, positing their movement 

as defenders of progressive Western political traditions. To justify this transition, the 

Comintern revised Leninist theory on the contentious issues of nationalism, unity and 

democracy to legitimize their anti-fascist program. 

This book is broken down into two sections, one providing a chronological narrative 

of young communist organizations and practices to provide a historical framework, the 

other addressing the thematic evolution of communist theory. Each chapter traces the 

influence of the Comintern and the YCI on each of these generations, using the examples 

of the British and American YCLs as case studies to explore the development of communist 

theory, practice and political identity. In order to understand the evolution of communist 

identity, this research makes constant reference to evolving and competing 

definitions of social democracy and fascism that framed and defined the worldview of 

communist propaganda. This research appreciates the important insights of other works, 

but does not intend to explore the "clandestine" world of Western communism or the 

"personal" world of individual activists. Propaganda was the primary medium communists 

used to recruit and indoctrinate its membership base. Instead of focussing on who 

defined policy or how individuals acclimated to policy, this study explores the propaganda 

and rhetoric communists utilized to communicate and interpret policy, ideology 

and political values to its membership base. 68 By studying the evolution of communist 

propaganda, this research seeks to evaluate the values and political identity that the 

leadership of the international communist movement consciously sought to construct in 

their youth membership base in Britain and the United States. Finally, this research 

8


highlights the important role of the Bulgarian General Secretary of the Comintern during 

the Popular Front, Georgi Dimitrov. Dimitrov's unique definition of fascism facilitated a 

theoretical revision of Leninism on the issues of nationalism, the unity of youth and 

democracy. His conceptions of the Popular Front established a new paradigm and 

framework for young communists to function within, enabling the British and American 

YCLs to significantly reconstruct their political identity. 

9

1 

VANGUARD OF THE RED DAWN: 

THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE LENINIST 

GENERATION 

All we have to do is recruit young people… without fearing them. This is a time of war. 

The youth… will decide the issue of the whole struggle. 

-Lenin, 1905 1 

The workers had to pay for the fraud for years of an International which, in truth, never 

existed, and paid at the cost of 90 millions of cripples, 10 millions of dead and of nameless 

misery for the lack of a strong and determined international organization. The 

young workers ought to remember this. 

-Executive Committee of the Young Communist International, 1920 2 

In November, 1919 the Young Communist International established itself as the youth 

coordinating body of the Communist International. 3 The YCI was neither a creation of 

Lenin's Bolshevik Party nor did it originate in the young Soviet Republic. 4 The YCI 

grew out of the anti-war struggles of the socialist youth, proclaiming itself as the direct 

organizational heir of the pre-war Socialist Youth International (SYI). During World 

War I, socialist youth increasingly rejected the "national defense" positions of the Socialist 

Parties of the Second International (SI), facilitating generational tensions over the antiwar 

militancy of the youth. 5 Lenin's Bolshevik Party capitalized upon this dynamic, 

courting the SYI to leave the Second International en masse in 1919. During the twenties, 

the YCI sought to construct a "Leninist Generation" of revolutionary youth, free 

from the ideologies and traditions of the Second International. The Leninist Generation 

demanded a strict oppositional political culture, denouncing all other traditions, organizations 

and ideologies for enabling the survival of capitalism and betraying the advance of 

revolution. 6 This YCI analysis blurred the important ideological discrepancies of postwar 

political movements, significantly underestimating the dangers of fascism. 

The YCI's initial program and political identity was constructed in part by the 

Comintern, but also in reaction to the experiences of youth during WWI. Young communists 

insisted capitalism and imperialism were the causes of modern warfare. In order 

to abolish modern warfare, young communists asserted that capitalism needed to be 

destroyed. The YCI contended that in following the "correct" lead of the Comintern, the 

10

THE LENINIST GENERATION 

youth could advance "a class war" to truly "put an end to all wars." Young communists 

fostered a culture of intolerance to all other movements and any "deviations" from 

Comintern lines, overemphasizing the "correctness" of their own program. The Leninist 

Generation scorned all open opponents and even potential allies, insisting only their 

revolutionary program could save the youth from the horrors of future imperialist war. 

The Bolsheviks used these questions of war and peace to attract socialist youth to the 

Comintern. It was also these same issues that created a line of historical continuity 

between the divergent experiences of the Leninist and Popular Front Generations of 

communist youth. 

The Socialist Youth Struggle Against War 

Beneath their rhetoric of revolution and class warfare, the socialist movement has always 

been concerned with issues of international peace and anti-war strategies. 7 The First 

International (1864-1876) extensively discussed "militarism against the enemy abroad" 

and internationalist "position[s] to be taken up with regard to war." 8 The Second International 

(1889-1914) contended peace was "the first and indispensable condition of any 

worker emancipation" and that war was "the most tragic product of present economic 

relations." 9 This socialist analysis of war focused primarily on the social impact of 

militarism, especially upon the youth. The Second International identified potential 

tensions between socialist internationalism and national defense during times of war, but 

did little other than passing anti-war resolutions to actively address this problem. 10 Lenin 

later commented on the nature of the socialist peace position stating, "Socialists have 

always condemned wars between nations as barbarous and brutal… [but] wars cannot be 

abolished unless classes are abolished and socialism is created." 11 The Comintern insisted 

that the failures of the Second International necessitated a new revolutionary 

organization to deal with the threat of imperialist war. 12 

Prior to World War I, socialist youth were highly influenced by the anti-militarist 

thought of Karl Liebknecht. 13 At its founding Congress at Stuttgart in 1907, the SYI 

primarily debated issues of peace and "the struggle against militarism." 14 Unlike adults 

who focussed on political and trade-union policies, young socialists centred their agitation 

upon peace politics as the social strata most directly impacted by war. As the 

chairman of the International Bureau of the SYI, Karl Liebknecht had a profound impact 

on radicalizing youth on the question of militarism. 15 For Liebknecht, questions of youth 

and militarism were of dire importance for the entire socialist movement. Liebknecht 

contended that it was necessary to bring the youth into the forefront of socialist activism 

through revolutionary anti-militarism; a position Privalov asserts was distinct from 

reformists who viewed the youth with "caution and contempt." 16 Countering this reformist 

disposition, Liebknecht stated: 

11


We want to win over not only the adult workers, but also the children of the proletariat, 

the working-class youth. For the working-class youth is the working class-to-be, he is 

the future of the proletariat. He who has the youth, has the future.... The proletarian 

youth must be systematically inflamed with class consciousness and hate against militarism. 

Youthful enthusiasm will take hold of the hearts of the young workers inspired by 

such agitation. These young workers belong to Social-Democracy, to Social-Democratic 

anti-militarism. If everyone carries out his task, they must and will be won. He who has 

the young people has the army. 17 

Liebknecht believed that militarism represented the ultimate "brutalization of youth." 

Active anti-militarist campaigns could attract the youth to socialism while subverting 

bourgeois power. 18 

The SYI attempted to stake out an independent course for youth politics centred on 

revolutionary anti-militarism. However, the reformists of the Second International urged 

youth groups to remain predominately educational and cultural organizations, leaving 

politics to the adults. In the end, the anti-militarist outlook of the SYI helped to forge a 

unique socialist youth culture. This outlook in turn had a profound impact on the development 

of the movement with the outbreak of WWI: 

Being strongly against war, and hostile to imperialist rivalries among the European powers, 

the proponents of an independent, political youth international were united by the 

emotionally charged issue of anti-militarism. They wanted the youth international to be 

free to carry out a vigorous anti-militarist, anti-war, and anti-capitalist campaign. 19 

Young socialists made anti-militarism and sustainable international peace the central 

tenants of their ideological outlook. Anti-militarism provided young socialists with a 

distinct experience during WWI, laying many of the foundations of the Communist 

International. During WWI the SYI found itself in close alliance with the Russian 

Bolsheviks; alliance forged in reaction to the savagery of modern warfare and the perceived 

martyrdom of a generation of youth betrayed to war by the Second International. 

World War, Betrayal and the New Youth Activism 

The experiences of WWI radicalized socialist youth, drawing them into close association 

with the burgeoning communist movement. History has paid little attention to the 

leading role of socialist youth during this period. 20 While Lenin became the hegemonic 

voice of the revolutionary anti-war movement, this was due primarily to the prestige he 

gained with the success of the Bolshevik Revolution. 21 During WWI, the SYI led the first 

attempts to re-establish international socialist actions. Gil Green, National Secretary of 

the YCLUSA, reflected upon the role of socialist youth during the war stating: 

The YCL was born in a period of great social upheaval. It was conceived upon the turbulent 

background of the World War and the great Russian Revolution. Its main task 

became that of educating youth in the lessons of these two world shaking events.... It 

was necessary to brand these shameful betrayals [of the Second International].... Our 

League owes its existence to the militant struggle conducted against the last world war. 22 

12


By upholding their pre-war traditions of anti-militarism and internationalism, the SYI 

facilitated the re-emergence of the socialist anti-war movement, laying much of the vital 

basis for the later formation of the Comintern. 

Socialist youth proclaimed a poignant critique of the role and structure of the Second 

International. At the outset of WWI, most sections of the SYI initially followed the 

"national defence" positions of Socialist Party leaders. The federated structure of the 

Second International had prevented the anti-war factions of the international leadership 

from initiating any actions that were binding upon all national sections. Young communists 

later criticized the Second International as a "loose federation of independent 

national parties;" the International lacked the leadership and structure to enforce any 

"Congress resolutions or decisions." 23 When put to the test, the Second International 

failed to initiate any meaningful actions to prevent or to end the war. As a result, young 

socialists increasingly began to embrace Lenin's critique that for the prevention of future 

imperialist wars, the very structure and functions of the International needed revision; 

any new attempts to coordinate internationalism needed an organization "capable of 

shaping, rather than merely reacting to historical events." 24 

In the spring of 1915 the SYI reconvened itself in Switzerland to coordinate youth 

actions against the war. Willi Münzenberg of the Swiss Youth League coordinated this 

call to action, bringing together young socialists from ten nations for an International 

Youth Conference in Berne during April, 1915. 25 The conference opened on a note of 

self-criticism that also articulated a forward vision concerning the war: 

The Conference notes with profound regret the fact that, like the socialist organizations 

of the elders, the socialist youth organizations in most of the countries at the outbreak of 

the war were not guided by the [anti-war] decisions.... In the face of the horrible results 

of the present war, which callously uses for cannon fodder young people who have 

scarcely passed school age, the Conference stresses the necessity of making clearer than 

ever… the nature of the war and of militarism… of rallying them more firmly and in 

greater numbers to the banner of revolutionary socialism. 26 

A YCLGB pamphlet of 1927 reflected on the importance of this conference: 

This Conference was the first meeting of representatives of Socialist organisations after 

the outbreak of the war.... It declared itself emphatically against social-patriotism, and 

placed its sections under the obligations of international solidarity for revolutionary action 

against the war… The International Youth Days, according to the slogans of the International 

Bureau, were held not only in the neutral but also in the belligerent countries. 

They are among the few actions of an international character during the war, of which 

the revolutionary labour movement can boast. 27 

The Berne conference revitalized international youth activism and helped to radicalize 

and reconfigure the international socialist movement. The SYI openly criticized the 

positions of the Second International, urging youth to coordinate international revolutionary 

activities despite any hostility from adult socialists. Münzenberg later boasted that 

Berne represented the first time that socialist youth articulated a completely "independent 

position with regard to political events." 28 Young communists later boasted that the 

13


international anti-war initiatives of the youth at Berne "laid the foundation of a new and 

better International – what was to be the Communist International." 29 

Socialist youth embraced two concrete initiatives at Berne to facilitate youth internationalism. 

Outside of daily anti-militarist propaganda, socialist youth in each nation were 

to coordinate an annual International Youth Day dedicated to the "revolutionary struggle 

for peace and freedom." On a set day, socialist youth were to hold a series of "demonstrations, 

rallies, meetings and speeches designed to generate [anti-war] enthusiasm 

among youth," the first being in October 1915 and later ones held the first Sunday of 

each September. 30 Young communists later recalled how they faced militant persecution 

from "the police and military powers" who intended "to break up and destroy these 

meetings." 31 Despite intense state persecution, young socialists continued this day of 

international youth solidarity throughout WWI. 

The Berne conference began publication of the Jugend-Internationale under the editorial 

supervision of Münzenberg to disseminate their oppositional position to the war. 32 

The Jugend-Internationale featured youth articles as well as writings by Liebknecht and 

Lenin, facilitating closer relations between the youth and the evolving communist movement. 

33 Lenin regularly commented on the ideological positions posited by the Jugend- 

Internationale, attempting to educate youth in his own "correct analysis" of the war. The 

main youth sentiments Lenin condemned were pacifism and disarmament. Although he 

recognized the "good intentions" of such youth positions, Lenin posited: 

One of the principal premises advanced, although not always definitely expressed, in favour 

of disarmament is this: we are opposed to war, to all war in general, and the demand 

for disarmament, is the most definite, clear and unambiguous expression of this 

point of view.... Socialists cannot be opposed to all war in general without ceasing to be 

socialists.... Disarmament is the ideal of socialism. There will be no wars in socialist society; 

consequently, disarmament will be achieved, but whoever expects that socialism 

will be achieved without a social revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat is not a 

socialist.... To put "disarmament" in the programme is tantamount to making the general 

declaration: We are opposed to the use of arms. There is as little Marxism in this as there 

would be if we were to say: We are opposed to violence! 34 

Lenin argued that "incorrect" positions against war distorted the violent realities of 

capitalist society and the necessity of social revolution. If youth wanted to abolish war, 

Lenin insisted that they needed to be willing to fight a potentially violent class war. 

The Berne Conference laid the groundwork for the establishment of the Zimmerwald 

Conference of September, 1915 in Switzerland. Initially the Zimmerwald movement was 

a loose coalition of socialists who opposed the war. The Zimmerwald Conference 

brought together "men and women who were prominent in the political and trade-union 

labour movements," including delegates from France and Germany, to issue a broad 

"joint declaration that 'This is not our war.'" 35 The majority at Zimmerwald majority 

supported pacifist sentiments towards a negotiated peace and universal disarmament. 36 

Zimmerwald provided Lenin and the Russian Bolsheviks a platform to spread Lenin's 

concepts of revolutionary defeatism and to clarify their unique critiques of the war, 

14


especially amongst the youth. 37 As the Zimmerwald movement progressed, Lenin was 

able to build a "powerful and articulate minority" of revolutionaries, including the leadership 

of the SYI, known as the Zimmerwald Left. 38 

For socialist youth, Zimmerwald forged a closer link between youth and Bolshevism. 

Münzenberg consistently supported Lenin's revolutionary positions against the war. 39 As 

socialist youth drew closer to the Zimmerwald Left, Lenin began to characterize the 

Bolshevik Party as a movement of the youth. Within his rhetoric, Lenin linked both the 

youth and the Bolshevik Party with the future, depicting relations between the two 

movements as natural and complementary: 

Is it not natural that youth should predominate in our party, the revolutionary party We 

are the party of the future, and the future belongs to the youth. We are a party of innovators, 

and it is always the youth that most eagerly follows the innovators. We are a party 

that is waging a self-sacrificing struggle against the old rottenness, and youth is always 

the first to undertake a self-sacrificing struggle. 40 

As the war drew on, the Bolsheviks continued to court the socialist youth; their revolutionary 

positions gained attraction among the youth as pacifist initiatives failed to end the 

war. These experiences eventually led the SYI to leave the Second International, renaming 

itself the Young Communist International. 

The First Period (1919-1924): The Origins of the Leninist Youth 

With the advent of the Russian Revolution, Lenin and the Zimmerwald Left founded a 

new International to lead a coordinated revolutionary offensive against capitalism and 

imperialism. The era of 1919-1924 in communist history is known as the "First Period." 

During this time, communists directed their attention to recruiting young socialists, 

relying heavily upon the revolutionary initiatives of youth. The Comintern courted the 

SYI to abandon the Second International, focussing on constructing a new Leninist 

Generation of youth. Communists urged youth to reject socialist traditions of class 

collaboration and compromise. Their propaganda played upon themes of martyrdom, 

betrayal, and revolution associated with the war. Socialist youth increasingly believed 

Bolshevism represented their generation's desires for both "peace and social revolution." 41 

Lenin challenged youth to carry forward a revolutionary "war against war" under the 

leadership of the Comintern. 

The SYI had its first official post-war meeting scheduled for August, 1919 in the 

Hungarian Soviet Republic. Throughout the months leading up to this meeting, representatives 

of the Comintern sent lengthy appeals to the SYI Executive to entice their organization 

to leave the Second International. Comintern leaders appealed to the socialist 

youth utilizing themes of sacrifice and martyrdom associated with the experiences of 

WWI. Gregory Zinoviev denounced the betrayals of the Second International, highlighting 

the suffering and martyrdom of youth: 42 

15


It was the proletarian youth that suffered most during the war of 1914-1919. But it was 

also the proletarian youth that first raised the voice of protest against that destructive 

war. When the official Socialist and Social-Democratic parties went over to the bourgeoisie 

and began to praise the bandit-war as a war of "Right" and "freedom," the organizations 

of the youth rose up against this treachery.... We are convinced that the 

working youth can have nothing in common with this fraudulent, lying, treacherous "International." 

The working youth of all the world are uniting themselves as one man with 

the living International, with the Communist International… the working youth will 

fight on the foremost barricade for the victory of the Soviet system. Long live the Proletarian 

Youth! Long live the Youth’s Communist International! 43 

Zinoviev's later appeals contended that without the revolutionary leadership of the 

Comintern that the "slaughter" of WWI would inevitably be repeated: 

The Third (Communist) International was formed at a moment when the imperialist 

slaughter of 1914-1918, in which the imperialist bourgeoisie of the various countries 

sacrificed twenty million men, had come to an end. Remember the imperialist war! This 

is the first appeal of the Communist International to every toiler wherever he may live 

and whatever language he may speak.... Remember that unless the capitalist system is 

overthrown a repetition of this criminal war is not only possible but is inevitable. 44 

Zinoviev formulated his appeals around an associational language that portrayed the 

Second International as the enemy of the youth. He declared the Second International as 

allies of the bourgeoisie, blaming them for the deaths of young workers during the war. 

In negation to this "treacherous International," the Comintern was portrayed as the 

"living" ally of youth leading to the "victory of the Soviet system" and a new era of 

international peace. 45 

The formation of the YCI was a unique phenomenon within the Comintern. After 

considerable courting, the socialist youth transferred their political allegiance away from 

the Second International en-masse. Due to the overthrow of Béla Kun's Hungarian 

Soviet Republic in August, 1919, the SYI's first post-war conference was rescheduled for 

Berlin in November, 1919. This meeting resulted in the "capture of the old Socialist 

youth international and its transformation into the Communist Youth International." 46 

Communist parties formed their initial membership through splits within the Social- 

Democratic parties and the merger of small revolutionary parties, rarely winning over 

larger parties in their entirety. The CPGB reflected on this phenomenon in terms of the 

political psychology of youth stating, "The minds of young workers are open and receptive. 

They are more able to assimilate revolutionary ideas and grasp their significance 

than the adult workers whose ideas have been definitely shaped and formed." 47 As the 

section of society most dramatically impacted by WWI, youth were receptive to revolutionary 

appeals framed in anti-war rhetoric. The YCI later commented on the different 

perceptions of generations after the war: 

It is the disillusioned youth, a product of the world war and the ghastly years that have 

followed in its wake, who will give the final blow to Capitalism. The older men and 

women, somehow or another seem unable to get away from the outlook which they had 

developed in the comparatively peaceful and stable years prior to the war.... We, the 

16


young, who have grown up in the very midst of wars, revolutions and counterrevolutions 

– we do not suffer from the same ideas as our fathers. 48 

Adults expressed greater reluctance in breaking with their traditional ideologies and 

organizational affiliations. Since adult socialist politics centred on industrial struggles, 

the organizational links that the trade unions had with the Second International made 

potential splits more difficult. 49 Anti-militarism and the revolutionary optimism of the 

post-war period made the Comintern appealing to socialist youth. 

When the YCI affiliated itself to the Comintern in 1919, it considered its organization 

to be politically independent; the Comintern Executive, who demanded complete subordination 

to their leadership, promptly squelched this proposition. 50 The YCI had envisioned 

itself as the "true vanguard" leading the communist movement while regarding the 

Bolsheviks simply as an inspiration to follow. 51 This new generational outlook was 

reinforced by the fact that in many places it was the youth who formed the primary basis 

of newly formed communist movements. Lazitch and Drachkovitch commented on this 

phenomenon of generational conflict stating: 

Nearly everywhere the "old" and the "young" no longer spoke the same language. When 

the young revolted against the war and its consequences, and thereby against the policies 

of the official Social-Democratic parties during the war, their attitudes were not shared 

by the Social-Democratic leaders. And when those "elders" repudiated Russian Communism 

and were loath to join the Communist International, their arguments had little 

influence on the young. 52 

The YCI envisioned itself as the leading revolutionary force, setting the example for 

adults to follow. 53 

Communist leadership increasingly flowed east from Berlin to Moscow as revolution 

subsided in Central and Eastern Europe. This eastern shift of power undercut the ability 

of Willi Münzenberg to direct an independent YCI Executive based out of Germany. 54 

When the Comintern adopted its "Twenty-One Points of Admission" in July, 1920, strict 

discipline and submission to democratic centralism became central tenants of their 

movement. 55 By the summer of 1921, the Comintern increased the centralization of its 

organization, securing ultimate hegemony over the YCI and its national sections. The 

Comintern shifted its focus from extensive youth recruitment to enforcing the subservience 

of the International to the Comintern Executive. 

At its Third Congress in July, 1921, the Comintern dealt specifically with its leadership 

over the youth, passing an "eight point" resolution detailing the new dynamics of 

this relationship. The Comintern condemned youth vanguardism and clarified what the 

"correct relationship" between youth and adults should entail: 

In their struggle against the war, the young socialist organisations were supported by the 

most dedicated revolutionary groups and became an important focus for the revolutionary 

forces. In most countries no revolutionary parties existed and the youth organisations 

took over their role; they became independent political organisations and acted as the 

vanguard in the revolutionary struggle. With the establishment of the Communist International 

and, in some countries, of Communist Parties, the role of the revolutionary 

youth organisations changes. Young workers, because of their economic position and 

17


because of their psychological make-up, are more easily won to Communist ideas and 

are quicker to show enthusiasm for revolutionary struggle than adult workers. Nevertheless, 

the youth movement relinquishes to the Communist Parties its vanguard role of organising 

independent activity and providing political leadership. The further existence of 

Young Communist organisations as politically independent and leading organisations 

would mean that two Communist Parties existed, in competition with one another and 

differing only in the age of their membership.... In this way the Communist Parties will 

be able to exert a permanent influence on the movement and encourage political activity, 

while the youth organisations, in their turn, can influence the Party. 56 

The Comintern subordinated the YCI to its leadership, but youth continued to play a 

political role. Indeed, the Comintern insisted on the practical need for deference to the 

"vanguard leadership" of the Communist Parties, but continued to stress the importance 

of youth. 57 By 1924, the YCI stated they had accepted this new pattern of relations, 

openly proclaiming, "As we are a section of the Communist International, we naturally 

accept its programme and the basis of its tactics completely." 58 

Youth propaganda of the First Period focussed extensively on the legacies of Karl 

Liebknecht and Rosa Luxembourg as "revolutionary martyrs" after their murder in 

January, 1919. 59 Just prior to their deaths, Liebknecht and Luxembourg directly appealed 

to the youth in their propaganda, arguing that the "flower of youth" had "been mowed 

down" by the imperialist war; they urged young workers to join them in revolution "to 

complete the great work of permanent peace." 60 Communist literature personified 

Liebknecht and Luxembourg as vital allies of the youth and the revolutionary movement. 

A 1926 pamphlet on the history of the YCI invoked this theme of martyrdom stating: 

All these sacrifices have not been in vain. The youth and the revolutionary part of the 

working class will remember the courageous martyrs. They were the champions of the 

new International… the greatest loss to the revolutionary Socialist youth we remember 

first of all Karl Liebknecht, who lost his life together with Rosa Luxemburg in the German 

revolutionary battle.... Thousands of young comrades gave their lives for the cause 

of their class during those revolutionary times. 61 

The YCI consistently used the images of Liebknecht and Luxembourg in their appeals to 

the youth. An early YCI manifesto declared: 

At the name of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxembourg our hearts throb.... Liebknecht 

was one of us! A Youth! The name Liebknecht is inseparably bound up with the proletarian 

Youth Movement. He was its teacher. He fought in its ranks. He was its bravest 

defender. Liebknecht was the very first, who with his name and person came out for the 

Stuttgart resolution, and went to prison for the program of the Young International… a 

soldier of the proletarian revolution, full of glowing passion and youthful enthusiasm to 

the very death. With the murder of these two comrades… the young workers lost their 

truest friend and staunchest supporter. 62 

The YCI linked the legacies of Liebknecht and Luxembourg with the causes of revolution 

and youth to encourage the youth's allegiance to the Comintern. A later YCI publication 

followed this trend, linking a "socialist future" as one built upon "avenging" the martyrdom 

of the past asserting, "Liebknecht shall be avenged, a new red dawn will break, and 

18


in the happier, brighter days of some far off tomorrow, Liebknecht's name will be honoured 

and remembered." 63 

Other elements of youth propaganda centred on "exposing" the treacherous nature of 

social democracy. The Comintern used social democracy as a scapegoat in their early 

literature to explain why communist revolutions failed outside of Russia. 64 Instead of 

critiquing the revolutionary potential of "the masses," the Comintern argued social 

democracy facilitated a return to the status-quo of traditional political parties, institutions 

and class relations. 65 Communists insisted social democracy betrayed workers during the 

post-war period of revolutions by enabling "the established order to absorb and diffuse 

protest." 66 

The YCI condemned the non-political role social democracy defined for "revolutionary 

youth." The YCI highlighted the a-political nature of the program of the Young 

Worker's International (YWI). 67 The YCI argued the Second International was consciously 

directing youth into cultural pursuits to demobilize radical young workers. The 

YCI mocked the YWI, dubbing it as "the International of parades and phrases" that 

cloaked their betrayals of young workers through the "extensive use of revolutionary 

phrases." 68 YCI publications quoted the Young Workers' International program of 1921, 

using their own statements to highlight this process: 

[The socialist youth's] tasks are not those of parties, trade unions or cooperative societies, 

are neither political or economic, but as a cultural movement it works alongside all 

of them, seeking for a new life, Socialism.... Rebirth of personality, active Socialism, 

training of Socialist administrators for a future society, -- these should be the slogans of 

a proletarian youth movement.... The Yong Workers’ International must leave no room 

for doubt that it will not tolerate endeavors to transform the proletarian youth movement 

into a political party. 69 

According to the YCI, the post-war proletarian youth were a "revolutionary generation" 

simply lacking "correct" leadership to direct their revolutionary struggles. Socialist 

cultural initiatives distorted the necessity of youth's revolutionary struggle. 

At its Fourth Congress in November, 1922 the Comintern set out a new approach to 

social democracy referred to as "the United Front." 70 However, while communists 

asserted that they stood for unity, they consciously facilitated greater splits within the 

working-class movement. Communists used the United Front to put their movement into 

greater contact with workers by initiating joint communist and socialist activities. The 

goal of the United Front was to split socialist leaders from their working-class membership. 

71 United Front propaganda centred on themes of working-class unity, but the YCI 

openly boasted of its strategic intent: 

We will show to our enemies the bourgeoisie and the social democrats that we laugh at 

their endeavors, and that there shall be no peace between us until they are definitely defeated.... 

The united front tactics which the Young Communist International carried 

through nationally and internationally, has greatly promoted the exposure of the true 

character of the social democratic youth movement and accelerated the process of de- 

19


composition within its ranks… [exposing] the role of social democracy as an open enemy 

of the working class. 72 

The United Front was a divisive strategy formulated to split the ranks of the workingclass 

movement between reformists and revolutionaries, striving to promote workingclass 

unity only under the "correct" leadership of the communists. 

Despite the subordination of youth to the Comintern, considerable continuity persisted 

between the pre-war experiences of the SYI and the post-war YCI. First, the YCI justified 

their transition to communism by highlighting the capitalism's role in facilitating past 

and future imperialist wars, invoking the pre-war anti-militarist traditions of socialist 

youth. Second, the communists asserted that socialists had proven incapable of coping 

with capitalism and war. Third, communists insisted that their centralized leadership and 

strict oppositional political culture were necessary tactics to counter the continual threat 

of modern imperialist war: 

War is Coming! Coming faster than we dream. The "War to end War" has revealed not 

the end of war, but the grim face of approaching conflicts, far more horrible than the last. 

For this new blood-bath the capitalists must prepare a new generation of cannon-fodder; 

must prepare the new generation, who had little direct experience of the last war, to rush 

to the slaughter… no "Labour" government will deliver them from capitalist slavery and 

war.... To the young workers over whose heads to-day looms the threat of another capitalist 

slaughter for profit, we send our clarion call. 73 

Though reactionary movements like fascism were condemned, the Leninist youth continued 

to direct their main critiques and attacks against social democracy. 

The Second Period (1924-1928): Bolshevization and the Leninist Youth 

Following the death of Lenin on January 21, 1924, the Comintern inaugurated a new era 

referred to as the "Second Period," lasting from 1924-1928. During this time, the 

Comintern directed the international movement through a process referred to as "Bolshevization." 

James Cannon characterized Bolshevization as "a struggle against false 

ideology in the party" intended to prevent any deviations from "the ideology of Marxism 

and Leninism." 74 The Comintern asserted that previous exposure to social-democratic 

practices made many communists potentially unreliable as revolutionaries. The youth 

held great potential for the Comintern in this era due to their natural inexperience and 

anti-socialist disposition. Bolshevization enabled communist youth to define a greater 

role for their movement as enforcers of communist ideology and practices. 75 Bolshevization 

resulted in young communists adopting an "adult perspective" to youth mobilization 

that enhanced their role within the International, but further alienated their movement 

from other youth organizations. 

In July, 1924 the Fifth Congress of the Comintern officially endorsed the process of 

"Bolshevization." Bolshevization was rooted in the universalizing of the Russian experience 

as a "correct formula" for international application. Lenin himself had warned 

against potential dangers in this path. 76 When Lenin died, the Comintern dismissed his 

20


warnings, insisting that Bolshevik methods were the only "correct" models for a revolutionary 

organization. 77 Draper described Bolshevization in terms of exporting distinct 

Russian tactics and forms of organization: 

The Russian form of organization differed markedly. At the base of the Russian Communist 

party structure were local units or "cells," the great majority of them industrial 

rather than territorial in make-up. These industrial cells brought party members together 

where they worked instead of where they lived and voted. The type of economic rather 

than political organization antedated the Bolshevik revolution and constituted a traditional 

difference between Russian and Western practice. 78 

The Comintern Executive used this transition to consolidate its power over national 

movements. The Soviet Party was by far the largest delegation in the Comintern's 

Executive Committee. Soviet leaders utilized Bolshevization to strengthen their ability to 

interpret "correct" directives and ideological positions for national parties. 

This Bolshevization brought new challenges for communists. Bolshevization transformed 

the role of youth within the international movement, creating a number of paradoxes 

for young communists. 79 Firstly, in willingly submitting to the Comintern's 

centralization, communist youth gained extensive political leverage to direct the development 

of the adult movement. Secondly, while Bolshevization intended to create mass 

leagues of revolutionary youth, it more often resulted in the further isolation of communist 

youth in the West. In the end, Bolshevization fermented a number of trends that 

defined the role of communist youth until the advent of the Popular Front. 

Compliancy with the will of the Comintern was propagated as the most virtuous characteristic 

of the Young Communist Leagues: 

The Young Communist Leagues have proved to be everywhere the pioneers and vanguard 

of the policy of the Communist International.... In all these Party problems and in 

their settlement the YCI and the Young Communist Leagues have actively participated. 

It is characteristic that they have everywhere stood for the Communist International and 

have proved to be its most faithful support.... Leninism must become flesh and bone in 

all Communist Parties and Young Communist Leagues. It must penetrate and determine 

all their activities, and we must strive to build up truly Leninist and Bolshevist organizations. 

The Young Communist International must become a Young Leninist International! 

80 

Communist youth were directed to act as an ideological "vanguard of Bolshevism," 

pressuring the adult movements into strict adherence to Comintern directions. Communist 

youth could "decide who was a "true" communist and who a deviant "opportunist"" 

based on the subject's concurrence with Bolshevik principles as interpreted by the 

Comintern. 81 

Communist youth perceived themselves as ideological leaders to their national adult 

parties. 82 All YCL branches were encouraged "to struggle for the policy of the Comintern 

against the erroneous policy of their own Party." 83 The YCI stated, "The League must be 

an example to the Party and our local organizations must proceed with transformation 

whether the Party is moving in that direction or not and thus act as an urge on any 

21


recalcitrant branches of the adult movement." 84 A 1928 YCI report evaluated the importance 

of the role of the YCLs during the Bolshevization period: 

The Communist Youth International and its sections have, during the past period, proved 

themselves again to be the best fighters for the ideas and policy of the Comintern. The 

fact that the YCI and its sections have always been in the first ranks of the fight for the 

revolutionary Leninist line of the Comintern can, in the first place, be explained by the 

fact that the youth is not burdened with the old social democratic traditions. In all big 

political questions of the working class, in the discussions of the individual Communist 

Parties, our Leagues have most actively supported the line and policy of the 

Comintern.... We can to-day say with pride that our youth organisations, with the help of 

the Executive, almost always supported the correct attitude, the attitude of the 

Comintern, and supported it with great force. 85 

Bolshevization further subordinated the youth to the Comintern, but enabled young 

people to play a greater role in ideological leadership. 

Bolshevization necessitated a "correct" ideological education for youth centred on 

Leninism. Lenin placed great emphasis on political education to enable youth to unify 

revolutionary "theory and practice" within their movement. 86 The Fourth Congress of the 

YCI instructed "communist youth of all countries to occupy themselves systematically 

and persistently with the work of Comrade Lenin in order to educate a new generation of 

true Bolsheviks." 87 Theoretical education was linked with daily struggles within the 

factory, unlike socialist education that emphasised youth cultural activities within 

neighbourhood branches. 

For example, the Comintern directed the YCLs to establish "shop nuclei" groups 

within the factories to facilitate Leninist education. 88 The shop nucleus blended militant 

economic struggles with ideological education to politicize youth: 

[The YCL's] work and activities must thereby win a permanent influence on the mass of 

the young workers. This can only be done by being in continual daily touch with the 

working class youth, and by continually making them aware of our work. The chief 

place for such a connection is in the shop where the member of the League can make the 

influence of the Leagues felt.... This organizational unit is the shop nucleus. It forms the 

most important support, the corner stone of our organization. Work in the shop for the 

establishment of a nucleus and work in the nucleus when established, that is the first task 

of a member of the Young Communist League.... Every factory should be our stronghold! 

89 

The YCI insisted Leninism required a "militant education, i.e. for an education that is 

learned in the struggle which assists the struggle so that theory arises out of experience." 90 

Such economic struggles were intended to expose the "true nature" of capitalist power 

relations to the youth. The YCI hoped that the shop nucleus could "call upon workers for 

their support in our general struggle" by making economic and union work "the main 

activity of our [YCL] organization." 91 

The Comintern directed YCLs to treat shop nuclei recruits "as a prospective soldier in 

the future revolutionary army." 92 Communist youth argued such factory groups were 

seizing vital positions of power from their "class enemies." Open participation in such 

22


organizations was a risky venture for young workers and could easily lead to dismissal, 

blacklisting and potential legal persecution. 93 Nevertheless, communists insisted such 

factory organizations could help avert future wars and advance socialist revolution 

through the utilization of a general strike. If war broke out, production could be sabotaged 

or redirected to transform the war into a revolutionary civil war. In either case, 

communists insisted their presence within industrial organizations was vital to offset the 

influence of reformism, raise the class-consciousness of young workers and to ferment 

revolution in periods of working-class advance. The YCL's goal of using militant 

unionism to unleash a revolutionary civil war often held little resonation with a generation 

of war-weary youth. 

Bolshevization intended to form mass revolutionary organizations of youth, but instead 

resulted in constructing largely sectarian and isolated YCLs in the West. Bolshevization 

facilitated opportunities for youth advancement within the communist movement, 

but did little to create the mass youth leagues that the Comintern sought. Communist 

youth directed their primary energies internally into correcting ideological disputes and 

training their members in Leninism. YCL tactics simply mimicked adult and Russian 

strategies, neglecting the formulation of distinct youthful tactics. Instead of actively 

engaging youth to reject the rising influences of fascism, the YCI spent the Second 

Period simply denouncing all other movements and directing their membership's attention 

inward of their own "correct" development. 

The Third Period (1928-1933): Class Against Class and Youth Militancy 

During the summer of 1928 the Sixth World Congress of the Comintern endorsed a new 

"ultra-left" political line referred to as "Class Against Class." This era is commonly 

referred to as the "Third Period," lasting approximately from 1928-1933. By this time, 

Joseph Stalin was the dominant figure of Soviet politics, and in turn, he was able to 

exercise extensive influence upon the Comintern. Indeed, the Third Period witnessed the 

shift from "Bolshevization" to "Stalinization" of the Comintern. Many historians, 

especially after 1956, have blamed the disastrous failures of this era upon the "corruptive" 

influence Stalin exerted within the International. Though Stalin dominated 

Comintern politics, at times directly intervening in the internal affairs of other parties, 

many communists actively identified with and supported Stalin's policies; the Comintern 

maintained its leadership through both coercion and consent. Dispositions towards 

Stalinist policies were particularly accentuated within the youth movement. 

At its Fifth World Congress in 1929, the YCI officially endorsed the Comintern's political 

"left turn." Class Against Class theory and practice was centred on the premise 

that a new revolutionary period had arisen; the world would soon be overwhelmed by a 

new era of wars and revolutions. The Comintern characterized this era as "the end of 

capitalist stabilisation," facilitating a dire need to "reorientate the Communist Parties [and 

23


the YCLs] in accordance with the change in the surrounding conditions." 94 The 

Comintern instructed its Parties and YCLs to lead a militant attack against all elements of 

the social-democratic movement, denouncing them with the slogan of "social-fascists." 95 

The YCI's political identity was historically rooted in militant denunciations of social 

democracy. This factor led the communist youth to embrace the new Comintern line with 

great energy and enthusiasm. 96 Although fascism was rising in its prominence, the YCLs 

focussed their political attacks on their perceived adversaries on the left. 97 

For communist youth, the Class Against Class period did not create a profound shift in 

their politics. The Third Period represented an affirmation of militant anti-socialist trends 

that existed since the birth of the communist youth movement. McDermott and Agnew 

highlight the "endemic hostility of the Comintern leadership towards social democracy" 

and the anti-socialist roots of Leninist ideology, countering historians who have focussed 

on the rapid and divergent shifts of the Third Period. 98 YCI rhetoric of this period, while 

expressing greater urgency for revolutionary actions, continued to highlight elements of 

continuity in their policies. 

A central element of the YCI's outlook on the youth was insisting on the necessity of 

the political role that youth should embrace, unlike the social-democratic emphasis on 

cultural activities. During the discussions leading up to the youth's Fifth World Congress, 

the YCI insisted it was their role to counter these traditions of social democracy: 

Incorrect are the proposals for the giving of a non-political character to the YCL organizations, 

i.e., reconstruct them in such a way, that the cultural side should be given the 

most important place. In such a way we could not win the broad masses (take as an example 

the social-democratic youth organisations), and we will only lose all our revolutionary 

traditions, and instead of raising a new revolutionary generation, which should 

take the place of the old, we will raise "cultural people," opportunists. 99 

The Third Period did not change the YCI's conception of their movement. By increasing 

the intensity of their attacks on social democratic tactics, the YCI simply reinforced their 

own highly militant political identity. 

The main divergence of Class Against Class politics was a shift to focussing attacks 

on the left-wing of the socialist movement. The YCI's 1929 Programme reflected this 

shift in communist strategy and perceptions of their political opponents: 

A particularly dangerous shading of Social-Democratic reformism is the so-called "Left" 

(Centrist) Social-Democracy, which conceals by means of ostensibly revolutionary 

"Left" phrases, its complete and actual agreement with the most reactionary Social- 

Democratic reformism, and, its hostility to revolution. The "Left" wing of Social- 

Democracy thus serves only as an instrument of more subtle deception of the working 

masses; its special role is to deceive and keep under the influence of Social-Democracy 

(i.e., of the bourgeoisie) those workers who are already on the road towards Communism. 

Therefore, this brand of Social-Democratic reformism is an even more dangerous 

enemy than an open opponent of Communism, or the open supporters of socialimperialism. 

100 

During previous eras "left socialists," while heavily critiqued, were considered potential 

allies in countering conservative trends of social democracy. The YCI contended that 

24


such relations were no longer desirable during this new era of revolutionary advances. 

The YCI condemned all socialist youth, stating that any sort of unity or amalgamation 

"between the YCLs and the Young Socialist organizations is impossible" since socialist 

youth were affiliated to "essentially bourgeois parties." 101 

Communist youth were receptive to the Class Against Class line due to their long traditions 

of anti-militarism. After the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, the 

Comintern asserted the only way for capitalist nations to pull themselves out of the 

"present economic crisis" was "in making war." 102 In his report to the Twelfth Plenum of 

the Executive Committee of the Comintern, Susumu Okano insisted: 

A new imperialist war, a new intervention against the USSR, will bring to the workers 

and toilers of the whole world such suffering, deprivation and bloody sacrifice, as were 

not experienced even during the first world imperialist slaughter… the main task of all 

Communist Parties is… for the defence of the toilers of capitalist countries against a new 

imperialist war. 103 

In articles leading up to the Fifth World Congress of the YCI, young communists openly 

stated that "the biggest problem that faces the Congress is the war danger" and "how to 

carry on anti-militarist work." 104 Other articles emphasised the need for revolutionary 

youth actions against war, asserting that during this era marked by "the scramble of the 

imperialist powers for new markets" that war was quickly becoming "the only forcible 

solution to the crisis" for capitalism. 105 

Young communists denounced "capitalist initiatives" for peace like the Geneva Disarmament 

Commission of 1930. Despite the peace proposals made by Ambassador 

Litvinoff for the Soviet Union, the YCI stated the Commission was destined to failure for 

not addressing the root causes of war in capitalism and imperialism. Countering this 

"fake" meeting for peace, young communists stated, "For a real struggle for peace it is 

necessary first to overthrow the class that breeds war, that needs war, the boss class and 

throw overboard their whole system." 106 YCI educational materials insisted youth could 

not "compel the imperialists to give up war," but that anti-militarist activities should be 

designed to "push these masses into the struggle against imperialism, since only the 

destruction of imperialism will remove the causes of war and war itself." 107 Other YCI 

articles blatantly stated "when war is declared… [encourage other soldiers to] turn their 

guns against their only enemy, the boss class." 108 Class Against Class did not initiate new 

directions for youth, but simply encouraged a greater left militancy in the tone of youth 

rhetoric and activities. The YCI posited, "Today the youth must be prepared and must be 

steeled in order to disrupt imperialist war and destroy capitalism." 109 

The Leninist Generation consistently opposed "imperialist wars," but failed to target 

fascism's unique role in facilitating war, blurring the youth's understanding of other 

movements with their "social-fascist" critique. The Comintern enabled communist youth 

to play a distinct role within the International, but their external oppositional culture often 

proved counter-productive in advancing the youth struggle against war, especially during 

the Third Period. In many ways, the "science" of Marxism-Leninism was transformed 

25


into a pseudo-religious dogma to enforce the will of the Comintern and the Soviet 

leadership instead of acting as broad guide of international political action. The YCI 

played an active role in enforcing both the Bolshevization and Stalinization of the 

Comintern, but often failed to actively counter the rising tide of fascism. 

A Class War of Illusions: Youth and the "Science" of Marxism-Leninism 

The YCI directed its national sections to embrace and promote the "science" of Marxism- 

Leninism, believing Lenin had found a "correct formula" for political mobilization and 

socialist revolution. This trend led the YCI to neglect forming distinct national policies 

that would resonate with youth of the 1920's, opting to mimic the tactics, ideology and 

language of the Russian Bolsheviks. Young communists believed the Bolshevik Revolution 

could be recreated in the West by energetically applying the "correct" lines of the 

Comintern, fermenting and capitalizing upon periods of revolutionary advance. Communists 

internalized failures through "Bolshevik self-criticism" or blamed them upon 

"illusions" bred by social democrats and bourgeois culture, rarely explaining defeats in 

terms of incorrect policies. The YCI contended setbacks were rooted in deviations from 

Comintern lines or lack of energy and conviction in application of these "correct lines." 

The Comintern failed to adequately address the context of Western political culture, 

directing communist youth to strictly follow the Russian experience for guidance. The 

Leninist Generation was plagued by a constant deference to the Comintern's interpretation 

of this Leninist "science" while the Popular Front Generation would later claim a 

more creative inspiration from what they termed to be the "spirit," not the "science of 

Marxism-Leninism. 

The YCI attacked competing conceptions of youth mobilization outright for maintaining 

class rule, failing to adequately analyze or utilize their potential appeal or complexity. 

The Leninist Generation propagated a militant political identity, attacking all other 

movements for facilitating the "rooting of new illusions in the ranks of the working 

youth." 110 The Leninist outlook of the YCI facilitated tactics directed towards highly 

destructive methods, informed by what Ottanelli has termed a "cataclysmic view of social 

change." 111 On such important and contentions issues as nationalism, youth unity, and 

democracy the YCI asserted their own distinct and inflexible Leninist analysis that 

considered any other viewpoint illusionary and ultimately counter-revolutionary. 

The Leninist and Popular Front generations of the YCI held intensely divergent positions 

on the national issue in the West. The Leninist Generation vehemently attacked 

nationalism as a poisonous illusion that facilitated war. Young communists exposed how 

socialists had betrayed "the most elementary things in the Communist Manifesto, where 

Marx stated that the workers have no fatherland under capitalism" by encouraging the 

"young generation to defend the fatherland." 112 Early statements of the YCI posited that 

deference to nationalist sentiment was dangerous and counterproductive. 113 In a pamphlet 

26


critiquing the post-war nationalist resurgence, the YCI denounced the "narrow-minded 

nationalist ideologists and patriotic idealists" who were targeting the youth. The YCI 

insisted, "Proletarian Revolution can only be victorious internationally, Communism can 

only be realised and sustained by Internationalism." 114 Other YCI statements reiterated 

this position stating, "The fight of the proletariat for Communism can only be successful 

if it is conducted on an international scale." 115 Until the rise of Hitler, the Leninist 

Generation treated nationalist sentiment as a dangerous bourgeois illusion for workingclass 

youth to combat. 

The YCI contended its "scientific" programme was correct, in turn condemning all 

other conceptions of mobilization and youth unity. The YCI argued "the growth of the 

Young Communist Leagues to mass organizations is altogether impossible without the 

annihilation of the opponent youth organizations" which necessitated a "merciless 

struggle against opportunism and its exponents in the ranks of the youth and against the 

Young Socialist Leagues." 116 The YCI maintained it was necessary to "destroy illusions" 

that socialists bred in working-class youth to maximize the revolutionary potential of any 

future crises of capitalism. The post-war youth were a "revolutionary generation." The 

YCI insisted socialist cultural initiatives, though effective in their unifying appeal, simply 

bred further illusions in the youth. 

Although the YCI directed YCLs to reject social-democratic tactics, it often commented 

on the lack of "youthful methods" communists utilized in carrying out work. A 

1928 YCI Congress report lamented: 

The Congress had to record once more that YCL work was still too much like Party 

work and that YCL methods of work were in most cases slavish imitations of the methods 

of work of the Parties and were not adapted to the special requirements and peculiarities 

of the working youth.... In many cases the youth is approached only with involved 

agitations phraseology. The young people who join us are not introduced into the work 

in a methodical way but are frequently given tasks which they cannot carry out even 

with the best intentions. The work is not interesting enough, the life of the organisation 

is dull and there is little to attract to our organisation young people. 117 

In countering socialist cultural programs, the YCI adopted methods that often held little 

attraction to the youth. For a movement that relied heavily upon the energetic dedication 

of its activists, the perpetual existence of a dull organizational life did little to secure 

long-term commitments from the youth. Young communists often made little critique of 

the "correctness" of their own strategies to win over youth, instead directing attacks 

against their socialist youth counterparts. Any relations with socialist leaders were 

intended to "unmask these so-called leaders, and subsequently, [to] attack them in the 

most energetic fashion." 118 The YCI contended that "making or tolerating any concessions" 

to socialists within any United Front alliances was not permissible. 119 

The YCI rejected any notions of youth "class collaboration," arguing such practices 

would taint revolutionaries with "bourgeois sentiments." 120 In communist organizing, 

"working-class youth were the object of the greatest affection and adulation, while 

27


student youth and children of the intelligentsia were often condemned as counterrevolutionaries." 

121 Movements that appealed to youth en-masse were simply denounced. 

The YCI argued broad youth movements were largely "sentimental" and ultimately 

"poisonous" to young workers minds: 

These petty bourgeois sentimental dreams of "youth" as such, who, irrespective of their 

social and economic class position have the same interests and must organize themselves 

in order to create, far from the terrible "today," the "new" life of youth, are a gigantic 

fraud which also affects the working class… a real flood of poison is shed over the 

minds of the young workers from all the sluices of capitalism. Church, press, bourgeois 

literature, and "art," cinemas, alcoholism, etc., are working day and night to alienate the 

working youth from their class and subject them to the influence of the bourgeoisie. 122 

All forms of non-communist youth culture and movements were treated as dangerous 

tools of class rule that instilled further illusions in the youth concerning capitalism and 

class collaboration. 123 

The YCI analysis of capitalist society went further in denouncing Western political 

culture, dismissing forms of parliamentary democracy as an illusionary form of class 

rule. Young communists embraced Lenin's critique that the state was simply "an organ 

of class rule, an organ for the oppression of one class by another." 124 The YCI dismissed 

socialist arguments that the expansion of democratic rights had changed power relations 

within capitalist society. Lenin contended political democracy did not change the realities 

of class relationships. The democratic form of government further solidified class 

societies by propagating rhetoric that fermented illusions about equality. Lenin argued 

that even the most democratic of states would never bring about equality, nor will it ever 

strive to since its economic and political foundations rested in the power of capital: 

Every state in which private ownership of the land and means of production exists, in 

which capital dominates, however democratic it may be, is a capitalist state, a machine 

used by the capitalists to keep the working class and the poor peasants in subjection; 

while universal suffrage, a Constituent Assembly, a parliament are merely a form, a sort 

of promissory note, which does not change the real state of affairs. The forms of domination 

of the state may vary: capital manifests its power in one way where one form exists, 

and in another way where another form exists-but essentially the power is in the hands of 

capital, whether there are voting qualifications or some other rights or not, or whether 

the republic is a democratic one or not-in fact, the more democratic it is the cruder and 

more cynical is the rule of capitalism. 125 

Although the democratic republic had played a progressive role in replacing feudal 

political structures, under the "era of Imperialism" bourgeois democracy had ceased to 

play a progressive role in history. Capitalist economics necessitated the maintenance of 

the social status quo and bourgeois democracy in turn was both unwilling and unable to 

change class relations. 

William Rust, an early YCLGB leader, critiqued the interplay of socialists, voting and 

the nature of bourgeois democracy. Rust's comments centred on exposing the realities of 

social and economic power in the democratic republic: 

28


Although the workers have the right to vote and to elect representatives… they have no 

real control. The so-called democracy which we enjoy is a sham and a fraud, and although 

Labour leaders tell us that the workers can vote capitalism out of existence by 

getting a majority in Parliament, we find on examining the matter closely that the workers' 

chances of doing this are about equal to those of a snowball in Satan's well-known 

establishment. Democracy is only a cover for the purpose of making the capitalist dictatorship 

less obvious. 126 

Democracy was simply dismissed as a form of "bourgeois dictatorship." Communists 

condemned socialists for their support of such bourgeois democracies. According to the 

YCI analysis, socialist democratic reforms distorted the class nature of the democratic 

state and hindered the revolutionary development of the working class. 

The problems facing the Leninist Generation were not just organizational and theoretical, 

but also a linguistic stigma in the form and content of their youth propaganda. In 

rejecting the distinct national traditions of socialism attached to the Second International, 

the YCI enforced an inflexible internationalist discourse. 127 Aggressive language framed 

in the military terminology of international class warfare did little to inspire a generation 

intimately familiar with the horrors and sacrifices of violence and war. Many of the 

YCI's failures lay in approaching the youth with primarily adult and Soviet slogans that 

were alien to the youth. Even when organizing efforts failed to produce mass organizations, 

the Leninist YCI continually engaged youth in a militant rhetoric that condemned 

their values instead of striving to reflect them. 

In the end, Leninist strategy facilitated an "illusionary mindset" in young communists 

concerning revolution in the West and their vanguard relationship with the youth. 

Lenin's "scientific" critiques became ideological dogma in their universal applicability 

instead of acting as a guide to action. Communist youth played a significant role in the 

founding and development of the Comintern, but a largely insignificant role in influencing 

youth politics. One of the greatest challenges of the Popular Front Generation of the 

YCI was to overcome these sectarian legacies. During the thirties young communists 

abandoned much of their Leninist militancy, approaching youth with a conciliatory 

language that co-opted youth values instead of denouncing them. YCI propaganda 

embraced new perspectives concerning nationalism, youth culture and democracy framed 

in anti-fascist rhetoric. Unfortunately it took the rise of Hitler and the fresh leadership of 

an anti-fascist generation of communist youth to "unmask" the illusions communists held 

about the "correctness" of their Bolshevik perspective in preventing war and advancing 

socialism. 

The British-American Context 

Although young communists functioned within distinct national political contexts, the 

British and American YCLs employed very similar methods and political rhetoric. This 

phenomenon was a conscious strategy reflecting the directives of the YCI. The YCI 

29


argued that the universalism and international coordination of their programme was a 

necessary and positive feature of the communist youth movement: 

The next characteristic feature in our organizational development is our continuous development 

into a strictly centralized world organization. The Young Communist International 

can today with full justification call itself an international league, in which 

many languages are spoken, but completely uniform work and struggle is carried on. 

Our Executive Committee is no question box, no information bureau, as that of the social 

patriotic International of Youth.... It actually leads almost the whole work of the individual 

sections in a general manner. 128 

National variations and diverse strategies were considered social-democratic methods 

that needed to be replaced by centralized and uniform methods. Despite this, the British 

and American YCLs were faced with very different national challenges in their early 

years. 129 Many of the setbacks of the early British and American YCLs were rooted in a 

failure to mature and develop to the external realities of the limited national political 

spaces open to them, instead focussing on the internal dictates of the YCI. 

Post-war Britain was a nation fraught with political realignments that opened up a 

variety of political opportunities for working-class radicalism. Prime Minister Lloyd 

George commented that between 1917 and 1919 Europe was "filled with the spirit of 

revolution… the whole existing order in its political, social and economic aspects is 

questioned by the masses of the population from one end of Europe to the other." 130 In 

places like Glasgow, where striking workers raised the "red flag" in George Square, the 

Prime Minister reacted by bringing a "big howitzer [into] the city chambers, tanks in 

Glasgow, machine guns on top of the post office and the hotels, and soldiers who were 

not from the front." 131 Lloyd George feared veteran troops would potentially sympathize 

with worker's demands and could not be "relied upon to act against" striking workers. 132 

The industrial crisis reached such dramatic heights that the Government inquired as to 

whether the Royal Air Force had the capacity to "bomb British urban centres such as 

Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow" in order to crush any possible popular uprisings. 133 

To combat working-class radicalism, employers and the state coordinated efforts in 

utilizing both repression and reform to diffuse protests. 134 

The Labour Party played a vital role in channelling working-class discontent into less 

radical avenues. After he had visited Russia in 1917, Arthur Henderson argued that the 

best way to fight against the growing tide of revolutionary fervour was to adopt a Parliamentary 

socialist program for the Labour Party. 135 Henderson and other Labour leaders 

argued that the mass extension of the election franchise opened new political opportunities 

for socialists to capitalize upon. 136 Labour merged the radical energies of British 

workers with aspirations of progressive middle-class elements into filling the political 

void left by the fledgling Liberal Party. The adoption of Clause IV into their constitution 

dedicated the Labour Party to the advancement of socialism, while the reformist influence 

of the ILP and the Fabian Society helped Labour to assert that it was a "respectable 

party" that was "fit to rule Britain." While the Labour Party was able to absorb adult 

30


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 

31


Despite these nominal advances during industrial conflicts, the YCLGB was unable to 

sustain a large membership during the twenties. 

The YCL did little to make their organization and political rhetoric appealing to the 

distinct culture of British youth, depending almost entirely on Comintern tactics. 146 

Although the YCI and British EC continually berated the YCLGB for having a "League 

life [that was] generally too dull to retain many new members," little practical work was 

seriously pursued to change this phenomenon. 147 Youth cultural and recreational activities 

were dismissed as social-democratic methods to be rejected. As a result, the YCL 

continued to live a largely sectarian existence throughout the twenties. 

The founding of the YCL had a dramatic impact upon the development of British socialist 

youth organizations. The Labour Party and the Independent Labour Party established 

their own youth organizations during the early twenties, fearing that the initiative 

of socialist-youth mobilization had gone over to the communists. 148 Throughout the interwar 

period socialist youth struggled to increase the political elements of their movement 

by adopting many of the campaigns of the YCL. 149 In turn, socialist adults continually 

sought to "depoliticize" their youth organizations to offset potential radicalism. The 

Labour Party and ILP took a highly restrictive and paternalistic attitude towards the 

politicization of their youth leagues. A Labour League of Youth (LLOY) member 

complained that if the "League of Youth [were run] like a glorified Sunday School then it 

simply will not attract the youth." 150 This phenomenon often facilitated highly contentious 

relations between youth and their associated adult parties. 151 Neither the socialist or 

communist youth pursued any serious attempts to find a dynamic balance between 

culture, recreation and politics within their organizations. Despite mistakes in tactics, the 

failures of socialist youth groups, including the YCL, were symptomatic of a "detachment" 

that British youth generally experienced with politics during the twenties. 152 

Furthermore, the YCLGB also had a major impact on the development of the CPGB. 

The main role of the YCL during the twenties was to promote the ideological correctness 

of Comintern lines. The Comintern used institutions like the Lenin School in Moscow to 

indoctrinate youth with Bolshevik militancy that could be utilized within national sections 

to enforce Comintern dictates. 153 During the disruptive transition to Class Against 

Class in 1928, the Comintern encouraged the YCL to lead an ideological attack against 

the CPGB leadership. 154 The Comintern berated the CPGB as "a society of great friends" 

instead of a "Bolshevik vanguard," prompting the YCL to launch a scathing denunciation 

of the CP leadership. 155 A YCL pamphlet later boasted that they had "struggled very 

correctly and well for the carrying out of the [new] line in the Communist Parties." 156 

Despite the success the YCL had in assisting the Comintern in the formation of a new 

party leadership, its own membership numbers dropped to under 900 by mid-1929. 157 

The YCL remained plagued by this sectarian and isolated state until the adoption of the 

Popular Front. 

32


The communist youth movement in the United States followed a similar evolution, 

largely failing to adapt to the distinct national context of American political culture. 

WWI facilitated a significant amount of political radicalism, unrest and repression in the 

United States. With US entry into WWI in April, 1917 many American youth initially 

became "swept into what appeared to be an idealistic crusade to end war and make the 

world safe for democracy and peace." 158 During this period a wave of government and 

vigilante persecution was unleashed against American socialists for their anti-war activities. 

Legislation like the Sedition Act of 1918 expanded legal definitions of treasonous 

activities. Radicals could be prosecuted not only for actual acts, but also for any 

speeches or writings considered "disloyal, scurrilous or abusive" towards the American 

government or the war effort. 159 

Instead of relaxing repression after the Armistice, President Wilson's government used 

the pretext of the Bolshevik Revolution to expand its "campaign against antiwar 

groups… into an antiradical campaign," resulting in America's first officially endorsed 

"Red Scare." 160 The American left became increasingly marginalized as "government, 

industry, education, and civic organizations participated in an Americanization campaign" 

specifically targeting "foreign elements." 161 Industrial strikes swept across the 

nation culminating in such intense episodes as the Seattle General Strike and Boston 

Police Strike of 1919, intensifying trends of official persecution and social fears. Accompanying 

these industrial disputes, a series of politically motivated bombings occurred 

throughout 1919-1920 that were ascribed to anarchist inspired acts of "red terror." These 

scenarios of intense class conflict inspired revolutionaries to establish an American 

communist movement, but they were also used by "opponents of socialism" to rally 

patriotic sentiment for "destroying a [perceived] domestic enemy." 162 The incipient 

communist movement was victimized by swift government repression and anti-foreigner 

campaigns, leaving American communists with few opportunities for successful organizing. 

American communists suffered marginalization in the twenties due to a powerful 

movement of "traditionalism" that centred upon rejecting immigrant and internationalist 

influences. 163 The "Red Scare" of 1919-20 reinvigorated traditionalist outlooks and 

prejudices that rejected immigrant influences, especially East European and Slavic 

elements. The YWL faced special political challenges as a movement composed primarily 

of Finnish, Hungarian and Jewish immigrants. 164 Haynes and Klehr argue that this 

foreign composition caused the US movement to be made up predominately of individuals 

who shared a "profound alienation from American culture." 165 The Comintern commented 

on this factor, stating that the American movement had "been for many years an 

organization of foreign workers not much connected with the political life of the country." 

166 The alienation experienced by foreign-born communists was often a product of 

the larger trends of anti-immigrant discrimination that in turn fuelled their political 

radicalism. 

33


Government repression and lack of domestic support made the potentials for a vibrant 

American Young Communist League negligible. The first attempt to form a communist 

youth movement in 1919 was unsuccessful. 167 Another attempt was made in 1920 to 

form an American YCL, but the Palmer Raids drove the fledgling organization underground. 

168 Finally in 1922 the Young Workers League (YWL) was formed as a legal 

communist youth organization, one month after the YCL was formally established as an 

illegal "underground organization." 169 This trend of splitting the socialist movement and 

forming both legal and illegal organizations were not unique to the YCL, but was a 

duplication of the trends followed by the adult Workers (Communist) Party to avoid 

further legal persecution. 

In its early relationship with the YCI, the YWL was not acknowledged as a full member, 

but was described as a "sympathizing organization" that the YCI hoped would 

"before long… be able to associate with us even more closely." 170 The YWL lamented of 

this situation as well, openly stating that they hoped "some day that conditions may arrive 

when the Young Workers League can become a section of [the] Young Communist 

International." 171 American delegates to the YCI were not reported on as delegates, but 

referred to as "observers" who attended YCI Congresses not to receive orders, but to 

return to the US to "explain conditions over there" in Europe. 172 This cautious language 

reflected the precarious legal existence of the American League. 

While persecution set back the early YWL, its appeals to join a "militant vanguard… 

in the daily struggle" for "the conquest of power" did not resonate greatly with American 

youth. 173 An article in The Nation commented at the time that while the energies of youth 

had been "tapped by the war," it was questionable that they could be "harnessed in 

peacetime to a social purpose." 174 American youth of the twenties embraced cultural 

expressions of rebellion through "flappers, jazz and gin," not calls for the establishment 

of a "Workers' Republic." 175 Instead of actively engaging in this modern youth culture, 

the early YWL condemned things like the "jazz-spirit" of youth as reactionary. The 

YWL contended "jazzism is coming to be as reactionary a force in America as Fascism is 

in Italy" for breeding a "carefree" attitude in the youth. 176 Along with condemning the 

"carefree" culture of youth, the early YWL also condemned efforts to work with university 

student youth who had formed an important basis of the Socialist Party. The YWL 

stated university students could one day assist a Workers' State with their "management 

skills," but that "students as a category in modern society can never become revolutionary" 

since they were "mentally and morally subservient to the interest of the masters." 177 

One of the major problems facing the United States communist movement was the 

issue of "American exceptionalism." Though the American economy suffered some 

preliminary slumps and high unemployment due to post-war economic adjustments, the 

period of the twenties was a time of massive American economic growth. The potential 

class tensions associated with industrial rationalization were outweighed by a hegemonic 

culture of optimism linked with high employment rates and economic growth. 178 The 

34


first publication of the YWL contained a sober article lamenting that American workers 

had "the least developed class consciousness of any proletariat the world over" and had 

"not even begun to think in terms of class consciousness and revolution." 179 The typical 

American outlook was not defined primarily by class, but a dominant culture centred on 

optimistic constructions of "Americanism." 180 In adapting themselves to the international 

outlook, strategies and constraints of the YCI, the YWL had a difficult time coping with 

the national realities of American political culture linked with its massive economic 

growth. 

Like the British YCL, the YWL utilized militant and often sarcastic revolutionary language 

intended to dispel illusions youth held concerning their nation. The YWL regularly 

invoked rhetoric like "the So-called Land of Opportunity" to expose the realities of 

American society under capitalism as obscured by the Americanization movement. 181 

The YWL hoped that over time they could "make the American working class revolutionary 

in thought, desires and action" by actively "educating and organizing" young 

workersthrough industrial struggles. 182 As the twenties progressed, the YWL changed the 

format of The Young Worker from a "refined magazine" into a militant newspaper 

intended to "educate [YCLers] in the [revolutionary] struggle." 183 Instead of adapting to 

the unique elements of American political and youth culture, the YWL continually 

embraced a strict international class outlook in accordance to YCI resolutions and 

strategies. 

The YWL, much like the YCLGB, focussed their primary political energies inward on 

the ideological and factional struggles that plagued the Worker's (Communist) Party 

(WCP). In a 1938 article in the Young Communist Review, Gil Green took a sobering 

look at the early years of the YWL, commenting of the organization's factionalized and 

largely isolated existence. 184 Green lamented that throughout the twenties the YWL 

remained "a narrow organization with the central task of aiding the Party." 185 Just as the 

YCLGB took a lead in internal disputes, the YWL "played no small part in giving active 

forces to the Party and in helping it cleanse itself of all corrupt [ideological] alien elements 

and influences," including "the expulsion of the Trotzkyites and Lovestonites." 186 

Unlike the YCLGB, the YWL had few socialist opponents to blame for their lack of 

success. Green admitted that the YWL used "American exceptionalism" and inner-party 

struggles as an excuse for perpetuating its isolated existence: 

1930 ushered in a new period of sharpening class struggles. It was this crisis of capitalist 

economy which caused a special crisis within the ranks and leadership of the YCL. 

The new conditions in the country necessitated a new approach; a new outlook, new tactics 

and perspectives. One period had come to a close. A new one had begun. The YCL 

did not fully understand that its continued isolation from the majority of youth could no 

longer be explained by objective conditions or by the requisites of the Party situation. 

The factional struggle was over; the Party was united ideologically and organizationally. 

Sectarian isolation had become the main danger for the YCL. 187 

35


Following the lead of the (Workers) Communist Party, the YWL spent most of the 

twenties in a state of "isolation and destructive inner factionalism." 188 During the Popular 

Front era the YCL adapted to the new conditions of American political culture becoming 

one of "the most important radical youth organizations" in the United States. 189 

The strict internationalist culture of the Leninist YCI hindered communist youth from 

adopting distinct national strategies to maximize their political effectiveness. Internationalism 

was a revolutionary tactic forged to advance revolution and combat the threat 

of imperialist war. Fascism thrived on a rejection of internationalism and the manipulation 

of national traditions to crush working-class organizations and advance threats of 

war. As will be seen in the next chapter, the Great Depression and the rise of Nazi 

fascism prompted communists to revise many of their traditional strategies, critiques and 

their understanding of fascism. The Comintern's Popular Front line granted communist 

youth much greater flexibility in their rhetoric and strategies. The distinct national 

methods embraced by the Popular Front Generation of the British and American YCLs 

forged a new communist youth identity intended to rally and organize youth against 

fascism. 

36

2 

YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM: 

THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE POPULAR 

FRONT GENERATION 

Fascism means the destruction of all the democratic rights won by the people, the establishment 

of a kingdom of darkness and ignorance and the destruction of culture; it means 

nonsensical race theories and the preaching of hatred of man for man, for the purpose of 

kindling wars of conquest. 

-Georgi Dimitrov, 1936 1 

Many claim that we are giving up Socialism by associating with the democratic forces. 

