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European Union
- A Socialist Alternative to
the European Union
This long document by Alan Woods provides a comprehensive answer to many key questions for
the European labour movement. What is Maastricht? Why are they introducing all these cuts?
Would it be better without Maastricht? Will it succeed? and most important of all, how do
we fight it and what is our alternative. (June 1997)
-
The Political Situation of the Youth in the West
It is clear that there is a rising tide of activism across the planet. From Seattle to Prague, the new protest movement signifies the begining of
a broader movement of the masses. But how can we harness this energy and enthusiasm in order to transform the world? Tom Rollings from the UK
explains how Marxists can intervene in these movements in order to build a revolutionary alternative to capitalism. (October, 2000)
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Spain
- Marxism and the
National Question
This short article by Alan Woods, was originally written for the Galician
language magazine "Onte e Hoxe" and it deals with the general position of
Marxism in relation to the national question and also explains the position in relation to
Kosovo. (July 7, 1999)
- Spanish students against NATO
Thousands of students participated yesterday (April 20th) in Spain in a national day of
action against the bombing of Yugoslavia. The protest was called by the Students Union
(Sindicato de Estudiantes). (April 23, 1999)
- A Marxist Analysis of the Basque
Elections
The high turn out rate of 70.7% in the election in Euskadi (Basque name for the Basque
country), 11 points higher than the last regional elections of 1994, reflects the enormous
interest of the Basque population in finding a solution to their problems, starting with
an end to the long nightmare of repression and terrorism. The bourgeois parties - both
Basque (PNV and EA) and Spanish (PP) - have been trying to divide and polarize the
population along national lines, aiming to divide and confuse the workers' movement. From
the Spanish Marxist magazine El Militante.
(November 1998)
-
The Spanish Revolution 1931-37
This article by Ted Grant was first published in 1973 as part of the discussions which
were taking place in the Spanish underground movement against Franco. I summed up the
lessons of the Spanish revolution and served as a contribution to the rearming of the new
generation of workers and youth in the Spanish Young Socialists, the UGT and the PSOE.
Also available is the introduction
to the 1996 edition of the pamphlet, reprinted as a reply to the Stalinist lies on the
Spanish Civil War which resurfaced again in the discussion around Ken Loach's film Land
and Freedom.
-
Lessons of Spain
Ted Grant looks at the lessons of the Spanish Revolution in this introduction to Trotsky's Pamphlet on the subject.
From the selected writings of Ted Grant
The Unbroken Thread. (1938)
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Portugal
To mark the 25th anniversary of the Portuguese
revolution we reprint two articles:
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Italy
- First strike
against the war in Italy
On 3rd April 100,000 people marched in a demonstration in Rome against the NATO bombing
campaign in Yugoslavia. A week later another demonstration of over 50,000 took place.
There is a lot of opposition to the NATO bombing among the workers and youth in Italy in
spite of the government's support.(April 23, 1999)
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France
-
France: mass strikes shake bosses
Over recent years, the French labour movement has been in the forefront of
the struggle to defend public services, wages, working conditions and
pensions. Since the public sector transport strike of 1995, millions of
workers have been involved in some form or other of militant action. In the
last few weeks, a series of huge strikes and demonstrations have once
again shaken the bosses, the government and the state institutions. Greg
Oxley from the French Marxist paper La Riposte
reports.
-
French Perspectives
At the present time, of all the European countries, it is in France that the
class struggle has been unfolding on the highest level. Contrary to the
claims of the capitalist media, there is nothing specifically "French" in
this development, nor in its immediate causes. Throughout the whole of
Europe, workers and the youth are faced with the same problems. Over the
next period, the economic boom will pass away without having solved a single
one of these problems. Indeed, in many respects, it will have served only to
make matters worse. It can only be a matter of time before struggles break
out on a similar scale in the rest of
the continent. November 2000.
From the French Marxist paper La Riposte.
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Class Struggles in France, 2000
France is on the verge of another massive upsurge of the class struggle. This article explains the processes going on at the present time in France,
and perspectives for socialism. From the French Marxist magazine La Riposte. (October 2, 2000)
-
Mehdi Ben Barka Appeal
We appeal to all labor movement activists for letters of protest, demanding that the
French government immediately open all the secret service files on the Ben Barka Affair,
and any other material presently covered by the state secrecy laws covering to collaboration
between the French State and the Moroccan secret services in relation victims of assassination, torture or
imprisonment of opponents of the Hassan II regime. (May, 2000)
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The Ben Barka affair and the situation in Morocco today
In the interview
published in La Riposte, Bachir Ben Barka, the son of Mehdi Ben Barka, the
assassinated founder of the Moroccan Socialist Party (USFP), explains the long and largely
fruitless struggle waged by his family to obtain access to the files of the French secret
services. Towards the end of the interview, Bachir refers to the possibility that the
files may at last be opening by the Jospin government. However, whereas certain files were
in fact opened, the most important information about who killed Mehdi Ben Barka, on whose
orders and in what circumstances, and how the body was disposed of, has been once again
withheld from the family under the state secrecy laws.
