Pioneer movement

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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.

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. 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 "We are Ernst Thälmann pioneers. We wear our red scarf with pride."

1 Countries with Pioneer movements
2 Pioneer movements of the past
3 See also
4 Reference
5 External links

[edit] Countries with Pioneer movements

The Pioneer Movement currently exists in:

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^[1].
North Korea (Young Pioneer Corps)
Tajikistan (King Somoni Inheritance)
USA (Bolivarian Youth) - whether it is a pioneer movement or not is disputable
Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh Young Pioneers' Brigade, established on May 15, 1941^[2])
Finland (Democratic Union of Finnish Pioneers)
Cyprus (EDON)
Russia
Spain (Pioneers of the Communist Party of the Basque Homelands)

Older children could continue in other communist organizations, but that would typically be done only by a limited number of people who might be destined for an elite position in the communist society.

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