We say that unless we associate with the democratic forces we may never live to see Socialism 

because of the menace of fascism which is confronting us. 

-John Gollan, YCLGB Secretary, 1938 2 

Increasingly after 1933, communists sought to mobilize youth through anti-fascist 

propaganda. The YCI insisted its primary goal was to prevent fascism from unleashing 

another world war. This shift towards anti-fascism culminated in the official adoption of 

the Popular Front in 1935. Popular Front strategy was in part, a product of the shared 

experiences of defeat for the working-class movement; communists attempted to heal 

their splits with socialists and to adapt Leninism to Western democratic political culture, 

in many ways borrowing heavily from the pre-war traditions of the Second International. 3 

During this era the YCI rejected much of the oppositional rhetoric and strategies of 

traditional Leninism. 

Historians like David Beetham have insisted that the Popular Front was nothing but a 

deceitful manoeuvre to subordinate Comintern interests to Soviet foreign policy directives. 

4 Beetham's analysis contains many important insights, but neglects to highlight 

Western communists who enthusiastically identified with the Popular Front and how the 

propaganda of the era resonated highly with youth. Popular Front propaganda emphasized 

the parallels between Soviet interests, Western interests and the values of youth, 

positing a minimalist program that could easily be embraced by almost any anti-fascist 

movement. The explicit goal of the Popular Front was an international anti-fascist unity 

that would counteract the foreign policy goals of the fascist powers. 

Eric Hobsbawm contends the Popular Front was both an anti-fascist defensive tactic 

and a new offensive position to advance socialism. It was a new method to "win the 

37


leadership of a broad alliance of social forces, and maintain this leadership during a 

prolonged period of transition" in the struggle for a socialism born out of populist democratic 

movements that encapsulated a wide variety of progressive social elements. 5 This 

Popular Front revisionism transformed Western communism into a broad movement 

engaged in the mainstream of democratic politics, ending the era of the Leninist Generation. 

The rise of the Popular Front necessitated "a new way of thinking" for communists 

and socialists. 6 As we have seen, the Leninist Generation of the YCI had constructed 

communism in opposition to social-democratic theory and practices based on their 

perceptions of socialist betrayal, but after the rise of Hitler, communists began to perceive 

fascism as the greatest threat to peace, the Soviet Union and the working class. The 

Comintern amended its definition of fascism, characterizing its basis in narrow social 

terms that enabled the formation of broad anti-fascist alliances; hence a new Popular 

Front Generation undertook a complete revision of Leninism on the issues of nationalism, 

popular unity and democracy to effectively counter fascism. With a generation of 

historical animosity to overcome, GDH Cole correctly asserted that the youth "occupy today 

a strategic position of peculiar importance" to undertake the enormous task of 

constructing the Popular Front. 7 

The Seventh World Congress: The Working Class Against Fascism 

Though Mussolini himself characterized fascism as "the resolute negation of… Marxian 

socialism" and rejected the "possibility or utility of perpetual peace," the Leninist Generation 

underestimated fascism's strength and did little to effectively counter it. 8 Fascism 

was generally understood as a domestic movement of capitalist reaction; the Leninist 

method to fight "the specious revolutionary language of fascist demagogy" was by an 

"energetic and revolutionary fight against the ruling class." 9 In 1923, the year prior to 

Mussolini's full fascist dictatorship, the YCI defined fascism as the "deadliest enemy" of 

the working class. The YCI vowed to "ruthlessly smash Fascism wherever it shows its 

head," dedicating over twenty pages in their resolutions and theses to anti-fascism. 10 By 

1924, the YCI shifted the direction of its resolutions and activities to the challenges of 

"Bolshevization." The YCI's 1924 resolutions dedicated only one page to the struggle 

against fascism, advocating "open military struggle" as the strategy to "best produce 

decomposition in the ranks of the fascists." 11 Fascism continued to be opposed, but the 

YCI failed to strategically target it, characterizing it as simply another form of anticommunist 

reaction. 

The Third Period's "social-fascist" analysis linked fascism rhetorically with socialists, 

bourgeois democracy and anti-communism. This analysis of fascism asserted that 

"fascism equals reaction" and that "all capitalist regimes, whether parliamentary or 

dictatorial were defined as fascist;" social democrats were now "seen not merely as 

38

THE POPULAR FRONT GENERATION 

counter-revolutionary, but actually fascist" themselves for opposing communist aims. 12 

Fascism was a natural manifestation and symptom of capitalist society in crisis. The 

Comintern asserted that such crises would produce working-class revolution, not the 

victory of reaction. Third Period anti-fascism took on "a more confrontational activism" 

in disorderly street confrontations that alienated potential broad community support for 

anti-fascism. 13 

At the Seventh World Congress of the Comintern in August, 1935, Georgi Dimitrov 

presented a new political program termed the "Popular Front." The Popular Front had 

dramatic implications for Leninist theory and practice, especially for communists in the 

West. 14 Though Congress delegates approved Dimitrov's resolutions with a unanimous 

vote, "the Comintern [itself] was far from unanimous in support for Dimitrov's line." 

Popular Front tactics appeared "revisionist" and implied a degree of communist culpability 

in facilitating the victory of the Nazi Third Reich. 15 

The Seventh Congress was initially scheduled for 1934, but was postponed for almost 

a year while Dimitrov "struggled hard to convince Stalin of the need for change." 16 

Dimitrov and other Comintern leaders knew the Popular Front line represented a clear 

break with the past. At the Seventh Congress, Comintern leaders used a continuity of 

terms in their reports to ease potential tensions, legitimizing their revisionism in Leninist 

terminology. Opening the Congress with a traditional Leninist speech, Wilhelm Pieck of 

the German delegation proclaimed that "armed insurrection must be prepared" under "the 

slogan of fighting for Soviet Power." 17 Pieck confidently expressed that although the 

Nazis had set out to "annihilate Marxism," that there could be no serious "question of the 

National-Socialist regime being consolidated for any lengthy period of time." 18 Pieck's 

report recited traditional Bolshevik rhetoric and slogans common of the Leninist Generation. 

Dimitrov followed with a stunning message. While highlighting trends of continuity, 

Dimitrov gave a clear expression of the new Comintern directions by condemning past 

practices. Past practices proved ineffective in combating fascism and had assisted in 

enabling fascist victory in Germany. Dimitrov denounced the German SPD, but warned 

delegates of the disastrous implications of the failed anti-fascist strategies of the KPD. 

Dimitrov stated that those who do not "fight the reactionary measures of the bourgeoisie 

and the growth of fascism at these preparatory stages, is not in a position to prevent the 

victory of fascism, but, on the contrary, facilitates that victory." 19 The victory of fascism 

occurred due to "a number of mistakes committed by the Communist Parties," by "people 

who intolerably underrated the fascist danger." 20 Dimitrov reflected that communists had 

failed in engaging "the masses" on issues of nationalism, popular unity, democracy and 

peace, in turn facilitating the victory of Nazi fascism. 

Palmiro Togliatti, the Italian communist leader, followed Dimitrov's proclamations 

with a new analysis on the implications of fascism upon the maintenance of peace. 

39


Togliatti warned that if the Popular Front did not stop fascism it would mean the onset of 

a destructive world war unlike one ever witnessed by humanity: 

But what will the new war be like Army officers, men of science and novelists have 

tried to depict the horror of mechanized war… when the most perfected means of destruction 

are put into operation on a mass scale. We know only that the next war will be 

a general war of all countries, a war in which there will be no distinction between front 

and rear, a war of destruction of everything which makes the life of a present-day cultured 

nation possible. The next war… will be a war of extermination. It will be a fascist 

war. 21 

Previous Comintern statements identified fascism as a domestic form of reaction, noting 

little of special significance about the movement. Togliatti's analysis suggested fascism 

was a distinct phenomenon with international implications since it threatened to unleash a 

new world war. 

Dimitrov defined fascism as "the open terroristic dictatorship of the most reactionary, 

most chauvinistic and most imperialist elements of finance capital;" this narrow definition 

intended to "suggest that any social layer, except the most extreme imperialists, 

could be anti-fascist." 22 Dimitrov's personified fascism as the greatest enemy of the entire 

nation, positing the broad interests of "the people" against an ultra-reactionary segment of 

the capitalist class. Dimitrov specifically critiqued Nazi fascism as "the most reactionary 

variety of fascism" stating: 

Hitler fascism is not only bourgeois nationalism, it is bestial chauvinism. It is a government 

of political banditry, a system of provocation and torture.... It is medieval barbarity 

and bestiality in its own country, it is unbridled aggression in relation to other 

nations and countries. German fascism is acting as the spearhead of international 

counter-revolution, as the chief incendiary of imperialist war.... Fascism is the power of 

finance capital itself. It is the organization of terrorist vengeance against the working 

class.... In its foreign policy, fascism is chauvinism in its crudest form, fomenting bestial 

hatred of other nations. 23 

Hitler's victory forced communists to reformulate their definition of fascism and their 

conceptions of social change. Fascism was as an international force menacing the peace 

and progress of the entire world, threatening the future of both bourgeois democracy and 

socialism. The victory of fascism meant a return to a "medieval barbarity" that would 

deprive society of hard-won citizenship rights for the advancement of "finance capital." 

Dimitrov's conceptions identified fascism as the ultimate counter-revolutionary force 

directed initially against the working class, but antagonistic to the general interests of the 

nation as a whole. 

Dimitrov's reconceptualization of fascism directed communists to abandon their previous 

Leninist positions of opposition to the nation. Communists were directed to 

organize and lead the most progressive social forces to defend democratic rights, institutions 

and culture against domestic fascist threats. By taking a leading role in national 

politics, communists could be positioned to influence international policy to counter and 

contain fascist threats of imperialist war. This transition was not an easy task for a 

movement accustomed to sectarian attacks on all other movements of the left. The 

40


Comintern placed great hope in youth to break with past practices and to embrace a more 

flexible populism centred on anti-fascism. 

Nevertheless, the international "left opposition" communist groups denounced the 

Popular Front as opportunistic heresy, highlighting the divergence of Dimitrov's positions 

with traditional Leninism. While some historians contend that the "milder tone" of 

Popular Front rhetoric "in nowise involved a deviation from orthodox communist goals," 

left critics of the Popular Front did not share this opinion. 24 Leon Trotsky was the most 

ardent contemporary critic of the Popular Front. 25 Trotsky linked the Popular Front with 

"Stalinism" which he described as the "syphilis of the workers' movement." 26 Trotsky 

asserted the Popular Front promoted "class collaboration" and was the culmination of 

Stalinism being imposed upon the Comintern. Trotsky condemned the early French 

populist initiatives of 1935, declaring that "the Third International is dead" and that now 

was the time to "theoretically and practically, prepare for the Fourth International." 27 The 

Comintern had "outlived" its purpose, Trotsky declaring that his Fourth International was 

to be "the world party of Socialist Revolution." 28 This critique of the Popular Front 

formed the theoretical basis of the Trotskyist movement which asserted that they represent 

a "true Bolshevik" movement. 29 The former CPUSA chairman Jay Lovestone 

presented a similar critique. Lovestone vehemently argued that pursuing a line centred 

on securing "universal peace" against the threat of fascism was "a monstrous violation of 

Marxist and Leninist teachings." 30 Lovestone and Trotsky both hoped disillusionment 

with the Popular Front line would add to the strength of their own oppositional communist 

groupings. 

Transitions within Soviet foreign and domestic policy had profound implications for 

international communism. In 1934 Stalin set out to transform the role of the Soviet 

Union in international relations from an oppositional position into a constructive force to 

counter threats of fascist aggression. 31 Stalin dismissed Bolshevik tradition and joined 

the League of Nations, seeking out "protective alliances" with capitalist nations for a 

policy of "collective security" against fascism. 32 The overwhelming size of the Red 

Army made the Soviets more attractive to potential allies in the West, but Soviet history 

and mutual distrust limited Stalin's diplomatic success. Despite this factor, the Soviet 

Foreign Commissar Maxim Litvinov continued to make "a real effort to come to terms 

with the Western powers for united resistance to Fascist aggression and to use the League 

of Nations as an instrument for this purpose." 33 The Soviet Union used their assistance to 

Spain to exemplify their "new outlook," insisting that the Spanish Republic and USSR 

were defending democracy, not promoting Bolshevik revolution. Communists increasingly 

asserted that the struggle in Spain was not about "communism versus fascism," but 

embodied an international struggle where social forces were "either on the side of bestial 

fascism, or on the side of democracy." 34 

Internal Soviet trends facilitated vital propaganda points for the construction of the 

Popular Front on the issue of democracy. The adoption of the "Stalin Constitution" in 

41


1936 was vital for communist Popular Front rhetoric. 35 Communists ceased speaking of 

the Soviet Union as a dictatorship, asserting that the "Soviet Union takes its place alongside 

of America" as the two "greatest democracies in the world." 36 Louis Fischer, a 

contemporary Soviet sympathizer, argued that since "all the hostile classes in the Soviet 

Union" had been removed that "Stalin could, without danger to the regime, grant a new 

charter of liberty which would release new enthusiasm." 37 The Soviets officially asserted 

"the victory of Socialism [had] made possible the further democratization of the electoral 

system and the introduction of universal, equal and direct suffrage with secret ballot." 38 

One 1939 article in the CPUSA's The Daily Worker went as far as supporting an American 

Youth Congress resolution against political dictatorship by contending that there was 

"no such thing as Communist dictatorship." 39 Popular Front propaganda insisted the 

Soviet Union had ceased to be a dictatorship, making it in turn a suitable ally of Western 

democracies. 

All in all then, the Comintern and Soviet transitions of 1934-1936 facilitated the construction 

of a new "democratic discourse" for communists centred on anti-fascism. 

Traditional Bolshevik oppositional rhetoric was replaced a populist and inclusive discourse. 

Dimitrov insisted communists needed to learn a "new language:" 

Furthermore, it must be borne in mind that the broad masses cannot assimilate our decisions 

unless we learn to speak the language which the masses understand. We do not 

always know how to speak simply, correctly, in images which are familiar and intelligible 

to the masses. We are still loath to dispense with abstract formulas which we have 

learnt by rote. As a matter of fact, if you scan our leaflets, newspapers, resolutions and 

theses, you will find that they are often written in a language and style so heavy that they 

are difficult for even our Party functionaries to understand, let alone the rank-and-file 

workers. 40 

The use of "popular language" was intended to clarify Popular Front positions and create 

a new public perception of the communist movement. Popular Front propaganda placed 

considerable emphasis on urging communists to think and act differently in relation to 

their nation, competing organizations and democratic traditions. By framing their 

slogans in a "new language," communists constructed new points of reference in the 

construction of their political identity. 41 Dimitrov's definition of fascism constructed a 

new communist identity, shifting their source of identity negation and opposition from 

social democracy to fascism. The Leninist and Popular Front Generations of the YCI 

centred their movement on opposition to imperialist war, but experienced a distinct 

generational gap in the construction of their political identity. 

Fascism: The Enemy of the Youth 

For young communists the Popular Front was not conceptualized as simply another 

Moscow directive, but as a policy emanating directly from the experiences of the youth. 

Young communists embraced the populist peace politics of the Popular Front with great 

42


energy and enthusiasm, being the segment of society most dramatically impacted by the 

outbreak of a new world war. The YCI had a greater degree of success than the adult 

sections of the Comintern in adopting the Popular Front. The YCI framed Dimitrov's 

concepts of fascism in emotionally charged metaphors to increase the appeal of antifascism 

to the youth. The Popular Front YCI described fascism as "a movement of the 

moribund old world" that "parades hypocritically behind the mask of the youth." 42 

Raymond Guyot, the French leader of the YCI, described Hitler as "the enemy of humanity 

as a whole, the incendiary of the world war, the provocateur who drives the younger 

generation to their death." 43 Communist youth insisted their entire generation needed to 

unite to defeat this deadly "enemy of the youth." 

YCI propaganda defined fascism in opposition to the broad values that the entire 

youth held in common, insisting youth unity was the key to anti-fascism. Unlike previous 

calls for unity, the Popular Front was directed not just at socialist unity, but a wider 

unification of the entire "young generation." The Leninist Generation previously rejected 

such notions as "petty bourgeois sentimental dreams." 44 The Popular Front YCI contended, 

"The younger generation of all nations, want peace. Fascism wants war. Fascism 

is the deadly enemy of the overwhelming majority of the younger generation." 45 Fascists 

mobilized young people by making broad appeals to youth of their nation. Communists 

identified this methodology of fascist discourse and consciously mimicked fascist propaganda 

techniques in order to counter them. Popular Front rhetoric used the broad form of 

fascist propaganda while transforming its content into a progressive discourse intended to 

mobilize broad segments of youth. 

Speeches given at the YCI World Congress of 1935 indicated that the Popular Front 

was based on the concrete experiences already initiated by the French and American 

YCLs. 46 Past YCI rhetoric consistently praised the activities of the Soviet YCL and 

scorned the failures of leagues in the West. The YCI now contended Popular Front 

practices originated in the unorthodox anti-fascist activities of YCLs in the West. In his 

report to the Comintern Congress, Otto Kuusinen insisted that the unorthodox experiences 

of the French and American YCLs had helped to give birth to the Popular Front. 

When domestic fascist movements proposed creating a broad "front of the younger 

generation," the French and American YCLs made similar broad counter-initiatives that 

exposed the fascists as "the enemies of the youth." 47 Kuusinen pointed out the effectiveness 

of such non-traditional actions that "politically defeated fascism in the eyes of the 

youth," praising the "great political courage and independence" the French and American 

youth had expressed. 48 While the Comintern had previously condemned their tactics as 

"opportunist deviations," Kuusinen argued that their new methods were something to be 

emulated, not denounced. 49 Part of the success of the youth Popular Front in the West 

can be attributed to these factors. Communist youth perceived that their anti-fascist 

activities helped to initiate the Popular Front transition in Comintern policy. 

43


The Popular Front program called for a complete revision in the relationship between 

the YCI and its affiliated leagues. The Comintern "liberalized" its relations with Communist 

Parties in 1935 to allow greater national flexibility, but did not revise the initial 

"Twenty-One Points of Admission" it established in 1920. In a divergent trend, the YCI 

insisted that it needed to completely transform its relationship with its national sections. 

In his speech at the 1935 YCI Sixth World Congress, Wolf Michal described this transformation: 

The reconstruction of the Youth Leagues therefore means the reconstruction of the 

Young Communist International as a whole and its system of leadership. It seems to me 

that we must thus widen the conditions of acceptance into the Young Communist International 

so that not only Communist youth organizations can join it, but Socialist, national 

emancipatory, national revolutionary and anti-fascist youth organizations which 

base themselves on international cooperation. The widest democracy must prevail in all 

the work and in the character of the Young Communist International and the Youth 

Leagues affiliated to it. Thus, we must reorganize the internal life of the Young Communist 

International so that the youth organizations affiliated to it will have the greatest 

independence. 50 

An article by the YCLGB reiterated the profound impact the YCI Congress had: 

The Sixth World Congress of the YCI have had profound and far-reaching effects on the 

whole course of development of the world youth movement… the YCI placed as a key 

question in achieving these objectives the "necessity for a change in the character of the 

youth leagues." We must find such ways, such forms, and methods of work as will assure 

the formation in the capitalist countries of a new type of mass youth organisation, to 

which no vital interest of the toiling youth will be alien, organisation which, without 

copying the party, will fight for all the interests of the youth, will bring up the youth in 

the spirit of the class struggle, of proletarian internationalism, in the spirit of Marxism- 

Leninism… our League must be a non-party educational organisation of the democratic, 

anti-fascist youth, open to all democratic youth. 51 

The YCI was no longer to act as an "international general staff" of revolutionary youth 

assisting the work of the Comintern. The Popular Front League embraced the "spirit," 

not the "science" of Marxism-Leninism. The new propagated role of the YCI was to act 

as an international coordination centre for all "democratic youth" while "leaving national 

sections a free hand" in developing their own anti-fascist programs. 52 

The YCI urged youth to break with internalized practices of the past and to shift their 

attention externally to assisting other youth movements. The Leninist Generation of the 

YCL acted primarily as auxiliary and supportive organizations for the Communist 

Parties, focussing on internal party disputes and "ideological correctness." In turn, the 

Parties often fuelled this internalizing trend by essentially "raiding YCL ranks to seize its 

most effective organizers" who were supportive of present Comintern lines. 53 Otto 

Kuusinen rebuked this traditional trend in relations between the YCL and the Party: 

All Communist Parties, all leaders of the Communist Parties must understand once for 

all that the youth movement is the heart of the movement for social emancipation… it 

will not do for every functionary of a Young Communist League who had proved himself 

to be a capable worker in the youth movement to be immediately taken away from 

44


this work by the leadership of the Party, as is now often the case. Of course, the Young 

Communist League is among other things a school of cadres for the Party. But a school 

that is robbed of every capable teacher and leader is of no value. 54 

By transforming the existing relations between YCL and the Communist Parties, the YCI 

sought to break YCLs out of their traditional sectarian isolation from the youth. The 

Popular Front could only be established among the youth by enabling YCLs to focus 

their energies externally to counter fascism instead of internally on ideological disputes. 

Communists openly reflected upon the profound distinctions between the Leninist and 

Popular Front Generations. 55 Earl Browder commented upon these generational distinctions 

and the importance of the youth movement: 

Never before in all history was there such an opportunity for the people, and especially 

the younger generation, to transform the world fully and completely into the sort of place 

which the best minds have dreamed about over the centuries. Your generation, it is true, 

is threatened with the brutal and senseless slaughter of a new world war. My generation 

was similarly threatened. But there are tremendous differences, and most of them are in 

favor of your generation. My generation had only the most confused ideas of how to 

fight against the war-makers, and understood very little about the world in which we 

lived. Your generation has a fairly clear understanding of the world, and knows much 

better who are the warmakers and how to fight them.... It can truly be said that your 

generation is fortunate, despite the terrible dangers that overhang the world, despite the 

difficult tasks to which you must turn your minds and hands. You have at your disposal 

those resources, the lack of which brought failure to my generation in America. Yes, 

rich treasures are yours for the taking. You can, by thought, effort, and organization, become 

the masters of your own destiny.... You cannot pretend to give all the answers to 

all the questions thrown up by this historical moment. You must try to seize upon a few 

central ideas which can be your guide in meeting and solving all the most pressing and 

most immediate problems of the young generation today. 56 

The Leninist Generation sought concrete formulas and answers from the Comintern to 

direct their movement towards initiating revolution. The Popular Front Generation faced 

similar challenges and threats, but was directed to build upon the "rich treasures" embodied 

in communist struggles, following "a few central ideas" to guide their struggle against 

fascism and war. 

The Popular Front facilitated a transformation of the ideological and organizational 

composition of the YCI by embracing Dimitrov's new definition of fascism. Fascism and 

war threatened the future of all youth and Dimitrov urged that now was the time to 

expand the YCL's focus, "to learn to swim in the stormy sea of class struggle." 57 Instead 

of existing as outside critics of the nation, young communists sought to imbue themselves 

into every element of youth life and culture within the nation. Leninism no longer served 

as a "scientific method" where youth could simply look up YCI slogans to formulate a 

"correct revolutionary line" to pursue. Leninism was now understood as an "inspiring 

force" to indoctrinate youth with "Bolshevik values" of "energy, perseverance and 

ingenuity" to advance the youth struggle against fascism and war. 58 The YCI challenged 

the Popular Front Generation to reformulate their relations to youth, "accepting this youth 

45


just as it is, with all its living diversification, and not academically; we must educate it as 

teachers do. We must not try to make everyone conform to one pattern." 59 

In recasting Leninist thought, young communists came to the harsh realization that 

past Leninist tactics had ultimately failed in mobilizing youth. The Popular Front YCI 

rebuked the Leninist Generation for its "memorized and stereotyped Communist formulas 

and slogans" that caused YCLs to live "a life separate from that of the broad masses of 

youth." 60 Young communists were urged to learn from the French and American Leagues 

who had learned to "speak the fresh, vivid language of the youth;" this language did not 

condemn the "fine sentiment and noble ideals" of youth, but instead appropriated them to 

prevent the fascists from utilizing them. 61 Dimitrov's redefinition of fascism and Leninism 

enabled divergent forms of youth propaganda, facilitating the construction of a new 

communist youth identity centred on anti-fascism. 


The British and American YCLs embraced the Popular Front with considerable initiative 

and enthusiasm, focussing their political identity on the values of anti-fascism. 62 The 

national political climate of Britain and the United States presented very different contexts 

and challenges for youth politics. The form of British and American communist 

youth propaganda followed similar dynamics while developing a distinctive national 

content. The challenge of the British and American YCLs was to define and isolate 

domestic fascism within their distinct national political culture while winning youth over 

to the internationalist positions of the Popular Front. 

The main pressing social issue in Britain during the inter-war period was that of unemployment. 

This trend was severely amplified by the international economic crisis 

unleashed by the American Wall Street crash of late 1929. Keith Laybourn contends that 

by the mid thirties "there may have been at least half the population of Britain existing at 

a standard of living which was insufficient to maintain healthy lifestyle." 63 Unlike other 

Western industrial economies, Britain successive National Governments rejected the idea 

of budget deficits to expand the economy and in the end "there was no serious attempt to 

tackle unemployment and the social and economic problems of the depressed areas." 64 

When the global economic crisis first started to impact Britain, a second Labour government 

was in power under the leadership of Ramsay MacDonald. Contrary to the hopes of 

many British workers, MacDonald and the Labour Party did not advance any radical 

socialist measures in state policy to deal with the economy or the scourge of unemployment. 

The British Fascist movement was born from this disillusionment, rejecting 

Labour's sentimental ideas about a future "economic paradise" by promoting a program 

centred on action "to escape an economic hell." 65 

Sir Oswald Mosley's fascist movement personified itself as a movement of the youth 

against the incompetence of the "old world." In his statement announcing the formation 

46


of the New Party, Mosley stated, "We appeal to youth, which turns in despair form a 

world threatened with ruin by the mistakes of its predecessors." 66 A former Liberal MP, 

Sellick Davies, spoke of the characteristics of the New Party in positive youthful terms as 

possessing a "new vision, courage… a Party of youth, which yet respected the wisdom of 

experience." 67 A later pamphlet of the British Union of Fascists, the descendent of 

Mosley's New Party, personified fascism as a movement composed of "young realists" 

who were inspired by a "physical fire and a spiritual urge to creative action." 68 Fascists 

embraced the impatience, disillusionment and vitality of the youth as positive characteristics 

to be moulded into action against the "old world." British fascists contended youth 

of the twenties had been helpless against the forces of the "old world" because the 

"generation who would normally have stood between the men of fifty and the men of 

thirty… lie rotting in fifteen million graves." 69 The BUF contended the young generation 

of the thirties was a "fascist generation" that needed to embrace their "young manhood to 

rescue great nations from decadence" in order to build "a nobler order of civilization." 70 

The YCLGB was sensitive to the youth content of BUF propaganda and attempted to 

counter its potential influence. The YCL contended that although the fascists spoke of 

organizing the "new generation," that in practice "Fascism hits at the youth, because it 

leads to war, to concentration camps, to wage cuts and unemployment." 71 Pre-empting 

the adoption of the Popular Front, in 1934 the YCLGB began characterizing fascism as 

"the policy of the most reactionary section of the bankers and bosses" that embraced "the 

rule of terror and brutality against the workers." 72 

Prior to the Popular Front, the YCLGB had embraced anti-fascist techniques based on 

public confrontations similar to the anti-fascist methods of the German Rote Jungfront. 73 

YCL anti-fascism utilized violent street confrontations to ward off the BUF threat. 74 

Most of the early confrontations with the BUF were directed by the YCL in the Manchester 

area. 75 The Manchester YCL was composed primarily of Jewish youth who were 

extremely sensitive to the question of fascism; "the growth of British fascism visible on 

the streets of Manchester coupled with the rise to power of Hitler in Germany" led many 

young Jews to join up with the YCL. 76 Although young Jews embraced the YCL, local 

Jewish elites expressed concern about the confrontational form that youth anti-fascism 

took. 77 Confrontational anti-fascism was replicated throughout Britain, especially in 

districts with high concentrations of Jewish youth. However, the techniques of the 

Manchester YCL were ultimately rejected by the YCL and CPGB national leadership 

during the transition to the Popular Front period. 78 Violent confrontations often ended up 

discrediting both the BUF and YCL in public perception as equally violent organizations. 

Mosley hoped to gain public interest in his movement by harnessing media attention. 

The BUF was often witnessed "interfering with working-class meetings and distributing 

leaflets at factories and depots" to stir up confrontations for media coverage. 79 Mosley 

also courted Lord Rothermere to utilize his publishing empire to help spread fascist 

doctrine through positive coverage of the BUF. After securing Rothermere's allegiance, 

47


Mosley decided to add a greater deal of respectability to his movement by courting 

potential upper and middle class supporters through mass rallies in 1934. At a large rally 

in Olympia, located in a predominately Jewish area of London's east end, the BUF 

organized an evening that they asserted would "be a landmark, not only in the history of 

fascism, but in the history of Britain." 80 

On June 7, 1934 Mosley's Olympia rally took place with over 12,000 in attendance 

including "MPs, peers, diplomats, big businessmen and leading journalists." 81 Mosley's 

Olympia rally was intended to court the support of "respectable" social elements, but 

communist directed counter-initiatives produced a very different result. The London 

branches of the YCL issued "special invitations" to branches of the Labour League of 

Youth and the ILP Guild of Youth to coordinate militant actions to disrupt the Olympia 

rally. 82 Outside of the rally over 10,000 antifascists demonstrated against Mosley's event, 

often getting in random violent skirmishes with the police. Inside the rally several 

hundred antifascists began disrupting Mosley's speech. Mosley began directing Blackshirt 

stewards to violently eject anyone who spoke up during the meeting. 

The violent outbursts of Mosley's Blackshirts resulted in mass public revulsion against 

his movement. Many of the Tory MP's who were present made public statements condemning 

BUF violence as "wholly unnecessary," contending they had been "appalled by 

the brutal conduct of the Fascists." 83 After the Olympia rally the membership base of the 

BUF quickly dropped from 40,000 to 5,000 and Mosley lost the vital public support of 

Lord Rothermere. 

After Olympia John Gollan, the National Secretary of the YCLGB, questioned if different 

anti-fascist tactics would be more effective in the future. The new Public Order 

legislation of the National Government targeted both communists and the BUF. 84 The 

YCL contended that the National Government "seemed to fear bolshevism more than the 

Nazi terror." 85 In order to prevent further government actions being taken against the 

communists, many urged the redirection of youth anti-fascist militancy into more constructive 

forms. John Gollan expressed that in the future "the way to develop the campaign 

against fascism was in the town meeting hall, the churches, and the councilmen's 

offices – not in the streets." 86 

Gollan reflected on new anti-fascist strategies in his speech at the Sixth World Congress 

of the YCI. Gollan suggested the most effective way to counter British fascism and 

the policies of the National Government was to focus YCL activities on the youth peace 

movement. The British YCL needed to adapt the broad contours of the Popular Front to 

specific British conditions: 

This Congress has heard how such wide movements are developing in France and America. 

Our Congress, however, in our opinion, must guard against any tendencies to automatically 

transfer the experiences of these countries to every other country. The wide 

front of the young generation must be built in each country around burning, vital interests, 

that really affect millions of youth, that all the youth are discussing. Undoubtedly, 

that question in England is Peace.... The British Youth Organizations are the most pow- 

48


erful in the world, embracing five million members.... This movement has a big future 

before it. In every locality the British Youth Organisations can get together on the 

broadest front yet seen in England, for Peace. There must be no attempt to impose on 

this genuine movement of the young generation in Britain, forms of demonstration not in 

keeping with their ideas and habits.... The National Peace Day and the work leading to it 

can be a combination of the most varied youth activity appealing to all sections of the 

youth... the sum total being the greatest demonstration of Britain's youth for Peace ever 

yet seen. 87 

Gollan insisted future political activities needed to be broad and inclusive in tactics and 

objectives so all youth would feel encouraged to take part in the movement. The YCL 

National Council argued the YCL needed to be transformed into a broad "mobilising 

centre for youth" where recruits were told it was "sufficient for them to be anti-Hitler" to 

gain YCL membership. 88 

The YCL perceived Hitler as the greatest threat to the future and security of British 

youth. The extolled that British youth needed to target the pro-fascist policies of the 

National Government to combat fascism domestically and internationally. Such logic 

insisted "that the Blackshirts are allied with the National Government, and that the fight 

against Fascism must be directed at both." 89 The Popular Front Generation sought to 

mobilize all segments of youth against these common enemies. 

The YCLUSA faced a very different national political climate. The American fascist 

movement expressed itself in "patriotic" forms in opposition to the Roosevelt administration. 

Due to this dynamic and the New Deal, the YCL forged a close bond with the 

Roosevelt administration. 90 American communists had initially attacked Roosevelt's New 

Deal as fascistic. 91 While the British National Government became a symbol of resentment 

for not assertively tackling unemployment, over time the Roosevelt administration 

increasingly became identified as a radical, progressive and popular force for tackling 

economic recovery through the New Deal. 92 

In 1934 the American left increasingly came to identify with the New Deal as it came 

under attack by reactionary elements. 93 Roosevelt began to court alliances in progressive 

circles while significantly expanding federal aid to New Deal programs. In July, 1935 

Roosevelt garnished further support from the American left after the Wagner Act granted 

labor unions federal recognition and legal protection to organize. Roosevelt also established 

other agencies like the National Youth Administration that offered federal aid to 

students and economic relief to unemployed youth. Eleanor Roosevelt expressed particular 

concern for improving the conditions of youth and sought active alliances with young 

American radicals. 94 The YCLUSA increasingly perceived Roosevelt's New Deal 

administration as a vital ally of youth in improving domestic conditions and opposing 

international fascism. 

Prior to the Popular Front, anti-fascism was not a distinct part of the YCL's political 

program, but was simply one aspect of their militant political culture. The Young Worker 

dealt primarily with homelessness, unemployment, the Scottsboro Boys, forced labor 

49


camps, and the threat of imperialist war against the Soviet Union. In fact, many of the 

illustrations, formats and themes of the American Young Worker were almost identical to 

the YCLGB's Young Worker. Cover illustrations were primarily male dominated, 

reflecting on themes of sacrifice and struggle associated with WWI and post-war revolutionary 

struggles. (See Appendix) 95 While the threat of war was a consistent theme in the 

headlines, the US government was often the primary target of denunciation instead of the 

growing fascist movement in Europe. After the onset of the Great Depression, the YCL 

addressed fascist tendencies as a natural expression of the progress towards imperialist 

war and increased capitalist exploitation. A leading Young Worker comic of November, 

1930 showed a caricature of a plump capitalist bringing forth a baby adorned with a 

"swastika top-hat" entitled "Capitalism Brings Forth The Little One." (See Appendix) 96 

This comic portrayed how fascism was not understood as a distinct movement for a 

targeted analysis, but as an organic outgrowth of capitalist reaction. 

The YCL significantly underestimated the potential threat of fascism. From January, 

1930 until May, 1933 The Young Worker did not carry a single headline mentioning 

fascism. The first mention of fascism in The Young Worker headlines came on May 10, 

1933 with the US visit of Dr. Hans Luther who was characterized as "the representative 

of the bloody Hitler fascist Government of Germany." 97 Though the YCL began to take 

the fascist threat more seriously, the ideological discrepancies between fascism and other 

movements were still highly distorted in YCL propaganda. In the same May, 1933 issue 

of The Young Worker, the YCL carried an article arguing "very little separates the actions 

of Dictator Hitler and "democratic" Roosevelt." On the same page a cartoon showed 

Roosevelt and Hitler towering above forced labor camps, smiling and shaking hands with 

each other. (See Appendix) 98 Fascist terror in Germany was described as an attack 

against "militant workers who attempt to defeat hunger and war," contending that in 

"America, this same process of fascization is taking place." 99 

Though the ideological lines differentiating fascism were often blurred, the YCL began 

proposing broad anti-fascist youth alliances prior to the Popular Front. The YCL 

said the "increased arrests of young fighters" and "the persecution of the Negro masses" 

were evidence that American fascism was trying "to deny the youth the right to live" and 

in turn necessitated "united action of all working class youth regardless of political or 

religious belief." 100 

A major challenge of the Popular Front was revising YCL propaganda techniques. 

The YCL addressed problems of propaganda tactics in their internal organizing manuals 

prior to the Popular Front. Although The Young Worker still propagated traditional 

Leninist slogans, internal organizing manuals increasingly talked about new linguistic 

strategies in approaching youth. A 1932 article on youth relief discussed the importance 

of simple language in framing debates. A Minnesota YCLer argued that "when we spoke 

plainly" that "our meetings were successful;" he found that when YCL organizers "did 

not talk about 'Rooshia' and everything, but spoke plainly" that youth were receptive to 

50


YCL meetings. 101 "Phrase mongering" was a major problem that of the early thirties. 

One YCL steel worker chastised his comrades for using "high sounding revolutionary 

phrases" stating, "When you ask a worker to join a union, do so with the desire to teach 

him to fight for his own needs before you talk revolution." 102 Another YCLer complained 

that many comrades in his fraction felt content simply shouting "revolutionary phrases" 

instead of actively participating in organizing work. 103 As a result, the YCL openly 

recognized that their Bolshevik jargon about dictatorship and revolution held little 

resonation with American youth. These articles facilitated a greater element of selfcriticism 

within the YCL concerning the effectiveness of their propaganda. By 1935 the 

American YCL was commended for its ability to "speak the fresh, vivid language of the 

youth." 104 

Though the YCL had internal discussions critiquing their techniques, the Young 

Worker continued to publicly propagate social-fascist rhetoric. In March, 1934 a leading 

Young Worker article on fascism criticized the SYI for "training its young generation in 

the spirit of the defense of the bourgeois fatherland and bourgeois-democracy." 105 The 

same article reminded YCLers that their chief task was to expose "the real nature of 

bourgeois-democracy" and to "bare in mind the directives of the Communist International" 

that there existed "only one path of struggle." 106 Gil Green laid out a six point 

characterization of American fascism, prompting the YCL to "counter-act every expression 

and form of nationalism and chauvinism in the ranks of the toiling youth:" 

First, the fact that American Imperialism is the most powerful in the world. Second, the 

existence of remnants of feudalism in the South with its oppression of a whole nation of 

people – the Negro people. Third, we must fight against all "anti-foreigner" propaganda 

which, already used in the last war, was used to whip up nationalist hatred against the 

foreign born workers. Fourth, we must fight the activities of the various fascist movements 

among the youth of foreign-born parentage in the US. Fifth, we must expose 

those who appeal to the young generation to "change the world." Sixth, we must react to 

every stop of government transition to fascism. 107 

Dimitrov's analysis of fascism enabled the YCL to revise most of Green's positions, 

facilitating new forms of anti-fascist rhetoric and activities that coincided with many of 

the YCL's existing internal critiques. The YCL adopted a progressive nationalist rhetoric 

of democratic citizenship to combat domestic fascist and reactionary influences instead of 

positing traditional general denunciations of the nation. 108 

The Popular Front YCL identified domestic fascism with reactionary forces that 

sought to split the progressive movement in order to undermine Roosevelt's New Deal. 

YCL propaganda identified the parallels between Nazi anti-Semitism and techniques 

utilized by American reactionaries. A 1938 article in the Young Communist Review 

addressed elements of this evolving YCL analysis of fascism: 

These reactionaries promote anti-Semitic movements as part of their tactic to oppose 

Jew against Gentile, Negro against white, farmer against worker. From the decadent 

fount of Big Business springs the Ku Klux Klan, Silver Shirts, and anti-Semitic Father 

Coughlin. To protect democracy from the onslaught of the "feudal few" as President 

51


Roosevelt has called them, the Jews must unite with all other progressives, and participate 

in progressive political activity.... Likewise in the United States, the Fords, Girdlers, 

DuPonts, and other industrialists and financiers, support and sponsor anti-Semitic 

movements, to prevent the people from spotting them, the responsible instigators of the 

present economic crisis. "Let us divert the fight against the Jews, and that will keep the 

people from all getting together to fight against us." 109 

The YCL posited that the most effective way to combat such anti-Semitic and general 

devise tactics was to facilitate the greatest youth unity around the Roosevelt administration. 

By uniting youth around Roosevelt, the YCL hoped to offset the influence of "the 

Liberty League and Hearst" who were using "the unholy trinity of Coughlin, Lemke and 

Townsend… to ensnare the masses of youth." 110 

The YCL's National Student League (NSL) was the driving force of populist tactics in 

the pre-Popular Front period. During the initial Depression years, most university 

campuses retained much of the a-political American collegiate culture of the twenties. 

As the economic crisis began eroding middle-class savings in 1932, undergraduates 

perceived that upon graduation they potentially "would face downward rather than 

upward mobility, and experience poverty rather than prosperity." 111 Gil Green reflected 

that the Great Depression changed the outlook of American university students, necessitating 

a new YCL approach to student politics: 

A changed approach to student and non-proletarian youth in general, became necessary. 

Previously these sections of youth had kept aloof from any issues of struggle. Vitally affected 

by the crisis and the general decline of capitalism, they became drawn into the 

stream of the progressive movement.... In this fashion, slowly but surely we emerged 

from our internal crisis, began to find our path to the masses of youth through new forms 

corresponding to the new conditions. These tactical changes came from a growing realization 

that no longer were we alone, no longer were we the sole and only active group 

working in the interests of the masses of youth, in the interests of progress. Millions 

were becoming progressive in thought and action. These were our friends. 112 

During the Popular Front era student politics became the central focus of YCL Popular 

Front initiatives. The NSL became the primary outlet for expressing student disillusionment 

and frustrations in the fall semester of 1932. Unlike the socialist's Student League 

for Industrial Democracy (SLID), the NSL saw itself not as an academic debating society, 

but as an active force in radical youth politics. 

The rise of international fascism and domestic "red-baiting" campaigns transformed 

university democratic culture. American universities rejected the anti-intellectual and 

anti-cultural elements of fascism and students and progressive faculty began to actively 

organize and identify with anti-fascism. 113 As students and faculty became more active 

and visible in radical anti-fascist and peace campaigns, confrontations with university 

officials and vigilantly groups became prominent features of campus life, especially 

within New York City. William Randolph Hearst capitalized upon this dynamic to 

promote an academic "Red Scare" in 1934. One headline article that appeared in 1934 in 

The Syracuse Journal entitled "Drive All Radical Professors and Students From the 

University" carried the following personal message from Hearst: 

52


The great champion of genuine Americanism, Mr. W.R. Hearst, recently wired the editor 

of this paper as follows: "Please support the actions of the universities in throwing out 

these communists and say, furthermore, that they ought to be thrown out of the country." 

114 

As university radicals came under attack, student activists began proposing further unity 

initiatives to counter these trends. 

Communist and socialist students proposed the creation of a unified student organization 

in response to growing domestic reaction and increased international tensions linked 

with fascism. In December, 1935 the NSL and SLID capitalized upon university student's 

shared revulsion of fascism to create the American Student Union (ASU). 115 The 

ASU became the main expression of the youth Popular Front and proved to be one of the 

most successful initiatives launched by American communists. The Popular Front YCL 

and Roosevelt himself began to describe American universities as "a fortress of democracy" 

due primarily to the vigorous activities of the ASU. 116 

All in all then, the British and American YCLs functioned within distinct national 

contexts, but shared important general transformations in their strategies and organizational 

evolution. Both YCLs shifted their tactics away from confrontational forms of 

anti-fascism which reduced direct conflicts of youth with the state and impeded the 

ability of "red baiters" to persecute communist youth. 117 Many of the British direct action 

campaigns against the BUF had resulted in the arrest of both fascist and communist 

activists for violations of the Public Order acts. 118 The American YCL had always faced 

a precarious legal existence, being targeted for continuous legal persecution even in the 

early thirties, which limited its ability to recruit youth. 119 

During the Popular Front both YCLs abandoned illegal Bolshevik methods and confrontational 

tactics, readopting many old social-democratic traditions the Leninist Generation 

had rejected. The American YCL commented that this transition helped to secure 

their legal existence, proving to be "just the thing to bring the masses of youth into the 

YCL." 120 By embracing legal forms of organization and tactics the YCL was able to put 

itself "in the position of defending a tradition, of defending democratic rights, of defending 

legality." 121 The shift made the YCLs more attractive to youth who sympathized with 

YCL goals, but who were not willing to submit themselves to potential legal persecution. 

The shift to legalistic methods was also important in changing public perception of young 

communists as defenders of the democratic state. 

The "Oxford Pledge" was a popular youth pacifist slogan during the thirties, being 

curiously adopted by both the British and American YCLs in 1933. The Oxford Pledge 

was an anti-war pronouncement stating, "This House will in no circumstances fight for its 

King and Country." 122 Though it originated in Britain, the Oxford Pledge was adopted in 

the United Stated in the spring of 1933 by the NSL and SLID. American radicals utilized 

the pledge to encourage youth to vow "their opposition to military service or involvement 

in another war." 123 American fascist movements used the Oxford Pledge to discredit 

53


student radicals. The German-American Bund asserted the Oath showed the American 

student movement as "Jewish inspired" and inherently "un-American." 124 

The Oxford Pledge came into conflict with YCL anti-fascist sentiments after the adoption 

of the Popular Front. Popular Front policy sought to avert fascist war, but did not 

rule out the use of military force to counter fascism. The Oxford Pledge specifically 

targeted domestic trends of militarism, not external fascist aggression. As the threat of 

fascist war increased, the YCLs sought to shift pacifist sentiment into support of "collective 

security." While young communists were willing to fight fascism in Spain and 

rejected pacifism, their collective security program was not intended to facilitate a 

"People's War" against fascism. Collective security sought to prevent a world war by 

cutting off material and political support for fascism in the West through economic 

boycotts and state legislation. YCL rhetoric argued war could be averted through active 

cooperation of "the democracies of the world, with the Soviet Union... taking the initiative 

from the hands of fascist aggressors, such action would place it in the hands of the 

peace forces." 125 Young communists insisted that "if worst comes to worst" they would 

not "fold their hands meekly, [and] be trussed up and thrown on the bonfire of triumphant 

savage Nazism." 126 This being said, young communists were later put to a precarious test 

in upholding such statements with the actual outbreak of WWII in 1939. 

The British Youth Parliament (BYP) and the American Youth Congress (AYC) of the 

thirties were utilized by the YCLs to promote active democratic citizenship. The 

YCLGB praised the BYP for facilitating "the broadest and most representative gathering 

of the British Youth to discuss common problems and to give training of the youth in 

democracy and citizenship." 127 The YCLGB invested most of its energy into facilitating 

greater youth contacts through the Youth Parliament to win youth over to anti-fascism. 

The main purpose of the AYC was to engage American youth in democratic politics. 

The AYC showed youth that "intelligence and militancy" channelled "through organized 

and dramatic action can win definite and concrete results" 128 The YCLUSA boasted that 

the AYC was "to a large extent responsible for the fact that there is today no organized 

center of reaction among the youth on a national scale." 129 

The YCLs used these youth legislative bodies to involve young people in the World 

Youth Congress (WYC). The Popular Front YCLs relied heavily upon the WYC, not the 

YCI, to facilitate youth internationalism. The Congress gained massive attention from 

prominent world leaders for its international promotion of anti-fascist solidarity amongst 

the youth. The stated goal of the World Youth Congress was to "bring young people of 

all nations into bonds of closer friendship, to develop mutual understanding between 

youth of all races… who wish to work for peace." 130 For their work in promoting "greater 

mutual understanding among the young people of the world," President Roosevelt 

expressed his deep admiration of the World Youth Congress. 131 

54


First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt took part in the Second World Youth Congress held in 

New York at Vassar College in 1938. The Second Congress brought together youth 

delegates from 56 countries around the world. Recalling the event, Eleanor later stated: 

The more I see of this group made up of young people from many nations, the more important 

I realize that it is that in every nation older people who can see the desirability of 

certain changes in our civilization should work with them. In this way their thought and 

action will not be one-sided and the impetuousness of youth should gain some benefit 

from the experience of age. 132 

Sheila Cater, a YCL delegate from the British Youth Parliament, later reflected how 

empowered she had felt when Eleanor Roosevelt, who had been sitting in the front row 

during her speech, "put down her knitting to applaud" Cater's speech on inequality in the 

British Empire. 133 Delegates at the Second WYC perceived they had the active support of 

two of the world's most powerful leaders, President Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin. Unlike 

the Leninist Generation, Popular Front youth felt a sense of political inclusion in world 

politics due to institutions like the WYC. 

The Spanish Civil War was the focal point of Popular Front youth activism and political 

propaganda. YCL publications asserted the interests of all youth were represented by 

the struggles and sacrifices associated with Spain. Young communists became active in 

collecting money, food, medical relief and clothing for the Spanish Republic. The 

Spanish Civil War helped create a considerable sense of international solidarity between 

the British and American YCLs by participation in the International Brigades. 134 Of the 

over 3,000 American and 2,300 British volunteers, a large proportion came from the 

ranks of the YCL. 135 For young communists the struggle in Spain became the focal point 

of their rhetoric positing democracy against fascist aggression. Both the British and 

American YCLs propagated that in order to avert the outbreak of a fascist world war that 

"the key to the situation is Spain." 136 

Communist Popular Front policies and experiences in Spain seemed contradictory to 

many anti-war youth. 137 Young communists took up arms against fascism in Spain while 

arguing against domestic militarism. Communists contended the key to containing 

fascist aggression was a resolute and unified military struggle in Spain. A complete 

military defeat of fascism in Spain could stop the fascist drive for further wars and save 

world peace. Communist propaganda insisted the Spanish Republic was "defending the 

liberty and peace of the world." 138 Other statements contended, "Germany wants to finish 

quickly with Spain in order to direct the guns elsewhere." 139 The disunity of the democracies 

in supporting Republican Spain simply facilitated further fascist aggression. In 

order to save peace and defeat fascism, communists considered limited anti-fascist wars 

of defense to be just. 

The divergent policies of the British and American governments on Spain and appeasement 

led communist youth to form two very distinct interpretations of their own 

national governments. Dimitrov's characterization of fascism identified fascists as 

representatives of the most reactionary and imperialistic elements of finance capital. 

55


Despite his rhetoric of ensuring peace and protecting democracy, the British YCL insisted 

Chamberlain was an active and conscious ally of Hitler. Young communists 

pointed to the persistence of the "Non-Intervention Pact" and the infamous "Munich 

Pact" of September, 1938 as firm evidence that Chamberlain sought to strengthen European 

fascism. Munich was a watershed in cementing the anti-Chamberlain sentiment of 

the YCL; an event where "eyes were opened, [and] many illusions were smashed." 140 

British communist rhetoric placed the blame for the death of their fallen comrades in 

Spain upon the "dishonourable" capitulation of Chamberlain to the fascists, vowing to 

avenge their deaths by driving the National Government "into the oblivion it deserves." 141 

When Chamberlain declared war on Nazi Germany in September, 1939 it was not 

difficult for the YCLGB to embrace the Comintern's condemnation of the war. Chamberlain 

continued to be characterized as a treacherous imperialist and an ally of Hitler who 

could not be trusted to lead an anti-fascist war. 

In the United States things were very different. Though Roosevelt did not take any 

decisive steps to assist the Spanish Republic, young communists perceived him as an ally 

against international fascism. Communist rhetoric contended domestic isolationist and 

anti-Soviet sentiment limited Roosevelt's ability to assist Spain. 142 Events like Roosevelt's 

famous Chicago "Quarantine Address" of October, 1937 were used by communists 

as evidence that Roosevelt was committed to an anti-fascist foreign policy in line with 

Soviet "collective security" initiatives. After the Munich Pact, American communist 

rhetoric alluded that the United States and the Soviet Union "now stood alone against the 

fascist offensive." 143 YCL propaganda insisted that world war could still be averted if the 

American public pressured Roosevelt to put his foreign policy statements into consistent 

practice: 

What can keep America out of war at this tense moment when war is raging in Spain and 

China and threatens Central Europe Obviously, it is only the co-operation of the 

American people and their Government, with the democratic peoples of the world, that 

can keep America out of war by keeping war out of the world.... To keep out of war, 

America must act to quarantine the war-makers, support the "Good Neighbour" policy in 

the Western Hemisphere, back up the people’s boycott of Japanese goods by withholding 

shipment of war materials to Japan. This programme will not lead to war because 

the fascists are only strong when the democracies are disunited. 144 

United States foreign policy was no longer characterized as inherently imperialist. Under 

the leadership of Roosevelt, communists believed American policy could be moulded and 

influenced to conform to the "collective security" initiatives of the Popular Front. Even 

with the outbreak of World War II, the YCL did not initially direct its propaganda 

directly against Roosevelt for his support of Britain. The YCL blamed the "pirate band 

of 60 families whose God is profit" for duping the American public and pressuring 

Roosevelt into support of an unjust war. 145 When the Soviets entered the war in 1941, the 

YCL shifted its rhetoric back into full support of Roosevelt and the war effort. 

56


In conclusion, the evolution of the Popular Front reveals how Dimitrov's reconceptualization 

of fascism facilitated a complete realignment of traditional Comintern politics. 

Positions once considered opportunistic heresy by the Leninist Generation were embraced 

in the official Comintern Popular Front program. Traditional Leninist antifascism 

posited a militant "language of class against capital" that was carried on during 

the Popular Front era by the Trotskyist movement. 146 Dimitrov's definition of fascism 

produced new forms of propaganda and activities that enabled the construction of a new 

communist political identity. The Popular Front transformed young communist's perception 

of their relationship with their nation, competing youth organizations and democratic 

heritage in Britain and the United States. Fascism was conceived as a mass movement 

that represented the interests of a small clique of capitalists bent upon unleashing a new 

world war. The Leninist and Popular Front Generations of communist youth propagated 

that their movement strove to abolish modern imperialist war by attacking the root cause 

of war. Dimitrov's definition of fascism created a divergent experience for communist 

youth by targeting fascism, not social democracy, as the facilitators of modern imperialist 

war. In order to effectively prevent fascism from mobilizing youth for war, young 

communists embraced a new populist rhetoric centred on patriotism, unity and the 

defense of democracy. 

57

3 

NATIONALISM: 

FROM POISON TO PATRIOTISM 

Fascism thrives on hate, on nationalism. 

-Jim West, 1938 1 

The League member believes that true patriotism and true internationalism go hand in 

hand. 

-YCLGB Constitution, 1943 2 

"The working men have no country. We cannot take from them what they have not got." 

This infamous dictum of Marx and Engels penned in 1848 still befuddled communists 

almost one hundred years later. As an internationalist movement that sought to conquer 

political and economic power within the nation-state framework, what should be the 

"correct" attitude of communists to the phenomenon of nationalism Could nationalism 

be channelled to promote international unity and socialism, or did such sentiment inevitably 

lead to notions of racism and international conflict The chapter addresses some of 

these precarious issues by tracing the evolution of nationalist rhetoric in communist 

youth propaganda. 

Nationalism is a powerful ideology for mass mobilization that was initially rejected by 

Marxian socialism. Marx's aforementioned declaration facilitated a trend of reductionist 

thought on the subject of nationalism. Nationalism was simply a tool of class rule to 

distract workers from their true international class interests. Marxism claimed that the 

bourgeoisie used nationalism to facilitate racism and national chauvinism to divide "the 

masses," with the strategic goal of maintaining class rule. According to this view, the 

worst excesses of bourgeois nationalism were manifested in imperialist warfare and 

colonial expansion. Revolutionary socialists condemned "socialist nationalism" as a 

revisionist trend of the Second International that was incompatible with Marxism. The 

Comintern rejected nationalism, outside of colonial-liberation struggles, as a poisonous 

ideology incompatible with internationalism. 

The Leninist Generation of the YCI rejected nationalism as a facilitator of war and 

racism. Socialist youth blamed the outbreak of WWI upon the perceived chauvinistic 

national defense policies of the Second International. Though most leaders of the SI 

were declared internationalists, they nevertheless capitulated to nationalism when WWI 

58

NATIONALISM 

put them to the test in 1914. After the war, young socialists perceived their generation 

had been betrayed by the nationalism of the SI, switching their political allegiance to the 

Comintern in 1919 which asserted that its strict internationalist organization was the only 

strategy that could combat nationalism in order to prevent future imperialist warfare 

through the advancement of socialism. 

In condemning nationalism outright in Europe and America, young communists of the 

inter-war era at first dismissed a powerful tool of political mobilization that was utilized 

by their opponents. Communists believed their internationalist and class appeals could 

undermine the strength of bourgeois nationalism. The Comintern's blanket condemnation 

of nationalism ultimately proved counterproductive because, in part, it was inflexible and 

based on a narrow class analysis. The internationalist nature of the Comintern allowed 

opponents of communism to portray national parties as alien elements, foreign to their 

national political culture. On the other hand, fascism capitalized upon nationalist sentiment, 

forming broad mass movements to smash working-class radicalism in the West. 

The Nazis utilized the bruised national sentiment of Germans rooted in the Versailles 

Treaty to gain power in 1933, crushing both the KPD and the SPD within months. Then, 

as we have seen, with the threat of impending war and fascist advance hanging over 

Europe, Dimitrov's definition of fascism revised traditional Leninist positions against 

nationalism while at the same time, Popular Front YCI rhetoric propagated a progressive 

nationalist programme to mobilize youth and isolate fascism both culturally and politically. 

Youth Against Patriotism: The Leninist Generation 

How did youth of the inter-war period come to define and redefine nationalism When 

the Socialist Youth International reconvened itself in Berne during WWI, "it declared 

itself emphatically against social-patriotism" placing its "sections under the obligations of 

international solidarity for revolutionary action against the war." 3 Socialist youth became 

attracted to the strict internationalism of the Comintern out of their revulsion against the 

war. Lenin personified Marxism as the negation of all forms of nationalism. Lenin 

posited an inflexible position arguing, "Marxism cannot be reconciled with nationalism, 

be it even of the "most just," "purest," most refined and civilised brand. In place of all 

forms of nationalism Marxism advances internationalism." 4 Lenin's stern position against 

nationalism proved attractive to socialist youth who blamed national chauvinism for 

enabling WWI. 

Nationalism in Russia and East European was predominately defined by racial and 

imperial conceptions while nationalism in Western Europe and the United States increasingly 

became associated with republican conceptions of democratic citizenship. This 

trend was intensified by the form and volume of WWI "democratic" propaganda. 5 

Republican nationalism proved to be an effective strategy for mass mobilization that 

59


could be utilized by both reactionary and progressive movements. 6 The Bolshevik 

perspective on nationalism, formed primarily out of the Russian experience, was overtly 

reductionist in its analysis on mass perceptions of the nation. Like many other "bourgeois 

values," nationalism was simply dismissed as an inherently poisonous ideology that 

could not be reconciled with revolutionary Marxism. Nationalist sentiment was to be 

exposed and condemned by communist youth in the West, not mobilized for the socialist 

cause. 7 

On the other hand, Lenin's perspectives on nationalism in the colonial nations diverged 

significantly from his denunciations of Western nationalism. Nationalist mobilization 

proved effective in colonial and oppressed nations as a method to weaken 

imperialism. Lenin asserted that colonial nationalist movements could potentially be 

progressive due to its anti-feudal class basis: 

Nationalism that is more feudal than bourgeois is the principal obstacle to democracy 

and to the proletarian struggle. The bourgeois nationalism of any oppressed nation has a 

general democratic content that is directed against oppression, and it is this content that 

we unconditionally support. At the same time we strictly distinguish it from the tendency 

towards national exclusiveness; we fight against the tendency of the Polish bourgeois to 

oppress the Jews, etc., etc. This is "unpractical" from the standpoint of the bourgeois and 

the philistine, but it is the only policy in the national question that is practical, based on 

principles, and really promotes democracy, liberty and proletarian unity. 8 

Lenin's analysis of the "class forces" behind democratic nationalism in the colonies 

enabled Popular Front communists to legitimize their revision of Lenin's anti-nationalist 

positions. Dimitrov asserted fascism represented a reactionary feudal nationalism that 

impeded the advancement of democracy and the class struggle in the bourgeois democracies. 

Lenin's anti-nationalist positions attracted many socialist youth. The SYI mobilized 

youth sentiment during WWI by positing a militant internationalist perspective against 

the war. After the war, youth propaganda continued this strategy, appealing to young 

workers explicitly in international class terms: 

We stand, as it were, at the cross-roads of the ages. The old order of things is passing 

away, and a new world, a new regime, is looming in the horizons. Kings and crowns 

have been thrown on to the old rubbish heap. The lowly rise into power, and the downtrodden, 

the long disinherited part of humanity is coming into its own... As one of the 

poor and disinherited you cannot afford to stand aloof. The destiny of your class is being 

weighed in the balance. Forward, young rebels! Join hands! At this great hour of 

world-reconstruction do your duty. 9 

Communist propaganda insinuated that if young people united in international revolution, 

the "old order" would soon be swept away. Internationalism was posited as the prime 

duty of working-class youth. Another youth article articulated a vehement attack against 

nationalist sentiment and patriotism stating: 

How can one love a thing that is wrong Indeed, there is something wrong with a country 

that starves its workers and feeds its idlers... I cannot love England as it is to-day and 

I cannot love Englishmen as such; neither can I love Germans as such. I cannot love any 

60

NATIONALISM 

men, women or child merely for their nationality; I can only love the working-class all 

the world over – that is my class, a slave class. I am a slave; all the world's workers are 

slaves. I am a slave in revolt. I am not a patriot, I am an internationalist. 10 

Nationalism mobilized "slaves" to fight a war that was not in their class interests. 

Internationalism encouraged these "slaves" to unite internationally in service of their 

class. Such emotionally charged rhetoric encouraged working-class youth to reject 

nationalism for the strict internationalism of the Comintern. 

Early YCI publications articulated appeals to the youth in strict internationalist and 

class terms. Nationalism and national reconstruction were linked as attributes associated 

with the Second International. In the immediate aftermath of the war, socialist parties 

throughout Europe assisted their national governments in demobilizing efforts and 

economic transitions centred on rationalization and speed-ups to foster reconstruction. 

Socialists believed such "national efforts" and their wartime service would accord them 

greater state influence and political power to implement their socialist programs. In one 

of their first publications, aptly entitled Remove the Frontiers! An Appeal for the International 

Organization of all Young Workers, the YCI boldly asserted that "the realization of 

economic freedom is impossible through a nationally bounded struggle." 11 To maximize 

upon the disillusionment of youth, the YCI assessed that youth had been used by capitalists 

during the war to suppress their international class brethren. By following the 

program of the YCI, young communists assured the youth that "never again as in the late 

war, are hundreds of thousands of the youngest, best and boldest of us to die for the 

naked interests of the money-bags of imperialism." 12 The YCI contended "the Communist 

International must be an International of Action, or it will be nothing at all." 13 The 

YCI encouraged youth to denounce socialists for their national reconstruction efforts 

stating, "Tear off their masks! Unveil their real faces and show them to the broad masses 

of your friends. Frustrate their tricks with pitiless straightforwardness." 14 The YCI 

insisted any capitulation to such forms of nationalist strategies in the West was out of the 

question for communist youth. 

The Leninist Generation of the YCI posited internationalist class appeals were the 

only "correct" method for mobilizing the youth. Internationalist appeals were framed to 

dissuade youth from identifying with the bourgeois state. Leninist tactics called for the 

revolutionary overthrow of the state as a prerequisite to the establishment of socialism. 

Youth needed to be indoctrinated with a revolutionary and international class consciousness 

to prepare them for a revolutionary seizure of state power. Nationalism led to 

identification with the state which promoted reformist tactics while Leninism called for 

treasonous tactics to establish working-class power. As revolution subsided in the West, 

internationalism increasingly became associated with allegiance to the Comintern and the 

Soviet Union. Fascism and other anti-communist movements capitalized on this phenomenon 

to portray communism as a foreign aligned movement. Fascists posited that 

communists stood for the state interests of the Soviet Union while their movement stood 

for interests of their own nation. 

61


As Dimitrov recognized the power of nationalist mobilization, he insisted that communists 

needed to drastically reconfigure their attitudes to the nation in order to effectively 

counter the fascist threat. The Popular Front YCI insisted that nationalist 

propaganda and mobilization were the only effective means of combating fascism in 

order to spare their generation from the horrors of another world war. In many ways, 

Dimitrov's revision of anti-nationalist positions overturned the entire worldview of 

traditional Leninism. 

Youth and "True Patriotism:" The Popular Front Generation 

Georgi Dimitrov set out an inherently divergent path for the international communist 

movement in revising Lenin's critique of nationalism. Dimitrov's revisions were intended 

to undercut the recruiting abilities of fascism, especially among the youth. Dimitrov 

asserted that communists needed to be equipped with a new analysis of fascism and 

nationalism to enable more effective methods of anti-fascism. The goal of Dimitrov's 

revision was to undermine the effectiveness of fascist propaganda by portraying communists 

as the "true patriots" of the nation. 

At the Comintern's Seventh Congress, Dimitrov reasserted pre-Bolshevik traditions of 

revolutionary nationalism. Dimitrov's thesis linked inclusive concepts of republican 

citizenship with proletarian internationalism: 

We communists are the irreconcilable opponents, on principle, of bourgeois nationalism 

of every variety. But we are not supporters of national nihilism, and should never act as 

such.... Proletarian internationalism must, so to speak, "acclimate itself" in each country 

in order to sink deep roots in its native land. National forms of the proletarian class 

struggle and of the labour movement in the individual countries are in no contradiction 

to proletarian internationalism; on the contrary, it is precisely in these forms that the international 

interests of the proletariat can be successfully defended. It goes without saying 

that it is necessary everywhere and on all occasions to expose before the masses and 

prove to them concretely that the fascist bourgeoisie, on the pretext of defending general 

national interests, is conducting its egotistical policy of oppressing and exploiting its 

own people, as well as robbing and enslaving other nations. 15 

Dimitrov's thesis contended effective internationalism was the product of socialist 

nationalism. He quoted selected segments of Lenin's writings to legitimize his positions 

within traditional Bolshevik conceptions. By highlighting limited passages from Lenin's 

1914 essay entitled, "On the National Pride of the Great Russians," Dimitrov constructed 

a façade of continuity with Lenin. 16 Dimitrov selectively quoted statements like "we are 

full of a sense of national pride," and left out later statements where Lenin denounced all 

calls to "defend the fatherland." 17 Dimitrov's position was a significant deviation from 

Leninism and inadvertently encouraged the formation of the Fourth International. 18 

Other communists later reflected that Dimitrov's positions on nationalism represented 

the most profound and important transition that occurred with the Popular Front. James 

Klugmann commented on this phenomenon stating: 19 

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NATIONALISM 

The second type of issue that arose from the Seventh Congress was the re-establishment 

of a Marxist and Leninist concept of patriotism and internationalism. It seems to me that 

in the late 1920s and even later, one of the major errors of Communists in Germany was 

to hand over deep and wounded national feelings to the fascists on a plate, and to equate 

internationalism and anti-nationalism, instead of seeing that genuine, progressive national 

feelings and patriotism were the other side of the medal of popular and proletarian 

internationalism. And the more the working class emerges as the leader of the defence of 

such national feelings, the more it can carry out its international duties. 20 

Klugmann identified anti-nationalist positions as incorrect applications of Leninism that 

enabled the rise of fascism. Patriotism was no longer a poison or illusion to be shunned, 

but was to become an integral part of communist identity. The content of Popular Front 

nationalist propaganda was infused with progressive and socialist values for national 

mobilization that could serve internationalist duties. Gil Green later reflected on the 

practical importance of this new position, stating that the Communist Party had become 

the "leader not only of its class but of the nation itself." 21 Unlike the fascist conception of 

"national socialism," the new communist position was explicitly framed in terms of 

"socialist nationalism" where primary emphasis was still put upon the socialist and 

internationalist characteristics of nationalist agitation. 22 

The Popular Front program was designed for considerable flexibility in adopting national 

forms. The nationalist struggle was framed as a cultural struggle of national 

identity, positing progressive socialist values against reactionary values of imperialism 

and militarism. Dimitrov asserted that the goal of socialist nationalism was to "avert the 

destruction of culture and raise it to its highest flowering as a truly national culture, 

national in form and socialist in content." 23 Dimitrov instructed communists to adopt a 

uniform approach to international issues while adapting the broad outlines of the Popular 

Front to their specific national characteristics: 

It is necessary in each country to investigate, study and ascertain the national peculiarities, 

the specific national features of fascism and map out accordingly effective methods 

and forms of struggle against fascism. Lenin persistently warned us against "stereotyped 

methods and mechanical levelling, against rendering tactical rules, rules of struggle, 

identical." This warning is particularly to the point when it is a question of fighting an 

enemy who so subtly and jesuitically exploits the national sentiments and prejudices of 

the masses.... We must, without any delay what ever, react to his various maneuvers, 

discover his hidden moves, be prepared to repel him in any arena and at any moment. 

