The International Union of Students (IUS) was a worldwide nonpartisan association of university student organizations. The IUS was the umbrella organization for 155 such students' organizations across 112

countries A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state (polity), state, nation, or other polity, political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, so ...

and

territories A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

representing approximately 25 million students. This was recognised by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

granting the IUS a consultative status in

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

. The primary aim of the IUS was to defend the rights and interests of students to promote improvement in their welfare and standard of education and to prepare them for their tasks as democratic citizens. It collapsed in the 2000s due to an unreliable membership system and a lack of grassroots engagement.

Aim and work areas

The aims of the IUS were spelled out in the 1946 preamble to the organization's Constitution:

The purpose of the International Union of Students, which is founded upon the representative student organizations of different countries, shall be to defend the rights and interests of students to promote improvement in their welfare and standard of education and to prepare them for their tasks as democratic citizens.

According to the IUS's entry in the

Non-Governmental Organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

list, the priority work areas of the IUS were: "Exchange of information, defence of students' status,

peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

, environment, development,

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

Activities

The IUS worked through: *Issuing ''Student Statements'' *''Circular News Letters'' and ''Calls for Action'' to members *Celebration of the International Students' Day on November 17 *Organizing ''Student Conferences''

Logo symbolism

The logo and flag of the IUS is a burning torch and an open book set against the red and blue outline of a stylized globe. It symbolizes youth's persistent quest for knowledge.

History

The Soviet Union 1971 CPA 4029 stamp (Federation Emblem (Globe) and Students of Different Nationalities)

Early history 1946–1956

The International Union of Students was founded in Prague on August 27, 1946. Student organizations from 62 countries participated in its founding envisioning a more inclusive successor to the short lived 1941-1944 International Council of Students (also known as the International Students' Council) which was set up on the initiative of the British National Union of Students to maintain open lines of communication with student organizations in allied countries during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. From its earliest inception, the IUS was marked by a fundamental schism:

"The spirit of ost-warco-operation and the desire to prevent a resurgence of fascism in Europe brought together otherwise divergent groups. The main divisions, evident even at the founding congress, were between the Communist student organizations, which gained control of the executive bodies of the IUS from the beginning, and the student unions from
western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
, many of which were primarily interested in preserving the idea of a non-political international agency which would provide concrete services to the students of various countries"

In response to the increasingly partisan Communist course of the IUS and the broad powers of its secretariat and executive committee to initiate new policy programmes on behalf of the members, several non-Communist members withdrew their membership in the following years. Following which the IUS also referred itself as

Independent Federation of Left-Wing and Alternative Student Unions Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

. Consequently, 21 such break-away national students organizations met in Stockholm in 1950 to form the

International Student Conference International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

(ISC) as a nonpartisan rival organization to the pro-Communist IUS.Altbach, Philip G. (1970): 'The International Student Movement'; Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 5, No. 1, p. 163Kehr, Marguerite (1958): 'The International Program of the USNSA'; The Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 29, No. 6. (June, 1958), p. 317 Notable among these founders was the United States

National Student Association The United States National Student Association (NSA) was a confederation of college and university student governments that was in operation from 1947 to 1978. Founding and early years The NSA was founded at a conference at the University of Wis ...

(USNSA or NSA) though "Anglo-Saxons, Scandinavians and Dutch wielded the greatest influence n the ISC. At the time of the formation of the ISC, the dominant view in later analyses is that the IUS had become Communist controlled to such a degree that it is often referred to as a

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

Communist

front organization A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy ...

with the IUS and ISC aligned along the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

fronts toward the

and the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

respectively.Lyonette, Kevin (1966): 'Student Organisations in Latin America'; International Affairs" (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-), Vol. 42, No. 4. (October, 1966), p. 660 A dissenting view that the IUS was strongly influenced by

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes th ...

and

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

but not ''de facto'' controlled by Soviet Communist interests, has also been expressed, however, by Trotskyist Lawrence Brammer:

"It is significant that several former IUS officers later became outspoken liberals in Czechoslovakia and in the French and Italian Communist Parties. The outward pro-Soviet orientation of the IUS often obscured real differences within the organization"

IUS activities in this period included Student Games held by the IUS Sports Council. The first such games were held in Paris in 1946 and were subsequently integrated into the World Youth Festivals (also known as

World Festival of Youth and Students The World Festival of Youth and Students is an international event organized by the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) and the International Union of Students after 1947. History The festival has been held regularly since 1947 as an ev ...

) which the IUS co-sponsored with the equally Communist oriented

World Federation of Democratic Youth The World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) is an international youth organization, and has historically characterized itself as left-wing and anti-imperialist. WFDY was founded in London in 1945 as a broad international youth movement, ...

