Joel A Lewis Youth Against Fascism.pdf

THE YOUTH STRUGGLE AGAINST WAR
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