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YCI symbol, French-Portuguese-Spanish version

YCI pin

Young Communist International was the youth wing of the Communist International (Comintern). The organization was set-up as the International Union of Socialist Youth Organisations (in German: Internationale Verbindung Sozialistischer Jugendorganisationen, abbreviated IVSJO) in March 1907 at a conference in Stuttgart, Germany. IVSJO had its headquarters in Vienna. IVSJO functioned as the youth wing of the Second International.

At its foundation the first secretary of IVSJO was Hendrik de Man, but the post was taken over by Robert Danneberg who held it from 1908 to 1915. Its first chairman was Karl Liebknecht.

The Bavarian ZJD was the major member organization at the beginning of the existence of the IVSJO.

Another conference was held in Bern in April 1915. Nine delegations participated. Differences persisted over how to face the ongoing war. Nevertheless, IVSJO was in the hands of groups opposing the chauvinistic attitutes of a major section of the Social Democratic leaderships in Europe. Groups loyal to their party leaderships were alienated from IVSJO (these right-wing tendencies were, however, unable to form a parallel structure in the context of the ongoing war). The conference decided to start the publication Die Jugendsinternationale. An International Youth Bureau was set-up by Willi Münzenberg in Bern.

During the war many of the affiliated youth organizations passed through splits.

On November 20, 1919 the IVSJO held its first conference after the war. In a beer-hall in Berlin delegations from 12 countries had assembled. The conference decided to change the name to 'Young Communist International'. The main organizer behind the Berlin conference was Willi Münzenberg, recently released from jail. This meeting was later referred to as the First Congress of YCI.

In 1921 the Second Congress was held. It was initially open on April 6 in Jena. Four days later the venue was shifted to Berlin, due to security considerations. Then again the venue was shifted, on instructions from ECCI, to Moscow, were it convened between June 9 and June 23. The 3rd congress of ComIntern was held in Moscow immediately afterwards. The ComIntern congress adopted a resolution on the youth movement. The YCI organization was streamlined along the structure of the ComIntern and YCI member organization were obliged to adopt the name 'Young Communist League' followed by their national denomination.

The highest organ between the congresses was the Executive Committee of the Communist Youth International. Münzenberg was succeeded by Voja Vujović (who later died in a Gulag) as the general secretary of YCI.

In 1943 the YCI was dissolved along with the Comintern.

• YCI archive
• The Communist International and the Communist Youth Movement, resolution of the 3rd Congress of the Communist International