Joel A Lewis Youth Against Fascism.pdf

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