World War I
In what must go down as one of the most disastrous amphibious assaults inhistory, on 25 April 1915 about 25,000 Australian and New Zealand soldiers stagedan attack on Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula. Turkish troops of the OttomanEmpire had seen them coming and began shooting them down on the exposed beachimmediately. British troops and soldiers from British Inndia landed at CapeHelles. French troops later joined them. Less than nine months later, and after56,000 dead on each side, the Allied troops withdrew with nothing to show for theeffort. It was all part of World War I, a vast struggle between two greatimperial alliances over territory, colonies and markets. It was a crime againsthumanity on all sides.Australian ImperialismAustralia is a minor imperialist power and its governments have historicallysought to advance its interests under the umbrella of a great power - firstBritain and later the United States. This requires Australian troops to bedispatched to assist in whatever wars in which its great ally could use someassistance. Soldiers have fought and died for Australian imperialism in Korea,Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. The quid pro quo is an Australian sphere ofinterest in the South Pacific and, in later years, Timor Leste. Here, Australiantroops moved from a support role to centre stage, with the military being centralto claiming Timor Leste as an Australian neo-colony in 1999 and maintaining it inthe Solomon Islands in 2003.AUKUSThe rise of China presents an unprecedented challenge to United Statesimperialism and the global order it created after World War II. With four timesas many people as the US, China could achieve a GDP twice as large even with aper capita GDP half that of the US. For the United States to stay the dominantglobal power, it needs to keep China a poor country - by economic means ifpossible, but military means if necessary. AUKUS is at the pointy end of USmilitary planning, with nuclear submarines to be deployed into straits andchannels in the first island chain. The Chinese navy will need permission toleave the South and East China Seas and the Pacific Ocean will remain an Americanlake. And Australian governments of both political persuasions have signed on tohelp. While the ACTU want non-nuclear submarines instead, there's no way they'llfight AUKUS.War or PeaceThe great danger in the next few years is that the United States might launch awar on China, using Taiwan as a pretext, before China gets too strong for the USto defeat. AUKUS is a key part of US war strategy and Australian imperialism iskey to the success of AUKUS. The working class needs to block Australianparticipation in AUKUS and put a spanner in the works of the US war machine. Thisrequires taking on the ALP and the Laborite bureaucrats who run the unions, butwhen faced with the danger of World War III, we don't have a lot of choice.NO AUKUSNO WAR ON CHINAMelbourne Anarchist Communist Grouphttp://www.melbacg.wordpress.commelbanarchistcommunist@proton.mePO Box 5108 Brunswick North 3056https://melbacg.wordpress.com/2023/04/25/anzac-day-2023/_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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