We must not hesitate even to learn from the enemy if that will help us more quickly and 

more effectively to wring his neck. It would be a gross mistake to lay down any sort of 

universal scheme of the development of fascism, to cover all countries and all peoples. 

Such a scheme would not help but would hamper us in carrying on a real struggle. 24 

Dimitrov again used selective quotes from Lenin to legitimize his revisions. Communists 

were ill prepared to counter fascism's mobilization techniques without adapting their 

rhetoric to unique national forms. The Comintern had mechanically scripted and dictated 

national practices to the Leninist Generation. The Popular Front program instead set out 

broad guidelines of strategic principles that were translated into specific national forms. 

63


History was an integral element of Popular Front nationalist rhetoric. Fascists portrayed 

their movement as "defenders of the nation," revising history in their propaganda 

to show a common heritage between fascism and the nation. Now, communists were 

directed to reclaim and reinterpret the history of their nation to counter this trend. 

Popular Front rhetoric sought to reclaim the progressive traditions of the nation to 

mobilize public sentiment that identified with these traditions. Dimitrov challenged the 

Seventh Congress to actively engage in this national historical struggle: 

The fascists are rummaging through the entire history of every nation so as to be able to 

pose as the heirs and continuators of all that was exalted and heroic in its past, while all 

that was degrading or offensive to the national sentiments of the people they make use of 

as weapons against the enemies of fascism. Hundreds of books are being published in 

Germany with only one aim -- to falsify the history of the German people and give it a 

fascist complexion.... In these books the greatest figures of the German people of the 

past are represented as having been fascists, while the great peasant movements are set 

down as the direct precursors of the fascist movement.... Communists who suppose that 

all this has nothing to do with the cause of the working class, who do nothing to 

enlighten the masses on the past of their people, in an historically correct fashion, in a 

genuinely Marxist, a Leninist-Marxist, a Leninist-Stalinist spirit, who do nothing to link 

up the present struggle with the people's revolutionary traditions and past -- voluntarily 

hand over to the fascist falsifiers all that is valuable in the historical past of the nation, 

that the fascists may bamboozle the masses. No, Comrades, we are concerned with 

every important question, not only of the present and the future, but also of the past of 

our own peoples. 25 

National histories were vital to utilize in successful anti-fascist campaigns, transforming 

both the form and content of communist propaganda. History articles had previously 

dealt primarily with WWI and the Russian Revolution. Popular Front communists 

consciously began to highlight the progressive and radical traditions of their own national 

histories. History was utilized in a cultural struggle to negate the influence of fascism. 

Communists sought to portray themselves as integral allies of progressive national 

traditions instead of an alien force foreign to those traditions. 

The divergence of Popular Front positions on nationalism were particularly accentuated 

for the Young Communist International. The YCI was the segment of the 

Comintern traditionally associated with staunch internationalism. This attitude to the 

national question had been motivated by the fierce anti-militarism of the youth. 26 Fascism 

was described to young communists as an extreme form of reactionary nationalism 

bent upon imperialist war. The threat of a fascist world war led the YCI to embrace the 

necessary tactical changes to combat this trend. YCI Popular Front pamphlets accentuated 

this point stating, "We are prompted by one thought, one desire – to save the 

younger generation of the whole mankind from fascism and war." 27 It was the duty of 

young communists to engage in the most effective forms of national mobilization to 

counter fascism's nationalist appeals. Otto Kuusinen described fascism and the role of 

communist youth to YCI delegates in such terms stating, "Fascism has been commissioned 

by the bourgeoisie to infect the neglected youth with its demagogy, and especially 

64

NATIONALISM 

with chauvinism.... Communism [now] also has far greater opportunities for work among 

the youth than formerly." 28 Though nationalism was a foreign tactic to Western YCLs, 

the main focus of communist youth politics had always been the struggle against imperialist 

war. For youth, nationalism was considered a necessary strategic tactic to continue 

their struggle against imperialist war under the era of fascism. 

Wolf Michal stressed to the YCI the importance of laying claim to their national historical 

traditions. 29 Popular Front theory insisted fascism was the main enemy of the 

nation and the youth. To combat fascism, young communists needed to rally youth 

through patriotic and progressive nationalist appeals. National traditions and sentiment 

were powerful weapons to draw the youth away from fascism: 

An especially important phase of our work… is the proper utilization of the revolutionary 

and democratic traditions of the people of each country. We must draw upon the rich 

heritage which we have in common with the masses of youth. Every movement in the 

history of the different nations, against repression, every revolt against slavery, every rebellious 

spokesman for the people, should be studies and learned. In this way we will, in 

advance, help cut the ground from under the very feet of the fascists who go to great 

lengths to distort this heritage of the peoples of all countries for their own sinister aims. 30 

Youth were often more susceptible to fascism's demagogic and nationalist appeals. 

Michal stressed to the YCI delegates that by "utilizing the weapons of our enemy" young 

communists would "be in a position to tear away the masses of the youth from fascism." 31 


Popular Front nationalism opened considerable opportunities but also new challenges for 

communist youth in Britain and the United States. 32 The continued ascendancy of the 

British Empire, even under successive Labour Governments, made reconciling internationalism 

and socialist nationalism unattractive to the Leninist Generation in Britain. In 

the US, the early YWL was made up primarily of immigrant youth who shared a "profound 

alienation from American culture," making American nationalism an unattractive 

and foreign conception to them. 33 Severe state persecution simply fuelled the YWL's 

existing disposition against American nationalism. The continued anti-militarist content 

of communist nationalist rhetoric smoothed the Popular Front transition for the youth. 

While still critiquing the imperialist practices of their respective governments, the British 

and American YCLs began propagating a nationalist line that identified their program of 

anti-fascism with the progressive traditions of their nation. The British YCL posited that 

Chamberlain's opponents represented "the Real Britain" while his administration and 

supporters were deemed "enemies of the British youth." 34 In an opposing trend, as 

Roosevelt's administration became more progressive domestically and internationally, the 

American YCL deemed his opponents "enemies of the youth" and identified themselves 

with the "progressive elements [of the nation] in the Democratic Party headed by Roosevelt." 

35 

65


During the period of 1935-36 important transitions occurred in the British and American 

YCL press reflecting the shift to Popular Front nationalist rhetoric. The newspapers 

of the Leninist Generation had been primarily internationalist in their form and content. 

From their inception up until the Popular Front period, both YCLs published a newspaper 

entitled The Young Worker. Almost every issue of The Young Worker was published 

with a subtitle declaring each YCL as the national section of the Young Communist 

International. The Young Worker ceased publication in both Britain and the United States 

with the adoption of the Popular Front. In the beginning of 1935, prior to the Popular 

Front, the British YCL dropped The Young Worker and began publishing a newspaper 

entitled Challenge. With their first official issue in March, 1935 the YCL dropped all 

references to the YCI in their headlines and instead embraced a subtitle stating that 

Challenge was "A Call to the Youth." 36 Further issues addressed working-class issues, 

but began framing debates around a broader national and generational based anti-fascist 

outlook. In June, 1935 Challenge adopted a new subtitle stating it stood "For Defense Of 

The Young Generation." 37 In September, 1935 Challenge broadened its appeal even 

more, changing its "Defense" subtitle into the more subtle slogan of "The Paper For 

Britain's Youth." 38 

Though main headlines dealt international politics, the content of Challenge articles 

took a distinctive shift towards national appeals. In a statement on the Italian war campaign 

in Abyssinia, the YCL made an appeal specifically to British youth stating, "Youth 

of Britain! Show the youth of the world where we stand. Stand firm for World Peace! 

Against the Fascist War! Against a New World Blood Bath!" 39 YCL rhetoric began 

asserting that the interests of British workers represented the interests and morality of the 

nation as a whole, while the bourgeoisie represented narrow and selfish class interests. A 

YCL article on class morality posited its argument in this framework stating, "The falsity 

of bourgeois morality is to be found at every step.... In words – for the motherland; in 

practice, betrayal of national interests in favour of their own selfish class interests." 40 

Though a continuity of themes existed in the anti-fascist and anti-imperialist content of 

their media, direct national appeals to the whole of British youth without reference to the 

YCI gave YCL literature of the Popular Front a distinctly new national form. 

Challenge began setting the tone of their rhetoric in appeals to British national traditions. 

In December, 1935 Challenge began advocating Parliament's passage of a "Youth 

Charter" designed to cope with unemployment and the precarious future of British youth. 

YCL rhetoric played upon the national traditions of the Chartist Movement of the nineteenth 

century. The YCL asserted it was the youth organization that best represented this 

well respected populist British tradition. In its first article dealing with the Youth Charter 

campaign, the YCL made an appeal to the British nation as a whole: 

Youth demands its rights and heritage.... The whole nation – father and mother, professor, 

minister of religion, artists and humanitarians, all youth organizations --- could be 

roused by the greatest campaign this country had seen since the days of Chartism, for 

support if Youth's Charter before Parliament. The fight must go on inside and outside 

66

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 

67


Trotskyist rhetoric. Massie contend the YCL, unlike the Trotskyists, stood for "the 

genuine interests of the youth and of the whole people of Britain." 47 

The YCL helped to establish the strong British communist tradition of "people's culture" 

with their Popular Front propaganda. A regular feature of Challenge "May Day" 

issues was a column dedicated to "Songs of the People." Such cultural columns about 

"the people" embraced the traditions of the English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh, reflecting 

the multi-national realities of the British Isles. 48 YCL rhetoric attempted to balance 

potential conflicts between British and regional national identities. The bonds between 

the socialist and nationalist movements, especially in the Celtic regions, had traditionally 

been an integral part of working-class agitation. The Leninist Generation tended to 

neglect these regional dynamics in their propaganda. 49 These shifts in rhetoric enabled 

young communists to portray themselves as champions of the larger national interests of 

all the British people while demonizing their fascist opposition as representatives of 

British imperialism. 

The most consistent target of YCL nationalist propaganda was Chamberlain and his 

National Government for their international policies of appeasement. After the election 

of Chamberlain's National Government in 1936, the YCL continually attacked Chamberlain 

not just as an enemy of the working class, but of the British people as a whole. As 

public debates on national defense became more prominent in 1939, the YCL regularly 

produced bold statements asserting, "Chamberlain cannot defend the people of Britain, 

[and] is the enemy of the people of Britain!" 50 Chamberlain was vehemently attacked as 

one of the greatest enemies of British youth for strengthening fascism's drive towards 

world war. In an article on the 1939 Youth Peace Pilgrimage the YCL stated, "You can’t 

have a strong Britain and a safe Britain while Mr. Chamberlain’s Government gives 

everything away to the enemies of Britain’s people.... Mr. Chamberlain had better watch 

his step; Young Britain’s after him!" 51 The YCL contended the youth peace movement 

stood in complete opposition to the National Government and in alliance with "the 

people" of Britain. Reflecting upon the National Government's non-intervention policy 

with Spain, the YCL posited, "The British Youth Movement and the YCL… reflect the 

true feeling and the spirit of the people of England, Scotland and Wales, showing the true 

difference between them and the pro-Fascist National Government." 52 The YCL's anti- 

Chamberlain rhetoric invoked a discourse of "oppositional negations," claiming to stand 

for the interests of the people and youth of Britain while Chamberlain was personified as 

the enemy of Britain. 

The YCL adopted another nationalist rhetorical device by engaging in debates on citizenship. 

Communists rejected biological concepts of nationalism associated with fascism 

and racial chauvinism. YCL rhetoric propagated that "true nationalism" was rooted in 

inclusive citizenship linked with the nation and its historical traditions. 53 Mick Bennett 

discussed the YCL's citizenship position by reflecting on the loss of democratic citizenship 

under fascism: 

68

NATIONALISM 

Political liberty is essential to Citizenship. Citizenship is an equal balance between receiving 

and exercising rights and giving service and duty to the Community. It is when 

the rights disappear or are "sacrificed" and only service remains that Citizenship becomes 

a mockery. That is what happens to it under fascism. 54 

Fascism destroyed traditional concepts of democratic citizenship, positing a biological 

concept of national civic inclusion dependant upon individual submission to the authoritarian 

state. The YCL contended true democratic citizenship was linked with service to 

the community, civil liberties and the right to political dissent. 

The YCL's citizenship rhetoric challenged youth to change the perceived pro-fascist 

leadership of Britain. The YCL argued, "There are many ways in which youth can help 

but perhaps the greatest is through the medium of citizenship." 55 Initiatives like the 

British Youth Parliament and the British Youth Peace Assembly were supported by the 

YCL because they reflected "a growing realisation of the need for training in citizenship." 

56 Though the YCL kept a critical view about the limitations of "bourgeois democracy," 

they recognized that a youth movement engaged in active citizenship could 

influence the politics of the nation. The YCL discovered they could best serve internationalist 

obligations by strengthening their position with the framework of the nation. 

The transformation of YCL nationalist literature in the United States developed slower 

than in Britain. The YCLUSA did not cease publication of The Young Worker until 

April, 1936. Up until their last issue, the YCL openly declared its status as the American 

section of the Young Communist International. 57 Nevertheless, transitions began to be 

implemented in the content of articles in 1935. 

The Young Worker retained much of its previous form throughout 1935, but began 

adopting certain elements of nationalist propaganda. Articles on American history 

slowly began appearing at the end of 1935 that portrayed the YCL as the inheritor of 

American national traditions. In November, 1935 the YCL published an article comparing 

the philosophies of Lincoln and Lenin, asserting that a parallel dynamic existed in 

their revolutionary ideologies and their experiences of leading a nation in Civil War. (See 

Appendix) 58 An article in December, 1935 attacked the "patriotism" of William 

Randolph Hearst, declaring him a "20 th Century Benedict Arnold," asserting that the YCL 

was composed of "real Americans" and young citizens "who really love America." 59 This 

trend was accentuated in 1936 with the 160 year anniversary of the American Republic. 

In a March, 1936 article entitled "Dear Mr. Browder: The Spirit of '76 is Not Dead," the 

YCL regularly used phrases like "our forefathers," contrasting the traditions of the 

American Revolution to the political realities youth were facing in 1936. The image 

from the article showed a portrayal of an American Revolutionary War military drum 

corps, showing a parallel with the forward march of the American YCL. (See Appendix) 

60 Though much of the internationalist class form of The Young Worker remained 

until its end, the nationalist content of its articles changed dramatically during its last year 

of publication. 

69


After disbanding The Young Worker in April, 1936, the YCLUSA began publishing 

three distinct periodicals: The Champion of Youth, the Student Advocate and the aptly 

named Young Communist Review. Champion was a short lived Popular Front venture 

that was supposed to represent the united interests of "factory youth, young farmers, 

sharecroppers, students and anti-fascist, anti-war church youth in their battles." 61 Champion's 

political line was "couched in patriotic American terms." It asserted that the broad 

progressive values of the youth movement represented the true "American dream." 62 The 

Student Advocate was the offspring of a merger between the communist National Student 

League's Student Review and the socialist Student League for Industrial Democracy's 

Student Outlook during the formation of the American Student Union. The Student 

Advocate was dominated by members of the YCL and became the liberal mouthpiece for 

the Popular Front rhetoric of the ASU. New Deal politicians regularly utilized the 

Student Advocate to propagate "for President Roosevelt's policies." 63 During the early 

part of 1938, the Student Advocate ceased publication to distance the ASU from its 

radical origins when it was perceived to be "a communist organization in opposition to 

the national will." 64 Though Champion and the Student Advocate took similar nationalist 

stances, their articles reflected the political vision that the YCL and their allies shared in 

forging a national alliance between youth and Roosevelt's New Deal administration. 

The Young Communist Review was published primarily for the general membership of 

the YCL, unlike Champion and the Student Advocate that were directed towards the 

larger youth movement. The first issue of the Young Communist Review stated that as the 

"official organ" of the YCL, the Review would "afford us the opportunity to popularize 

our policy, tactics and educational problems among our membership." 65 A later article 

stressed the importance of the magazine was to translate the lessons of the Popular Front 

to YCLers; the Review would help members "to change our methods of work in accordance 

with our [new] perspectives." 66 The Young Communist Review was a vital educational 

tool to facilitate the transition to the Popular Front. 

Popular Front propaganda utilized history as a strategy to legitimize American communism. 

Earl Browder set the tone for American Popular Front nationalist rhetoric with 

his 1936 slogan stating, "Communism is the Americanism of the Twentieth Century." 67 

Such slogans enabled the YCL to adopt a historical nationalist rhetoric that was traditionally 

used to marginalize American socialists. 68 The YCL recognized the strategic importance 

of co-opting American history positing, "History is a weapon of struggle." 69 

While traditional YCLUSA propaganda embraced the same revolutionary figures as 

the YCLGB, the Americanism strategy prompted the YCL to emphasize American 

"historical heroes." YCL Popular Front rhetoric highlighted the lives of Washington, 

Lincoln and Frederick Douglas every February to draw parallels between their struggles 

and the contemporary struggles of the YCL. Deferment to the legacies of these men was 

used to legitimize YCL positions with statements like, "Our history is studded with really 

liberating, really revolutionary events, such as the Revolutionary War of 1776 and the 

70

NATIONALISM 

Civil War, whose results represent the real foundations of true Americanism." 70 Such 

articles drew parallels between the American Revolution, the Civil War and the situation 

in Spain. The YCL argued it was treasonous to American traditions to abandon Spain to 

fascist aggression. An article in February, 1937 stated, "Now, when the Spanish people 

demand no more than that which we demanded in 1776 and 1861, it is disloyalty to the 

great American tradition to refuse their appeal." 71 By highlighting the legacies of traditional 

American heroes, the YCL insinuated that there was nothing foreign about revolutionary 

movements in the US and therefore the YCL clearly represented "true 

Americanism." 

YCL rhetoric highlighted the careers of other American revolutionaries and founding 

fathers of the United States. A 1938 editorial was very blunt about the goal of such 

techniques insisting, "The traditions of our people must be a part of our very bones. We 

must know Jefferson, Lincoln, and all the heroes of our history, almost as well as we 

know our grandfathers." 72 The new constitution adopted by the YCL in 1939 boldly 

asserted this American outlook stating, "The Young Communist League… cherishes the 

ideals of Americanism embodied in the democratic traditions of our nation and its great 

patriots, such as Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Andrew Jackson, Frederick Douglass, 

and Abraham Lincoln." 73 Instead of portraying themselves as foreign Bolsheviks, the 

Popular Front Generation insisted that they were guided politically by the principles of 

Americanism. 

Though the American YCL kept up much of its traditional working-class outlook, they 

used similar rhetorical devices as the YCLGB in embracing a broad language centred on 

"the people." In an article condemning the influence of Trotskyism, the YCL stated, 

"[Those who go] against the Peoples Front, goes against the youth and against the whole 

people and are allies of the enemy." 74 The YCL insisted the goal of their movement was 

to spur "the people" into political action since "the enemies of the people are strong, 

unscrupulous, well organized, and well financed. Only an aroused people will be able to 

defeat them." 75 Associational rhetoric was also used to demonize political enemies with 

assertions such as, "Let us in our work show the same great love for the people and the 

same fierce hatred toward the enemies of the people, the fascists." 76 The YCL framed 

statements about "the people" to highlight their common values with statements like, 

"The cause of the people, however, the cause of peace and democracy and ultimately 

Socialism, is rooted in human decency, brotherhood, and struggle." 77 The logic of such 

statements insinuated that those who did not stand with the YCL in turn did not stand 

with "the people" of the nation, and were therefore ultimately lacking human decency and 

were out of sync with "true" American traditions. 

Broad rhetoric embracing "the people" was also used in the YCL interpretation of 

American history. In an editorial about the 4 th of July the YCL decreed, "It is high time 

the people took this holiday back to themselves; it is high time that the Fourth of July 

become a day of re-dedication to the ideals which animated the American Founding 

71


Fathers." 78 Using non-specific social terms like "the people" allowed the YCL to make 

generalized statements about the character and values of the American public and its 

national traditions. The YCL insisted their political program represented American 

values and traditions put into practice, increasingly portraying socialism as patriotic and 

inherently American. A 1939 article on the YCL constitution stated, "We who believe in 

Socialism love our country not only for what it is but for what it can become, not for its 

suffering of today but for this promise of the future—when America shall belong to the 

people." 79 The YCL believed "fascism in America will come in the guise of a defense of 

the traditional rights of the American citizens… [it] will seek to come to power wrapped 

in the folds of the American flag." 80 To counter this fascist trend the YCL needed to 

embrace and champion the progressive elements of American history. 

The "American people" were characterized as an inspiration for communists and antifascists 

internationally. Popular Front propaganda exalted the struggles and traditions of 

American workers with the same rhetoric traditionally used to praise Soviet workers. 

The Leninist Generation had primarily acknowledged the heritage and legacy of the 

"Russian people" whose Bolshevik Revolution inspired workers internationally. 81 The 

YCLUSA regularly used America's historic links with May Day to portray the traditions 

of the American people as a progressive inspiration to the whole world: 

The American labor movement has made many significant contributions to the worldwide 

struggle of the masses for freedom. America has given the international working 

class many heroes, many martyrs. Men such as Tom Mooney, or Angelo Herndon have 

significance for the peoples of the world in a way that transcends the borders of our continent. 

And the self sacrifice of the American division of the International Brigade, the 

Abraham Lincoln Boys, inspires the working people, the oppressed people all over the 

world to redoubled efforts to defeat the fascists on Spanish soil....We march in an 

American tradition, in the spirit of the Haymarket martyrs, for the security, peace, and 

democracy which the American people will not be denied. 82 

In 1939, a Review reader submitted a patriotic May Day photo as part of an editorial 

column. The photo showed a "Negro comrade" who had just returned from Spain 

marching with an American Flag in a Chicago parade. The reader commented that the 

photo was "inspiring," hoping that the Review would publish similar patriotic photos in 

the future. (See Appendix) 83 Popular Front rhetoric sought to find the common bonds of 

revolutionary democracy that existed between the Soviet and American historical experience. 

84 The YCLGB also referenced American history, glorifying the struggles of the 

American people under the leadership of President Lincoln. 85 

Rhetoric about "the people" linked American traditions of the past with the international 

anti-fascist struggles of the present. In an article about the death of Dave Doran in 

Spain the YCL reflected, "Dave was a native son. He personified the best traditions of 

the American people.... He realized it was the fight of all progressive humanity to defeat 

world fascism, to preserve world peace. It therefore was the fight of the American 

people—his fight." 86 Such associational language was used to link the past and present 

while articulating a forward vision of a socialist America. The preamble to the 1939 YCL 

72

NATIONALISM 

constitution stated, "The American people will realize tomorrow its historic American 

dream—a land of a free and equal people, of peace and plenty, a land of Socialism." 87 

YCL propaganda ceased to demonize American national traditions, instead positing that 

US States political culture and traditions represented universal progressive values. 

The associational rhetorical techniques used by the YCLGB to demonize Chamberlain 

were adapted to American conditions by the YCLUSA in support of the Roosevelt 

administration and the New Deal. Popular Front propaganda associated Roosevelt's New 

Deal program as the personification of the "will of the people." The American YCL 

adopted slogans of "constructive associations," portraying themselves as allies of Roosevelt 

and the American people as the New Deal increasingly came under attack. The YCL 

insisted, "Big Business forces in America are utilizing the crisis to defeat the progressive 

measures of the Roosevelt administration and negate the will of the people… they are 

now out to spike the President's proposals at all costs." 88 The YCL also scorned "left 

opponents" of the New Deal and Roosevelt: 

Today, we support the New Deal, and some socialists are completely confused. They 

overlook the new factor, that today Big Business has split away from the New Deal and 

is its most bitter enemy. This change in class relationships changes everything, and only 

a foolish pedant or an enemy of the people would apply the same formulations to the 

New Deal today as in 1933. 89 

The YCL expressed it was its duty to help "the process of lining up all reactionaries in 

one party and the progressive majority of the people who support the New Deal, the CIO 

program, the American Youth Congress program, in another party." 90 In addressing the 

World Youth Congress, the YCL associated the New Deal with the aspirations of the 

youth and as the embodiment of the American democratic spirit articulating, "The 

American youth of today is a different kind of youth than you may have heard about. It 

is the youth… which wants a new deal, wants to preserve democracy and wants to enjoy 

it." 91 The YCL continued to critique some elements of Roosevelt's administration, but 

generally contended that the New Deal represented the national "will of the youth" and 

"the people" and deserved YCL support. 92 

During the 1938 election the YCL shifted the emphasis of its domestic political rhetoric 

to nationalist appeals of citizenship. The YCL insisted active citizenship and participation 

in national politics were vital elements of the anti-fascist struggle. Popular Front 

rhetoric asserted the YCL was "the best organization in America giving youth training in 

the principles of American citizenship." 93 Reflecting upon the results of the 1938 election, 

Carl Ross lamented that the "education of young voters in their responsibilities as 

citizens remains a central problem of the progressive camp… it would appear that the 

large percentage of young voters still do not vote!" 94 In 1939 YCL statements took on an 

increasingly patriotic tone with statements like, "Our members are not only good citizens 

of the YCL but loyal intelligent citizens of the United States of America." 95 Such slogans 

were framed to deflect the attacks of "redbaiters" and to counter the tactics that anti-New 

Deal forces were employing for the upcoming 1940 election: 

73


Clearly in our fight against the spread of these ideas, we must take hold of this incompatibility 

between fascism and Americanism. A most appropriate place to drive home 

this incompatibility is in citizenship training for young people, at young citizens day 

ceremonies. Here we must move at once, for the reactionaries, Hearst and the Republicans, 

are organizing Young Citizens' Day ceremonies using the slogan 'I am an American' 

deliberately to build up a chauvinist, intolerant, and super-patriotic feeling among 

the youth, to set the young voters against the New Deal, and to distort the true meaning 

of Americanism. 96 

Such campaigns were utilized by the YCL to portray it as a patriotic American organization 

dedicated to strengthening democracy by promoting active citizenship. 

Spain: Nationalism, Internationalism and Youth 

Communists also used nationalist rhetoric to discuss foreign policy issues. In sum, it was 

Spain that served as the vital reference point for Popular Front nationalist propaganda. 

The British and American YCLs used distinct nationalist propaganda techniques in 

rallying youth support for the Spanish Republic. Though the Spanish solidarity campaign 

was an inherently internationalist phenomenon, the YCLs framed their appeals in primarily 

nationalist terms. The British YCL utilized the geographic proximity of Britain to 

Spain and the fascist nations to infer that a fascist victory in Spain was not in Britain's 

national interests; the outcome of Spanish events had direct implications for the future of 

the British nation. In an article on the International Brigades the YCL proclaimed, "What 

happens in Spain will determine what happens elsewhere during the next few years. A 

victory for Germany and Italy will mean war for all of us instead of a few." 97 John 

Gollan addressed the 1938 YCL convention in similar terms stating, "[Chamberlain's] 

policy is bringing nearer the day when air squadrons of fascism will bomb Prague, Paris 

and London.... Defence of Spain means our defence." 98 Articles on fascist bombing 

campaigns pleaded that "helping Spain's people to defeat fascism means saving ourselves 

from Barcelona's fate!" 99 After the withdrawal of the International Brigades in 1939, the 

urgency of YCL statements was heightened. The YCL appealed to the British people to 

demand a change in government policy using bold statements like, "If we are to save our 

own homes, let us allow the Spanish Government to buy arms so that it can defeat these 

fascist powers." 100 Other Challenge articles asserted that securing the Spanish Republic's 

"legal right to buy arms" was the best defense that the British people had against future 

fascist aggression. 101 Other articles took on an emotional and personal tone stating, 

"Never forget Spain's people are defending our future, saving our families and friends by 

sacrificing theirs." 102 The violence perpetuated against the Spanish Republic served as a 

foreshadowing of the destructive capacity the fascist powers were willing to inflict upon 

their perceived enemies. The YCLs Spanish rhetoric attempted to find a balance between 

national and international interests, insisting the victory of the Spanish Republic was 

intimately linked with the future of the British nation. 

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NATIONALISM 

The YCLUSA could not utilize geography in its Spanish rhetoric and developed other 

unique forms of nationalist propaganda. YCL Spanish propaganda was directed at 

overcoming the strength of isolationist sentiment in the US. The YCL drew historic 

parallels between the Spanish Republic and the support the United States provided other 

republics in the past: 

A situation amazingly similar to the present on with relation to Spain, developed here in 

America relative to the new revolutionary government of France in the 18th century. 

But at that time, President George Washington and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson 

openly declared their friendship for and aided the French government, while in our day, 

President Roosevelt and Secretary of State Hull deny the legal government of Spain 

those rights which are theirs according to every tenet of international law. 103 

Such rhetoric inferred assistance to the Spanish Republic would represent continuity with 

inherently American historical traditions. Much of the conservative American press 

framed the struggle in Spain as one between Communism and Christianity. The YCL 

countered this trend by highlighting a common political culture between the US and 

Spain. The YCL argued, "In Spain, Young Communists have contributed in the noblest 

way there is today, on that decisive salient in the struggle for democracy against fascism." 

104 The YCL wrote of Spanish anti-fascists in patriotic terms with statements like, 

"The iron will of the Spanish youth to create a free, independent Spain comes from an 

indomitable love for their country." 105 Isolationism was denounced as inherently un- 

American. International solidarity was interpreted as a highly patriotic phenomenon that 

linked American and Spanish youth. The fight in Spain was not interpreted as a communist 

struggle, but as a patriotic crusade for all freedom-loving democratic youth. 

The YCL insisted a fascist victory in Spain clearly ran counter to American national 

interests. Such rhetoric was designed to overcome isolationism and give the Spanish 

struggle a greater sense of urgency. In an article on Latin American fascism, the YCL 

argued a victory for fascism in Spain was against America's national interests in the 

Western hemisphere: 

Great danger arises from the fact that Roosevelt and the American people may not fully 

realize the importance of aiding Spain as the precondition for defeating fascism in Latin 

America. Spain is the cultural motherland of all Latin America. Hitler aspires to conquer 

Spain as a springboard— for the conquest of Spain would reduce the Atlantic to the 

size of a small pond across which fascist aggression could proceed with comparative 

ease. 106 

The YCL had previously praised Roosevelt's "Good Neighbour" policy as a basis for 

peace and cooperation with Latin America. YCL propaganda asserted that a fascist 

victory in Spain would overturn this progress, directly threatening American national 

interests. The US government could best defend its national interests by adopting a 

consistent anti-fascist policy in Spain and Europe. The YCL articulated its policy in 

Spain was designed to stop "the fascist war-makers" and was the only realistic policy that 

could "keep America out of war." 107 In short, the interests of the Spanish people were 

intimately linked with those of American youth. 

75


In both Britain and the United States, Dimitrov's analysis of fascism challenged traditional 

communist notions of nationalism, facilitating unique opportunities for communist 

youth propaganda. Popular Front theory embraced a flexible concept of nationalism, 

enabling YCLs to embed their rhetoric with distinct national symbols and traditions that 

resonated with their nation's youth. The Leninist Generation's propaganda was framed in 

strict internationalist terms, dominated by a consistent deference to the Comintern on all 

national matters. Though the Popular Front line emanated from the Comintern, young 

communists distanced themselves from the Comintern in their rhetoric. 108 By engaging in 

nationalist propaganda, British and American young communists invoked a language that 

was responsive to their distinct national political culture. Communist rhetoric justified 

internationalism through nationalist rhetoric and traditions, positing that modern antifascist 

struggles were intimately linked with their own progressive national histories. 

Fascism utilized nationalism to destroy radical working-class movements. Young 

communists insisted nationalism had to be utilized to unite and mobilize all segments of 

the nation against fascism. The Popular Front Generation propagated a balance between 

nationalism and internationalism, insisting they were the "true patriots" of the nation. 

76

4 

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 

77


really foremost and really revolutionary class," the working class. 5 As the sole vanguard 

of the working class, communists argued against both class collaboration and sustained 

cooperation with other political parties. 

In its early years, the YCI condemned the spirit of compromise and class collaboration 

inherent in the Second International's "betrayal" of youth. Antithetically, the Comintern's 

program represented "a dashing and resolute will to struggle, held fast and rendered 

inseparable by common action" of the revolutionary working class. 6 The YCI asserted 

their "one organization alone… is the expression of revolt of the young workers." 7 

Communist youth sought to smash all other youth groups in order to win over their 

working-class membership. This oppositional strategy was the only "correct" path to 

overthrow capitalism and abolish future imperialist war. 

The Leninist Generation had intentionally facilitated splits and mutual hostilities between 

the socialist and communist youth movements. Dimitrov recognized that such 

working-class disunity enabled the rise of fascism. The Nazis capitalized upon the lack 

of working-class unity in Germany to consolidate their regime, ultimately destroying 

both the SPD and KPD. In order to halt fascism's advance, YCLs embraced Dimitrov's 

populist policies, rejecting many of their Leninist traditions. The Popular Front Generation 

sought to facilitate broad coordination among all youth organizations, irrespective of 

class or ideology. 8 The key principle of the Popular Front was anti-fascist unity. 

Youth Against Opportunism: The Leninist Generation 

The Leninist Generation scorned nearly all other youth groups as "class traitors" or 

"counter-revolutionaries." In many ways, this disposition was a direct emulation of 

Lenin's political personality. Lenin had exhibited a ruthless hostility to all opponent 

organizations, insisting on the "correctness" of his own analysis. Lenin asserted that the 

role of the true revolutionary was "not to convince, but to break up the ranks of the 

opponent, not to correct the mistake of the opponent, but to destroy him, to wipe his 

organisation off the face of the earth." 9 This spirit of militant struggle was one of the 

most defining features of the early communist movement that brought it both brutal scorn 

and praise. 10 

As noted earlier concerning the United Front, though communists spoke of the need 

for "unity," they insisted that such unity needed to be formed under their "correct" 

leadership. The YCI contended, "Unity among the young workers is possible, and will 

be accomplished, only on the platform of the Comintern and the YCI." 11 United Front 

campaigns were intentionally framed to discredit socialist leaders. The Comintern 

openly admitted the strategic goal of unity proposals stating, "The Communist vanguard 

can only gain if new layers of workers are convinced by their own experience that 

reformism is an illusion and that compromise is fatal… [since] the cornerstone of reformism 

is the solidarity of the 'reformist-socialists' with the bourgeoisies of their 'own' 

78

UNITY OF YOUTH 

countries." 12 The YCI asserted the role of the YCLs was to "abolish" opponent socialist 

youth groups and to prevent the working-class youth from "retreat into the arms of the 

Second International." 13 

With the perceived threat of further imperialist wars looming over their generation, the 

ECYCI astutely proclaimed, "Having mapped out our course, scorning with cruel thoroughness 

all half measures and compromises, we must follow it to the bitter end." 14 The 

YCI asserted that communist tactics were the only "correct" positions under the current 

historical period: 

Capitalism has guided humanity into a blind alley, from which there is but one outlet – 

world revolution… its victory depends on the struggle, the will and the power of the proletariat. 

The proletarian world revolution can conquer only if the proletariat completely 

frees itself from reformist illusions, leaves the allies of the bourgeoisie in the camp of 

the Second International, and enters the struggle under the leadership of the Communist 

Parties and of the Communist International.... The working class can gain final victory 

only if it manifests the greatest courage, self-sacrifice and discipline, and learns to fight 

with its class enemies in all situations. 15 

The "world revolution" necessitated "correct leadership" to lead the working class. 

Driven by their Leninist faith, the YCI insisted that the Comintern was the only organization 

that could provide this correct and difficult leadership. 

The YCI constituted themselves as the "true revolutionary leaders" of the workingclass 

youth. To win youth over to their "correct leadership," all other youth movements 

needed to be opposed and destroyed: 

The Young Communist Leagues conduct an energetic struggle… against the numerous 

religious societies, the national sports clubs, the militarist, chauvinist, pacifist and other 

Youth organizations. They also aim to do away with the Social-Democratic, Syndicalist, 

and Anarchist influence on the Youth, and to liquidate the Youth organizations of this 

tendency. 16 

Coordinated activities with other youth groups were intentionally designed to discredit 

and expose their leadership. The ultimate goal of communist "unity" initiatives was to 

"liquidate" other organizations, winning its membership over to the YCL. In his unpublished 

1929 history of the YCI, Mick Jenkins stated, "United Front tactics operated from 

above had the purpose of exposing the leaders and no other purpose." 17 

YCI statements disclosed an overt hostility to all other youth organizations. A 1924 

YCI pamphlet openly proclaimed, "We will show to our enemies the bourgeoisie and the 

social democrats… that there shall be no peace between us until they are definitely 

defeated." 18 The Communist Parties reinforced these positions issuing statements like, 

"The aim of the YCL is to become the mass organisation and leader of the young workers, 

and it, therefore, sees no necessity whatever for any other organisations of the 

working-class youth." 19 Traditional YCI policies, instead of rallying mass movements of 

working-class youth, often discredited young communists as alien and disruptive elements 

among the youth. 

79


Communist hostility stemmed from the premise that other organizations simply "bred 

illusions" within the minds of young workers. Opponent groups represented a perceived 

conscious effort by "the bourgeoisie to dominate the youth intellectually" in order to 

distort the true nature of capitalist society. 20 All other youth organizations were deemed 

class traitors for distracting youth from the revolutionary class struggle. Constructive 

coordination and unity was considered opportunist and undesirable by the YCI leadership. 

21 Socialist youth were specifically targeted for retarding the revolutionary development 

of young workers. The YCI insisted socialist youth stood for "class collaboration 

in place of the class struggle, and seeks therefore to train the working youth too in the 

spirit of class peace." 22 In 1922 the YCI stated: 

Your enemies, however, are not only the capitalists; they often stand right in your midst. 

They call themselves your friends, but they are much worse than your open enemies, because 

they see to confuse you in the struggle for your vital interests. What would you 

say to the friend, who, before you enter the battle against a deadly enemy would give 

you a gun without munition, or one that does not shoot You would despise him and 

thrust him from you. Take heed! There are such doubtful friends at work.... They are 

the leaders of the Young Socialist movement. 23 

Socialist youth leaders were not simply political opponents. YCI propaganda emphatically 

declared that socialists were "despicable" enemies of the working-class youth. 

The "social-fascist" rhetoric of the Third Period (1928-1933) intensified splits within 

the working-class youth, in the end, enabling the rise of Nazi fascism. The Comintern 

significantly underestimated the ability of fascism to mobilize disillusioned youth. With 

the rise of the Third Reich, the YCI was forced to seriously revise its conceptions of 

fascism and youth unity. The Popular Front Generation abandoned most its traditional 

Leninist positions, attempting to build broad youth unity around a program of antifascism 

and collective security. 

Youth of the World Unite: The Popular Front Generation 

Dimitrov insisted the continuation of traditional Leninist practices served to strengthen 

the position of fascism, leaving the entire young generation defenceless. Fascism had 

succeeded in establishing and securing power by making broad appeals to the entire 

youth of the nation to struggle against the perceived decadence and corruption of adults. 

Dimitrov urged the Comintern to reconsider its positions on youth and fascism to counter 

fascism's appeals to the youth: 

Fascism also triumphed for the reason that it was able to penetrate the ranks of the 

youth… while the revolutionary proletariat did not develop the necessary educational 

work among the youth and did not pay enough attention to the struggle for its specific 

interests and demands. Fascism grasped the very acute need of the youth for militant activity, 

and enticed a considerable section of the youth into its fighting detachments… 

seeing no prospects for the future, large sections of the youth proved to be particularly 

receptive to fascist demagogy. 24 

80


While fascism framed its appeals to the youth, Dimitrov asserted that in reality it was the 

deadliest enemy of the entire young generation. 

The ability of fascism to mobilize youth was, in part, a reflection of the failures of 

communists to appeal to the youth. During his addresses to the Comintern's Seventh 

Congress, Dimitrov scorned the YCLs as sectarian organizations whose "approach to the 

socialist youth and other non-communist youth is not always correct." 25 The YCLs were 

instructed that they "must strive in every way to unite the forces of all non-fascist mass 

organizations of the youth." 26 Though such positions were traditionally considered 

opportunist, Dimitrov insisted this was the only correct tactic to mobilize the youth 

against fascism. 

Otto Kuusinen spoke on behalf of the Comintern Executive Committee at the 1935 

YCI World Congress. Kuusinen reiterated Dimitrov's positions, emphasizing the theme 

of youth unity. Kuusinen warned the YCI against an over reliance on "the old doctrinaire 

formulas," urging youth to "realize that times have changed ." 27 Kuusinen urged young 

communists to make broad appeals to mobilize "the entire youth…in a common 

fight…for our rights, the rights of the youth." 28 Other youth groups were no longer 

considered to be "enemy organizations" to be approached with "the purpose of destroying 

or weakening" them. All non-fascist youth movements were considered potential allies 

to be transformed "from centers of bourgeois influence… into centers of proletarian 

influence." 29 Kuusinen admitted that these revisions of Leninist theory necessitated an 

entire change in communist practice. Under the Popular Front era he insisted, "The 

central task of the Young Communist International now is to establish unity of the youth 

movement against fascism, war and capitalist oppression." 30 Such unity would "inoculate" 

the youth from fascist values, stripping the fascists of a potential mobilizing base. 

Kuusinen praised the noble "ideals of youth," highlighting the divergence between 

"reactionary ideals and revolutionary ideals" by associating the former with fascism and 

the later with the youth. 31 The struggle against fascism and the anticipation of war 

necessitated a complete revision of the role of the YCI and its relationship with other 

youth movements. 

Likewise, Wolf Michal stressed the common values of youth and anti-fascism, positing 

a unique and new perspective for the YCI. Michal's speech utilized "youth metaphors," 

associating fascism with the forces of a corrupt and decadent old world and youth 

with the progressive forces of peace, democracy and socialism. In his opening statement 

Michal stressed that "youth want to live, to work and fight, they want to advance, to 

make the world more beautiful....The youth regard the old world with distrust." 32 In 

negation to this positive statement, Michal exposed the treacherous realities of fascism 

stating, "Never in history was the youth so shamelessly deceived, never were their hopes 

shattered so, as by the fascists. Fascism is a movement of the moribund old world." 33 

Fascism represented a negation of the values and aspirations of all youth. In Michal's 

analysis, fascist values and the youth had nothing in common insisting, "We, and with us 

81


the younger generation of all nations, want peace. Fascism wants war. Fascism is the 

deadly enemy of the overwhelming majority of the younger generation." 34 Opposition to 

this common enemy could facilitate the unity of the entire young generation. 

Michal reiterated Kuusinen's positions on the practical implications of Popular Front 

theory. Transitions in theory had to be translated into a new series of practices for the 

youth: 

The question arises: are the Young Communist Leagues capable of accelerating the 

broad united front of all the forces of the youth if they retain their former character, if 

they work as they formerly did Our answer to this question can only be in the negative. 

If we do not change the content, form and method of our work, we shall not be in a position 

successfully to serve the cause of uniting the forces of the younger generation of 

youth. As regards the youth, we have no interests apart from or contradictory to their interest, 

requirements and aims. Their interests are our interests, their demands are our 

demands, their aims are our aims. 35 

Popular Front rhetoric downplayed divergences between communists and other youth 

movements, emphasizing the common values of youth. Michal insisted that the antifascist 

struggle necessitated a new approach to youth alliances: 

We do not deceive ourselves as to the differences of principle and world outlook existing 

between these organizations and ourselves. But in the struggle against fascism, and for 

the material needs of youth, for freedom and peace, they can be our allies… we are 

prompted by one thought, one desire – to save the younger generation of the whole mankind 

from fascism. 36 

By championing a broad program "for peace, for freedom, for happiness, for progress, for 

the sum total of rights of the young generations," the YCL could unite the youth against 

the dual threat of fascism and imperialist war. 37 

The first task of the YCI was to heal the splits that existed within the working-class 

youth. The Comintern put considerable faith in the ability of young communists to forge 

a common anti-fascist platform with socialist youth. Unity between the adult parties was 

quite unlikely after so many years of intentional animosity. Kuusinen acutely observed, 

"On the question of uniting the Parties, it is obvious that the possibility of a union of the 

Socialist and Communist youth organizations in a number of countries is all the 

greater." 38 Dimitrov stated that united anti-fascist actions were desirable, but that political 

unity between adult parties could only be achieved by socialist acceptance of: 

1) The complete independence from the bourgeoisie and complete rupture of the bloc of 

Social-Democracy with the bourgeoisie. 2) The condition that unity of action be first 

brought about. 3) The condition that the necessity of the revolutionary overthrow of the 

rule of the bourgeoisie and the establishment of the Dictatorship of the proletariat in the 

form of Soviets be recognized. 4) The condition that support of one's own bourgeoisie 

in imperialist war be rejected. 5) The condition that the party be constructed on the basis 

of democratic centralism, which ensures unity of will and action. 39 

In essence, Dimitrov argued that adult political unity would only be achieved by complete 

socialist acceptance of Leninism. 

82


In stark contrast to these specific and unrealistic demands, no strict guidelines were 

formulated for youth unity. Dimitrov insisted that the YCLs could not fulfil their primary 

task "of achieving unity with the socialist youth" if they kept "on trying, as they have 

done hitherto, to construct their organizations as if they were Communist Parties of the 

youth." 40 Kuusinen asserted YCL admission requirements ought to be revised and that 

"the doors of our youth organizations must be thrown wide open!" 41 Unlike the past, 

youth were not expected to accept Leninism to gain YCL membership or affiliation to the 

YCI. YCI propaganda asserted youth would be allowed complete independence in 

guiding the development of socialist youth unity. Michal stated, "The members of both 

organizations should freely decide the organizational forms and the name of the amalgamated 

organizations as well as its connections with parties and affiliation with the 

Internationals." 42 Though the Comintern deemed such possibilities unlikely, YCLs were 

actually theoretically given the opportunity to disaffiliate from the YCI if their socialist 

comrades deemed it a necessary condition for unification. 

Michal reiterated the common values of socialist and communist youth. A common 

anti-fascist and anti-war platform was the only pre-requisite to achieve the political unity 

of working-class youth: 

From the rostrum of the World Congress of the Young Communist International, we declare 

that we consider the Socialist youth as our closest allies. We say to the young Socialists, 

our class brothers: We want to work in common with you, shoulder to shoulder 

in a comradely way, for the interests of the youth and in the spirit of struggle against our 

common enemy – fascism – in order to hinder the outbreak of imperialist war and to 

wrest the workers and the toiling youth from the clutches of hunger, want and lack of 

rights. We and the young Socialists are allies because we are the sons of one class, because 

we have a common doctrine – Marxism, because we have a common foe – fascism, 

and because we have a great, invincible ideal in common, socialism… further 

maintenance of the split of the working class youth cannot be justified. 43 

Socialist youth groups were no longer considered enemy organizations to be exposed and 

liquidated. The Popular Front Generation insisted the splits that had been intentionally 

bred in the socialist movement had to be overcome by the youth in order to defeat 

fascism. 

"Unity" became the watchword and central basis of the Popular Front. Those who 

were willing to work with the communists were praised, while those opposing Popular 

Front tactics were demonized as fascist agents, saboteurs and reactionaries. This strategy 

was designed specifically to discriminate against Trotskyist influences that still posited 

traditional Leninist outlooks. Michal insisted that within youth Popular Front groups that 

"there is no place in these organizations for… the opponents of unity." 44 The divergence 

in the orthodox theory and practice of Trotskyism with Popular Front communism made 

the two movements highly incompatible and antagonistic. 45 Dimitrov predicted that the 

Trotskyists would continually "do their utmost to prevent the establishment of working 

class unity and the development of the People's Front movement against fascism and 

war." 46 

83


Indeed, Trotskyist positions on unity reflected an orthodox Bolshevik view against 

class collaboration and international collective security. At the founding conference of 

the Fourth International the Trotskyists discussed the threat of the fascist powers, but still 

contended that the "United States remains the dominant imperialist force" and that its 

domination of the world could only be "smashed by the proletarian revolution." 47 The 

Trotskyists asserted they represented "true Bolshevism" while the Comintern claimed to 

represent the "true spirit" of Leninism under the era of fascist advance. The YCI insisted 

its anti-Trotskyist positions were necessary to stave off youth reversion into traditional 

Bolshevik tactics that were incompatible with the Popular Front. 

Dimitrov's analysis suggested that fascism maintained power by "successfully applying 

the well-known crafty motto of divide and rule." Popular anti-fascist unity was the 

only method that could "offer determined resistance to fascism, preventing it from 

coming to power." 48 Popular Front rhetoric characterized fascism as a common enemy of 

all youth, urging the establishment of broad anti-fascist alliances. Regardless of their 

class or ideological background, all youth movements, outside of the Trotskyists, were 

considered potential allies if they were willing to stand in unity with young communists 

against fascism. 


The Popular Front transformed the YCLs in Britain and the United States from small 

isolated organizations into mass movements of anti-fascist youth. YCI literature of the 

Leninist Generation continually scorned the British and American Leagues for their small 

sizes and sectarian practices. These YCLs exhibited an incorrect "vanguard" attitude," 

neglecting "the necessity of embracing the broad masses of the young workers" due to 

their "infantile sickness of radicalism." 49 The YCI continued stating, "Their talk about 

struggle and militant tactics is the meaningless chatter of phrasemongers who have no 

idea that it is necessary to draw the masses into the struggle and to lead them." 50 With the 

rise of the Third Reich, the British and American YCLs sought out broad anti-fascist 

alliances with other organizations before finally adopting the Popular Front. By legitimizing 

such populist activities in 1935, the Comintern facilitated new political opportunities 

for the British and American Leagues to become powerful forces in their national 

youth political culture. 

The Comintern's traditional Leninist program severely retarded the development of 

socialist youth unity in Britain. During the inter-war period Britain had a politically 

influential socialist movement. Unlike the United States, the British had a well established 

tradition of socialist youth activism. Leninism had a divisive impact of the development 

of socialist youth, intentionally developing deep splits among working-class 

youth. In many of the mining and industrial communities of Britain, the YCL stood in 

direct competition with both traditional youth organizations and socialist youth groups. 51 

84


Though the YCL propagated for unity, especially with the ILP Guild of Youth, such 

initiatives were often rejected as inherently insincere and potentially dangerous ventures. 

52 Aversion against unity emanated from a desire to show the respectability of the 

Labour movement and the common knowledge that communists sought to disrupt and 

ultimately destroy opponent organizations. These early years of mutual animosity 

stagnated the growth of both the socialist and communist youth movements. 

The Leninist Generation portrayed a façade of youth reconciliation in their rhetoric, 

even though much of their literature advanced a blatant hostility towards other socialist 

youth. In a 1926 pamphlet entitled The United Front of the Youth the YCL admitted they 

had theoretical differences with the ILP Guild of Youth, but contended that they were 

"always prepared to discuss those differences, and win or be won to a change of ideas." 53 

In the same pamphlet the YCL dismissed allegations that they were "plotting the destruction 

of the Guilds" as "absolutely absurd," positing that "those who fight against the 

United Front fight against Socialism!" 54 The pamphlet's cover image was of two youth's 

shaking hands, crushing a capitalist and military officer in their grip. (See Appendix) 

The cover used a simple general slogan stating, "Two hands are better than one." In their 

Congress report of the same year the YCL described the Labour League of Youth and the 

ILP Guild as their "most dangerous" opponents, and that "a genuinely militant and 

revolutionary class policy for the young workers can be pursued only on the basis of the 

programme of the YCI." 55 The watchwords of YCL propaganda centred on themes of 

unity, but unity could only be acceptable upon socialist acceptance of a proscribed 

Leninist program. 

Positions of hostility and insistence on the "correctness" on the YCI were intensified 

during the Third Period. In a 1930 League training manual the YCL scorned comrades 

for "under-estimating the necessity for sharpening the struggle against the "Socialist" 

Youth Movement." 56 This manual urged YCLers to approach socialist youth while at the 

same time chastising these groups as tools of the "bourgeoisie to bring the masses under 

its spell, and all these organizations are our bitter enemies." 57 Though animosity ebbed 

and waned to different intensities throughout the period, the Leninist Generation supported 

a general oppositional line against all other British youth organizations, especially 

the socialist youth. 

In 1933 the YCL relaxed its traditional oppositional positions, fermenting new attempts 

at unity with the ILP Guild. After the ILP split from the Labour Party in 1932, the 

Ninth Annual Conference of the Guild voted unanimously for its National Guild Committee 

to enter into unity negotiations with the YCI. Since the Guild had left the Labour 

Party it lost its affiliations with the SYI. The Guild insisted that any common agreements 

"should not mean the submergence of the ILP Guild of Youth into the Young Communist 

International." 58 The YCI contended the Guild's only choice was either to merge with the 

YCLGB under the centralized leadership of the Comintern or to rejoin the SYI and their 

"united front with the bourgeoisie." 59 The joint work of the Guild and YCL was to be 

85


centred upon "exposing the policy of the leaders of the Labour Party, the League of 

Youth and the Trade Union, and all who drag our movement backwards." 60 Though 

communist rhetoric was softened on scorning the Guild, YCI dictates still necessitated 

the Guild's acceptance of communist principles. At this point, the YCI contended unity 

could only be achieved by acceptance of the "correct" theory and practice of the 

Comintern. 

In 1934 the YCL went further to soften their oppositional rhetoric against both the ILP 

Guild and the Labour League of Youth, courting their organizations for socialist unity. 

The YCL began directing their attacks at reformist adults who were limiting the political 

scope of socialist youth activities. The YCL denounced the Labour Party leadership for 

not allowing the LLOY to hold an annual conference to set a youth policy and for upholding 

"a ban on Socialist Youth working with Communist Youth in struggle against 

Fascism and War." 61 Similar rhetoric was directed against the ILP leadership for attempting 

to divert unity efforts between the Guild and YCL. 62 The YCL contended that adults 

sought to limit the activities of socialist youth due to the "clearer vision of the youth, 

their lack of old traditions, combined with courage and a desire for action" as opposed to 

the "leaders who have no stomach for self-sacrificing struggle." 63 The YCL offered 

socialist youth "Unity and Comradeship in Action" for any who were willing to "fight 

sincerely against war." 64 The YCI supported the development of this unity arguing that 

"in the struggle for the United Front and for their own independence, [socialist youth] 

will be able to find the path which will help them to become bold and firm fighters 

against Fascism, for Socialism." 65 Such inclusive and supportive rhetoric met with 

success in Britain and in "May 1934, the whole Guild voted to affiliate" to the YCI. 66 In 

affiliating to the YCI, the Guild was urged to "fight against… [any] association with the 

Trotskyists" since they stood against the YCI's vision of unity. 67 Such inclusive rhetoric 

towards socialist youth and denunciations of Trotskyism became regular features of 

Popular Front propaganda. 

With the adoption of the Popular Front line, John Gollan declared the YCL's new goal 

was "rallying the young generation for a happy future." 68 Gollan dropped much of the 

YCL's traditional rhetoric, making direct appeals to socialist youth and the "whole 

middle-class youth." 69 Gollan contended that "the struggle for Peace and against Fascism" 

required the YCL to work "in a radically different manner from what we have ever 

done previously" since the "whole young generation must be swung into the fight… for 

the defence of the youth." 70 Unity and "friendly co-operation" necessitated that young 

communists transform "the structure, the forms of work and, indeed, the whole character 

of our YCL." 71 

Popular Front initiatives contrasted past practices with fresh prospects for the future. 

Gollan reflected on previous relations between socialist and communist youth, detailing 

the YCL's new perspective on future relations: 

86


At the earliest possible moment we must overcome the fact of two political organisations 

of the working-class youth… we are prepared to do everything in our power to bring 

about the speediest possible unification of the Socialist Youth in our country... A few 

years ago we felt ourselves to be poles apart… we were suspicious of each other, and felt 

hostile one against the other... To-day we feel ourselves more and more to be comrades 

in arms, close allies in a common cause, bound by a hundred ties.... We, Young Communists, 

declare our readiness to amalgamate our forces with those of the LLY as a 

means of achieving unification.... We are prepared to merge on the basis of the struggle 

for the interests of the youth. 72 

Previous proposals for unity always centred on socialist acceptance of Leninism. Popular 

Front rhetoric made much broader appeals, insisting socialist unity could be based solely 

on "the struggle for the interests of the youth." Gollan appealed to the LLOY for unity 

stating, "The National Government and the Employers are threatening the whole future of 

our generation… they are the hated and despised enemies of youth… let us unite all our 

forces." 73 A united socialist youth league was the key to developing the Popular Front in 

Britain. 

The YCL encountered enthusiasm and support from the LLOY in their unity proposals. 

CPGB documents reveal the Party also supported this initiative, contending that the 

LLOY program "provides a sound platform for uniting the socialist youth of Britain." 74 

In 1935 the leadership of the LLOY became frustrated with the lack of autonomy and 

political support granted to them by the Labour Party. A young Labour militant named 

Ted Willis was at the forefront of these critiques, insisting the Labour Party was stifling 

the growth of the LLOY. Willis became receptive to YCL appeals for unity, contending 

the young communists were granted greater independence and initiative than Labour 

youth. 75 

The Labour Party was extremely hostile to proposals of youth unity, dismissing notions 

that the YCL's initiatives represented a sincere change of tactics. 76 A pamphlet 

produced in 1935 denounced the Popular Front, insisting the goal of the communists was 

"the complete destruction of the Industrial and Political Labour Movements." 77 Labour 

posited that communists still stood for the "overthrow of the existing social system by 

violence" which made any united activities incompatible between the youth. 78 As LLOY 

members began working with the YCL, in direct violation of Labour Party policy, the 

NEC scolded the youth in April, 1936 for claiming that is "should be a Youth Movement… 

independent of the control of the Party." 79 The Labour Party National Executive 

Committee (NEC) forced the LLOY's official paper, the New Nation, to fall in ideological 

line with Labour's official positions against the Popular Front. 80 In reaction to this, 

Ted Willis began publishing an "unofficial" newspaper for the LLOY called Advance, 

reflecting the LLOY's growing support of the Popular Front. 

Advance immediately came under fire by the Trotskyists and Labour's NEC as a Stalinist 

and "communist front" publication, contending Willis was a pawn being used by 

the YCL. 81 In retaliation, the NEC disbanded the youth National Advisory Committee in 

1937 and prevented the LLOY from holding a National Conference until March, 1938. 82 

87


During this period youth resentment of the NEC intensified, culminating in greater 

support for Willis and youth unity. The 1938 National Conference elected Ted Willis as 

its leader and Advance was adopted as its official newspaper. The NEC pressed Willis to 

recant on his Popular Front efforts to which Willis replied that "he has always made clear 

his desire to work for the merger of the YCL with the Labour League of Youth and we 

would continue to work to attain this end." 83 

The YCL paid close attention to these developments in the LLOY. YCL literature 

made public appeals to the Labour Party and the LLOY to find a common ground upon 

which "the YCL and its members could enter the Labour League of Youth" to build a 

"mass united organization of Labour Youth." 84 The NEC was unreceptive to these 

appeals, consistently expressing grave concern and hostility about Willis' leadership. 85 

After receiving a detailed memorandum from John Huddlestone "concerning the "dangerous 

work" of the League of Youth," the NEC decided to disband its national leadership 

in the summer of 1939. 86 The NEC took this initiative without even consulting the 

LLOY. The expulsion of Ted Willis prompted a large section of the LLOY membership 

to follow Willis into the YCL. Though the YCL had hoped that a united socialist youth 

league would be created within the existing LLOY to keep Labour Party affiliation, it 

openly welcomed Willis and his followers into their ranks. 

YCL rhetoric and actions were also directed at coordinating activity among all British 

youth. This strategy was a profound switch from traditional Leninist tactics. The YCL's 

national leadership insisted, "It is time to rid ourselves of that self-satisfied, frank disbelief 

in the possibilities for democratic activity of the youth movements that still lurks in 

our branches, preventing mass work from being done." 87 United activity could transform 

the political perspective of all participants. The YCL contended, "Unity adds something 

more than the mere numbers united; it transforms the outlook of the movement." 88 

United activity could show youth the common values held by their generation, dissuading 

organizations from pursuing an isolated existence. 

Popular Front concepts shifted the YCL's focus from an internal to an external perspective 

centred on influencing the development of the youth movement. Mick Bennett 

urged the YCL to transform its methods to adapt to the Popular Front: 

Our policy arises from the experiences and lives of the youth, therefore, it is a policy of 

the youth…our policy has so much in common with the highest ideals of youth.... Comrade 

Gollan explained how all youth, provided that they believe in democracy and are 

against Fascism, can find a place in the YCL. This is not yet the spirit and the general 

idea which runs through the whole of our work and League life.... We have got to learn 

from the other youth movements… this conviction has to be ingrained with us. 89 

The new role of the YCL was to "serve the British youth," not just the Communist 

Party. 90 The YCL National Congress stated that the YCL "is an indispensable necessity 

for the successful development of the youth struggle… being the best inspirers and most 

active workers on all fronts of youth activity." 91 

88


The Leninist YCL denounced all other movements as enemies of working-class youth. 

The Popular Front YCL unequivocally rejected this notion. Young communists were 

urged to work locally in "gathering of all democratic forces of youth in your area" in a 

movement where "clarity, conviction and actions" were to count more than "correct" 

slogans and ideology. 92 John Gollan pleaded that now was not the time to contemplate 

the "maturity of ideas," but to "seek and find ways and means to speedily bring about the 

betterment in life of the young generation which all of us must agree is so urgently 

required." 93 Another article by Gollan reflected on the implications of this position: 

Unity will win, and to all prepared to travel this road to a peace alliance, no matter who 

they are, with them we will loyally work for the agreed-upon programme. They are not 

asked to give up their principles. All they are asked is to unite on a common programme 

of action to save all of us from destruction. 94 

The mantra of the Popular Front YCL centred on identifying common goals and enemies 

to initiate coordinated youth actions instead of focussing on "correct" theory and practice. 

The YCL used Challenge to facilitate greater bonds and democratic discussion among 

the youth, beginning a weekly "Youth Forum" column in October, 1938 that contained 

guest articles from other youth leaders. This "Youth Forum" enabled "young men and 

women of differing religious, political and social organisations will discuss the problems 

before the young generation, and particularly the problem of genuine co-operation for 

peace and social justice." 95 This column discussed British problems and solutions to 

youth issues that were being advanced in other nations. A Challenge article by John 

Moon, the head of the National Association of Boys’ Clubs, discussed the development 

of the National Youth Administration in the US. Moon urged that a similar organization 

be established in Britain in close consultation with the united youth movement. 96 

The YCL's unity program promoted discrimination against Trotskyist youth. Here the 

YCL's position was based on both Soviet slander and a sincere conviction that Trotskyism 

was incompatible with the Popular Front. 97 Trotskyists promoted traditional Bolshevik 

methods. The YCL insisted, "No democratic youth organisation will tolerate the 

presence in their ranks of a known Trotskyist." 98 The YCL condemned "all expressions 

of Trotskyism and the sectarianism upon which Trotskyism fastens." 99 YCL statements 

further exposed how Trotskyist influences were "trying to bring about desertions and 

splits in the League of Youth;" a tactic that the YCL said "no true supporter of workingclass 

unity can support." 100 Such strategies were central to the old Leninist YCL, but 

were now denounced during the Popular Front. 

The YCL contended Trotskyism intentionally deterred the progression towards broad 

unity. The Trotskyist publication Youth Militant was quoted to show the "real intent" of 

Trotskyists stating, "It is the duty of Militants to carry on the exposure of these dangerous 

delusions… raising the issues of class struggle and the overthrow of any government." 101 

The same YCL article continued denouncing Trotskyism stating: 

They called on their supporters to go into the BYPA, not with the object of co-operating 

to build it, but to discredit, disrupt and wreck it… they are beginning to worm their way 

89


in not in order to help their development into a mass movement expressing unity… but 

to make them nests of "opposition," points of support for the Trotskyist intrigues.... Inevitably, 

they do all this under the cover of "left" sounding phrases, with which they 

mask their real purpose… the "pull" of old ideas and habits leads, in practice, to resistance 

against the operation of our policy. It is this atmosphere in which sectarianism 

flourishes and which provides fertile soil for the plating of Trotskyist influences in our 

midst. 102 

The YCL contended that their anti-Trotskyist campaigns clarified the impact of sectarianism 

among the youth. Ideological confusion was "fostered and exploited by the Trotskyists, 

who are carrying on a vicious wrecking campaign against our line." 103 The YCL 

further contended that Trotskyist theory in practice "shielded Chamberlain by their false 

phrases" directed against Popular Front unity. 104 YCL logic deducted that since Trotskyists 

opposed broad youth unity, they were either consciously or unconsciously allies of 

reaction and fascism. 

The British Youth Parliament became an important unity platform for the YCL. 

Youth Congress movements affiliated to the international World Youth Congress became 

a standard feature of the Popular Front internationally. 105 The British youth movement 

had official representation of various organizations at the World Youth Congresses, but 

did not create a British Youth Parliament until 1939. 106 Discussion of a Youth Parliament 

began during the early struggles for the Youth Charter. The Charter movement had 

initially been supported primarily by socialist youth and working-class agitation in the 

Trade Union Congress. The YCL hoped a Youth Parliament would broaden the appeal of 

the Youth Charter and "become a real expression of the will of the whole of the youth for 

peace, democracy and social justice" so that "the charter will be achieved." 107 The YCL 

insisted a broad Youth Parliament could become "a Genuine Assembly of all the democratic 

youth of Britain." 108 

The Youth Parliament received broad support and participation from throughout Britain. 

The YCL received wishes of success from prominent individuals like "the 

Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York, the Chief Rabbi, Viscount Cecil… 

and Brigadier General Sir Wyndham Deedes" for their service to the Youth Parliament 

that focussed "the attention of youth on the duties of citizenship." 109 At the foundation of 

the Youth Parliament in March, 1939 "twenty-seven national youth organizations" sent 

representatives including "the Junior Imperial League and the Federation of University 

Conservative and Unionist Association." 110 Even though the Youth Parliament contained 

such potentially reactionary elements, the YCL pledged at its Eleventh National Congress 

that it would "share this democratic spirit and… [would] find ways of making the Youth 

Parliament the success it needs to be." 111 During its first meeting the YCL ridiculed the 

Trotskyist elements "who were there not to obtain the widest unity for the maximum 

progress, but who wanted to use the Parliament as a place in which to air their obnoxious 

views… and "revolutionary" phrases." 112 The YCL contended that the rest of the delegates, 

regardless of ideology, showed a deep united commitment to anti-fascism demon- 

90


strating that if "our youth could have a greater say in Government, there would be an 

enormous change for the better for the whole population." 113 The YCL believed that the 

open "democratic discussion" of the Youth Parliament could be developed to mobilize 

anti-fascist sentiment and activities among the entire youth. 114 

One of the main focuses of Popular Front activities and rhetoric was the peace movement 

that arose out of the 1934 British "Peace Ballot" initiative. 115 Gollan contended that 

in Britain, peace was the vital issue that could facilitate broad youth unity. 116 In 1935 the 

British Youth Peace Assembly (BYPA) was established, bringing together youth of 

diverse political, religious and philosophical backgrounds. Leninist YCL rhetoric would 

have condemned this venture as opportunistic. A 1935 Challenge article instead praised 

this initiative of British youth: 

The important organizations of Britain's Youth have decided to establish an Assembly of 

Youth for peace.... Representatives were present from the following organisations, some 

of them as observers: Younger Generation Movement, Student Christian Youth Movement, 

Young Communist League, Young Liberals, Young Conservatives, British Federation 

of Co-operative Youth, National Union of Students, Boy Scouts' Association, 

Girl Guides, YWCA, Labour League of Youth, League of Nations Youth, University 

Labour Federation, Fabian Nursery, Young Theosophists, Holiday Fellowship, Christian 

Endeavour, International Friendship League... The Assembly is to discuss questions relating 

to peace and to agree upon common action for the maintenance of peace.... In a 

situation as exists to-day, this historic coming together of the Youth bodies will contribute 

much to the preservation of world peace. 117 

The BYPA held common perspectives with the YCL on peace and anti-fascism. The 

BYPA identified both "the threat of warmongers at home and abroad," highlighting the 

connections between domestic and international policies that threatened the youth with 

war. 118 Communists contended this common sentiment could inspire mass actions against 

the National Government. One YCL statement argued, "Youth wants work, peace and a 

future. Baldwin's National Government denies these things. Prepare now… away with 

the enemies of youth!" 119 Instead of investing in the future of British youth, the YCL 

contended Baldwin was directing precious government investments into war; Baldwin 

offered youth "a larger Army and a larger Navy and a fifty per cent increase in our 

chance of dying young." 120 As the BYPA developed, the YCL found fresh allies in 

struggles for collective security, support of Spain and their continued campaigns against 

the National Government. 

