The Failed World Festival of Youth and Students in Algiers in 1965

In the wake of the anti-war student movement, it was decided to hold the next IX World Festival of Youth and Students in 1965 in Algeria. After a long civil war against French colonial rule, the state gained independence in 1962, choosing a “non-capitalist path of development”. Due to the military coup that took place, the festival had to be canceled. The history of the failed festival has not been reflected in historical research. However, the events that took place around this festival deserve attention, since they influenced the youth movement both in the Soviet Union and around the world. The article analyzes the events that accompanied the preparation of the festival. Ideological differences between the CPSU and the Communist Party of China, which served as the background of these events, had a decisive impact on the international relations of the Komsomol with youth organizations of other countries. Excessive guardianship on the part of the Soviet Union did not allow international and student organizations to agree on the terms of the festival in Algeria in 1965. Based on archival documents and declassified CIA materials, the author comes to the conclusion that by the mid-1960s the influence of the USSR in the world had weakened. Soviet foreign policy was no longer in line with the fermenting “world revolution… of small, poor people all over the world,” as Secretary of State John Marshall put it. New leftist centers were now emerging, often at odds with each other, and the USSR’s authority was no longer sufficient.