Second front will not end fascism¶
Core Argument¶
The chapter argues that the Anglo-American invasion of Sicily does not represent a genuine war against fascism, but rather a new phase in inter-imperialist rivalry. The author contends that the aim of British and American imperialism is not to liberate Europe from fascist barbarism, but to destroy the hegemony of their German-Italian competitors on the world market and replace Axis domination with their own. The evidence cited includes Churchill’s admission of heavy slaughter to come and the capitalist press’s warnings of prolonged bloodshed.
The chapter draws on the material conditions inside Axis countries to support its case. It claims that the German and Italian masses are already in a state of growing opposition, citing strikes in Turin and Milan, mutinies in the German navy and army reported in the British press, and the mounting hatred of the invader across occupied Europe from the Ukraine to France. The author insists that if the Allies were genuinely anti-fascist, they could win the support of Axis workers and soldiers groaning under totalitarian oppression. Instead, the Allied powers refuse to differentiate between the fascist rulers and the enslaved populations, and they view the rumbles of revolt with fear rather than as a weapon to be utilised.
The chapter’s polemic is directed against the hypocrisy of the “democracies.” It offers the case of Giraud in North Africa as proof: the Americans intervened to force the retention of a Vichyite commander-in-chief, alienating the French people and revealing that Wall Street is already selecting its puppets for post-war power. The author argues that victory for Anglo-American imperialism would not mean the destruction of fascism, and its consequences for the world’s workers would be little better than those of an Axis victory.
The historical context is the mid-war period, with the Soviet Union’s victories having already disillusioned the German masses after ten years of Nazi rule. The chapter draws on the Marxist theory of imperialism to frame the conflict as a rivalry between capitalist blocs. It concludes by attacking the Labour leaders and the Communist Party as deceivers who repeat lies against German workers and hide the real causes of war. The only solution, it asserts, is the programme of the Workers’ International League and the Fourth International: a socialist Britain and a socialist United States of Europe, with British workers giving class solidarity to their German comrades rather than supporting their own ruling class.