RECENT INFORMATION CONCERNING THE SEVENTH WORLD YOUTH FESTIVAL, VIENNA, 25 JULY - 4 AUGUST 1959

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-00915R001100070001-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 20, 1998
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: August 1, 1959
• Content Type: REPORT

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Recent Information Concerning the Seventh World
Youth Festival, Vienna, 26 July - 4 August 1959'
1. WFDY and Festival propaganda reflect Soviet deter-
mination to hold the Festival in Vienna "come what may"'.
Alarmed by the Free World youth and student opposition to
the Festival developing in early 1959 in sympathy with
Austrian youth and student organizations' protests and.
boycott, the Festival's Permanent Commission ('PC)l in
Vienna and the WFDY have made a herculean effort
since February 1959 to launch a massive, world-wide
counteraction campaign? Komsomolskaya Pravda on
18 April 1959 stated. that the PC had sent out about 20, 000
letters in early April 1959 alone, while two months earlier
the WFDY'had provided all National Festival Preparatory
Committees and WFDY-IUS affiliates with letters and
literature containing point-by-point rebuttals of the
principal arguments of those advocating boycott of the
Festival.. The WFDY also furnished these organizations with
a twelve-page list of the names and addresses of all sorts
of Austrian youth and student organizations (sports,
cultural, political, religious, factory and trade union
groups,. etc.) and urged them to organize an excliangge of
correspondence with. their Austrian counterparts as
quickly' as possible to secure either Austrian participation
at the Festival or 'agreement to meet during the Festival
to discuss common problems and e,tchange informatiion.
The WFDY urged these organizations "to'make use of all
means of propaganda" (e..g. radio brbadcasts beamed to
Austria,.' transmittal of photographs and newsclipfings and
magazine articles,. in German if possible) to convince not
only Austrian youth and students but also prominent or
influential Austrian personalities (M. P. 's', journalists,
government officials) of the purported' breadth and'
representative character of support and preparations for the
Festival' in each country.
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2. In addition. to the correspondence offensive, greater
emphasis than ever before has been placed on direct contacts
with key Free World youth leaders- -either by bringing
their to Vienna to work for one or two weeks with the PC
or by having PC members or WFDY-IUS officials travel
widely--in order to stimulate the type of support and
national preparatory activity desired and to help salve
specific problems in various countries.
3. Although the tempo of preparatory activity in the
Free World has increased as the Festival draws near,
reports indicate that such activity is still generally lagging
behind that achieved during a similar stage in preparations
for the Sixth World Youth Festival. However, this time
more Free World delegates are being brought to Communist
China and the Soviet Union for one to four weeks ! pre -
Festival travel (which of course provides ample opportunity
for formally or informally training, briefing or generally
indoctrinating such delegates). Greater effort is also
being made to obtain participation of Festival delegates'
at special "international youth camps" (run by WFDY-IUS
affiliates with WFDY-IUS support, primarily in the Bloc
and to a lesser extent in Free Europe) both before and after
the Festival. The organizers are also attempting to
attract large,nurnbers of young Free World tourists to
Vienna during the Festival, by having the National
Festival Committees publicize many greatly reduced
post-Festival round-trip tours from Vienna to various
Soviet bloc countries and the Soviet Union. As "baittt,
the., organizers' Bloc affiliates are making available
to delegates a large number of post-Festival travel
grants in the Soviet Bloc (including 350 travel grants to
the USSR alone for '!discussion groups and study trips").
Special effort will undoubtedly be made to get "desirable"
representatives from non-affiliated organizations to
attend the WFDY's Assembly of Member (7rganizations
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(Prague, 10-16 August 1959) as "observers". By having
large numbers of tourists in Vienna during the Festival
(who would probably be able to attend all activities except
those in which some type of discussion or "comments
from the floor" could occur), the organizers could ensure
that the general "mass character" of the Festival would
compare favorably with previous Festivals without
jeopardizing the over-all security and cadre control,
4. Reports indicate that the quotas of many national
delegations have been changed--in some instances increased
but: in most instances cut back somewhat--from allocations
made by the PC in June 1958, It is not yet clear to what
extent such changes represent voluntary reductions made
by National Festival Committees themselves for various
reasons (e. g. , inability to fill allocated quotas because
of governmental proscription or interference, opposition
by non-Communist youth and student organizations, lack
of adequate funds, or in order to screen out potentially
.disruptive elements and maintain firmer Communist
delegation control), or whether they represent changes
:made at the request of the PC (e. g. , for political, logistic,
financial or security reasons). The following. changes have
'been reported at this time from allocations originally made
by the PC in June 1958:
a. Middle Eastern participation has reportedly been
reduced by about 46%, or by about 840 delegates.
