Joel A Lewis Youth Against Fascism.pdf

YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM
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
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