Otto Bauer, Theodor Dan, Jean Zyromski, The International and the War, with a Foreword by Friedrich Adler and a Statement by Henry Noel Brailsford (1935)1. Issue 3 (2nd July 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lewis, Ben
• Is Part Of: Critique. Volume 44:Issue 3(2016)
• Page Start: 291
• Page End: 305
• Publication Date: 2016-07-02
• Subjects: Germany -- Bauer -- Socialism -- War -- The Second International -- Global Conflict -- Stalinism -- League of Nations; Soviet Union -- Politics and government -- Periodicals; Europe, Eastern -- Politics and government -- Periodicals; Socialism -- Periodicals; Socialisme; Communisme; 4.935; 335.4
• DOI: 10.1080/03017605.2016.1199636
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0301-7605

Abstract

Abstract : To my knowledge, what follows is the first English-language translation of an anti-war manifesto written by three leading members of the Labour and Socialist International (1923–1940). The translation should be of interest to a contemporary audience for three main reasons. First, it provides a glimpse of the political self-understanding of this significant trend within the workers' movement, which sought to distance itself from the experience of Bolshevism and to win away workers to its banner. Second, the manifesto offers valuable insights into the geo-political dynamics of the tumultuous 1930s, with the threat of another generalised global conflict looming ever larger on the horizon. The manifesto's discussions of such varied phenomena as the history of the Second International, Stalinism, National Socialism and the League of Nations are extremely illuminative (and reveal some of the Socialist and Labour International's illusions in the latter). Third, nonetheless, the manifesto contains potential insights for the contemporary left in its continued attempts to formulate an anti-war strategy that fights to 'work most effectively for peace' through the 'overthrow' of the capitalist mode of production and its inherent tendency towards war.