NEP Be Damned! Young Militants in the 1920s and the Culture of Civil War
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4938650 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Anne E Gorsuch (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1997 |
| Volume | 56 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 564 |
| Publication date | 1997-10-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Russian Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0036-0341 • E-ISSN: 1467-9434 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/131566 |
| OpenAlex | W2327580391 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
In 1922 Komsomol journal lunyi kommunist ran a series of four cartoons satirizing Communist youth of New Economic Policy (NEP) era. In first cartoon aggressive komsomolets from Revolution strides forward with a rifle and handgun. Waving from end of his rifle is a banner reading All power to Soviets. In next, komsomolets from 1919 has abandoned ragged dress of 1917 for a leather jacket, shock boots, and worker's cap, but he too steps forward, pistol in hand. In contrast, puzzled young Communist from 1921 has dropped his gun and is standing in front of a wall of questions reading the New Economic Policy? Marxist education? In final drawing, komsomolets from 1922 is shown astride a small wagon being drawn by a turtle. He is no longer actively stepping forward into future but sits with his head buried in a book. In background is a large signpost reading Toward a new kind of work.' As is obvious from these images, transition from War Communism to NEP in early 1921 involved a change not only in politics and economic policy but also in identity and iconography of young Communist. At Third Congress of Komsomol in late 1920, Nikolai Bukharin argued that, while party still needed conscious Communists have both a fiery heart and a burning revolutionary passion, it was now especially important to develop young Communists who have calm heads, know what they want, can stop when necessary, retreat when necessary, take a step to side when necessary, move cautiously weighing and calculating each step.2 While young hero of Civil War was to man barricades and serve in vanguard of Revolution, komsomolets of NEP was supposed to be politically literate, a follower of Communist morality, and disciplined
Political science · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · Law · Soviet and Russian History
| Citations per year | 0.18 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1998 - 2023 (26) |
| Highly cited | No |