15 March: the biggest protest in the history of Serbia! In Belgrade, Serbia, on 15 March, saw what was undoubtedly the largest protest in the history of Serbia. According to the Archive of Public Gatherings, it numbered around 300,000 people, with many estimating that it was even larger.
The crisis of French capitalism and the role of the CGT The French ruling class and its government are on the offensive. In addition to the tens of billions of euros in cuts to social spending and the civil service, employers are orchestrating a massive destruction of jobs: 300,000 direct or indirect industrial jobs are under threat.
Britain: Starmer’s quixotic farce – No to militarism! No to austerity! Starmer and the establishment are on a crusade of flag-waving jingoism: puffing out their chests on the world stage, and using the cover of militarism to prepare for attacks on workers at home. We say: down with these deluded warmongers!
Romania’s farcical ‘democracy’ exposed as Georgescu barred Three months after the scandalous cancellation of the presidential election results, the Romanian establishment remains mired in political turmoil.
To the last drop of Ukrainian blood? The Battle of Stalingrad was a turning point in the Second World War, but it was with the Battle of Kursk in July 1943 that Germany's fate was definitively sealed. However, the fact that the war was effectively lost did not prevent the Nazi leadership from continuing to fight until the end, and the end took almost two years to arrive.
Austria: the Carnival Coalition comes to town After the recent failure of coalition talks between Austria’s conservative People’s Party (ÖVP) and demagogic right-wing Freedom Party (FPÖ), the ÖVP again approached the Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the liberal Neos to revive talks of a three-way coalition, which had initially failed in early January after the elections late September. This coalition – which has aptly been formed just in time for Austria’s Carnival celebrations – has now been sworn in, with the ÖVP's Christian Stocker becoming the new Chancellor.
'The Leopard': a class insight into Italy’s bourgeois revolution Today, Netflix has released a new series, The Leopard, based on the 1958 book of the same name by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, which follows the last days of a dying Sicilian prince in the time of Italian reunification. We publish below a review of that 1958 classic by Stan Laight. [Note: the following review contains spoilers.]
Behind the Trump-Zelensky clash The Chinese have an old saying: the greatest misfortune that can befall a man is to live in interesting times. The truth of that ancient wisdom has now suddenly dawned on the rulers of the western world.
Greece: from hundreds of thousands to millions – the people step forward and make history We publish below the initial political assessment by the Revolutionary Communist Organisation, Greek section of the RCI, of the historic mass rallies that took place on Friday 28 February, on the second anniversary of the Tempi rail crash that killed 57 people.
Punch up at the Oval Office: the monkey cannot dictate to the organ-grinder What we have seen today in the Oval Office was shocking. A shouting match between Trump, JD Vance and Zelensky. The monkey is not usually supposed to go off the script set by the organ-grinder, and if it does it will be put in its place, sharply.
Germany: Merz takes the helm of a sinking ship Friedrich Merz, leader of the right-wing Christian Democrats (CDU), will be Germany’s next Chancellor. On election night, he declared that a government should be in place by Easter, claiming that his mission is to unite Europe and that everything depends on leadership from Germany. Merz wants to be the ‘European Chancellor’ who will stand up to the USA, Russia and China and, as Der Spiegel has demanded, make the EU into a ‘great power’.
Britain: the rise of Reform – what does it represent? Farage’s Reform UK recently overtook Labour and the Tories in the polls. Some on the left claim that Reform’s rising popularity is down to British workers becoming racist and far-right. But what is really behind the rise of right-wing populism?
Trump ends the liberal world order A single phone call last week signalled the death of the so-called western alliance and the collapse of the system of world relations that has held sway since the Second World War. That phone call was, of course, between Trump and Putin.
The rise of Swedish imperialism in the Baltics In the 17th century, Swedish military might enabled its dominance over the Baltics, before they became a part of the Russian empire after Russia defeated Sweden at Poltava 1709. Today, Sweden has regained its dominance in the region – not through military power, but economic power.
Britain: Labour in power – a history of managing capitalism in crisis Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has been in power for over half a year now. This will go down in history as the most rapidly discredited government in Britain (excluding Liz Truss’ brief tenure).