Published the 9 April 2022 in War and Imperialism
Marx, "The National System of Political Economy" (1845) :
“The worker is neither French, nor English, nor German, [neither Ukrainian, nor Russian] for his nationality is labour, free slavery, the sale of himself and his own labor . He is not governed by France, England or Germany, [or Ukraine or Russia] but by capital. The air of his land is neither French, nor English, nor German, [neither Ukrainian, nor Russian], but the air of the factory. The soil that is his, is neither French, nor English, nor German, [neither Ukrainian, nor Russian] but awaits him six feet under. Above ground, money is the home of the industrialist’s homeland [regardless of nationality]”
Note from CONTROVERSIES : This article was first posted on March 4 2022 and has been constantly updated since then, which is why its publication date has been changed. We stopped updating this article on April 14, 2022.
Beyond insistences or elements of analysis that are sometimes different, we bring together below a set of clearly internationalist positions on the conflict in Ukraine in order to contribute to the reflection and commitment of our readers on a truly revolutionary ground ... analyses that we consider very necessary to resist the dominant bludgeoning calling for national unity and urging us by all means to defend the prevailing mortifying and binary nationalist ideology.
One of the frequent reproaches against the defense of an internationalist position in an imperialist conflict is to claim that it would be easy to defend in a non-belligerent country and untenable in a country at war. Nothing could be further from the truth, as evidenced by authentic revolutionary positions, both in Russia and Ukraine (article in French) and as proven by the historical example of the end of the First World War well explained in this excellent video (23 minutes) showing in what and how the analyses, positions and practical perspectives defended here concerning the war in Ukraine could stop the butchery of the First World War and force the bourgeoisie to sign the armistice. Indeed, the end of this conflict was not the result of a military defeat but of the revolutionary uprising of workers and the desertion of soldiers on the front lines, particularly in Germany but also almost everywhere in Europe (and even in the world).
Taking into account the seriousness of the international situation, the weaknesses and the dispersion of the internationalist-revolutionary milieu, it goes without saying that we will support any common position taken along the lines of the ones we have listed below. Indeed, if there is indeed a paradox to be underline on this level, it is that each of the groups below brandishes proletarian internationalism loud and clear - which is excellent... but they are withdrawn into themselves and quite incapable of speaking with one voice ! The revolutionary-internationalist milieu more than needs a new Zirmmerwald conference without any exclusions ! However, we should point out several tentative efforts in this direction - efforts that need to be strengthened :
- The review of internationalist positions undertaken in this article - albeit not exhaustive (see below), is already impressive in itself by their number and by the extent of their geographical distribution throughout the world : Russia, Ukraine, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, South Korea, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, USA, Western Europe as well as all sections of ICT, ICP and ICC.
- With a few exceptions, they are almost all remarkably clear, both on the imperialist nature of the war in Ukraine and on the perspectives to be defended for the proletariat.
- Many organizations, groups and elements have taken the initiative to translate and publish positions taken by each other. Contacts were made and the first collaborations were established.
- A timid discussion-criticism on the respective positions and analyzes is emerging.
- More confidential but nevertheless significant, the need for a more common position taken by the whole of the internationalist milieu is put forward by several groups and elements.
- A concretization of common position statement, limited to three groups of the communist left and dated April 6, 2022 is to be welcomed. We hope it stimulates other broader initiatives. Broader, indeed, because this recent initiative is unfortunately tainted with a caricatural sectarianism which does not correspond to the stakes of the moment.
- Finally and above all, let us point out another realization of common concern, also dated April 6, 2022 and taken at the initiative of the ICT (Internationalist Communist Tendency): No War but the Class War - A Call for Action. In addition to the clarity of its content, it is addressed, this time, to all the internationalist forces. We therefore fully subscribe to it. Therefore, we call on all the groups and elements that recognize themselves in such an initiative to address the ICT in order to coordinate all the forces making it possible to translate and disseminate this call as well as to carry out actions in the same spirit : public meetings , debates, concrete solidarity with the internationalists suffering the immediate consequences of this war, etc.
This statement has no claim to exhaustiveness or selection ... therefore, we would be very grateful to anyone who would point out an oversight:
KRAS-MAT – CRAS-IWA : statement of 02/25/2022 made by internationalist comrades from Russia and a very interesting interview of this group.
Internationalist Perspective : the position taken by this group in the USA and a long but very interesting analysis : DON’T FIGHT FOR “YOUR” COUNTRY!
De te fabula narratur : internationalist leaflet in French and Spanish of this communist-collectivist anarchist group of Budapest-Vienna.
Internationalist Communist Perspective : this internationalist group in South Korea has written an excellent position paper on the war in Ukraine linking it to rising tensions with China and between the two Koreas. It is part of the common initiative taken by the ICT : NWBCW.
Internationalist Wage Slave : short and excellent revolutionary-internationalist denunciation of the war in Ukraine : THE MAIN ENEMY IS IN OUR OWN COUNTRY! (in French in the PDF file)
International Group of the Communist Left : this group has published a leaflet, an interesting Theses on the meaning and consequences of the imperialist war in Ukraine and a strong support for the ICT initiative : NWBCW.
