[3][4] Shortly after the 1945 World Youth Conference, with the onset of the Cold War and Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain speech, the organization was accused by the US State Department of being a "Moscow front".

[5] Like the International Union of Students (IUS) and other pro-Soviet organizations, the WFDY became a target and victim of CIA espionage as well as part of active measures conducted by the Soviet state security.

Shelepin had been a guerilla fighter during World War II (after his work with the WFDY, he was appointed head of Soviet State Security).

[6] Both the WFDY and IUS vocally criticized the Marshall Plan, supported the Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948 and the new People's republics in eastern Europe.

Famous people who participated in festivals included Angela Davis, Yuri Gagarin, Yasser Arafat, Fidel Castro, Vladimir Putin, Ruth First, Jan Myrdal and Nelson Mandela.

We have come to confirm the unity of all youth salute our comrades who have died-and pledge our word that skilful hands, keen brains and young enthusiasm shall never more be wasted in warThe WFDY conducts a General Assembly every four years, the last taking place in Nicosia in 2019.