[page 28]
INTERNATIONAL NOTES The prospect of a world recession next year has shattered all the myths of post-war capitalism, even its most cherished "miracles" like Scandinavia, Japan and West Germany. Italy was the first of these bubbles to burst. leaving a picture of bitter class battles, stagnation and political chaos. But no legend was more jealously protected than that of West Germany, where the "honest German workers worked hard, and never went on strike" In reality, the economy leapt ahead on the basis of the injection of massive capital investment through the Marshall Plan, the market opened up by a ruined economy and the development of industry according to the most modern techniques, plus the huge influx of labour from the expelled communities of Eastern Europe and from the The MILITANT apart from giving reports of the International and British Labour Movement will provide an indispensable theoretical analysis of the developments facing the working class in the next period. We will be carrying regular feature articles; reports from the Labour and Trade Union movement and the Labour Party Young Socialists; international coverage; industrial reports and many more items. We have given timely warnings and analysis of the dangers facing the working class and the need to link the struggle against the Industrial Relations Bill with that of the WEST GERMANY and where consequently the economy flourished.
¡please send me a IRATES 173 issues • NAME • ADDRESS 26 MILITANT Housing Finance Bill and the other attacks on the working class.
a regular 26 issues 52 copy of MILITANT every week.
week.
52 issues.
£4 subscribe now We will continue to do this.
EUROPE (Airspeeded) 52 ISSUES £5 26 ISSUES £2.50 REST OF WORLD (Airspeeded) £5.50 52 ISSUES.
26 ISSUES {2.75
[page 29]
migrants of Southern Europe. The political level of the German Labour movement, traditionally the most devel- At the end of the war, oped in the world until its extinction by Hitler in 1933, suffered accordingly. was demanding nationalisation of the monopolies and the creation of a Socialist United States of Europe. But the post-war boom had an effect even more dramatic than in the other capitalist countries. For the German workers, the contrast was between Nazi slavery and the most successful boom in Europe. In addition, the repellent effect of the Stalinist states to the East, lowered the socialist consciousness of the workers at a time of unprecedented prosperity, albeit at the expense of long hours. women working and the super-exploitation of immigrant labour. Hence the SPD leaders in 1958 achieved what Gaitskell failed to do in 1960 in Britain: the deletion of the socialist clause in the Party Constitution.
That was the excuse for a sprouting of sectarian grouplets. The SDS, the "Extra-Parliamentary Opposition", the Baader-Meinhof group, the "Red Army Faction".
• the KPD.. All wrote off the SPD as a "bourgeois"
The Interior Minister. Genscher. announced in June 1972 that there were no less than 390 "extreme left" organisations. with a total membership (a very dubious estimate by the police) of 89.000! In addition, there were 210) groups of "foreign agitators" working among the immigrants, with a membership of 65.000. But the events of the last year or two have disturbed the calm of the SPD. The real traditions of that party With the cconomy facing serious problems, a spate of scandals exposing the corruption are coming to the fore.
and cynicism of the Parliamentary apparatus. has rocked West Germany. Already some of the most hard-bitten right-wingers have deserted in fear of the movement shaking the ground beneath their feet. They have seen the wave of political strikes in support of the Brandt government when it faced censure by the (DU ('SU on the "Ostpolitik" question. They have seen the sharp class polarisation that took place during the 1972 election campaign, making the SPD the biggest single party, commanding 45.8%i of the votes. for the first time. And they have seen themergence of the Jusos. with a nominal membership of 300.000, campaigning, in words at least, for a return to the Marxist traditions of the SPD. Their reaction has already begun. just as it has already in Italy, in Australia, in Japan, in Holland, and a number of other countries. and just as it will tomorrow in Britain too: a split-off to the right by the worst careerist elements. Muller in Munich stood as a "moderate" in opposition to the "Marxist-dominated" SPD — and got a derisory vote. Professor Schiller, the German Roy Jenkins, resigned as Economics Minister and soon afterwards left the SPD. Dr Gunter Wetzel, Secretary of State for Defence, also resigned, complaining that the SPD nowadays was "a different party from the one in as it had been "infiltrated by radical forces".
