When the adults failed, young radicals stood up to World War One

How many times have we heard it? “You are too young to understand. Leave politics to the adults”. We now know the script by heart: study, behave and wait for your turn. For the longest time, young people have been told to sit quietly on the sidelines and focus on passing their exams while the “grown-ups” make all decisions – usually very questionable ones. Even among adults who march with us in protest, share our anger, and agree that the world needs changing, a subtle and patronizing arrogance often persists. The assumption remains the same: we are too emotional, impatient and idealistic to shape political debates.

However, history tells us a very different story: more than one hundred years ago, when the world was under the shadow of a bloody global conflict that killed over 20 million people, it was not the cautious and reliable adults who stood up first against it. It was the young. Operating under illegal and extremely dangerous circumstances, radical teenagers in the twentieth century worked relentlessly to create the first international socialist youth organization of the world with the aim of fighting militarism and war.

This is their story.

Young Socialists of the World, Unite!
In 1906, a twenty-one-year old Belgian student who sympathized with socialism – Henri de Man – took the initiative to establish the first international socialist organization entirely composed of young people between the ages of seventeen and twenty-five. As angry European leaders were busy competing with each other for colonies and weapons, Henri meticulously planned the very first conference of young socialists in the world and scheduled it for August 1907 in Stuttgart (Germany). One of the first handwritten letters that he sent to all socialist youth groups in Europe and beyond to invite them to the meeting was preserved:
“Dear Comrades” – Henri writes in French – “the preparatory meeting and the opening party will take place on Saturday 24th, August. The plenary session of the conference will probably last three days, but we do not want to specify the exact duration at this stage”. 

The letter shows that Henri had even arranged cheap accommodation for the young delegates wishing to join. Once in Germany, these young socialists – most of whom were underage – could be hosted by the parents of the members of the local socialist youth organization in Stuttgart for “1 or 1,5 goldmark” per night – roughly the price of a cheap hostel bed today.

The International Union of Socialist Youth Organizations (IUSYO)
Twenty young radicals from Europe and beyond accepted  Henri’s invitation. On August 24th, 1907, on a sunny day at 4 PM, teenagers from Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Bohemia, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden and Australia met at the Liederhalle, an elegant cultural center in Stuttgart usually devoted to concerts and parties. They were all under twenty-five and had taken massive risks in crossing national and even continental borders in the middle of escalating tensions between imperial states.

The most important issue on the table was the fight against militarism, and the duty of the international socialist youth movement to fight for peace, class solidarity and a desirable future at  moment when the adults around them were charging blindly towards war. (Does this ring a bell?)
It was here at the Liederhalle, amidst loud applause and vibrant energy, that these young radicals founded the International Union of Socialist Youth Organizations (IUSYO).

Young radicals and the war
As the First World War began in 1914, it was clearer than ever that our young radicals could no longer count on adults, even the socialist ones. In fact, in August of the same year, the official socialist parties of France, Germany and Austria – the people who, more than anyone else, should have stood up for peace and solidarity – voted in favor of government funding for war. With even “progressive” adults blinded by nationalism, it became obvious that the responsibility to oppose the global conflict now fell on the youth. 

It was at this point that another crucial young figure came in: Willi Münzenberg. Willi was a twenty-five-year old publisher and film-producer from Switzerland, part of the country’s socialist youth organization. Outraged by the escalating war, he led the preparations for the very first international conference held during World War One scheduled for April 1915. 

You read that well! Not even the adults managed to organize an international meeting so early into the conflict, but only a group of barely-of-age radicals who, for the longest time, were told to study, behave and wait for their turn.

Risking deportation and even death, young delegates representing ten countries met between April 4th-6th in Bern, Switzerland, one of the only countries that had declared neutrality at the time. All the documents written during the conference have been archived and preserved, offering us a truly magical time-machine into that crazy historical period. The official report of the conference, written in 1914,  speaks clearly: 
“Our meeting is proof that the young comrades have not yet fallen victims to the general bloodlust. Compared to the older comrades, for whom it was impossible to arrange a meeting, the international conference of the socialist youth organization in Bern is a magnificent example of the tenacity, determination, clarity of purpose and selfless devotion of their members to the struggle for the emancipation of the working-class”.