The YCLUSA was transformed from a small propagandist sect into one of the most 

influential American youth organizations of the inter-war era. 121 During the twenties, 

both the YWL and the YPSL were small organizations with little political influence. 122 

The Leninist Generation's strict oppositional culture and factional splits marginalized 

revolutionary youth, retarding the popularization of socialism among young American 

workers. The YWL rejected coalition politics, insisting the workers' struggle could only 

"go onward under the revolutionary banner of the hope of the proletarian masses of the 

world, the Communist International!" 123 Unity rhetoric was focussed internally on 

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ideological disputes, encouraging strict discipline to posit against any further factional 

splits. 124 With its internalized outlook the YWL had very little influence on youth politics 

in the twenties. 

As we have seen, the Third Period intensified the oppositional culture of YCLs, advancing 

an "ultra-left" condemnation of all other youth movements, especially the 

socialist youth. For example, in a revealing pamphlet entitled Who Are the Young 

Communists, the YCL attacked organizations like the YMCA, YWCA and the Boy's 

Club Federation. The YCL insisted that these groups intentionally split the ranks of the 

working-class youth, securing their allegiance to organizations that were "openly financed 

and controlled by the bosses" to "fool the young workers." 125 The YPSL was 

scorned for carrying on "no struggle against the bosses… [and] no militant fight against 

war" which reflected how they systematically "betray the young workers." 126 The YCL 

represented the "true class struggle" against the "misleaders of labor," encouraging 

revolutionary unity "in the common struggle against the bosses and their government." 127 

Though Third Period rhetoric frequently spoke of unity, the YCL contended workingclass 

unity should only occur under their "correct" leadership. 

Up to this point, the main initiatives for youth unity came from the National Student 

League and the Student League for Industrial Democracy. 128 Robert Cohen observed that 

because the NSL was created from below by students in 1931, it did not inherit either the 

"extreme sectarianism" or "Comintern dogma" of the YCL, enabling pragmatism in 

approaching socialist and liberal students. 129 The NSL facilitated student unity by initiating 

common activities between communist, socialist and liberal youth. In March, 1932 

the NSL organized a broad delegation of students to investigate a miner's strike in 

Harlan, Kentucky. The Harlan delegation received major national press attention and 

even political audience in Washington DC. 130 During this month, the Young Worker 

carried only one brief two-sentence article about the delegation, dedicating the majority 

of this issue to anti-YPSL statements in line with Third Period rhetoric. 131 Joe Lash of the 

YPSL later recalled that the Harlan delegation showed how "Socialist and Communist 

students and non-affiliated students could work together," even if it was a practice not yet 

officially adopted or endorsed by either the Comintern or the YCL. 132 

After the Harlan experience the NSL and SLID came into closer contact through joint 

work linked with the Student Congress Against War that took place December, 1932 in 

Chicago. At this conference the NSL showed a pragmatic and flexible spirit of unity 

towards both young socialists and pacifist youth. The NSL rephrased their resolutions 

that non-communist youth took issue with in order to build the largest consensus against 

war. Young Worker articles contended that the SLID had "tried their best to disrupt the 

Congress and prevent a real united front of students against imperialist war." 133 The NSL 

and SLID held a very different view of the events than this propagated YCL opinion. 

One socialist activist praised the mutually accommodating spirit of the event stating, "In 

Chicago the most encouraging sign at the whole affair was the honest bid the Commu- 

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nists made for a united front." 134 The NSL continued promoting unity with socialist 

students during the National Student Strike Against War in April, 1934. The success of 

the student strike led the NSL and SLID to begin discussions of amalgamating their 

organizations. The NSL and SLID recognized they could have a larger impact on student 

politics by uniting their small organizations. 

It was at this time that the YCL began to slowly shift its rhetoric closer to the populist 

outlook of the NSL. The YCL praised the NSL's initiatives in building progressive 

influence and consensus politics among the youth. When the Young Worker announced 

the April, 1934 Campus Strike Against War, it recognized the event as a joint venture of 

both the NSL and SLID. This article did not attack either the NSL or SLID for taking up 

this effective joint venture which was a new phenomenon for YCL rhetoric. 135 This trend 

towards unity and populism continued in the YCL press throughout 1934. Articles 

highlighted youth initiatives that "have as its aim the unity of the youth in the struggle 

against war and fascism," toning down previous class centred and oppositional rhetoric. 136 

The YCL used consensus political rhetoric to describe the first meeting of the American 

Youth Congress in August, 1934. The AYC concept was initiated by Viola Lima, a 

young woman who had just returned from a cordial visit to Nazi Germany. Communist 

and socialist delegates questioned Lima's motivations, contending she intended to transform 

the AYC into a fascist organization. The radical students convinced the majority of 

organizations to draw up a new AYC program, undermining Lima's leadership. 137 The 

YCL praised this event as "the most important" event for youth since the delegates had 

successfully "united their forces to smash a budding fascist youth movement." The YCL 

deducted that such consensus tactics were effective in facilitating the "coordination of 

forces against unemployment, fascism and war." 138 The AYC represented "the first 

manifestation of the popular front in the youth movement" within the United Stated and 

the international youth movement. 139 With the establishment of the AYC, the YCL 

shifted its focus away from the communist dominated American League Against War and 

Fascism and into more authentic and representative youth bodies. 140 

The AYC brought together diverse elements of the American youth prior to the Popular 

Front. The second meeting of the AYC was held in Detroit on July 4, 1935. At this 

meeting the national executive held a special symposium, inviting top representatives 

from the Socialist, Communist, Democrat and Republican Parties to address the question 

of "The Position of my Party on the Program of the American Youth Congress." This 

symposium facilitated significant communication across political lines on youth issues. 141 

Just prior to the Detroit Congress, Gil Green praised how young people from "varied 

walks of life" were able to come together to "discuss their common problems – their 

traditional right to life, liberty and the pursuit happiness." 142 Once the Congress was over, 

a Young Worker headline boldly declared that over one million US youth had achieved 

complete organizational unity. 143 Later in July, Gil Green made appeals to the YPSL for 

greater unity. Green claimed the AYC taught both the YPSL and YCL "valuable les- 

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sons" about unity; the YCL was now using "numerous occasions publicly" to criticize 

their past mistakes and to show "its sincere and consistent efforts to achieve unity." 144 

The NSL and SLID capitalized upon the success of the AYC to advance their proposals 

for amalgamation. In September, 1935 communist and socialist student representatives 

met to recommend "immediate unification… to their respective conventions" to 

create the American Student Union. 145 The YCL propagated that they would not ask 

students to adopt "a Communist program," but that they wished only for the ASU to be 

"opposed to war and fascism" since American students could all agree on a minimal 

program of "struggle for the defence of peace." 146 Upon returning from the YCI Congress 

in Moscow, Gill Green praised the ASU initiative as a "merger that will create tremendous 

enthusiasm in the ranks of youth and attract thousands who today remain outside of 

our respective organizations." Green contended that youth unity stemmed from mutual 

recognition that fascism threatened "the very existence of humanity, of culture and of 

progress." 147 

Joint youth activities produced dramatic results that were not previously possible. 

After the student Armistice Day protests of 1935, the YCL observed the "anti-war 

movement is too powerful, too militant and purposeful to be evaded" which culminated 

in a series of meetings with President Roosevelt and "a greater spirit of cooperation from 

school administrators." 148 The YCL contended the ASU was vital for "the whole growing 

peoples movement against fascism and war;" it represented a true "coalition of every 

progressive force on campus against every reactionary force or interest affecting the 

student body." 149 The ASU quickly became the most influential Popular Front youth 

organization in the United States. 

The YCL and YPSL achieved poor results in unity initiatives between their organizations 

outside of the ASU and AYC. The YPSL dismissed many of the YCL's proposals 

for amalgamation. Gil Green outlined a unity program intended to create a "genuine nonparty 

youth organization." The unified league would utilize "the greatest diversity of 

organizational forms." International affiliation would "be decided democratically by both 

organizations after joint discussion." 150 Kuusinen urged the YCL and YPSL to reject 

their "separate identity," forming a new league that would reject "the principles of 

democratic centralism," opting instead for a "self-imposed discipline" and a "greater 

degree of autonomy." Under the unity proposals, the YCL and the YPSL would "cease to 

exist," leaving only a "single unified youth league" in the United States. 151 

The YPSL exhibited an extremely hostile and unreceptive attitude towards the YCL's 

proposals. Ironically, the YPSL was shifting its outlook towards traditional Leninist 

outlooks it had previously scorned the YCL for. The YPSL mocked Gil Green in its 

press, referring to him as "Ex-Revolutionary Green." They further denounced his new 

positions for rejecting the YCL's "working-class character" and for asserting that a new 

organization should "cease to be a disciplined movement." 152 A similar article from the 

Young Circle League asserted the YPSL was correct in rejecting YCL unity. The Young 

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Circle League insisted the new YCL program was "dulling the class consciousness of the 

working youth" when it should instead "draw a sharp class line and talk in class terms" to 

combat fascism. 153 

Despite the YPSL's hostilities, the YCL continued making unity proposals. The YCL 

contended the YPSL attitude was formed by misunderstandings and the influence of 

Trotskyism. Max Weiss contended the YPSL was forming their political strategies in 

negation to YCL practices, not from strategic principles: 

In the past period the YPSL has begun to take on more and more the color of a faction 

whose policy is dictated exclusively by what the YCL does or does not do. When we are 

for, they are automatically against; when we are against, they are automatically for. We 

must help the YPSL shake off the incubus of these factional, sectarian methods.... We 

must not fight against the sectarian aim of the YPSL by an equally sectarian, negative attitude 

to their proposals. 154 

The key to forging socialist unity was utilizing a proper attitude that would overcome 

past practices. In a debate with Gus Tyler of the YPSL, Gil Green contended the YPSL 

position was based on a misunderstanding of the Popular Front: 

What are the arguments against the united front.... It was said that the united front with 

the Communists was impossible because we were too far left, we repelled the masses. 

Then overnight the argument turned. We suddenly changed colors and became too far to 

the right. Where is the logic and sense in all this… people [ought to be] judged not by 

their words but by their deeds. We are ready to match our words with our deeds. 155 

Green's observations asserted that the YPSL's positions were illogical stances bred 

primarily by their traditional anti-communist prejudices. 

The YCL vigilantly attacked the entrance of Trotskyists into the YPSL. Communists 

constantly scapegoated the Trotskyists for holding back the development of socialist 

youth unity. 156 Trotskyism was deemed a "poisonous ideology" that was "polluting" the 

minds of socialist youth and "making the YPSL a sectarian organization." 157 Trotskyism 

relied upon "high sounding [revolutionary] phrases" that were alienating, denying "the 

need for allies in the struggles of the working class" and looking "upon other sections of 

the population as a reactionary mass." 158 YCL accusations against the YPSL were not 

completely unfounded. Trotskyism was quickly becoming the dominant ideology of the 

YPSL. As a result, the YPSL left the Socialist Party in 1938, becoming the youth group 

of the newly formed Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party. 159 Even without organizational 

unity, elements of the socialist youth continued to work with the YCL in a variety of 

campaigns and organizations throughout the Popular Front. 

YCL propaganda continually strove to facilitate the greatest possible anti-fascist unity 

among youth. The YCI stressed to the YCLUSA that "only a united youth can save itself 

from fascism and war." 160 The YCL observed that in the United States there existed 

"unity in Liberal opinion throughout the country" against fascism and war. The YCL 

contended its role was to translate, guide and facilitate this unity of opinion into concrete 

organizational and active political unity. 161 Unity was vital to strengthen the entire 

progressive and pro-labor forces of the United States. Popular Front reports stressed that 

95


"reactionary anti-labor forces are the only ones who benefit" from splits among progressives. 

162 The YCL believed that their unity message appealed directly to the "hearts and 

minds of youth" because they represented a "generation whose very lives are at stake if 

we cannot maintain world peace." 163 

Popular Front propaganda hoped to rally domestic support for an international alliance 

of anti-fascist nations. International articles in the YCL press stressed there was "only 

one way to defeat fascism: national as well as international unity among peaceful and 

democratic countries; unity among the youth of all tendencies desiring peace, culture and 

liberty." 164 Youth held common values threatened by a common enemy: 

The will of the people is for peace. Collective action will fulfill that will.... We Communists 

believe that in such collaboration and joint action lies the salvation of the peaceloving 

peoples of the world. That is why we are such strong advocates of unity amongst 

all organizations, irrespective of ultimate aims or program—but unity TODAY, NOW, 

for peace and democracy. Without peace and democracy, none of these peace organizations 

can think of attaining their ultimate program. 165 

This spirit of cooperation laid the basis for the "strength of the American youth movement 

[which] lies in the unity of all forces around a minimum, positive, energetic, 

hopeful, and co-operative program." 166 The Popular Front Generation posited a cooperative 

minimal program that could defend and extend social advances in the United States 

and defeat international fascism. 

All the Youth United for Spain 

Spanish youth unity became the rallying symbol for YCL rhetoric in Britain and the 

United States. Trends towards Spanish unity began prior to Franco's revolt. In 1935 

representatives of the Spanish YPSL attended the YCI World Congress instead of the 

SYI conference. 167 Unity initiatives were broadened as the two organizations began 

issuing a joint newspaper in February, 1936. This joint publication "expressed the 

feelings of the young socialists and the young communists" on the upcoming Popular 

Front coalition election. 168 After the February elections, the YCL and YPSL agreed on a 

full merger to create the United Socialist Youth League (JSU). The JSU contended the 

merger's "repercussions will be formidable from the international point of view and the 

national point of view," boasting that within months their joint organization would grow 

to over 100,000 members. 169 In its propaganda images, the JSU adopted the broad slogan 

"Toda la juventud unida por España," or "All the youth united for Spain." 170 With the 

outbreak of the Civil War and the international fascist invasion of Spain, the JSU increased 

in its size and unity and became a vanguard force in youth recruitment for 

Spanish antifascism. The youth Popular Front continually praised the JSU as its greatest 

triumph and rallying symbol. 

YCI propaganda contended the Spanish model showed the correctness of their approach 

to unity and the youth. Articles in the World Youth Review consistently associ- 

96


ated the themes of youth and unity with Spain. YCI articles stated, "The cause of Spain 

is the cause of youth!" 171 Youth were unified internationally "by a great spirit of construction," 

while the fascist forces in Spain represented "the enemy’s work of destruction" 

against the aspirations of youth. 172 The JSU showed anti-fascist youth worldwide 

how "a deep love for unity" was in reality "the only sure and effective weapon with 

which to resist and conquer the aggressions of Hitler and Mussolini." 173 Raymond Guyot, 

General Secretary of the YCI exclaimed that "unity and once more unity will permit the 

young Communists all over the world to render more efficient aid to Republican 

Spain." 174 Spain was used a "rallying call" for all anti-fascist youth: 

Under fire and beneath the banner of struggle for effective help for the Spanish people, 

unity was forged between the advanced youth of all countries. Long live the United Socialist 

Youth of Spain! An example of unity and heroism for the youth of the whole 

world! That is the cry of young anti-fascists all over the world in solidarity with the 

United Socialist Youth.... Your motto, "United as in Spain," at the side of your Spanish 

brothers, must triumph. Long live the anti-fascist unity of struggle of the youth of the 

world! 175 

The example of the JSU showed how unity, both domestically and internationally, 

empowered youth to effectively combat fascism. 

The British and American YCL held very similar interpretations of Spain in their 

rhetoric. The British YCL challenged fatalistic attitudes towards the inevitability of a 

new world war. Such propaganda invoked the example of Spain stating, "The unity of 

the Spanish has been the bulwark of democratic Europe against fascist aggression and 

war… that is the spirit of Spain." 176 The YCLUSA similarly stressed how the "whole 

Spanish people was united in a struggle to the end against the fascists" and that this 

showed American youth "what a powerful weapon unity was." 177 Challenge proclaimed 

that the "heroic struggle of the Spanish people has… awakened millions in Britain and 

America… it showed them the way to defeat fascism, by uniting their forces to oppose 

it." 178 Spanish youth unity "almost single-handedly… brought the peoples of all democratic 

countries closer together than they have ever been in history." 179 Both YCLs denounced 

the influence of Trotskyism on the Spanish POUM. In the context of the Civil 

War, the revolutionary "slogans of the Trotzkyites means alienating these large sections 

of the Spanish people, thus weakening the government, thus making possible a fascist 

victory." 180 Spain imbued communists with the notion that anti-fascist unity for defense 

required difficult choices for revolutionaries. At times, such as the case of the POUM, 

communists came to justify outright brutal suppression of other revolutionary movements 

in order to preserve and strengthen anti-fascist coalitions. 

The International Brigades were extolled for facilitating anti-fascist unity. The Brigades 

symbolized international youth solidarity to rouse British and American youth into 

support of the Popular Front. The Spanish Popular Front government used images of the 

International Brigades to propagate themes of anti-fascist unity. One propaganda poster 

showed an International Brigader supporting a smiling Spanish soldier who confidently 

97


saluted his clenched fist in the air. The image was brandished with the slogan, "La 

unidad del ejército del pueblo será el arma de la Victoria," or 'The unity of the people's 

army will be the weapon of Victory." 181 After the Austrian Anschluss in 1938, both 

YCLs asserted the need for anti-fascist unity by reflecting on the experiences of the 

International Brigades. One article on Austria and Spain stated, "Never forget for a 

moment that your pals, your brothers, are fighting in the most difficult spots in Spain 

alongside of the Spanish people… offering their lives in the supreme sacrifice in order to 

halt the fascist advance." 182 The International Brigades "proved to the people of Spain 

that it was not alone, that it had millions of friends, and gave them increased courage and 

inspiration to carry on the fight." 183 The diverse ideological and international composition 

of the Brigades showed youth the power of anti-fascist unity. 

The ideas of the Popular Front significantly reconstructed communist youth identity, 

tactics and relations with other youth movements. Gil Green reflected on this transition 

stating: 

Of course we've changed! So has everything else.... In those days, instead of cooperation 

there was friction; instead of friendship and tolerance there was hostility and antagonism. 

That was bad. We can all see that now. But whose fault was it.... The YCL in 

those days had to swim against the stream.... Cordial relations between ourselves and 

most other youth organizations were almost impossible. Because we refused to be lulled 

into a false sense of security, because we refused to partake of the opium of illusion, we 

were looked upon as troublemakers.... It took the economic crash of 1929, the subsequent 

rise of fascism and drift towards war, to knock some sense (forgive the word) into 

some people.... Our mistake in this whole matter was that we did not swiftly enough reorientate 

to the new conditions. 184 

Green's analysis contended YCL theory and practice was not static, but needed to change 

with the times. The experiences of WWI and the early twenties led the Leninist Generation 

to embrace a strict oppositional culture. Fascism forced the YCI to revise its previous 

ideological dictates to transform the YCLs from small sectarian organizations into 

broad populist youth movements. Cooperation, coalitions and broad unity were the 

necessary tactics dictated by the era of fascism. Popular Front theory enabled young 

communists to evolve from isolated propagandists into skilled political leaders of the 

international youth anti-fascist movement. 

In sum, by embracing Dimitrov's theory of fascism, the entire communist conception 

of popular unity and coalition politics was transformed. Dimitrov identified that fascism 

was only able to gain and consolidate power by exploiting divisions that existed within 

progressive and working-class movements. The Leninist Generation insisted that collaboration 

and consensus politics had enabled WWI and betrayed the revolution. As a 

result, they intentionally facilitated division, contending they alone should dominate 

working-class politics. The Popular Front Generation posited that without constructing 

broad coalitions, fascism would be given free reign to unleash a new world war. Broad 

appeals enabled effective alliance building to isolate fascism domestically and internationally. 

98

5 

DEMOCRACY: 

FROM DENUNCIATION TO DEFENCE 

It is because the victory of fascism would set back the struggle for Socialism that they 

unite in defense of Democracy, limited as it is under capitalism. 

-Joe Cohen, 1936 1 

At present the struggle for Communism, for us, means the struggle for democracy, because 

that means the struggle and unity of the people against the most reactionary section 

of finance capital – Fascism. Without this struggle there can be no social progress 

of any kind. Therefore there are not two roads, one road to Communism and one to Democracy, 

with two signposts pointing two ways. Socialism will not be possible unless 

this fight is waged for democracy. 

-Mick Bennett, 1938 2 

"Between capitalist and communist society there lies the period of the revolutionary 

transformation… in which the state can be nothing but the revolutionary dictatorship of 

the proletariat." 3 In his Critique of the Gotha Programme, Marx contested that a specific 

form of dictatorship would establish a new "social democracy." To many, such a notion 

appears paradoxical. How can a dictatorship give birth to democracy What do Marxists 

mean when they use terms like "dictatorship" and "democracy" As the citations from 

Cohen and Bennett suggest, by the mid 1930s young communists redefined their conceptions 

of democracy based off from a new understanding of fascism. This chapter explores 

the divergent positions taken by the Leninist and Popular Front Generations on 

these contentious issues. 

As already noted, traditional Marxist-Leninist ideology appears paradoxical on the 

issue of democracy. Marxist writings extensively interchange the use of the terms 

"democracy" and "dictatorship." This phenomenon stems from Marx's critique of the 

limitations of political democracy in class societies. In order to establish a "true democracy," 

Marx maintained state power had to be utilized by the working class to establish a 

socialist system that would extend political notions of equality into social and economic 

life. 4 Leninism further blurred the lines between democracy and dictatorship. 5 Lenin 

contended that "the state," no matter how democratic, was simply an instrument of 

violence to maintain class rule. "Bourgeois democracy" in reality represented a "Dictatorship 

of the Bourgeoisie." The Bolshevik Revolution established a new type of "prole- 

99


tarian democracy" in the form of the "Dictatorship of the Proletariat." 6 Communists 

sought to "overthrow" this "bourgeois dictatorship" to establish a "proletarian dictatorship" 

that Lenin contended was a true "democracy for the people." 

Prior to the Popular Front, many conceptualized communists as "enemies of democracy." 

The Leninist Generation fed this trend by propagating themselves as enemies of 

the "bourgeois republic," supporters of "proletarian dictatorship" and promoters of 

authoritarian leadership in their international structure. In an odd twist of this equation, 

Hitler portrayed communists as foreign enemies of the German nation who used institutions 

like democracy to "hurl us into an epoch of chaos." 7 Although fascists opposed all 

forms of democracy, Hitler utilized democratic structures to gain state power. 8 Hitler 

contended that only a fascist dictatorship could "save" the German nation from Bolshevism. 

Georgi Dimitrov identified fascism as the common enemy of all democratic movements, 

both proletarian and bourgeois. Communist theory had previously described 

fascism as another form of "bourgeois dictatorship" born out of the revolutionary crisis of 

democratic republics. Dimitrov insisted that Nazi fascism represented a new form of 

"ultra-reactionary" class rule in opposition to all forms of democracy. The Third Reich 

rejected all notions of democratic liberties and traditions, substituting the concept of 

majority rule with the principle of minority leadership in the personal form of the Führer 

and his Nazi Party. To effectively combat fascism, Dimitrov insisted that communists 

needed to champion and defend democratic liberties, traditions and institutions. Traditional 

"anti-democratic" denunciations isolated communists, alienating them from 

mainstream anti-fascist political culture, especially in Britain and the United States. 

Popular Front propaganda predominately abandoned Leninist rhetoric about proletarian 

dictatorship, contending that only democracy could save the world from fascism. 

Youth Against Reformism: The Leninist Generation 

The Leninist Generation denounced "bourgeois democracy" as an "illusion." Lenin and 

the Comintern insisted, "The most democratic bourgeois republic is no more than a 

machine for the suppression of the working class by the bourgeoisie, for the suppression 

of the working people by a handful of capitalists… "equality," i.e., "pure democracy," is 

a fraud." 9 Lenin asserted that workers should "take advantage of bourgeois democracy 

which, compared with feudalism, represents a great historical advance, but not for one 

minute must you forget the bourgeois character of this "democracy," its historical conditional 

and limited character." 10 Lenin envisioned the democratic republic as a transitory 

stage in the establishment of a more egalitarian and democratic political order. 11 Communists 

posited themselves as opponents and critics of the bourgeois democratic republic, 

seeking to establish a new social, political and economic order called socialism that 

they considered to represent "true democracy." 

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DEMOCRACY 

Young communists did not speak of themselves as "enemies of democracy," but as 

class enemies of the bourgeois state and champions of "Soviet democracy." In their early 

propaganda, the YCI emphasized that the YCL's central task was to "undermine the 

apparatus of the bourgeois state" and "the destruction of the bourgeois order." 12 YCI 

rhetoric embraced a language of urgency and action. Communists strove to make young 

workers "conscious of the fact that if they are to be able to live, the capitalist society must 

die" and that this "consciousness is the backbone of the will to fight for and set up the 

proletarian dictatorship." 13 Bourgeois democracy was intimately linked with capitalist 

economies. Faith in such a political system distorted the class nature of the state and in 

turn distracted youth from achieving "working-class liberation." 

Communist propaganda dismissed Western notions of citizenship and legality as 

"bourgeois illusions." Under the bourgeois state young workers were considered "oppressed 

and enslaved;" the dictatorship of the proletariat, representing a higher form of 

"Soviet democracy," enabled young workers to "become free citizens of the proletarian 

state." 14 As "slaves," young workers were encouraged to participate in both legal and 

illegal work to advance the revolution and undercut identification of young workers to 

the state. 15 The "proletarian state" would provide young workers "true" democracy and 

citizenship. 16 

The class nature of the state defined the phenomenon of both democracy and dictatorship. 

In one of his few theoretical publications, Stalin attempted to clarify the "Leninist" 

position concerning class, democracy and dictatorship: 

The dictatorship of the proletariat must be a state that is democratic in a new way (for 

the proletarians and the non-propertied in general) and dictatorial in a new way (against 

the bourgeoisie).... Democracy under capitalism is capitalist democracy, the democracy 

of the exploiting minority, based on the restriction of the rights of the exploited majority 

and directed against this majority.... Under the dictatorship of the proletariat, democracy 

is proletarian democracy, the democracy of the exploited majority, based on the restriction 

of the rights of the exploiting minority and directed against this minority. 17 

The Second International betrayed socialism by not addressing these class realities, 

putting their primary faith instead in parliamentary reforms. YCI rhetoric contrasted the 

strategic outlook of socialist and communist workers. An article on the Russian Revolution 

praised the clarity of Soviet workers who "did not expect any manna to fall from the 

parliamentary heaven." The article went on to scorn "all pseudo-Marxists" who pursued 

democratic reforms instead of preparing workers for "an armed insurrection" that would 

bring "an age of socialist brotherhood and equality." 18 In its initial programme, the 

Comintern insisted that the struggle against reformism could not be framed as a simple 

"theoretical difference of opinion." Such a movement necessitated an unyielding "struggle 

against the centrists and democrats" that supported "defense of democracy which 

preserves the private ownership of the means of production." 19 

The communist position against "bourgeois democracy" was formulated as a critique 

of its limited nature, not as a rejection of egalitarian concepts. By positing themselves 

101


against democracy, the Leninist Generation was portrayed along with fascism as "enemies 

of democracy" and supporters of dictatorship. 20 

Youth Against Dictatorship: The Popular Front Generation 

In a dramatic turnaround, Dimitrov insisted that the only way to effectively combat 

fascism was for communists to redefine themselves as champions of all forms of democracy 

and opponents of dictatorship. Dimitrov identified fascism as an enemy of all forms 

of democracy. Fascism had destroyed Weimar democracy and threatened to undermine 

all democratic states, including the Soviet Union. Popular Front propaganda downplayed 

traditional anti-democratic rhetoric, profoundly transforming communist's political 

identity. 21 Dimitrov insisted that fascism had produced a "new era" of class struggle 

centred on democracy: 

The situation is quite different in the capitalist countries at present. Now the fascist 

counter-revolution is attacking bourgeois democracy in an effort to establish the most 

barbaric regime of exploitation and suppression of the toiling masses. Now the toiling 

masses in a number of capitalist countries are faced with the necessity of making a definite 

choice, and of making it today, not between proletarian dictatorship and bourgeois 

democracy, but between bourgeois democracy and fascism. 22 

Unity of "all democratic elements" created "an insurmountable barrier" that would 

"prevent [fascism] from coming to power in countries of bourgeois democracy." 23 Under 

this new era, Dimitrov insisted "it is not at all a matter of indifference to us what kind of 

political regime exists in any given country." 24 

As previously noted, Dimitrov defined fascism "as the open terrorist dictatorship of 

the most reactionary, most chauvinistic and most imperialist elements of finance capital." 

25 "Incorrect" definitions of fascism characterized it as simply another form of 

bourgeois dictatorship: 

The accession to power of fascism is not an ordinary succession of one bourgeois government 

by another, but a substitution of one state form of class domination of the bourgeoisie 

-- bourgeois democracy -- by another form -- open terrorist dictatorship. It would 

be a serious mistake to ignore this distinction. 26 

Workers had a stake in protecting bourgeois democracy against its substitution by a 

fascist dictatorship. Dimitrov stated, "The proletariat of all countries has shed much of 

its blood to win bourgeois democratic liberties, and will naturally fight with all its 

strength to retain them." 27 Togliatti emphasized that communists could not be content 

"passively registering events" as fascism destroyed these gains; communists needed to 

put "the defence of bourgeois-democratic liberties at the centre" of their program. 28 

Comintern leaders reemphasized Dimitrov's positions to the YCI's Sixth Congress. 

Otto Kuusinen emphasized the changed character of the struggle against fascism and the 

importance of traditional democratic slogans: 

In the international movement for a united youth front new slogans have, as you know, 

recently come into use – new slogans which basically are rather old slogans: the slogan 

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DEMOCRACY 

of freedom, the slogan of peace, and the slogan of the fight for democracy. It is therefore 

only natural that doubts have arisen on this question in the minds of many of our 

comrades.... The comrades who have these doubts fail to realize that times have 

changed, that slogans are not petrified things, but that their living content changes in accordance 

with time and circumstance. 29 

Kuusinen told the YCI if they applied this "new tactical orientation" that they would 

achieve "great successes in every sphere of our world movement." 30 Wolf Michal closed 

his speech to the YCI highlighting similar themes stating: 

We have inscribed on our banners: Democratic liberties and rights of the people and 

their youth, against fascism and imperialist war, for peace. We march together with all 

enemies of reaction and friends of freedom, with all enemies of imperialist way and 

friends of peace, with all who are prepared to fight for a place under the sun for the 

younger generation. 31 

Traditionally such slogans were denounced by the YCI for breeding "democratic illusions." 

The Popular Front posited that democratic slogans were the key to facilitating 

broad anti-fascist unity. 32 

The new Soviet "Stalin Constitution" of 1936 played a vital role in facilitating Popular 

Front propaganda. 33 Communists shifted their rhetoric from positive statements defending 

proletarian dictatorship into negative statements condemning dictatorship. Dimitrov 

confidently accessed this transition boasting, "The Stalin Constitution is an attractive 

mobilizing force for the masses of the people in the capitalist countries." 34 Dimitrov's 

description of the Stalin Constitution was framed in both communist language and more 

traditional democratic rhetoric of citizenship and equality: 

The Stalin Constitution demonstrates to the whole world the victory of socialism, giving 

legislative form to the socialist society which is already built in the U.S.S.R., a society 

without antagonistic classes, without exploitation, without crises or unemployment. The 

Stalin Constitution does not limit itself to a formal proclamation of democratic liberties, 

the equality of all citizens of the U.S.S.R., equality of rights for all races and nations and 

the right to work, rest and education, but actually assures the necessary material conditions 

and means for giving effect to these rights and liberties. 35 

Maurice Thorez, General Secretary of the French CP, commented that the new Constitution 

guided "the development of the dictatorship of the proletariat into a socialist democracy 

of the whole people." 36 

Britain and the United States had long democratic heritages that were integral to their 

political culture and national identity. Much of the Anglo-American propaganda of WWI 

had centred on democratic rhetoric and the promise of prosperity and expanded citizenship 

after the war. 37 Dimitrov asserted that the destruction of these democracies, which 

was on the Nazi horizon, would have profound impacts on international politics; the 

victory of British and American democracy was essential to the struggle against fascism. 

On the subject of Britain, Dimitrov asserted: 

England plays a tremendous role in the whole of the political life of the world. Her position 

most definitely influences a number of bourgeois democratic countries and the international 

situation in general.... The English working class won democratic rights 

earlier than the working people of other countries. The democratic regime they won has 

103


made it possible for them to influence the policies of their country to a greater extent 

than is the case with the proletariat of a number of other countries. The English workers 

possess powerful means for the struggle for democracy… and will fulfill with honor its 

international obligations in defense of democracy, culture and peace. 38 

Dimitrov described the nature of American fascism and the importance of United States 

democratic influence in the world stating: 

American fascism tries to portray itself as the custodian of the Constitution and "American 

Democracy." It does not yet represent a directly menacing force.... And what would 

be the international significance of this success of fascism As we know, the United 

States is not Hungary, or Finland, or Bulgaria, or Latvia. The success of fascism in the 

United States would vitally change the whole international situation. Under these circumstances, 

can the American proletariat content itself with organizing only its classconscious 

vanguard, which is prepared to follow the revolutionary path No. 39 

According to Dimitrov's analysis, by defending and extending their national democratic 

heritages, the British and American YCLs could fulfil both their national and international 

duties in the struggle against fascism. 

The Popular Front Generation did not define democracy simply as a political process 

or system of governance. Fascism represented itself as "the antithesis of the whole world 

of immortal principles of 1789;" fascism was "a reaction against the movement of the 

enlightenment" that set the basis for democracy and modern culture. 40 Dimitrov characterized 

fascists as "barbarians… who trample human culture under foot, who burn the 

works of human genius in bonfires." 41 Young communists interpreted democracy broadly 

as a reflection of modernity intimately linked with inclusive egalitarian traditions, 

cultures, and lifestyles rejected by fascism. 42 Young communists contended that "all 

phases of [youth] activity – dramatic, choral, literary, social, athletic – [are] contributing 

to the fight to make democracy work, by practising it." 43 Democracy was a constructive 

social attitude that informed active engagement with all facets of modern youth culture. 

Communists continued to critique the limitations of bourgeois democracy, but stressed 

the common democratic heritage and shared anti-fascist values of youth. Young communists 

were encouraged to actively utilize democratic structures, traditions and culture to 

influence state policy and isolate fascist influences among the youth. The democratic 

language and youthful activities of the Popular Front Generation maximized the inclusive 

and broad nature of the anti-fascist movement. Dimitrov's definition of fascism enabled 

communist youth to engage in more effective mobilization tactics, especially in Britain 

and the United States, as champions, not opponents of democracy. 


The Popular Front's pro-democracy rhetoric transformed the British and American YCLs 

from perceived enemies of democracy into integral members of youth political culture 

during the thirties. Early Young Worker propaganda in Britain and the United Stated 

employed similar forms, but a divergent focus in the content of their rhetoric on democ- 

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DEMOCRACY 

racy. YWL rhetoric dismissed American democracy from its onset. Early YCLGB 

rhetoric was less oppositional on the issue of political democracy. As a constitutional 

monarchy, the evolution of British political democracy was closely related to the politicization 

and radicalization of the working class. 44 Early YCLGB literature was sensitive to 

this phenomenon. The majority of British articles emphasized international news, tradeunion 

activities and working-class conditions instead of direct attacks on the Labour 

Party or parliamentary democracy. In a revealing political article of January, 1924 the 

YCL praised the election of Ramsay MacDonald as Labour's first Prime Minister. The 

YCL offered their "sincere hope" that this "Labour Government will prove itself a real 

Workers' Government" and would use its power "to make definite demands on the 

capitalist system." 45 Another pamphlet made concessions to parliamentary initiatives, 

urging young workers to "rid themselves of these tyrants, peaceably if possible" through 

parliamentary democracy. 46 

After the downfall of MacDonald's Labour Government, YCLGB literature on political 

democracy took an increasingly cynical and oppositional tone. 47 In a 1925 League 

training manual, the YCLGB propagated a traditional Leninist critique of bourgeois 

democracy: 

The ruling capitalist uses a form and a disguise to deceive the masses. This disguise is 

democracy. This deludes the workers into a belief that they can change their conditions 

by use of the ballot box and that other methods are unnecessary.... The capitalists naturally 

play up democracy for all their might as it is one of their best weapons for keeping 

the workers quiet.... Democracy which is supposed to mean formal political equality is a 

sham and a lie… the capitalists do not believe in democracy and never limit themselves 

to Parliamentary methods. 48 

The manual continued stating that the YCL could only form a mass youth organization 

for socialism through "full training… on the teachings of Marx and Lenin" and following 

"in practice the lead given by the experiences of the Russian Revolution." 49 This transition 

in YCLGB rhetoric was facilitated both by Comintern directives and the direct 

experiences of a failed Labour Government. 

Though the YCL and the CPGB participated in elections, their purpose was to use 

political campaigns and institutions for propaganda purposes. As a result, the YCL 

dismissed parliamentary democracy as a distraction from the real centres of class struggle 

in the workplace. After the successive failures of two Labour Governments, the British 

YCL increasingly promoted working-class radicalism outside of parliamentary politics. 

The YCL attached these parliamentary failures primarily to "the treachery and corruption 

of the Labour Government." 50 Labour "deceive[d] the young workers… into believing 

that by voting alone everything can be achieved" while the YCL strove to "expose the 

sham and lying character of the boasted "democratic" Parliamentary voting system." 51 

Just prior to the Popular Front, the YCL transformed their democratic rhetoric, insisting 

that their movement was one of the most democratic in Britain. The YCL in turn 

critiqued the lack of democracy within other socialist youth movements. In the early 

105


thirties, the YCL complained of the lack of internal democracy within the ILP Guild of 

Youth, contending its leadership was not following the political opinions of its membership. 

In 1933 the Guild membership passed a resolution to establish organizational unity 

with the YCL. The YCL pointed out that the "Guild National Committee did not carry 

out their own decision" and failed to meet with YCI representatives. 52 The YCL continually 

asserted that Socialist Parties had an undemocratic influence on the youth. In a 1934 

pamphlet the YCL expressed, "The question of the autonomy of the Socialist Youth 

organizations in relation to the parties is a burning one in Britain today." 53 The YCL 

selectively quoted Lenin on the issue of the youth stating, "Without complete independence 

the youth can neither make themselves into good Socialists nor make preparations to 

carry Socialism forward." 54 The YCL propagated that the Comintern offered youth the 

ability to "move and express itself," offering "comradely Bolshevik support" and "assistance." 

55 They downplayed the phenomenon of democratic centralism, asserting the 

precarious notion that the YCL had direct democratic control over their organization, 

unlike socialist youth groups. 56 In reality, little democratic autonomy existed within the 

YCL prior to the Popular Front. 

Popular Front propaganda urged the maximum democratic youth participation in national 

political life by contrasting British conditions with the state of youth in other 

nations. Fascism was characterized by the maximum exclusion of youth input into 

politics; the British youth movement needed to forged as an antithesis to these exclusionary 

features of fascism. 57 In their campaign for the Youth Charter, the YCL insisted that 

the Charter could not "be the property of any one youth organisation" but needed to "be 

worked out in and through the widest joint discussion of all youth." 58 Challenge ran a 

statement column entitled "We Stand For" on page two of each issue in 1935 that supported 

decreasing Britain's voting age to 18 to give youth greater input into national 

politics. 59 The YCL contrasted British conditions where "you are not allowed to vote 

until you are 21 and… your vote does not give you much say in the running of the 

country" with conditions in the Soviet Union. Under the Stalin Constitution, youth could 

vote at age 18 and were regularly elected to the Soviet government. 60 Challenge articles 

emphasized the "youthfulness of the members" of the Soviet government, contending its 

inclusive democratic character deterred apathy within Soviet youth. 61 The YCL contrasted 

this with British elections dominated by an "atmosphere of pressure brought to 

bear on the electors by the capitalists, landlords, bankers and other capitalist sharks." 

The YCL propagated that the 1938 Soviet elections were "the freest election… in the 

history of the world" in the "most democratic of any country of the world." 62 

The YCL promoted extra-parliamentary actions by giving regular coverage to activities 

of other youth movements. 63 The Leninist Generation neglected giving positive 

coverage to other youth groups. In stark contrast, the Popular Front Generation regularly 

used Challenge to advertise for the activities of other youth groups. Democracy necessitated 

coalition building and cooperation to defend and expand democratic rights. Chal- 

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DEMOCRACY 

lenge offered such a forum to build these coalitions. The second issue of Challenge 

started a regular feature entitled "What's Doing." This column carried news of YCL, Co- 

Operative Circle, LLOY and ILP Guild of Youth activities. 64 In the August, 1935 issue 

of Challenge, the YCL renamed this column "What's Doing in the Youth Movement." 

The column was expanded to include news of "religious bodies, Scouts and other youth 

organizations" and their "actions against war." 65 Such columns could utilize the "pressure 

of public opinion" to influence successive National Governments to be more responsive 

to "the popular demands of the youth." 66 The YCL insisted that if youth wanted "work, 

wages and peace" they had to recognize that "no one will give them… you have to fight 

for it." 67 

Despite the fact that both Baldwin and Chamberlain's National Governments were 

"democratically elected," the YCL insisted they were not democratic and therefore should 

not be trusted by the youth. YCL rhetoric urged youth not to "be deceived by their 

speeches" on democracy since in practice the National Government was "against democracy" 

and "stands for friendship" with fascism. 68 The key to understanding Chamberlain 

was to look past his rhetoric and to evaluate his actual political activities: 

Half the world is in flames. Democracy is in danger. Our country is being disgraced 

and ruined by the pro-fascist policy of Mr. Chamberlain the Prime Minister, who has 

time to write greetings to the Hitler Youth, who has time to attend displays by the "Ballila" 

Youth Organisation of Mussolini, but who cannot find time to discuss questions of 

defence with the leaders of the National Youth Campaign or any other British youth 

leaders. 69 

The YCLNC highlighted the divergences between the rhetoric and reality of the National 

Government stating, "The Prime Minister is daily betraying democracy in other European 

countries, and is a hypocrite when he says he is trying to defend democracy in our 

own." 70 The YCL stated that in reality "association with fascist powers brings fascist 

methods in Britain" and that "our rights in the free youth movements [will] go by the 

board if this man Chamberlain is allowed to carry on." 71 

YCL rhetoric utilized an associational framework that coupled Chamberlain with fascism 

while portraying the youth as defenders of democracy. YCL rhetoric spoke of 

Britain as a nation polarized between a pro-fascist minority aligned behind Chamberlain 

and the majority of youth who stood for democracy. The Popular Front Generation 

insisted that their program both reflected and complimented the democratic outlook of 

the youth: 

We must always remember that the overwhelming majority of the youth in Britain are 

democratic. If the question were put to the youth of Britain "Are you in favour of democracy" 

the majority would answer – yes! Therefore, we are working among the 

youth of our generation in circumstances in which the majority are favourable towards 

the general idea which is embodied in our policy – to defend democracy and peace. And 

this is the fact which we should never lose sight of. If we explain our policy correctly 

among the youth, we will find that the youth are sympathetic towards our policy. 72 

107


Chamberlain's policies represented "the disruption of democracy and the forces of 

freedom" while British youth were "anti-fascist, democratic, wanting to work and to fight 

back against fascism and the enemies of liberty." 73 The YCL direct its energies "in 

uniting all democratic youth against the pro-Fascist Chamberlain Government." 74 

Challenge headlines and comics continually characterized Chamberlain as a fascist. 

Challenge rhetoric equated support of Chamberlain with support of Hitler, urging youth 

to fight against the National Government. One headline in October, 1938 protested that 

"Service for Chamberlain Means Help for Hitler! Our Country Needs a Government 

That Can be Trusted!" (See Appendix) 75 Service for Chamberlain in practice meant 

service to Hitler and in turn betrayed the interests of British democracy and the youth. 

Challenge comics often posed Chamberlain in scenes with Mussolini, portraying them as 

Hitler's two most consistent allies. Other comics asserted that the three leaders held 

similar plans for regimenting the youth and destroying democracy through military 

conscription. One comic entitled "The Noose of Conscription" showed these three 

leaders sneaking up upon a sleeping lion with a rope noose. The lion, the traditional 

symbol of Britain, represented the British youth movement that was sleeping, but that 

could ferociously lash out against the fascists if awakened. (See Appendix) 76 The YCL 

envisioned it was its duty to keep democratic youth "awakened" in order to guard against 

the fascist plots of Chamberlain. By organizing and supporting democratic youth activities 

against Chamberlain, the YCL believed it was facilitating opportunities for "youth 

itself to speak, to make its voice heard and heeded in the very highest quarters." 77 

The YCL applied their democratic analysis to other issues of service and defense. 

Challenge began a defence policy column in October, 1938 entitled "Make Britain Safe." 

The first article dealt with the issue of the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) programmes under 

Chamberlain. The YCL maintained the ARP was not being adequately utilized because 

the National Government was "a government of the rich, friends of fascism, supported by 

fascists and the fascist minded." According to this analysis only a "People's Government" 

headed by Labour could create a situation where "ARP regulations will be under 

democratic control" which was the only "way to make Britain safe." 78 Other articles 

stressed that if the ARP were democratic and more inclusive, youth would be willing "to 

give service in a democratic and voluntary way." 79 

"Make Britain Safe" also addressed issues of democracy within the British military. 

In an article on the Territorial Army (TA), an anonymous soldier complained that while 

he and all of his TA comrades were "completely anti-fascist," that the upper-class leadership 

of the TA and other "men in high places" held a deep "sympathy for the fascists." 

The soldier felt that situation could not be rectified "until the TA is entirely reorganized 

on a democratic, progressive basis" which would make it "a democratic army of democratic 

men." 80 The next week the YCL expanded on this analysis of service, democracy 

and defense. Contrasting the experience of the TA and the Red Army, the YCL claimed 

that within the Red Army "men and commanders are on terms of equality" and that "Red 

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DEMOCRACY 

Army men have a share in deciding the policy for which they serve." 81 Unlike the TA, 

the YCL claimed the Red Army was inspired by "service for a people's Government, 

service for the whole community, service for Socialism and Democracy." 82 If Chamberlain 

actually supported democracy, the YCL stated he would "seek friendship with other 

democratic peoples and their governments… pool our resources for defence with those of 

other democratic peace-loving countries… and refuse to give dictators what they want." 83 

Columns like "Make Britain Safe" helped youth to understand the YCL's analysis of 

Chamberlain's policies and how he obstructed the defence of democracy. 

The Popular Front programme led to a new YCL attitude towards the Labour Party. 

Specifically, the YCL supported a number of LLOY candidates in the 1935 General 

Election to show youth's "capacity to play a more responsible part in taking power" in a 

government that "stands for the defence of youth." 84 The YCL revised their traditional 

election strategies of running communist candidates in Labour strongholds. The YCL 

contended that "unless progressives go into the next General Election on a two-candidate 

fight… democracy in Britain will end ignominiously." 85 Other articles urged youth to 

"work and vote for the return of a Labour Government which will fight for Youths 

Charter of Life," emphasizing that the National Government were "enemies of Youth!" 86 

The YCL stated that they supported Labour because "only by democracy will the workers 

ever have a chance to defend themselves, and eventually build a system which knows no 

class distinction." 87 The YCL believed that a strong Labour opposition in Parliament 

could "defend the liberties of our people, and it can force even the National Government 

to be less ruthless with the workers." 88 The YCL argued that previous Labour Governments 

had failed because "years of leadership by people like MacDonald had made 

Labour hopelessly weak and divided;" a new Labour leadership, in coordination with the 

YCL, could "unify youth and lead them forward." 89 Under the leadership of Major Atlee, 

MP the YCL believed that a new People's Government "would be a heavy blow" to the 

fascists. 90 

As future historians would later agree, the YCL began to assert in 1938 that only a 

Labour Government could facilitate voluntary service for the defense of democracy. 91 

Without a People's Government led by Labour, the YCL argued fascism would be 

strengthened and Britain would be ill prepared to defend itself. The YCL argued, "Every 

day that goes by without this unity of… democratic and progressive forces is a day lost 

for peace and a day won for fascist advance" and that British youth "would gladly and 

voluntarily support all measures of a People's Government of Peace and Democracy to 

check reaction at home and abroad." 92 After Chamberlain signed the infamous Munich 

Agreement, the YCL argued that a People's Government was "doubly imperative." Only 

Labour could counter "Chamberlain's policy of betrayal" by standing "four square with 

democracy in all parts of the world." 93 Britain's youth were eager to give "service to 

defend liberty" and "service to the cause of democracy," but "not service in the cause of 

Hitler or his friends in Britain or of Chamberlain." 94 National Government programmes 

109


that proposed "compulsory national service and training for all youth" were condemned 

as reflections of "Nazism in Britain" that could only be countered by "ridding ourselves 

of our fascist-minded Government." 95 Under a People's Government democracy would 

be strengthened since "all youth, like scouts, are prepared to give service to the community, 

but not to be compelled blindly to follow a policy alien to democracy." 96 In this 

urgent situation, the YCL insisted that it must "become the best friends and assistants, not 

only of the Communist Party, but of the whole Labour Movement." 97 

Young communists emphasized the importance of active citizenship to defeat Chamberlain 

by strengthening youth participation in democracy. Mick Bennett laid out the 

YCL's position stating, "Democracy is in a crisis. All liberties won in our present democracy 

are in danger from fascism. To grow stronger democracy must resist.... Training in 

Citizenship is essential for defending democracy." 98 YCL rhetoric used statements like 

"training in citizenship" and "strengthening of democracy" synonymously. 99 Other 

Challenge articles stressed the importance of youth participation arguing "the work of 

youth in this great democracy is tremendously important" and that the greatest input of 

youth came "through the medium of citizenship." 100 Citizenship campaigns made the 

British public recognize that "youth has the right to be heard and to decide issues of 

policy" unlike the past where it had simply been acceptable for adult "leaders to commit 

their members to National Service." 101 The YCL maintained that in order to show "the 

advantages of democracy" the youth movement had "the duty to be active in all kinds of 

ways" to promote the "principles of progress, peace and brotherhood." 102 Democracy was 

no longer critiqued for its systematic shortcomings, but from the lack of active citizenship 

and engagement in civic and political life. 

The YCL believed the British Youth Parliament was a vital asset to strengthening 

youth participation in politics. The Youth Parliament's engaged youth in active citizenship 

and participation in British democracy: 

The Youth Parliament will bring together the youth… on the background of the threat 

everywhere to democracy and their ideals… to train young people for democratic citizenship.... 

It is intended that these discussions shall centre around considerations of the 

whole question of the growth of the British constitution, the struggle of the people for 

their democratic rights, the machinery of British democracy, and, most important, the responsibility 

of young people to play their full part in the life of the community.... An important 

object of the Youth Parliament will be to demonstrate exactly how the 

democratic machine works in Britain.... Such an event must play a vital part in the fight 

for the defence and extension of democracy. 103 

Even though the Youth Parliament was made up of varying ideological and theological 

perspectives, the YCL contested that "every free expression of opinion by youth… is a 

blow against Chamberlain" and helped to strengthen democracy in Britain. 104 The YCL 

asserted communication among the youth would spurn young people into greater political 

action and strengthen the development of "democratic culture." 

The YCL promoted democratic culture by highlighting Britain's democratic heritage. 

This phenomenon was intrinsically distinct from the Leninist Generation that highlighted 

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DEMOCRACY 

the imperialist role of Britain in world history. A World Youth Review article by Mick 

Bennett drew historical parallels between the youth Popular Front movement and past 

British traditions. Bennett stated the youth were "the inheritors of the traditions which 

have given to England the name of the Mother of Democracy." 105 In the next issue of 

World Youth Review Bennett continued invoking such associational language stating, 

"You who represent the youth of Britain who work in the factory, mine, office, school or 

university, are heirs to the long tradition of struggle for freedom and democracy." 106 The 

YCL also published special historical pamphlets highlighting "Champions of Freedom in 

British History," arguing that these heroes had established a "tradition of freedom which 

the youth of this country is now as ever eager to serve." 107 

YCL rhetoric spoke of two British political traditions, one being "shameful" and imperialist, 

the other being the "honourable" democratic culture of "the people." Reflecting 

on the Youth Pilgrimage the YCL stated, "British youth movement bitterly resent the 

hatred and shame which Chamberlain's policy has brought upon the country. It will 

never permit the world to think that the cruel old men of the National Government are the 

spokesmen of British traditions." 108 One Challenge article stressed the links between 

education, progressive history and democratic citizenship: 

It is time, too, that our history books contained less about kings and more about the people 

who made history, such as Wat Tyler, the Chartists, and all the fighters for freedom 

since. Our democratic traditions must be brought in our educational system, and together 

with the more practical training in Citizenship, would assist our youth to serve as 

citizens of an enlightened democracy. All sections of the Youth Movement should teach 

its members the traditions of democracy and the need to defend them. 109 

Another article stressed the role struggle had played in developing British democracy and 

the "great traditions" of the British people: 

The Democratic rights that we posses to-day were not given to us because of the benevolence 

of our rulers; they were won for us by men like Ernest Jones, who underwent imprisonment 

many times for this beliefs and for his activity… let us remember how our 

freedom was won for us, and let us carry on the great tradition left for us by the Chartists. 

110 

Such rhetoric linked "rulers" with an authoritarian past and the youth with traditions of 

democratic struggle. Other history articles drew thematic parallels between history and 

the modern youth movement. An article on the "Peasant's Revolt of 1831" argued that it 

represented "the first people's movement in England" and that it was "the start of a 

glorious tradition" that led historically to "our struggle for Democracy and defence of the 

people." 111 The YCL urged youth to acknowledge that "there are people who do not like 

these democratic fighting traditions of the people" and to highlight that "Britain's youth 

are, above all, sincerely for the defence of democracy." 112 YCL propaganda consciously 

used histories of democratic struggle to counter fascist conceptions of history and culture, 

linking the youth movement to "honourable" democratic traditions and Chamberlain to 

"dishonourable" imperial histories. By making youth aware of democratic struggles of 

the past, they would be inspired to defend democracy as active citizens. 

111


The YCL actively promoted "people's culture." People's culture was embraced in reaction 

to fascism's attacks against modern and democratic culture. 113 Articles in the 

World Youth Review highlighted how within the Hitler Youth "violence is glorified, 

contempt is thrown on all cultural and intellectual activity, opposition declared against 

every humanist and progressive tendency." 114 In opposition to Nazi attacks on culture, 

young communists asserted their movement represented "the forces of culture, the forces 

of civilisation." 115 The YCL encouraged their members to advance anti-fascist culture by 

utilizing poetry, literature, plays, art and music in their publications, social functions and 

campaigns. The YCL contrasted the "bright and colourful" campaigns of the Popular 

Front to the "old dry street corner meetings" of the past, insisting such tactics would 

"attract youth to our ranks." 116 YCL cultural articles highlighted how poetry was an 

extremely effective genre for democratic propaganda. Challenge reflected that "poems 

can rouse people, can educate and inspire" and that if they reflected "the idea of liberty 

and of happiness and of comradeship" that they would help the YCL to "defend humanity 

and the ideals of mankind." 117 

YCL poetry and lyrics contained constant references to themes of democracy, freedom 

and liberty alongside vehement denunciations of fascism and Chamberlain. One poem 

from January, 1939, inspired by William Blake's "Auguries of Innocence," linked fascism 

and Chamberlain to images of betrayal and profit and youth to images of liberty and the 

future: 

He who shall turn the youth to war 

True men his company shall bar. 

Who brands the child with a swastika 

Shall wake one day and sweat with fear: 

Those who work for private gain 

Shall call the youth and call in vain. 

The Czech's betrayer, cold and suave 

Shall go unmourned into his grave 

All those with tongue inside the cheek 

Democracy and freedom speak 

Shall feel their treacherous knees grow weak: 

These cynics who betray their land 

At last shall feel the people's hand: 

The furious people's final roar 

Are waves that beat on Heaven's shore. 

The man whose dream's humanity 

Shall wake one day to Liberty. 118 

"People's culture" stressed how such expressions could interpret the past and present in 

order to inspire actions for the future. Good cultural propaganda did not reflect a "fantasy, 

no escape from the real world," but showed the "pattern of the life we wish for" and 

gave "the inspiration to attain it." This article further asserted that "such music will live 

in us and make us unconquerable." 119 

YCL campaigns utilized modern forms of song, film and theatre to attract and inspire 

youth. In 1938 the YCL published a song sheet for the youth movement entitled The 

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DEMOCRACY 

Road to Victory: Marching Song of the Youth! The YCL Executive Committee urged 

YCLers that "No Rally or Meeting to go by without mass singing of the popular youth 

song The Road to Victory." 120 The Road to Victory boldly proclaimed: 

We are marching on the road to victory 

And the just claims of youth we'll not barter 

For the youth alone the future can decide 

We will fight for peace and security 

For the gems in Democracy's treasure 

And our birth right to work and leisure 121 

Films and theatre were praised for their ability to use villainous characters to show "the 

fundamental struggle between fascism and democracy." Such productions could "strike a 

powerful blow in defence of democracy." 122 Since fascists were enemies of modern and 

democratic culture, the YCL contended "people's culture" could promote and popularize 

anti-fascism. 

The YCL also addressed youth fitness, leisure and lifestyles in their democracy campaigns. 

123 Fascists used sports and fitness programs to regiment the youth. The YCL 

vehemently condemned the Nazi "Strength Through Joy" programme. The YCL identified 

the organization as un-democratic, intending "to give the employers and Nazis 

complete control over every German man and woman['s]" leisure and to politicize it to 

advance fascism's aims. 124 The YCL countered proposals for regimented fitness and 

leisure in Britain with their own campaign entitled "Rally Youth to Fitness For Democracy." 

The YCL proposed that the aims and tactics of their campaign were different. 

"Rallying" implied democratic consent from youth. The significant difference was that 

under fascism "youth are not rallied but regimented." 125 Youth were advised that "those 

who wish to bring our sport on to a totalitarian basis are far from inactive" and were 

trying to infuse youth activities with "militarism and regimentation." 126 By promoting 

active participation and youth input, the YCL believed a democratic national fitness 

campaign could enable "the new generation" to redefine leisure with "the new, the 

modern, the true conception of leisure as the most important thing in life." 127 

The YCL promoted lifestyle choices that reflected modernity and democratic political 

culture. Challenge carried a classifieds column in 1938 entitled "What Shall We Do 

Today." Advertisements highlighted youth cultural events like dances, many of which 

were promoted as fundraisers to support Spain and other anti-fascist campaigns. 128 

Articles on "rambling" were framed to show the political nature of youth's free access to 

land within a democratic society. One article stated that in a time where youth were 

being asked to "defend our country" that they ought to be "allowed to see the country" 

that they were "expected to defend." 129 

YCL lifestyle articles tackled controversial modern youth issues like gender and sex. 

In January, 1939 Challenge started a weekly column for young women entitled "Keep Fit 

and Beautiful." This column was intentionally framed to cause debate within the youth 

about modern expressions of femininity concerning fashion, make-up and women's 

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health in democratic societies. The first article by Liane argued it was necessary for 

women to "look well in order to feel well" and that "untidy hair and red-rimmed eyes" 

helped cause "apathy and listlessness" within young women. Liane continued stating that 

"women who can combine good grooming with an intelligent interest in and knowledge 

of things of the mind is the perfect specimen of womanhood" and that a "trim appearance" 

was an important expression of "these days of enlightened thought." 130 Other 

women reacted to Liane's column, starting a democratic debate about gender and modernity. 

One critic stated that "a truly beautiful woman is one whose beauty is her own and 

not the product of somebody's preparations." 131 

Challenge also dealt openly with issues of sex in relations to health and modernity, 

giving readers an opportunity to ask potentially taboo questions about sex. 132 Other 

articles dealt with more controversial aspects of sex and gender, openly discussing issues 

like abortion. One article dealing with the illegal abortion of a young rape victim pleaded 

with readers to "bring sex into the open." The article condemned the "system that 

perverts sex into filth, that hides the truth, and that denies young men and women knowledge 

of their bodies that would give them happiness… let them know all that modern 

science and medicine can tell them." 133 For the YCL, information and free access to 

healthy and progressive lifestyle choices were essential characteristics of youth culture in 

a modern democratic society. 

American young communist rhetoric was framed in response to the diluted class consciousness 

of American workers and popular perceptions of democracy in the United 

States. YWL rhetoric on democracy was highly oppositional from the outset. Denunciations 

of American democratic politics were framed to develop the class consciousness of 

American youth. In their first political statement, the YWL dismissed the American 

democratic state as an instrument to "keep the workers in subjugation" and that its armed 

class nature was "camouflaged under the term democracy." 134 The YWL claimed that the 

repressive aftermath of WWI was revealing the "true nature" of American democracy; the 

"veils of democracy" were being "tossed aside one by one" by both the American state 

and American workers. 135 Other articles highlighted the persecution of radical workers 

and the lack of judicial protection for child labor. The YWL asserted that such phenomenon 

undercut the "proud boast of Americans that the United States was the most 

democratic country in the world… that it was really serving the interests of the people." 136 

Though dismissive of reformism and the democratic process, the YWL was not politically 

nihilistic. 137 The YWL asserted that attacks on American workers demanded "that it 

begin to act politically" and that supporting a Labor Party could help "save the working 

class of America from further and complete enslavement." 138 With the onset of Bolshevization, 

YWL rhetoric varied little from official YCI propaganda. 

American communists traditionally put little emphasis upon participation in democratic 

politics since American democracy utilized a two-party system. In the early twenties, 

American communists had campaigned tirelessly for a Farmer-Labour Party. Initial 

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DEMOCRACY 

Popular Front strategies urged communists to reinvigorate this campaign, arguing that 

there existed a "tendency towards mass breakaways from the two traditional parties of 

American capitalism." 139 Dimitrov supported this move, insisting that American workers 

needed to "dissociate themselves from the capitalist parties without delay." 140 Eventually 

during the Popular Front era, the YCL shifted its electoral support to the Democratic 

Party. 

The 1936 presidential election was the pivotal moment in transforming communist 

election strategies. Quite shockingly, communists shifted their strategy from third party 

tactics into supporting the Democratic Party after November. During the 1936 election, 

Earl Browder asserted the "reactionary block" could not be "defeated by the Democratic 

Party and Roosevelt" because they had "surrendered all strategic points to reaction." 141 

Though critical of Roosevelt, American communists openly stated that the Republican 

Party's "Landon-Hearst-Wall Street ticket is the chief enemy of the liberties, peace, and 

prosperity of the American people," representing the American "road to fascism and 

war." 142 After the 1936 election, the communists conceded "the campaign and the reelection 

of Roosevelt serve also to prepare and strengthen the forces of… the People's 

Front." 143 

Reflecting on the dynamics of 1936, Earl Browder forged a new strategy for American 

communists termed the "Democratic Front," making the New Deal an integral element of 

their democratic rhetoric. 144 Although critical of its limited nature, the YCL argued that 

"we support the progressive features of the New Deal and work to extend them, because 

there is a vast difference between a Roosevelt New Deal and a Hoover program." 145 The 

YCL asserted that the defense of the New Deal was vital to defending democracy. An 

YCL editorial stated, "If the reactionaries in American life get their chance to smash the 

social legislation and the progressive achievements of the Roosevelt administration, then 

the road to native American fascism… will have been made that much easier." 146 American 

fascism would not portray itself as a foreign-born movement. Fascism would cloak 

itself under the "guise of a defense of the traditional rights of the American citizens" 

while in practice working "to undermine American liberty and destroy the American 

ideal." 147 

YCL activism and rhetoric reveals how communist youth became interested in actively 

participating in American politics. The YCL began supporting the New Deal and 

the Democratic Party in their electoral campaign literature. The YCL contended that 

their electoral work was vital to preserving American democracy: 

The elections are over. But the issue facing the American people during the last election 

campaign, is still before the nation. Fascism or democracy – progress or reaction – that 

was the alternative we faced before and on November 3.... All the discredited forces who 

were defeated in the last election have gained a new lease on life. They hope to nullify 

the results of the election.... Even though Roosevelt's proposal does not go far enough, it 

must be supported. The enemies of the proposal are the same gentlemen who received 

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such a sound thrashing last November. They are back again. And they must now receive 

such a knockout blow, that they will not recover so easily. 148 

Roosevelt's political opponents were described as "enemies of democracy." The YCL 

insisted that in "the national congressional elections the progressive political youth 

forces… must strive at all times to direct their main fire against the candidates of the 

reactionary Liberty-League elements." 149 

The Democratic Front strategy enabled the YCL to effectively engage the American 

political system to advance the interests of youth. Electoral campaigns helped to further 

politicize youth by including them in New Deal democratic struggles. In 1938 the YCL 

argued that the "election campaign cannot be purely an electoral struggle, a question of 

votes. We must participate in and help stimulate the widest mass struggles of the youth 

for jobs and for better conditions for the youth generally." 150 By encouraging youth to 

"support those candidates for Congress in the coming elections who best represent their 

interests," the YCL believed youth would understand and reject "the Republican Party 

reactionaries, masquerading behind a mask of progressivism… [who] will attempt to 

rally young voters around its banner." 151 Even after the outbreak of WWII when Roosevelt 

and the YCL held divergent positions on foreign policy, the YCL still personified 

itself and the youth movement as the greatest allies of the New Deal. 

By 1939, the YCL had acclimated itself to the two-party system and American democratic 

politics. They consistently published bold statements about defending democracy, 

one article stating: 

[Our] Declaration must have a strong point about our stand for the defense of democracy. 

Our position on this question is indisputable! We are determined to defend and extend 

our democracy against any enemy, within or without. We are opposed to all who 

undermine our democracy.... That also applies to the privileges which have been stated 

in the American Bill of Rights. The League stands for the defense of these rights unequivocally! 

152 

Increasingly the YCL reconciled their democratic rhetoric and activities to American 

political culture and democratic traditions. 

The YCL maintained that youth activism could influence state policy and improve the 

conditions of youth. The YCL rejected YPSL positions that insisted youth "need not 

concern itself with trying to influence governments, but need only organize independent 

action." 153 The YCL countered this with urges for greater democratic initiatives arguing, 

"Let's not rely on our governments… let's influence the government policy so that it 

corresponds with the policy of the people." 154 By actively participating in democratic 

politics, youth could "make our voice heard and can be enabled to decide on our own 

future lives." 155 The YCL asserted that the depression years had facilitated a new "democratic 

spirit" in youth; this new generation was composed "not [of] disillusioned 

youth, but youth who question… who are on the move, fighting for a place under the 

sun." 156 This generation was fighting for "democracy and still more democracy, for a… 

democracy which the American people will not be denied." 157 The YCL contended that 

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DEMOCRACY 

by fighting "to defend and extend our democracy" through active participation, American 

youth were "building a new kind of world—free of oppression." 158 

The YCL's analysis posited that the Roosevelt administration was a key factor in retarding 

the development of American fascism. The YCL refashioned Leninist analysis in 

their rhetoric to justify their approach to the New Deal and democracy. In a theoretical 

article on democracy and dictatorship, the YCL addressed the issue of the class forces 

that opposed the New Deal and democracy: 

Under Roosevelt democracy exists, flourishes, and is being extended. The masses of the 

people, under Roosevelt, are making unprecedented use of their democratic liberties to 

better their lot. That explains the rage of the reactionary Tories, the economic royalists, 

their hatred of Roosevelt… therefore the menace to democracy, whether under capitalism 

or under socialism, comes from the biggest capitalists and financiers who are either 

already fascist, or fast becoming so... Socialist democracy and capitalist democracy 

therefore are seen to have a common enemy, to be menaced by the same reactionaries, 

economic royalists, and fascists... the capitalist countries and the USSR are traveling in 

parallel directions—namely the preservation and extension of democracy. 159 

The YCL concluded that the class forces of fascism threatened both socialist and capitalist 

democracy with dictatorship. By supporting Roosevelt and the New Deal, the YCL 

attempted to "convince young people that they are sincere allies of democracy… [and] 

represent the best defenders of democracy – that the fascists rather than the Communist 

represent the true menace of dictatorship." 160 

The YCLUSA critiqued how other socialist youth movements addressed the issue of 

democracy. 161 The American YCL stressed that Trotskyism prevented the YPSL from 

embracing Popular Front positions on democracy. The YCL argued that when Trotskyists 

assert that the struggle "in America [was] between Socialism and Capitalism [that] 

they play into the hands of the fascists who are trying to split the Peoples' Front;" the 

youth struggle in this era was instead "the issue of Democracy against Fascism." 162 Other 

articles asserted that such "pseudo-revolutionary" positions "exposed them [the Trotskyists] 

in their real light" by distracting socialist youth from investing "every ounce of 

energy into the campaign to save democracy." 163 To "guarantee the healthy and progressive 

growth" of other youth organizations, especially the YPSL, the YCL insisted that 

"Trotskyism and its influence must be eliminated." 164 The YCL posited that the Trotskyists 

were "enemies of every honest, democratic, non-Communist movement." 165 Although 

YCL accusations were often unfounded, Trotskyist critiques of democracy were 

generally incompatible with the Popular Front. 

