Only Socialism Will Abolish War (1945)

From the August 1945 issue of the Socialist Standard

Nazis Gone But War Not Abolished

Weeks have passed since Nazi Germany unconditionally surrendered yet Europe is not at peace. The newspapers are full of reports of friction between the Allied Governments at San Francisco, and trouble over the settlement of Poland, Yugo-Slavia, Austria, Syria, Greece and other countries. Mr. Anthony Eden returned from San Francisco to report in the House of Commons : “with regard to the general international situation, there is a number of serious and disquieting issues, some of them urgent.” (May 18th). Some British and American newspapers are already talking about the need to take a strong hand with Russia. The war with Germany ended on the 8th May. Within just over a week the Daily Mail which dubbed the San Francisco Conference “San Fiasco,” reported from U.S.A. that some newspapers were talking of “ultimate conflict between Russia and the Anglo-American Allies.” The Daily Mail correspondent said: “It is an astonishing phenomenon that this sort of controversy should be going on only eight days after the surrender of Germany. But it has to be faced.”—(Daily Mail, May 17th.)

In any future war, as the Minister of Production, Mr. Oliver Lyttelton, pointed oat in the House of Commons on March 22nd, 1945, it is obvious that V weapons, now in their infancy, will become more effective and more devastating. “You may be sure,” he said, “that all parts of the United Kingdom, every nook and cranny of the country, will be within range of those weapons when they are more highly developed.”

So little confidence is there that war has been abolished that there is actually discussion about the safest place to locate the new World Peace Organisation. A writer in the Daily Telegraph says: “The safest place in Europe for the World Organisation headquarters would probably be some city in the United Kingdom, not necessarily London. They would be vulnerable there to attack from the air, but less liable to capture than they would be on the European Continent.”—May 25th.. 1945.

THE CAUSE OF WARS IS CAPITALISM

The fundamental cause of wars in the modern world is the economic rivalry of the Powers, and this exists because capitalist industry in all countries has as its aim the making of profit. Manufacturers in every country are striving all the time to capture markets from each other. Governments try to gain an advantage in the trade war by taking colonies as sources of raw materials and as places where the capitalists can invest their surplus wealth. Armies, Navies and Air Forces are built up to control trade routes and strategic points all with the same purpose in view. When the French Government fought to suppress the native population in Morocco their Marshal Lyautey, who commanded the French troops, made no secret of their aim : —

“French soldiers are fighting in Morocco to acquire territory in which rise rivers capable of supplying power for electrification schemes which will prove of great advantage to French trade. . . .

“Our object is commercial and economic. The military expedition in Morocco is a means, not an end. Our object is the extension of foreign trade.”—Star, October 31st, 1922.

In the years when the present war was brewing trade rivalry was everywhere in evidence. Mr. W. M. Hughes, Australian Minister for Health, saw clearly what the outcome would be. Speaking at Brisbane in July, 1936, he said: —

“The increasing intensity of competition for economic markets must lead to armed conflict unless an economic settlement is found. This, however, is hardly to be hoped for. Talk about peace in a world armed to the teeth, is utterly futile.”—News-Chronicle, July 25th, 1936.

The London Times, October 11th, 1940, saw the same forces at work behind Germany’s aggressive policy.

“Beyond doubt one of the fundamental causes of this war has been the unrelaxing efforts of Germany since 1918 to secure wide enough foreign markets to straighten her finances at the very time when all her competitors were forced by their own war debts to adopt exactly the same course. Continuous friction was inevitable.”

SOCIALISM THE ONLY SOLUTION

The Great War, 1914-1918, was to be a war to end war. So was the present war. But the threat of war is still hanging over us. Unless capitalism is abolished and socialism established internationally in its place the same rivalries will produce further wars. All the victorious Powers are now preparing for the trade war as soon as the fighting stops. Sir Frank B. Sanderson, M.P., was only stating what is known to everyone when he said in 1941: “Britain must plan now for the post-war export trade. Peace will bring in its train fierce competition in the world’s markets and it was only by planning in advance that we should be able to hold our own.”—Daily Telegraph, July 17th, 1941.

If you want capitalism and capitalism’s wars you will vote for the capitalist candidates. If you understand that the immediate need of the human race is the establishment of socialism, under which the means of production will cease to be owned by the capitalist class and become the property of society as a whole, you will vote for the candidate of the Socialist Party of Great Britain. Capitalism will produce war no matter whether the Government which administers it is Tory, Liberal, Labour, Communist or any other party.