August 6th marks Hiroshima Peace Day. It is a day to remember those killed by nuclear weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a day to remember all those harmed and displaced by nuclear testing, and a day to recommit ourselves to the struggle for a world of peace, free from the shadow of nuclear war.
81 years ago, nuclear weapons were used to attack another country for the first time, when the USA dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. 3 days later, the Americans would drop a second bomb, this time over Nagasaki. Between the two bombings and the resulting radiation, over 300,000 people died either on the day(s) or in the following years. These were not focussed attacks on solely military targets but instead the large-scale destruction of civilian population centres.
The Americans did not drop these bombs solely to end the world war and bring peace, as apologists for the bombings have often claimed. It was, amongst other motives, a power move against the communist and anti-imperialist forces also fighting the Japanese Empire. The US cynically used the murder of thousands to consolidate its position in the region and shape post-war Japan in its image, and to display its power to those who would soon become its cold war rivals.
Far from bringing about peace, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ushered in the era of the nuclear arms race, and created a world that even today, decades after the first cold war, risks global annihilation should a great conflict between nuclear powers ever break out.
The struggle for peace today
When we remember August 6th we not only recall the horrors of the nuclear bombing or the frightening new era it began, but we renew our commitment to the fight for peace. This is particularly important here in Britain, when our government – even under new Prime Minister Burnham – is doubling down on the road to war.
Firstly, Britain continues to facilitate US and NATO imperialism. NATO, formed before there was even a Warsaw Pact, was never the peace-making defensive alliance it claimed. This alliance, including multiple nuclear-armed powers like Britain, has proven as much since the end of the first cold war: not only continuing to exist but expanding East towards Russia. Along with the overlapping AUKUS alliance of the UK, USA, and Australia, it is also preparing for a new cold war (and potentially one day hot war) with the People’s Republic of China.
One of the main ways Britain is facilitating these efforts is through hosting the US military on British soil. Bases such as RAF Fairford have been used to assist imperialist war, with American planes stopping at Fairford on their way to drop bombs on people in Iran. Far from keeping us safe, these bases only make Britain a target, alongside helping fuel the conflicts that make the whole world less safe.
Another false safety comes in the form of the Trident nuclear “deterrent”. We spend approx. £3 billion a year in running costs on these nuclear-armed submarines, which will only ever be useful should we actually seek to launch nuclear weapons on another country. There is little case to be made that Trident safeguards our sovereignty or independence from invasion or attack, when we have long abandoned our sovereignty to Washington DC, NATO Command and the major corporations.
While some advocates of European integration suggest the answer to dependence on the US is to militarise Europe, replacing a trans-Atlantic military alliance with a European one, this would only replace a US-led imperialism with an EU-led imperialism.
So how do we actually pave the road to peace?
We must build, unite, and consolidate a mass anti-war movement in Britain. This must be truly anti-imperialist (not just anti-USA), deeply rooted in our workplaces and communities, and fully understand the link between the current drive to war and the issues of unemployment, poor services, and poor jobs.
Jobs not bombs
Our public money is being directed towards war. Not only are billions spent on Trident, but defence spending in general is quite wasteful in terms of job creation. As raised in the Alternative Defence Review (put together by trade unionists and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament), research shows that out of one hundred sectors, defence ranks seventieth as a job creator. This means for the same amount of money spent, most other sectors – from health to agriculture – create far more jobs.
When the main justification for British militarisation is jobs creation, the reality that it takes public money away from far more jobs-rich sectors tears apart our government’s narrative. Prime Minister Burnham is right to call for reindustrialisation – a key step to rebuilding a strong working class in Britain – but this cannot be done through the war economy.
For young people in particular, the attempts to militarise our education must be organised against. The recently announced University Defence Alliance sees dozens of British universities sign up to promote the military and arms industry to their students. How can we be taught in our schools one day the horrors of war, of nuclear attacks, of crimes against humanity, and then the next day be told the solution to youth unemployment is to join the war machine?
A nuclear free world begins with the youth. A world freed from imperialist wars and pointless death. We are the future, and to better shape that future our generation must reckon with the past.
We will not be sold the lie that militarism offers us a better life, ‘good jobs for all’, peace and security.
We know it to be nonsense whether it is told by Tory or Labour, Starmer or Burnham.
We must keep the promise to never again see nuclear weapons used and to fight against the wars – hot and cold – that make such a thing even a possibility.
Britain must leave NATO, for a sovereign, independent foreign and defence policy.
Young communists everywhere must organise around the rallying call of Jobs not Bombs, pushing our line in every union and on every campus.
Join the YCL and Communist Party to build the United Front against monopoly capitalism and war!
For peace, jobs and socialism in our lifetime.
Philip English, is the Editor of Challenge Magazine