This reduction includes the previously allocated
600-strong United Arab Republic delegation
that will not be sent, ostensibly for financial
reasons. A small "unofficial" UAR contingent
will, however, probably attend. Only the Iraqi
delegation was increased (purportedly by 50
delegates), while the Israeli and Jordanian
delegations were reduced by 50 delegates each
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anal. the Indian delegation by 100.
b. Free European participation has purportedly
been reduced by about 22% (or by about 1, 545
delegates). The two largest reductions thus
far are for Yugoslavia (from 450 to 250 delegates)
and Finland (from 700 to 450).
c. Free Asian participation has reportedly been cut
back about 17%, or by about 75 delegates (including
50 less from Indonesia and 10 less from Laos and
Thailand). The Philippines Government has
announced that it will not permit delegates to
attend the Festival.
d. Over-all African participation remains about the
same, despite changes in quotas of individual
delegations. The following delegations have
reportedly been increased by about 33% since
June 1958 (or by about 5 to 10 more delegates in
most cases): Middle Congo, French Guinea,
Madagascar, Nigeria and Upper Volta. The
Moroccan quota. (accidentally omitted by the PC
in June 1958) has now been set at 120. The following
delegations have, however, reportedly been
reduced by more than 60% (ranging from 3 to
30 less delegates): Gambia, Kenya, Mauritius,
Mozambique, Ruanda-Urundi and Zanzibar.
Ethiopian participation is purportedly cut back
about 33%, Tunisian about 20% less and Ghanaian
about 29% less. Reports indicate that delegates
from the Sudan and possibly other;African countries
will not be allowed to leave their respective
countries to attend the Festival.
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e, Latin American participation has purportedly
been increased by about 15% from the June
1958 PC regional allocation, or by about 200
more delegates. The reported major increases
are for Argentina (50 more delegates), Brazil
(100 more) and Venezuela (20 more). The
following reductions, however, have been
reported: Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras,
Peru and Paraguay have been reduced by
about 25% to 33% (or some 5 to 20 delegates
less in each case); Cuba reduced by 12% (or
10 less), Uruguay by 22% (or 20 less); the
largest reductions reported are-for Bolivia (.5QP ),
Costa Rica (66%) and Nicaragua (75%).
f. North American participation remains about
the same.
Sino-Soviet bloc participation has reportedly
been reduced by almost 16%, or by about 865
delegates than those allocated by the PC in
June 1958. Only the Czech, Hungarian, Polish
and Soviet delegations have not been reduced,
with the Hungarian delegation reportedly being
increased by about 50 delegates, Such cutbacks
would, of course, permit more housing space
to be made available for Free World delegates
and would also permit greater control over
individual delegates. This rationale is
substantiated by the report that delegations from
countries bordering on the Danube (Bulgaria,
Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Rumania) are
to be housed on the ships on which they travel
to Vienna. Other Bloc dele ati.ons may be
similarly housed. Reports indicate that special
briefing and training is being given Bloc
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delegates; on how to behave and how to' answer
provocative questions.
5. Although it is not yet clear how firm these changes
might be, it is apparent,; that greatly increased financial .
aid will have to be forthcoming from Festival organizers if
delegation quotas in many, countries are to be met. As
a result, the organizers may be, expected to provide a
large number of last-minute travel grants to various
National Festival Committees, particularly for key
individuals in target countries who would otherwise. not
attend. The organizers may also be expected to help fill
certain deficient national delegation quotas by coopting
as "delega.tes" trusted nationals studying, working or
traveling outside their countries in Free Europe or in the
Soviet bloc. This may be especially true in cases where
governments have proscribed attendance by their
nationals, or where National Festival Committees in
distant areas have been unable to raise sufficient funds
to defray travel expenses. Estimates of the over-all
number of delegates expected to attend range from
:15, 0.00 to 20, 000; however, the PC's June 1958 allocation
of some 17, 000 is still more frequently reported by the
organizers. Of the total, the sponsors claim some
2,000 delegates will be students. Allegedly, over
1, 000 youth organizations will be represented.
6. This time greater responsibility has been and will
be, given to the Communist cadre of each National Festival
Committee and Free World national delegation to maintain
strong control over its delegates and thus help insure
over-all security. Each.delegate must be selected or
approved by the National Festival Committee in his
country and each Committee has been advised to screen
out any potential provocateur or troublemaker. Each
delegate must advise his National Committee in advance
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what meetings and sem nails he desires to attend and his
proposed role in each, e. g. , delivering a report at`the
Meeting of Young Metal, Workers on what is being done
in, his country to help p'rotect the health of young metal
workers. ('Because only a very few delegates from each
country,can ,attend the relatively small meetings-and
seminar's., each National Committee is to select those
purportedly be.st qualified to attend the special meeting
in;question.) Each delegation is to bring along its own
contingent of interpreters. They will service the, delegates in their general contacts--arid, to ~t) a 6ktent
that.delegates do not know German, French, o,r E'nglis:h,
will act as a very effective control over their =activities.
Such interpreters will, of course, be supplemerite'd
by. other "reliable s " provided by the PC, by the World
Peace Council, the Free Austrian Youth, other Communist
mass organizations in Austria, and the WFDY and the
IUS. The Communist cadre in each National Committee
and/or delegation is also to set up "criteria" on the basis
of which certain delegates will be selected for post-
'Festival travel grants. It is not known whether the
Committee merely recommends those it considers
"qualified" to the PC,. the WFDY, IUS or one of their
Bloc affiliates, which then actually makes the selection,
or whether each national Com:xntanist cadre; snakes .:,,.;
its own selections for these bodies. Finally, reports
indicate that far more Soviet bloc scholarships than
ever before will be awarded to delegates (particularly
from Asia and Africa) at the Festival. The WFDY-IUS
national affiliates probably make advisory recommendations
to the issuing group which makes the actual selections.
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