THE MARI REGIONAL KOMSOMOL ORGANIZATION IN THE 1920–1930s: THE EXPERIENCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL EVOLVEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT

Studying the experience of the formation evolvement and development of the youth movement is relevant in scientific and practical terms, since the future of any state depends on youth. Currently the closest attention from both the state and the society is paid to formation of various youth organizations. The purpose of the study is to determine the place and the role of the youth of the Mari Autonomous Region in the transformations which took place in the country and the region in the first decade after the region’s formation, to show the successes and difficulties of the growth of the Komsomol ranks and to find out their causes. Materials and methods. The article is based on the principle of historicism, objectivity, and a comprehensive analysis of the youth’s problems conducted at the level of an individual region of the RSFSR. The reference sources were materials from the state archives of the Republic of Mari El, the Chuvash Republic, and sources from the funds of the State Archive of the Russian Federation and the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History were used. Research results. The disparate initial forms of youth associations and circles in the territory of the modern Republic of Mari El first acquired organizational features in 1919 with the formation of the Komsomol, which took a monopoly position in 1924. The numerical strength of this organization began to increase actively since 1923 when the difficult years of revolution and famine ended, and reached its maximum strength during the years of industrialization and the beginning of collectivization. The priority tasks of the organized youth were: famine relief, support for the Bolsheviks during the Civil War, in peacetime – political education, organization of sports. The All–Union development programs were implemented through the Komsomol – organizing youth shock workers; brigades, organization of social competition, the activities of propaganda teams during creation of collective farms. At this, some Komsomol members refused to join collective farms and showed little activity in the physical culture movement. A feature of the movement was its organization in a forest area with large distances between settlements, where mostly the non-Russian peasant population lived. In 1929, the Mari Komsomol became involved in international activities and established contacts with the Yugoslav youth movement. Conclusions. The youth made a significant contribution to the national economy restoration and establishment of peaceful life in the region. Komsomol members had to be active in conditions of famine and devastation, to solve issues of achieving equality of different population groups , the development of agricultural technologies, the fight against illiteracy on the basis of new political ideological tasks for that era.