(WFDY). Such festivals brought up to 30,000 youth and students together for a social, cultural and sporting eventAltbach, Philip G. (1970): 'The International Student Movement'; Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 171-172 (see

IUS from 1956–1969

From 1956 onwards, the IUS and ISC competed to attract student unions non-aligned in the

sense. Focus was on

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and recruitment of member unions from here resulted in a broader political base for the IUS. Activities in this period included among others regional student seminars, donation of duplication machines and cameras to help affiliates, the establishment of student Health Centres in India, international student conferences as well as the publication in German, Russian and Czech of the ''World Student News'' journal of the IUS, the ''Democratic Education'' journal of the IUS, and topical pamphlets concerning education. More spectacularly, the IUS continued to co-sponsor World Youth Festivals with the

(WFDY). It was well known from the outset that the IUS was funded by Soviet and Czech government contributions:

"The cost of international meetings, large-scale publications, and the other activities in which they engage, are beyond the financial resources of university students"

However, the IUS's inability to win leadership in

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

student movements in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

despite its many activities caused the

to re-evaluate its support.Altbach, Philip G. (1970): 'The International Student Movement'; Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 5, No. 1, p. 173 The major challenge for the IUS in this period turned out to be its preoccupation with an ideological agenda rather than a focus on actual student concerns and affairs. As a consequence of this stance, the organization became detached from its student base and was circumvented by grassroots movements in, e.g. the planning of international

anti-war An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to p ...

demonstrations in relation to the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. The major achievements of the IUS in this period were therefore firstly helping create national student unions in developing countries and secondly aiding student union members with information and idea exchange. The dissolution of the IUS's rival organization the

(ISC) owing to lack of funds became a reality in 1969. The demise of the ISC were hastened by the 1967 revelation that the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

had indirectly funded the ISC and recruited student representatives from the United States

(USNSA) to actively oppose

Communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

in the IUS. This undermined both the financial and student political support of the ISC leaving, once again, the IUS as the only worldwide student organization.

IUS from 1970–present

This period in IUS history is marked by the chairmanship of the same chairman from 1977 to 1986 under whom a flurry of international IUS activity took place in 1979. The most significant event of the period for the IUS, however, was the turmoil the organization encountered after the 1989 - 1991

fall of Communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...

(see also

) during which the IUS lost most of its funding.Fine, Philip (2003): 'International Union of Students Marks Its Comeback With Call For Worldwide Day of Protest'; The Times Higher Education Supplement, TSL Education Limited, August 8, 2003, No.1601; Pg.2 Additionally, in August 1991, the

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...

Minister of the Interior decided to expel the IUS and other Communist

front organizations A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy ...

from

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

.The British Broadcasting Corporation (1992): 'International organisations protest expulsion from Czechoslovakia'; BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, January 15, 1992, Part 2 Eastern Europe; A. INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS; 1. GENERAL AND WESTERN AFFAIRS; EE/1278/A1/ 1 The reasons given for the expulsion were close ties with the old Communist regime and abuse of tax privileges granted during the old Communist regime.CTK National News Wire (1992): 'INTERNATIONAL UNION OF STUDENTS ANNOUNCES NEW LEADERSHIP'; CTK National News Wire, April 23, 1992, NEWS Despite the hardships caused by the changing power dynamics of the 1990s, the organization elected a new leadership at its 1992

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

Congress and initiated structural changes of it
Constitution
to renew itself and evolve beyond its Communist past:

"At the 16th Congress of the International Union of Students (IUS), which took place in January 1992 in Larnaca,
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...
, the organisation underwent major changes, including the development of a new constitution. These initiatives were adopted to establish the basis for a more democratic, representative, and independent international student organisation"

The new leadership and its successors continued to make press appearances in, e.g., relation to International Students' Day celebration in Dublin in 1994 and the 1998

World Conference on Higher Education. In August 2003, the International Union of Students marked a comeback by calling for a worldwide day of protest against the inclusion of Higher Education in the WTO's

General Agreement on Trade in Services The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) is a treaty of the World Trade Organization (WTO) which entered into force in January 1995 as a result of the Uruguay Round negotiations. The treaty was created to extend the multilateral trading sy ...

. The IUS is still, however, struggling with its expulsion from its Prague headquarters as of October 2006:

"Most cold war institutions shriveled in the 1990s, along with their superpower backing. The big communist front outfits that fought propaganda wars, awash with cash and stuffed with spies, have fizzled away in a mixture of apathy and swindles. This week's court-enforced auction of a hulking concrete pile in the heart of Prague belonging to one of them, the International Union of Students, was halted amid squabbles among its dozens of creditors"

Members

The IUS had the following members:

Notes

External links

Official website

Old (2002) website

ESU - The European Students' Union: The International Student Movement during the Cold War (1946 - 1969)
*
Communist international front organizations: An analysis of the international union of students
' by John Jay Barr {{Authority control Groups of students' unions International organizations based in the Czech Republic Students' unions International student organizations Organizations based in Prague Communist front organizations Student wings of communist parties Student organizations established in 1946