The terrible wars in Gaza and Ukraine are both a product of the imperialist death dance of a capitalism in crisis and a trigger for further rearmament and international tensions. Ultimately, a future conflict between the USA and China (and a third world war) threatens and all countries are drawn in and forced to enter into one alliance or another. At the same time, the crisis of capital also takes other forms.

Massive Protests and Riots

This past year we have experienced some of the largest protests in decades in several countries. These struggles have not had a clear class character and have varied greatly in terms of main issues and triggering factors. But even if the working class has not dominated these protests, large parts of the class (and to some extent workers' organizations and strike activity) have clearly been on the move, and no part of the living conditions of proletarians is left untouched by the accelerating crisis of capitalism. Below we will briefly describe some of these protests, what we see as their limitations, and what we believe is the necessary way forward.

First South Korea erupted in one of the most dramatic political crises in its modern history, marked by massive protests, a controversial imposition of martial law in which it was claimed that the opposition was acting as 'anti-state forces' with links to North Korea, and allegations of widespread electoral fraud. Thousands of South Koreans immediately gathered outside the National Assembly in Seoul, demanding the lifting of the martial law and the resignation of the president. The protests continued even after president Yoon ordered the withdrawal of the military and lifted the martial law, with massive demonstrations and street riots in which a total of over 200,000 people are said to have participated.

On 28 February, the second anniversary of the fatal train accident in Tempi, which killed 57 people, large protests were held across Greece. Hundreds of thousands of people, mainly youths, demonstrated in over 260 towns and villages to demand justice for the victims and to express their dissatisfaction. Parts of the transport sector also went on strike and several trade unions demanded that those responsible be held accountable. In several places, the demonstration degenerated into full-scale street battles between demonstrators and police, with stones and Molotov cocktails raining down, and outright street battles continued for several days.

Protests have also raged in Serbia, with the participation of students, teachers, lawyers and other professional and social groups. Teachers went on strike in solidarity with students and have protested against salary cuts linked to their participation in these strikes. The protests were sparked by a tragic accident in November 2024, when a roof collapsed at a railway station in Novi Sad, killing 16 people. A wave of anti-government protests followed. A general strike was declared in March. The protests have grown to be the largest in the country's modern history, with over 300,000 taking to the streets of Belgrade during the general strike.

The same month, massive protests erupted across Turkey after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. Millions of people demonstrated and demanded justice and democratic reforms. Many also said that the country's economy was deteriorating dramatically, and the demonstration was, according to some sources, "the largest in decades."

Recently, we have also witnessed major protests in the US with what are claimed to be millions out on the streets. Often with a general anti-Trump character with a focus on what is called "authoritarianism" and the decline of democracy, but also specifically against mass deportations and cuts to Medicaid and social security. Smaller waves of protests have also taken place in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Montenegro, France and Spain.

From Street War to Class War

In summary, these struggles can be said to be directed against corruption and an increasingly authoritarian development, and against a state that is no longer delivering its basic services in the face of deepening capitalist crisis. These are not purely proletarian struggles, but it is clear that there are extensive elements of the working class involved. They are expressions of a general dissatisfaction and frustration that is steaming under the surface, and sometimes must explode. Without an anti-capitalist analysis and critique, and a class response and perspective, any possible success will become a Pyrrhic victory and most likely die out as quickly as it flared up - one leader falls, a government is replaced by another, a minor "change" is promised. To be clear: one type of capitalist administration is replaced by another. The road away from despotic authoritarianism, corruption, unsustainable costs of living and working conditions (for those with jobs left) can only mean the road away from capitalism.

The Working Class as a Political Force

Despite massive demonstrations, the working class has not been able to assert itself as an independent political force in these demonstrations. This is very difficult to do in the midst of a populist wave. During the so-called Arab Spring in Egypt, massive demonstrations and protests against the government were taking place. This situation also led to massive strikes in the textile industry, for example, but the working class drowned in the democratic wave and despite the fact that thousands of workers were on strike, it could not assert itself as an independent political force that fought for the political interests of the working class and that could create class bodies independent and separate from the democratic wave and these strikes were completely drowned in the democratic mass movement.

What we think is missing today are mainly two things:

The working class must resume the struggle at a higher level. The crisis that has been ongoing since the 70s led to the restructuring of production and work, which led to many jobs and industries being moved to China and the Far East with its much lower wage costs. The working class in the Western homelands was subjected to massive attacks on their working conditions with short-term employment and temporary work. A new so-called gig economy was created with very insecure working conditions. A new sector of fake independence was also created with one-man businesses and was able to circumvent laws and agreements. The fragmentation and weakening of basic ‘class instinct’ that this entails is a major explanation for the lack of this collective struggle and has also made it much more difficult for the working class to take up the struggle. Added to this is the relatively large influence that the bourgeois left and the trade unions still have on those parts of the class that are ready to take up the struggle. The working class must find ways to take up the struggle independently, outside the trade unions and outside parliament, on its own terrain. A militant class in motion is an absolute prerequisite for a revolution.

In addition to this, a revolutionary organization is needed, an international communist party to link the current struggles of the class today with its historical goal of a classless, stateless society without money or exploitation. An organization consisting of the most combative and clear-sighted elements of the class, which does not water down its policy in fronts and with compromises. Not as generals or a future government but as a guide and an engine in the struggle, within the class. The class’s most important tool for a communist outcome of a future revolution.

Fight for the Class, Fight for Internationalism!

Here we also want to highlight the initiative to form No War but the Class War (NWBCW) committees where real internationalists come together from different political tendencies to work together. We must try to unite the fight against the austerity that the development towards war necessitates with the fight against the massacres of war. It is essential that those who already defend internationalist positions cooperate in anchoring this position in the class so that an alternative exists when the class begins to move. To stand aside on the sidewalk for sectarian reasons is to be completely impotent and useless for the historical struggle of the working class for liberation and for the survival of humanity.

Today, neither large-scale independent struggle by the class nor the formation of its revolutionary organization is at hand. But there are small islands of struggle and scattered enclaves of revolutionary-minded workers. So it is time to roll up our sleeves: in our workplaces and in our neighborhoods, with our comrades and our class. For a fight for our interests, on our own terms by relying on our own strength and solidarity. And for those of us who have already approached revolutionary positions and a vision of a future classless society beyond capitalism - to take the first steps towards building a future revolutionary world party. Only in this way can we ensure that today's desperation and protests can be converted into a political development that stops wars, fills stomachs and liberates humanity.