Basically, a kind way to say to the adults: you f****** suck. 

A militant newspaper
There is another, impressive achievement of these young radicals in Bern: the creation of a new newspaper bearing the title Jugend-Internationale, or The Youth International.

Written entirely in German, these printed pages are a very precious source for all the history nerds out there. It is through Jugend-Internationale that the IUSYO expressed its opposition to the war, energetically and powerfully arguing for antimilitarism and social revolution. 

The newspaper became so famous that even the Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin himself wrote in a journal that “Jugend-Internationale merits our attention and should be strongly recommended to all party members for its fine spirit of intense hatred for the betrayers of our movement”. The newspaper published articles until 1928, and was translated into a number of languages, including Russian, Swedish and Danish.

The Russian Revolution
In 1917, one of the most extraordinary events in history radicalized the international socialist youth movement even more: the outbreak of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. This revolution put an end to the centuries-old rule of the Tsars and brought communist revolutionaries to power, showing to young people in Europe that a successful social revolution and the overthrow of old exploitative regimes were truly possible. In 1919, the Communist International – or Comintern – was born, a global organization founded by Lenin in Moscow to promote communism. Young radicals around the world showed unprecedented enthusiasm at the events and immediately joined Lenin’s initiatives.

More than a century later, with the world drifting towards disaster, reckless adults holding the most influential government positions, and the unfolding of a mass genocide before our eyes, the courage and determination of these young radicals cut through the noise in an unprecedented way 

At the pub in Berlin
On November 20th, 1919 – at 3 PM – young delegates from fourteen countries met once again in Berlin in very illegal conditions, amidst escalating political repression just months after Rosa Luxemburg was brutally murdered. They convened in the dark, dirty, cramped back room of a pub located in the working class district of Neukölln, disguised as a pigeons breeders’ association so as not to arouse suspicion. They moved every day from one location to another, whispering revolutionary songs and organizing parties during the nights. 

Six days later, they announced the transformation of the International Union of Socialist Youth Organizations (IUSYO) into the Communist Youth International (CYI). They had now re-established their goal with renewed determination: to work towards the social revolution in times when the grown-ups had so clearly failed.

That torch is ours
More than a century later, with the world drifting towards disaster, reckless adults holding the most influential government positions, and the unfolding of a mass genocide before our eyes, the courage and determination of these young radicals cut through the noise in an unprecedented way. In 1914, it was them who kept the hope of peace and solidarity alive, while the “grown-ups” were fighting each other over borders, colonies and land. Today, that torch is ours.

Sources:
‘Compte-rendu de la Première Conférence Internationale de la Jeunesse Socialiste tenue à Stuttgart le 24, 25 et 26 août 1907 / ed. par le Secrétariat de la Fédération Internationale de la Jeunesse Socialiste’ (1907), Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Digital Library, 9 https://library.fes.de/zweiint/j12.pdf [accessed 14th July 2025].

Cornell, R., ‘Revolutionary Vanguard: The Early Years of the Communist Youth International 1914-1924’, University of Toronto Press (Toronto, Buffalo and London 1982).

Cornell, R., ‘Youth and Communism: An Historical Analysis of International Communist Youth Movements’, Walker and Company (New York 1965).

de Man, H., ‘Chers Camarades! Nous ajoutons par la présente quelques renseignements complémentaires… : … la Conférence Internationale de la Jeunesse Socialiste; Gand, Mai 1907 (19th May 1907), Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Digital Library https://library.fes.de/zweiint/j08b.pdf [accessed 14th July 2025].

Lenin, V., ‘The Youth International: A Review’ (December 1916), Marxist Internet Archive https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/dec/00d.htm [accessed 14th July 2025].

‘Sie Ist Nicht Tot! Bericht über die Internationale Konferenz der Sozialist Jugendorganisationen Abgehalten in Bern am 4., 5., und 6., April 1915’ (1915), Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Digital Library, 39-40 https://library.fes.de/zweiint/j51_52.pdf [accessed 14th July 2025]