All-Union Pioneer Organization was founded

After the victorious October revolution in different cities and towns of the country appeared youth organizations, groups and associations. The Bolsheviks Party taking into consideration the experience of self-organization of children and youth as well as the importance of public movement for the young generation education, charged Komsomol with creation of the united Youth Communist Organization.

On May 19, 1922 at the 2nd All-Russian Komsomol conference it was decided to create everywhere Young Pioneer units. In October of the same year the 5th All-Russian congress of the Russian Communist Youth Union resolved to unite all pioneer units of different Russian cities and towns into the Youth Communist Organization ‘Young Pioneers n. a. Spartacus’.

On January 21, 1924 upon the Komsomol Central Committee resolution the Young Pioneer Organization was named after V. I. Lenin. In March of 1926 it was given the official name: the All-Union Lenin Pioneer Organization (which remained until the end). The mass youth communist organization was of across-the-board state character and had for the objective to educate children as citizens completely devoted to the Communist Party and the Soviet state.

The significant role in creation of children’s organization had played one of the Scouting ideologists in pre-revolutionary Russia Innocent Nikolaevich Zhukov. It was his idea to call the organization ‘pioneer’, to keep Scouts’ motto ‘Be ready!’, to develop gaming forms of educational work with children and other positive aspects of Scouting movement. The division into units, the institute of leaders, gathering around campfire, symbols elements – all of it was adopted from Scouts.

It was the Communist Union of Youth that guided the Pioneer Organization activity.

Pioneer units took part in illiteracy liquidation, assisted in struggles with homelessness, organized community work days, etc. During the Great Patriotic War pioneers collected money for defense, worked at factories and collective farms’ fields, helped to take care of wounded, gave concerts in hospitals, sent warm clothes for soldiers. Many teenage pioneers fought the enemy on the battlefronts and were members of partisan detachments. Over 20.000 of them were awarded with medals ‘For Moscow defense’. Four pioneers – Zinaida Portnova, Leonid Golikov, Marat Kazei and Valentin Kotik were conferred the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

During several decades the All-Union Lenin Pioneer Organization had united children and teenagers aged 10-14 and contributed to Communist education of young generation. Its activity included the all-Union campaigns, festivals, games, sport competitions such as ‘Zarnitsa’ (summer lightning), ‘Soviet units marches’ (‘My motherland is USSR’), ‘Leather ball’ and ‘Golden puck’. There had been numerous pioneer actions: ‘Let’s decorate our Motherland with gardens!’, labor operation ‘Pioneerstroy’ (1966) initiated by Leningrad pioneers, operation ‘Chukotka’ (Chukchi Peninsula) meant to construct Pioneer Palace in Anadyr conducted at the call of Moscow pioneer organization from 1969 to 1974, etc.

By 1970 the all-Union Pioneer Organization had united 23 million young pioneers in more than 118 000 pioneer squads.

In the end of 1980s the all-Union Pioneer Organization rejected the political tinge and took a new motto: ‘For Motherland, good and justice’.

In 1990 at the 10th All-Union rally in ‘Artek’ the all-Union Lenin Pioneer Organization was reorganized into the international ‘Union of Pioneer Organizations – Federation of Youth Unions’, the international volunteer independent union consolidating youth social organizations and associations formed with participation of children and in their interests. ‘The Union of Pioneer Organizations - Federation of Youth Unions’ was registered by the RF Ministry of Justice in 1992 as a non-government public organization independent of political parties and movements.

Lit.: Всесоюзная пионерская организация имени В. И. Ленина: Документы и материалы. М., 1981; Всесоюзная пионерская организация им. В. И. Ленина. Положение о Всесоюзной пионерской организации им. В. И. Ленина. Рига, 1987; Всесоюзная пионерская организация: уроки истории. Кострома, 2001; Дружинин В. В. Детское движение в России. М., 2004; Куценко Т. А., Фурин С. А. Всесоюзная пионерская организация // Большая советская энциклопедия. Т. 5. М., 1971; Марш юных пионеров // Долматовский Е. А. Рассказы о твоих песнях. М., 1973. С. 77-80; То же [Электронный ресурс] URL: http://simvolika.rsl.ru/upload/files/folder_46/young.pdf; Пионерское движение: теория, история, методика: Сб. науч. тр. Хабаровск, 2002; СПО-ФДО — Международный союз детских общественных объединений «Союз пионерских организаций — Федерация детских организаций». 2006-2012 [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://www.upo-fco.ru/.