The YCL urged maximum youth inclusion into American political life. The YCL 

lamented "that during the years when youth are growing into voting age there is very 

little participation by them… in community, state and national affairs." 166 In a unity 

appeal to young Catholics, the YCL asserted the "democratic process in action, the 

exercise of democracy by the people, is the only means of preserving democracy." 167 

Institutions like the American Youth Congress were praised for increasing youth participation 

in democracy, allowing youth to "speak in the name of the best interests of the 

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American younger generation." 168 They applauded its ability to "win youth for democracy 

by effective participation in the life which democracy makes possible for youth." 169 

Similar praise was heralded for the World Youth Congress where youth were "trying to 

find a solution to their own problems in their own way… to preserve their free institutions." 

170 Such institutions helped bring the "attention of the federal and state governments 

and the whole progressive movement" to the conditions of American youth." 171 

The YCL encouraged youth struggles outside of traditional American democratic institutions 

in unions and university campuses. The YCL contended that such struggles 

were essential to "the reinterpretation of democracy and the reorientation of our economic 

and political life along democratic paths." 172 In order to expand democracy, the 

YCL urged youth to strengthen "activities in the union… because the unions are paramount 

in the People's Front movement." 173 Unions were essential "to achieve industrial 

and political democracy for the people of the United States and… to achieve and retain 

democracy throughout the world." 174 

Student activism was vital for the democratic movement. The YCL applauded the 

ASU "as the most constructive force in campus life" for its ability to raise issues "of 

concern to the whole democratic community." 175 The YCL spoke of the ability of the 

college campus to "teach youth in the spirit of democracy," praising it as a "fortress of 

democracy." 176 ASU pamphlets utilized this same slogan, asserting its interests and 

activities were "inseparable from those of democracy and the widest equalization of 

opportunity." 177 The YCL argued the health of American democracy was strengthened by 

union and student activism. 

In their campaigns for national defense, the YCLUSA embraced similar themes as 

British propaganda. The YCL centred its rhetoric on democratizing existing institutions 

while discouraging youth participation in non-democratic military institutions. The 

Popular Front YCL continued to denounce "the ROTC and American militarism" for 

preparing youth for war, not defense. 178 The YCL supported national defence, but did not 

trust the ideological motivations of the traditional military establishment. The YCL 

believed the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) could be either progressive or reactionary, 

depending upon who was allowed to administer the program. 179 The YCL asserted 

that the Army was attempting "substitution or inclusion of military training" within the 

CCC instead of serving for the best "defense of American national interests by providing 

youth with jobs, vocational training, and education in citizenship and democracy." The 

YCL pushed for an "expanded permanent CCC program under a civilian administration" 

where "further democratization… [could] be achieved." 180 The YCL propagated that 

institutions like the National Youth Administration should provide pilot training programs, 

not the US military. The YCL insisted "that national security rests upon greater 

democracy;" providing defense training under "supervision of a civilian agency, rather 

than by the military forces themselves, is a democratic measure." 181 

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DEMOCRACY 

Another component of the YCL's definition of fascism identified the potential disparity 

between military interests and the broad interests of the nation. The YCL argued that 

democratic control of national defense was vital to prevent fascist influences from 

undermining American security. The YCL believed that pro-fascist and pro-war elements 

existed within the US military. 182 Democratic civilian control became the litmus 

test of how the YCL judged most government programs, especially on the issue of 

national defense. In an article on rearmament, the YCL extolled its outlook on the 

interplay between defense, arms, and democracy: 

Communists are not pacifists… we have never and do not now oppose armaments as a 

matter of principle.... But armaments by themselves do not necessarily constitute 

strength in the fight against fascism. Arms can be used in two ways—either for or 

against fascist aggression, either for or against the people. Therefore arms by themselves 

are not a safeguard, but a threat. If they are to be a safeguard, guarantees must be 

established that these arms will be used against the aggressor and not against the victim.... 

An antiseptic against the fascist microbe within our national organism must be 

consistently applied if the arms of the nation are not to be used against the interests of 

the nation and its people.... There is no place in the US Army for pro-fascist antidemocratic 

officers. 183 

To counter fascist trends in the military, the YCL urged "democratic groups to take a 

greater interest in the welfare of the soldiers, sailors, marines" stressing that the "men 

who defend our country should not be left to the mercy of those who would betray it." 184 

Democratization was the only solution to implement and sustain a consistent anti-fascist 

national defense policy. 

YCL propaganda worked to address the international dynamics of anti-fascism and the 

defense of democracy. One of the greatest challenges of the YCL was to overcome 

traditional US isolationism while explaining that collective security did not advocate a 

"people's war" against fascism. Isolationist and pacifist sentiment was prevalent 

throughout the American youth movement. The YCL clarified that such sentiments in 

practice helped to strengthen fascism and serve the cause of reaction: 

It is clear that the fight against fake "isolation" and "neutrality" is the fight against the 

most reactionary militarists in America. Hearst, De Pont, Morgan and their cohorts are 

the sponsors of war budgets; they are the enemies of collective security; they are the 

apostles of "no foreign entanglements," a slogan to conceal their own identification with 

the fascists abroad, a slogan so plainly echoed by the fascists in Europe today. 185 

Reactionary forces manipulated isolationist sentiment to lend support to domestic and 

international fascism. International cooperation was the key to defending democracy at 

home and abroad since the "United States is a powerful, influential nation, and her 

cooperation with the democracies of the world, with the Soviet Union, would materially 

alter the course of events." 186 

The YCL utilized open dialogue with youth to critique and clarify diverse opinions on 

the interrelationship between Roosevelt, democracy and collective security. This dialogue 

would "help clarify and direct thousands of young people who are ready and 

willing to defend our democracy." 187 The YCL stated it was their role "to answer many 

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questions raised by students who are beginning to break with isolationism" and to convince 

them of the need for a "positive program for collective security." 188 In an article on 

the National Council of Methodist Youth, the YCL addressed Methodist anti-Roosevelt 

sentiment. The Methodist NC had directed their anti-militarist rhetoric against Roosevelt, 

not fascism. The YCL insisted such critiques "not only ignore the facts, but such 

theories harmonize with the program and practice of the fascists themselves." 189 The 

YCL hoped their clarifications would help shift Methodist opinion into the "mainstream" 

of American youth sentiment that stood clearly against fascism. 

Active citizenship was a vital element of the YCL's pro-democracy rhetoric. During 

the 1938 election the YCL adopted the slogan, "Defend Democracy By Practicing 

Democracy – Be An Active Citizen And Registered Voter!" 190 In the YCI press, the 

American communists insisted citizenship training was the key to increasing youth 

democratic participation. Carl Ross argued, "The essential problem [for American youth] 

is the preparation for the exercise of citizenship, instruction of young Americans in the 

principles of democracy by means of wider discussion and activity." 191 The YCL maintained 

that "education of youth for citizenship in our democracy" prepared young people 

"for active participation in the labour and progressive movement." 192 

The YCL maintained that citizenship centered on active participation in all facets of 

the nation's life, not just voting. The Leninist Generation had actively discussed citizenship 

in terms of Soviet democracy. The Popular Front Generation shifted their rhetoric to 

focussing upon citizenship under American democracy. During the 1938 elections, the 

Republican Party increasingly began using a political rhetoric centered on citizenship. 

The YCL intentionally framed their rhetoric to counter this trend. Increasingly the YCL 

centred almost all of its democratic rhetoric in a language of citizenship. 193 Gil Green 

contended that the YCL facilitated democratic citizenship in its members by engaging 

them in an active political life: 

We ask those people who dare question our stand on democracy: Take a look at our organization 

and see for yourself. Democracy is only possible when its citizenry is active, 

intelligent and wide-awake. What organization of young people can boast of such a high 

percentage of membership participation as ours What organization of young people can 

boast of a membership so alert and wide-awake.... And what organization of young people 

so imbues its members with a love for democracy as ours, and trains them to be 

ready to give their lives, if need be, in its defense 194 

An article on the 1938 election stated that the "responsibilities and obligations of citizenship" 

inspired the YCL to dedicate its organization to "uphold the constitution of the 

United States." 195 An article on the 1939 YCL National Convention referred to delegates 

primarily as "citizens," not as communists. 196 The main item for convention discussion 

was how the YCL could "help the young generation of today become the model citizens 

of tomorrow." 197 The YCL contended that by instilling "the spirit of democratic citizenship 

among the youth" it could "strengthen the movement for democracy and security." 198 

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DEMOCRACY 

The Leninist Generation embraced the Soviet experience as a definitive model for 

socialist revolution. Conversely, the Popular Front Generation asserted that the path to 

socialism in the United States was intimately linked with American democratic traditions. 

The YCL utilized American history and traditions in their rhetoric to link American 

"democratic culture" and socialism. YCL history articles used an associational rhetoric, 

drawing parallels between modern youth struggles and traditional American democratic 

struggles. In a statement to the World Youth Congress, the YCL urged delegates to 

embrace "the memory of American youth… struggling for the fulfilment of democracy in 

that country which gave democracy to the world, one hundred and seventy five years 

ago." 199 The YCL articulated the communist position on American democracy, history 

and the struggle for socialism by stating: 

The Communist Party of the United States is an American Party. It is carrying on the 

struggle for Socialism under American conditions. Foremost in this struggle for Socialism 

is the extension and maintenance of all existing democratic institutions....Our program 

for socialism is organically linked up with, is a necessary outgrowth from, the 

traditional American democracy as founded by Thomas Jefferson, whose political descendants 

we are. 200 

Other YCL statements on American history reiterated these assertions, arguing that "the 

road to socialism in our own country… lies through the growth and development of the 

People's Front," and that socialism would be "determined by the histories" of the United 

States which demanded the extension of American democracy, not its destruction. 201 In 

contrast to their traditional Leninist rhetoric, the YCL propagated, "We believe in American 

democracy" and that socialist transformation "will be solved against the background 

of the specific American historical conditions." 202 

Nevertheless, the Popular Front Generation did not abandon all aspects of their revolutionary 

rhetoric. The YCL attempted to integrate American revolutionary and democratic 

traditions with their vision of socialism and democracy. One article on the Fourth of July 

stated that the study of American history was vital to show how "the traditions of revolutionary 

America exposes that… the struggle for democracy today is a natural stage in the 

great American revolutionary tradition." 203 Earlier Popular Front rhetoric stressed the 

parallels between the sentiments of George Washington and Thomas Paine with the 

revolutionary internationalism of the communist movement. (See Appendix) 204 Such 

rhetorical statements about American history were an integral part of the larger American 

communist Americanization and democracy campaigns that boldly stated that "Communism 

is the Americanism of the Twentieth Century." 205 

Campaigns for "people's culture" were one of the most vital and enduring legacies of 

the American Popular Front. 206 The YCL recognized that cultural initiatives were an 

effective method for appealing to the youth. The Popular Front Generation contrasted 

their cultural initiatives with the "drab and colorless" tactics of the Leninist Generation: 

At the very outset of all our appeals to young people, we must show them a hope, something 

to live for; the movement which is rectifying evils.... I mean that our words themselves 

must paint pictures. How drab and colorless at times seem the words of our 

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comrades… we must remember that speaking, writing, and teaching are arts. This 

means that all of us must become artists… we should make our own all aspects of our 

native folk-cultures, making them "socialist in content, while regional or national in 

form." 207 

The Leninist Generation rejected such cultural tactics as sentimental social-democratic 

methods that distracted youth from the class struggle. An article by Joe Starobin, editor 

of the Young Communist Review, critiqued how some older comrades did not understand 

the value of lively cultural initiatives. Such cultural approaches were vital to attracting 

the youth, especially in YCL publications: 

The basic problem which confronted the magazine in the past year is posed by the question: 

for whom are we publishing… [our readers] wanted a youthful magazine, full of 

short stories, poems, skits and sketches, livelier illustrations, political articles educationally 

presented… the YCL became a youth organization, wielding political influence not 

only because it had attracted young people to a struggle for their economic needs, but 

basically because it satisfied their cultural, recreational and human needs… to win a person 

politically today, one must win him as a human being.... Our leading people are still 

too narrowly occupied with politics, failing to appreciate that politics means everything. 

208 

The YCL focussed on appealing to youth through the medium of youth culture, not the 

revolutionary formulas and slogans of the Leninist Generation. 209 During the Popular 

Front era, the YCL urged members to "acquire a thorough knowledge… of music of art," 

reflecting their "knowledge…of the civilized world," standing in stark contrast to the 

"barbarism" of fascist culture. 210 

The YCL infused its cultural propaganda with American traditions to portray the YCL 

as integral members of the American youth movement defending democracy. In 1938 

the YCL supported the creation of "The Young Labor Poets" who published a cultural 

magazine entitled Sing Democracy. The YCL described the work of the Young Labor 

Poets in terms of a shared British-American democratic heritage: 

Claiming the democratic spirit of Whitman, Shelley, Byron and Burns as their guide and 

inspiration.... The present application of this tradition, they declare, lies in poems that 

will sing out the songs of the fight for peace and democracy; poems that will sing of the 

CIO and the sweep of unionization; poems of the factory, poems of the field.... We mean 

poetry for the people. 211 

Communists contended that immigrant influences had forged an internationalist, democratic 

and inclusive political culture in the United States. Joe Starobin, spoke of how the 

"hopes, struggles and ambitions of immigrant people" had created in America a "new 

nation and a new culture;" such a culture could be utilized to "undermine the forces of 

barbarism who mock, insult, and deny the fundamental ideals of the Declaration of 

Independence." 212 

The YCL blended traditions of African American and union struggles with patriotic 

rhetoric about American democracy. One article highlighted the importance of the 

cultural traditions of African Americans, drawing parallels between "slave songs of 

protest" and modern movements for emancipation from fascism. 213 In 1939 the YCL 

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DEMOCRACY 

published a songbook entitled Songs Of America. 214 Selections from Songs of America 

were published monthly in the Young Communist Review to advertise for the songbook. 

One song by Sonny Vale entitled "Fighting For Democracy" praised the AFL-CIO "rank 

and file" for fighting "in good old Yankee style," ending each verse with a chorus of 

"We've got to fight – `Cause we know we're right – We're fighting for Democracy!" 215 

Other songs blended themes of freedom and patriotism with class rhetoric. One song 

entitled "A Song For the Fourth of July" stated, "If a man has nothing, nothing at all, how 

can a man be free – In a land of plenty, plenty for all, that's where a man is free." 216 

The YCL incorporated forms of popular entertainment into democratic culture campaigns. 

The YCL published a "peppy cheer song" that encouraged youth to, "Get a life 

with a purpose – Get a point of view – It's not hard – Just sign a card – And make your 

dreams come true!" 217 Some YCL branches attempted to blend traditional culture with 

popular youth activities. An YCL branch in Colorado held a "barn party" for Halloween 

to bring together Colorado farmers and Mexican farm hands. The YCL made it a popular 

event, utilizing beer, pop, pumpkin pie and a "snappy little Spanish band" that got the 

"dancing girls swinging it to their hot tune." 218 The YCL utilized CPUSA pamphlets like 

Give a Party For the Party that highlighted using popular party activities that could 

attract, entertain and politicize youth. 219 During the Popular Front the YCL even revised 

their traditional rejection of jazz music and swing dancing. The New York branch of the 

YCL held a "swing concert" in Madison Square Garden in 1939, attended by over 10,000 

youth. 220 The YCL began to praise jazz as "democratic music" since it was "characterized 

by the fellow-feeling among the players… and the folk nature of its melodies and lyrics." 

221 Leninist Generation propaganda had focussed cultural articles almost entirely on 

praising Soviet initiatives. The Popular Front Generation rejected many of these practices, 

seeking to construct an authentic modern American democratic and socialist youth 

culture. 

Much like their British comrades, the YCLUSA contended that leisure and lifestyle 

issues were vital to the health of youth and democratic society. Leisure initiatives 

attracted young people to the YCL and were an integral part of their "character building" 

campaigns. The YCL critiqued how their organization traditionally had a "tendency to 

cast aside the recreations and frivolities of youth;" the Popular Front program needed to 

clarify that there "must be no contradiction between being young and being a Communist." 

222 In 1938 the YCL began to clarify this new outlook on youth leisure in their 

official statements: 

At our Eighth National Convention the YCL was characterized as "an organization for 

education, action and recreation. We seek to provide cultural and social activities and 

sport and recreational facilities for young people. We want to teach them an appreciation 

of literature, drama, art and music. We want to enrich their lives, to build their bodies, 

to develop their characters, to train them for leadership."… Through our serious 

political work coupled with wholesome, healthy activities and popular methods, let us 

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show that we have no interests separate or apart from the needs and interests of the 

American young people. 223 

Traditionally the YCL had constructed itself strictly as a vanguard political organization 

to lead youth to socialist revolution. The Popular Front Generation instead contended 

that leisure and recreation were vital elements of their youth program for a democratic 

society. 

In 1939 the YCL began a campaign of "character building" among the youth to 

strengthen democracy. Earl Browder defined character building as the "accumulation of 

consistent and sustained habits of life and work, which best fit the individual into society, 

and equip him to sustain and improve society." 224 The YCL posited that character building 

was an anti-fascist activity arguing, "Fascism does not build character, Fascism 

destroys character." 225 Just as the YCLGB criticized fascists for "regimenting the youth," 

Henry Winston insisted YCL character building was based on the premise that "we 

respect the human personality and are opposed to any form of regimentation." 226 The 

YCL also believed anti-fascism could inform a progressive consumer lifestyle. In their 

domestic campaigns the YCL consistently called for a "people's boycott of all Japanese 

goods." 227 Classified advertisements in the Young Communist Review promoted modern 

services like swing dance lessons, unionized luncheonettes, beauty salons, tobacconists, 

breweries and tour cruises to the Soviet Union. The YCL believed progressive lifestyles 

centred on modernity and character building could strengthen democracy by highlighting 

"the opportunities under American democracy in contrast to the denial of rights and 

freedom in the fascist states." 228 

Spain: The Frontline of World Democracy 

Here again we see that, as in other issues, the Spanish Civil War linked the political 

rhetoric and campaigns of the British and American YCLs. Young communists insisted 

the Civil War was a conflict between fascism and democracy, not capitalism and communism. 

Both YCLs spoke of the Spanish struggle as an episode that was organically 

linked with the future of democracy and the youth of the world. One American article 

urging youth activism stated, "The youth of Spain calls on us to help them.... Every ounce 

of energy into the campaign to save democracy in Spain." 229 Other American articles 

broadened the call for Spain arguing, "The struggle of the Spanish people for democracy 

and against fascism is not the struggle of the Spaniards alone. It is the task of the people 

of the entire world to come to the aid of the Spanish people." 230 

YCL rhetoric linked the Spanish Republic with youth and democracy. For example, 

an article on the Lincoln Brigade stated that Spain was "the cause of all humankind;" in 

reality Spain "was and remains the universal cause: against vice, immorality, cruelty, 

greed, wanton barbarism, blackmail and violence for which the wretched swastika and 

the craven fasces stand." 231 YCLGB rhetoric echoed these same general sentiments with 

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DEMOCRACY 

statements like, "We speak for all youth when we say: Spain's fight is ours – it is the fight 

of humanity against tyranny – the fight of freedom against those who seek to destroy 

it." 232 A Challenge article stated that in order to prevent the betrayal of "Britain’s people 

and democracy" that everyone needed to be set "into action for peace, for democracy, for 

Spain and for the British people!" 233 Articles in the World Youth Review linked the 

future of Spain with the future of youth worldwide. One article commented that a 

growing "realisation among young people that fascism can bring only ruin and despair" 

led youth to recognize "that its destiny is intimately linked with that of young Spain." 234 

YCI rhetoric praised the resistance of the Spanish youth. The YCI posited to the Spanish 

youth that young people worldwide had "become conscious of their allegiance to democracy 

mainly because of the struggle which you have put up." 235 The Spanish JSU made 

similar associational pleas to world youth. Santiago Carrillo insisted, "Your future, like 

ours, is being decided on the battle fields of Spain; if you do your duty as Spanish young 

people are doing theirs… to save the peace and independence of all democratic nations… 

fascism will soon be crushed." 236 For communist youth, the anti-fascist struggles of Spain 

and its youth served as an international inspiration at the heart of their pro-democracy 

rhetoric. 

To aid Spanish democracy, the British and American YCLs participated in fundraising 

and material support campaigns. YCLGB activities in support of Spain were a central 

feature of its Popular Front program. Within days of Franco's revolt in 1936, the British 

left and anti-fascist youth swung into action in support of Spanish democracy, organizing 

not just political demonstrations, but practical aid and assistance. In areas like London, 

national committees were immediately formed to send medical aid to "relieve the suffering 

in Spain" and to "assist the Spanish Democrats against fascist aggression." 237 Challenge 

headlines urged youth to pressure the National Government into lifting the arms 

embargo against Spain. Challenge headlines like "Every Gun in Spain Defends Us in 

Britain" made the point that Spanish anti-fascists were helping to protect both British and 

Spanish democracy and were essential to defeating dictatorship. (See Appendix) 238 

In the beginning of 1937 the British YCL, in association with other youth, sent three 

food-ships to Spain in opposition to National Government policy and a naval blockade of 

Spain. The YCL characterized this work as "the greatest work the British YCL has ever 

done in its history," work that reflected the true democratic "feeling and spirit of the 

people." 239 The YCLGB also coordinated their efforts with French youth, giving up 

"cinemas, chocolates and other luxuries, and sending the equivalent to the fund" to aid 

Spanish democracy. 240 One article in the beginning of 1939 stated that in a period of less 

than 2 months that British youth had independently collected and sent almost £5000 in 

aid to Spain. 241 Outside of food, medical and financial aid, the YCL also sponsored 

knitting competitions and encouraged young women to adopt Spanish children who had 

become refugees in the war through the activities of the Save the Children Clubs. 242 

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"Aid Spain" campaigns helped American youth to gain a sense of international solidarity 

and a deeper understanding of world affairs. The YCLUSA stated that while 

Spanish youth protected democracy on the battlefield, that American "YCLers must fight 

with collection-cans, parties and dances to send money to Spain, and with letters, pens 

and soapboxes to lift the embargo on Spain." Such campaigns attracted new members 

who "joined because of the intensified activity… in behalf of the stubbornly democratic 

people of Loyalist Spain." The YCL not only sent financial aid, but also purchased 

"medical supplies, cigarettes and sweets" in order to "raise the morale" of the troops 

fighting fascism. 243 The YCL believed that their activities for Spain helped to inspire 

other American youth movements to support the Spanish Republic and democracy. The 

YCL praised the 1938 convention of the YWCA for passing a unanimous resolution that 

supported "lifting the embargo against Spain and in encouraging aid to the Loyalist 

cause, in the effort to maintain democracy in the YWCA and in the world at large." 244 

The YCL contended that such youth aid could help Spain to "emerge victorious" and that 

"America's youth will be saved from the task of shedding their blood in defense of 

American and world democracy." 245 Through aid and self sacrifice, the YCLs in Britain 

and the United States felt they could give effective aid to the Spanish Republic and rally 

public sentiment in support of Spanish democracy. 

Internationally, communist youth portrayed the Soviet Union as the greatest ally of 

Spain, democracy and the youth. While the Leninist Generation urged youth to defend 

the Soviet Union, Popular Front propaganda asserted that Soviet foreign policy was 

designed to protect democracy and youth throughout the world. The YCLGB contended 

that Soviet support of Spain and Czechoslovakia showed British youth how "the vast 

resources of Socialist Russia" supported by "the most powerful military in the world" 

could be utilized for their own defense and the international defense of democracy. 246 

The YCL justified the need for Soviet offers of military aid by asserting that the British 

military was ill-equipped and would be unable to withstand any attacks by the fascists. 247 

After the Munich Pact the YCL asserted, "At a word from the British Government, the 

strength of the Red Army can be ours, its power and vigour and its armament can be 

added to our defence against fascist aggression.... We need a Government that will make 

it ours." 248 One Challenge article entitled "This Army is Ready to Defend You" bluntly 

asserted that the Red Army would defend British youth, even if the National Government 

would not. (See Appendix) 249 

The American YCL spoke of how the Soviet Union was prepared to take "its place 

alongside of America against the barbarian forces… in Spain" and to offer a "firm 

handshake from 180,000,000 people, one sixth of the earth, and its mighty Red Army." 250 

For their assistance to Spain, the YCL praised that "one great nation that remained true to 

the principles of democracy, the firm ally of Republican Spain throughout the war—the 

Soviet Union." 251 Other articles boasted of how the "strength of the Soviet Union and the 

Red Army" were the only consistent allies that could be relied upon to check fascist 

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DEMOCRACY 

aggression against democracy. 252 In an article on foreign policy and Spain, Joe Cohen 

argued that "in supporting the Spanish people and giving material and diplomatic aid to 

the cause of democracy and peace" the Soviet Union served "not only to its own welfare, 

but also the interests of labor and progress throughout the world." 253 

The British and American YCLs contrasted the foreign policies of their own respective 

governments. The British YCL posited a complete opposition to the policies of 

Chamberlain's National Government. The YCL blamed the defeat of democracy in Spain 

upon Chamberlain's "treacherous" foreign policies. The YCL asserted that Chamberlain 

was consciously instituting pro-fascist policies; his support of non-intervention and 

"policy of appeasement expressed in honest terms, is the policy of assistance to fascist 

aggression and the destruction of democracy." 254 The YCL insisted it was the duty of all 

democratic forces to remove the National Government to save democracy in Britain and 

Spain: 

Spain's people have fought and will continue to fight. There is no question of that. They 

will go down fighting, rather than live as slaves. They are fighting fascism, which is our 

enemy as much as it is theirs. They can fight Hitler's and Mussolini's men; but they cannot 

fight Chamberlain's ban on arms. That is our job. 255 

The YCLUSA also denounced Chamberlain for his betrayal of Spain and democracy in 

very similar terms. John Gates, the former YCLUSA Battalion Commissar for the 

Lincoln Brigade, reflected upon the defeatist role of Chamberlain's Spanish policy: 

How, then, can we explain the defeat of Republican Spain The answer is to be found in 

the policy laid down at Munich. This infamous pact decided the fate of the Spanish 

people. The Munich pact was the logical development and culmination of the policy of 

non-intervention and so-called neutrality. Ostensibly a means of saving peace, it was, in 

fact, a policy of saving fascism. Today the facts are plain for all to see. Nonintervention 

was a mask for intervention in Spain and has resulted in the victory of Mussolini.... 

Munich made possible the invasion of Spain on an unparalleled scale by Mussolini, 

while at the same time it tightened the arms embargo against Spain.... We have good 

reason not to place too much faith and trust in the actions of the British and French governments. 

256 

Santiago Carrillo, the head of the Spanish JSU, stated that without Chamberlain's recognition 

of Franco at the end of February, 1939 that "Germany and Italy would never have 

been able to defeat the Spanish army and the Spanish people." 257 Communists argued that 

Chamberlain's rejection of collective security and Republican Spain was a conscious 

manoeuvre, reflecting how "he admires fascism and wants to see Hitler and Mussolini 

destroy democracy in Europe." 258 

In contrast to the British experience, the American YCL perceived Roosevelt as a potential 

close ally of Spanish democracy. While the YCL supported Roosevelt, they 

insisted that the President's lack of initiatives to defend peace and democracy needed to 

be "contrasted with the constant attempt of the Soviet Union" to check "the fascists in 

Spain." 259 Further articles on Spain in the early part of 1937 continued this comparison, 

exalting the "brilliant example of Soviet solidarity" and lamenting that "Roosevelt's 

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present policy does not coincide with his speeches on peace before the election." 260 After 

Roosevelt gave his infamous Chicago "Quarantine Speech" in October, 1937 the YCL 

increasingly identified him as a potential ally for Spain and collective security. The YCL 

asserted that "the struggle against the international and domestic reactionary forces… 

demands today the implementation of President Roosevelt's Chicago speech." 261 The 

YCL insisted that the only way to achieve this was "uniting all labor, progressive and 

democratic forces of the people to put pressure upon Congress to adopt a course of action 

in line with President Roosevelt's Chicago speech." 262 

The YCL blamed the Roosevelt's inability to act on behalf of Spain, not upon his own 

personal will, but upon the existence of pro-fascist elements in the government. The 

YCL blamed inconsistencies in his foreign policy practices on the influence of domestic 

reactionaries, most notably within the State Department: 

It seems that President Roosevelt, Secretary Hull and powerful Congressional leaders 

decided that the arms embargo upon Republican Spain was a grave mistake, nothing 

more than helpful to Hitler and Mussolini. Breckenridge Long, the former ambassador 

to Italy, informed the President that it was within his power to lift the embargo by proclamation 

without revision of the Neutrality Acts… the reactionary clique at the State 

Department has been exposed as operating even against the desires of the President of 

the Nation, running circles around the Secretary of State, in pursuance of their profascist 

policies. Observe how a handful of fascist-minded men nullify the wishes of the 

majority of the American people. 263 

When the Spanish Republic finally fell, the YCL did not blame Roosevelt, but the 

American embargo that was "maintained by the Hoover and Coughlin reactionaries" that 

"prevented the United States from giving the aid that could have brought victory." 264 

A large number of YCLers in Britain and the United States joined the ranks of the 

International Brigades to fight for Spanish democracy. The YCLGB spoke praised the 

legacy and role of the British volunteers in Spain. At their 11 th National Congress the 

YCL boldly stated, "Chamberlain doesn’t represent the real Britain. The real Britain is 

represented by the British youth who upheld the honourable traditions of British history 

in the International Brigade in Spain." 265 When the British volunteers returned from 

Spain the YCL invoked similar images of anti-fascist youth representing Britain's democratic 

heritage: 

We cheer and cheer, for these are our heroes, men who faced death and fascism, and 

conquered it in Spain… men who left home and work to fight great odds and cruelty because 

they believed in liberty.... This International Brigade, formed by men of all 

classes, that arose at the call of freedom, is part of the heritage, part of the most noble 

traditions of our people. The Brigade is Britain. 266 

To the YCL, the International Brigades represented "no ordinary army that marched out 

to do battle with the Fascists. It was the Peoples' Front with a gun on its shoulder, 

meeting the issue of Fascism versus Democracy." 267 

The YCLUSA countered arguments that the communists in Spain were trying to establish 

a Soviet Republic by highlighting "the unselfish work of our boys" in the Interna- 

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DEMOCRACY 

tional Brigades, who were not advancing Bolshevik revolution, but fighting "bravely in 

behalf of Spanish democracy." 268 The YCL insisted that they needed to "make all of 

America conscious of the role our boys have played in the struggle for Spanish and world 

democracy." 269 The YCL used support of the Brigades as an assessment of other people's 

sincere dedication to democracy insisting, "It was the test of a man's democratic understanding 

and sincerity over here, whether his trade union, his lodge, his church, or 

political organization contributed to provide medical supplies, ambulances, medicines, 

foodstuffs, and gifts to the Lincoln boys and the Spanish people." 270 The YCL invoked 

the experience of the American volunteers to reinforce to the youth movement that if 

"American democracy is to live, it must be concerned with the preservation of democracy 

in other countries." 271 Other articles insisted that the Abraham Lincoln Brigade showed 

that "the continuation of American democracy… was bound up with the preservation of 

democracy and peace in other parts of the world." 272 By upholding American democratic 

traditions through direct intervention in Spain, the YCL insisted their comrades' in Spain 

upheld "the honor of our people." 273 

As we have seen, Dimitrov's reconceptualization of fascism and democracy had a profound 

impact on the development of distinctive new forms of communist youth propaganda 

and activities. While the Leninist Generation had confidently denounced 

"bourgeois democracy" as a moribund system they would displace through proletarian 

dictatorship, the Popular Front Generation proudly boasted of their role in defending all 

forms of democracy and modernity from fascism. Popular Front propaganda reflected on 

the intimate links between democracy, youth and modernity in the struggle against 

fascism. Fascism threatened all facets of youth culture and democracy. To show there 

sincerity to defending democracy, many YCLers flocked to the cause of the Spanish 

Republic through material assistance, propaganda and at times, giving the ultimate 

sacrifice of their lives to defeat fascism. These new democratic initiatives ultimately 

enabled British and American communist youth to creatively reconstruct their political 

identity around innovative conceptions of fascism and democracy. 

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6 

CONCLUSION: 

THE YOUTH STRUGGLE AGAINST WAR 

Capitalism is war! The reconstruction of capitalism means, therefore, the perpetuation 

of war! To help do this means to desire new wars! Capitalism is the cause of war. To 

abolish war we must abolish capitalism. This is the whole crux of the matter. 

-Harry Young, YCLGB 1923 1 

We have differing philosophical, political and religious views; we represent various 

opinions; but we are inspired by the one single wish to save our generation from war. 

-Gil Green, YCLUSA 1936 2 

The study of communist youth propaganda reveals considerable divergences of rhetoric, 

world view and political identity between the Leninist and Popular Front Generations. 

This being said, the above mentioned quotes highlight how the two inter-war 

generations were connected and informed by a common perspective centred on peace and 

war. The Leninist Generation sought to mobilize the anti-war sentiment of youth to 

advance an international revolution against capitalism and war. Capitalism was perceived 

as the root cause of imperialist war. Young communists promoted a revolutionary 

"war against war" to abolish modern warfare by establishing international socialism. 

Since social democrats were viewed as subverting communist revolution, young communists 

propagated that socialists were the enemies of peace and the youth. To be a young 

communist meant to reject the Second International's view that peace and socialism could 

be established and preserved without revolution. 

During the Popular Font era, fascism was defined as a movement bent on war. Communists 

had previously posited that capitalist competition, in its unyielding quest for new 

markets and resources, facilitated war for the sake of increased profits. 3 Fascist war was 

a distinctly new phenomenon. Fascism advocated war on all aspects of modernity. They 

openly declared their intent to destroy the Soviet Union and to unleash a new world war 

that would destroy the hated Versailles settlement. Fascist war was not motivated simply 

by profit, but was driven also by an ideology of nation chauvinism bent on racial extermination, 

authoritarian order and global conquest to overturn all progressive advances 

since the era of the Enlightenment. 

Georgi Dimitrov identified fascist war as a different phenomenon from traditional 

imperialist war. In so doing, Dimitrov enabled British and American young communists 

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to understand and define fascism from a new youth perspective. Fascism was not an 

economic system, but an ideology that utilized mass propaganda to mobilize nations for 

the sole purpose of war. Fascism rejected all notions of internationalism and egalitarian 

premises of human brotherhood that were central to the maintenance of peace. 4 Fascism 

declared international law and disarmament initiatives aimed at peace anathema to their 

movement. 5 War was not a by-product of fascism; war was the goal of fascism. 

Dimitrov declared that a larger fascist world war was not inevitable. Since capitalist 

competition was a source of modern warfare, Dimitrov contended that capitalist cooperation 

could be utilized for maintaining peace if it was forged in alliance with the Soviet 

Union. Dimitrov identified that not all segments of the capitalist class supported fascism; 

fascism represented the interests of a small ultra-imperialist clique of the capitalist class. 

By exploiting this internal division, a unified working-class movement could lead a broad 

Popular Front against fascism and war to successfully halt fascist aggression. Peace 

would cause fascist regimes to collapse under their own internal contradictions without 

the need of a larger anti-fascist war. 

Fascism was portrayed as a rejection of civilization. Communists were portrayed as 

defenders of civilization. Youth were the future of civilization. World war threatened to 

decimate all aspects of modern civilization. The Popular Front identified where the 

interests of the capitalist democracies, the Soviet Union and the youth aligned on the 

issue of anti-fascism. Peace was the paramount issue to defend civilization, the future 

and the youth. Anti-fascism represented a clash of two mutually antagonistic forms of 

civilization. During the Popular Front, to be a young communist meant to be an antifascist. 

Thus while the form and content of youth propaganda changed radically, both the 

Leninist and Popular Front Generations justified their ideology through the vantage point 

of war and peace. 

By identifying this common thread of youth perspectives, we can understand how 

propaganda informed communist youth identity through the complicated twists and turns 

of inter-war Comintern strategy. When dramatic shifts occurred, the YCI consistently 

invoked symbols of war and peace to justify their changed position. Bolshevik and 

Stalinist political culture was not a faith based solely on blind obedience, but a complex 

negotiation of political identities that relied heavily upon propaganda to legitimize 

Comintern positions. When Comintern dictates appeared contradictory, communist 

propaganda invoked themes of continuity to rationalize change. The large membership 

fluctuations of the inter-war period, especially in the YCL's, reveal that communist 

propaganda was often ineffective in prescribing Comintern legitimacy to the youth. 

When youth did not agree with YCL positions, instead of mounting asserted internal 

dissent that would lead to expulsion, they often simply quit the YCL. What is far more 

fascinating in communist studies is not to identify these cases of dissent, but to address 

the phenomenon of youth consent. How did young communist propaganda utilize the 

theme of peace to maintain youth allegiance 

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The Leninist Generation justified their revolutionary program by focussing on themes 

of war and peace. Communist propaganda did not assert that social democracy wanted 

war, but that socialists had proven they were incapable of coping with imperialist war and 

were facilitating new wars by subverting communist revolution. According to YCI 

propaganda, revolution was the only solution for peace. In one of their first public 

statements entitled No More War, the YCLGB stated: 

Is it the "fate" of humanity always to be at war Will mankind always be divided into 

antagonistic camps, which men call "their Country, their Fatherland" And must they 

always slaughter one another with murderous weapons, murder, mutilate and burn, laying 

waste to beautiful towns and cities Must the world always be one vast slaughterhouse 

Must the world always be one vast arsenal with each war yet greater and more 

terrible than the other.... Will war always leer at us from its horrid death-mask Yes! 

Always! As long as capitalism exists! So long as capitalism exists, so long as the state 

is in the hands of the capitalists, so long as the bourgeoisie hold power, then so long will 

there be wars! War is the vital necessity for the capitalist class. 6 

The 1922 "Manifesto and Program" of the American YWL made similar assertions about 

the dire future of youth if capitalism was not overthrown: 

Capitalism thrives on waste; and over the bodies of the millions of slaughtered and 

maimed workers who have fought the battles for the master class, have been built up the 

fabulous fortunes and the power of the bourgeoisie.... The young must bear the brunt of 

all the fighting, suffering, and economic oppression that results from war.... During the 

war just passed, they gave up their lives on behalf of the financiers and industrial capitalists 

of this country.... The very flower of youth and manhood perished.... The basis for 

wars will exist so long as capitalism remains.... The young of the working-class form the 

backbone of all imperialist armies of the world. Their blood is shed so that capitalism 

may expand.... The slogan of the revolutionary youth must be: Down With All Capitalist 

Wars! In this struggle, the young workers must lead the way. Upon them falls the task 

of crushing that mighty instrument – Militarism, and with it Capitalism. 7 

Leninist Generation rhetoric unequivocally linked capitalism with war in dire, almost 

apocalyptic imagery. A future of capitalist war could only be averted by revolution and 

proletarian dictatorship. The Comintern's leadership and Leninist theory were the 

necessary tools that would enable communist youth to hasten a "Red Dawn" of peace. 

Dimitrov's defined fascism as war. This conception of fascism was the key to legitimizing 

the youth Popular Front. Dimitrov insisted that his definition of fascism revealed 

its "true character" as an international force for imperialist war. As previously highlighted, 

fascist regimes represented "the open terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary, 

most chauvinistic and most imperialist elements of finance capital." 8 In an article 

appropriately entitled "Fascism is War," Dimitrov reflected on the implications of this 

phenomenon: 

Two years ago, in August, 1935, the Seventh Congress of the Communist International... 

pointed to the indissoluble connection between the struggle against fascism and the 

struggle for peace. Fascism is war, declared the Congress. Coming to power against the 

will and interests of its own countrymen, fascism seeks a way out of its growing domestic 

difficulties in aggression against other countries and peoples, in a new redivision of 

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the globe by unleashing world war. As far as fascism is concerned, peace is certain 

ruin.... Now both the friends and foes of peace are openly speaking of the menace of a 

new world war which has come upon us. And it would also be difficult to find seriousminded 

people who at all doubt that it is precisely the fascist governments that are foremost 

in the desire for war.... The international proletariat and all progressive and civilized 

mankind will not tolerate their military aggression and acts of robbery, and are 

ready to do everything to prevent them from fulfilling their plans of igniting the flames 

of a new world war.... The relation between the forces of war and the forces of peace is 

not what it was in 1914. Tremendous world historical changes have taken place since 

that time.... This, however, requires that the tremendous forces and means at the disposal 

of the international labor movement be united and directed toward an effective and unyielding 

struggle against fascism and war. 9 

Dimitrov's analysis reiterated the theme of clashing civilizations. "Serious-minded" 

people could see that fascism desired war. Fascist world war could be prevented by the 

united action of "all progressive and civilized mankind" who represented the "forces of 

peace." War was personified in fascism as a rejection of progress and civilization. The 

Popular Front was propagated as the only strategy that could effectively unite the forces 

of peace to resist "the menace of a new world war." 

The Popular Front Generation did not place its hopes for peace in a distant socialist 

future, but rather reflected on the past to assist them in their present struggles to preserve 

peace. Young communists rejected notions of passivity and historical inevitability. 

Peace was not an abstract notion for a millenarian future. Peace was the pressing issue of 

the day dominating all elements of youth politics. Fascism used small-scale military 

campaigns to test the will of the international community and to prepare their forces for a 

larger world war. Popular Front rhetoric insisted coordinated youth anti-fascist activities 

could defend peace now. Youth could influence state policy and inspire the "forces of 

peace" to unite in struggle against fascism and war. 

The British and American YCLs adapted Popular Front rhetoric to reflect their unique 

role in the international struggle for peace. Their propaganda interpreted the unfolding of 

world events and sought to empower youth with the ability to impact world politics. 

Both YCLs rejected the notion that war was necessary to counter fascist provocations. 

The YCLGB directed their peace rhetoric against Chamberlain, violations of international 

law and youth apathy: 

Let us look the facts in the face. Yes, the working class, its youth, and the overwhelming 

majority of the people, want peace and a struggle against war. They are the most 

powerful force for world peace. Outside of these forces of peace are however forces of 

war – fascism.... This pro-fascist policy of Chamberlain and the capitulation of Daladier 

has brought nothing to the cause of peace, but resulted only in the increased danger of 

war. Can the working class and its youth, can the socialist youth movement, conduct itself 

passively towards the provocative drive of fascism and reaction towards war Under 

no circumstances.... War is not inevitable if international law is observed and 

complete justice for the peoples established in accordance with the peaceful and democratic 

will of the peoples in each nation....The working youth of the whole world should 

be made clear, that the sun of peace will rise over Europe only when the working class 

133


of the whole world and its youth will unite its forces for struggle against the fascist inciters 

to war. 10 

YCL rhetoric did not accept the inevitability of war, but warned of the increased "danger 

of war" associated with Chamberlain's "pro-fascist" policies. If Chamberlain's government 

were replaced, a new government could resist fascist aggression by supporting 

"international law." Working-class youth could help "the sun of peace" to "rise over 

Europe" by uniting in struggle against Chamberlain. Youth could not be passive observers 

of history while fascism threatened world war. 

The YCLUSA used a broader rhetoric of youth to encourage peace activism. American 

young communists focussed on the common interests that all youth had in the 

maintenance of peace. Instead of challenging the values of youth, Popular Front rhetoric 

utilized an inclusive language of common principles that would resonate with American 

youth. For example, in appealing to Catholic youth Gil Green spoke of the youth's 

"crusade for peace:" 

We are both crusaders for the well-being, happiness and perpetuation of mankind. You 

believe in the brotherhood of man, we in the international solidarity of peoples of every 

nationality and race. For this, we have both incurred the hatred of fascism. We both abhor 

war and detest the war makers; we both crusade for peace. And for this too, have we 

both incurred the hatred of fascism... But while the world is a family of nations, like any 

other family, it has its freak, the black sheep who is a disgrace to the family record. That 

freak today is to be seen in the fascist dictatorships and their war-making policies.... It is 

no accident that war has been precipitated by the Fascist countries— they are the aggressors. 

11 

Fascism was personified as an aggressive movement for war that stood against the 

common values of all mankind. Youth had the ability to find a common ground for 

struggle in their "crusade for peace." Anti-fascism and peace were the common values 

that linked all American youth. 

Communist leaders during the Popular Front often compared the experiences of the 

Leninist and Popular Front Generations by utilizing the theme of peace. In a 1939 article 

entitled "Your Generation and Mine," Earl Browder reflected on the experiences of the 

Leninist and Popular Front Generations. Browder's analysis centred on the intimate 

connections between youth, peace activism and the Soviet Union: 

Never before in all history was there such an opportunity for the people, and especially 

the younger generation, to transform the world fully and completely into the sort of place 

which the best minds have dreamed about over the centuries. Your generation, it is true, 

is threatened with the brutal and senseless slaughter of a new world war. My generation 

was similarly threatened. But there are tremendous differences, and most of them are in 

favor of your generation. My generation had only the most confused ideas of how to 

fight against the war-makers, and understood very little about the world in which we 

lived. Your generation has a fairly clear understanding of the world, and knows much 

better who are the warmakers and how to fight them. And your generation has powerful 

forces consciously working with it – the Soviet Union, and the labor and peoples' democratic 

movements all over the world. 12 

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Browder contested that the "fight against the war-makers" was the central theme that 

united communist generations. The experiences of confusion and defeat of the Leninist 

Generation enabled youth to learn from the past. Browder openly admitted that the 

Leninist Generation "understood very little about the world" while the Popular Front 

Generation knew "much better." Communism was not posited as a static revolutionary 

dogma, but as a flexible movement inspired by the desire to transform the world into a 

place without war. 

In 1938 Maurice Thorez directed a speech to communist youth entitled "A New Youth 

Shall Rise." Like Browder, Thorez also spoke of the continuity of peace activism that 

connected the Leninist and Popular Front Generations: 

We had heard the call of Lenin and together with our elders, we answered it. We answered 

the call of the Third International along with those who were still covered with 

the blood and mud of their trenches, carrying the marks of multiple wounds on their bodies, 

and in their breasts the scars of illnesses which were to take them from us prematurely. 

We made an oath that we would fight with all our hearts and all our strength so 

that our children should never know war.... I can tell you, we have never failed in keeping 

this oath. We fought against war and for peace in 1920 by joining the Third International.... 

We fought for peace and against war by launching and achieving our great idea, 

the People's Front.... Yes, comrades, we shall do everything to avoid the horrors of a 

new war, for the youth, for our children, ourselves, our great people.... Yes! Fascism is 

war, we said it, and there were some who laughed at us. Fascism is war. Though we are 

slandered, never have we asked for military intervention in Spain.... We are in the tradition 

of proletarian internationalism, fighting for liberty and for peace, and love of our 

country. 13 

Thorez reiterated Dimitrov's contention that "Fascism is war." His generation had 

embraced communism to fight "against war and for peace." The Popular Front Generation 

rallied to the Comintern to fight "for peace and against war." The implied goal of 

communism was no longer to fight a class "war against war," but to embrace effective 

methods to maintain peace. War and peace were the central issues that connected the 

experiences of these radically distinct generations. 

The controversial and potentially contradictory element of the Popular Front that 

Thorez addressed was the issue of "military intervention" against fascism. Though 

communists fought for the Spanish Republic, Thorez identified that the Popular Front 

would do "everything to avoid the horrors of a new war." This distinction between 

"collective security" for peace and "military intervention" for an anti-fascist war facilitated 

one of the greatest crises in young communist political identity. How were communist 

youth to react if a fascist world war did break out 

The notorious "Molotov-Ribbentrop Non-Aggression Pact" of 1939 caused major rifts 

in the anti-fascist and communist movements. Popular Front propaganda openly stated 

that communists would do everything to avoid a new world war. After years of diplomatic 

courting failed to materialize into larger collective security alliances with the West, 

Stalin showed the world that he would do anything to prevent Soviet engagement in a 

135


world war. On May 3, 1939 Stalin dismissed Maxim Litvinov as Foreign Commissar, 

replacing him with the less than cordial character of Vyacheslav Molotov. Litvinov was 

a long-seasoned ambassador to the West, having lived a number of years in both Belfast 

and London. Throughout the thirties Litvinov had fostered extremely cordial relations 

with politicians and public figures throughout the West. Molotov on the other hand was 

a brash and hardened character who had been an instrumental and unquestioning henchman 

of Stalin during collectivization and the Great Purges. Molotov also was not Jewish, 

making him a more appropriate character for any negotiations with the anti-Semitic Third 

Reich. Sir William Seeds, the British ambassador to the USSR, reflected on this transfer 

of personalities stating, "Litvinov's disappearance means chiefly the loss of an admirable 

technician or perhaps shock-absorber, and that we are faced with a more truly Bolshevik 

as opposed to diplomatic or cosmopolitan modus operandi." 14 Though the diplomatic 

community saw the importance of this transition, the young communist press primarily 

stayed silent on this issue. 15 

Less than two weeks before signing this infamous pact, Stalin hosted a mission of 

low-level diplomats from Britain and France to form a collective security pact. The 

French delegation had been given full negotiating powers to conclude a pact with the 

Soviets, while the British delegation was instructed to "proceed slowly," further souring 

the attitudes of Molotov and Stalin towards Britain. Stalin had already warned the British 

and the French after the Munich Conference that the Soviet Union would not be "drawn 

into conflict by warmongers who are accustomed to have others pull the chestnuts out of 

the fire for them." 16 Unknown to most communists, Stalin and Molotov were conducting 

secret negotiations with the Nazis, assuming that the British, French and Poles would not 

succumb to Soviet territorial demands in Eastern Europe. The failures of the three-power 

talks to produce an agreeable pact of reciprocity in cooperation hastened Molotov to 

progress further in his German negotiations. On August 19, 1939 Molotov signed a 

lucrative trade agreement with the Third Reich, followed by the infamous "nonaggression" 

pact with Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop on August 23, 1939. A London 

Times editorial initially asserted that the pact could be utilized as "a valuable contribution 

to peace" if it contained "a clause providing that the pact will be invalidated by any act of 

aggression on the part of a contracting party against a third party." 17 When the public 

portions of the pact were released to the press later in the week, any hopes for such 

clauses were shattered. While communist propaganda did not portray this pact as a profascist 

manoeuvre, public opinion increasingly perceived it as a Nazi-Soviet alliance, 

undercutting much of the legitimacy of the Popular Front. 

Communist propaganda attempted to rationalize the Non-Aggression Pact by highlighting 

the foreign policies of Britain and France. This rhetorical strategy was not new. 

Throughout the thirties young communist propaganda denounced Chamberlain and 

Daladier as pro-fascist politicians. Although their official government rhetoric spoke of 

preserving peace, young communists asserted these political leaders could not and should 

136


not be trusted by the youth. An article in the May, 1939 edition of World Youth Review 

associated Chamberlain and Daladier as conscious allies in the drive towards war: 

The four plotters are still the masters in London and Paris, as they are in Berlin and 

Rome. While two of them destroy the independence of people, strengthen their bases, 

occupy new strategic points, the other two are busy scattering and weakening the forces 

of peace. Two of them act: and the other two talk, and talk well sometimes. But their 

acts deny their words. Their words serve only to placate public opinion.... Firmly attached 

to peace, the younger generation has no desire to become the victim of that 

"blackmail of war" which some are trying to complete by their theories of cowardice, 

surrender and fatalism. The "blackmail of war" the theory of servility, can have no echo 

in the hearts of the younger generation.... Chamberlain and Daladier at Munich preserved 

the regimes of Hitler and Mussolini from destruction. 18 

A potential contradiction was unravelling in Popular Front propaganda. Servility was 

associated with capitulation towards fascism. Chamberlain and Daladier were contended 

to be "pro-fascist" for capitulating to the fascist's "blackmail of war" at Munich. Chamberlain 

and Daladier contended their diplomacy had saved "peace for our time." 19 YCI 

rhetoric asserted youth would never stand for such a fatalist policy. How then could 

propaganda interpret Soviet policy if Stalin reached a similar diplomatic agreement with 

Hitler 

Stalin had alluded to a potential diplomatic break with the West over the issue of an 

anti-fascist war in his report to the Eighteenth Party Congress on March 10, 1939. 

YCLers capitalized upon this speech to blame Chamberlain and Daladier for forcing 

Stalin's hand. Although young communists asserted that the Soviet's diplomatic move 

was one designed to maintain peace, they had a difficult time further rationalizing Soviet 

positions in the upcoming months. 

Political events began unfolding at a whirlwind pace, throwing extra complications 

into YCL propaganda. On September 2, 1939, the day before the official British declaration 

of war, the YCLGB ran a front page story urging youth that peace could still be 

saved: 

At this eleventh hour, let us, the youth of the nation, upon whose shoulders there rests so 

great a responsibility, weigh up the situation. Let us decide what we can do, while there 

is yet time, to avoid the catastrophe that will rob so many of us of our lives and which 

may destroy our whole future... Let us be clear. Even now peace can still be saved. It 

depends, not on Hitler, but on what the British people does now. Yet the youth movement's 

whole attention is being directed into what tasks – perhaps all necessary – they 

could perform in a war, instead of considering what action they can unitedly take now to 

preserve peace.... The Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact has split and divided the 

war-makers. It is a new blow for peace struck by the Soviet Government, which has 

consistently opposed Fascist aggression.... We, the young people, who have most to lose 

in war, appeal to the whole Labour Movement. In peace or war Chamberlain cannot be 

trusted. 20 

The YCL continued to invoke a continuity of images to propagate on the theme of peace 

and the youth. Chamberlain had consistently been denounced as pro-fascist. The Soviet 

Government was still personified as anti-fascist. The YCL struggled to continually 

137


interpret the unfolding of event through this dichotomy centred on peace. This position 

became increasingly difficult to maintain once Chamberlain was ousted from power by 

Winston Churchill. Even then, the YCL asserted that Churchill could not get their full 

support until he removed "the Men of Munich" from his cabinet. 21 

Since the United States did not enter WWII in 1939, the YCLUSA did not face the 

same public pressures as the YCLGB. The YCL carried on similar rhetorical attacks 

against the Chamberlain and Daladier, attempting to interpret the "true meaning" of 

Soviet diplomacy: 

Chamberlain, the Prince of Cynics, speaks of carrying on a war to the finish against the 

Mad Dog of Europe, Hitler; but was it not Chamberlain who carefully and lovingly 

nursed Hitler from the time that he was a weak little pup to the mad dog that he is today.... 

This war was not inevitable. This terrible conflict which menaces all humanity 

could have been averted. If Britain and France had accepted the proffered aid of the Soviet 

Union, their combined strength would have been so overwhelming as to prevent Hitler 

from starting war, or if he were so foolish as to do so, would have been smashed and 

defeated him in short order.... The very fact that they drifted consciously into war against 

Germany and rejected the help of the Soviet Union, arouses the suspicion that their aim 

is to transform the war into a war against the Soviet Union. They did not want the help 

of the Soviet Union because they knew that would be the guarantee of the complete destruction 

of fascism in Germany, in all Europe, and the complete victory of democracy.... 

But Hitler needed war. Fascism cannot live without ceaseless expansion and conquest.... 

Soviet diplomacy threw a monkey wrench that destroyed all the machinations of world 

imperialism.... A profound change has therefore come about in the world as a result of 

the failure to build a peace front and avert imperialist war.... The fight for democracy 

and peace goes on, but takes on new forms. 22 

The "new forms" of YCL peace activism centred on exposing the war's "imperialist 

nature." The YCL insisted that Chamberlain and Daladier had consciously brought this 

war upon the youth, not to fight fascism, but to attack the Soviet Union. Fascism was 

still personified as war. The YCL contended that without war and expansion the fascist 

regimes would quickly collapse. War would embolden fascism; peace would ultimately 

destroy fascism. By this logic, the YCL maintained that the struggle for peace was still 

an anti-fascist struggle. YCL propaganda urged youth to influence government policy 

from a pro-war stance into seeking a negotiated peace and entering collective security 

pacts with the Soviet Union. Although the YCL legitimized and interpreted world events 

through the rhetoric of peace, the Non-Aggression Pact ultimately destroyed the American 

Popular Front youth alliances. 

Although WWII marked the end of many Popular Front alliances, YCL propaganda 

reveals that a significant change occurred in communist theory concerning war and 

peace. The form and content of YCL peace propaganda contained serious deviations 

from those of the Leninist Generation. 23 In November, 1939 the YCI published an antiwar 

declaration to the youth framed not to instigate a revolutionary upheaval, but urging 

youth to defend its rights and to continue its struggle for peace: 

138


This war is not a just war. The example of Spain and China shows that youth never 

hesitates when it is a matter of a just cause, for which it fights boldly and selfsacrificingly 

with arms in hand.... But those who are drawing you, young workers and 

peasants, into the war under the pretence of the defence of democracy, are the worst 

enemies of democracy and liberty.... They want to establish a reactionary alliance 

against the working class, against the Soviet Union, buttress of peace and socialism.... 

Militant unity of all young proletarians against imperialist war – such is the demand of 

the moment.... The unshakeable unity of the working youth will arise in struggle against 

the high cost of living, against the sacrifices forced by the capitalist upon the working 

youth; in struggle for the demands and the rights of the youth; in struggle against the depriving 

of the working youth of their political liberties; in struggle against all consequences 

of the war; in struggle for peace. 24 

This YCI manifesto contained little resemblance to traditional Leninist propaganda. The 

YCI focussed on a continuity of policy that did not abandon Popular Front positions on 

nationalism, unity and democracy. The YCLGB propaganda did not urge youth to 

revolution, but encouraged them to "defend the true ideals of peace and brotherhood" by 

joining in the "great united campaign of youth against the war." Their propaganda sought 

to expose that "behind the smoke-screen of words" that "the men who organized, controlled 

and profited from the last war are controlling this new one." 25 Although mass 

desertions occurred from the YCLs during this period, one can contend that even greater 

numbers would have disavowed the YCL had it called for "revolutionary defeatism" 

instead of a negotiated peace. 

When the Soviet Union entered WWII in 1941, the YCLs asserted that Soviet participation 

changed the nature of the war and the prospects for a future peace. After the 

Teheran Meeting of 1943, both YCLs propagated that an Allied victory would hasten a 

new era of world peace based on international cooperation. The YCLGB stated that 

"there would be no more wars for many years to come, because the people of all countries 

who want peace will be strong enough to hold the warmongers in check." 26 The 

YCLUSA went even farther in their unorthodox analysis of Teheran. Embracing Earl 

Browder's analysis, the YCL disbanded in October, 1943, reforming itself as the "American 

Youth for Democracy." The YCL asserted that in a peaceful post-war era there was 

no need for a Leninist youth movement in the USA. 27 This notion was soon revised when 

William Foster replaced Earl Browder as chairman of the CPUSA in 1945. 

The rhetoric of the Leninist Generation informed a revolutionary youth identity centred 

on strict oppositional positions. Leninism was a "science" for social revolution, 

universal in its applicability and unquestionable in its "correct" positions. The Leninist 

Generation was defined by a "cataclysmic view of social change." 28 The Popular Front 

program was dictated by the Comintern, but its emphasis on distinct national forms and 

broad coalitions facilitated considerable flexibility in communist propaganda methods. 

Communist youth identity was transformed into a constructive social force to counter the 

inherent destructive nature of fascism and war. Throughout its history, from its founding 

statements at Stuttgart in 1907 to the Teheran Meeting of 1943, young communists 

139


consistently legitimized their existence and evolution through the rhetoric of peace. 

Though they ultimately failed in their mission to avert two world wars, communist youth 

played an active and vital role in the evolution of communism and the development of 

inter-war youth radicalism. 

Dimitrov's theory of fascism as an enemy of all facets of modern democratic life directed 

communist youth to posit themselves as defenders, not opponents of the nation, 

youth and democracy, enabling British and American youth to reconstruct their definitions 

of fascism and democracy. The British and American YCLs reconstructed their 

political identity by invoking symbols and traditions of their unique national democratic 

heritages. The YCLs reconciled their communist identity with their native democratic 

political institutions and national youth cultures by abandoning their traditional authoritarian 

rhetoric centred on proletarian dictatorship. Popular Front rhetoric increasingly 

contended that democracy and modernity were inseparable in the struggle against fascism. 

The YCLs contended that fascism rejected youth modernity, seeking through 

regimentation, authoritarianism and militarism to "imbue into youth the soul of slaves 

and mercenaries." Communists countered this fascist demagogy by supporting modern 

and democratic youth cultures that appealed to youth's "love of liberty and progress." 29 

By embracing democracy and modern youth culture, young communists constructed a 

new communist identity in Britain and the United States, distinct from their Leninist 

heritage. 

The re-conceptualization of the democratic experience in the struggle for peace led the 

YCLs to begin asserting a native national path for developing socialism through the 

extension of democracy. Popular Front theory utilized certain elements of Lenin's class 

critiques of democracy, but completely revised his tactical positions against democracy. 

For the Popular Front Generation, Leninist theory represented a method for analyzing the 

modern world, but did not offer effective anti-fascist tactics with its consistent denunciations 

of democracy. Gil Green contended that the YCL's revisionism was not a rejection 

of Marxism. Green argued that the Popular Front program represented the "true spirit" of 

Marxist analysis by changing communist tactics to deal with concrete changes in reality: 

Conditions are changing and men are changing. What was correct yesterday may be incorrect 

today. What was progressive yesterday may be reactionary today.... Today, the 

situation in the world has greatly altered. Would it be Marxism, to repeat like parrots 

what we said seventeen years ago It would not! It would be nothing more than a caricature 

of Marxism. Marxism is not, and cannot be a dogma. It is a guide to action.... Our 

task is to help youth interpret the changed world of 1939. And in this present-day world, 

fascism, the aggressor, is out to wipe democracy from the face of the earth.... That is true 

Marxism. That is creative Marxism. 30 

Green's comments about the changing nature of the world, Marxism and the struggle for 

democracy reflected a new dynamic in international communist theory and practice. 

The Leninist Generation consciously based their practices on strict adherence to 

Comintern dictates. The Comintern had posited that Leninism was a scientific blending 

140


of theory and practice that dictated correct strategic practices for socialist revolution. 

Green's analysis of the flexible and "creative" nature of Marxism undercut this current of 

Comintern dogma, reflecting the possibilities of alternative strategies in the West for the 

construction of socialism. 

The Cold War brought about new challenges for communists, particularly in their relationship 

with Moscow. By infusing the struggle for socialism with Western traditions, 

Popular Front theory undercut the traditional basis of the Comintern's authority, opening 

new paths for the evolution of Western communism. Though the Comintern was officially 

dissolved in 1943, many communists continued traditions of deference to Moscow 

for leadership initiatives. Institutions like the Cominform and domestic anti-communist 

initiatives put communists in an even more precarious position throughout the 1950s. 

Those YCLers who stayed within the movement after the international crises of 1956 

were often the champions of de-Stalinization and democratic initiatives. Veterans of the 

Popular Front Generation of the YCL would later be in the forefront of the Eurocommunist 

movement and attempts to democratize the British and American parties. John 

Gollan became the head of the CPGB in 1956, attempting to cope with the dual crises of 

de-Stalinization and the Hungarian Uprising. Many British YCLers who left the movement 

rallied to broad New Left inspired initiatives like the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament 

(CND). After years of FBI harassment and six years of incarceration, Gil Green 

continued to work within the CPUSA the rest of his life to rally his comrades from the 

Popular Front era. Santiago Carrillo continued to struggle under the Franco regime to 

revive Spanish democracy, becoming the dominant voice of Eurocommunism and 

Spanish reforms during the late 1970s. 

When further crises plagued communists in 1989, YCL veterans of the Popular Front 

Generation led the movement for change. British Popular Front YCLers like Bill Wainwright 

openly supported calls for the transformation of the CPGB into the Democratic 

Left. Supporters of the Morning Star newspaper rejected this initiative, reforming 

themselves as the Leninist inspired Communist Party of Britain. The Democratic Left 

has since disbanded in England and Wales, but continues on as a broad grassroots campaign 

in Scotland. In the United States, Gil Green and Pete Seeger re-emerged in the late 

early nineties to lead the reform minded pro-Gorbachev supporters of the CPUSA in 

opposition to Gus Hall's supposed support of the 1991 Soviet coup. Green and Seeger 

networked with younger activists like Angela Davis to form the Committees of Correspondence 

for Democracy & Socialism (CCDS). Much like the Popular Front Generation, 

CCDS activists sought to bring about a broad unity of the American left against a 

perceived period of reactionary politics. Though the CCDS floundered in many of its 

goals, the CPUSA and YCL have since revisited the Popular Front era and the writings of 

Dimitrov under the leadership of individuals like Sam Webb, Jessica Marshall, Docia 

Buffington, Tony Pecinovsky and Abdul Hassan. For such communists, the international 

struggle for peace, democracy and socialism have become inseparable notions. 

141

APPENDIX 

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 

AFL 

ALAFW 

ARP 

ASU 

AYC 

BUF 

BYP 

BYPA 

CCC 

CCDS 

CIO 

CND 

Cominform 

Comintern 

CPGB 

CPUSA 

ECCI 

ECYCI 

ECYCLGB 

ECYCLUSA 

ILP 

IWUSYO 

JSU 

KPD 

NECLP 

LLOY 

LNUY 

American Federation of Labor 

American League Against Fascism and War 

Air Raid Precautions 

American Student Union 

American Youth Congress 

British Union of Fascists 

British Youth Parliament 

British Youth Peace Assembly 

Civilian Conservation Corps 

Committees of Correspondence for Democracy & Socialism 

Congress of Industrial Organizations 

Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament 

Communist Information Bureau 

Communist International 

Communist Party of Great Britain 

Communist Party of the United States of America 

Executive Committee Communist International 

Executive Committee Young Communist International 

Executive Committee Young Communist League Great Britain 

Executive Committee Young Communist League USA 

Independent Labour Party 

International Working Union of Socialist Youth Organizations 

Juventudes Socialistas Unificadas 

Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands 

National Executive Committee of the Labour Party 

Labour League of Youth 

League of Nations Union of Youth 

142

APPENDIX 

Nazi 

NCYCLGB 

NCYCLUSA 

NSL 

NYA 

PCE 

POUM 

RILU 

SI 

SLID 

SPD 

SWP 

SYI 

TA 

TUC 

WCP 

WWI 

WWII 

WYC 

YCI 

YCL 

YCLer 

YCLGB 

YCLUSA 

YMCA 

YPSL 

YWCA 

YWI 

YWL 

Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei 

National Council Young Communist League Great Britain 

National Council Young Communist League USA 

National Student League 

National Youth Administration 

Partido Comunista de España 

Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista 

Red International of Labor Unions (or Profintern) 

Socialist International or Second International 

Student League for Industrial Democracy 

Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands 

Socialist Workers Party 

Socialist Youth International 

Territorial Army 

Trade Unions Congress 

Workers Communist Party 

World War One 

World War Two 

World Youth Congress 

Young Communist International 

Young Communist League 

Young Communist League Member 

Young Communist League Great Britain 

Young Communist League USA 

Young Men's Christian Association 

Young People's Socialist League 

Young Women's Christian Association 

Young Worker's International 

Young Worker's League 

143


ILLUSTRATIONS REFERENCED IN TEXT 

Illustrations 1 & 2 (Page 49). Michael, "The Sacrifice of Youth," The Young Worker: Organ of the Young 

Communist League of Britain 1, no.2 (September, 1923): Cover. Erik, "International Youth Day," The 

Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Worker's League 2, no. 9 (September, 1923): Cover. 

