Joel A Lewis Youth Against Fascism.pdf

YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM
Trotskyist rhetoric. Massie contend the YCL, unlike the Trotskyists, stood for "the
genuine interests of the youth and of the whole people of Britain." 47
The YCL helped to establish the strong British communist tradition of "people's culture"
with their Popular Front propaganda. A regular feature of Challenge "May Day"
issues was a column dedicated to "Songs of the People." Such cultural columns about
"the people" embraced the traditions of the English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh, reflecting
the multi-national realities of the British Isles. 48 YCL rhetoric attempted to balance
potential conflicts between British and regional national identities. The bonds between
the socialist and nationalist movements, especially in the Celtic regions, had traditionally
been an integral part of working-class agitation. The Leninist Generation tended to
neglect these regional dynamics in their propaganda. 49 These shifts in rhetoric enabled
young communists to portray themselves as champions of the larger national interests of
all the British people while demonizing their fascist opposition as representatives of
British imperialism.
The most consistent target of YCL nationalist propaganda was Chamberlain and his
National Government for their international policies of appeasement. After the election
of Chamberlain's National Government in 1936, the YCL continually attacked Chamberlain
not just as an enemy of the working class, but of the British people as a whole. As
public debates on national defense became more prominent in 1939, the YCL regularly
produced bold statements asserting, "Chamberlain cannot defend the people of Britain,
[and] is the enemy of the people of Britain!" 50 Chamberlain was vehemently attacked as
one of the greatest enemies of British youth for strengthening fascism's drive towards
world war. In an article on the 1939 Youth Peace Pilgrimage the YCL stated, "You can’t
have a strong Britain and a safe Britain while Mr. Chamberlain’s Government gives
everything away to the enemies of Britain’s people.... Mr. Chamberlain had better watch
his step; Young Britain’s after him!" 51 The YCL contended the youth peace movement
stood in complete opposition to the National Government and in alliance with "the
people" of Britain. Reflecting upon the National Government's non-intervention policy
with Spain, the YCL posited, "The British Youth Movement and the YCL… reflect the
true feeling and the spirit of the people of England, Scotland and Wales, showing the true
difference between them and the pro-Fascist National Government." 52 The YCL's anti-
Chamberlain rhetoric invoked a discourse of "oppositional negations," claiming to stand
for the interests of the people and youth of Britain while Chamberlain was personified as
the enemy of Britain.
The YCL adopted another nationalist rhetorical device by engaging in debates on citizenship.
Communists rejected biological concepts of nationalism associated with fascism
and racial chauvinism. YCL rhetoric propagated that "true nationalism" was rooted in
inclusive citizenship linked with the nation and its historical traditions. 53 Mick Bennett
discussed the YCL's citizenship position by reflecting on the loss of democratic citizenship
under fascism:
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