Pioneer movement

A pioneer movement is an organization for children operated by a communist party. Typically children enter into the organization in elementary school and continue until adolescence. The adolescents then typically joined Komsomol or a similar organization. Prior to the 1990s there was a wide cooperation between pioneer and similar movements of about 30 countries, coordinated by the international organization, "International Committee of Children's and Adolescents' Movements" (French: "Comité international des mouvements d'enfants et d'adolescents", CIMEA), founded in 1958, with headquarters in Budapest.

Overview

In most socialist countries, membership of the pioneer movement is officially optional. Many features of the pioneer movement made it essentially different from Scout movement, particularly as the Scout movement is independent of government control and political parties. For example, there were no separate organizations for boys and girls. During the existence of the USSR, thousands of Young Pioneer camps and Young Pioneer Palaces were built exclusively for Young Pioneers, which were free of charge, sponsored by the government and Trade Unions. There were a lot of newspapers and magazines published for Young Pioneers in millions of copies.

Some features, however, are reminiscent of the Scout movement. The two movements share some principles like preparedness and promotion of sports and outdoor skills. The pioneer movement also includes teaching of communist principles. Opponents of Communist states claim that this is a form of indoctrination.

A member of the movement is known as a pioneer, and a scarf--typically red, but sometimes light blue--is the traditional item of clothing worn by a pioneer. The pioneer organization is often named after a famous party member that is considered a suitable role model for young communists.

In the USSR it was Lenin; in East Germany, it was Ernst Thälmann. The Thälmann pioneers were taught the slogan "Ernst Thälmann is my role model. We wear our red scarf with pride." It is notable, that Albania, which had severed diplomatic relations with the USSR since 1961, also had a certain variant of Pioneer organization, called Pioneers of Enver, named after the communist ruler of Albania, Enver Hoxha.

Countries with Pioneer movements

The Pioneer Movement currently exists in:
*Belarus (Belarusian Republican Pioneer Organization)
*Belgium (Pioneers of the Workers Party of Belgium)
*People's Republic of China (Young Pioneers of China)
*Cuba (José Martí Pioneer Organization) Established in 1961; in 2001 it was elected to the Global 500 Roll of Honour of the United Nations Environment Programme for its environmental activities.cite web|title=THE JOSE MARTI PIONEER ORGANIZATION OF CUBA, ONE OF 18 INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS, TO RECEIVE UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT AWARD |work=United Nations Environment Programme|url=http://www.unep.org/Documents.multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=201&ArticleID=2858&l=en|accessmonthday=June 29 |accessyear=2006]
*Cyprus (EDON)
*Finland (Democratic Union of Finnish Pioneers)
*The Czech Republic - Nowadays Pionýr is a non-political organisation organizing leisure time for children, part of the IFM-SEI.
*North Korea (Young Pioneer Corps)
*Russia
*Spain (Pioneers of the Communist Party of the Basque Homelands)
*Tajikistan (King Somoni Inheritance)
*Syria (Baath Party Pioneers)
*Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh Young Pioneers, established on May 15 1941cite web|title=Young Pioneers honoured on Brigade’s 65th anniversary|work=Vietnam News Agency|url=http://vietnamnews.vnanet.vn/showarticle.php?num=01POL130506|accessmonthday=June 29 |accessyear=2006] )

Older children could continue in other communist organizations, but that would typically be done only by a limited number of people.

The communist parties in Russia and other countries continue to run a pioneer organization, but membership tends to be quite limited.

Pioneer movements of the past

* Albania - Pionieret e Enverit - Pioneers of Enver Hoxha
* Bulgaria - Dimitrovist Pioneer Organization "Septemberists". There were also an organization called "chavdarcheta" - these were the youngest children, which later became pioneers. The difference between the two was the distinctive scarf, which was sky-blue in the chavdarcheta movement and red in the pioneri movement.
* Czechoslovakia - Pionýr, part of the Socialist Union of Youth.
* Former Yugoslavia - Pioniri
* GDR - Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation
* Hungary Úttörőszövetség
* Malaŵi - Malaŵi Youth Pioneers - this is atypical as Malaŵi was not a communist country. Its Pioneers were linked to the Malaŵi Congress Party, the only political party allowed in what was at the time a one-party state.
* Norway - Young Pioneers
* People's Republic of Poland - 1950-1956, later ZHP, a mixture of Scouting and pioneering
* Romania - Pioneer Organization
* Soviet Union - Young Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union

See also

*Young Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union
*Young Pioneer camp
*International Falcon Movement - Socialist Education International

* Organizations for older youth:
**Komsomol (Soviet Union)
**Communist Youth League of China
**Union of Communist Youth (Romania)
**Związek Młodzieży Polskiej (Poland), after 1956 Związek Młodzieży Socjalistycznej, after 1976 Polish Socialist Youth Union

References

External links

* [http://www.pioniers.madhatter.be/index.htm Pioneers (Belgium)]
* [http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/tp.htm Rules of Thälmann Pioneers (GDR)]
* [http://www.tsquare.tv/tour/yp.html Young Pioneers (People's Republic of China)]
* [http://www.doanthanhnien.org.vn:81/en Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (Vietnam) ]