The Day the Armistice Was Signed to End World War IOn November 11, 1918, the Armistice which brought World War I to an end was signed, marking the end of the war. A slaughterhouse of unprecedented proportions, World War I was referred to as the "war to end all wars." Despite this, it is well known that the subsequent peace treaty signed in Versailles, was a factor in laying the grounds for the growth of fascism and World War II. World War I was an inter-imperialist war, a war in which working men were sent to be slaughtered as empires clashed to re-divide the world. World War I left nine million soldiers dead and 21 million wounded. In addition, at least five million civilians died from disease, starvation, or exposure. The war also marked a turning point in history. In 1917, the Russian working class and people organized the Great October Socialist Revolution and took Russia out of the war. When
Soviet power was established, Winston Churchill called for the
crushing of the baby "in the cradle." In the aftermath of the war, 14
foreign powers, including Canada, militarily
intervened
in order to foment civil war, seize Soviet Russia's assets for
themselves and put an end to the revolution and Soviet power. But
Soviet power prevailed and they were defeated. Far from being
crushed, the Great October Socialist Revolution led to the
advance of society, to its vigorous development and the
unprecedented release of human initiative. Drastic political, cultural, economic, and social change occurred in Europe, Asia and Africa, even in areas outside those directly involved. Four empires collapsed due to the war -- the Russian Czarist Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Old countries were abolished, new ones were formed and boundaries were redrawn. International organizations, such as the League of Nations, were established. Soviet Russia was industrialized at a record rate, a phenomenon unheard of up till that time. It provided the example of a triumphant march. No matter what enemy it faced, it knew no defeat. The high ideals of a
"War to End All Wars," of
duty to
King and Country, to empire, were shown to be a cover, a false
justification, for the horrendous clash of the imperialist warmongers.
Yet these same values are promoted at this time, under the rubric "Lest
we forget" -- the dead are the glorious ones, because they made the
supreme sacrifice for freedom against a heinous enemy.
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Today,
Canada's warmongering is presented as a foundational Canadian value.
But the sacrifice of Canadians contradicts official accounts. Their
sacrifice was made not for freedom but on behalf of empire. Canada's
independence was not secured by sending Canada's youth to participate
in the charnel house of imperialist slaughter that was World War I, a
war of division between the empires of the day to secure sources of raw
materials, cheap labour, zones for the export of capital and strategic
influence. On the contrary, Canada's ruling elite secured a place for
itself as a yes-man of first the British and then the U.S.
imperialists, while the movement of the people persists for a genuine
nation-building project in which the natural and human resources and
decision-making power serve the people, not the rich.
