2. The Communist Union usually known as Komsomol. It was the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Komsomol in its earliest form was established in urban centers in 1918. During the early years, it was a Russian organization, known as the Russian Communist Union of Youth, or RKSM. During 1922 it was reformed as an all- union agency, the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), named Vsesoyuznii Leninskii Kommunisticheskii Soyuz Molodyozhi (VLKSM)

3. The Youth The Bolsheviks saw Russian youth as ideologically promising because it was more removed, if not free, from pre- revolutionary influence. If the Party could attract a mass of young people, the regime would be stable for years to come. Therefore, the Bolsheviks attempted to influence and politicise every aspect of youth culture, both public and private.

4. Honors The Komsomol received three Orders of Lenin, one Order of the Red Banner, one Order of the Red Banner of Labour, and one Order of the October Revolution. The asteroid 1283 Komsomolia is named after the Komsomol. 1996 Soviet Union stamp dedicated to Komsomol.

5. Yefim Tsetlin (1918–1919) Oscar Rivkin (1918–1921) Abramovich Shatskin (1921–1922) Piotr Smorodin (1922–1924) Nicholas Chaplin (1924–1928) Alexander Milchakov (1928–1929) Alexander Kosarev (1929–1938) Nikolai Mikhailov (1938–1952) Alexander Shelepin (1952–1958) Vladimir Semichastny (1958–1959) Sergei Pavlov (1959–1968) Yevgeny Tyazhelnikov (1968–1977) Boris Pastukhov (1977–1982) Victor Maksimovic (1982–1986) Viktor Mironenko (1986–1990) Vladimir Zyukin (1990–1991)

7. The Ideal Komsomolets Smoking, drinking, religion, and any other activity the Bolsheviks saw as threatening were discouraged as “hooliganism”. The Komsomol sought to provide them with alternative leisure activities that promoted the improvement of society, such as volunteer work, sports, and political and drama clubs. These efforts proved largely unsuccessful, since the Bolshevik Party and the Komsomol were not in touch with Soviet youths’ desires and thus were not able to manipulate them. Soviet youth remained relatively politically unaware or uninterested during the NEP period.

9. K BK B O AO A M DM D S GS G O EO EMOl

10. Komsomol Badge

11. Soldier's Valour sign of the Central Committee of the Komsomol

12. Soviet Union stamp, 1970, CPA 3897. XVI Congress of VLKSM

13. The sign of the winner of Lenin Komsomol