It’s the dramatic rise of China with its burgeoning economy that has put the Trump administration into a frenzy – with major implications both at home and abroad, argues MICHAEL BURKE
As in World War I, socialists standing for peace today are demonised – but we must raise our voices
JOHN McINALLY points to parallels between the inter-imperialist conflict that erupted 109 years ago today and the current war in Ukraine
A Ukrainian soldier shelters in a trench on the frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region, the site of heavy fighting with Russian troops, August 10 2023
DR DAVID GORDON SCOTT tells the story of the North Sands Massacre, Sunderland, as part of the ongoing work of remembrance of those killed by soldiers during the 1825 Seafarers Strike and the bicentennial commemorations on Sunday August 3
MATT KERR charts his bike-riding odyssey in aid of the Royal Marsden charity and CWU Humanitarian Aid
JOHN CALLOW tells of the rise, fall and rise again of a young martyr to the early French republic, Joseph Bara, whose short life was elevated by Robespierre and, later, others for its emotional and ideological appeal
April 9 1928 – July 26 2025
OLIVER SNELLING, a south London stonecarver and yeoman stonemason, relates how he is helping bring about a new festival next month
NO SERIOUS person, certainly no socialist, would disagree that the first world war was an inter-imperialist conflict between “great powers” in pursuit of markets, resources, and hegemony.
Isn’t hindsight a wonderful thing. At the time, one hundred and nine years ago today, the majority of socialists, trade union leaders and prominent “Marxists” abandoned international class solidarity, capitulated to war fever, embraced national chauvinism, effectively endorsing the industrialised slaughter of millions of workers of all combatant nations.
Socialists who opposed the war and exposed its real cause — imperialist profiteering — were marginalised and victimised. In Britain, John MacLean and other socialists were imprisoned under the Defence of the Realm Act.
More from this author
April 9 1928 – July 26 2025
JOHN McINALLY argues trade unions and socialists must demand properly funded healthcare instead of a change that, combined with neoliberal capitalism, will see working-class people pushed towards suicide
JOHN McINALLY warns that Labour’s hasty push for legislation ignores the international evidence of expanding eligibility criteria, potentially normalising the ‘social murder’ of working-class people under the guise of compassion
Labour must fight to ensure any new laws do not become tools for social cleansing of the poor and disabled, argues JOHN McINALLY, as some begin considering NHS savings that could come at the cost of working-class lives
