John Heartfield's 1932 photomontage shows Adolf Hitler as he really was -'swallowing gold and spouting trash'.
poverty grew. In many coun Wwide capitalist tries they turned to the far wide capitalist right - the thugs they use economy goes into cri when they are desperate. sis, war and racism will Fascism in 1930's follow. History has the proof. The Fascist governments in last time Europe had a re Germany and Italy, like the cession like this was in the authoritarian monarchy in 1930's. After the Wall Japan, ruthlessly broke up Street crash in 1929 unem- attempts to defend ordinary ployment rose and world people from the recession trade collapsed. By the mid- caused by the ruling rich. 1930's most capitalist Those governments were also militaristic, nationalist countries had either dicta torships or coalition govern- and sought to extend the territory they controlled. ments.
The fascist regimes carThe ruling rich throughout Tried ideas used by the old Europe became insecure as colonial powers through to brutal extremes. Their mass murder of Jews and Gypsies in Europe was motivated by the same ideas of national superiority as Britain has used to deny basic democratic rights to those countries occupied by the Empire. After the war, some of those racist themes fell into disuse as a wave of third world revolutions forced the colonial empires to collapse. Back to the future? In 1994, we are going back to find our future. The Western rulers no longer have the threat of the 'communist counties to keep people in line. Now, using NATO and the UN, they lie to us that the peoples of the third world are war-crazy and bound by irra tional tribal loyalties and need the west to keep them in check. They obscure the real causes of the wars in Somalia and Yugoslavia to win to police the world.
They hide the real facts -that far from bringing peace in Somalia, the UN has killed over 4,000 people; that far from importing food and hope, the bulk of the money spent by the west in Somalia has gone on TV coverage to show us their side of the story.
Europe today
The right wing are rising again in Europe. What happens in Bosnia is part of our business. What might happen tomorrow in Russia - maybe with the fascist Zhirnovsky getting his finger on the nuclear button -concerns us too.
The economic disorder re quires desperate solutions. Either young people unite with the working masses to scrap capitalism, or capitalism will use the far right to break our potential power.
Militarist danger If the militaristic rightwing and nationalists are brought to power now -when economic conflicts between the big western powers are so sharp-trade battles will lead to world wars and racist regimes.
That is what happened in World War Two. In the Pa cific, Japan and the US were fighting for economic control of the region.
In the 1990's, they are fighting for the control of trade worldwide and that makes the fight against racism and war in Europe the central task for young people today.