which I have been active for many years"
MARXIST TRADITIONS The workers expect "their" government to work in their interests. and they are exerting pressure to that end. The economic outlook for West Germany threatens them with the first real cuts in their living standards since the war (with the exception of the minor recessions of 1966-67 and 1971). Inflation has now reached European rates, with the cost of living rising by at least 8%r a year. and the result has been a whole rash of unofficial strikes - almost unprecedented in German history - by workers demanding "inflation pay". This was the beginning of the long-expected "hot autumn"
, when a new round of wage bargaining began for millions of industrial workers - half the labour force. 220.000 Ruhr steel workers are demanding a 15%% increase to cover the next year. and engineering workers are fighting for similar rates, again rare by German standards. This is at a time when domestic demand is stagnating. The retail trade has slumped by 3% so far this year. The spectre of unemployment now faces them. The influx of millions of dollars and pounds into Germany has forced drastic measures on the government again and again - repeated revaluations, repeated credit restrictions, repeated tax increases and cuts in the Federal budget. The chairman of Daimler-Benz has warned of a severe recession, as profit margins are eaten into by the struggle to keep prices competitive on the North Brandt, like Heath and Nixon, is trying to blame the coming world recession exclusively on American market.
the crisis, but already Fords and Opels are working short-time, and production has been cut back at Hoechst. There are now 267,000 unemployed and 67.760 on short-time, and the government has ominously barred the door to any more foreign immigrant workers. Plant is working at 15-20% below capacity. The last bout of unemployment in 1966 brought down Erhardt's government and pushed the SPD into a "Grand Coalition' for the first time. The effects this time will be explosive.
It is significant that the ruling class, like those of France, Italy and Britain, have begun serious preparations for future class battles. Using the excuses afforded them by the Munich Olympic massacre and the exploits of the Baader-Meinhof group of terrorists, the government has passed legislation "strengthening internal security" set up a special police unit and embarked on "research" in the USA and elsewhere on how to equip "more effective arms" for riot control and "anti-terrorist" techniques. The 2.600,000 "Gastarbeiter" from Spain, Turkey, Greece, Yugoslavia, Portugal and North Africa - 10% of the labour force - will be the first target - like the immigrant workers of Britain - especially since they played a courageous role in the recent strike wave.
In the storms of the next few years, we can be confident that the present generation of German workers will be worthy of their forebears, and will carry their work to a victorious conclusion. 27
[page 30]
The Argentinian military junta has disintegrated over the past two years, while in every bordering country the brutal jackboot has established its rule. Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil are all military dictatorships of one form or another. The ruling classes of the whole region look with concern on the truly revolutionary processes which have begun to unfold in this country, which is now the key to the revolution in Latin America. The workers have forced out the generals and threatened to oust capitalism itself, a threat to the very tenuous basis of all the regimes in the region and the stability of capitalism internationally. What an effect there would be on the unfolding revolution in Spain if capitalism were overthrown in the Argentine! Imagine the international repercussions for the working class! Because the successful outcome of the movement will hinge in part on a clear analysis and elaboration of clear perspectives and strategy by the marxists in the Argentine, it is a situa- The most dramatic move has been the re-election of the old dictator, after 18 years in exile. After his stooge, Campora, gained nearly 50% of the votes in March, Peron himself quickly ca me to the fore as the only really viable "strong man". Out of 12 million votes, he gained 62%; a remarkable result in any relatively 'free' election under capitalism. It was a tremendous demonstration by the mass of the working class and the youth, for fundamental social change, as well as of hopes in the magic of the old man himself. Peron clings to the grand illusions of his past, trying to play out his magnificent role of more than twenty years before. Yet Marx explained many years ago that history repeats itself - first as a tragedy and then as a farce! This faded demagogue has come home with a third-rate pantomime troupe, complete with barber and makeup man, who groom and dye his hair before going 'on stage'. He has even tried to recapture the massive veneration of his early years through his third wife Isabel, although she has failed to live up to the high standards of But farce is tempered with deadly seriousness when it is realised that between the capitalists and the working class stands Peron. So desperately is he needed that extraordinary measures were taken to hide his recent heart attacks, as his death would leave the ruling class almost nothing to shield them from the masses. Despite the fact that he was ousted 18 years ago because his continued rule could not safely guarantee the property of the ARGENTINA ENTRADA PERON-ISABEL La Fórmata del Pueblo PERON-ISABEL La Formula del Prablo PERON-SRBEL Leforeda del Probk the popular Eva Peron.
28 DIRECCIONES PERON ISABEL tion which commands the attention of every socialist worker.
capitalists, he has been recalled to hold the line!
AS DE LA A SU TRABAJO VIvE
[page 31]