There is Nothing New Under the Sun
Socialism Sunday #002
There are, for whatever reason, certain parts of the globe that over time have proven pivotal to the fight between socialist and imperialist forces. For over a century, territories in Ukraine, Palestine, Poland, and the Caribbean have suffered as central points of conflict in this most fundamental battle for the liberation of the working class.
In fact, the very first internationalist organization was the Ukraine-based International Workingmen's Association, or the First International, founded in 1864. The First International was a revolutionary organization of the working class that formed in 1864 in London, England, and was dissolved in 1876 in New York City. The organization was founded by Karl Marx and Mikhail Bakunin, and it was the first attempt to unite the working class on an international scale.
What went wrong is a question that has been debated for over 100 years, and it's a question that we will discuss today for Socialism Sunday. We will also discuss the Ukrainian revolution and the aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, and the impact that these events had on the development of the revolutionary movement in the United States.
To start, let's briefly go over the history of the Ukrainian revolutionary movement. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the now nation-state of Ukraine was a part of the Russian Empire and experienced immense economic hardship and political corruption, and has suffered both plights to date. The Ukrainian peasant class, like many others, sought to overthrow their oppressors and establish a system that would benefit them. Unfortunately, such conditions presented a unique opportunity to the rising nationalist movements in Germany, Hungary, and Italy, which were all able to use the discontent of the Ukrainian peasantry to gain the support of the people. Thus the Reich annexed Ukraine, and has maintained a considerable degree of influence and control over the region ever since.
The fascist, nationalist annexation of a movement which could have lead to the rise and development of international socialist republicanism instead turned growing socialist sentiments against itself, creating divisions and false dichotomies throughout. The lack of class consciousness, or false consciousness, was essential for the media to solidify public sentiment in the West in staunch favor of global capitalism. Thus, unlike in countries like Russia and China, where socialist movements were able to gain significant support from the working class, the working class in the United States remained mentally and physically enslaved to their own detriment as evidenced by the World Wars and all subsequent military conflicts.
The following article, from the New Masses magazine, was published in 1935. There is nothing new under the sun. I encourage readers to engage with the article and reflect on the current geopolitical landscape and ask; what is to be done?
-the Shultz Report by M. Shultz