144

APPENDIX 

Illustration 3 (Page 49). Bard, "Capitalism Brings Forth The Little One," The Young Worker: Official 

Organ of the Young Communist League USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 8, no.24 

(November 27, 1930): 4. 

Illustration 4 (Page 49). Roosevelt, Hitler and Labor Camps (Source: "Birds of a Feather," The Young 

Worker: Official Organ of the Young Communist League USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 

11, no.7 (May 10, 1933): 5.) 

145


Illustration 5 (Page 66). Ted Ward, "The Living Past: Where the Cry of Freedom Rang," in Challenge: For 

the Defense of the People 5, no. 28 (January 15, 1939): 6. 

Illustration 6 (Page 68). "Two Revolutionists: Lincoln and Lenin," The Young Worker: Official Organ of 

the Young Communist League USA 13, no.38 (November 5, 1935): 5. 

Illustration 7 (Page 68). "Dear Mr. Browder, The Spirit of '76 is Not Dead: Young '36 Replies," The Young 

Worker: Official Organ of the Young Communist League USA 14, no.12 (March 24, 1936): 5. 

146

APPENDIX 

Illustration 8 (Page 71). Chicago May Day Photo, "That's What They Think: Letters From Our Readers," 

Young Communist Review 4, no.5 (July, 1939): 24. 

Illustration 9 (Page 84). YCLGB, The United Front of the Youth (London: YCLGB, 1926). 

147


Illustration 10 (Page 107). "Service for Chamberlain Means Help for Hitler: Our Country Needs a Government 

That Can be Trusted," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no.41 (October 22, 1938): 1. 

Illustration 11 (Page 107). "The Noose of Conscription," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no.43 (November 

5, 1938): 9. 

148

APPENDIX 

Illustration 12 (Page 120). Forest S. Adams, "Right to Revolution Stressed by George Washington in 

1776," The Young Worker: Weekly Organ of the Young Communist League, USA 14, no.7 (February 18, 

1936): 5. 

Illustration 13 (Page 124). Gabriel Carritt, "Every Gun in Spain Defends us in Britain," Challenge: The 

Voice of Youth 5, no. 5 (February 4, 1939): 8. 

Illustration 14 (Page 125). Ted Ward, "This Army is Ready to Defend You," Challenge: The Voice of 

Youth 5, no. 8 (February 25, 1939): 3. 

149

NOTES 

INTRODUCTION: COMMUNIST HISTORIOGRAPHY AND THE YOUTH 

1. Tim Davenport, "Young Communist International (1919-1943) Organizational History," in Early American Marxism: A 

Repository of Source Material, 1864-1964 Online Archive . Although 

Young Communist Leagues existed in South Africa, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Abyssinia and Rhodesia, the primary 

drive for communist movements in Africa came during the anti-colonial movements of the post-WWII period. During the 

time of the Comintern, three International Bureaus existed covering the Americas, Europe and Asia. Where Communist 

Parties and YCLs existed in colonial nations outside of these areas, the movements were overseen by the parties of the Imperial 

nation that had dominion over that particular colony. See Geoffrey Stern, Atlas of Communism (New York: Macmillan 

Publishing Co., 1991), 78-79. 

2. See Richard Cornell, Revolutionary Vanguard: The Early Years of the Communist Youth International, 1914-1924 (Toronto: 

University of Toronto Press, 1982). 

3. Ibid., viii. 

4. At the Second Congress of the Communist International, Willie Münzenberg insisted that the question of youth was the 

most significant question facing the Comintern. Münzenberg urged for the widest possible discussion of the position of 

youth before the entire Comintern Congress. Münzenberg's proposals for discussion were postponed by Grigory Zinoviev 

in order to allow sufficient time for debate with the British delegation over communist parliamentary tactics. At its Third 

World Congress, the Comintern thoroughly discussed the question of youth and adopted a series of resolutions to define 

the "correct relationship" between adults and the youth. See "Minutes of the Second Congress of the Communist International: 

Thirteenth Session, August 6, 1920," in The History of the Communist International Internet Archive 

. 

5. YCLGB, A Short History of the Young Communist International (London: Dorrit Press, 1927), 14. 

6. For commentary on the Comintern initiatives to create a "Leninist Generation" of youth see Gidon Cohen and Kevin Morgan, 

"Stalin's Sausage Machine: British Students at the International Lenin School, 1926-37," Twentieth Century British 

History 13, no.4 (November, 2002): 327-355. 

7. In a 1938 editorial on political radicalism, Harvey Zorbaugh commented on the inter-war youth stating, "Observers were 

mindful of the upheavals that have taken place in one part of the world after another, and of the role that youth had played 

in those upheavals – China, where youth had become the incarnation of aggressive nationalism; Russia, where youth had 

been the backbone of communism; Italy, where youth had been the vanguard of fascism; Germany, where youth was the 

spearhead of Hitlerism. The question began to be asked: Which way America's youth" Harvey W. Zorbaugh, "Which 

Way America's Youth," Journal of Educational Sociology: The Challenge of Youth 11, no.6, (Feb., 1938): 322-334. For 

commentary on other youth movements, including fascist youth movements, of the interwar period see John R. Gillis, 

"Conformity and Rebellion: Contrasting Styles of English and German Youth, 1900-33," History of Education Quarterly 

13, no.3 (Autumn, 1973): 249-260; H.W. Koch, The Hitler Youth: Origins and Development 1922-1945 (New York: Stein 

and Day, 2000); Walter Lacquer, Young Germany: A History of the German Youth Movement (New York: Transaction, 

1984); David I. Macleod, Building Character In The American Boy: The Boy Scouts, The YMCA, And Their Forerunners, 

1870-1920 (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1983). 

8. For the US see Paul Mishler, Raising Reds: The Young Pioneers, Radical Summer Camps, and Communist Political Culture 

in the United States (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999); Judy Kaplan and Linn Shapiro, ed., Red Diapers: 

Growing Up in the Communist Left (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1998). For Britain see Phil Cohen, Children of 

the Revolution: Communist Childhood in Cold War Britain (London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1997). 

9. For the US see Robert Cohen, When the Old Left Was Young: Student Radicals and America's First Mass Student Movement, 

1929-1941 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993); Eileen Eagan, Class, Culture, and the Classroom: The Student 

Peace Movement of the 1930's (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1981); Hal Draper, "The Student Movement 

of the Thirties: A Political History," in As We Saw the Thirties: Essays on Social and Political Movements of a Decade, 

ed. Rita James Simon (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1967), 151-189. For the case of Britain see James Springhall, 

Youth, Empire and Society: British Youth Movements 1883-1940 (London: Croom Helm, 1977); James Hinton, Protests 

and Visions: Peace Politics in 20 th Century Britain (London: Hutchinson Press, 1989); Arthur Marwick, "Youth in Britain, 

1920-60: Detachment and Commitment," Journal of Contemporary History 5, no.1 (1970): 37-51. 

10. For a discussion of the impact of the "totalitarian" model on Cold War historiography see Alfred G. Meyer, "Coming to 

Terms With the Past… and With One's Older Colleagues," Russian Review 45, no.4 (October, 1986): 401-408. 

11. By its very nature, totalitarian theory has been extremely contentious and used in a variety of contexts. Though the term 

originated prior to WWII, Hannah Arendt popularized its usage with her 1951 publication The Origins of Totalitarianism. 

Generally speaking, totalitarianism refers to a political state ruled by a single party that utilizes propaganda, state regulations, 

education and terror to control and guide all facets of public and private life. Critics of totalitarian theory have contended 

that the concept blurs the important divergences in ideology, practices and motivations that existed between the 

communist and fascist movements, denouncing publications like The Black Book of Communism that contend the Nazi 

Reich and Soviet Union were "totalitarian twins." Many social scientists and historians have argued that such analysis is 

150

NOTES 

reductionist in its methodology and was fuelled primarily by politically motivated anti-communist sentiment. See Hannah 

Arendt, The Origins Of Totalitarianism (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1951); C. J. Friedrich and Z. K. Brzezinski, Totalitarian 

Dictatorship and Autocracy (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1956); John Wesley Young, Totalitarian Language: 

Orwell's Newspeak and its Nazi and Communist Antecedents (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1991); 

Vladimir Shlapentokh, A Normal Totalitarian Society: How The Soviet Union Functioned And How It Collapsed 

(Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 2001); Nicolas Werth, Karel Bartošek, Jean-Louis Panne, Jean-Louis Margolin, Andrzej 

Paczkowski and Stéphane Courtois, The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression (Cambridge: Harvard 

University Press, 1999). 

12. For critical commentary on the importance of stressing Comintern connection see David Mayfield, "What Is The Significant 

Context Of Communism A Review Of The University Of Michigan Conference On International Communism, 14– 

15 November 1986," Social History 13 (October 1988), 352. For comments on "new techniques" and the Comintern see 

Bryan Palmer, "Communist History: Seeing It Whole. A Reply To Critics," American Communist History 2, no.2 (December, 

2003): 209–211. 

13. The Trotskyist critique centred on identifying the divergences between Leninism and Stalinism, contending that Trotskyism 

represented the true traditions of Bolshevism. Trotskyists constructed their movement on identifying how this divergence 

translated into the practices of the Comintern, corrupting the initial revolutionary role of Communist Parties, turning 

them into appendages of Stalin's political will. See Leon Trotsky, The Revolution Betrayed. What Is The Soviet Union And 

Where Is It Going (New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company, 1937). For a scholarly evaluation of the Trotskyist critique 

of Stalinism see Robert H. McNeal, "Trotskyist Interpretations of Stalinism," in Stalinism: Essays in Historical Interpretation, 

ed. Robert C. Tucker (New York: W.W. Norton, 1977), 30-52. 

14. In a 1969 theoretical article, Eric Hobsbawm articulated that the major trends of communist historiography generally followed 

an approach dominated by two schools of inquiry, "the sectarian and the witch-hunting;" an "industry" whose output 

Hobsbawm considered to be "on the whole disappointing." As understood by Hobsbawm, the "sectarians" typically 

represented former communists or Trotskyists whose primary motivation was to discredit party lines as inherently "incorrect" 

due to their revision of Leninism. On the opposite spectrum, the "witch-hunters" discredit the sincerity of the populist 

and democratic rhetoric of Western communist, refusing to believe that any tangible revision of Leninism occurred in 

the evolution of the movement. What these two trends hold in common is that their inquiry is ultimately fuelled by political 

motivations to ridicule and discredit communists. The witch-hunters, often disillusioned communists themselves, were 

dominated by a commitment to showing the parties as "sinister, compulsive, potentially omnipresent bodies, half religion 

and half plot, which could not be rationally explained because there was no sensible reason for wishing to overthrow the 

pluralist-liberal society." Eric Hobsbawm, "Radicalism and Revolution in Britain" in Revolutionaries, ed. Eric Hobsbawm 

(London: Abacus, 1973), 12. In a recent book review, Geoffrey Roberts has referenced these two schools as being dominated 

by "Cold War psycho-babble;" the sectarians attempting to portray the slavish "Stalinist" mindset of the party 

leadership, the witch-hunters attacking the perceived naivety or psychological dysfunctions of the rank-and-file. See 

Geoffrey Roberts, "Review of Class or Nation: Communists, Imperialism and Two World Wars, by Neil Redfern," Communist 

History Network Newsletter 18 (Autumn, 2005): 11. 

15. The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace exerted an extremely influential role on the development of communist 

historiography. While the archival collections established at the Hoover have been vital in tracing the historical 

development of international communism, the Mission statement of the Hoover clearly exhibits a defined ideological 

agenda stating, "This Institution supports the Constitution of the United States, its Bill of Rights and its method of representative 

government. Both our social and economic systems are based on private enterprise from which springs initiative 

and ingenuity.... Ours is a system where the Federal Government should undertake no governmental, social or economic 

action, except where local government, or the people, cannot undertake it for themselves.... The overall mission of this Institution 

is, from its records, to recall the voice of experience against the making of war, and by the study of these records 

and their publication, to recall man's endeavors to make and preserve peace, and to sustain for America the safeguards of 

the American way of life. This Institution is not, and must not be, a mere library. But with these purposes as its goal, the 

Institution itself must constantly and dynamically point the road to peace, to personal freedom, and to the safeguards of the 

American system." See, "Hoover Institution Mission Statement," in Hoover Institution: Stanford University Website 

. 

16. The distinctions in methodology and ideological outlooks between historians of the CPGB and the CPUSA were discussed 

in great length with Kevin Morgan, Mike Waite and the archivists of the Working Class Movement Library in Salford and 

the Labour History archives in Manchester during research conducted in January, 2005. The political culture of the British 

Welfare State and experiences of social-democracy during the Cold War created a distinct intellectual outlook upon the 

history of socialism in Britain. Another factor to consider in the British academy is the enduring intellectual legacy of the 

Communist Party History Group that produced such eminent intellectual figures as Christopher Hill, EP Thompson, Eric 

Hobsbawm and Perry Anderson. For a discussion of the influence of the Welfare State and socialism upon British national 

identity see Joel Lewis, "Class Struggle and the Nation: A Historical and Statistical Study of Scottish National Identity" 

(CHSBS Graduate Paper Submission, Central Michigan University, 2004). A critical discussion of the theory and legacies 

of the CPGB Historians Group can be found in Joel Lewis, "The Communist Party Historians' Group: An Evaluation of 

Theory and Historiographical Legacy" (Unpublished Article, Strathclyde University, 2002). 

17. The Labour Party and the TUC leadership both shared a long history of denouncing and marginalising radical influences 

within the ranks of the labour movement. Labour's overwhelming political goals became dominated by a PR agenda to 

show Labour to be a party "Fit to Rule Britain," divorcing itself officially from radicalism and Bolshevism. Later events 

like the J.R. Campbell Trial, the Zinoviev scandal, the General Strike of 1926 and the capitulation of MacDonald to form a 

National Government in coalition with Tories fostered a further gulf between the "official Labour" movement and radicalism. 

The "anti-communist" crusade of the Atlee Government therefore was not a break with earlier practices of Labour, 

but was part of a larger historical continuity in Labour attempting to gain "public respectability." See Joel Lewis, "The 

Ideology and Tactics of Revolution, Reform and Repression: The British Labour Party and Communist Party 1920-1924" 

(MPhil diss., Strathclyde University, 2002) 

18. George Moss has contended that Truman's domestic "loyalty program" of 1947 was inspired not just by domestic pressures, 

but also by public interpretations of international events that overestimated the domestic strength of communism 

through its association with the international communist movement. See George Moss, America in the Twentieth Century 

(New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1989), 266-270. The most damaging experiences that condemned the public perception of the 

CPUSA came from the infamous Smith Act trial of 1949; a trial of the major leaders of the CPUSA intended specifically 

to dismiss the political legitimacy of the party. To show the "monolithic and seditious" nature of the communist move- 

151


ment, government prosecutors opted not to focus on individual "criminal" acts to substantiate their case, but instead directed 

their case against the language used by communists to show the treasonous nature of their movement. Prosecutors 

quoted extensively from "classical texts" of Marxism-Leninism to expose the "true nature" of the CPUSA, dismissing any 

historical arguments that the ideological and strategic outlook of the CPUSA had changed over its history. Contending 

"what all communists do by suggesting what one of them once intended," prosecutors gave a selective presentation of evidence 

to link the CPUSA with a language intended to promote violence and treason. Defense lawyers attempted to present 

quotes centring on "peace" and "democracy" to offset this potentially damaging line of argument. The tactics of the defence 

were predictable and the prosecution countered it by introducing the infamous and highly damaging "Aesopian language 

thesis." Aesopian language is generally defined as a form of "communications that convey an innocent meaning to 

outsiders but hold a concealed meaning to informed members of a conspiracy or underground movement." The introduction 

of this line of argument, which was considered acceptable by the court, made any statements made by the defense 

generally ineffective: "According to the Aesopian language thesis, communist language was hardly ever meant literally. 

CPUSA communicated in codes of metaphors, synecdoches, and antitheses. If Dennis produced a text which claimed 

"peace" as the communists' objective, it was to be read as intending "war." The trick was to catch the communistinfluenced 

writer off his guard, saying what he really meant. Thus if a "classic text" happened to admit violence as a 

means, it indeed meant violence; if in the text one found "nonviolence, " it too of course meant violence… From the moment 

the judge allowed the Aesopian language thesis to stand as relevant evidence, nothing the communist defendants 

could say about the very distant relationship between language and the world would constitute a convincing defense since 

the court had allowed the tautological interpretation that subversive language was misleading." See Alan Filreis, "Words 

With "All The Effects Of Force": Cold-War Interpretation," American Quarterly 39 (Summer, 1987), 307; Peter L. 

Steinberg, The Great "Red Menace": United States Prosecution of American Communists, 1947-1952 (West port: Greenwood 

Press, 1984). 

19. Willie Thompson, The Good Old Cause: British Communism 1920-1991 (London: Pluto Press, 1992), 83. 

20. See Henry Pelling, The British Communist Party: A Historical Profile (London: A. and C. Black, 1958). 

21. The Communist Party Historians Group, an organization of some of the leading intellectuals in Britain, offered in 1956 to 

produce an history for the party. The CPGB leadership, fearing the treatment that the group would give to some of the 

more "embarrassing" moments of the party's history, declined the offer and opted instead to charge Klugman with the task. 

See Jeremy Tranmer, "The End Of History The Historiography Of The British Communist Party And The Death Of 

Communism," in Politique, Societe et Discours du Domaine Anglophone Website . 

22. See James Klugmann, History of the Communist Party of Great Britain 1919-1924 (London: Lawrence and Wishart, 

1969); James Klugmann, History of the Communist Party of Great Britain 1925-1926 (London: Lawrence and Wishart, 

1969). 

23. For an insightful review on Kendall's political and intellectual development see Tony Carew, "Walter Kendall (1926- 

2003): Remarks by Tony Carew at the Memorial Meeting, Conway Hall, London, February 14, 2004," in The Global Labour 

Institute Website . 

24. See Walter Kendall, The Revolutionary Movement In Britain, 1900-21: The Origins Of British Communism (London: 

Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1969). 

25. For comments on the "traditionalist" emphasis on policy and leadership see John McIlroy and Alan Campbell, ""Nina 

Ponomareva’s Hats": The New Revisionism, the Communist International, and the Communist Party of Great Britain, 

1920-1930," in The History Cooperative Online Archive . 

26. Although he was a consultant for the Fund For the Republic project, Earl Browder, the former Chairman of the CPUSA, 

commented on the "traditionalist" view of the series stating, "What I miss in Draper is the understanding that he is writing 

about an organic part of American history, and not merely a study of the American section of the Communist International. 

The two phases are intertwined and interacting, in real life, and are more and more contradictory – but in reading 

Draper one becomes conscious of the contradiction not in the form of the Living Struggle between American reality and 

Leninist dogmas, but as a great gap, an abyss, across which there was never any real contact and therefore never any real 

struggle." Quoted in Maurice Issermann, Which Side Were You On The American Communist Party During the Second 

World War (Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 1982), ix. 

27. John Earl Haynes contends that the authors involved in this project were united by a shared interpretation of "Communism 

as an antidemocratic political movement that sought to replace America’s system of democratic liberties with a tyrannical 

regime and also regarded the CPUSA as subordinate to Soviet Communism." See John Earl Haynes, "An Essay on Historical 

Writing on Domestic Communism and Anti-Communism," in John Earl Haynes Historical Writings Online Archive 

. 

28. See Theodore Draper, The Roots of American Communism (New York: Viking Press, 1957); Theodore Draper, American 

Communism and Soviet Russia (New York: Viking Press, 1960). Theodore and his infamous younger brother Hal Draper 

were both involved in radical youth politics during the thirties. Theodore Draper was a member of the Young Communist 

League and an avid supported of the Popular Front. His younger brother Hal was a devout Trotskyist and member of the 

Young People's Socialist League. Hal gained notoriety in 1938 as a pivotal figure in leading the YPSL out of the Socialist 

Party, helping to found the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party. Theodore broke with the YCL in 1939 during the era of the 

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, continuing on to become an avid liberal critic of the communist movement. For a sample of 

Theodore's YCL writings on the Popular Front see Theodore Draper, "If The Democracies Unite," Young Communist Review 

3, no.6 (August, 1938): 12-13. 

29. In the same passage, Draper commented that he had gotten his internal documents, that were usually marked "Read and 

Destroy," from "a good fairy that works for historians." See Draper, American Communism, 5-6. 

30. See William Z. Foster, History of the Communist Party of the United States (New York: International Publishers, 1952). 

31. Relations between Browder and Foster had been sour for a number of years, not just from severe ideological disagreements, 

but stemming from a deep personal conflict concerning who ought to be leader of the CPUSA. In the early days of 

Foster's conversion from syndicalism to Leninism, Browder acted as one of his chief assistants in the internal politic fights 

of the CPUSA. Beginning in late 1924, Foster spent a majority of the next decade attempting to win the favor of the 

Comintern to install himself as leader of the Party. This internal leadership struggle came to a climax in the middle of 

1929 when Lovestone, flexing his muscles as Party leader with a large majority, attempted to lead an internal revolt 

against the "Class Against Class" line of the Comintern. In the aftermath of a series of Moscow meetings, Browder came 

into favor with the Comintern to become leader of the CPUSA, leaving Foster essentially isolated and bitter towards his 

152

NOTES 

political displacement by his former protégé. During the Popular Front era, a political line the Foster vehemently opposed, 

personal tensions continued to rise between Foster and Browder, with Foster waiting primarily on the political sidelines for 

the opportune moment to denounce Browder. For a highly dramatized and insightful narrative of the 1929 American 

Commission meeting and Foster's role in trying to secure for himself a position of leadership see Theodore Draper, American 

Communism,405-441. 

32. Though Browder was demonized by his former comrades both domestically internationally, Browder never fully turned 

his back on the CPUSA by either cooperating with Federal investigations or denouncing the party in public which would 

have strengthened "totalitarian theorists." The closest that Browder ever came in "exposing" the CPUSA to any public 

scorn was by sharing collections of private documents and materials with his close confidant and former CPUSA "fellow 

traveller" Phillip Jaffe. See Earl Browder, Marx and America: Why Communism Failed in the US (New York: Duell, 

Sloan and Pearce, 1958); Phillip J. Jaffe, The Rise and Fall of American Communism (New York: Horizon Press, 1975). 

33. In a 1957 interview with reporter Mike Wallace, Browder stated, "I think that it is very necessary for America to assimilate 

intellectually, emotionally the experience of the 1930's when the Communist Party was an influence here… and not merely 

to throw it off as something extraneous… that what occurred in those years was not a victory of an alien experience, but an 

authentic part of America's experience. And if America cannot assimilate that and understand it… it will leave a trauma in 

the national mind that will cause trouble for our country in the future." Quoted in Jaffe, 182. Browder's Popular Front 

strategy centred upon emphasising the "Americanism" of the CPUSA. For the major work that developed Browder's 

"Americanism" thesis see Earl Browder, Who Are the Americans (New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1936). 

34. John McIlroy and Alan Campbell, ""Nina Ponomareva's."" 

35. In what was intended to be a "secret speech" to the top leaders of the CPSU, Khrushchev openly denounced the legacy of 

Joseph Stalin and "exposed" the crimes of Stalin's regime. On June 5, 1956 the New York Times obtained a copy of the 

speech and printed its text in full, creating a period of immense crisis for communist parties internationally. According to 

the analysis offered by the Times, Khrushchev had exposed Stalin as "a savage, half-mad, power-crazed despot whose 

reign had been enforced by terror, torture and brute force." Quoted in Lawrence Lader, Power on the Left: American Radical 

Movements Since 1946 (New York: W.W. Norton, 1979), 121. 

36. For a review of some of the theoretical and methodological trends that came out of the New Left Review see Perry Anderson, 

Considerations on Western Marxism (London: New Left Review Books, 1976). 

37. Perry Anderson, "Communist Party History," in People's History and Social Theory, ed. Raphael Samuel (London: 

Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1978), 148. 

38. See Raphael Samuel, "The Lost World of British Communism," New Left Review 154 (1985): 3-53; "Staying Power: 

TLWBC, Part Two," New Left Review 156 (1986): 63-113; "Class Politics: TLWBC, Part Three," New Left Review 165 

(1987): 52-91. 

39. Raphael Samuel, "The Lost World," 14. 

40. Narratives on the CPGB that have been influenced by "New Left" revisionism include Geoff Andrews, Nina Fishman and 

Kevin Morgan, Opening the Books. Essays on the Social and Cultural History of the British Communist Party (London: 

Pluto Press, 1995.); Geoff Andrews, Endgames and New Times. The Final Years of British Communism 1964-1991 (London: 

Lawrence & Wishart, 2004); Noreen Branson, History of the Communist Party of Great Britain, 1927-1941 (London: 

Lawrence and Wishart, 1985); Noreen Branson, History of the Communist Party of Great Britain, 1941-1951 (London: 

Lawrence and Wishart, 1997); Kevin Morgan, Against Fascism and War: Ruptures and Continuities in British Communist 

Politics 1935-1941 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1989); Andy Croft, A Weapon in the Struggle: The Cultural 

History of the Communist Party in Britain (London: Pluto Press, 1998); John McIlroy, Kevin Morgan and Alan 

Campbell, Party People, Communist Lives: Explorations In Biography (London: Lawrence & Wishart, 2001). 

41. See Isserman, Which Side; Fraser M. Ottanelli, The Communist Party of the United States: From the Depression to World 

War II (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1991). 

42. In his preface, Isserman reflected upon the relationship of the sixties with CP revisionism stating, "But the collapse of the 

apocalyptic expectations of the late 1960's created a hunger among this new generation of left-wing activists for a tradition 

that could serve as both a source of political reference and an inspiration in what now was clearly to be a prolonged struggle. 

Issermann, Which Side, ix. Isserman also produced a text on New Left student radicalism that attempted to bridge the 

gaps in the history between the communist left and the New Left. See Maurice Isserman, If I Had a Hammer: The Death 

of the Old Left and the Birth of the New Left (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1993). 

43. In an upcoming publication on the CPGB, Kevin Morgan comments on generational analysis, arguing that "no concept is 

more important in making sense of the attitudes and alignments of communists." Kevin Morgan, "Communists and British 

Society, 1920-1991: People of a Special Mould: Chapter 7, Trajectories and Collisions," (Unpublished Manuscript: Email 

Correspondence, January 2005), 2. 

44. See Harvey Klehr, The Heyday of American Communism: The Depression Decade (New York: Basic Books, 1984). 

45. Ottanelli, 5. 

46. For examples of recent "revisionist" trends in historiography for the CPUSA see Robbie Liberman. My Song is my 

Weapon: People’s Songs, American Communism, and the Politics of Culture, 1930-1950 (Chicago: University of Illinois 

Press, 1989); Michael E. Brown, New Studies in the Politics and Culture of U.S. Communism. (New York: Monthly Review 

Press, 1993); Mark Naison, Communists in Harlem During the Depression (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 

1983); Paul Buhle, Marxism in the United States: Remapping the History of the American Left (New York: Verso, 1991). 

47. For a critical commentary on the development of communist historiography and the role of "espionage" in influencing 

modern studies see Maurice Isserman, "Open Archives and Open Minds: "Traditionalists" Versus "Revisionists" After 

Venona," American Communist History 4, no.2 (Fall, 2005): 215-223. 

48. See Andrew Thorpe, The British Communist Party and Moscow, 1920-43 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 

2000). 

49. Andrew Thorpe, "Comintern 'Control' of the Communist Party of Great Britain," English Historical Review 113, (1998): 

645-646. 

50. John Mcilroy and Alan Campbell, "A Peripheral Vision: Communist Historiography In Britain," American Communist 

History 4, no.2 (Fall, 2005): 142-143. 

51. David Howell, "Review of Thorpe, British Communist Party," English Historical Review 116 (2001): 916. 

52. Prior to his study of the CPGB, Thorpe edited an essay collection that explored the relationship of national parties to the 

Comintern during the inter-war period. See International Communism and the Communist International, 1919-43, ed. 

Tim Rees and Andrew Thorpe (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1998). 

153


53. John Earl Haynes, Harvey Klehr and Kyrill M. Anderson, The Soviet World of American Communism (New Haven: Yale 

University Press, 1998). Outside of scholarly collaboration on a variety of projects, Haynes and Klehr authored a 1992 

publication that closed with the statement that, "American communism is a sad tale of wasted commitment and wasted 

life." To their scholarly credit, Haynes and Klehr included a lengthy chapter addressing the role and development of the 

YCL and their interaction with other youth movements. See John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, The American Communist 

Movement: Storming Heaven Itself (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1992), 182. 

54. Ellen Schrecker, "Review of The Soviet World of American Communism," The Journal of American History 85, no.4 

(March, 1999): 1647-1648. 

55. See John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage In America (New Haven: Yale University 

Press, 1999). 

56. For a revisionist critique of Haynes and Klehr and the larger phenomenon of Cold War "triumphalism" see Cold War 

Triumphalism : The Misuse Of History After The Fall Of Communism, ed. Ellen Schrecker (New York: New Press, 2004). 

To their credit, Haynes and Klehr deemed Senator McCarthy's campaigns "reckless," but have concluded that the intense 

anti-communist campaigns were completely warranted. 

57. See John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, In Denial: Historians, Communism, & Espionage (San Francisco: Encounter 

Books, 2003). Haynes and Klehr did identify Maurice Isserman as an example of what they considered a "good revisionist," 

but posited their blanket denunciations against all other historians who questioned their conclusions and approach. 

58. Propaganda analysis became intimately linked with totalitarian theory during the Cold War. Prior to the Cold War, propaganda 

analysis made extensive use of communist literature to explain the phenomenon of Western communism, not to explicitly 

condemn it. In a 1939 article, two of the pioneering American theorists of propaganda studies defined propaganda 

as "the manipulation of symbols to influence controversial attitudes." Within the same journal in 1951, propaganda came 

to be accepted as "defined broadly as ranging from agitation to political education, becomes the means of transmission, the 

essential link of expression, at once highly rigid and infinitely flexible, which continually enlightens the masses, prepares 

them, leads them gradually to join the vanguard." This trend within propaganda studies was not new within the Cold War, 

but was greatly intensified by totalitarian theory. The tactic of linking together the Communist and Fascist movements as 

totalitarian relatives became a regular feature of propaganda studies that still survives after the end of the Cold War. During 

WWII, William Garber evaluated the roots and implications of "propaganda studies" contending: "The Institute for 

Propaganda Analysis, which devoted itself to the critical survey of current propaganda, has suspended its operations for 

the duration of the war. The reason given is interesting: that the approach utilized by the Institute might serve to disturb the 

unity needed for the war effort. This serves to raise several questions. Was there not something defective about the type of 

analysis employed by the Institute that its directors were forced to the conclusion that they might be hindering national defense 

Might not propaganda analysis be employed to strengthen a democracy's unity and morale Was there not something 

fallacious in the Institute's definition of propaganda, in that it made no distinction between truth and falsity, between 

good and evil, but labeled as propaganda everything which is "the expression of opinion or action by individuals or groups 

deliberately designed to influence opinions or actions of other individuals or groups with reference to predetermined 

ends"" See Harold D. Lasswell and Dorothy Blumenstock, "The Volume of Communist Propaganda in Chicago," The 

Public Opinion Quarterly 3, no. 1 (Jan., 1939), 63; Jean-Marie Domenach, "Leninist Propaganda," The Public Opinion 

Quarterly 15, no. 2 (Summer, 1951), 265; J. A. Lynch, "The Role of Propaganda in a Liberal Democracy," Peabody Journal 

of Education 17, no. 6 (May, 1940), 370-371; William Garber, "Propaganda Analysis-To What Ends" The American 

Journal of Sociology 48, no. 2 (Sep., 1942), 240. 

59. Marvin Bressler, "Mass Persuasion and the Analysis of Language: A Critical Evaluation," Journal of Educational Sociology 

33, no. 1 (Sep., 1959): 18-19. 

60. See V.I. Lenin, "The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism," in V.I. Lenin Internet Archive 

. 

61. V.I. Lenin, "The Tasks of the Youth Leagues: Speech Delivered At The Third All-Russia Congress of The Russian Young 

Communist League," in The V.I. Lenin Internet Archive . 

62. On the subject of political newspapers Lenin stated, "In our opinion, the starting-point of our activities, the first step towards 

creating the desired organisation, or, let us say, the main thread which, if followed, would enable us steadily to develop, 

deepen, and extend that organisation, should be the founding of an All-Russian political newspaper. A newspaper is 

what we most of all need… The role of a newspaper, however, is not limited solely to the dissemination of ideas, to political 

education, and to the enlistment of political allies. A newspaper is not only a collective propagandist and a collective 

agitator, it is also a collective organiser. In this last respect it may be likened to the scaffolding round a building under 

construction, which marks the contours of the structure and facilitates communication between the builders, enabling them 

to distribute the work and to view the common results achieved by their organised labour. With the aid of the newspaper, 

and through it, a permanent organisation will naturally lake shape that will engage, not only in local activities, but in regular 

general work, and will train its members to follow political events carefully, appraise their significance and their effect 

on the various strata of the population, and develop effective means for the revolutionary party to influence these events." 

See V.I. Lenin, "Where to Begin," in The V.I. Lenin Internet Archive . 

63. For communists, propaganda promoted a certain form of political education that linked theory with concrete practical 

activities. At the Second Comintern Congress, Willie Münzenberg of the YCI, who later became the chief Comintern 

propagandist in Western Europe, reflected on the differences between the three Internationals in terms of propaganda and 

activities stating, " If the First International predicted the development of the future and tried to find the paths it would 

take, and if the Second International rallied and organised the proletariat, then the Communist International is the International 

of open mass action, the International of revolutionary realisation, of the deed… That is the great practical success 

of revolutionary propaganda, and it is far more valuable for the proletarian revolution than the issue of a thousand new 

party cards." See "Minutes of the Second Congress of the Communist International: Evening Session of July 29," in The 

History of the Communist International Internet Archive ; 

Helmut Gruber, "Willi Munzenberg's German Communist Propaganda Empire 1921-1933," The 

Journal of Modern History 38, no.3 (September, 1966): 278-297. 

64. Linda Colley, Britons: Forging the Nation 1707-1837 (New Haven: Yale UP, 1992), 5-6. For a recent study on the evolution 

of communist identity see Cris Shore, Italian Communism: The Escape From Leninism (London: Pluto, 1990). 

65. William Glaser reflected on the "dualist" nature of political propaganda during the Cold War era. Glaser reflected on how 

communist propaganda invoked a "two-valued orientation" that "characteristically arrange all the approved concepts in 

one pile and all disapproved concepts in the another. They then use the concepts with the favourable connotations to de- 

154

NOTES 

scribe themselves and the persons and the things they like and all the concepts of the unfavourable connotations to describe 

the persons and things they dislike… Each side contends that the other does not sincerely believe what it says." See 

William Glaser, "The Semantics of the Cold War," The Public Opinion Quarterly 20, no.4 (Winter, 1956-57): 691-716. 

For another insightful commentary on Cold War language, symbols and propaganda see Ole R. Holsti, "The Study of International 

Politics Makes Strange Bedfellows: Theories of the Radical Right and the Radical Left," The American Political 

Science Review 68, no.1 (March, 1974): 217-242. 

66. See V.I. Lenin, "Opportunism and the Collapse of the Second International," in The V.I. Lenin Internet Archive 

. 

67. By its very nature, periodization is an artificial historical tool that can obscure trends of continuity by focusing on dramatic 

divergence and change. The decision to reperiodize the inter-war era by generations was not an artificial choice, but 

flowed directly from the language utilized in Popular Front propaganda. Communists contended that the Great Depression 

and the Nazi Reich redefined world politics, necessitating a new approach to communist theory and practice. Popular 

Front propaganda contended that the youth of the thirties had a distinctly different world outlook and that this "new generation" 

was far more receptive to Popular Front theory and tactics. The Comintern and YCI therefore put great emphasis 

upon themes of "youth" and an "anti-fascist generation" in their Popular Front program. For a communist comparison of 

the distinctions between generations see Earl Browder, "Your Generation and Mine," Young Communist Review 4, no.3 

(May, 1939): 4-6. 

68. To "deny" that the communist movement was directed by the Comintern distorts the realities of this period and democratic 

centralism. The problem with studies like Thorpe's is that it focuses on individual cases of dissent that dismiss the 

Comintern's ability to coerce conformity. Numerous examples from the inter-war period show that continued dissent typically 

resulted in expulsion and demonization. The problem with the Haynes-Klehr approach is that it focuses upon the 

treasonous and slavish mindset that facilitated consent to the Comintern, not addressing the historical context or propaganda 

that bred active consent in "Stalinist" culture. The Comintern was consciously formed as a highly centralized institution 

for strategic reasons and continued to exert its leadership until it was dissolved in 1943. Individuals followed 

Comintern directives because they were interpreted to them through effective propaganda that bred consent and active 

agreement; communists were also well aware that active dissent could be met with coercion. High membership fluctuation 

in this period reflects the tensions involved in this process and relationship. 

VANGUARD OF THE RED DAWN: THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE LENINIST GENERATION 

1. Quoted in Victor Privalov, The Young Communist International and its Origins (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1971), 7-8. 

2. ECYCI, Remove the Frontiers! An Appeal for the International Organization of all Young Workers (Berlin: ECYCI, 

1920), 4. 

3. The Communist International, also known as the Third International or the Comintern, was founded in March, 1919 under 

the leadership of V.I. Lenin to create a new, highly centralized organization of international revolutionaries. The goal of 

the Comintern was to replace the "discredited" & reformist leadership of the Second International with a "World Communist 

Party" to lead the working class in an international socialist revolution. 

4. The Bolshevik Party was established in 1903 during a split within the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party between 

Menshevik reformists and Bolshevik revolutionaries. In 1918 the Bolsheviks changed their name to the "All-Russian 

Communist Party (Bolsheviks)," often known simply as the "Communist Party." 

5. The Second International, later known as the Labour and Socialist International, was founded in 1889 as a federalist body 

of political parties and labor unions to continue the movement for international socialism under the Marxist traditions of 

the First International. After the death of Engels in 1895, the Second International increasingly came under the "reformist" 

influences of the German evolutionary socialist Eduard Bernstein. With the outbreak of WWI, the Second International 

fell into disarray, helping to facilitate the establishment of the Comintern. 

6. Rejecting the Wilsonian vision of post-war reconstruction, the SYI came to accepting the basis of Lenin's April Thesis that 

capitulation to capitalist traditions and institutions under the post-war era of "Imperialism" would serve to strengthen capitalism, 

betray the revolution and in turn enable the perpetuation of future imperialist wars. See Arno Mayer, Wilson vs. 

Lenin: Political Origins of the New Diplomacy 1917-1918, (Cleveland: Meridian Books, 1964). 

7. See R. Craig Nation, War on War: Lenin, the Zimmerwald Left, and the Origins of Communist Internationalism (London: 

Duke University Press, 1989), ix. 

8. Karl Liebknecht, "Anti-Militarism of the Old and the New International" in Karl Liebknecht Internet Archive 

. 

9. Quoted in Nation, 10. 

10. Albert S. Lindemann, A History of European Socialism (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983), 188. 

11. V.I. Lenin, "Socialism and War," in The Lenin Anthology, ed. Robert C. Tucker (New York: W.W. Norton, 1975), 183. 

Historical discourse has rarely addressed the continuities concerning peace that existed between the Second and Third Internationals. 

See Martin Ceadal, "The First Communist Peace Society: The British Anti-War Movement 1932-1935," 

Twentieth Century British History 1, no.1 (1990): 58-86. 

12. See V.I. Lenin, "Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism," in The Lenin Anthology, ed. Robert C. Tucker (New York: 

W.W. Norton, 1975), 204-274. 

13. Karl Liebknecht was a member of the left wing of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) and is considered the main 

founder of the Socialist Youth International. Despite several terms in prison, Liebknecht consistently fought for a revolutionary 

anti-militarist policy, being the only member of the German Reichstag to vote against war in December, 1914. 

14. Victor Privalov, The Young Communist International and its Origins (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1971), 29. 

15. Cornell, Revolutionary Vanguard, 11. 

16. Privalov, 28-29. 

17. Karl Liebknecht, "Anti-militarism in Germany and German Social-Democracy " in Karl Liebknecht Internet Archive 

; Karl Liebknecht, 

"The Anti-militarist Tasks of German Social-Democracy " in Karl Liebknecht Internet Archive 

. 

18. Karl Liebknecht, " The Future Belongs to the People: Education in Germany in War Time" in Karl Liebknecht Internet 

Archive . 

155


19. Richard Cornell, Youth and Communism: An Historical Analysis of International Communist Youth Movements (New 

York: Walker and Co., 1965), 14. 

20. R. Craig Nation, following the intellectual lead of Branko Lazitch and Milorad M. Drachkovitch, is one of the few historians 

to emphasize this generational dynamic with the Communist movement stating, "Not surprisingly, the first generation 

of communist activists was predominately youthful, radicalized by the war, and inspired by the image of a world healed 

and remade, the image of a communist society. See Nation, 230. 

21. Before the success of the Bolshevik Revolution, many have argued that Lenin was primarily a marginalized, although well 

known figure within the socialist movement. The Bolsheviks utilized the slogan of "Land, Bread and Peace" to gain Russian 

popular support. With the success of the revolution and the establishment of the Comintern, Lenin assumed leadership 

of the anti-war and revolutionary movements, including the socialist youth. See Stanley W. Page, "Lenin's 

Assumption of International Proletarian Leadership," The Journal of Modern History 26, no. 3 (September, 1954): 233- 

245. 

22. Gil Green, "Sweet Sixteen, the YCL Anniversary," Young Communist Review 3, no.2 (April, 1938): 3,5. 

23. YCLGB, League Training Syllabus (London: YCLGB, 1925), 56. Albert Lindemann described the failures of the Second 

International with the outbreak of the war: "According to these resolutions socialists were to do all in their power to prevent 

the outbreak of war; if war broke out nevertheless, they were to direct their efforts to ending it quickly. It left ambiguous, 

however, whether these efforts were to be of an exclusively revolutionary nature of whether they could take the 

less audacious form of working for a simple negotiated peace. After the war broke out, and even after it became clear that 

the conflict was destined to be long and bloody, the leaders of the International took no initiative either to foment revolutionary 

opposition or to work for a negotiated peace." See Albert S. Lindemann, The 'Red Years:' European Socialism 

Versus Bolshevism, 1919-1921 (Berkley: University of California Press, 1974), 16. 

24. Kevin McDermott and Jeremy Agnew, The Comintern: A History of International Communism From Lenin to Stalin (New 

York: St. Martin's Press, 1997), 4. 

25. Helmut Gruber, International Communism in the Era of Lenin: A Documentary History (Greenwich: Fawcett Publications, 

1967), 53. 

26. "The War and the Tasks of the Socialist Youth Organizations," in The Bolsheviks and the World War, ed. Olga Hess 

Gankin and H.H. Fisher (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1960), 308. 

27. YCLGB, A Short History of the YCI, 9-10. 

28. Willi Münzenberg, "The International Youth Conference at Berne, April 5-7, 1915," in The Bolsheviks and the World War, 

ed. Olga Hess Gankin and H.H. Fisher (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1960), 306. 

29. YCI, After Twenty Years: The History of the Youth International (London: Dorrit Press, 1927), 7. 


31. "The Day of Youth," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Workers League 1, no.5 (August-September, 1922): 

3. 

32. Nation, 72. 

33. John Riddell, Lenin's Struggle for a Revolutionary International, Documents: 1907-1916, The Preparatory Years (New 

York: Monad Press, 1986), 280. 

34. V.I. Lenin, "The "Disarmament" Slogan," in V.I. Lenin Internet Archive . 

35. Julius Braunthal, History of the International, Volume II: 1914-1943 (New York: Frederick A. Praeger Publishers, 1967), 

42. 

36. See "International Socialist Conference at Zimmerwald Manifesto," in History of the Second International Internet Archive 

. 

37. The concept of revolutionary defeatism was one advanced by Lenin as a strategy to bring an end to WWI and to advance 

socialist revolution. Lenin insisted that the working class had nothing to gain with the military victory of their own nation 

during an imperialist war and should instead use their military training to bring defeat to their own nation, transforming the 

"imperialist war into a civil war." See V.I. Lenin, "The Defeat of Russia and the Revolutionary Crisis," in V.I. Lenin 

Internet Archive . In order to make defeatism a viable 

strategy, Lenin had the Soviet delegation insist at the Hague International Peace Congress in 1922 that "the only possible 

method of combating war is to preserve existing, and to form new, illegal organisations in which all revolutionaries taking 

part in a war carry on prolonged anti-war activities," preparing workers for a defeatist policy before the actual outbreak of 

war. See V.I. Lenin, "Notes On The Tasks Of Our Delegation At The Hague," in V.I. Lenin Internet Archive 

. Prior to the Zimmerwald Conferences, the Russian 

Bolsheviks had previously been a largely marginalized, though articulate sect within the Second International. See Page, 

241-242. 

38. Ibid, 242. 

39. Branko Lazitch and Milorad M. Drachkovitch, Lenin and the Comintern Volume I (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 

1972), 19. 

40. Quoted in Gorsuch, 16. Privalov contends that the attitude of Lenin in dealing with the youth was crucial in attracting the 

youth to Bolshevism stating, "(Lenin) advocated patience in dealing with young people's mistakes, and the need to correct 

them through persuasion and not by force. He stressed that the older generation was often incapable of dealing properly 

with young people, and that, under the new conditions, the young people were bound to have a different approach to socialism 

from their fathers." See Privalov, 54. 

41. Eric Hobsbawm, Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century 1914-1991 (London:Pantheon, 1995),59. 

42. Zinoviev was the Russian Chairman of the Comintern and a leading member of the Zimmerwald Left and the Bolshevik 

Party. Zinoviev was Lenin's closest associate and accompanied him on a sealed train back into Russia after the abdication 

of the Tsar during the February Revolution in 1917. Although he was Lenin's closest ally, Zinoviev was replaced by Leon 

Trotsky as Lenin's second in command after Zinoviev promoted negotiations with Bolshevik opponents in the Railway 

Union after the October Revolution. 

43. Gregory Zinoviev, "To the Proletarian Youth," in The Gregory Zinoviev Archive 

. *The initial transcription done by Sally Ryan for the 

Zinoviev archive stated, "The proletarian youth it was that suffered most during the war of 1914-1919. But the proletarian 

youth it was also that first raised the voice of protest against that destructive war." This grammatically incorrect translation 

has been changed in this dissertation. Any inconsistencies and changes in translations have been identified and any 

incorrectness remains my own. 

156

NOTES 

44. "Minutes of the Second Congress of the Communist International: The Statutes of the Communist International," in The 

History of the Communist International Internet Archive . 

45. The Comintern avoided ideological debates on Leninism by using an associational language centred on betrayal, playing 

on the disillusionment and fears of the youth. Zinoviev portrayed youth's association with the Comintern as a natural phenomenon 

for those who felt betrayed by the actions of the Second International. Denunciations of the Second International 

and appeals to the martyrdom of Liebknecht became a standard formula in the formation of political culture for the 

Leninist Generation. Comintern literature continually stated that if youth did not take part in a revolutionary "war against 

war" under their "correct leadership" that their generation would be plagued with further imperialist war in the future. 

Throughout the war Lenin published articles dealing with the slogan of "war against war," insisting that such slogans were 

simply empty phrases unless such a struggle was led under a "correct revolutionary leadership." One article in 1915 on the 

subject of "defeatism" stated, "A "revolutionary struggle against the war" is merely an empty and meaning less exclamation, 

something at which the heroes of the Second International excel, unless it means revolutionary action against one’s 

own government even in wartime. One has only to do some thinking in order to understand this. Wartime revolutionary 

action against one’s own government indubitably means, not only desiring its defeat, but really facilitating such a defeat. 

("Discerning reader": note that this does not mean "blowing up bridges," organising unsuccessful strikes in the war industries, 

and in general helping the government defeat the revolutionaries.)… A revolution in wartime means civil war; the 

conversion of a war between governments into a civil war is, on the one hand, facilitated by military reverses ("defeats") 

of governments; on the other hand, one cannot actually strive for such a conversion without thereby facilitating defeat… 

Without such action, millions of ultra-revolutionary phrases such as a war against "the war and the conditions, etc." are not 

worth a brass farthing. See V.I. Lenin, "The Defeat of One's Own Government in the Imperialist War," in The V.I. Lenin 

Internet Archive . 

46. Cornell, Youth and Communism, 21. 

47. CPGB, The Role and Tasks of the Young Communist League (London: CPGB, 1927), 5. 

48. O. Carlson, "Our Martyrs," in Manuals For Proletarian Anniversaries, No. 1: January Fifteenth, The Murder of Karl 

Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, ed. ECYCI (London: YCLGB, 1923), 7,8. 

49. For commentary on the importance of the formation of the Comintern sponsored Red International of Labor Unions 

(RILU) in 1921 in winning over working-class adults see William Z. Foster, History of the Three International: The World 

Socialist and Communist Movements From 1848 to the Present (New York: Greenwood Press, 1968), 318-326. 

50. Witold S. Sworakowski, "The Communist Youth International," in World Communism: A Handbook 1918-1965, ed. Witold 

S. Sworakowski (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 1973), 93. 


52. Lazitch and Drachkovitch, 221. 

53. The Program adopted by the YCI at its first meeting in November, 1919 boldly stated, "The working class youth is the 

most active and revolutionary part of the proletariat." Though later statements by the YCI invoked a greater degree of deference 

to the leadership of the Comintern, especially to the Russian Bolshevik Party, the early public statements of the 

communist youth asserted that they were the most revolutionary elements of the communist movement, leading the adults 

away from reformism and the influences of the Second International. See ECYCI, "The Program of the Young Communist 

International as Adopted at the Berlin Congress of the YCI, November 1919," in The Programs of the Young Communist 

International (Berlin: Publishing House of the Young International, 1923), 23. 

54. Sworakowski, 93. 

55. The "Twenty-One Points of Admission" were consciously designed to exclude all reformist elements from the Comintern 

and to show an organizational break with the federated structure of the Second International. See L.J. Macfarlane, The 

British Communist Party: Its Origin and Development Until 1929 (London: MacGibbon and Key, 1966), 63. 

56. ECCI, "The Communist International and the Communist Youth Movement," in The History of the Communist International 


57. Since the Comintern posited they were a "World Communist Party," references to the "vanguard" role of the Communist 

Party can also be understood as a suggestion of the Comintern's leadership since it was the role of the Communist Parties 

to apply the "correct decisions" of the Comintern within their national context. 

58. ECYCI, The Draft Programme of the Young Communist International (London: Publishing House of the YCI, 1924), 22. 

59. After Lenin's death in Jaunary, 1924 the YCI linked together memorials of Lenin with Rosa Luxemburg and Karl 

Liebknecht. The month of January was utilized in communist youth propaganda to highlight the teachings and legacies of 

these leaders and their importance to the youth movement. 

60. Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, "A Call to the Workers of the World," in the Rosa Luxemburg Internet Archive 

. 

61. Arvid Vretling, Youth in the Class Struggle: Being a Short History of the Young Communist Movement (ECYCI, 1926), 

15. 

62. "International Liebknecht Day," Youth: Official Organ of the Young Workers League 1, no.1 (February, 1922): 3. 

63. O. Carlson, "Karl Liebknecht," in Manuals For Proletarian Anniversaries, No. 1: January Fifteenth, The Murder of Karl 

Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, ed. ECYCI (London: YCLGB, 1923), 15. 

64. The Comintern directed its critiques not only against the Second International, but also internally stating that communists 

were "incorrectly" applying Comintern directives or too mechanically attempting to apply directives "based on Russian 

conditions." The Comintern was receptive to internal and external critiques, but their early public statements never critiqued 

the "revolutionary potential" of the masses. See V.I. Lenin, "Five Years Of The Russian Revolution And The Prospects 

Of The World Revolution Report To The Fourth Congress Of The Communist International, November 13, 1922," in 

The History of the Communist International Internet Archive . 

65. F.L. Carsten, Revolution in Central Europe, 1918-1919 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1972), 325-326. 

66. D. Kirby, War, Peace and Revolution: International Socialism at the Crossroads 1914-1918 (New York: St. Martin's 

Press, 1986), 151. 

67. In 1921, after loosing their youth leagues to the Comintern, the Socialist International and the Amsterdam International 

(2.5 International) each set up new international youth organizations, the Young Workers International and the International 

Working Union of Socialist Youth Organizations respectively. With the amalgamation of the Amsterdam International 

back into the Socialist International in 1923, the IWUSYO followed suit and joined the Young Worker's 

International. 

157


68. ECYCI, The Fundamental Problems of the Young Communist Movement (Berlin: The Committee, 1922), 74-75. 

69. Quoted in Ibid., 66 

70. See ECCI, "Theses on Comintern Tactics: 5 December 1922," in The History of the Communist International Internet 

Archive . 

71. The United Front tactic involved several elements of activity, all of which ultimately aimed to destroy the socialist movement. 

The communists would openly propagate their intent to destroy social democracy while at the same time sending 

out initiatives to the socialist rank-and-file for joint activity. When socialist leaders would prohibit their membership from 

joint activity, the communists would use the potential crisis to insist that socialists stood against working-class unity and 

were actively splitting the movement. If socialists did participate in coalitions, the communists would blame any failures 

of the activities upon the reformism of socialists, once again attempting to discredit the movement. The United Front was 

intentionally formulated to limit the political mobility of the social-democratic leadership and to portray them as "class 

traitors," no matter what actions they took in relation to communist initiatives. 

72. ECYCI, From Third to Fourth: A Report on the Activities of the YCI Since Its Third World Congress (Stockholm: ECYCI, 

1924), 6,20,74. 

73. J.L. Douglas, Be Prepared For War! An Exposure of the Scout Association and Similar Attempts to Militarize the Young 

Workers (London: YCLGB, 1925), 5, 22. 

74. James P. Cannon, "The Bolshevization of the Party," in The James P. Cannon Internet Archive . 

75. Since its founding, the Comintern had consciously reached out to previously marginalized elements in the labor movement 

who were free from the ideological traditions of social democracy. Lenin argued that in forming Communist Parties that 

socialists needed to form a "party of a new type;" a strictly centralized body of "professional revolutionaries." See V.I. 

Lenin, "One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: The Crisis in Our Party" in The Lenin Anthology, ed. Robert C. Tucker (New 

York: W.W. Norton, 1975), 115-119. 

76. See V.I. Lenin, "Foreign Communist Parties and the Russian Spirit" in The Lenin Anthology, ed. Robert C. Tucker (New 

York: W.W. Norton, 1975), 626-627. 

77. After the death of Lenin in January, 1924 the Soviet and Comintern leadership increasingly began justifying their domestic 

and international positions by stating that their practice reflected the true legacy of "Leninism." In a speech delivered to 

the Second All-Union Congress of Soviets just days after Lenin's death, Stalin presented a moving eulogy linking Lenin's 

life with various elements of Soviet and Comintern policy, justifying his positions by arguing that they represented a correct 

interpretation of Leninist theory in practice. See J.V. Stalin, "On The Death Of Lenin: A Speech Delivered at the 

Second All-union Congress of Soviets," in The Joseph Stalin Internet Archive . 

78. Draper, 154-155. 

79. Bolshevization was intended to reconfigure the leadership structure of the communist movement. Strict discipline to the 

will of the International became a pre-requisite for leadership and resulted in the displacement of former intellectual leaders 

with more "proletarian" elements that the Comintern felt would be more "pliant" to Bolshevism. See Albert S. Lindemann, 

A History of European Socialism (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983), 272-273. 

80. ECYCI, From Third to Fourth, 18,30,36. 


82. Richard Cornell argues that during this period the "communist youth organizations had ceased to be independent political 

organizations united by a belief in the imminence of revolutions" and instead became Comintern functionaries for exposing 

and correcting disputes in the adult parties. What is neglected by Cornell's analysis is the willingness and energetic attitude 

that young communists expounded in embracing this new role. See Ibid., 287, 256-257. 

83. ECYCI, "Conference of the European Sections of the YCI," in The International of Youth (London: YCLGB, 1926), 7. 

84. R. Gyptner, From Isolation to the Masses: An Analytical Study of Organization, A Text Book For Young Communist 

Leagues (Berlin: ECYCI, 1923), 39. 

85. ECYCI, The Communist Youth International: Report on Activity Between the 4 th and 5 th Congress, 1924-1928 (London: 

Dorrit Press, 1928), 21-21. 

86. V.I. Lenin, "The Tasks of the Youth Leagues." 

87. ECYCI, Resolutions Adopted at the Fourth Congress of the Young Communist International (ECYCI, 1924), 19. 

88. The "Instruction Manual" written by Gyptner for the YCI in 1923 described the "Shop Nuclei" in the following terms: "In 

the labor organizations we work amongst the masses who have already the first glimmerings of truth, about the class war, 

the necessary opposition to the master class etc. Our work amongst them is only a partial one with very definite limits. In 

the workshops on the other hand, we approach a body of workers not necessarily organized in the unions and usually indifferent 

if not actually opposed to our work… We must have our basic units, our roots in the workshops. It is here from 

where our power must come. The combination of our members in a workshop is not a fraction as in a labor or other organization 

it is the nucleus upon which our organization must rest. The work then of these nuclei transcends in importance 

all other work. The nucleus is the unit of our new organization." Gyptner, 14-15. 

89. ECYCI, Instructions of the Building up of Nuclei and the Practical Work as the Basic Units of Communist Organization 

(Stockholm: ECYCI, 1924), 6. 

90. ECYCI, Fundamental Problems, 31. 

91. Ibid., 12, 17. 

92. Communist International Executive, Principles on Party Organization: Thesis on the Organization and Structure of the 

Communist Parties Adopted at the 3 rd Congress of the Communist International (Calcutta: Mass Publications, 1975), 47. 

93. See Arthur McIvor and Hugh Paterson, "Combating the Left: Victimisation and Anti-Labour Activities on Clydeside, 

1910-1939," in Militant Workers: Labour and Class Conflict on the Clyde 1900-1950, Essays in Honour of Harry 

McShane (1891-1988), ed. Robert Duncan and Arthur McIvor (Edinburgh: John Donald, 1992), 129-154. 

94. Dmytro Manuilsky, "On the End of Capitalist Stabilisation," The Communist International 9, no.17-18 (October 1, 1932): 

600. 

95. Earl Browder defined social fascism by analyzing the social function that socialist parties played. Browder stated, "When 

we speak of the Socialists as social fascists, we are not merely abusing them, we are giving the scientific description a 

name of the political role which they are performing. That socialism was to prepare the road for fascism, to prevent the 

struggle of the masses against fascism, and to tolerate and support the establishment of the fascist governments. Socialists 

in words, fascists in deeds! That is what social fascism means. It is an accurate, scientific, descriptive term applied to the 

158

NOTES 

Socialist Party." See Earl Browder, The Meaning of Social-Fascism: Its Historical and Theoretical Background (New 

York: Workers Library Publishers, 1933), 14-15. 

96. The ECYCI was forced to warn the youth on multiple occasions that the YCLs had gone "too far left," undercutting their 

ability to mobilize a mass movement of the youth. The primary concern of Comintern pronouncements of this period focused 

on the "right danger" as the chief problem facing the adult movement. Divergent to this trend in the adult movement, 

the YCI Plenum of 1930 increasingly began discussing the "left danger" that faced the youth movement. The YCI 

denounced the YCLs for their "discrepancy between word and deed," asserting that "The Young Communist organizations 

have in doing so often covered up their political passivity and organisational helplessness with radical phrases." See 

ECYCI, "Results of the YCI Plenum," The International of Youth: Organ of the Executive Committee of the Young Communist 

International (no vol.), no. 1 (April-May, 1930): 3-7. 

97. Though many communists later denounced the excesses of the Class Against Class period as a "suicidal move" directed by 

the Comintern, the militancy of this era did not represent a deviation from Leninism, but a militant intensification of traditional 

oppositional Leninist methods. While the Comintern and YCI spoke of their work during the Second and Third Periods 

as essential in building up a "truly Leninist" movement, communist leaders like Trotsky condemned the tactics and 

theories employed after 1924 essentially as heresy against the principles of Leninism, asserting that his international opposition 

represented "the real disciples of Marx and of Lenin." For Trotsky's detailed critique of the "revisionist trends" of 

the Comintern after 1924 and a denunciation of the "Class Against Class" program adopted by the Sixth World Congress 

see Leon Trotsky, "The Third International After Lenin, The Draft Program of the 

98. Communist International: A Criticism of Fundamentals," in The Leon Trotsky Internet Archive 

. 

99. McDermott and Agnew, 98-99. 

100. ECYCI, "The YCI Before its Fifth Congress," The International of Youth: Organ of the Executive Committee of the Young 

Communist International (no vol.), no. 7 (August, 1928): 8. 

101. ECYCI, Programme of the Young Communist International (London: YCLGB, 1929), 80. 

102. Ibid., 82. 

103. Otto Kuusinen, XII Plenum ECCI: Prepare For Power (London: Utopia Press, 1932), 29. 

104. Susumu Okano, "The War in the Far East and the Tasks of the Communists in the Struggle Against Imperialist War and 

Military Intervention Against the USSR," in XII Plenum ECCI Theses and Resolutions (London: Modern Books, 1932), 

49. 

105. "Fifth World Congress of Communist Youth," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Workers (Communist) 

League 7, no.11 (September, 1928): 6. 

106. Gil Green, "The War Danger and the Youth," Young Worker 8, no.15 (July 21, 1930): 5 

107. "Geneva Points to War," Young Worker 8, no.23 (November 17, 1930): 4. 

108. Agitprop Department of the Executive Committee of the Young Communist International, "Read and Learn: To All Readers 

of the Youth International," The International of Youth: Official Organ of the Executive Committee of the Young Communist 

International (no vol.), no. 1 (April-May, 1930): 39. 

109. YCLUSA, Who Are the Young Communists (New York: Youth Publishers, 1931), 21. 

110. V.E. Chemadanov, Young Communists and the Path to Soviet Power: Report to the January Plenum of the Young Communist 

International (New York: Youth Publishers, 1934) 29. 

111. ECYCI, Resolutions Adopted at the Fourth Congress, 77. 


113. M. Young, "Twenty Years Ago and Now," The International of Youth: Official Organ of the Executive Committee of the 

Young Communist International 1, no. 6 (August, 1934): 5. 

114. As a sector of society that had been mobilized for war by taping into national sentiment, youth could potentially have been 

mobilized by the revolutionary left by translating disillusionment into a revolutionary national discourse. George Mosse 

has offered an interesting theoretical critique of the failures of the early communist movement for neglecting the national 

polemic in applying their political lines in the West. By centring their militant language within an international discourse 

centring on Bolshevik slogans, communists failed to adequately tap into "the power of veterans in defeated or disgruntled 

nations" whose strong sense of camaraderie could have been mobilized to establish "some new social order when peace 

time came." While Mosse's commentary is interesting in hindsight, it is largely a-historical to contend that young communists 

would have operated much differently since their internationalism was formed in revulsion to the nationalist sentiment 

that facilitated the war. See Georege L. Mosse, "Two World Wars and the Myth of the War Experience," Journal of 

Contemporary History 21, no.4 (Oct, 1986): 496. Some of the greatest successes in youth mobilization after WWI came 

with Mussolini in Italy by fusing together national sentiment with disillusionment from the war. See Michael A. Ledeen, 

"Fascism & Youth," in Universal Fascism: The Theory and Practice of the Fascist International, 1928-1936 (New York: 

Howard Fertig, 1972), 3-25. 

115. ECYCI, Remove the Frontiers!, 7, 5. 

116. ECYCI, Draft Programme, 81. 

117. Ibid., 77-78. 

118. YCLGB, Results of Two Congresses, 12. 

119. Communist International Executive, Principles on Party Organization, 20. 

120. YCLGB, Results of Two Congresses: Being an Abridged Report of the 6 th Congress of the Communist International, and 

5 th Congress of the Young Communist International, Held in Moscow, July-September, 1928 (London: YCLGB, 1928), 

16. In openly proclaiming their attacks against the Second International, the YCI destroyed any illusions socialist youth 

had of their intents; Cornell arguing that young socialists became keenly aware of "the patent insincerity of the Communist 

proposals" for unity. See Cornell, Youth and Communism, 28. 

121. The communist position against class collaboration was based on the Marxist conception of history, or historical materialism. 

Communists firmly believed that the working-class was an independent agent of historical change if given "correct" 

communist leadership to guide them in their revolutionary historical mission to overthrow capitalism. 

122. Gorsuch, 17. 

123. ECYCI, Fundamental Problems, 17,19. 

124. Bolshevik rhetoric of historical change further intensified youth sectarian outlooks with consistent over-optimistic statements 

like "History is on our side, we will surely win." See J.L. Douglas, 22. 

125. V.I. Lenin, "The State and Revolution: The Marxist Theory of the State and the Tasks of the Proletariat in the Revolution," 

in The Lenin Anthology, ed. Robert C. Tucker (New York: W.W. Norton, 1975), 315. 

159


126. V.I. Lenin, "The State:A Lecture Delivered at the Sverdlov University July 11, 1919," in The Lenin Internet Archive 

. 

127. William Rust, The Case for the YCL (London: YCLGB, 1927), 7. 

128. In a 1995 interview with David Holzel, Harvey Klehr noted that one of the greatest legacies of Lenin upon the development 

of the socialist movement was the transformation of traditional socialist language. Klehr stated, "Lenin really transformed 

the language of socialism into a very military language. To Lenin, the Bolshevik party was a military-style 

operation. He was building an organization to fight czarism. It had to be underground. He argued that an open Party, like 

most socialist parties had been until that time, would be unable to fight the kind of battles that were necessary. That you 

needed professional revolutionaries. Shock forces. Cadres. Those are military kinds of terms. Of course all communist parties 

around the world mimicked that organizational structure, and that language. It's very stilted, tough kind of language." 

See "Harvey Klehr: Life of the Party," in Jewish Angle . 

129. ECYCI, From Third to Fourth, 40. 

130. In his studies of German communism, Eric Weitz has argued that political movements do not function and arise under 

conditions of their own choosing, but must mature and develop within the social and historical context with which they are 

provided. See the introductory arguments of Eric Weitz, Creating German Communism, 1890-1990: From Popular Protests 

to Socialist State (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997) 

131. Quoted in Steven White, "Ideological Hegemony and Political Control: The Sociology of Anti-Bolshevism in Britain 

1918-20," Journal of the Scottish Labour History Society, no.9 (June, 1975): 3. 

132. Nan Milton, John MacLean (London: Pluto Press, 1973), 190. 

133. Harry McShane and Joan Smith, Harry McShane: No Mean Fighter (London: Pluto Press, 1978), 107-108. 

134. David Childs, The Two Red Flags: European Social Democracy and Soviet Communism Since 1945 (London: Routledge, 

2000), 1. 

135. See Arthur McIvor, Organized Capital (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996) and Arthur McIvor, “A Crusade 

for Capitalism: The Economic League, 1919-1939," Journal of Contemporary History 23, no.4 (October, 1988): 631-655. 

136. J.M. Winter, "Arthur Henderson, the Russian Revolution, and the Reconstruction of the Labour Party," The Historical 

Journal 15, no.4 (December, 1972): 753. 

137. Tom Forester, The Labour Party and the Working Class (London: Heinemann, 1976), 44. 

138. See Zig Layton-Henry, "Labour's Lost Youth," Journal of Contemporary History 11 (July, 1976): 275-308. 

139. Kevin Morgan, "Communists and British Society, 1920-1991: People of a Special Mould," 7. 

140. Waite, 38. 

141. Britain's socialist youth traditions centred on the Socialist Sunday Schools. The Socialist Sunday Schools were established 

during the 1890's by the Social Democratic Federation and spread quickly throughout Britain, inspiring similar initiatives 

in the United States. See Kenneth Teitelbaum and William J. Reese, "American Socialist Pedagogy and Experimentation 

in the Progressive Era: The Socialist Sunday School," History of Education Quarterly 23, no.4 (Winter, 1983): 429-454. 

