Joel A Lewis Youth Against Fascism.pdf

YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM
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