One hundred years since the great slaughter

The first world war began 100 years ago, unleashing slaughter on an unprecedented scale. This anniversary has featured prominently in the capitalist media. Most fail, however, to explain why millions of working-class people were sent to their deaths in trench-warfare hellholes: capitalism’s drive for profit, exploitation, raw materials and markets. TONY SAUNOIS writes.

The capitulation of the Second International

Before 1914, the Second International, grouping together socialist and workers’ organisations throughout Europe, resolved to act to prevent war. Once war had been declared, however, nearly all of these parties backed the capitalists in their own countries. This was a betrayal of the workers’ movement of truly historical proportions, and with far-reaching consequences. ROBERT BECHERT writes.

The Bolsheviks and the war

The horrors of the first world war, and the economic and social turmoil it created, led to mass upheaval. In Russia alone did this lead to a successful revolution, and the creation of the world’s first workers’ state. This was only possible, writes PETER TAAFFE, because the workers were led by the Bolsheviks, armed with a clear Marxist analysis and revolutionary programme.