Evening star., 1932-05-15

The movement caused q great up
heaval IN German life. While previous
ly young people were expected to give
unthinking allegiance only to their par
ents and elders, now they began to give
loyalty to the group to which they be-
longed. The need for recreation and for
certain anodyne among the boys and
girls Of the former middle classes, which
had been hardest hit by the imitation,
made it mass movement of the Ger
man bourgeois.
Meanwhile there has grown up a new
generation which took no part in the
war. 1t was brought up by bitter men
and women who had lost caste. The
nerves Of these young people were in
tatters and they were an easy prey to
the first demagogue who took the trouble
to convert them to his political faith.
And the mystical nonsense of the Ma
tional Socialists found ready response
in their hearts. The young people
banded themselves together in the
"Buende" organization un-
der the leadership of ex-soldiers. The
student organization, which theoretically
embraces all the $4,000 university stu
dents in Germany, is said to be 80 per
cent nationaliStic. Two-thirds of the
Natonalists are Nazis.
AITH the exception of Russia and
italy, where the state organizes
youth, the young men of Germany are
best equipped for the protection Of their
political ideals. The traditions of the old
'Wandervoegel" still are carried on by a
number of organizations.
1t is curious fact that France has
virtually no youth movement. Whatever
political activity her young people dis
play is on the side of the royalists. I'm
der the auspices of L'Action Franchise,
monarchist daily, guided by two such
eminent authors as Leon Daudet and
Charles Maurras, a handful of young
royalists, known as the "Camelots du
Roi," are making occasional noises in
the boulevards of the capital Their lat
est act was disruption of mass meet
ing in the Trocadero, at which the ways
and means Of disarmament were to be
discussed. Outside of Paris the Came
lots du Roi" have no foothold and their
influence, therefore, Is strictly limited.
French radicals and liberals have re-
Gently been endeavoring to bring youth
movements Of their own into life 1t
cannot be said. however, that much sue
cess has attended these efforts. Prob
ably the largest of their organizations is
lie Ligue de B0nte," Socialist auxil-
iary with an official membership of 5000
young people. The main object of the
league is to cultivate higher ethical
conception among young men and wom-
en-, free from the influence of the church.
A peculiar characteristic of whatever
there is of French youth movement is
its association with newspapers La
Renaissance Politique, newspaper for
the young friends of the League of Ma
tions, focuses attention on the younger
generations duty toward the world or
ganization in Geneva. La Jeune Repub-
hque is a Radical Socialist periodical for
the young people.
THE birth pangs of the English youth
movement have been referred to by
c. Patrick Thompson in recent article.
He mentioned the desire of the Prince
OF Wales to have such movement
launched on an extensive scale The
difficulties confronting the movement in
Britain are somewhat similar to those
prevailing in the United States. In Eng
land, too, there Is tendency among
young and old alike to leave the s0lu-
ton Of political problems to professional
politicians.
bird's-eye view of the political youth
movements of the Old World shows that
in countries with distinct political mes
sage. such as Italy and Russia, and in
countries where public opinion Is divided
ON the most vital issues, the youth move