Joel A Lewis Youth Against Fascism.pdf

YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM
"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-
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