Young Communist League of Norway
Encyclopedia
Young Communist League of Norway (Norwegian
: Norges Kommunistiske Ungdomsforbund) was until April 2006 the youth league of Norges Kommunistiske Parti (NKP). April 1st 2006 NKP declared that NKU was no longer its youth organization, and that all youths interested in joining the movement should contact the party directly. NKU still persisted as an organization, however, and held a congress in the middle of May 2006, where it declared its wish to cooperate with NKP, but also to continue on its own if necessary. At the same time NKP organized a conference of their own, where they established a new youth organization for the party, with the same name and logo as the original NKU. This has led to a conflict over the rights to the name, logo, history, international contacts and property of NKU, which lasted until July 2008. The conflict ended in court, where both NKU and NKP was found responsible for the problems that had arisen. However, it was decided that NKU still had the right to their name and logo. Therefore NKP's re-established version of the Youth League, which had taken up several new members since 2006 had to change its name from Young Communist League of Norway (Norges Kommunistiske Ungdomsforbund) to Youth Communists in Norway (Ungkommunistene i Norge) and also change their logo. UngKom took over for NKU as NKP's youth league and view themselves as an incarnation of NKU.
After freezing NKU's membership due to uncertainty over the situation in Norway, the World Federation of Democratic Youth
decided to admit both communist youth organizations in February 2010.
. In 1923 they changed their mother party from the Labour Party to the newly formed communist party, which was formed following a conflict on the membership in Komintern
.
In the 30's the youth league worked together with the communist party against strikebreakers, fascism
and for the establishing of a national front to defend the country against fascism and nazism
.
came to Norway 9 April 1940, the youth communists prepared its organization for illegal work in case the Nazi occupation lead to communist organizations being illegalized. This happened in August the same year, a month before the illegalization of the other political parties
. In addition to the communists being the fascists' and nazis' main enemy, this happened because the communists were the only ones who refused to print Quisling's statement April 10 and already the 16th April communists urged for armed resistance while the other parties urged for calm behavior
Following the illegalization, the youth league's resistance sharpened with the creation of some of Norway's first illegal papers during the war When the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
of 1939 was violated, the Youth Communists intensified their activities further. In the period 1941-1945 the Youth League was part of numerous sabotage-raids against Germans and German-aiding production, several of their members also contributed directly in the war effort. One example of this is Dagny Siblund from Jacobsnes in Finnmark, northern Norway, who fled to the Soviet Union and received training there before being dropped in a parachute over Norway as Norway's first female parachuter. When the war came to an end and the occupation was lifted, the organization had gained so much popularity that several of the Labour Party's Youth Wing leagues joined the communist league instead.
In the next few years the youth league would disagree so much with the communist party that it resulted in an open political conflict within both organizations between the so-called Furubotn-fløy and the Løvlien-fløy.
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
: Norges Kommunistiske Ungdomsforbund) was until April 2006 the youth league of Norges Kommunistiske Parti (NKP). April 1st 2006 NKP declared that NKU was no longer its youth organization, and that all youths interested in joining the movement should contact the party directly. NKU still persisted as an organization, however, and held a congress in the middle of May 2006, where it declared its wish to cooperate with NKP, but also to continue on its own if necessary. At the same time NKP organized a conference of their own, where they established a new youth organization for the party, with the same name and logo as the original NKU. This has led to a conflict over the rights to the name, logo, history, international contacts and property of NKU, which lasted until July 2008. The conflict ended in court, where both NKU and NKP was found responsible for the problems that had arisen. However, it was decided that NKU still had the right to their name and logo. Therefore NKP's re-established version of the Youth League, which had taken up several new members since 2006 had to change its name from Young Communist League of Norway (Norges Kommunistiske Ungdomsforbund) to Youth Communists in Norway (Ungkommunistene i Norge) and also change their logo. UngKom took over for NKU as NKP's youth league and view themselves as an incarnation of NKU.
After freezing NKU's membership due to uncertainty over the situation in Norway, the World Federation of Democratic Youth
World Federation of Democratic Youth
The World Federation of Democratic Youth is a progressive youth organization, recognized by the United Nations as an international youth non-governmental organization. WFDY describes itself as an "anti-imperialist, left-wing" organisation...
decided to admit both communist youth organizations in February 2010.
1903—1940
In 1903 in the city of Drammen as Young Social Democrats of Norway (NSU) as the youth wing of the Norwegian Labour PartyNorwegian Labour Party
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is the senior partner in the current Norwegian government as part of the Red-Green Coalition, and its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, is the current Prime Minister of Norway....
. In 1923 they changed their mother party from the Labour Party to the newly formed communist party, which was formed following a conflict on the membership in Komintern
Komintern
Komintern may refer to:*Comintern, the Communist International*Komintern artillery tractor*Soviet_cruiser_Komintern - Soviet cruiser of the Black Sea Fleet*Malyshev Factory...
.
In the 30's the youth league worked together with the communist party against strikebreakers, fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
and for the establishing of a national front to defend the country against fascism and nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
.
1940—1949
When World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
came to Norway 9 April 1940, the youth communists prepared its organization for illegal work in case the Nazi occupation lead to communist organizations being illegalized. This happened in August the same year, a month before the illegalization of the other political parties
Political Parties
Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...
. In addition to the communists being the fascists' and nazis' main enemy, this happened because the communists were the only ones who refused to print Quisling's statement April 10 and already the 16th April communists urged for armed resistance while the other parties urged for calm behavior
Following the illegalization, the youth league's resistance sharpened with the creation of some of Norway's first illegal papers during the war When the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...
of 1939 was violated, the Youth Communists intensified their activities further. In the period 1941-1945 the Youth League was part of numerous sabotage-raids against Germans and German-aiding production, several of their members also contributed directly in the war effort. One example of this is Dagny Siblund from Jacobsnes in Finnmark, northern Norway, who fled to the Soviet Union and received training there before being dropped in a parachute over Norway as Norway's first female parachuter. When the war came to an end and the occupation was lifted, the organization had gained so much popularity that several of the Labour Party's Youth Wing leagues joined the communist league instead.
In the next few years the youth league would disagree so much with the communist party that it resulted in an open political conflict within both organizations between the so-called Furubotn-fløy and the Løvlien-fløy.
1949—Present
The youth league became less prominent in Norwegian politics as the communist party lost its seats in the Storting. In 1967 a right-wing faction in the youth league was excluded from the communist party, but the faction had majority control over the central part of the communist youth league resulting in the youth league suspending to be the youth league of the communist party. In response to this the communist party established a new youth league called Communist Youth (KU) which took NKU's seat for a couple of years until NKU died out and they could reclaim the name and logo of the organization. NKU again became the youth wing of the communist party.External links
- Young Communist League of Norway (NKU) The old organization now independent of NKP.
- The Youth Communists in Norway (UngKom) The organization established by NKP to take NKU's place.