142. Quoted in John Moss, "The British Youth Movement," (July, 1953),1.: CP/CENT/YOUTH/02/12. 

143. N/A, "The History of the British Youth Movement," (194), 1: CP/CENT/YOUTH/02/02. 

144. YCLGB, Ammendments and Resolutions to be Submitted to the First Annual Conference, 5 th & 6 th of August 1922 (London: 

YCLGB, 1922), 4. 

145. YCLGB, The Young Workers and the General Strike (London: YCLGB, 1926), 17. 

146. L.J. MacFarlane, The British Communist Party (London: Macgibbon and Kee, 1966), 173. 

147. Waite, 64-65. 

148. YCLGB, Report of the Fifth National Congress of the Young Communist League of Great Britain (London: YCLGB, 

1928), 11. 

149. The irony of British socialist-youth movements during the twenties is that while the highly political character of the YCL 

stunted its development, the aggressively non-political and cultural initiatives of socialist youth in turn retarded their 

growth. See Zig Layton-Henry, 276. 

150. Discussion of the overlapping campaigns of the YCL and other socialist youth movements will be further explored in 

Chapters three and five. 

151. Quoted in Michelle Webb, "The Rise and Fall of the Labour League of Youth," Socialist History: Youth Culture and Politics 

26, (2004): 51. 

152. James Klugmann asserts that this situation occurred because "unlike Social Democracy, Communism had no fear of youth 

rebellion." See James Klugmann, Vol. I, 226. 

153. Arthur Marwick, "Youth in Britain, 1920-1960: Detachment and Commitment," Journal of Contemporary History 5, no.1, 

(1970): 38. 

154. Cohen and Morgan contend that one of the important transitions enabling the Popular Front era was the disbandment of 

the Lenin School which allowed Communist Parties and YCL a greater national flexibility. See Gidon Cohen and Kevin 

Morgan, "Stalin's Sausage Machine," 327-355. 

155. Matthew Worley, Class Against Class: The Communist Party in Britain Between the Wars (London: I.B. Tauras, 

2002),138. 

156. Quoted in Noreen Branson, History of the Communist Party of Great Britain, 1927-1941 (London: Lawrence and Wishart, 

1985),46. 

157. YCLGB, Where Shall We Start (London: YCLGB, 1930), 8,10. 

158. MacFarlane, 219. 

159. Thomas F. Neblet, "Youth Movements in the United States," Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social 

Science 194, (November, 1937): 143. 

160. Dumas Malone and Basil Rauch, War and Troubled Peace: 1917-1939 (New York: Meredith Publishing, 1960),43. 

161. Ibid, 69. 

162. Thomas Ricento, "The Discursive Construction of Americanism," Discourse and Society 14, no.5 (2003): 614. 

163. Seymour M. Lipset and Gary Marks, It Didn't Happen Here: Why Socialism Failed in the United States (New York: W.W. 

Norton, 2000),237. 

164. This move towards traditionalism was a conservative rejection of both internationalism and the burgeoning modern youth 

culture of the "roaring twenties." See Lynn Dumenil and Eric Foner, The Modern Temper: American Culture and Society 

in the 1920s (New York: Hill & Wang, 1995). 

165. This trend towards organizing in immigrant communities was a product of the splits that occurred within the Socialist 

Party where most of the various language federations joined native comrades in founding the American communist 

160

NOTES 

movement. See "The Language Branch Question," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Workers League 2, 

no.4, (April, 1923): 12. 

166. John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, Storming Heaven, 58. 

167. Quoted in Harvey Klehr, The Heyday, 5. 

168. Oliver Carlson attempted to follow the lead of his European comrades in seizing the Young People's Socialist League and 

transferring its allegiance to the Third International, capitalizing upon splits that were occurring within the Socialist Party. 

169. Theodore Draper, The Roots of American Communism (New York: Viking Press, 1963), 343. 

170. Tony Pecinovsky, "A History of the Young Communist League, USA Part 1: The Early Years," in YCLUSA Online 

. 

171. ECYCI, Resolutions and Theses of the Fourth Bureau Session (Berlin: ECYCI, 1923),100. 

172. Martin Abern and Paul Stevens, "The Young Workers League is Discovered!," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the 

Young Workers League (November, 1922): 7. 

173. "YCI Observers Return," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Workers League 2, no.2 (February, 1923): 11. 

174. Oliver Carlson, "What Means This Independence," The Young Worker (Formerly Youth) 1, no.3 (May, 1922): 17. 

175. Paula S. Fass, The Damned and the Beautiful: American Youth in the 1920's (New York: Oxford University Press, 1977), 

20-21. 

176. Ibid., 25. 

177. Thurber Lewis, "Jazzophobia," The Young Worker 2, no.4 (April, 1923):19-20. 

178. Harry Ganes, "Can Students Be Revolutionary," The Young Worker: Formerly Youth (May, 1922): 14. Although the 

YWL did not make a major impact of contemporary youth movements, their newspaper entitled The Young Worker provided 

an extensive "reportage of then-existing conditions" of young workers resulting in an impressive continuous fourteen-year 

run in circulation. See Dale Reipe, "Young Worker: Chicago and New York, 1922-1936," in The American 

Radical Press: 1880-1960, Vol.1 ed. Joseph R. Conlin (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1974), 244-245. 

179. Modern industry in the twenties began implementing the production rationalization models of Frederick Taylor, a production 

model also known as Taylorism. Taylorism focused on increasing the productive capacity of industrial workers and 

implementing new management styles that dictated all elements of the labor process. For a Marxist critique of Taylorism 

and its impact upon the labor process and modern capitalism see Harry Braverman, Labor and Monopoly Capital: The 

Degradation Of Work In The Twentieth Century (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1974). 

180. E. Elston "The Task Before Us," Youth: Official Organ of the Young Workers League 1, no.1 (February, 1922): 5. 

181. The influential Americanization ideologist Winthrop Talbot argued that during this era of growth that "even human prickly 

pears seem to lose their thorns, and poisonous human varieties generally become harmless." Contrasting the generational 

experiences of the twenties and thirties, W. Wallace Weaver reflected on the youth outlook of the twenties stating, "No 

generation ever approached its career with higher hopes than the one which finished high school and college during the 

last years of the postwar boom. Magazines and newspapers reflected the optimism and exaggerated it with special cases of 

astounding success. It was the era of Babson, Barton, Ford, Insull, Mitchell, and Young in business; of Coolidge, Hoover, 

Smith, Walker, and Mellon in politics; of "Babe" Ruth, Jack Dempsey, Bobby Jones, and Bill Tilden in sports. Anything 

less than a "country club" standard of living was unthinkable for the self-respecting novice. It was the golden age of prodigality, 

and no sport was more popular than that of explaining why it was a logical outcome of providential forethought." 

See Ricento, 625; W. Wallace Weaver, "Modern Youth-Retrospect and Prospect," Annals of the American Academy of Political 

and Social Science 194, (November, 1937): 2. 

182. Martin Abern, "The End of the Rope," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Workers League 2, no.11 (November, 

1923): 5. 

183. Martin Abern, "Who's Red.. And Why," The Young Worker (Formerly Youth) 1,no.4 (June-July, 1922): 13. 

184. Shirley Waller, "History of the American Socialist Youth Movement to 1929," in Early American Marxism: A Repository 

of Source Material, 1864-1964 Online Archive . 

185. Though Green rose to leadership of the YCL prior to the Popular Front, he led the YCL throughout the 1930s as Earl 

Browder's most consistent supporter and advocate. 

186. Gil Green, "Sweet Sixteen," 4. 

187. Ibid., 4. 

188. Ibid., 4. 

189. Quoted in Ontanelli, 13. 

190. John Patrick Diggins, The Rise and Fall of the American Left (New York: W.W. Norton, 1992), 172. 

YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM: THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE POPULAR FRONT GENERATION 

1. Georgi Dimitrov, The People's Front Against Fascism and War (London: Farleigh Press, 1937), 6. 

2. John Gollan, Defend the People: Report by John Gollan to the Tenth National Conference of the Young Communist 

League, Glasgow, Easter, 1938 (London: YCLGB, 1938), 7. 

3. Communists advanced a minimalist defensive program based on democratic popular unity to defeat the forces of fascism 

and halt the outbreak of a new world war. Highly misunderstood by many left contemporaries, the Popular Front was not 

just a defensive position based on limited class collaboration, but was also a long-term offensive strategy for communists 

and the working class. See Helen Graham and Paul Preston, "The Popular Front and the Struggle Against Fascism," in 

The Popular Front in Europe, ed. Helen Graham and Paul Preston (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1987), 1-2. 

4. The transition to the Popular Front was not just a simple subordination of the revolutionary movement to the immediate 

diplomatic interests of Stalin's Soviet Union as some have contended. Many historians have contended that the Popular 

Front era was nothing more than a strategic posturing to Stalin's foreign policy goals, blurring many of the unorthodox 

anti-fascist dynamics that were already occurring in Western communist movements during the early thirties. For an example 

of this historical position see David Beetham, Marxists in Face of Fascism: Writings by Marxists on Fascism From 

the Inter-War Period (New Jersey: Barnes and Noble, 1984), 23. 

5. Hobsbawm, "Fifty Years," 245. 

161


6. Jim Fyrth argues that "Communist thinking moved rather more slowly towards unity" of the democratic movement based 

on the social forces model of the Popular Front. See Jim Fyrth, "Introduction: The Thirties," in Britain, Fascism and the 

Popular Front, ed. Jim Fyrth (London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1985), 11. 

7. G.D.H. Cole, The People's Front, 44. 

8. Benito Mussolini and Giovanni Gentile, "The Doctrine of Fascism," in World Future Fund Totalitarian Philosophy Archive 

. 

9. ECYCI, Resolutions and Theses of the Fourth, 42. 

10. Ibid.,17-42. 

11. ECYCI, Resolutions Adopted at the Fourth Congress, 81. 

12. Beetham, 17, 19. 

13. Tim Kirk and Anthony McElligott, "Community, Authority and Resistance to Fascism," in Opposing Fascism: Community, 

Authority and Resistance in Europe, ed. Tim Kirk and Anthony McElligott (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 

1999), 7. 

14. McDermott and Agnew, 119. 

15. Bolshevization and the purges of the Third Period resulted in the "creation of a solid rank of disciplined Bolshevik cadres 

in the communist parties." Communists were willing to accept Comintern strategies out of general discipline, even if they 

lacked conviction in their support. See Jonathan Haslam, "The Comintern and the Origins of the Popular Front 1934- 

1935," The Historical Journal 22, no. 3 (September, 1979):687. 

16. McDermott and Agnew, 126. 

17. Wilhelm Pieck, "Report of the Activities of the Executive Committee of the Communist International July 26, 1935," in 

Report of the Seventh World Congress of the Communist International (London: Modern Books, 1936), 40, 56. 

18. Ibid., 61. 

19. Georgi Dimitrov, "The Working Class Against Fascism: Report Delivered on August 2, 1935 on the Second Point of the 

Agenda," in Report of the Seventh World Congress of the Communist International (London: Modern Books, 1936), 8. 

20. Ibid., 17. 

21. Ercoli, "The Fight Against War and Fascism," in Report of the Seventh World Congress of the Communist International 

(London: Modern Books, 1936), 65. As an Italian political exile and member of the Comintern secretariat, Togliatti was 

known internationally under the pseudonym of Ercole Ercoli. 

22. Dave Renton, Fascism: Theory and Practice (London: Pluto Press, 1999), 77. 

23. Dimitrov, "The Working Class Against Fascism: Report," 6-7. 

24. Kermit E. McKenzie, "The Soviet Union, the Comintern and World Revolution: 1935," Political Science Quarterly 65, no. 

2 (June, 1950): 237. 

25. Once considered one of Lenin's closest associates and a hero of the Bolshevik Revolution, Trotsky became increasingly 

marginalized and was eventually expelled from the Soviet Union and the Comintern after Stalin's ascension to power. As 

Trotsky continued his critiques of Stalinism and the Comintern apparatus, the Comintern began internationally propagating 

the assertion that Trotsky had become a "Gestapo Agent" and that his followers were saboteurs and conscious agents 

of fascism. Regardless of the fact or fiction of assertions on both sides, throughout the thirties Trotsky became a rallying 

symbol of Leninists opposed to the Popular Front and an increasingly demonized character within the Comintern, especially 

after the infamous "Moscow Trials" began. According to Trotsky's critique, what was developing in the Soviet Union 

under Stalin was not a "socialist society," but a system of "state capitalism" that was systematically betraying the 

international revolution for the sake of consolidating Stalin's personal power. See Leon Trotsky, "Revolution Betrayed: 

What is the Soviet Union and Where is it Going," in Leon Trotsky Internet Archive 

. 

26. Quoted in McNeal, "Trotskyist Interpretations," 30. 

27. Leon Trotsky, "Whither France Once Again, Whither France Part II: Socialism and Armed Struggle," 

in Leon Trotsky Internet Archive . 

28. Leon Trotsky, "On the Founding of the Fourth International," in Leon Trotsky Internet Archive 

. 

29. In a recent historical article by the American Socialist Workers Party contended that "Popular Front, as presented by Dimitrov 

and applied by Communist Parties around the world in the 1930s and ’40s, had no continuity with the Bolshevik 

Party." See Martín Koppel, "Bolshevism Versus Class Collaboration: A Reply To Young Communist League’s Defense 

Of Stalinist Popular Frontism," The Militant 69, no.17 (May, 2005): 3. The International Bolshevik Tendency movement 

contends that the Popular Front solidified Trotskyist splits due to their essential differences in "methodology and programme." 

See International Bolshevik Tendency, "Marxist Bulletin: Bolshevism and Trotskyism, Defending Our History," 

in International Bolshevik Tendency Online . 

30. Jay Lovestone, The People's Front Illusion: From "Social Fascism" to the "People's Front" (New York: Worker's Age 

Publishers, 1936), 4. 

31. Isaac Deutscher, Stalin: A Political Biography (New York: Oxford University Press, 1966), 417. 

32. Lenin and the Comintern had previously condemned the League of Nations as a bogus institution that could not cope with 

the modern problems of imperialist war and international peace. The Second Congress of the Comintern resolved that 

"without the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism, no international arbitration courts, no talk about a reduction of armaments, 

no "democratic" reorganisation of the League of Nations will save mankind from new imperialist wars." The Popular 

Front Generation instead posited that the participation of the USSR in the League of Nations could help to transform 

the institution into a genuinely constructive international apparatus to preserve peace. See V.I. Lenin, "Terms of Admission 

Into the Communist International," in V.I. Lenin Internet Archive . 

33. Increasingly throughout the thirties the Western "democratic powers," most notably Prime Minister Chamberlain of Britain, 

capitulated to fascist demands that overturned the power balance of the Versailles Treaty, enabling a German rearmament 

leading toward WWII. During this period Western politicians continually clung on to the empty shell of the nonintervention 

pact concerning Spain, even once it was clear that the fascists were actively assisting Franco. See G.D.H. 

Cole, A History of Socialist Thought Volume V: Socialism and Fascism, 1931-1939 (London: MacMillan and Co., 1961), 

23. 

34. Quoted in Tom Buchanan, "Anti-Fascism and Democracy in the 1930's," European History Quarterly 32, no.1 (2002): 41. 

162

NOTES 

35. Leninist state theory had posited that the "dictatorship of the proletariat" was a temporary transitional period for the securing 

the class rule of the proletariat and initiating the transition to a socialist economy. With the economic growth 

unleashed by the "Five Year Plans," the collectivization of agriculture and the purging of all oppositional class elements, 

communists argued that the necessary period of the proletarian dictatorship had ceased. Although this period is often remembered 

historically as one of the greatest period of Stalinist domestic oppression, communists at the time dismissed 

such reports as "propaganda" and "slander." 

36. Joseph Starobin, "21 Years of Soviet Power," Young Communist Review 3, no. 9 (November, 1938): 34. 

37. Louis Fischer, "Louis Fischer," in The God That Failed: Why Six Great Writers Rejected Communism, ed. Richard 

Crossman (New York: Bantam Books, 1959), 195. 

38. Central Committee of the CPSU (B), History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks) Short Course (New 

York: International Publishers, 1939),342. 

39. Quoted in George Rawick, "The New Deal and Youth: The Civilian Conservation Crops, The National Youth Administration 

and the American Youth Congress"(PHD diss., University of Wisconsin, 1957), 355. 

40. Georgi Dimitrov, "The Working Class Against Fascism: Speech in Reply to Discussion," in Report of the Seventh World 

Congress of the Communist International (London: Modern Books, 1936), 19. 

41. Postmodern linguistic theory emphasizes that political discourse is a vital element in the construction of political identity; 

an intricate process where "language does not just mirror or reflect reality" but increasingly shapes new outlook on political 

realities. See Joseph Natoli, A Primer to Postmodernity (Malden: Blackwell, 1998), 68-71. 

42. Wolf Michal, Youth Marches Towards Socialism: Report Made Sept. 26, 1935, to the Sixth World Congress of the Young 

Communist International (New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1936), 10. 

43. Raymond Guyot, "Unity of Youth Throughout the World," World Youth Review 1, no. 1 (January, 1939): 2. 

44. ECYCI, Fundamental Problems, 17,19. 

45. Michal, 13. 

46. In this way, the Popular Front should not just be understood as simply an outside imposition from adults in the Comintern, 

but was personified as a process where adult communists were learning new methods and political outlooks from young 

communists in the West. 

47. Kuusinen, Youth and Fascism, 8-9. 

48. Ibid., 13. 

49. Otto Kuusinen, "The Movement of the Youth and the Struggle Against Fascism and the Danger of War," in Report of the 

Seventh World Congress of the Communist International (London: Modern Books, 1936),5. 

50. Michal, 24. 

51. Alec Massie, "Anniversary of the Sixth World Congress, YCI," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist 

League 1, no.6 (September, 1938): 9,12,13. 

52. "Conference of European Young Communist Leagues," World Youth Review 1, no. 7 (July, 1939): 140. The uniformity of 

the "form" of youth methods during the Popular Front had less to do with YCI directives and was more closely associated 

with the greater international contacts communist youth developed during the Popular Front. Communist international 

youth contacts were facilitated by massive participation in the International Brigades and the annual World Youth Congress 

where communist youth developed their international methods in coordination and unity with other anti-fascist youth 

from throughout the world. 

53. Harvey Klehr, The Heyday, 307-308. 

54. Kuusinen, Youth and Fascism, 28. 

55. In his most recent publications on the British communism, Kevin Morgan has commented on the importance of a generational 

analysis, arguing that "no concept is therefore more important in making sense of the attitudes and alignments of" 

communists. See Morgan, "Communists and British Society," 2. 

56. Earl Browder, "Your Generation," 4-5. 

57. Quoted in Ibid., 27. 

58. Al Steele, "Education in the YCL," Young Communist Review 1, no.1 (September, 1936): 11. 

59. Michal, 17. 

60. Ibid., 17. 

61. Ibid., 41. 

62. Prior to the adoption of the Popular Front, the British and American sections of the YCI were considered important sections 

of the International, but their small sizes and sectarian practices also made them some of the most disappointing national 

sections. Though the YCLUSA was praised as an exemplary organization at the Seventh World Congress, delegates 

also noted that the youth Popular Front of the Americans was still a rather new trend and represented a distinct break from 

their past experiences of isolation. 

63. Keith Laybourn, Britain on the Breadline: A Social and Political History of Britain Between the Wars (Gloucester: Alan 

Sutton, 1990), 1. 

64. Ibid., 37. 

65. C.E.M. Joad, The Case For the New Party (Norfolk: J.C. Bird, 1931), 13. 

66. Sir Oswald Mosley, Why We Left the Old Parties (London: David Allen, 1931), 4. 

67. Sellick Davies, Why I Joined the New Party (London: New Party, 1931), 6. 

68. W.E.D. Allen, Fascism in Relation to British History and Character (London: BUF Publications, 1933), 2. 

69. Lucifer, "Youth in Flames: What Did You Do For Us in the Great War Daddies!" in The Letters of Lucifer and Leading 

Articles From "The "Blackshirt," ed. British Union of Fascists (London: British Union of Fascists, 1934), 3. 

70. Sir Oswald Mosley, Blackshirt Policy (Chelsea: BUF Publications, 1933), 7. 

71. YCLGB, Ten Points Against Fascism (London: YCLGB, 1934), 13. 

72. Ibid., 13. 

73. The primary source of anti-fascist activities during the rise of Hitler was directed by the Rote Jungfront, the KPD youth 

organization. See Eve Rosenhaft, Beating the Fascists The German Communists and Political Violence 1929-1933 

(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983). 

74. This replication of elements of German anti-fascism was due primarily to the fact that after "its foundation in October 

1932 the British Union of Fascists adopted all the main techniques of the German Nazis" including mass public rallies designed 

to increase the visibility of their movement. See Martin Pugh, "The British Union of Fascists and the Olympia Debate," 

The Historical Journal 41, no. 2 (June, 1998): 529. 

163


75. Neil Barrett, "The Anti-Fascist Movement in South-East Lancashire," in Opposing Fascism: Community, Authority and 

Resistance in Europe, ed. Tim Kirk and Anthony McElligott (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 50. 

76. Sharon Gerwitz, "Anti-Fascist Activity in Manchester's Jewish Community in the 1930's," Manchester Region History 

Review 4, no.1 (Spring/Summer, 1990): 19. 

77. Barrett, 54. 

78. Gerwitz, 26. 

79. W. Payne, A London Busman Reports on the Fight Against Fascism (London: European Workers' Anti-Fascist Congress 

British Delegation Committee, 1934), 10. 

80. Quoted in Gerald D. Anderson, Fascists, Communists, and the National Government: Civil Liberties in Great Britain, 

1931-1937 (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1983), 101. 

81. James Eaden and David Renton, The Communist Party of Great Britain Since 1920 (New York: Palgrave, 2002), 49. 

82. Ivor Montagu, Blackshirt Brutality: The Story of Olympia (London: Workers' Bookshop, 1934), 8. 

83. National Council of Labour, What is this Fascism (London: Victoria House, 1934), 2. 

84. This dynamic of using "public order" legislation was a replication of the trends that occurred in the Weimar Republic that 

targeted the militant anti-fascist struggles of German communists. 

85. Anderson, 120. 

86. Anderson, 148. 

87. John Gollan, Raise High the Banner: Speech of Comrade Gollan at the 6 th World Congress of the Young Communist International 

(London: YCLGB, 1935), 14. 

88. YCLGB National Council, "Organisation and Role of the League," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist 

League 2, no.2 (April, 1939): 110. 

89. YCLGB, Ten Points, 14. 

90. While many expressed critiques and hesitation about the potential "fascistic trends" embodied in the New Deal, the progressive 

and radical nature of the program became more apparent as reactionary elements began attacking it. For a contemporary 

"left critique" of the potential reactionary nature of the New Deal see Raymond Swing, Forerunners of 

American Fascism (New York: Julian Messner Inc., 1935), Chp. 1. For discussion of some of the "reactionary" business 

critiques of the New Deal see Paul K. Conkin, The New Deal (New York: Thomas Crowell, 1975), 33-34. For two divergent 

critiques of the evolving CPUSA analysis and relationship to the New Deal see Bernard Bellush and Jewel Bellush, 

"A Radical Response to the Roosevelt Presidency: The Communist Party (1933-1945)," Presidential Studies Quarterly 10, 

no.4 (1980): 645-661 and Anders Stephanson, "The CPUSA Conception of the Rooseveltian State," Radical History Review 

24, (1980): 160-176. 

91. Although he consistently warned against "ultra-left" positions that mechanically equated the policies of Roosevelt and 

Hitler, Earl Browder often highlighted the reactionary elements of early New Deal policies in 1933. "The "New Deal" is a 

policy of slashing the living standards at home and fighting for markets abroad for the single purpose of maintaining the 

profits of finance capital. It is a policy of brutal oppression and preparation for imperialist war. It represents a further 

sharpening and deepening of the world crisis… Under the "New Deal," we have entered a period of the greatest contradiction 

between the words and deeds of the heads of government." Earl Browder, What is the New Deal (New York: Workers' 

Library Publishers, 1933),15,17. 

92. At the time John Dewey described the New Deal not just as a political program, but as a progressive force transforming 

the popular perceptions of liberalism and the nature of the state. Dewey contended the New Deal shifted liberalism away 

from dogmatic "laissez-faire doctrine" to a new philosophical basis where "government had become popular and in theory 

the servant of the people." See John Dewey, "The Future of Liberalism," in New Deal Thought, ed. Howard Zinn (New 

York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1966), 31. 

93. The American left increasingly identified with Roosevelt in 1934 after public revelations of a supposed plot for a fascist 

style coup funded by the Morgan and DuPont families. See Clayton Cramer, "An American Coup D'Etat," History Today 

45, no.11 (1995): 42-47. While the Butler coup seemed like an extreme and unusual case of reactionary American politics, 

US corporate support for international and domestic fascist initiatives was quite widespread throughout the thirties. 

Executives from General Motors not only provided the Nazis with military machinery and technologies vital to Hitler's rearmament 

program through their Adam Opel AG Germany subsidiary, but gave many public statements in support of Hitler 

and the Third Reich. The DuPont family, who were major investors in General Motors, were known to have openly 

financed such fascistic organizations as the Black Legion and the American Liberty League. Both organizations were rumoured 

to have political associations with the American Nazi party and the German-American Bund during the 1936 

presidential election campaign of Republican Alf Landon against Roosevelt. General Motors was not alone in their material 

support of the Third Reich; a profitable relationship that was also replicated by Ford Motor Company. Ford's relationship 

with the Third Reich was not just one of material but also ideological support. Hitler himself kept a life-sized photo 

of Henry Ford in his office, praising him as a "great anti-Semite" and bestowing upon him the "Grand Cross of the German 

Eagle" as a personal gift for Ford's 75 th birthday. Though both Ford and General Motors were later exonerated within public 

memory for Allied production during WWII when they were coined as the "Arsenal of Democracy," their corporate alliances 

with domestic and foreign fascist movements were well known and recorded during the thirties. The importance of 

highlighting American corporate complicity with fascism is that for domestic anti-fascists the threat of fascism was not 

just some distant phenomenon in Europe, but was perceived as a potential domestic threat to American democracy and the 

working-class movement. See Joel Lewis, "Business, U.S. – Third Reich," in Germany and the Americas: Culture, Politics, 

and History, A Multidisciplinary Encyclopedia, ed. Thomas Adam (Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2005), 198; Charles 

Higham, Trading With the Enemy: The Nazi-American Money Plot, 1933-1949 (New York: Barnes & Noble, 1983),165; 

Reinhold Billstein, "How the Americans Took Over Cologne—and Discovered Ford Werke's Role in the War," in Working 

For the Enemy: Ford, General Motors, and Forced Labor in Germany During the Second World War, ed. Nicholas 

Levis (New York: Berghan Books, 2000),104-105. 

94. In a 1934 New York Times interview Eleanor Roosevelt stated, "I live in real terror when I think we may be losing this 

generation. We have got to bring these young people into the active life of the community and make them feel that they 

are necessary." Quoted in "National Youth Administration," in The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Online Archive 

. 

95. Michael, "The Sacrifice of Youth," The Young Worker: Organ of the Young Communist League of Britain 1, no.2 (September, 

1923): Cover. Erik, "International Youth Day," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Worker's League 

2, no. 9 (September, 1923): Cover. 

164

NOTES 

96. Bard, "Capitalism Brings Forth The Little One," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Communist League USA 

(Section of the Young Communist International) 8, no.24 (November 27, 1930): 4. 

97. "Prepare National Youth Day," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Communist League USA (Section of the 

Young Communist International) 11, no.7 (May 10, 1933): 1. 

98. "Birds of a Feather," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Communist League USA (Section of the Young 

Communist International) 11, no.7 (May 10, 1933): 5. 

99. NECYCLUSA, "Unite Against Fascism, Hunger and War! Young Communist League Calls For United Fight," The Young 

Worker: Official Organ of the Young Communist League USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 11, no.6 

(April 26, 1933): 8. 

100. Ibid., 8. 

101. "How We Organized a United Front for Youth Relief," YCL Builder 1, no.3 (November, 1932): 7. 

102. Walter Francis, "Leadership Working Below and Developing Struggles Thru Solid Personal Contacts With the Young 

Workers," YCL Organizer 1, no.1 (September, 1932): 9, 10. 

103. "How a Fraction Should Work: A Problem and an Answer," YCL Builder 1, no.7 (May, 1933): 15. 

104. Michal, 41. 

105. "Militarization and Fascization of the Youth and the Tasks of Young Communist Leagues," The Young Worker: Official 

Organ of the Young Communist League USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 12, no.7 (March 27, 1934): 

1a. 

106. Ibid., 2a. 

107. Gil Green, "Tasks of YCL, USA in the Fight Against Boss War and Fascism," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the 

Young Communist League USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 12, no.7 (March 27, 1934): 4a. 

108. See Henry Winston, Character Building and Education in the Spirit of Socialism (New York: New Age Publishers, 1939). 

109. Phil Schatz, "Civilization Against Hitler," Young Communist Review 3, no.10 (December, 1938): 13-14. 

110. Gil Green, "The Path Towards Youth Unity," Young Communist Review 1, no.1 (September, 1936): 6. 

111. Cohen, When the Old Left, 19. 

112. Gil Green, "Sweet Sixteen," 5. 

113. Abraham Edel, The Struggle for Academic Democracy: Lessons From the 1938 "Revolution" in New York's City Colleges 

(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1990), 39-40. 

114. Quoted in James Wechler, Revolt on the Campus (New York: Covici and Friede, 1935), 224-225. 

115. Eileen Eagan, Class, Culture and the Classroom: The Student Peace Movement of the 1930's (Philadelphia: Temple University 

Press, 1981), 134. 

116. Joseph Starobin, "Fourth Annual Congress of American Students Union," World Youth Review 1, no. 2 (February, 1939): 

35. 

117. Leaders of the YCLGB had grown accustom to legal persecution since their inception, especially when Bolshevik antimilitarist 

techniques made YCLers vulnerable to persecution under sedition laws. Prior to and during the 1926 General 

Strike, the British Government severely persecuted leading members of the CPGB and the YCL under the "Incitement to 

Mutiny Act of 1797." At the time the YCL commented that the "vicious attacks by the Government of reaction" had not 

broken the will of the YCL, but had instead resulted in making it "more stronger and united." See YCLGB, A Congress of 

Young Fighters: A Report of the Fourth Congress of the Young Communist League of Great Britain (London: YCLGB, 

1926), 35. 

118. See Robert Benewick, A Study of British Fascism: Political Violence and Public Order (London: Allen Lane, 1969), Chp. 

11 "The Public Order Act." 

119. See "Hoover Government Bans Young Worker: Ban of Youth Paper Seen as War Step, Plot to Gag Labor," The Young 

Worker 9, no.1 (January 1, 1931): 1; "Membership in YCL Sedition Says Court: Get Ten Years For Anti-War Leaflet," 

The Young Worker 9, no.5 (February 16, 1931): 1. 

120. Mike Martini, "A Lesson From New York" Young Communist Review1, no. 3 (December, 1936): 7. 

121. Fred Cox, "A People's Movement in the South" Young Communist Review 2, no. 3 (March, 1937): 11. 

122. Although it was a powerful youth statement against war, the timing of its passage only ten days after Hitler's ascension to 

the German chancellorship created an element of social fear that progressive British youth had inadvertently strengthened 

the militant resolve of the fascists. See Martin Ceadel, "The 'King and Country' Debate, 1933: Student Politics, Pacifism 

and the Dictators," The Historical Journal 22, No. 2 (June, 1979): 397-422. 

123. Terry Cooney, "New Readings on the Old Left," American Literary History 11, no. 1 (Spring, 1999): 159. 

124. G. Wilhelm Kunze, "Race and Youth," in Free America! Six Addresses on the Aims and Purposes of the German American 

Bund (New York: AV Publishing, 1939), 14. 

125. Strack, "Answering Questions On Collective Security," 11. 

126. Joe Cohen, "In Review – War Our Heritage," Young Communist Review 2, no.1 (January, 1937) : 6. 

127. "For Peace and Social Advance by the Defeat of the Chamberlain Government," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the 

Young Communist League 2, no.4 (April, 1939): 105. 

128. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.1 (March, 1938): 5. 

129. Mac Weiss, "Four Years of the American Youth Congress," Young Communist Review 3, no.10 (December, 1938): 3. 

130. Elizabeth Shields-Collins, "We Shall One Day Achieve Our Goal," in Official Program of the Second World Youth Congress 

(New York: Academy Press, 1939), 1. 

131. "The World Youth Congress Movement" World Youth Review 1, no. 1 (January, 1939): 16. 

132. Quoted in Joseph Lash, Eleanor Roosevelt: A Friend's Memoir (New York: Doubleday, 1964), 6. 

133. Margot Kettle, "Recollections of a Younger World," 16. 

134. The greatest service that young Communists gave the Spanish Republic was not in their literature and domestic campaigns 

of solidarity, but in the voluntary military service they offered as members of the International Brigades. Willi Münzenberg, 

the founding leader of the young communist movement, proposed the idea of the International Brigades to international 

Communist Leader Georgi Dimitrov in September, 1936 to lend international military and political assistance to the 

Spanish Republic. Throughout the short history of the International Brigades, over 40,000 volunteers representing over 50 

nationalities fought in Spain, offering their lives in the protection of "democracy, freedom and the peace of the world." 

135. Exact figures for the participation of young communists in the International Brigades are difficult to calculate since older 

YCLers could hold joint membership in the Communist Party. Observations about the "large proportion" of YCLers in the 

Brigades is based off from observations in YCL propaganda that made constant reference to the "significant" and "leading" 

contributions that youth were contributing to the efforts of the Brigades. Other secondary sources on the Spanish 

165


Civil War have also commented on phenomenon of the International Brigades as a "generational youth struggle," positing 

the experiences of young people's generational experiences with WWI and the Spanish Civil War. The primary data on 

the Brigades in YCL propaganda dealt specifically with deaths, often revealing little about the numbers and identities of 

YCLers fighting in Spain since international "non-intervention" regulations prohibited "outside" interference in Spain. 

Many volunteers commented after their return, especially in the United States, about the intense state persecution that they 

experienced, which may have been a factor in the YCL's discreteness of revealing information about members volunteering 

in Spain. See John Gerassi, The Premature Antifascists: North American Volunteers In The Spanish Civil War, 1936- 

39: An Oral History (New York: Praeger, 1986.). 

136. John Gollan, "British Youth and the Struggle Against Chamberlain," World Youth Review 1. no. 1 (January, 1939): 4. 

137. See Joe Cohen, "In Review – War Our Heritage," 6. 

138. "Long Live Republican Spain!," World Youth Review 1, no. 3 (March, 1939): 45. 

139. "The Situation in Spain and the Tasks of the Youth," World Youth Review 1, no. 3 (March, 1939): 47. 

140. Raymond Guyot, "International Youth Day – Anti-War Day," World Youth Review 1, no. 9 (September, 1939): 170. 

141. Bob Cooney, "The British Volunteers," The Volunteer for Liberty: Organ of the International Brigades 2, no.35 (November 

7, 1938): 8. 

142. See Edward Bennett, Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Search for Security: American-Soviet Relations, 1933-1939 (Wilmington: 

Scholarly Resources, 1985). 


144. Carl Ross, "Youth in the United States," World Youth Review 1. no. 1 (January, 1939): 10. 

145. Rudy Ward, "Why We Want the War to Stop," Young Communist Review 4, no.9 (December, 1939): 23. 

146. Renton, Fascism: Theory, 112. 

NATIONALISM: FROM POISON TO PATRIOTISM 

1. Jim West, "The YCL Speaks to the Catholics," Young Communist Review 3 no.5 (July 1938): 25. 

2. YCLGB, Constitution and Principles of the YCL (London: YCLGB, 1943), 7. 

3. YCLGB, A Short History of the Young Communist International, 9. 

4. VI Lenin, "Critical Remarks on the National Question," in VI Lenin Internet Archive . 

5. While initial British WWI propaganda imagery centered on nationalist appeals to traditional Imperial values, the tone and 

visual rhetoric became transformed as the war dragged on, especially after the entrance of the USA. Later visual appeals 

centered around concepts of citizenship with appeals like "The Nation Needs You!" Perhaps the most infamous appeals 

centered on citizenship and nationalism was Lloyd George's appeal that when British troops returned, they would come 

back to "A Land Fit For Heroes." For a lengthy discussion and visual reproduction of the US and British propaganda 

campaigns during WWI see Martin Hardie and Arthur Sabin, War Posters (London: A & C Black, 1920) and Maurice 

Rickards, Posters of the First World War (New York: Walker, 1968). 

6. US entry into WWI was largely facilitated by an intense propaganda campaign by President Wilson asserting that the war 

was one to "Save Democracy" and that this would be "The War to End All Wars." 

7. Though Lenin's strict analysis ultimately forged Comintern policy, not all contemporary revolutionary socialists shared 

Lenin's condemnation of nationalist movements in the West. For these socialists who based their conception of nationalism 

within republican conceptions of citizenship, there was no inherit internal contradiction between their socialist internationalism 

and nationalist aspirations. Identifying that the socialist movement first had to be advanced within its national 

context, these revolutionaries expressed a socialist form of nationalism that was tempered by a greater internationalist perspective. 

James Connolly and John MacLean were two of the most influential and articulate contemporaries of Lenin who 

espoused this divergent perspective on nationalism. Although it was unlikely that Connolly and MacLean could have won 

over the hard-headed Lenin to their positions on nationalism, the exclusion of their important voices within the initial 

Comintern meetings limited the scope of debates on the nationalist question in the West. Though Ireland was a unique 

case in Western Europe that theoretically fit within Lenin's criteria of an "oppressed nation," Connolly's conceptions of nationalism 

and internationalism were divergent to Lenin's. For Connolly and other Irish socialists, the struggle for the Irish 

Republic was always set in the rhetoric of a socialist nationalism that was in turn developed into an internationalist view: 

"Always presupposing that the rapprochement is desired between Sinn Feiners who sympathise with Socialism… Socialists 

who realise that a Socialist movement must rest upon and draw its inspiration from the historical and actual conditions 

of the country in which it functions and not merely lose themselves in an abstract ‘internationalism’ (which has no 

relation to the real internationalism of the Socialist movement), on the other." (James Connolly, "Sinn Fein, Socialism and 

the Nation," in the James Connolly Internet Archive .) 

The main criterion that Connolly used to conceptualize nationalism was the class content of the movement and the ultimate 

socialist goal of the nationalist movement. Connolly contended that Irish nationalism could "not merely a morbid 

idealising of the past," but needed to assert a concrete socialist "political and economic creed capable of adjustment to the 

wants of the future." The advent of the Irish Socialist Republic would not just serve the needs of the Irish, but would act in 

an internationalist role. Connolly contended that such an Irish Republic would "be of such a character that the mere mention 

of its name would at all times serve as a beacon-light to the oppressed of every land." (James Connolly, "Socialism 

and Nationalism," in the James Connolly Internet Archive .) While the form of nationalist agitation would have similar characteristics to bourgeois nationalism, 

the content and the ultimate goal of Irish Socialist Nationalism would be inherently different. Connolly consistently 

warned Irish socialists that their nationalism could not be "imbued with national or racial hatred," but needed to be directed 

towards preserving an "alliance and the friendship of those hearts who, loving liberty for its own sake, are not afraid 

to follow its banner when it is uplifted by the hands of the working class." (James Connolly, "Socialism and Irish Nationalism," 

in the James Connolly Internet Archive .) For 

Connolly, Irish revolutionary socialism was naturally "reconciled with nationalism" and served to facilitate an internationalist 

perspective. To cement together the Irish nationalist and socialist movements, Connolly was prepared to "seal the 

bond of union with his own blood if necessary," which was his eventual martyred fate during the Easter Uprising of 1916. 

John MacLean posited a similar analysis to Connolly on the issue of Scottish nationalism and socialism that was divergent 

to the opinions of Lenin and the Comintern. The consistent anti-war activity of MacLean and his unyielding commitment 

166

NOTES 

to revolutionary agitation, even in the face of harsh imprisonment, had made MacLean a working-class hero in Glasgow 

and earned him the deepest respect of Lenin. Due to his positions on Scottish nationalism and his unyielding commitment 

to a socialist form of Scottish Republicanism, MacLean quickly lost favor with the Comintern and became a virtual political 

outcast in British communism. Unlike the Bolsheviks who put great faith in the nationalism of the anti-colonial 

movements to destroy imperialism, MacLean asserted that the best revolutionary advances could be made by striking at 

the heart of the British Empire. In divergence from English traditions, MacLean argued that Scottish society had traditionally 

been based in a form of Celtic Clan Communism. From this basis MacLean hoped to mobilize Scottish nationalist 

sentiment towards socialist revolution, arguing that "Bolshevism, to put it roughly, is but the modern expression of the 

communism of the mir." (John MacLean, "All Hail, the Scottish Workers Republic!," in the John MacLean Internet Archive 

.) MacLean was a convinced convert of Lenin's 

theory of imperialism and that an impending imperialist war would soon again break out, this time between the United 

States and Britain. By first striking a blow at the heart of the British Empire in Glasgow, MacLean argued that a revolutionary 

mobilization of Scottish nationalism by socialists could avert this impending war and lead to the destruction of the 

Empire. (John MacLean, "Election Manifesto 1923," in the John MacLean Internet Archive .) Although shunned and outcast from the ranks of the Comintern, MacLean spent the last 

years of his life advocating the importance of nationalism as a strategic method for revolutionary socialists. With the advent 

of the Popular Front, the concepts, legacies and symbolic martyrdom of both Connolly and MacLean became important 

rallying points for British communists. 

8. VI Lenin, "The Right of Nations to Self-Determination" in VI Lenin Internet Archive . 

9. "An Appeal to the Young," The Red Flag: Organ of the Young Socialist League 1, no. 1 (1920): 4. 

10. James Stewart, "Patriotism," The Red Flag: Organ of the Young Socialist League 1, no. 1 (1920): 10. 

11. ECYCI, Remove the Frontiers!,7. 

12. Ibid., 8. 

13. Ibid., 4. 

14. Ibid., 9. 

15. Georgi Dimitrov, "The Fascist Offensive and the Tasks of the Communist International," in The United Front: The Struggle 

Against Fascism And War (San Francisco: Proletarian Publishers, 1975), 79-80. 

16. See Ibid., 79. 

17. VI Lenin, "On the National Pride of the Great Russians," in VI Lenin Internet Archive . 

18. Trotsky was by far the most outspoken critic of this new line on nationalism because he saw it as completely incompatible 

with Lenin's teachings. Trotsky had previously written, "Lenin’s internationalism is by no means a form of reconciliation 

of Nationalism and Internationalism in words but a form of international revolutionary action." Leon Trotsky, "Nationalism 

In Lenin," in Leon Trotsky Internet Archive < http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/works/1925/lenin/10.htm>. 

Many of the disillusioned communists of the twenties who had already been purged from the "official parties" saw in this 

speech by Dimitrov the signal to declare the Third International dead and to form the Fourth International. 

19. James Klugmann joined the CPGB in 1933 as a member of the infamous communist student groups at Cambridge University. 

Later in the thirties Klugmann became the Secretary of the Paris based World Student Association and was an active 

member of the European youth anti-fascist movements. See Graham Stevenson, "James Klugmann Biography," in Compendium 

of Communist Biography Online Archive . 

20. James Klugmann, "The Crisis of the Thirties: A View From the Left," in Culture and Crisis in Britain in the Thirties, ed. 

Jon Clark, Margot Heinemann, David Margolies and Carole Snee (London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1979), 25. 

21. Gil Green, "20 Years of the Communist Party," Young Communist Review 4, no.7 (September, 1939): 25. 

22. John Schwarzmantel has reflected on the lack of academic studies of communist nationalism in the West being due primarily 

between the negative linguistic associations of the words nationalism and socialism and their co-opting by the Nazi 

movement. Schwarzmantel states, "We may also note that much research on nationalism has focused on ‘radical Right’ or 

fascist and Nazi nationalism. Movements of this kind achieved an extremely virulent combination of nationalism with 

what was claimed to be socialism… In fascist and Nazi movements, a racialist and antidemocratic nationalism was exploited 

and manipulated to gain mass support, and was turned against the institutions of working-class politics. One result 

of this was that the connection between nationalism and socialism seemed to be the preserve of fascist-type movements, 

and to have no wider significance for the study of either nationalism or socialism." John Schwarzmantel, "Nation Versus 

Class: Nationalism and Socialism in Theory and Practice," in The Social Origins of Nationalist Movements: The Contemporary 

West European Experience, ed. John Coakley (London: Sage Publications, 1992), 47-48. 

23. Dimitrov, "The Fascist Offensive," 81. 

24. Georgi Dimitrov, "Unity of the Working Class Against Fascism," in The United Front: The Struggle Against Fascism And 

War (San Francisco: Proletarian Publishers, 1975), 97. 

25. Dimitrov, "The Fascist Offensive," 77-78. 

26. One of the first publications of the YCLGB stated the youth position on war and nationalism in the following terms, "Declare 

war against capitalist war, and fight side by side with the other members of your class for the freedom of the class 

you belong to." Within this framework, the call to reach across national borders to other working-class youth was propagated 

specifically in terms of fighting against war. Though internationalism was still important for communist youth as 

they began nationalist agitation, the traditional motivation to be an internationalist was to prevent imperialist war. James 

Stewart, The Hope of the Future: An Appeal to Young Workers (London: YCLGB, 192), 12. 

27. Michal, 38. 


29. Wolf Michal was the communist pseudonym used by the Hungarian Mihály Farkas. Farkas was a leading member of the 

Hungarian revolutionary youth movement after WWI and joined the Czechoslovakian Communist Party in 1921 after the 

downfall of Bela Kunn's Hungarian Soviet Republic. Farkas was imprisoned for a short period during the twenties, but 

continued playing a leading role in international communist youth politics after his release. During the Popular Front era, 

Farkas adopted the Wolf Michal pseudonym and served as Second Secretary of the YCI under the leadership of the French 

YCLer Raymond Guyot who served as General Secretary of the YCI. See "Mihály Farkas," in The Institute for the History 

of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution Archives . 

30. Michal, 42. 

31. Ibid., 54. 

167


32. The shift towards a nationalist centred political rhetoric was a particularly difficult one for communist youth in Britain and 

America. Traditionally both leagues had experienced an intensely sectarian past based upon a militant class based oppositional 

culture, identifying with the Russian Revolution and internationalism. As victorious powers in WWI who spearheaded 

military intervention against the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution, both Britain and the US were identified 

as aggressive imperialist nations who stood in direct opposition to the goals of international communism and who were the 

main potential sources of imperialist war. 

33. Haynes and Klehr, Storming Heaven, 58. 

34. Mick Bennett, "Defense," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 1 no.8 (November, 1938): 

11. 

35. Joe Clark and Phil Schatz, "Book Reviews," Young Communist Review 3 no.2 (April 1938): 24. 

36. In January, 1935 one issue of Challenge was produced to highlight the campaigns raging against "The Slave Act." Within 

the first issue there were no references to the YCI, a standard in The Young Worker. 

37. See Challenge 1, no.5 (June, 1935): 1. 

38. See Challenge 1, no.8 (September, 1935): 1. 

39. National Council YCLGB, "War Will Involve the World," Challenge 1, no.8 (September, 1935): 5. 

40. "Concerning Morals," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 1, no.6 (September 1938): 27. 

41. "Challenge Proposes a Youth Charter For Parliament," Challenge 1, no.11 (December, 1935): 1. 

42. "Our New Feature," Challenge: The Paper For All Youth 4, no.1 (January 6, 1938): 9. 

43. Miles Carpenter, “Which Is Your England," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 1 (January 7, 1939): 11. 

44. Ted Ward, "The Living Past: Where the Cry of Freedom Rang," in Challenge: For the Defense of the People 5, no. 28 

(January 15, 1939): 6. 

45. ECYCLGB, "Planning For the Campaign," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 1, no.3 

(June, 1938): 11. 

46. Johnnie Gollan, "Some Questions on Defence," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 1, no.4 

(July, 1938): 3. 

47. Alec Massie, "Trotskyism and the Youth Movement," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 

1, no.4 (July, 1938):12. 

48. "Songs of the People," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no.17 (April 28, 1938): 6. 

49. Popular Front rhetoric was initially hesitant in framing its appeals to the multi-national dimensions of Britain. Even during 

the Popular Front, the Communist Party exhibited a reluctance to address the national experiences and aspirations of 

Scotland as reflected in the November 1936 edition of Left Review, which was centered on Scottish nationalism. In this 

edition, the Scottish novelist Neil Gunn was given the opportunity to defend himself against the communist accusations 

that his nationalist ideology ought to be equated with the "Aryan theoreticians of Hitler Fascism." Gunn attempted to refute 

his accusers by stating that not only did a great number of workers have a serious interest in Scottish nationalism, but 

that the Gaelic society he was trying to reflect was one infused with a "proletarian humanism with a deep significance." 

The response given by James Barke denied Scottish interest in nationalism, containing a shallow theoretical assessment of 

nationalism, a condemnation of the SNP and a further association of Scottish nationalism with the "burning of books and 

concentration camps." In a more insightful piece, Edgell Rickword granted some legitimacy to national concerns, but 

openly stated that the Scottish struggle must be fought on a British basis since "no oppressed nation can free itself from a 

modern imperialism without the support of the working class of the oppressing nation." See Neil Gunn, “Scotland a Nation,” 

Left Review 2, no.14 (1936), 735, 737; James Barke, “The Scottish National Question,” Left Review 2, no.14 (1936), 

744; Edgell Rickword, “Stalin on the National Question,” Left Review 2, no.14 (1936), 747-748. 

50. YCLGB National Council, "Report of the National Council For 1938/1939," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the 


51. Charles Gibson, "Look Out Chamberlain, We Are Coming For You!," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 1 (January 7, 

1939): 5. 

52. YCLGB, We March To Victory: Report to the 9 th National Conference of the Young Communist League (London: 

YCLGB, 1937), 14. 

53. Traditional Leninist rhetoric rejected notions of citizenship within the bourgeois state, centering its appeals in a language 

of class and internationalism. The purpose of this propaganda was to dispel conceptions of citizenship that identified the 

interests of workers with the interests of the state and nation. Since the fascists actively engaged in nationalist propaganda 

based upon biology and race, communists countered their rhetoric with a progressive nationalism centered upon active 

citizenship. 

54. Mick Bennett, "There Will Be no Democracy Tomorrow Unless We Defend it Today," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, 

no. 5 (February 4, 1939): 8 

55. "How They Are Getting Together," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 11 (March 18, 1939): 2. 

56. "The BYPA," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 2, no.4 (April, 1939): 123. 

57. See The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Communist League USA 14, no.17 (April 28, 1936): 1. 

58. "Two Revolutionists: Lincoln and Lenin," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Communist League USA 13, 

no.38 (November 5, 1935): 5. 

59. "Poison Gas and Patriotism," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Communist League USA 13, no.45 (December 

31, 1935): 6. 

60. "Dear Mr. Browder, The Spirit of '76 is Not Dead: Young '36 Replies," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young 

Communist League USA 14, no.12 (March 24, 1936): 5. 

61. "Champion is the Name," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Communist League USA 14, no.17 (April 28, 

1936): 8. 

62. Champion was eventually disbanded in 1938. See Martin Glaberman and George P. Rawick, "Champion of Youth and 

Champion Labor Monthly: New York, 1936-1938," in The American Radical Press: 1880-1960, Vol.1 ed. Joseph R. 

Conlin (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1974), 78. 

63. George P. Rawick, "Student Advocate: New York, 1936-1938," in The American Radical Press: 1880-1960, Vol.1 ed. 

Joseph R. Conlin (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1974), 271. 

64. Ibid., 272. 

65. "Our First Issue," Young Communist Review 1, no.1 (September, 1936): 2. 

66. H Hennie, "What's Wrong With Our Review," Young Communist Review 2, no.3 (March, 1937): 18. 

67. See Earl Browder, Who Are the Americans (New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1936). 

168

NOTES 

68. See Thomas Ricento, "The Discursive Construction of Americanism." 

69. Joe Clark, "Our Fourth of July," Young Communist Review 3, no.5 (July, 1938):8. 

70. Alfred Steele, "Lincoln, Douglass, Washington," Young Communist Review 3, no.12 (February, 1939): 16 

71. Joseph Clark, "Flesh of our Flesh," Young Communist Review 2, no.2 (February, 1937): 8. 

72. "Editorials" Young Communist Review 3, no.5 (July, 1938): 5 

73. "Preamble to the Constitution of the Young Communist League, Adopted at the Ninth National Convention, May, 1939," 

Young Communist Review 4, no.4 (June, 1939): 31 

74. Joe Cohen, "The Soviet Union and Spain," Young Communist Review 1, no.2 (December, 1936): 9 

75. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.3 (May, 1938): 5 

76. Bob Thompson, "Dave Doran as War Commissar," Young Communist Review 3, no.7 (September, 1938): 24. 

77. Richard H. Rovere, "Books, 1938," Young Communist Review 3, no.11 (January, 1939): 21. 

78. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.4 (June, 1938):5 

79. Helen Vrabel, "Our Declaration of Principles: Shall it be Changed," Young Communist Review 4, no.2 (April, 1939): 5 

80. "Thumbnail Reviews," Young Communist Review 3, no.7 (September, 1938): 28. 

81. Earl Browder published a pamphlet entitled North America and the Soviet Union: The Heritage of Our People in 1937 

containing an address he delivered to the Communist Party of Canada. In his speech Browder linked the revolutionary 

legacies of the Soviet and American nations as inspirations to mobilize anti-fascists throughout the world. See Earl 

Browder, North America and the Soviet Union: The Heritage of Our People (New York: Worker's Library Publishers, 

1937). 

82. Mac Weiss, "May Day, An American Tradition," Young Communist Review 3, no.3 (May, 1938): 14-15. 

83. "That's What They Think: Letters From Our Readers," Young Communist Review 4, no.5 (July, 1939): 24. 

84. Due to its overwhelming immigrant population, the United States was intimately linked historically and culturally to nations 

throughout the world. This internationalism of the American Republic enabled the nationalist rhetoric of the YCL to 

take on a unique balance between nationalism and internationalism. 

85. "Men Are Created Equal," Challenge: The Paper For All Youth 4, no.1 (January 6, 1938): 9. 

86. Gil Green, "In the Spirit of Dave Doran," Young Communist Review 3, no.5 (July, 1938): 4-5. 

87. "Preamble to the Constitution," 31. 

88. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.3 (May, 1938): 5. 

89. Francis Franklin, "What is Dialectics," Young Communist Review 3, no.9 (November, 1938): 15. 

90. Carl Ross, "After the Primaries," Young Communist Review 3, no.8 (October, 1938): 3. 

91. "Greetings to the World Youth Congress," Young Communist Review 3, no.6 (August, 1938): 4. 

92. The YCL typically did not direct attacks against Roosevelt after 1936, but kept articulating a vehement criticism towards 

elements in the Democratic Party that who did not express the willingness to keep advancing the New Deal and to implement 

the anti-fascist foreign policies that Roosevelt supported. 

93. Carl Ross, "Events of the Month," Young Communist Review 3, no.5 (July, 1938): 20. 

94. Carl Ross, "The Elections Results," Young Communist Review 3, no.10 (December, 1938): 26. 

95. Gil Green, "Creative Marxism," Young Communist Review 4, no.4 (June, 1939): 6. 

96. Carl Geiser, "I Was in a Fascist Concentration Camp," Young Communist Review 4, no.5 (July, 1939): 10. 

97. Phil Gillan, The Defence of Madrid (London: YCLGB, 1937), 7. 

98. Gollan, Defend the People, 2, 4. 

99. "Helping Spain's People," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 5 (February 4, 1939): 4. 

100. Mr. Alfred Barnes M.P., "If We Are to Save Our Own Homes," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 5 (February 4, 

1939): 1. 

101. Gabriel Carritt, "Every Gun in Spain Defends Us in Britain," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 5 (February 4, 1939): 4. 

102. Molly McCulloch, "When Barcelona Fell," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 5 (February 4, 1939): 7. 

103. Clark, "Flesh of Our Flesh," 8. 


105. Wolf Michael, "Our Power Lies in Unity," Young Communist Review 2, no.3 (March, 1937): 13. 

106. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.10 (December, 1938): 9. 

107. Joseph Starobin, "Czechoslovakia and World Peace," Young Communist Review 3, no.8 (October, 1938): 18 

108. One of the most contentious aspects of Popular Front history is evaluating the extent to which communist movements in 

the West persisted in following Comintern directives. Popular Front propaganda gave the appearance of distinct national 

lines, obscuring many of the internationalist links that persisted between the YCLs and the Comintern. This research does 

not attempt to engage in these debates centred on the use of internal documentation to prove the extent of "Moscow control" 

of Western communists. Communist publications were the main source to which members were exposed to the political 

values and dynamics of their movement. During the Leninist Generation, constant references were made to 

Comintern directives and resolutions as the basis for communist politics in the west. While many of these links certainly 

persisted during the Popular Front era, YCL propaganda rarely made mention of the Comintern or YCI, instead giving an 

appearance of decentralization and national independence in their youth literature. 

UNITY OF YOUTH: FROM SECTARIANISM TO POPULISM 

1. Santiago Carrillo, "Forward to Victory," Young Communist Review 1, no.2 (December, 1936): 12. 

2. Carl Ross, "The American Youth Movement," Young Communist Review 4, no.3 (May, 1939): 35. 

3. Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, "Strategy and Tactics of the Class Struggle" in Marx and Engels Internet Archive < 

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1879/09/17.htm>. This article was published as part of a series of letters 

from Marx and Engels to the leadership of the SPD in 1879 to argue against the trend of transforming the SPD from party 

from a revolutionary to a reformist platform. The main theoretical issue addressed in these letters was the issue of class 

collaboration. 

4. VI Lenin, "The Position and Tasks of the Socialist International" in VI Lenin Internet Archive 

. 

5. VI Lenin, "Left-Wing Communism, An Infantile Disorder: Several Conclusions" in VI Lenin Internet Archive < 

http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1920/lwc/ch10.htm>. 

169


6. ECYCI, Remove the Frontiers!, 9. 

7. Young, No More War, 11. 

8. This position was severely modified on the basis of working with Trotskyist influenced youth groups. Though young 

communists were willing to work with all segments of youth including conservative youth on the basis of a minimum antifascist 

program, they consistently insisted that Trotskyism represented an ideology that was incompatible with the goals of 

the Popular Front and that no common action would be tolerated with the followers of Trotsky. Though many of the anti- 

Trotsky positions became increasingly irrational and were reprehensible in their representation of Trotskyists as class 

enemies and agents of fascism, the traditional Bolshevism of the Trotskyist movement made many of their theories and 

practices incompatible with the revisionism of the Popular Front. The reality that lay behind these Popular Front tensions 

is that Trotskyism represented a trend of revolutionary Bolshevism that strategically relied upon entryism and disruption of 

existing organizations as potential opponents and that this position was not compatible with the revisionism of the Popular 

Front. While Trotskyism was incompatible with the Popular Front, it did represent an existing left revolutionary and 

working-class tradition and assertions that it stood for fascism were blatantly false distortions. 

9. VI Lenin, "Report to the Fifth Congress of the R.S.D.L.P. on the St. Petersburg Split and the Institution of the Party Tribunal 

Ensuing Therefrom," in VI Lenin Internet Archive . 

10. One of the earliest complaints waged by socialists against the communists is that they were intentionally destroying any 

unity that existed within the working class movement. Young socialists who did not join the YCI asserted that they opposed 

both Capitalist Dictatorship and Bolshevik Terror, insisting that the programme of the YCI "did not serve the aims 

of the youth but exclusively those of the Russian Communists." See "The Programme of the Social Democratic Internationals 

of Youth," in ECYCI, Fundamental Problems, 65-81. 

11. ECYCI, Programme, 82. 

12. ECCI, "Theses On The United Front Adopted by the EC, December 1921," in Communist International History Internet 

Archive . 


14. Gyptner, From Isolation, 6. 

15. ECYCI, Draft Programme of the Young, 45-46, 47. 

16. Ibid., 56. 

17. Mick Jenkins, "History and Programme of the YCL Vol. 2," (CP/IND/MISC/5/4: YCLGB, 1929), 22. 

18. ECYCI, From Third to Fourth, 6. 

19. CPGB, The Role and Tasks of the YCL, 7. 

20. ECYCI, Programme of the YCI (No City/Publisher, 1929), 29. 

21. Denunciations and vehement attacks were not just directed against outward organizations, but were also an internalized 

phenomenon within the young communist movement. The YCI insisted it was necessary to win the most committed following 

to a "correct" Bolshevik line, even if this meant expelling large numbers of their own activists. In evaluating the 

development of their movement, the YCI insisted that "new groupments of forces and many expulsions were necessary" 

within the communist movement to create a solid base of Leninist cadres. To be a young communist meant to accept 

without hesitation the international leadership of the Comintern on issues of communist theory and practice. International 

discipline and Bolshevik self-criticism were expounded as the highest virtues for young communists to emulate as evidence 

of their Leninist divergence with Social Democracy. During the period of Bolshevization, the YCI directed the energies 

and outlook of their membership inward towards denouncing ideological deviations from Comintern policy within 

the youth and adult movements. The YCI asserted that their position was "correct" since it struggled "against both the 

Right opportunist digressions and the ultra-left mistakes" by evaluating their comrades strictly from the "standpoint of 

Leninism and of bolshevism." The trend towards an internalized youth culture to enforce Comintern dictates was intensified 

during the turbulent years of the Third Period. See ECYCI, From Third to Fourth, 4; ECYCI, Resolutions Adopted at 

the Fourth, 11. 

22. Ibid., 33. 

23. "Manifesto of the Second Congress of the Young Communist International," Youth: Official Organ of the Young Workers' 

League 1, no.1 (February, 1922): 11. 

24. Dimitrov, "The Fascist Offensive," 22-23. 

25. Ibid., 65. 

26. Ibid., 66. 

27. Kuusinen, Youth and Fascism,12, 25. 

28. Ibid., 11. 

29. Ibid., 18. 

30. Ibid., 22. 

31. Ibid., 26. 

32. Michal, Youth Marches, 8. 

33. Ibid., 9. 

34. Ibid., 13. 

35. Ibid., 15. 

36. Ibid., 38. 

37. Ibid., 41. 


39. Dimitrov, "The Fascist Offensive," 88. 

40. Georgi Dimitrov, "Youth Against Fascism," in The United Front: The Struggle Against Fascism And War (San Francisco: 

Proletarian Publishers, 1975), 150. 


42. Michal, 36. 

43. Ibid., 26. 

44. Ibid., 21. 

45. Assertions in the communist press that slandered Trotsky and his followers as terrorists and agents of fascism were false 

and unwarranted, but both movements vehemently asserted that their ideological positions made them political enemies. 

46. Georgi Dimitrov, "The Tenth Anniversary of Stato Operaio," in The United Front: The Struggle Against Fascism And War 

(San Francisco: Proletarian Publishers, 1975), 223. 

170

NOTES 

47. Though the Comintern openly embraced similar positions in the past, the Popular Front strategy condemned such assertions 

as reactionary and unrealistic, therefore making any coordination with the Trotskyist movement incompatible and 

undesirable by many. See "Founding Conference of the Fourth International 1938: Thesis On the World Role of American Imperialism," in 

Toward a History of the Fourth International Online Archive . 

48. Georgi Dimitrov, "The People's Front," in The United Front: The Struggle Against Fascism And War (San Francisco: 

Proletarian Publishers, 1975), 199. 

49. R. Khitarov, "Right and Left Deviations in the Youth Movement," The International of Youth: Organ of the Executive 

Committee of the Young Communist International no.1, (April-May, 1930): 9. 

50. In striving to be "ideologically correct" Leninists in opposition to other youth organizations, the British and American 

YCL's often directed their political energies to internal ideological struggles within the Communist Parties since other 

groups had already been systematically denounced. See Ibid., 13. 

51. For an excellent study of the impact of British communism in communities and the interrelationship of the movement with 

others on a local level see Stuart Macintyre, Little Moscows: Communism and Working-Class Militancy in Inter-War Britain 

(London: Croom Helm, 1980). Youth campaigns for socialist unity in Britain were part of a larger phenomenon during 

the twenties to counter the growing coercive power of organized employer's organizations. See Arthur McIvor, 

Organized Capital. 

52. Blame for mutual animosity between these organizations was rooted in divergences in theoretical outlook and in the practical 

applications of tactics within the larger Labour movement. Discrimination and hostility against communist activists 

was also a regular feature of Labour politics at the leadership level throughout the inner-war period that was often translated 

into the socialist youth movements. Though Labour Party discrimination against communists became more of a 

dogma than a principled strategic stance over the years, the CPGB inflicted much damage in its early years to intentionally 

breed animosity between itself and the Labour Party. After the Labour Party first refused affiliation of the CPGB in 1921, 

the CP released an extremely hostile pamphlet describing the correspondence between the two parties. What is obvious 

from the CP reply was that while discrimination emanated from the Labour Party executive, the CP was not at all an innocent 

victim in bringing this discrimination upon itself. The CP statement boldly stated, "The reply it will be seen, is a 

definite refusal that our objects 'do not appear' to be in accord with those of the Labour Party. To be quite frank we never 

supposed they were. Our worst enemy will not accuse us of ever pretending they were." CPGB, The Communist Party 

and the Labour Party: All the Facts and all the Correspondence (London: CPGB 1921), 7. When the CP finally came 

down to a less aggressive stance on socialist unity with the Popular Front era is was realised that coordinated unity between 

the CPGB and Labour Party would be very unlikely and therefore great hope was put into the youth movement to be 

able to heal the splits in the socialist movement. 

53. YCLGB, The United Front of the Youth (London: YCLGB, 1926), 6. 

54. Ibid., 9, 10. 

55. YCLGB, A Congress of Young Fighters, 8, 20. 

56. YCLGB, Where Shall We Start (London: YCLGB, 1930) 10. 

57. Ibid., 16. 

58. YCLGB, For Youth Unity: Being the Reply of the Young Communist International to the Independent Labour Party Guild 

of Youth (London: YCLGB, 1933), 5. 

59. Ibid., 10. 

60. Ibid., 11. 

61. YCLGB, Lenin and the Youth Movement (London: YCLGB, 1934), 3. 

62. The irony of the anti-YCL attitude of the ILP was that while it initially denounced the YCL for its revolutionary communist 

tactics, the ILP later scorned the YCL for giving up the struggle for revolutionary socialism with the adoption of the 

Popular Front. A 1937 pamphlet from the ILP attacked the Popular Front and British communists for abandoning the class 

struggle: "As a Revolutionary Socialist Party, the Independent Labour Party bases its policy on the class struggle.… The 

ILP is therefore opposed to the tactic of the Popular Front, which aims at combining the working class forces with the 

"democratic" elements within the Capitalist parties in opposition to Fascism and Reaction. This tactic ignores the fact that 

Fascism and Reaction are inseparable from Capitalism and can only be defeated by the overthrow of Capitalism.… The 

ILP rejects the view that it is necessary to adopt the Popular Front tactic and to modify the class struggle in order to win 

the support of the middle class. The winning of effective support from the middle class can only be achieved within the 

framework of the fight for a Socialist solution, by showing this class that their best interests are served by assisting the 

working class to establish Socialism." See ILP, Through the Class Struggle to Socialism: The ILP Attitude and Resolutions 

Adopted at Annual Conference, Easter, 1937 (London: ILP, 1937), 3. 

63. Ibid., 4. 

64. Ibid., 8. 

65. V. Chemodanov, Struggle or Go Down: The Right of Youth Independence in the Struggle for Socialism (London: YCLGB, 

1934), 16. 

66. William Potter, "Lessons of the ILP," in Marxism and the British Labour Party: The Open Turn Debate 

. 

67. YCLGB, Young Workers Advance! One Fight! One Foe! One Front! A Brief Report on the Meeting of the Representative 

of the ILP Guild of Youth and the Young Communist International, Paris, May 5-6 th (London: YCLGB, 1934), 8. 