-
Interview with Mehdi Ben Barka's Son Bachir
This interview was originally published in the French Marxist magazine La Riposte. In it, the son of assasinated
Moroccan socialist leader Mehdi Ben Barka explains the reasons why his father was kidnapped and assasinated with the help of the
French government. We are launching an international solidarity appeal to force the authorities to re-open this case
and make public all the secret documents being witheld from Ben Barka's family.
- A New Stage of the World
Revolution
A detailed analysis of the November/December 1995 General Strike in France. On those
months millions of workers and youth took the streets of France in a movement which in
certain aspects was even bigger than that of the May 1968. The effects of such a movement
were felt all over Europe. In June 1996 workers in Germany carried banners saying:
"We want to struggle in the French way".
- May 1968
A look at the important events in France, 1968.
-
The French Revolution
This article was written in 1989 to commemorate 200 years of the Great French Revolution.
We are republishing it with a new introduction by the author. Alan Woods explains the
internal dynamics of the revolution and above all the role played by the masses.
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Denmark
- Danish Strike: "We Can Run the
Country Without the Bosses!"
On Monday, April 27th nearly 500,000 Danish private sector workers went on an all-out
strike demanding an extra week paid holdaiys a year and the 35 hour week. The strike,
which lasted for nearly eleven days was the biggest movement since 1985 when 1 million
workers paralysed Denmark for ten days. This article traces the development of the strike
day by day and draws conclusions. (May 1998)
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Germany/Austria
-
Austria one year after Haider
One year ago a shock wave went through Western Europe with the coming to power of the coalition government of the OVP and FPO in Austria. A lot has happened since then. Herbert Bartik of the Austrian Marxist journal 'Der Funke' was interviewed by Filip Staes of the editorial board of Vonk. (Belgian Marxist paper).(February 2001)
-
Austria: Resistance! Resistance!
"Widerstand! Widerstand!" - "Resistance! Resistance!" - that is the main slogan of the protest wave which has been shaking Austria for more than three weeks. When it became clear that the conservative Peoples Party (ÖVP) was to form a coalition with the extreme right-wing Freedom Party of Jörg Haider, this sharp political turn sparked a spontaneous movement never seen before in Austria. Gernot Trausmuth, Editorial board of the Austrian Marxist magazine Der Funke. (February 25, 2000)
-
Interview with an Austrian Marxist
Interview with Austrian Marxist Herbert Bartik, regarding the recent entry of the extreme
right-wing Freedom Party into the Government. (February 2000)
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Austria: Unions bring down coalition between SP and PP
On Friday 21 January, pressure from the trade unions forced the break-down of coalition
talks between the Socialist Party and the Conservative Peoples' Party. Gernot Trausmuth
looks at the implications of this for the future of the class struggle in Austria.
- Austria after the
elections: Social democracy in crisis
On October 3rd Austria was shaken by a political earthquake. After decades of "social
partnership", after 13 years of a 'Grand Coalition' between the Social Democrat Party
(SP) and the conservative Peoples Party (VP) characterised by enormous stability these
parliamentary elections mark a turning point in Austria's post-war history. "Not one
stone remained upon another". That's how the journalists tried to describe these
elections. Especially the big success of the extreme right-wing party of Jörg Haider, the
FPÖ, was not only a shock to a lot of people in Austria, but also internationally.
(October, 1999)
- One
year after the election triumph: SPD suffers devastating losses
Things have changed rapidly in Germany. In September 1998, the Social Democratic Party SPD
scored a big victory in the Bundestag elections, ousting the bourgeois coalition under
Kohl which had held power for 16 years. The start of the new "red-green"
coalition government under chancellor Schröder was accompanied by aspirations of millions
of workers, unemployed, old age pensioners and youth. Now the SPD as well as the Greens
are stumbling from defeat to catastrophe to disaster. See also:
Der Funke (October, 1999)
- Elections in Germany Landslide
Defeat for Kohl - Victory for the Left
A historic defeat for chancellor Kohl and a clear victory for the left are the most
outstanding features of the German election on September 27. After exactly 16 years of
Kohl in office, German workers and youth said: enough is enough. German is now likely to
be governed by a coalition of Social Democrats and Greens. Hans Gerd Ofinger analyses the
implications from Germany. (September 28, 199)8 Visit also the web site of the German
Marxist magazine Funke.
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Belgium
- Belgium After the White March
The dismissal of judge Connerotte in October 1996 sparked a mass movement which shocked
the whole society in Belgium. Ordinary people were no longer afraid of challenging the
state institutions: the police, the judges, the government, even the King. A Marxist
analysis on the causes and effects of such a movement.
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