The Second International's Struggle Against Militarism

Militarism is a reactionary political thought and system which establishes a country by military and carries on the rule.Militarism is a historical category that originated from certain social,political and economic historical conditions.Prussia in the 17th and 18th centuries was the ancestor of militarism.In order to compete for colonies and to establish colonial empires,major capitalist countries vigorously strengthened their armaments,expanded their externalities,launched a war of aggression,and intensified the suppression of military power and authoritarian rule against their own people.Especially with the development of monopoly capital,aiming to adapt to the requirements of powers to divide the world,militarism developed extremely rapidly,especially the development of militarism in the imperialist countries such as Germany,Britain,France and Russia reached the most dangerous level for human beings.From the very beginning,the Second International led the people of all countries to struggle against militarism and war.From 1889 to 1912,nine congresses were held.The congresses,especially at the Brussels Congress,the Zurich Congress,the Stuttgart Congress and the Basel Congress,discussed the issues of militarism and war,and they adopted a series of corresponding resolutions which help them form some basic views.They proposed that militarism is the product of the capitalist system.Only by eliminating the capitalist system can we completely eliminate militarism and eliminate war;imperialism and militarism are twin monsters,and capitalism colonizes itself through its own militarism.Militarism internationally is manifested as imperialism;war is the result of endless arms competition by militarism.Military armament is a means by which the bourgeoisie ruled and enslaved the working class economically and politically.The endless arms race of militarism finally accelerated the outbreak of war.The way to get rid of the imperialist war is to launch a proletarian revolutionary war and respond to war through revolutionary means,that is,to oppose the imperialist war with the proletarian revolutionary war.After the outbreak of the First World War,starting from the German Social Democratic Party,the French Socialist Party,the British Labor Party and other socialist parties violated the standpoints and viewpoints against militarism and war,and expressed their approval in various ways to participate in or to support the imperialist war.The Second International went bankrupt.The arms race between contemporary developed capitalist countries has left the danger of a new world war.Preventing world wars and safeguarding world peace remains the primary task of the people of the contemporary world.Therefore,the struggle of the Second International Anti-militarism has important implications for preventing the resurgence of militarism and curbing the occurrence of war.Socialist political parties must pay attention to and oppose militarism;they must warn the people of the world of the danger of militarism and mobilize the people to fight against militarism;they must formulate specific measures to deal with wars;they must be accompanied by capitulationism and social imperialism.Make a determined struggle.