War is inevitable under capitalism. In fact, it is the direct consequence of imperialism. The struggle between competing nations for markets, fields of investment, and spheres of influence always results in clashes where workers fight and die to protect the profits of their ruling classes. In Lenin’s day, the capitalist rulers of Europe sent millions to slaughter one another in the trenches of WWI, with the treacherous support of the leaders of the mass workers’ organisations. 

As Jorge Martin from our international leadership explains in this talk, Lenin did not bend an inch to nationalist pressures to set aside class differences and fight to ‘defend the fatherland’, nor did he preach impotent pacifism. Instead, he insisted on workers struggling independently for their interests, against the machinations of their warmongering ruling classes. 

Ultimately, the only way to end capitalist war is by fighting a revolutionary class war against the system responsible for armed conflict.