Internationalist Communist Tendency : a short tract, a declaration substantial, a more global analysis developed during a public meeting with a report of it and a position taken by an Iranian workers’ group : No War but the Class War: Statements from the Haft Tappeh Workers. Their joint initiative : NWBCW.
Institut Onorato Damen : excellent analysis of the imperialist issues between Europe and the USA during the preparatory phase of the Ukrainian conflict. Originally published in Italian, in English on the AFRD website. They also translated into English a good article from IOD summarizing their analysis: On the Russian (and American?) Invasion of Ukraine.
International Communist Party – Proletarian : analysis of this organization and its leaflet No to imperialist mobilization around the war in Ukraine !
Controversies – FGCI : the analysis which was developed on this site.
Pantopolis : internationalist blog very well supplied with analyses, positions and historical reminders, mainly in French and sometimes in several languages. Pantopolis supports TCI’s NWBCW initiative while making some interesting critical remarks.
Critical Materials : a statement from March 1 and a second on March 18.
Mouvement Communiste : a long analysis developed by this group.
Class War : This internationalist group has existed since 2008-2009 and publishes its texts or translations of other organizations that it considers interesting in many languages, mainly Czech, English and French.
Fragments from the history of the radical left : a very useful reminder of the analyses, positions and attitudes of revolutionary-internationalists during the Second World War - in French : Introduction and original documents.
We can also advise here this other video (22 minutes) on the role of belligerent propaganda around the bourgeois opposition (defense of democracy versus fascism and dictatorship) which made it possible to involve the population in the butchery of the Second World War.
Antonie Pannekoek Archives : a very useful reminder of the analyses, positions and attitudes of revolutionary-internationalists during the First World War with texts by Anton Pannekoek, Lenin, Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht, etc. in French, English, German and Dutch.
Barbaria : a very dynamic young internationalist group in Spain. Two of its contributions are translated into English by AFRD : Some fundamental positions of proletarian internationalism and War in Ukraine: the cat and the mouse.
International Communist Current : a tract and a more developed analysis.
Internationalist Workers Organization : internationalist group active in Sweden and existing for twenty years. He claims to belong to the Communist Left and publishes in the Farsi language. The English translation of their first position paper on the conflict in Ukraine can be found in the attached PDF file.
La Oveja Negra : Argentinian blog having written a very firm denunciation of the conflict imperialist in Ukraine. Translated by Internationalist Perspective.
A Free Retriever’s Digest : this internationalist blog also lists a maximum of positions, analyzes and debates from a revolutionary point of view on the war in Ukraine . It is more comprehensive for the English language than our own statement. It also offers many very neat translations (unless otherwise stated).
INTER-REV. – Internationalist Political and Social Forum : In the event of war, internationalists have always had the reflex to recognize each other, contact each other, discuss and take a position on the as clear and unified as possible. Unfortunately, this is very rarely the case today. This is why we salute the reflex of this Forum in Spain which, like us, had the reflex to publish a maximum of internationalist positions in addition to its own analyzes and declarations... but it also provides elements for discussion on these declarations and he also strongly criticizes all the political forces (leftists in particular) who take facts and causes for one of the two imperialist camps present. All these texts were written in Spanish but they also exist in English and French (approximate because carried out with an automatic translator). The reader will find all the links (in French) in the PDF file opposite.
Left wing communism : this internationalist blog also collects a very wide range of positions, analyzes and debates on the war in Ukraine, a range that sometimes overflows the sphere of the internationalist camp when it deems it necessary. It is very complete for the English, German and Dutch language. Translations are usually done automatically using DeepL. The moderator of this blog and that of Inter-Rev formulated strong critical remarks on the two joint initiatives and proposed a third alternative.
Prospettiva Marxista – Circolo internazionalista “coalizione operaia” : position statement in English of this internationalist circle in Italy.
Internationalist Voice : Position of this group.
International Communist Party – The Communist Left : this group has published two texts : Capitalism is War - To stop it, the working class must bring capitalism down and Capitalism Needs War.
An internationalist has sent us the following leaflet which he is actively distributing: UKRAINE: NEITHER NATO, NOR PUTIN BUILDING A 3rd INTERNATIONALIST WAY (cf. PDF opposite - in French)
Proletarios Revolucionarios : several analyzes in Spanish of this Ecuadorian blog.
Arbeidersstemmen : this internationalist blog in the Netherlands publishes Dutch translations of many revolutionary positions on the war in Ukraine as well as a long and interesting article in Dutch entitled : De inter-imperialistische oorlog in Oekraïne
Van Luxemburg, Pannekoek, Gorter en Lenin tot ‘Radencommunisme’.
Arbeiterstimmen : This internationalist blog in German publishes translations of many revolutionary positions on the war in Ukraine.
Panfletos Subversivos : this blog has existed since 2007 and publishes numerous Spanish translations of generally (but not always) internationalist tracts and analyzes on the conflict in Ukraine.
Asedio : blog in Chile which published two positions in Spanish on the conflict : Invasión a Ucrania, opiniones sueltas and La guerra de descomposición del capitalismo ruso.
Emancipacion : this Argentina blog published an internationalist position paper in Spanish on the conflict in Ukraine : Ucrania-Rusia : el enemigo principal está en casa.
URL source de l'article : https://www.leftcommunism.org/spip.php?article488