Statement of the Workers’ Party of Ireland on the 70th Anniversary of the Anti-Fascist Victory in Europe
8th May 2015 (9th of May in much of eastern Europe) is the 70th anniversary of the Great Anti-Fascist Victory achieved by the struggle, blood and sacrifice of the peoples of the Soviet Union, United States, United Kingdom and France, their allies, and the Communist-led resistance forces in continental Europe. It is a day that must never be forgotten because of what it represents.
The invasion of Abyssinia by fascist Italy, the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany, the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia and the strangulation of the Spanish Republic were steps on the road to the Second World War in which 54 million people died, 90 million were wounded and 28 million were maimed. Fascism made murder and cruelty a way of life.
The Workers’ Party of Ireland salutes the courage and heroism of all those who contributed to the victory over fascism, and acknowledges the special contribution of the peoples of the Soviet Union, which lost around 27 million citizens. The Red Army, supported by the immense productive capacity of the socialist Soviet economy, crushed fascism, inflicting 80% of casualties suffered by the German army, taking the Nazi capital, and raising the hammer and sickle over the Reichstag.
In 1945 fascism was defeated in Europe. The Soviet Union, the Red Army and the communist partisans and resistance fighters of Europe were instrumental in securing that defeat. The battle of Stalingrad, which lasted 200 days and nights, represented a major defeat for the Nazis. The Nazi counter-attack at Kursk was broken and further heavy losses were inflicted on the fascist forces. Subsequent to the defeat at Kursk the Nazis failed to mount another major offensive and the Red Army advanced, step by step, to Berlin.
The Soviet Union unleashed a powerful offensive. 4,200,000 people joined the Soviet Army in 1944. Within less than 12 months Soviet forces advanced 400 to 1,500 kilometres along a wide front – an event unprecedented in military history. 104,000 soldiers from Polish, Czechoslovak, Romanian, Yugoslav and French units, formed and equipped in the Soviet Union, fought alongside the Red Army. The soldiers of the Red Army were met as liberators and heroes. The Nazis were driven from country after country.
The Anti-Fascist Victory and the liberation of Europe was achieved overwhelmingly by the forces of proletarian internationalism, whether the soldiers of the Red Army or the Communist partisans and resistance fighters, from Yugoslavia to France. This is a glorious achievement which no attempt to rewrite history, no laws to ban Communist ideology and symbols, no spurious attempt to equate fascism and the Communism that defeated it, no lies from the descendants of Hitler and his collaborations abroad can ever diminish or wish away.
The rise of the fascist regimes was facilitated by capitalist liberal states and the global bourgeoisie as they preferred the existence of fascist states to the possibility of the transformation of society in the interests of the majority of society, the working class. Nowhere was this clearer than the Spanish Civil War. While the USSR supported the Republic, and Communists from across the globe came to defend democracy, capitalism facilitated Franco’s victory. The toleration and encouragement of fascism by the international capitalist class and the governments that ruled in its interests enabled the occurrence of World War II.
Many of those who fought hardest against fascism and who swept into Berlin were from Ukraine. They knew directly the brutal and vicious nature of fascism, which always regarded Communism as its main enemy and primary target. When we see Communists murdered in Ukraine, fascists in government, their forces armed, trained and supported by the US, EU and NATO, we see history repeating itself.
Peace came to Europe – but at great cost. Fascist aggression had been defeated and this was accomplished by the Soviet Union, Britain and the United States in cooperation with the armed forces of France, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Albania together with units of the Bulgarian, Romanian and Hungarian armies and the resistance fighters in all the Nazi occupied countries of Europe.
The Soviet Union played a decisive role in that struggle and sustained the biggest losses. Twenty million citizens of the Soviet Union were killed; 25 million lost their homes; 1,700 cities, 70,000 villages and 31,850 industrial enterprises were destroyed. The Soviet Union not only defended its independence and territorial integrity, it also provided invaluable assistance to the peoples of other countries in the struggle for liberation and the defeat of fascism in Europe.
The Red Army, under the leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, was instrumental in that achievement. The Communist parties of Europe acted as a centre of mobilisation against fascism. They were to the forefront of the struggle, demonstrating the real meaning of socialist internationalism.
The impoverishment of workers to further enrich the wealthy, the scapegoating of people within society, the targeting of migrants, racism and ethnic hatred, all present a serious and abiding threat. The rise of populist far-right parties and the mealy-mouthed attempts to ape them by “mainstream” bourgeois parties, the nefarious links between state security services and Nazi groups, the growth of hate crime are all reminders, fortified by the words of Brecht, that we cannot be complacent when it comes to fascism.
The struggle against Nazism ended with a glorious victory 70 years ago. The struggle to protect, deepen, and enrich democracy, and the battle against fascism continue today.
The lessons of the past, the heroism, self-sacrifice and achievements of the Soviet Union, and current events convince us that if we are to construct a better and truly human society, socialism is the alternative.
Long Live the Great Anti-Fascist Victory! Long Live the memory of the men and women who fought and died in the fight against fascism. They shall not be forgotten.