68. Gollan, Raise High the Banner, 1. 

69. Ibid., 2. 

70. Ibid., 3. 

71. Ibid., 5. 

72. Ibid., 11-12. 

73. Gollan's pamphlets of 1935 contained elements of traditional Leninist rhetoric speaking of creating a "Soviet Britain," but 

the YCL position on youth unity against common enemies began falling in line with Popular Front theory. See John Gollan, 

Answer If You Dare! Youth Challenges the National Government (London: YCLGB, 1935), 14-15. 

74. Secretariat of the Communist Party of Great Britain, Correspondence on Merger of the Young Communist League with the 

Labour League of Youth (London: Internal Memo, June 24 th , 1936. (CP/CENT/CIRC/70/04), 2. 

75. Martin Upham, "The History of British Trotskyism to 1949: The Bolshevik-Leninists And The Militant Group," in Revolutionary 

History . 

76. Throughout the thirties the overwhelming majority of the Labour Party leadership sought an aggressive anti-communist 

policy, resorting to methods of mass expulsions of Labour leaders and members to hinder unity campaigns within Britain 

171


and the Second International as a whole. For a detailed narrative of the role of the British Labour Party National Executive 

in attempting to destroy unity efforts of the communists and Labour Popular Front sympathizers see G.D.H. Cole, A 

History of Socialist Thought, 85-89. See also J.S. Middleton, "The Labour Party and the So-Called Unity Campaign: An 

NEC Memorandum to All Members of Affiliated Organisations," in William Gillies Papers (LP/WG/COM/25). 

77. National Council of Labour, British Labour and Communism (London: National Council of Labour, 1935), 9. 

(WG/COM/13). 

78. Ibid., 4. 

79. "Memorandum by the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party to be Presented to the League of Youth Conference 

at Manchester on April 11, 12 and 13, 1936," in William Gillies Papers (LP/WG/LOY/7), 2. 

80. "Minutes of the League of Youth Advisory Committee Held at the Offices of the London Labour Party on Sunday, May 

10 th , 1936," in William Gillies Papers (LP/WG/LOY/10), 1. 

81. Duncan Hallas, "Revolutionaries and the Labour Party: The Trotskyists and Entrism," in Duncan Hallas Internet Archive 

. 

82. Arthur Marwick, "Youth in Britain," 46. 

83. "Minutes of a Meeting of the League of Youth National Advisory Committee Held at the House of Commons on March 

9 th , 1938," in William Gillies Papers (LP/WG/LOY/21i), 1. 

84. NCYCL, "Your Conference Can Take Decisions Which Can be of Far-Reaching Importance for Youth: Young Communist 

League to Labour Youth Conference," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no.9 (March 3, 1938): 10. 

85. In a 1938 memorandum on the development of the LLOY, the Labour Party NEC dedicated well over half of this 17 page 

document particularly to the issue of chastising Willis and exposing his coordinated activities with the YCL. The NEC 

gave a detailed list of the activities of every major national youth movement that the LLOY was working in coordination 

with and contended that communist participation in any of these coalitions, no matter how small, made LLOY participation 

incompatible with Labour's ban on united front activity. See Labour Party NEC, "League Of Youth Memorandum. 

Progress Made Since The Reconstitution Of The League," in William Gillies Papers (LP/WG/LOY/22). 

86. Wolf Michal, "The Capitulators of the Second International Split the Labour Youth Movement," World Youth Review 1, 

no. 7 (July, 1939): 142. 

87. John Douglas, "More and Better Activity," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 1, no.1 

(April, 1938): 16. 

88. "The National Youth Campaign," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 2, no.4 (April, 1939): 

134. 

89. Mick Bennett, "Building the Young Communist League," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist 

League 1, no.2 (May, 1938): 3-4. 

90. Molly McCulloch, "Who Can Be a Member of the League," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist 

League 1, no.3 (June, 1938): 21. 

91. "For Peace and Social Advance by the Defeat of the Chamberlain Government," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the 


92. W. Spence, "Decisions Influencing All Youth," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 2, no.4 

(April, 1939): 118-119. 

93. John Gollan, We Ask For Life: Based on the Report of John Gollan to the Eighth National Conference of the Communist 

Youth Movement (London: YCLGB, 1936), 20. 

94. John Gollan, "Democracy Wasn't A Gift – Our Fathers Had to Fight For Every Freedom We Enjoy Today," Challenge: 

For the Defense of the People 4, no.32 (August 20, 1938): 9. 

95. Prior to the Popular Front, guest columns in the YCL press emanated from other national sections of the YCI or the 

Comintern leadership and were almost never open to members of other youth organizations to express alternative views. 

See J.L. Cottle, "Christian and Political Organisations: The Conditions of Co-Operation," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 

4, no.41 (October 22, 1938): 11. 

96. John Moon, "We Need a National Youth Administration in Britain," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no.42 (October 29, 

1938): 11. 

97. While Stalin's campaign against Trotskyism, embodied in the Moscow "Show Trials," was primarily based on unwarranted 

slander and false accusations, the British YCL confirmed its anti-Trotskyist disposition during the Spanish Civil War. 

British communists perceived that the Spanish POUM was a Trotskyist organization. When the POUM led revolts 

against the Spanish Republican government communists used this as evidence to show that Trotskyist theory in practice 

simply assisted fascism. Trotskyists also identified their movement with traditional Bolshevism, denouncing the Popular 

Front. One of the main British Trotskyist groups in the late 1930's referred to itself as the "Bolshevik-Leninist group" to 

show their opposition to the Popular Front and their insistence on returning to traditional Bolshevik practices and theories. 

98. Bennett, "Building the Young," 8. 

99. Alec Massie, "Trotskyism and the Youth Movement: Part 1," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist 

League 1, no.3 (June, 1938): 29. 

100. YCLGB, We March To Victory, 16. 

101. Alec Massie, "Trotskyism and the Youth Movement: Part 2," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist 

League 1, no.4 (July, 1938): 13. 

102. Ibid, 13, 14, 17, 18. 

103. YCLGB Executive Committee, "Some Problems Facing the League." Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the Young 

Communist League 1, no.6 (September 1938): 4. 

104. Gollan, "Democracy Wasn't A Gift," 9. 

105. The American Youth Congress was founded in 1934 primarily as a youth lobbying body to criticize the failures of Roosevelt's 

relief programs for youth. In May, 1936 the Canadian youth followed the lead of their American counterparts and in 

coordination with the YCLC established the Canadian Youth Congress reflecting "how intensely young Canadians felt the 

need for action to save their generation." See Tim Buck, "The Story of the Communist Movement in Canada, Chapter 

Nine: Canada's Youth Comes Of Age," in The Comintern Internet Archive: The Communist Party of Canada 

. 

106. The main organizational representation for British youth at the World Youth Congress came from the British Youth Peace 

Assembly and the League of Nations Union Youth Groups. 

107. J. Picton, "The Campaign For the Charter," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 1, no.1 

(April, 1938): 15. 

172

NOTES 

108. "10th Annual Conference of the Young Communist League, City Halls, Glasgow, Easter, For Peace, Work, Wages," Challenge: 

The Voice Of Youth 4, no.8 (February 24, 1938): 11. 

109. "National Parliament of Youth: Archbishop's Good Wishes," Challenge: The Voice of Youth (October 22, 1938): 5. 

110. "Youth Parliament to Discuss Bills to Change Working Conditions," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 6 (February 11, 

1939): 12. 

111. "11 th National Conference of the Young Communist League," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 3 (January 21, 1939): 

5. 

112. W.W., "All Change Here: For Three Days I Was an MP," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no.13 (April 1, 1939): 3. 

113. Ibid, 3. 

114. "The BYPA," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 2, no.4 (April, 1939): 124. 

115. Waite, 95. 

116. Gollan, Raise High the Banner, 14. 

117. "Historic Youth Peace Assembly," Challenge: The Paper For Britain's Youth 1, no.9 (October, 1935): 1. 

118. "Latest News From the Youth Peace Front," Challenge: The Paper For Britain's Youth 1, no.11 (December, 1935): 7. 

119. YCLGBNC, "Young Communist League Speaks to 2,000,000 New Voters," Challenge: The Paper For Britain's Youth 1, 

no.9 (October, 1935): 5. 

120. "Youth Wants a Chance For a Bright and Happy Britain: Out With Baldwin!," Challenge: The Paper For Britain's Youth 

1, no.10 (November, 1935): 1. 

121. Unlike Britain, the socialist and communist movements of the United States emerged from WWI isolated in immigrant 

communities, suffering severe state and vigilantly persecution. With the splits that occurred in the formation of the 

American communist movement, Comintern directives on communist oppositional culture, especially with the "socialfascist" 

line of the Third Period, had a highly disruptive and destructive impact for American socialism. For a historical 

background of the tensions between socialists and communists, especially the animosities created during the Third Period 

see the 1935 open debates of Norman Thomas and Earl Browder in Which Way For American Workers, Socialist or Communist 

A Debate of Norman Thomas vs. Earl Browder: Madison Square Garden, New York, November 27, 1935 (New 

York: Socialist Call, 1935). 

122. For a historical background on the growth and development of the YPSL see Patti McGill Paterson, "The Young Socialist 

Movement in America from 1905 to 1940: A Study of the Young People's Socialist League." (Unpublished PHD Dissertation: 

University of Wisconsin, Madison 1974) or Todd Stewart Hutton, "Historical-Sociological Analysis Of Goal Transformation 

In A Social Movement Training Organization: The Young People's Socialist League of America, 1920-1929," 

(Unpublished PHD Dissertation: Duke University, New York 1982). 

123. "Young Workers League Greets Fifth Year of Communist International," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young 

Workers League of America 3, no.6 (March 15, 1924): 1. 

124. The YCI insisted that in the event of factional divisions, it was the duty of the YWL to look to the ECYCI to "solve all the 

main questions" since they could be relied upon to adopt a "clear and firm policy for future work" that would maintain 

ideological and organizational unity. See ECYCI, "A Letter From the YCI to the American League on the End of the Factional 

Struggle," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Workers League of America 4, no.19 (June 6, 1925): 3. 

125. YCLUSA, Who Are the Young Communists, 15. 

126. Ibid, 17. 

127. Ibid., 18, 21-22. In another YCL publication of the Third Period the YCL proposed a similar critique of the YPSL centred 

on a lack of action in coordinating and unifying young workers in struggle. In an article on a "toy shop" strike in the 

Bronx, the YPSL was condemned for advising no "definitive action" to unite the young workers who were "all waiting for 

militant leadership," whereas the YCL stepped in and "immediately called all of the workers on strike." In the same publication 

the YCL asserted that its united front program was intended to unify the youth membership of as many organizations 

as possible in "militant joint struggle" in order to expose the "treacherous policy of the Socialists." See Ruth P., "An 

Experience With YPSL Leadership at a Strike," YCL Builder 1, no.5-6 (March-April, 1933): 9; "Study Section: The United 

Front," YCL Builder 1, no.5-6 (March-April, 1933): 23. 

128. During the Popular Front era many of the previous tensions preventing socialist unity still existed between the YCL and 

YPSL. Certain tension existed between student's liberal flexibility in their approach and the YCL's traditional reliance on 

Comintern formulas in the early thirties. Though the NSL was initially condemned for many of their unorthodox initiatives, 

the YCL leadership eventually came to praising the effectiveness of their student activities. 

129. Cohen, 38-41. 

130. After the delegation visited Kentucky, both with the Justice Department and the White House set up meetings with the 

student activists to investigate the conditions in Harlan. See Ibid.,51. 

131. "Students Delegation to Kentucky," Young Worker: Weekly Publication of Young Communist League of USA (Section of 

the Young Communist International) 10, no.10 (March 28, 1932): 1. In February, 1932 a 19 year old member of the YCL 

National Executive Committee, William Simms, was shot by a "deputized gun thug for the Kentucky coal operators" for 

his participation in organizing the young miners in the Harlan Country strike. See "Mine Thugs Kills Simms, YCL Organizer 

in Kentucky Strike: American Youth Must Carry on Struggle," Young Worker: Weekly Publication of Young Communist 

League of USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 10, no.6 (February 15, 1932): 1. While the YCL may 

have toned down their connections with the Harlan delegation to protect the students from potential violence, it was obvious 

that the liberal and non-militant composition of the delegation was out of sync with Third Period propaganda. Another 

YCL article of 1932 condemned any manifestations of "rotten liberalism" within the communist youth as "the worst 

form of right opportunism" that could only be cured through a "sharp struggle" internally to enforce a truly Bolshevik outlook 

and practices within the YCL membership. See District Buro YCL Dist. 1, "Statement of the Boston Buro on Rotten 

Liberal Toleration of Opportunism," YCL Organizer: Issued by Young Communist League 1, no.1 (September, 1932): 17. 

132. Quoted in Cohen, 54. 

133. "Students Unite Against Bosses War: Expose Socialist Leaders; Endorse Nat'l Youth Day," Young Worker: Weekly Publication 

of Young Communist League of USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 11, no.1 (January 11, 1933): 

1. 

134. Quoted in Cohen, 87. 

135. See "College Votes For Anti-War Strike April 6," Young Worker: Weekly Publication of Young Communist League of 

USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 12, no.8 (April 10, 1934): 1. 

136. "Conferences Prepare Big Youth Day," Young Worker: Weekly Publication of Young Communist League of USA (Section 

of the Young Communist International) 12, no.9 (April 24, 1934): 1. 

173


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 


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 


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. 


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. 

174

NOTES 

168. "Spain Marches Ahead to Build the United Youth League," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist 

League, USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 14, no.7 (February 18, 1936): 7. 

169. "Spanish YCL and YPSL Now Agreed on Unity," Young Worker: Published Weekly by the, Young Communist League, 

USA (Section of the Young Communist International) 14, no.13 (March 31, 1936): 2. 

170. "Toda la juventud unida por España," in Art's Not Dead Vintage Propaganda Posters Online Gallery 

. 

171. Calmat, "The Cause of Spain is the Cause of Youth!," World Youth Review 1, no. 3 (March, 1939): 46. 

172. Luisa Rivaud, "Young Spain Fights and Works," World Youth Review 1, no. 1 (January, 1939): 8. 

173. Manuel Azcarate, "The Young Spanish Émigrés Carry on the Struggle Against Fascism," World Youth Review 1, no. 7 

(July, 1939): 136. 

174. Raymond Guyot, "The Light of Hope," World Youth Review 1, no. 4 (April, 1939): 80. 

175. "Message From the Soviet Youth to the Youth of Spain," World Youth Review 1, no. 8 (August, 1939): 156-157. Even as 

the Republican cause in Spain began to waver under the superior arms of Franco and the fascist invading forces, the JSU 

continued to appeal to youth in terms of anti-fascist unity. As WWII began unfolding in September, 1939 the JSU placed 

a "call upon all young Socialists and young anti-fascists to act so as to achieve international unity of action of the working 

and anti-fascists youth, a unity which is essential for saving peace and liberty." See JSU, "The Unified Socialist Youth of 

Spain Appeals to Youth of the Whole World," World Youth Review 1, no. 9 (September, 1939): 176. 

176. Malcolm Dunbar, "It's Not Too Late to Send Arms to Spain," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 5 (February 4, 1939): 

3. 

177. Roy Bell, "In Review," Young Communist Review 1, no.2 (December, 1936): 15. 

178. "The Struggle in Spain is Not Over!," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 10 (March 11, 1939): 1. 

179. "Spain, Britain and the Popular Front," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 11 (March 18, 1939): 3. 

180. Jack Kling, "They Shall Not Pass," Young Communist Review 2, no.2 (February, 1937): 7. 

181. "La unidad del ejército del pueblo será el arma de la Victoria," in Art's Not Dead Vintage Propaganda Posters Online 

Gallery . 

182. "Appeal For Action on Spain and Austria," Young Communist Review 3, no.2 (April, 1938): 6. 

183. John Gates, "They Stormed the Heavens," Young Communist Review 4, no.3 (May, 1939): 20. 

184. Gil Green, "Changing Horizons," Young Communist Review 4, no.3 (May, 1939): 10. 

DEMOCRACY: FROM DENUNCIATION TO DEFENSE 

1. Joe Cohen, "Youth Defends Spain," Young Communist Review 1, no.1 (September, 1936): 8. 

2. Bennett, "Building the Young Communist League," 1. 

3. Karl Marx, "Critique of the Gotha Programme," in Marx and Engels Internet Archive 

. 

4. Marxist ideology posits a stern class critique of the limits of democracy within the context of the "bourgeois republic." 

Due to the existence of private property and class divisions, the apparatus of the State, even in the bourgeois republic, was 

understood simply as an instrument to maintain class rule and that political democracy was primarily a façade to the distort 

the class nature of the state. Though the socialists of the Second International increasingly downplayed this critique in 

promoting their own vision of reformism, revolutionary Marxists like Lenin asserted that the class nature of the democratic 

state needed to be constantly exposed and understood by the working class. 

5. Not all revolutionary contemporaries of Lenin agreed with his positions of the role of the Communist Party and the establishment 

of a "single party" dictatorship. Rosa Luxemburg sternly rebuked some of Lenin's main concepts concerning the 

party, democracy and dictatorship stating, "The basic error of the Lenin-Trotsky theory is that they too, just like Kautsky, 

oppose dictatorship to democracy. "Dictatorship or democracy" is the way the question is put by Bolsheviks and Kautsky 

alike. The latter naturally decides in favor of "democracy," that is, of bourgeois democracy, precisely because he opposes 

it to the alternative of the socialist revolution. Lenin and Trotsky, on the other hand, decide in favor of dictatorship in contradistinction 

to democracy, and thereby, in favor of the dictatorship of a handful of persons, that is, in favor of dictatorship 

on the bourgeois model. They are two opposite poles, both alike being far removed from a genuine socialist policy… 

This dictatorship consists in the manner of applying democracy, not in its elimination, but in energetic, resolute attacks 

upon the well-entrenched rights and economic relationships of bourgeois society, without which a socialist transformation 

cannot be accomplished. This dictatorship must be the work of the class and not of a little leading minority in the name of 

the class – that is, it must proceed step by step out of the active participation of the masses; it must be under their direct 

influence, subjected to the control of complete public activity; it must arise out of the growing political training of the 

mass of the people." See Rosa Luxemburg, "Democracy and Dictatorship," in Rosa Luxemburg Internet Archive 

. 

6. See V.I. Lenin, "The Dictatorship Of The Proletariat," in V.I. Lenin Internet Archive . 

7. Adolf Hitler, "Proclamation To The German Nation, February 1, 1933," in the Online Hitler Historical Museum: Hitler's 

Speeches Archive . 

8. In a 1926 speech entitled "Might Makes Right," Hitler identified democracy as one of the primary problems of the German 

nation. Hitler stated, "Unfortunately, the contemporary world stresses internationalism instead of the innate values of race, 

democracy and the majority instead of the worth of the great leader. Instead of everlasting struggle the world preaches 

cowardly pacifism and everlasting peace. These three things, considered in the light of their ultimate consequences, are 

the causes of the downfall of humanity." Quoted in Communism, Fascism and Democracy: The Theoretical Foundations, 

ed. Carl Cohen (New York: Random House, 1972), 385. 

9. "First Congress of the Communist International: Speech at the Opening Session of the Congress," in V.I. Lenin Internet 

Archive . 

10. V.I. Lenin, ""Democracy" and Dictatorship," in V.I. Lenin Internet Archive . 

11. For commentary on ideological divergences concerning democracy and self-determination in the post-WWI politics see 

Anthony Whelman, "Wilsonian Self-Determination and the Versailles Settlement", International and Comparative Law 

175


Quarterly 43, no.1 (January, 1994): 99-115 or A. G. Hyde-Price, "Lenin, the State and Democracy: From Parliamentarism 

to Soviet Power." (Unpublished PHD Dissertation: University of Kent, Canterbury 1983) 

12. ECYCI, The Draft Programme, 24, 26. 


14. ECYCI, The Programmes of the Young Communist International, 43. 

15. "Illegality and Work Among the Masses," The International of Youth: Organ of the Young Communist International 3, 

no.1 (March, 1923): 16. 

16. YCI rhetoric created perceived contradictions within early communist literature. For the communists, terms like "bourgeois 

democracy" and "the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie" became mutually interchangeable as well as similar structural 

descriptions of "proletarian" forms of government. Statements about "democratic centralism" also conjured up images of 

ideological contradiction that the YCI did little to clarify. In their ideological statements the communists attempted to 

clarify the class meaning of these statements. Instead of clarifying these perceived contradictions, young communist literature 

often simply "slandered" their critics and posited positive statements about the "true character" of their movement. 

17. Joseph Stalin, "The Foundations of Leninism: Lectures Delivered at the Sverdlov University," in Problems of Leninism 

(Peking: Foreign Language Press, 1976): 44-45 

18. Lazar Schatzkin, "Ten Years of Proletarian Dictatorship," The International of Youth: Organ of the Young Communist 

International 7, no.5 (November, 1927): 64-65, 68. 

19. "Theses on the Fundamental Tasks of the Communist International," in Minutes of the Second Congress of the Communist 

International Internet Archive . 

20. In his address to the annual Labour Party conference, Chairman Joseph Compton stated, "Fascism and Communism alike 

are a challenge to our democratic institutions and to the system of society based on political, social and economic equality 

which we seek to establish." Criticism that linked fascism and communism were also advanced in the United States. The 

American Legion identified fascism and communism as similar "alien isms" that sought to "spread propaganda in the 

United States designed to forcibly change our form of government." See "Labour Party and Democracy: Growing Menace 

of Dictatorship, Fascist and Communist Challenge," The Times (Oct 03, 1933): 9; col A; American Legion National 

Americanism Commission, Isms: A Review of Alien Isms, Revolutionary Communism and their Active Sympathizers in the 

United States (Indianapolis: American Legion, 1937), 266. 

21. Reflecting on the importance of this period and Dimitrov's thesis, James Klugmann stated, "It put the struggle for democracy 

back into the centre of the fight for socialism. In the 1927-32 period democracy was considered almost a dirty word 

in the Communist movement, something that needed to be exposed as an ideology of the bourgeoisie. It was of enormous 

importance for us to develop a concept of socialist democracy, to be achieved through the winning of power, taking over 

all that had been won in the struggle for democracy under capitalism and qualitatively extending and expanding it. Every 

liberty that concerned the people became of concern to a revolutionary, to a Marxist, and in this way the working class 

could take the lead in the whole community in the fight for democracy." James Klugmann, "Crisis in the Thirties," 25. 

22. Dimitrov, "Unity of the Working Class Against Fascism," 110. 

23. Dimitrov, "The People's Front," 199. 

24. Ibid., 109. 

25. Dimitrov, "The Fascist Offensive and the Tasks of the Communist International," 10. 

26. Ibid., 12. 

27. Dimitrov, "Unity of the Working Class Against Fascism," 110. 

28. Ercoli, "The Fight Against War and Fascism," 22. 


30. Ibid., 27. 

31. Michal continued on the theme of democratic slogans quoting Lenin in stating, "Liberty, needless to say, is a very vital 

slogan for any revolution, be it Socialist or democratic." See Michal, Youth Marches., 62, 42. 

32. In his address to the Comintern Dimitrov spoke of the reluctance of some comrades in "formulating positive democratic 

demands in order not to create democratic illusions among the masses." See Dimitrov, "Unity of the Working Class,"109. 

33. The dictatorship of the proletariat was considered an historically necessary transitory stage to protect the gains of the revolution. 

Communists posited that within the Soviet Union internal class conflict had ceased and that the Stalin Constitution 

represented a transition from the dictatorship of the proletariat into a full socialist democracy. 

34. Georgi Dimitrov, "On the Threshold of a New Year," in The United Front: The Struggle Against Fascism And War (San 

Francisco: Proletarian Publishers, 1975), 218. 

35. Ibid., 218. 

36. Maurice Thorez, "The Contribution of Lenin and Stalin to Marxism," World Youth Review 1, no. 7 (July, 1939): 151. 

37. British and American young communists had framed their anti-democratic propaganda to maximize youth disillusionment 

in order to urge revolutionary change. Young communists sought to expose the "reality" of this propaganda to advance 

their own political movement. One scathing YWL article asserted that "instead of a land fit for heroes to live in," that 

young workers found themselves "suppressed by the very government for which they fought." While the young communists 

sought to reflect the realities of young workers in Britain and the United States, their confrontational and militant denunciations 

of working-class perceptions of democracy did not result in the revolutionary mass mobilizations of youth for 

which it was intended. With the advance of domestic and international fascism in 1933 the Popular Front generation of 

the YCL rejected the Leninist militant denunciations of democracy and sought out a more effective and inclusive democratic 

language to facilitate mass mobilizations of anti-fascist youth in support of democracy. See "A Land Fit For Heroes," 

The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Workers League 2, no.10 (October, 1923): 8. For an analysis of the wartime 

propaganda themes used in Britain see Gary Messinger, British Propaganda and the State in the First World War 

(New York: Manchester University Press, 1993). For a detailed bibliographical review of the literature on American wartime 

propaganda see Ralph Lutz, "Studies of World War Propaganda, 1914-33 Bibliographical Article," The Journal of 

Modern History 5, no.4. (Dec., 1933): 496-516. 

38. Dimitrov, "The People's Front," 210-211. 

39. Dimitrov, "The Fascist Offensive and the Tasks," 41-42. 

40. Mussolini Quoted in Georges Cogniot, "The French Revolution and its Cultural Work," World Youth Review 1, no. 7 

(July, 1939): 149. 

41. Georgi Dimitrov, "Silence Is Impossible -- Action Is Wanted," in The United Front: The Struggle Against Fascism And 

War (San Francisco: Proletarian Publishers, 1975), 165. 

176

NOTES 

42. For an insightful commentary on the historical and intellectual origins of modernity and democracy see Jonathon Israel, 

Radical Enlightenment: Philosophy and the Making of Modernity 1650-1750 (Oxford University Press, 2002). 

43. Henry Winston, "Status of the League," Young Communist Review 4, no.3 (May, 1939): 16. 

44. With the extension of the British franchise after WWI and the intimate organizational connections between the Labour 

Party and the trade unions, early YCLGB rhetoric was less oppositional on the issue of political democracy. For a discussion 

of the evolution of British democracy and the revolutionary use of Parliament for the communist movement in Britain 

see V.I. Lenin, "Letter to Sylvia Pankhurst," in V.I. Lenin Internet Archive . 

45. ECYCLGB, "After the Election," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Communist League of Great Britain 1, 

no.5 (January, 1924): 7. 

46. Harry Young, No More, 12. 

47. For a detailed and critical commentary about the infamous "Zinoviev Letter," the "Red Scare" and the J.R. Campbell trial 

that was used to help bring down MacDonald's Labour Government see J.R. Campbell, The Communist Party on Trial. 

J.R. Campbell’s Defence (London: CPGB,1925). 

48. ECYCLGB, League Training, 13-14. 

49. Ibid., 37. 

50. Alec Massie, The Chartist Youth Programme: A Straight-From-the-Shoulder Answer of the Young Workers to the Attacks 

of the Employers and the Labour Government (London: YCLGB, 1930), 12-13. 

51. YCLGB, Young Workers and the General Election: Young Workers Vote Communist! (London: YCLGB, 1929), 6-7. 

52. YCLGB, For Youth Unity, 4. 

53. V. Chemodanov, Struggle or Go Down, 2. 

54. Ibid., 15. 

55. YCLGB, Lenin and the Youth Movement, 6. 

56. The YCL stated that democratic centralism simply reflected "unlimited loyalty" to internationalism and that any assertion 

"that there is no democracy in the Communist International" was simply a "lie of the class enemy." The YCL also stated 

that in the actual functioning of democratic centralism that it was often difficult to "transmit directions from the leadership 

to the branches" so that in reality the YCL organization depended upon the "initiative and independence" of local branches 

to continue their work in a disciplined fashion. The YCL contrasted these aspects of communist internal democracy in 

practice to the regular interference that adult socialists placed upon youth work with young socialists functioned in an independent 

fashion. Ironically, Ted Willis of the LLOY left his organization to join the YCL in 1939 due to the fact that 

"every semblance of democracy in the League (LLOY) has been trodden under… (and) a youth organisation which labours 

under such heavy restrictions has no chance to work and grow." Other former members of the LLOY like Betty 

Morrison supported such sentiments stating, "I believe I can best serve the Labour Movement in the ranks of the YCL" and 

that the un-democratic policies of Labour Party adults had made joining the YCL "the only course open to young Socialists." 

See YCLGB, For Youth Unity, 11; YCLGB, Young Workers Advance!, 12; Ted Willis, "I've Decided That the Best 

Way I Can Help Defeat Chamberlain is to Join the YCL," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no.28 (July 15, 1939): 3.; 

"You Want to Help Stop Hitler: These League of Youth Members Show the Way to do It," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 

5, no.30 (July 29, 1939): 8. 

57. The YCL insisted that it needed to embed its literature with a democratic spirit in contrast to the exclusionary rhetoric of 

fascism. One educational article stated, "There is no surer path to the hearts of the masses of the young people of this 

country than popular propaganda… for the defence of its rights and for democracy." See John Douglas, "Mass Propaganda 

and Education," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 1, no.2 (May, 1938): 9. 

58. Gollan, We Ask For Life, 13. 

59. "We Stand For," Challenge: The Fighting Fortnightly Paper 1, no.1 (March 1, 1935): 2. 

60. "Democracy Still Lives Here: Just What the Soviet Changes Really Mean," Challenge: The Fighting Fortnightly Paper 1, 

no.3 (April 6, 1935): 8. 

61. Grant Hardie, "There's No Room For "Mr. Apathy" in the Land of Socialism: I Visit the Soviet Parliament," Challenge: 

The Voice of Youth 5, no.25 (June 24, 1939): 5. 

62. "Our Elections Are Free," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no.4 (January 27, 1938): 7. 

63. Though the form and content of YCL democratic rhetoric changed, the YCL continued to assert that the true realm of 

democratic youth struggle lay outside of parliamentary politics. In an interview after the re-election of the National Government 

in 1935 John Gollan urged British youth to "fight now both inside and outside of Parliament, for youth's demands 

and the defeat of this Government." In another article Gollan continued that since youth had united for democracy and 

"worked together for the defeat of the National Government" that there wasn't "any reason why we should not work together 

now" John Gollan, "John Gollan Sums it All Up," Challenge: The Paper For Britain's Youth 1, no.11 (December, 

1935): 4; "The Spirit of Youth Holds the Stage," Challenge: The Paper For Britain's Youth 1, no.11 (December, 1935): 5. 

64. "What's Doing," Challenge: The Fighting Fortnightly Paper 1, no.2 (March 23, 1935): 6. 

65. "What's Doing in the Youth Movement,"Challenge: For the Defense of the Young Generation 1, no.7 (August, 1935): 6. 

66. YCLGB, We March To Victory, 4. 

67. "You Can Decide," Challenge: The Voice of Youth (February 24, 1938): 11. 

68. "Chamberlain Must Go: The People Must Decide," Challenge: The Voice of Youth (February 24, 1938): 6. 

69. "Youth Have the Right to Decide What They Will Serve" Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 8 (February 25, 1939): 5. 

70. YCLGB National Council, "Report of the National Council For 1938/1939," 90. 

71. John Gollan, "We Won't Get Peace From the Munich Agreement," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no.39 (October 8, 

1938): 7. 

72. Bennett, "Building the Young Communist League," 2-3. 

73. "11 th National Conference of the Young Communist League," 5. 

74. Alec Massie, "Freedom, But Not Routinism," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 1, no.3 

(June, 1938): 14. 

75. "Service for Chamberlain Means Help for Hitler: Our Country Needs a Government That Can be Trusted," Challenge: The 

Voice of Youth 4, no.41 (October 22, 1938): 1. 

76. "The Noose of Conscription," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no.43 (November 5, 1938): 9. 

77. "Youth Have the Right to Decide What They Will Serve," 5. 

78. H.C. Creighton, "Make Britain Safe," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no. 40 (October 15, 1938): 5. 

177


79. George Poole, "Make Britain Safe: All Youth Should be Allowed to Join in ARP," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no. 

47 (December 3, 1938): 4. 

80. Anonymous TA Soldier, "Make Britain Safe: The Enemy Has Friends in High Places," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, 

no. 42 (October 29, 1938): 5. 

81. "Biggest Army in the World is Democratic," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 13 (April 1, 1939): 8. 

82. "Make Britain Safe: Policy is the Keystone in the Fabric of Defence," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no. 43 (November 

5, 1938): 4. 

83. "Make Britain Safe: We Need The Right Policy, Strong Youth, Democratic Army, Bomb-Proof Shelters, A United Democratic 

People," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no. 44 (November 12, 1938): 4. 

84. J.B. Urquhart, "The Youngest Candidate," Challenge: The Paper For Britain's Youth 1, no.10 (November, 1935): 4. 

85. H. Donald Moore, "I Believe in the Freedom Our Forefathers Fought For: Let Us Unite Before it is Too Late," Challenge: 

The Voice of Youth 4, no.18 (May 5, 1938): 5. 

86. "Return a Labour Government," Challenge: The Paper For Britain's Youth 1, no.10 (November, 1935): 5. 

87. Eric Organ, "Youth Speaks on the Elections," Challenge: The Paper For Britain's Youth 1, no.10 (November, 1935): 5. 

88. Cyril Lacey, "My Message to Challenge Readers," Challenge: The Paper For Britain's Youth 1, no.11 (December, 1935): 

7. 

89. Mick Bennett, "No One Can Stand Aside: Join the Young Communist League – Help Defeat the Government," Challenge: 

The Voice of Youth 4, no.9 (March 3, 1938): 5. 

90. John Gollan, "This is What a People's Government Would do For Peace," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no.11 (March 

17, 1938): 5. 

91. In his 1969 publication entitled The People's War: Britain 1939-1945, Angus Calder explored the relationship between 

democracy, the Labour Party and voluntary service for anti-fascism. In a later review of this work, Ira Katznelson's affirmed 

Calder's contentions that only Labour could have negotiated the "two competing valuations of the role of class and 

nation, the image of the united national family and the class image of 'us' and 'them.'" See Angus Calder, The People's 

War: Britain 1939-1945 (New York: Pantheon Books, 1969); Ira Katznelson, "Book Review of The People's War: Britain 

1939-1945," Political Science Quarterly 86, no.3 (September, 1971): 526-528. 

92. Mick Bennett and John L. Douglas, "For a People's Government of Peace and Social Advance," Our Youth: Discussion 

Magazine of the Young Communist League 1, no.2 (May, 1938): 17. 

93. John Gollan, "The Opponents of Fascism Are Becoming Stronger," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no. 48 (December 

10, 1938): 5. 

94. "Service As Free Men or As Slaves," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 4 (January 28, 1939): 6. 

95. Wal Hannington, "Do You Want to be Forced Into "Labour Service," to be Taken From Your Home, Sent to Militaristic 

Training Camps," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no. 9 (March 3, 1938): 3. 

96. "What Have You To Say About It," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 4 (January 28, 1939): 5. 

97. "The Youth Trade Union Movement," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 2, no.4 (April, 

1939): 131. 

98. Bennett, "There Will Be no Democracy," 8. 

99. "The BYPA," 123. 

100. "How They Are Getting Together," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 11 (March 18, 1939): 2. 

101. "The National Youth Campaign," 135. 

102. Mick Bennett and John L. Douglas, "On the Youth Charter of Social Justice," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the 

Young Communist League 1, no.2 (May, 1938): 21. 

103. A.K. "The National Parliament of Youth," World Youth Review 1, no. 3 (March, 1939): 59. 

104. ECYCLGB, "Principles of Leadership and Some Ideas on Mass Work," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the Young 

Communist League 2, no.3 (March, 1939): 78. 

105. Mick Bennett, "The Youth Pilgrimage To London," World Youth Review 1, no. 3 (March, 1939): 48. 

106. Mick Bennett, "The Youth Pilgrimage to London Part 2," World Youth Review 1, no. 4 (April, 1939): 74. 

107. YCLGB, Youth on the March (London: YCLGB, 1939), 10. 

108. Bennett, "The Youth Pilgrimage To London," 48. 

109. Bennett, "There Will Be no Democracy," 8. 

110. "100 Years Ago: Song of the Lower Classes," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 5 (February 4, 1939): 10. 

111. John Douglas, "Nine Days That Shook England," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no. 35 (September 10, 1938): 10. 

112. John Gollan, "Our Heritage is Democracy: Unite to Defend It," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no. 16 (April 21, 1938): 

7. 

113. British communists asserted, as did many other intellectuals of the thirties, that "the burning of books outside Berlin University" 

and "the exiling of hundreds of intellectuals, have caused other countries to regard Nazi as a synonym for barbarian." 

Publications like Left Review were designed specifically to counter fascist attacks upon modernist culture by 

bringing together artists, intellectuals, poets and writers to promote anti-fascist politics and democratic culture. See Alexander 

Henderson, "What the Nazis Have Done For Culture," Left Review 3, no.6 (July, 1937): 325. 

114. Peter Toenning, "Growing Criminality of German Youth," World Youth Review 1, no. 3 (March, 1939): 61. 

115. "Young Intelligentsia of the Country of Highest Culture," World Youth Review 1, no. 4 (April, 1939): 82. 

116. Harry Ireland, "What's Wrong With the League in Glasgow," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist 

League 1, no.4 (July, 1938): 26. 

117. W.W., "All Change Here: Poetry and People," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no. 49 (December 17, 1938): 3. 

118. "New Auguries of Innocence (After William Blake)," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 1 (January 7, 1939): 10. 

119. Miles Carpenter, "The Heart Remembers When the Mind Forgets," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 14 (April 8, 

1939): 6. 

120. ECYCLGB, "Planning For the Campaign," 11. 

121. Robert Sayers, The Road to Victory: Marching Song of the Youth! (London: People's Songs, 1938), 1-2. 

122. George LeBaron, "Big Film Shocker For Hitler," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 19 (May 13, 1939): 8. 

123. A critique of leisure opportunities was not a new phenomenon for the YCL. The Leninist YCLGB had continually pushed 

a critique of "worker's sport vs. boss' sport" which was used by the bosses to "distract the workers' attention from things 

that matter, to draw young workers under militaristic influences." See William Rust, What the Young Communist League 

Stands For (London: YCLGB, 1925), 20-21. 

124. "Our Leisure and What They Want to do With It," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no.6 (February 11, 1939): 9. 

178

NOTES 

125. Mick Bennett, "Our Ideal is Fitness For Democracy," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no.10 (March 11, 1939): 5. 

126. Ted Ward, "Should We Have a Fitness Standard in Britain," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no.7 (February 18, 1939): 4. 

127. Ted Ward, "Can You Use Your Leisure," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no.3 (January 21, 1939): 9. 

128. See "What Shall We Do Today," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no.50 (December 24, 1938): 11. 

129. "This Bill Makes Every Rambler a Potential Criminal," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no.17 (April 29, 1939): 8. 

130. Liane, "Keep Fit and Beautiful," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no.2 (January 14, 1939): 9. 

131. Janet Norwood, "The Fight's On: Cosmetics Versus the Rest," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no.3 (January 21, 1939): 

10. 

132. See Anonymous London Doctor, "Sex and Health Sport-Loving Youth Wants the Answer," Challenge: A Call to the 

Youth 1, no.4 (April 27, 1935): 3. 

133. W.W., "All Change Here: Let's Be Sane About Sex!," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no.29 (July 21, 1938): 3. For a 

youth reaction to W.W.'s column see "If I Had Been Taught About My Body My Whole Life Would Have Been Different!," 

Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no.30 (July 28, 1938): 9. 

134. National Organizational Committee of the YWL, "Manifesto and Program Tentative Draft," The Young Worker: Official 

Organ of the Young Workers League 1, no.1 (March-April, 1922): 10. 

135. Abern, "Who's Red," 10. 

136. Herbert Zam, "Judicial Murder in America," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Workers League 2, no.4 

(April, 1923): 18. 

137. Due to legal persecution, the American communist youth movement was split between the legal aboveground YWL and 

the illegal YCL throughout the twenties. The YWL was less oppositional on the issue of democracy while the YCL 

propagated for a Soviet style government. The YWL served as a legal educational organization for young workers to criticise 

and expose the realities of American society and democracy. The underground and illegal YCL instead worked for 

the "complete forcible overthrow of the capitalist state and the establishment in its place… the dictatorship of the proletariat, 

as expressed in the historic form of Workers' Councils (Soviets)." See YCL of A, "Urge Establishing of Soviet State in 

Program of American Section of the Young Communist International," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young 

Workers League 1, no.5 (August-September, 1922): 12. 

138. Harry Ganes, "Form a Labor Party!," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the Young Workers League 2, no.1 (January, 

1923): 12. 

139. Gil Green, Young Communists and Unity of the Youth: Speech Delivered at the Seventh World Congress of the Communist 

International (New York: Youth Publishers, 1936), 3. 

140. Dimitrov, "The Fascist Offensive and the Tasks," 42. 

141. Earl Browder, The Communist Position in 1936: Radio Speech Broadcast March 5, 1936 (New York: Worker's Library 

Publishers, 1936), 4. 

142. Earl Browder, Democracy or Fascism: Report of the Central Committee to the Ninth National Convention of the Communist 

Party of the USA (New York: Worker's Library Publishers, 1936), 10. 

143. Earl Browder, The Results of the Elections and the People's Front (New York: Worker's Library Publishers, 1936), 17. 

144. See Earl Browder, The Democratic Front: For Jobs, Security, Democracy and Peace (New York: Workers Library Publishers, 

1938). 

145. Ross, "After the Primaries," 32. 

146. "Our May Day: An Editorial," Young Communist Review 4, no.3 (May, 1939): 13. 

147. "Thumbnail Reviews," Young Communist Review 3, no.7 (September, 1938): 28. 

148. "The Supreme Court: An Editorial," Young Communist Review 2, no.3 (March, 1937): 3. 


150. Weiss, "America's Youth Problem," 13. 

151. Carl Ross, "Events of the Month," Young Communist Review 3, no.2 (April, 1938): 11. 

152. Vrabel, "Our Declaration of Principles," 6. 

153. Carl Ross, "Events of the Month," Young Communist Review 3, no.6 (August, 1938): 17. 

154. Starobin, "In Clarification of a Policy," 18. 

155. Gil Green, "A World Congress For Peace," Young Communist Review 1, no.2 (October, 1936): 6. 

156. Joe Clark and Phil Schatz, "Book Reviews," Young Communist Review 3, no.2 (April, 1938): 24. 

157. Weiss, "May Day, An American Tradition," 15. 

158. Vrabel, "Our Declaration of Principles," 6. 

159. John Gates, "Our Stand Against Dictatorship," Young Communist Review 4, no.6 (August, 1939): 10. 

160. Carl Ross, "What Happened at the American Youth Congress," Young Communist Review 4, no.6 (August, 1939): 7. 

161. The YCLGB insisted that the lack of democracy within other socialist youth movements prevented them from embracing 

their Popular Front positions. The YCLUSA, like the YCLGB insisted they were one of the most democratic youth 

movements of their nation. For their internal practices and external support of democracy, Henry Winston boasted of the 

YCL in 1939 stating, "We are proud of the fact that our organization is the most democratic youth organization in the 

country." See Henry Winston, Character Building and Education, 13. 

162. Joe Cohen, "Youth Defends Spain," Young Communist Review 1, no.1 (September, 1936): 8 

163. Cohen, "The Soviet Union and Spain," 9. 

164. Carl Ross, "Events of the Month," Young Communist Review 3, no.4 (June, 1938): 17. 

165. The same editorial highlighted that while the terminology of Trotskyist rhetoric differed from "ultra-reactionaries such as 

Rep. Dies," that in practice there was "little difference in form and now practically none in (the) content" of their critiques. 

Members of the YPSL also began reflecting these anti-Trotskyist expressions after working with them for several 

years. One YPSL organizer, Eleanora Deren felt that the Trotskyists constant breeches of YPSL discipline that she interpreted 

to be a "stab in the back" to the American socialist-youth movement." See Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, 

no.9 (November, 1938): 5; Paterson, "The Young Socialist Movement in America," 210. Deren was later to become the 

famous Avant-Garde filmmaker known as Maya Deren. 

166. Leon Kaplan, "Experiment in Citizenship," Young Communist Review 4, no.6 (August, 1939): 28. 


168. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.4 (June, 1938): 6. 

169. Weiss, "Four Years of the American Youth Congress," 5. 

170. "Greetings to the World Youth Congress," 3. 

171. Mac Weiss, "America's Youth Problem," Young Communist Review 3, no.7 (September, 1938): 11, 12. 

179


172. The YCL believed these youth struggles under "present-day bourgeois democracy" would help youth "to realize the need 

for establishing Socialism." See "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.8 (October, 1938): 5; Dave Grant, "Socialist 

Slander on the Sherman Investigation," Young Communist Review 3, no.1 (March, 1938): 25. 

173. "National Board Meeting Discussion," Young Communist Review 3, no.1 (March, 1938): 18. 

174. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.11 (January, 1939): 10. 

175. Ed Brant, "How They Did It," Young Communist Review 3, no.9 (November, 1938): 26. 

176. Carl Ross, "Events of the Month," Young Communist Review 3, no.5 (July, 1938): 20. This rhetorical strategy was similar 

to the Leninist Generation's rhetoric that spoke of the factory as a "fortress of class struggle," In an article entitled "Every 

Factory a Revolutionary Fortress" the YCL spoke of the Bolshevik tactic of "concentrating on the key points of our enemy 

– the factories." The YCL tactic of concentrating their forces and organizing efforts on the University Campus came from 

a similar outlook as the Leninist generation; namely trying to organize youth to be able to "cripple the capitalist war machine." 

See "Study Section: Every Factory a Revolutionary Fortress," YCL Builder 1, no.3 (November 15, 1932): 24-25. 

177. Joseph Lash, The Campus: A Fortress of Democracy (New York: American Student Union, 1938), 8-9. 

178. Celeste Strack, "War or Peace – The Students Answer," Young Communist Review 1, no.2 (December, 1936): 14, 6. 

179. The CCC was one of the most popular public programs of the New Deal. The CCC was established in March, 1933 to 

provide work for young unemployed men. Early CCC recruits typically did not receive any skills training due to pressures 

from organized labor, fearing that CCC workers would be used to replace skilled union labor. The YCL's critiques of the 

CCC centred around the issue of regimentation, comparing the CCC camps to forced labor camps in Nazi Germany. An 

article in August, 1933 stated, "The forced labor, war camps of the "New Deal," have received their baptism in blood. Today's 

Young Workers carries the stories of yet two more young workers brutally killed in the camps. What is behind these 

murders Behind them is the brutal determination of Wall Street and its Roosevelt government to prepare the youth for 

war, to establish forced labor as a system in the US, to stop the growing tide of struggles for real unemployment relief by 

the youth… The youth must make as one of the main points of their struggle the driving out of the whole military machine 

from the camps." See "Murder in the Labor Camps," The Young Worker: Official Organ, Young Communist League USA 

(Section of the Young Communist International) 11, no.12 (August 16, 1933): 8. 


181. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.12 (February, 1939): 7. 

182. YCL propaganda highlighted cases like that of the retired military officer General Moseley to show the potentially fascist 

and treasonous tendencies that existed in the military. The YCL contended that Moseley was plotting to "assassinate 

President Roosevelt and even to overthrow the American government by force" to reverse the President's progressive domestic 

and foreign policy positions. Moseley's anti-Semitic and anti-Roosevelt views were well known publicly and in a 

speech of 1939 he did assert that the military would offer the American public "salvation" if Roosevelt went too far in his 

New Deal programs. See John Gates, "Our Stand Against Dictatorship," 10; Max Wallace, The American Axis: Henry 

Ford, Charles Lindbergh, And The Rise Of The Third Reich (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2003). 

183. Gil Green, "Armaments For What," Young Communist Review 3, no.11 (January, 1939): 4,5,26. 

184. Two Former Army Members, "The Men Who Defend Our Country," Young Communist Review 4, no.6 (August, 1939): 3. 

185. Strack, "War or Peace," 14. 

186. Celeste Strack, "Answering Questions," 11. 

187. "Recruiting Drive," Young Communist Review 4, no.7 (September, 1939): 29. 

188. Ibid., 12. 


190. Ross, "Events of the Month," 23. 

191. Carl Ross, "The Position of American Youth," World Youth Review 1, no. 6 (June, 1939): 115. 

192. "Six Point Programme For American Youth," World Youth Review 1, no. 6 (June, 1939): 122. 

193. One election article stated, "A most appropriate place to drive home this incompatibility is in citizenship training for 

young people, at young citizens day ceremonies. Here we must move at once, for the reactionaries, Hearst and the Republicans, 

are organizing Young Citizens' Day ceremonies using the slogan 'I am an American' deliberately to build up a 

chauvinist, intolerant, and super-patriotic feeling among the youth." The YCL contended its citizenship days should focus 

on five points: "1) Creating a sense of duty and responsibility that accompanies the rights of citizenship; 2) Giving to the 

entire citizenry a clearer appreciation of its duties, responsibilities and obligations; 3) Developing a clearer understanding 

of the relation of local government to our state and nation; 4) Assisting in creating a high degree of community spirit; 5) 

Counteracting unwholesome propaganda by generating intelligent and creative participating citizenry." See Carl Geiser, "I 

Was in a Fascist," 27; Leon Kaplan, "Experiment," 28. 

194. Green, "Creative Marxism," 6. 

195. Ibid., 29. 

196. Nancy Cardozo, "Joe Delegate Comes to the Convention," Young Communist Review 4, no.2 (April, 1939): 8. 

197. "In Memory of Dave Doran," Young Communist Review 4, no.2 (April, 1939): 10. 

198. Ross, "The Elections Results," 26. 

199. "Greetings to the World Youth Congress," 4. 

200. May Himoff, "Questions and Answers," Young Communist Review 3, no.5 (July, 1938): 33. 

201. Francis Franklin, "Our Twelve Weeks Course of Study," Young Communist Review 3, no.2 (April, 1938): 21. 

202. Other articles warned young communists not to "apply everything that is related" in Russian history to the US because 

"not every event in Russian history occurred in America;" that while the Soviet experience offered lessons, that young 

communists should not "try to apply mechanically everything that was done by the C.P.S.U. to the United States." See 

Dave Grant, "Socialist Slander on the Sherman Investigation," 23; "How to Study," Young Communist Review 4, no.7 

(September, 1939): 15. 

203. Clark, "Our Fourth of July," 8. 

204. Forest S. Adams, "Right to Revolution Stressed by George Washington in 1776," The Young Worker: Weekly Organ of the 

Young Communist League, USA 14, no.7 (February 18, 1936): 5. 

205. Though much of this style of American rhetoric was abandoned with the denunciation of Earl Browder in 1945, such 

themes later became the basis for the CPUSA "Bill of Rights Socialism" program. See Sam Webb, "Keynote to the 28th 

National Convention of the Communist Party, USA," in CPUSA Keynote and Special Reports Internet Archive 

. 

206. Although he is usually associated in dominant popular memory with the CPUSA, Pete Seeger actually joined the Young 

Communist League in 1937 as a classical music student at Harvard. After joining the YCL, Seeger became a prominent 

180

NOTES 

figure in the cultural activities of American communism, going on to collaborate with other socialist musicians like Leadbelly, 

Woody Guthrie, Lee Hays, Millard Lampell, Sis Cunningham, Brownie McGhee, Paul Robeson and Sonny Terry. 

For more information on the YCL and Seeger see David King Dunaway, How Can I Keep From Singing: Pete Seeger. 

(New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co, 1981). 

207. Francis Franklin, "Education As An Art," Young Communist Review 3, no.1 (March, 1938): 7,8,9. 

208. Joseph Starobin, "Wise For Its Year," Young Communist Review 4, no.1 (March, 1939): 3,4. 

209. For the YCL, the transition to a culture centred politics transformed not just their rhetoric and activities, but helped to shift 

their organizational structures from the factory nuclei basis back into the traditional socialist structure of the community 

branch. This reversion back into community branches was justified by the YCL in terms of cultural policy, arguing that 

during the Popular Front if the YCL was to serve as "an educational organization, and not a vanguard organization operating 

among the youth," that the cultural activities of the community was where YCLers would "find their most natural life." 

See Phil Schatz, "Empire Statesmanship," Young Communist Review 4, no.1 (March, 1939): 6. 

210. "Editorials," Young Communist Review 3, no.11 (January, 1939): 10. 

211. The Young Labor Poets, "Two Poems," Young Communist Review 3, no.1 (March, 1938): 14. 

212. Joseph Starobin, "This Fourth of July: Editorial," Young Communist Review 4, no.5 (July, 1939): 30. 

213. See Alex Kold, "Slave Songs of Protest," Young Communist Review 3, no.12 (February, 1939): 19-21. 

214. The songbook was published by the YCL National Activities Department that furnished "branches with skits, songs, advice 

on forming choruses dramatic groups, game suggestions" and other cultural initiatives. See "The Composer of Fighting 

For Democracy," Young Communist Review 4, no.1 (March, 1939): 29. 

215. Sonny Vale, "Fighting For Democracy," Young Communist Review 4, no.1 (March, 1939): 29. 

216. Hoffman Hays and John Garden, "A Song For the Fourth of July," Young Communist Review 4, no.5 (July, 1939): 18-19. 

217. Leo Rifkin and Lawrence Adams, "Make Your Dreams Come True: A YCL Cheer Song," Young Communist Review 4, 

no.3 (May, 1939): 26. 

218. Hannas Hatschik, "Colorado Shindig," Young Communist Review 3, no.11 (January, 1939): 24-25. 

219. See David Engerman, "Give a Party For the Party," American Communist History 1, no.1 (June, 2002): 73-89. 

220. Tony Pecinovsky, "Shaking and Making US History: A History of the YCL," in People's Weekly World Newspaper Online 

Archive . 

221. James Dugan, "Stop Before You Jitter," Young Communist Review 4, no.5 (July, 1939): 3. 

222. The YCL praised the progressive youth aspect of the Stalin Constitution which propagated that "all citizens are guaranteed… 

the right to leisure." See Elwood Dean, "YCL'ers Are Also Human," Young Communist Review 4, no.2 (April, 

1939): 13; Joseph Starobin, "21 Years of Soviet Power," Young Communist Review 3, no.9 (November, 1938): 34.. 

223. Phil Schatz, "In the Old Summertime!," Young Communist Review 3, no.4 (June, 1938): 3, 27. 

224. Browder, "Your Generation and Mine," 6. 

225. Geiser, "I Was in a Fascist Concentration Camp," 27. 

226. Winston, Character Building and Education, 10. 

227. Carl Ross, "Against a Ludlow Agreement," Young Communist Review 3, no.1 (March, 1938): 16. 

228. Roy Ashburg, "Sports For Democracy," Young Communist Review 3, no.12 (February, 1939): 22. 


230. Kling, "They Shall Not Pass," 14. 

231. "Welcome Home to the Lincoln Brigade," Young Communist Review 3, no.10 (December, 1938): 6. 

232. Challenge Editorial Board, "Dear Comrade Carillo," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no.20 (May 19, 1938): 9. 

233. "Answer Mussolini By Sending Guns and Food To Spain," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 3 (January 21, 1939): 1. 

234. Jean Hemmen, "Young International Volunteers Heroic Example," World Youth Review 1, no. 1 (January, 1939): 11. 

235. "Message to the Youth of Spain," World Youth Review 1, no.5 (May, 1939): 113. 

236. Carillo, "To the Youth of the World," 9. 

237. The Spanish Medical Aid Committee, The Spanish Medical Aid Committee: Report of the Committee (London: London 

Caledonian Press, 1936), 1. 

238. Gabriel Carritt, "Every Gun in Spain Defends us in Britain," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 5 (February 4, 1939): 8. 

239. YCLGB, We March To Victory, 9, 14. 

240. Marcel Cachin, "Redouble Your Efforts to Help Spain: A French Communist Senator's Special Message to Challenge," 

Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no.5 (February 3, 1938): 11. 

241. "British Youth 'Adopt' Two Spanish Towns," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 1 (January 7, 1939): 8. 

242. Maud Burns, "Girls and Defence," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the Young Communist League 1, no.5 (August, 

1938):19. See also Bridget Roberts, "British Girls Adopt Spanish Children," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no.26 (June 

30, 1938): 5. 

243. "John Little Returns From Spain," Young Communist Review 3, no.4 (June, 1938): 25. 

244. Margaret Vernon, "The YWCA Convention," Young Communist Review 3, no.4 (June, 1938): 10. 

245. Green, "Armaments For What," 5. 

246. "This Army is Ready to Defend You: Let's Get a Government That Will Take its Help," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, 

no.21 (March 24, 1938): 6. 

247. "Britain's Air Force Can Be Beaten Easily," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 4, no.23 (April 7, 1938): 10. 

248. YCI articles insisted that the fate of democracy, Spain, the Soviet Union and youth were intimately linked together, arguing 

that "Stalin has an unshakeable faith in the forces of youth, which inspire him with profound confidence" and that this 

confidence would serve to "strengthen the faith of youth in its own power and in its victory" against fascism. See Ted 

Ward, "This Army is Ready to Defend You;" Otto Meier, "The Young Generation and the 18 th Congress of the Bolshevik 

Party," World Youth Review 1, no. 6 (June, 1939): 114. 

249. Ted Ward, "This Army is Ready to Defend You," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 8 (February 25, 1939): 3. 

250. Starobin, "21 Years of Soviet Power," 34. 

251. Gates, "They Stormed the Heavens," 20. 

252. John Gates, "The Nature of This War," Young Communist Review 4, no.8 (October, 1939): 4. 


254. John Gollan, "British Youth and the Struggle Against Chamberlain," 4. 

255. W.W. "Why Did Barcelona Fall We Are to Blame in Britain!," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no. 5 (February 4, 

1939): 3. 

256. Gates, "They Stormed the Heavens," 20, 21. 

181


257. Santiago Carrillo, "Young Spain Against the Betrayal," World Youth Review 1, no. 4 (April, 1939): 70. 

258. "The 11 th National Conference of the Young Communist League of Great Britain," World Youth Review 1, no. 5 (May, 

1939): 96. 

259. Strack, "War or Peace – The Students Answer," 14. 

260. Kling, "They Shall Not Pass," 14. 


262. Ross, "Against a Ludlow Agreement," 16. 

263. "Clippings of the Day," Young Communist Review 3, no.3 (May, 1938): 30. 

264. "Czechoslovakia and Spain: An Editorial," Young Communist Review 4, no.2 (April, 1939): 11. 

265. "The 11 th National Conference of the Young Communist League of Great Britain," 96. 

266. W.W. "At the Call of Freedom They Will March Again," 3. 

267. Cohen, "Youth Defends Spain," 8. 

268. "Recruiting Drive," 29. 

269. Clare Schechter, "Letters to the Editor," Young Communist Review 3, no.5 (July, 1938): 32. 

270. "Welcome Home to the Lincoln Brigade," 6. 


272. Starobin, "This Fourth of July: Editorial," 30. 

273. Strack, "Answering Questions On Collective Security," 12. 

CONCLUSION: THE YOUTH STRUGGLE AGAINST WAR 

1. Young, No More War, 11. 

2. Green, "A World Congress For Peace," 6. 

3. See V.I. Lenin, "The Impending Catastrophe and How To Combat It: Abolition of Commercial Secrecy," in The V.I. Lenin Internet 

Archive . 

4. In his propaganda rhetoric, Hitler utilized youthful imagery to link internationalism with decay and militant nationalism 

with the youth. In a May Day speech in 1923 Hitler stated, "If the first of May is to be transferred in accordance with its 

true meaning from the life of Nature to the life of peoples, then it must symbolize the renewal of the body of a people 

which has fallen into senility. And in the life of peoples senility means internationalism. What is born of senility Nothing, 

nothing at all. Whatever in human civilization has real value, that arose not out of internationalism, it sprang from the soul 

of a single people. When peoples have lost their creative vigor, then they become international Everywhere, wherever intellectual 

incapacity rules in the life of peoples, there internationalism appears… So the first of May can be only a glorification 

of the national creative will over against the conception of international disintegration, of the liberation of the 

nation's spirit and of its economic outlook from the infection of internationalism. That is in the last resort the question of 

the restoration to health of peoples." See Adolf Hitler, "Munich: Speech Of May 1, 1923," in the Online Hitler Historical 

Museum: Hitler's Speeches Archive . 

5. In a recent review of Mussolini's imperial policy Willie Thompson reflected, "However, when it came to racism in the 

broader sense of relations with people of colour, of conviction of Europe's inherent superiority and of contempt for the 

lives and property of people known as non-Europeans, of preparedness to treat them as expendable instruments, fascist attitudes 

were as ferocious as could be imagined. Similar outlooks were characteristic of all colonial regimes, but to the 

everyday racism typically prevalent in such situations was added in the fascist case a glorification of brutality, an obsession 

with ruling by fear, of responding to every hint of real or imagined resistance with sadistic and generalized terror. 

Such responses were personally encouraged and indeed insisted upon by Mussolini himself." See Willie Thompson, "The 

Fascist Regime and the Abyssinia Crisis," Socialist History 28 (Spring, 2006): 2. 

6. Young, No More War, 7-8. 

7. National Organizational Committee of the YWL, "Manifesto and Program," The Young Worker: Official Organ of the 

Young Workers League (Formerly Youth) 1, no.2 (March-April, 1922): 10-11. 

8. Dimitrov, "The Fascist Offensive and the Tasks of the Communist International," 10. 

9. Georgi Dimitrov, "Fascism Is War," in The United Front: The Struggle Against Fascism And War (San Francisco: Proletarian 

Publishers, 1975), 262, 263, 268, 269. 

10. Wolf Michal, "The Secretary of the Socialist Youth of France and Munich," Our Youth: Discussion Magazine of the 

Young Communist League 1, no.8 (November, 1938): 22, 23, 25, 27. 

11. West, "The YCL Speaks to the Catholics," 24. 

12. Browder, "Your Generation and Mine," 4. 

13. Maurice Thorez, "A New Youth Shall Rise," Young Communist Review 3, no.8 (October, 1938): 10, 12. 

14. Derek Watson, "Molotov's Apprenticeship in Foreign Policy: The Triple Alliance Negotiations in 1939," Europe-Asia 

Studies 52, no.4 (June, 2000): 700. 

15. Throughout the summer of 1939, The World Youth Review and The Young Communist Review did not carry any articles 

about or by Molotov, whereas statements from Litvinov had been regular features of previous issues. Challenge did not 

carry any statements from Molotov until June 10, 1939. In an article entitled, "What's Holding Up The Pact," the YCL 

highlighted themes of continuity in Soviet foreign policy, avoiding any serious discussion that the nature of Soviet policy 

was changing under Molotov. See "What's Holding Up The Pact Molotov, Russia's Premier, Tells You Here," Challenge: 

The Voice of Youth 5, no.23 (June 10, 1939): 4-5. 

16. "The Russian View "No Inconsistency", Ambassadors See M. Molotoff From Our Special Correspondent," The London 

Times no. 48391 (August 23, 1939): 12. 

17. Watson, 714, 703. 

18. Elie Duguet, "Youth Rises Against Aggression," World Youth Review 1, no. 5 (May, 1939): 93, 94. 

19. See "Neville Chamberlain's "Peace For Our Time" Speech," in History of the United Kingdom: Primary Documents 

Archive . 

20. NCYCLGB, "Crisis: The People's Action Can Decide the Issue," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 5, no.34 (September 2, 

1939): 1. 

21. On the same day that Churchill became the new British Prime Minister the Axis powers ended the period of the "phoney 

war" by invading Western Europe. This situation put the YCLGB in an awkward rhetorical and strategic position since 

182

NOTES 

throughout the Popular Front era they had asserted that Churchill could potentially be trusted to lead an anti-fascist People's 

Government if it was based on a Popular Front style coalition with Labour. Since Churchill was in power and the 

YCL could no longer argue that the Axis powers were going to go East to attack the Soviet Union and that this was a 

"phoney war," the YCL had to reframe elements of its anti-war rhetoric. Instead of attacking Churchill as they had Chamberlain, 

the YCL continually asserted that Churchill needed to remove all of "the Men of Munich" from his cabinet in order 

to form a true anti-fascist government. See "We Don't Want Any Gestapo Here: They're Going to See Him About the 

Men of Munich," Challenge: The Voice of Youth 6, no.30 (July 25, 1940): 1. 

22. Gates, "The Nature of This War," 4, 24, 25. 

23. Unlike the traditional Leninist anti-war program that called for "revolutionary defeatism" in order to turn the "imperialist 

war into a civil war" through socialist revolution, the YCI did not direct its national sections to take such a traditional 

stance. The Trotskyist movement took notice of the communist position against war and its divergence with Leninism, asserting 

instead that their own positions represented a correct Leninist stance by calling for international socialist revolution. 

Prior to the outbreak of war, the Trotskyist Fourth International denounced those who questioned if "revolutionary 

defeatism" might be an incorrect tactic to apply in any war with the fascist powers. The Trotskyists condemned such assertions 

as "extremely dangerous concession to the social-patriots," countering that even in wars with the fascist powers 

that "all the fundamental rules of proletarian "defeatist" policy in relation to imperialist war retain their full force." Once 

war was officially declared the Trotskyists mocked the communist's essentially pacifist position in a scathing article entitled 

"Will The Communist Party Go Communist" The Trotskyists insisted that by not embracing "revolutionary defeatism" 

that the Comintern position had "nothing in common with Lenin’s policy." In other articles the Trotskyists went on 

to denounce the communist call for a negotiated peace stating that "revolutionary socialist’s support neither imperialist 

war nor imperialist peace." See Editorial Board of the Russian Opposition, "A Step Towards Social-Patriotism: On the 

Position of the Fourth International Toward the Struggle Against War and Fascism," in The New International Internet Archive 

; "Will The Communist Party Go 

Communist," in Worker's International News Internet Archive: 1938-1949 ; "Spotlight on Centrism," in Worker's International News Internet Archive: 1938- 

1949 . 

24. ECYCI, "Manifesto of the Young Communist International," Young Communist Review 4, no.9 (December, 1939): 12, 13. 

25. Mick Bennett, Youth and the War (London: YCLGB, 1940), 13,14. 

26. YCLGB, Make Life Worth While: A Course For Members of the Young Communist League (London: YCLGB, 1944), 13. 

27. See Earl Browder, Eugene Dennis, Roy Hudson and John Williamson, Shall the Communist Party Change Its Name 

(New York: NCCPUSA, 1944). 


29. Raymond Guyot, "The Unity of the Working Class Youth Will Triumph," World Youth Review 1, no. 7 (July, 1939): 133. 

30. Gil Green, "Creative Marxism," 5, 27. 

183

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

PRIMARY SOURCES 

ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS: 

Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland 

Centre For Political Song 

CPGB Scottish Committee Archive 

The Gallacher Memorial Library 

The James & Martin Milligan Collection 

The Norman & Janey Buchan Collection 

The Spanish Civil War Collection 

Michigan State University Library, East Lansing, Michigan, USA 

American Radicalism Special Collections 

People's History Museum Labour History Archive, Manchester, England 

British Fascism and Anti-Fascism Collection 

Communist Party of Great Britain Collection 

Labour Party Collection 

Margot Kettle Papers 

Socialist Sunday School Collection 

Spanish Civil War Collection 

William Gillies Papers 

Young Communist League of Great Britain Collection 

Reference Center For Marxist Studies, New York City, New York, USA 

American Student Union Collection 

Young Communist League Collection 

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 

Hatcher Graduate Library Spanish Civil War Microfilm Collection 

Labadie Collection 

University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, Great Britain 

Aldred Collection 

Labour History Collection 

Working Class Movement Library, Salford, England, Great Britain 

British Fascism and Anti-Fascism Collection 

184

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Communist Party Collection 

Independent Labour Party Collection 

Labour League of Youth Collection 

Labour Party Collection 

Mick Jenkins Papers 

Socialist Sunday School Collection 

Spanish Civil War Collection 

Young Communist League Collection 

NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS: 

Challenge: The Voice of Youth 

Champion of Youth 

Daily Worker: Official Newspaper of the Communist Party of Great Britain 

Daily Worker: Official Newspaper of the Communist Party USA 

Dynamic: Magazine of the Young Communist League, USA 

Fourth International: Published by the National Committee of the SWP 

Left Review 

Marxist Bulletin 

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