Komsomol

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Komsomol Всесоюзный ленинский коммунистический союз молодежи (ВЛКСМ)
Logo of the Komsomol
founding October 29, 1918
resolution August 1991
Headquarters USSR , Moscow
Alignment Marxism-Leninism
Colours) red
Minimum age 14th
Average age 25-35
Proportion of women 64%
International connections World Federation of Democratic Youth (WBDJ)
Komsomol (1979)

Komsomol ( Russian Комсомол ) was the youth organization of the CPSU . The short syllable is formed from the initial syllables of the words Ком мунистический со юз мол одёжи ("Communist Youth Association"). The full name is Всесоюзный ленинский ком мунистический со юз мол одёжи, ВЛКСМ (WLKSM, pronunciation ? / I ), German " All- Soviet Lenin Communist Youth Association". The Soviet mass organization was founded on October 29, 1918 and had 22,000 members at the time. Audio file / audio sample

history

Delegate of the First All-Russian Congress of Young Workers and Peasants, later Komsomol, in October 1918
Membership card (1983)

The Komsomol was the youth organization of the CP of Russia , its aim was to educate the youth according to the ideals of communism . At the third Komsomol Congress (October 2–10, 1920), Lenin demanded that young people study communism. The goal was a society of socialist construction ("The Youth - Builders of Socialism", Brezhnev ). The organization was founded at the first congress of the associations of workers and peasant youth from October 29 to November 4, 1918. The name was initially "Russian Communist Youth Association". The organization had direct access to power. The Soviet constitution of 1977 even gave it the right to initiate legislation and the right to nominate candidates for parliamentary elections. In the hierarchy of Soviet organizations, the Komsomol stood directly behind the unions and the party. Its functionaries made up the party elite in the USSR (e.g. Yuri Andropov ). In 1977 the Komsomol members made up 32.4 percent of the deputies in the regional councils in the age group up to 30. In 1975 around 70 percent of the members of the CPSU were also in the Komsomol.

The Komsomol participated in both the civil war and the industrialization and collectivization campaigns of the late 1920s and 1930s. He was a member of the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WBDJ) and the International Student Union (ISB).

In the 1970s and 1980s, around 40 million people between the ages of 14 and 28 were Komsomol (Комсомольцы, singular: Комсомолец), although the group's functionaries, so-called activists , were usually significantly older. After the failed August coup of the conservative communist military against Mikhail Gorbachev on August 19, 1991, the Komsomol was banned.

Most parties in Russia have a youth organization modeled on the Komsomol. For example, the youth group of the President's United Russia party has been called Die Ours since 2005 .

activity

In the 1920s , the Komsomol played an important role in building heavy industry in the USSR . Recruitment was the slogan at the VII Komsomol Congress in 1926. As a result, 200,000 Komsomol members drove to the so-called major construction sites of socialism and 66,000 to the Urals . The largest work is the city of Komsomolsk on the Amur, built in 1937 . The Komsomol also built on other projects such as the Turkestan-Siberian Railway or Magnitogorsk . In the times of collectivization, 140,000 Komsomolians were recruited in the villages. This helped reduce illiteracy . In the years 1971-1975 around 500,000 Komsomol members were involved in the construction of 670 objects. For this, the truck plant included KAMAZ , the Baikal-Amur -Eisenbahnlinie in the framework of the CMEA built nuclear power plant factory "nuclear-mash" in Volgodonsk , installations of natural gas and crude oil production in Siberia , an electric Metallurgy Combine in Oskol and projects for reclamation of barren Country. In the 1970s 10,000 village schools were built, in which 98,000 people taught and worked. These educational institutions have reached 19 million people over time. An important part of the educational work was the training of functionaries for the pioneer organization Vladimir Ilyich Lenin , which was affiliated to the Komsomol for younger children and young people and whose organization 25 million children went through.

The greatest actions of the Komsomol

organization

20th Congress of the Komsomol (1987)

guide

The highest body of the Komsomol was the Komsomol Congress, which elected the Central Committee, which directed the activities between the congresses. In 1987 the 20th Congress reoriented itself as the first of the Soviet mass organizations to begin with capitalist experiments.

The organization was based on a democratic centralism . The governing bodies were the general assembly, regional conferences and the congress. There were offices and committees at these levels. The congress took place every four years. The previous work was evaluated here and the future line output. The Central Committee and the Central Control Commission were also elected. The Central Committee met every six months. It elected a Politburo and a secretariat for executive activities.

The central press organ was Komsomolskaya Pravda (circulation 10 million). The Komsomol published 159 youth and children's newspapers with a circulation of 40 million copies, including the magazines Komsomolskaja Shisn (Komsomol-Leben) and Molodoj Kommunist (Young Communist). In addition, 43 million books were published. The Komsomol had three publishers (including "Junge Garde") and 122 regional television studios as well as the radio station "Junost" with 154 editorial offices. In addition, the Komsomol operated the youth travel agency Sputnik.

structure

  • Basic organizations that existed in practically every plant and university
  • Local groups (428,000)
  • City and regional groups (4308)
  • District and district groups (155)
  • Units subdivided according to the respective Soviet republics (14).

composition

The 1970s were the heyday of the organization. According to estimates, 2/3 of the Soviet population belonged to her. In 1978 and 1979 it comprised 60 percent of the youth, which corresponds to 38 million people. Around 58 percent were employed in the economy of the USSR. During Brezhnev's time , the Komsomol became a mass organization, with the majority of its members made up of passive contributors. At that time, the Komsomol lost the character of a workers 'and peasants' organization. About 42 percent of his relatives were schoolchildren and students, 35 percent workers, 7 percent farmers and 16 percent officials of the state apparatus. One in five teachers and one in four scientists was a Komsomolze at the end of the 1970s. In the course of 60 years of existence, the organization has passed through 120 million people.

resolution

After the reforms of Gorbachev , the organization completely lost its importance and in 1991 at the XXII. Extraordinary Congress itself dissolved as part of the collapse of the Soviet Union . The central organ Komsomolskaya Pravda , however, still exists as an independent newspaper today. Today there are several Komsomol successors such as the Belarusian Republican Young Union . The youth organizations of some of the successor parties of the CPSU still bear the name Komsomol , such as the youth organization of the Ukrainian Communists .

gallery

  • Soviet postage stamp (1966)

  • Stamp issue on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Komsomol (USSR 1988)

  • The Komsomol Brigade writes to the State Council , November 9, 1960

  • Badge of Honor of the Komsomol

See also

Web links

Commons : Komsomol  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Komsomol  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations