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Richard Cochrane is trained in chemistry and metallurgy but is far more interested and practiced as a political and fund raising consultant, writer and amateur historian. He grew up in a Navy family and with his two younger brothers carried on its 500+ year tradition of naval service to Great Britain and the USA then enjoyed a career with one of the largest advertising and public relations agencies working with numerous Fortune 500 companies and many of America's premier educational institutions. He maintains friendships and acquaintanceships around the world. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.

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Remembering The "Good" Old Days

November 18th, 2008 • Richard Cochrane
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Young Communist League Celebrates 90th Anniversary

The 90th Anniversary of the Komsomol - Young Communist League – was celebrated last week in Russia. The youth wing of the Communist Party disbanded after an unsuccessful August 1991 coup attempt by communist hardliners against the reformist rule of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and the USSR was collapsing. Far from everyone is happy and since two-thirds of adult Russians are estimated to have been members of the the organization continues to hold fond memories for many of them.

The Komsomol was formed at the First All-Russia Congress of the Workers' and Peasants' Youth Lea­gues in 1918. The youngest members were 14 years old and the oldest 28. The organization provided many “volunteer” members for mass construction projects across the U.S.S.R.

The organization had tens of millions of members at its peak, and as perestroika allowed limited private enterprise, many of its top members were in positions to gain an advantage in business through membership of Russian Regional and State Anti-Monopoly Committees.

Vladimir Sungorkin, the editor of one of the most popular newspapers in Russia today, Komsomolskaya Pravda (Komsomol Truth) said that he believed the Soviet youth organization had been founded on ad­mirable principles.

Sungorkin editorialized that “The Komsomol was founded on Christian, humanitarian ideals, the ideas of equality and brotherhood," opining that its rubbish that many tried to avoid it. He failed to mention that during Stalin’s time teenagers were obliged to join Komsomol or explain why not. It is incorrect to compare membership in it to the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts

Modern day Russia also has a number of state-backed youth organizations, the most prominent of which is Nashi (Ours). However, these movements do not enjoy anything like “popularity” of the Komsomol. says an article in this week’s Moscow News Weekly that some insist on comparing to Time or Newsweek.

A number of events are planned to mark the 90th anniversary of the Komsomol and will take place across Russia on Wednesday, November 19. On October 26, a concert marking the anniversary took place at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow.

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