The Fifth World Festival of Youth and Students (WFYS) was held in 1955, in Warsaw, the capital of the then People's Republic of Poland.
The World Federation of Democratic Youth organized this festival during the rise of the peaceful coexistence concept introduced by Nikita Khrushchev among the socialist bloc. At the end of the 1950s, the colonialism was in its last years, and in the same year, the Bandung Conference was held. The conference strongly criticized the western powers for keeping theirs colonial possessions. The need for a struggle against the danger of nuclear annihilation and for the end of colonialism dominated the festival.
More than 30,000 young people from 114 countries participated in this edition of the festival.
The motto of the festival was For Peace and Friendship – Against the Aggressive Imperialist Pacts.
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