ABSTRACT
The youth movement was not intended to be a political organization; 'Our lack of purpose is our strength' was its most frequently repeated tenet. Political parties and organizations tried to draw the promising youth movement into their orbit. In international affairs the youth movement was altogether innocent; members of the Altwandervogel went for their first trip to England in July 1909 and visited some Boy Scout camps, but in contrast to the trips of the twenties there was no political intention or significance behind this. Few if any members of the youth movement studied political theory, but almost all read novels with a political message. The story of Helmut Harringa, the man who abstained had an enormous success in the youth movement and among a wide circle outside it; 320,000 copies were sold in a few years; even the Berlin liberal papers were enthusiastic despite the fact that they had been roundly abused beforehand by the author, Hermann Popert.
