World Federation of Democratic Youth

The World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) is an international youth organization founded in London on 10 November 1945, shortly after the end of the Second World War. It emerged from efforts by the World Youth Council to preserve the wartime alliance among young people and convert it into a continuing international movement. Its founding conference brought together more than 600 delegates from 63 countries, making it one of the largest and most geographically diverse youth gatherings of its era. The conference adopted a pledge centered on international youth unity, the elimination of fascism, peace, friendship among peoples, social justice and opposition to the waste of young lives in war. The federation initially presented itself as a broad coalition. Its founding purpose included cooperation among youth from different political, religious and national backgrounds, including young people from both capitalist and socialist countries. The rapid onset of the Cold War, however, changed its political environment. As relations between the Soviet Union and the Western powers deteriorated, a number of Western and non-communist founding organizations withdrew. The WFDY subsequently became strongly identified with the Soviet Union, Eastern European socialist states, communist youth organizations and national-liberation movements. The United States government characterized it as a Moscow-aligned front, while the federation and its associated organizations criticized the Marshall Plan, opposed the Korean War and supported a range of socialist and anti-colonial causes. The organization’s principal public activity became the World Festival of Youth and Students. These large international gatherings combine political discussion, cultural programming, sporting activities and solidarity work. During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, the festivals provided a rare setting in which young people from Western countries could meet activists from socialist states and movements connected with anti-apartheid, Palestinian, Vietnamese, Cuban and other national or revolutionary causes. Participants over the decades included prominent political, cultural and public figures, although the festivals’ political character and the federation’s relationship with Soviet foreign-policy priorities also attracted criticism. The WFDY was deeply affected by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Eastern European socialist governments. The disappearance of the Soviet Komsomol as its most important member organization created an institutional and ideological crisis. Some participants favored a less explicitly political federation, while others argued for retaining a clearly left-wing and anti-imperialist identity. The organization survived the transition and continued to operate as an international federation of youth organizations. The WFDY is headquartered in Budapest, Hungary, and maintains member and observer relationships across several world regions. Its governance includes a General Assembly held every four years, which elects leadership and a General Council and approves an organizational declaration. The federation’s best-known recurring platform remains the World Festival of Youth and Students; the latest festival identified in the reference material was held in Sochi, Russia, in October 2017. The WFDY has also been described as one of the first organizations to receive general consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It is not a commercial brand: its principal outputs are political education, international coordination, youth exchanges, public statements, cultural events and solidarity campaigns.

The WFDY was created on 10 November 1945 at a World Youth Conference in London. The conference was organized through the World Youth Council, an initiative that had brought together youth movements from Allied countries during the Second World War. More than 600 delegates representing 63 nations participated. Their objective was to retain wartime cooperation after victory and establish a permanent international youth movement committed to peace, anti-fascism and solidarity. The founding pledge called for unity across races, colors, nationalities and beliefs, the removal of fascism, lasting peace and an end to poverty, unemployment and the militarization of young people. The federation was an indirect successor to the World Youth Congress movement of the 1930s, which had attempted to unite religious, liberal, socialist and communist youth around progressive and peace-oriented objectives. That broad foundation became difficult to sustain once the Cold War began. Following Winston Churchill’s 1946 Iron Curtain speech and the deterioration of relations between the Soviet Union and the Western powers, the WFDY was accused by the United States State Department of functioning as a Soviet front. Several founding organizations left, and the federation increasingly united youth organizations from Eastern Europe, other socialist countries, communist parties and national-liberation movements. Alexander Shelepin served as the first General Secretary. The WFDY worked alongside other internationally oriented organizations, including the International Union of Students, in opposing the Marshall Plan and criticizing Western military policy. It supported the new socialist governments established in Eastern Europe, backed the Czechoslovak political transformation of 1948 and opposed the Korean War. Soviet security services and Western intelligence agencies treated the WFDY and related organizations as instruments in the wider ideological conflict; the federation was subject to CIA espionage and was also associated in historical accounts with Soviet active measures. The World Festival of Youth and Students became the organization’s most visible institution. The festivals were designed as mass gatherings combining political debate, cultural performances, sport and international friendship. Although most early festivals were held in socialist Europe, their reach extended beyond the socialist bloc. During the 1960s through the 1980s, the events enabled activists from Western countries to encounter youth involved in anti-apartheid organizing and struggles associated with Vietnam, Palestine, Cuba and other movements. Public figures reported as festival participants include Angela Davis, Yuri Gagarin, Yasser Arafat, Fidel Castro, Vladimir Putin, Ruth First, Jan Myrdal and Nelson Mandela. The dissolution of the Soviet Union and the collapse of the Eastern Bloc produced the federation’s most serious institutional crisis. The Soviet Komsomol had been a central member and source of political and organizational support; its disappearance left the WFDY without the power base that had shaped much of its earlier work. Members debated whether the federation should become more politically neutral or retain an explicitly left-wing orientation. The organization survived, continued to hold international activities and retained its focus on anti-fascism, peace, solidarity and opposition to imperialism. In its contemporary structure, the WFDY is headquartered in Budapest and operates through affiliated youth organizations in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, and North Africa and the Middle East. A General Assembly is held every four years to elect the leadership and General Council and approve a programmatic declaration. The organization’s best-known public event remains the World Festival of Youth and Students, with Sochi hosting the latest festival identified in the supplied reference material in October 2017. The federation has also held general consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, reflecting its long-standing role in international youth representation.

