The Second World War, was supposed to be a ‘good war’, perhaps the only ‘good war’ of the last hundred years. This has been used again and again to justify the present social order. This idea of the ‘good war’ serves to reinforce the idea that, when it comes down to it, we must all rally together to defend democracy when it is threatened by something ‘much worse’. It is the ultimate justification for the idea that there can be a convergence of interests between the working class and the capitalist class: because, faced with something as evil as Nazism, the class struggle can only sabotage national unity.

Even people who claim to be opponents of capitalism, like the Trotskyists, and even many anarchists, are on the same ground as the open admirers of Churchill, De Gaulle, Roosevelt and Stalin. And yet, there is a different tradition, which insists that, just like the First World War, the Second World War was an imperialist war, for global conquest between capitalist states. That, faced with such a war, the position of the working class was no different than that of Lenin, Luxemburg and other internationalists in 1914: against both imperialist camps, for class struggle, mutiny and revolution. This is the tradition defended in 1939-45 by the communist left against persecution and slander by fascists, Stalinists and democrats alike.

The ICC, which comes from that tradition, is holding meetings to discuss the Second World War and what real internationalism meant then and now. We invite you to come and discuss – whether you agree or disagree, you are equally welcome.

e-mail: uk at internationalism.org