ABSTRACT
The idea of a Socialist youth movement had been in the air for some time; in Vienna there was a fairly sizeable group already in existence; and in Mannheim in South-west Germany, an association of young workers was founded in September 1904 without any such dramatic and tragic stimulus as that which prompted similar action in Berlin. The history of the Socialist youth belongs only in part to our story of the youth movement. In many important respects the Socialist youth movement differed from the Wandervogel: it represented common political and economic aspirations rather than a common emotional experience. The Socialist youth organization was always something of a problem child for the party leadership. The history of the Protestant youth groups goes back to the early nineteenth century. Small Bible-reading circles were founded to provide spiritual comfort and moral support to the uprooted young workers who streamed into the cities from the countryside.