• 2019

  General Assembly in Nicosia

  [1]World Federation of Democratic Youthen.wikipedia.org

  The four-yearly General Assembly meets in Nicosia to elect leadership and a General Council and approve an organizational declaration.

• 2017

  Sochi World Festival of Youth and Students

  [1]World Federation of Democratic Youthen.wikipedia.org

  Sochi, Russia, hosts the latest World Festival of Youth and Students identified in the supplied reference material.

• 1948

  Support for socialist political change in Eastern Europe

  [1]World Federation of Democratic Youthen.wikipedia.org

  The WFDY and allied organizations support the establishment and consolidation of people’s republics in Eastern Europe, including the Czechoslovak change of government.

• 1946

  Cold War criticism begins

  [1]World Federation of Democratic Youthen.wikipedia.org

  The federation becomes the subject of Western accusations that it operates as a Soviet-aligned political front, contributing to the departure of some founding organizations.

• 1945

  Founding in London

  [1]World Federation of Democratic Youthen.wikipedia.org

  The World Youth Conference establishes the WFDY on 10 November with delegates from 63 countries and adopts a peace and anti-fascist pledge.

An international, politically engaged youth federation emphasizing anti-fascism, peace, international solidarity, social justice, anti-imperialism and cooperation among youth organizations.

• International youth festival

  World Festival of Youth and Students

  The WFDY’s principal recurring platform is a large international gathering combining political forums, cultural events, sports and solidarity activities. The festivals are intended to facilitate direct contact among youth from different countries and political traditions while promoting peace, anti-fascism and international friendship. Historically, they brought together participants from socialist states, Western countries and national-liberation movements.

• Governance and coordination forum

  General Assembly

  Held every four years, the General Assembly is the federation’s central organizational meeting. It elects the leadership and General Council, reviews the federation’s work and approves a political or organizational declaration.

• 1945Founding peace and anti-fascist pledge

  International

  At its founding conference, the WFDY promoted unity among young people of all races, nationalities and beliefs, the eradication of fascism, lasting peace and opposition to the diversion of youth into war.

  Outcome. The pledge became a concise statement of the federation’s founding principles.

  Source
• World Festival of Youth and Students

  International

  The federation’s recurring festival program has used political discussion, culture and sport to connect youth organizations and activists across ideological and national boundaries.

  Outcome. The festivals became the WFDY’s most prominent public activity and an important meeting place for international youth movements.

  Source

• Retain a politically engaged identity after the Soviet collapseStrategy

  Background

  The dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc removed the federation’s most important institutional support and led members to debate whether it should become more apolitical.

  Action taken

  The WFDY survived the crisis and continued operating as an explicitly international youth organization associated with left-wing, anti-imperialist, anti-fascist and peace-oriented causes.

  Aftermath

  The federation continued international activities and maintained regional affiliations despite the loss of its former Soviet-era power base.

  Source

1. 1World Federation of Democratic Youthen.wikipedia.org
2. 2World Federation of Democratic Youth official websitewfdy.org