Soviet female students and youth organizations of the post-war period

Abstract

The analysis of the forms of girls’ participation in youth organizations in the post-war period is preceded by an overview of the socioeconomic situation of Soviet students, their educational status, and the socialization characteristics of the post-war generation. In the context of the mobilization course for the restoration of the post-war economy, the role of youth in economic production is important. A separate section deals with issues of higher education, prospects for educational status, and measures of financial support from the state.

When analyzing the participation of female students in youth organizations, the following aspects are taken into account: the number of students, the requests of the state, their fulfillment, the position of youth and its relations with the authorities; aspirations, interests, orientations of Soviet students, what they consisted of, how they correlated with the state interests, as well as the interests of the whole people.

The article gives a differentiation of youth organizations of the postwar period, considering official and unofficial, amateur associations, youth movements and the extent to which they met the state’s demands. It analyses the causes and consequences of participation in formal youth organizations and informal associations, and presents the objective factors behind the emergence of youth subcultures. It highlights the established contradiction between officially existing forms of participation in public life and the unrealised need for the youth self-expression in the cultural sphere of society.