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Victory Over Fascism: A People’s War

PHIL KATZ describes the unity of the home front and the war front in a People’s War

A mural depicting the Battle of Cable Street

THE 80th anniversary of VE Day marks a triumph forged not by generals or politicians alone, but by the sweat and sacrifice of Britain’s working class. This was a total war — a conflict won through the collective muscle of munitions workers, the ingenuity of engineers, and the unbreakable spirit of communities under bombardment.

Women stepped into factories and fields, trade unions became the backbone of production, and for the first time ever, the state worked for the people rather than against them. Yet today’s sterile commemorations tell a different story — governments now mark the peace by bombing Damascus or Yemen while the public is reduced to a passive sideshow. With eastern Europe again a battleground, defending the true history of this struggle has never been more vital.

The Foundations of Resistance

The war effort didn’t begin in 1939 — it was built on the ashes of the 1930s. Memories of hunger marches and Means Testing of households for eligibility for unemployment relief fuelled a determination that this war would not be like the last.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
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