A Political History of the International Union of Socialist Youth 1907–1917

ISBN-13: 9783031206931 / Angielski / Twarda / 2023 / 262 str.

Patrizia Dogliani; Patrick Leech

Opis

This book represents a valuable contribution to the history of the Socialist Second International and, more generally, of European socialism between the Great Depression of the 1880s and WWI. It comes to fill a gap in the scholarship, insofar as it investigates the history of the Socialist Youth International. During the first phase of the making of socialist parties, this organization was in charge of the political and cultural education of the proletarian youth. Capitalizing on an approach based on social, quantitative and political history, and on an analysis of mentalities and languages, the book reconstructs the many-sidedness of the “school of recruits” of the social-democratic and revolutionary movements. The working conditions of youth in Europe, its unionization and economic struggles, the fight against militarism, the pedagogical work, the internationalism and the commitment to maintain peace, and the attitude of young militants towards Bolshevik revolution are some of the themes investigated in the book. It also clarifies the role and the engagement with the issue of the new generation shown by prominent figures of Marxism such as Karl Liebknecht, Jean Jaurès, Henri De Man, Willi Münzenberg, Henriette Roland Holst, and Robert Danneberg. Finally, the book constitutes also a page of European social and political history, reconstructed through the history of the various youth socialisms and their relationship with the Marxist tradition.

Spis treści

Introduction [revised and updated for the English edition].

             1.The working class youth organizations at the end of 19th century :

The condition of life and work of proletarian youth in Europe.

The first associations of bourgeois and religious young people

The first socialist youth organizations

Typology of the working class youth organizations

2. The birth of the International socialist youth organization

Projects for an international coordination

The building of an International direction and bureau

The Stuttgart Conference (1907)    

3. The antimilitarist struggle

Liebknecht and the militarismus

Jaurès and the armed nation: antimilitarism and national question 

Typology of different antimilitarism movements

The debate on the nature of militarism and the antimilitarist action 

4. The organization of the educational work

The socialist pedagogy

Sport and anti-alcoholism campaign 

Cultural and educational activities among youth 

The Rekrutenschulen for social-democracy

5.Tradunionism and economic struggles organized by the socialist youth

The question of apprenticeship at Stuttgart conference

The professional youth organizations

Economic struggle and relationship with the adult trade-unions

6. Tasks and activities of the International secretary in Vienna, 1907-1914

   Administrative and organizational activity of Vienna’s international youth bureau

   Copenhagen Conference (1910): French youth reaches  the International organization

   Contacts and correspondence with youth movements oversee: Northern America, Australia and Argentina.

   The Bureau fronting the conflict between youth organizations and adult socialist parties

7. Danger of war: international initiatives by the young socialists 1912-1914

The working class youth organizations emerging from the  collapse of the Hapsburg, Tsarist and Ottoman Empires   

New actions in antimilitarism and the emergence of a new left among young people.

Another congrès manqué: the 4th youth conference in Vienna

8.The youth international organization during the Great War, 1914-1919.

The rule of the proletarian youth in neutral countries

Condition of life, work  and struggle of the youth during the war

The Bureau’s activities in Zurich and the personality its secretary, Willi Munzenberg

Young people in Zimmerwald  movement, the Russian revolution and the dissolution of the Socialist youth organization.

Conclusions: End of an history and beginning of an historiography, 1919-1923.  

 

O autorze

Patrizia Dogliani is Full Professor of Contemporary History at Bologna University, Italy, and Visiting Professor at NYU, USA, and Academic institutions in Paris. She has authored and edited many articles and books on the European Left, History of Youth and Generations, and Fascism, including L’Europa a scuola (2002), Storia dei giovani (2003), Il fascismo degli Italiani. Una storia sociale (2014), Le socialisme municipal en France et en Europe de la Commune à la Grande guerre (2018), Internazionalismo e transnazionalismo all’indomani della Grande Guerra (2020), Un partito di giovani. La gioventù internazionalista e la nascita del Partito comunista d’Italia (2021), Continental Transfers. Cultural and Political Exchange among Spain, Italy and Argentina, 1914-1945 (2022). 

Blurb

“Patrizia Dogliani’s new history of the International Union of Socialist Youth draws fresh air into the often claustrophobic spaces of the history of socialism.”

—Glenda Sluga, Professor of International History,European University Institute, Florence, Italy

“With this new book, Patrizia Dogliani once again demonstrates why she is one of the preeminent scholars of modern international and transnational history…It is an impressive achievement.”

—Talbot Charles Imlay, Professor, University of Laval, Quebec, Canada

“Long recognized as a pioneering historian of youth, Patrizia Dogliani offers a rich transnational panorama of socialist youth. With an impressive command of sources, Dogliani provides an essential guide to political activism among youth across class, gender, and nationality.”

—Mary Gibson, Professor of History, City University of New York, USA

This book represents a valuable contribution to the history of European socialism between the Great Depression of the 1880s and WWI. It comes to fill a gap in the scholarship, insofar as it investigates the history of the Socialist Youth International. Capitalizing on an approach based on social, quantitative and political history, and on an analysis of mentalities and languages, the book reconstructs the many-sidedness of the “school of recruits” of the social-democratic parties and revolutionary movements. The working conditions of youth in Europe, its unionization and economic struggles, the fight against militarism, the pedagogical work, the internationalism and the commitment to maintain peace, and the attitude of young militants towards revolution are some of the themes investigated in the book. It also clarifies the role and the engagement with the issue of the new generation shown by prominent figures of Marxism such as Karl Liebknecht, Jean Jaurès, Henri De Man, Willi Münzenberg, Henriette Roland Holst, and Robert Danneberg. Finally, the book constitutes also a page of European social and political history, reconstructed through the relationship of youth working class movement with the Marxist tradition.

Patrizia Dogliani is Full Professor of Contemporary History at Bologna University, Italy, and Visiting Professor in Academic institutions in France and in USA.