A note on Remembrance Day

In marking the 90th anniversary of the conclusion of World War I, it is worthwhile pointing out that, in spite of the propaganda to the contrary, the era of wars is not over; far from it. Imperialism is directly engaged in two major wars of imperialist conquest (Iraq and Afghanistan) and is engaged in proxy wars in various countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has lost millions of men, women and children to a war whose aim is to capture Congo’s mineral wealth for the exclusive use of multinational corporations.

What’s more, as we descend further and further into economic crisis, the already-growing contradictions between the different groups of imperialists (most notably Nato and the EU) will become more and more pronounced, and the possibility of a future world war can in no way be discounted.

Only socialist revolution and the defeat of imperialism will make the world safe from the scourge of war. As the Editorial Department of Hongqi (‘Red Flag’, organ of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party) noted in the article ‘Long Live Leninism’:

“Lenin pointed out that the oligarchy of finance capital in a small number of capitalist powers, that is, the imperialists, not only exploit the masses of people in their own countries, but oppress and plunder the whole world, turning most countries into their colonies and dependencies. Imperialist war is a continuation of imperialist politics. World wars are started by the imperialists because of their insatiable greed in scrambling for world markets, sources of raw materials and fields for investment, and because of their struggle to re-divide the world. So long as capitalist-imperialism exists in the world, the source and possibility of war will remain. The proletariat should guide the masses of people to understand the source of war and to struggle for peace and against imperialism.

“Lenin asserted that imperialism is monopolistic, parasitic or decaying, moribund capitalism, that it is the final stage in the development of capitalism and therefore is the eve of the proletarian revolution. The emancipation of the proletariat can be arrived at only by way of revolution, and certainly not by way of reformism. The liberation movements of the proletariat in the capitalist countries should ally themselves with the national liberation movements in the colonies and dependent countries; this alliance can smash the alliance of the imperialists with the feudal and comprador reactionary forces in the colonies and dependent countries, and will therefore inevitably put a final end to the imperialist system throughout the world.” (Issue 8 – April 1960)

So, if you want a world free from war, join the struggle against imperialism and for socialism.