Brigada_Jovan_Popovic_cetvrta_ceta_Loznica_1964

Youth work actions (

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia an ...

: ''Omladinske radne akcije'', often abbreviated to ''ORA'', Slovenian: ''Mladinske delovne akcije'') were organized voluntary labor activities of young people in the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Y ...

. The actions were used to build public infrastructure such as roads, railways, and public buildings, as well as industrial infrastructure. The youth work actions were organized on local, republic, and federal levels by the

Young Communist League of Yugoslavia League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia, commonly known in English as the Young Communist League of Yugoslavia, or simply Communist Youth, was the youth wing of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia from 1919 to 1948. Although it was banned just two y ...

, and participants were organized into youth work brigades, generally named after their town or a local

national hero The title of Hero is presented by various governments in recognition of acts of self-sacrifice to the state, and great achievements in combat or labor. It is originally a Soviet-type honor, and is continued by several nations including Belarus, Ru ...

. Important projects built by youth work brigades include the Brčko-Banovići railway, the Šamac-Sarajevo railway, parts of

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, and parts of the Highway of Brotherhood and Unity, which stretches from northern

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

to southern

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. Initial actions were organized during the

Second World War 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 ...

in territories liberated by the partisans. After the war, actions were numerous and massive and the youth brigades made significant contributions to the rebuilding of their country, which was badly ravaged by war. In addition to cheap labor for the state, youth work actions provided a form of free holiday for teenagers. As the country was rebuilt and its economy stabilized, youth work actions went out of fashion. However, they were revived in the late 1970s, in an effort to voluntary organize youth in political and cultural activities, as the work actions proved to play a large role in the socialization of those involved.

References

*Srdić, Milutin, Ed. "Omladinske radne akcije." Pravna enciklopedija. Savremena administracija, Belgrade, 1979.

External links

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