- by Marcus Browning
- The Guardian
- Issue #2143
Nationalism and militarism are being promoted on the election campaign trail, with Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton taking every opportunity to be seen with troops and marking military anniversaries. At the same time the government is actively preparing for war through the AUKUS alliance aimed at China.
It is under the banner of war that in Britain, the US, Australia and Europe long-held democratic rights are being torn up. These reactions by governments are not a sign of strength but of weakness and desperation as progressive movements rise up against reactionary governments in Latin America and as the partnership between the Russian Federation and China becomes stronger by the day.
The rise of the forces of war and fascism extends from the gangster who bludgeoned his way into the Oval Office in Washington to Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians and the fascist coup in Ukraine.
May 9 marks the end of the war against fascism and Nazism in Europe in 1945. It will be largely ignored by the government and the media of Australia.
The reason is clear. For the ruling classes of the western world the war’s outcome was a disaster. The Soviet Union became the main victim and lost more men, women and children in the conflict than all the other nations combined. At the same time, it was a great victory for the socialist Soviet Union, which above all, was responsible for the destruction of Nazism and the complete overthrow of the Hitler regime. The Soviet Union emerged from the war with enormous political prestige.
LIBERATION
Following the defeat of fascism the national liberation movements developed around the world and nearly all of the former colonial countries won their independence – India, all the African nations, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, China which had been carved up by the various colonial powers and, of course, the oil-rich Middle Eastern countries.
The Chinese revolutionaries defeated the Japanese and European occupiers and formed the People’s Republic of China under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. The Vietnamese defeated the French colonialists and later the attempts of the United States, Australia and other countries to occupy their country. Again, it was the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam that led their struggle for independence.
All these developments were an enormous blow to imperialism.
It took years of Cold War propaganda and sanctions and blockades and the perpetuation of an arms race for the western powers to succeed in breaking up the Soviet Union. The United States and its allies in Europe and Australia then began an offensive to re-establish worldwide US domination and return other countries to colonial status.
Despite the overwhelming military, economic and political strength of the western powers, the United States in particular, their attempts to turn the clock back failed. Thus, once again the western powers are reaching for the fascist weapon just as the German ruling class did in the 1930s.
UKRAINE FASCISTS
Russia’s conflict with Ukraine came in opposition to NATO’s* eastward expansion with its intention to establish a nuclear missile base in Ukraine as part of its military build-up in Eastern Europe and the encirclement of the Russian Federation.
In Ukraine, democratic mechanisms have been abolished. Since the 2014 fascist coup, the real policy on its territory is dictated by aggressive nationalist bands. Representing an absolute terrorist minority, they hold Ukrainian people in fear and impose rules of control on members of the political establishment.
Much was made in the mass media about the anti-Russian sanctions of the US and European Union. However, by now the attitude of the world community to the West’s attempt to organise a boycott of Russia has become clear. We should know not only those who support sanctions, but also those who are against them.
Among these are the BRICS countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. They account for 43 per cent of the planet’s population. China is the world’s number one economy in terms of GDP, India is in third place. In fact, most of Asia does not want to take the side of the USA. The only exceptions are Japan and Australia, South Korea, and the Philippines whose governments accommodate US bases and US forces of occupation on their territories.
The leading Middle East countries – Pakistan, Iran, and Türkiye don’t support the boycott which the US tried to force on everyone. The Middle-East Arab countries, including those which have relations with the US, declared their neutrality. When the UN Security Council voted a resolution condemning Russia, the United Arab Emirates abstained.
Latin America, which has suffered more than anyone at the hands of US imperialism, does not support sanctions. This applies not only to socialist Cuba and progressive Venezuela and Nicaragua – but to the largest and most influential countries: Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico. The leading African country, South Africa, is against sanctions.
PLAN FOR PEACE
In 2022 the Communist Party of Ireland, the Communist Party of Britain, and the Tudeh [Communist] Party of Iran produced the following joint declaration outlining what Russia, the EU, NATO, and the United States must do to end the war.
“We the undersigned political parties welcome the statement of the World Peace Council of February 25, 2022, which:
Calls on all sides to the Russia-Ukraine conflict to restore and secure peace and international security through constructive political dialogue, noting that the Russian and Ukrainian people, as well as the peoples of the region, have nothing to gain from this military conflict.
Condemns the political and military manoeuvres of the US, NATO and the EU since the coup of 2014 after which reactionary forces took power in Kiev with the open support of the Western imperialist powers.
Recognises that this conflict is related to the control of energy resources, pipelines, markets and spheres of influence.
“On this basis, we the undersigned call for an immediate ceasefire and a halt to all military operations in Ukraine which threaten to escalate the war.
“We urge the UN security council and neutral and non-aligned countries to convene talks aimed at de-escalating the conflict and laying the basis for a permanent, stable and peaceful settlement of all the substantial issues damaging Ukraine-Russian relations.”
Working class and people’s struggles are sweeping the world on every continent on a scale never seen before in history. It is in this international context that the time has come to launch a decisive political offensive against attempts at the rehabilitation of fascism.
