In the summer of 1923, Germany found itself in the grip of an intense revolutionary ferment. But this historic opportunity for the working class to seize power was squandered, with devastating implications, not only for Germany, but for the course of the world socialist revolution. In this article, marking the hundredth anniversary of the dramatic failure of the German Revolution in October 1923, Tatjana Pinetzki explains how this situation emerged, the mistakes of the leadership, and the impact of these events on world history.

After seven weeks of delays and a series of ‘consultations’, French President Macron announced yesterday the appointment of Michel Barnier as Prime Minister from the traditional centre-right Les Republicains (LR), who came fourth in legislative elections where the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) won the most seats.

We are very excited to announce the release of the Italian edition of History of Philosophy, a Marxist Perspective, by our editor-in-chief, Alan Woods. We congratulate our Italian comrades on producing this translation, which has made this important text accessible to an entirely new audience. 

As this issue of Revolution goes to press, Macron has still not named the next occupant of the Hôtel Matignon. He simply dismissed the New Popular Front’s (NFP) proposal out of hand. But, from now on, the identity of the next Prime Minister is of little importance when it comes to analysing the political situation and its prospects.

Recently, Serbia has once again been shaken by mass protests that brought tens of thousands to the streets. This is round two of the fight against Rio Tinto, a notorious multinational mining company that is trying to start operations in the west of the country. This is also the sixth time in the last eight years that mass protests against the regime of Aleksandar Vučić have been organised in Serbia.

The mysterious sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines has all the elements of a Hollywood crime drama: conspiracy, cover-up – and betrayal. A new series of revelations from the German police, published in the American press, purport to blow the case wide open. But when it comes to the Ukraine War, where lies have played an enormous role, we can accept nothing at face value.

“It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.”

Shakespeare, Macbeth, 5.5.16-27)

Far-right rioting has spread across Britain, with fascist gangs launching pogroms against Muslim and Asian communities. Appeals for ‘calm’ will not suffice. To eradicate this scourge, organised workers and youth must take militant mass action.

The menace of the far right has once again reared its ugly head and bared its teeth this week. Migrants and Muslims have been targeted in a wave of xenophobic riots and attacks across Britain. The labour movement must mobilise workers and youth to meet this threat head on.

When the war in Ukraine broke out, the western imperialists were confident they would rapidly snuff out the Russians. Supplied with weapons and intelligence from NATO and choked by economic sanctions, they reasoned, the Russian army would crumble, possibly bringing down the Putin regime.

Last week, Labour leader Keir Starmer scandalously suspended seven MPs for voting against his government’s austerity policies. This harsh move underlines the capitalist interests that Britain’s new PM represents. The left must prepare for battle.

The crisis of the French regime has the feel of a TV series. Yesterday’s episode was not lacking in a certain dramatic intensity.

Weeks after the second round of the legislative elections saw the left take the highest number of seats in the Assembly, internal negotiations within the New Popular Front (NFP) are logjammed. A division between the NFP’s left and right wing is preventing agreement on a candidate for Prime Minister. Meanwhile, Macron and the far-right are courting more conservative elements of the bloc to shut out La France Insoumise (LFI), block the NFP’s programme, and seek an absolute majority. Only militant struggle outside of parliament can break this impasse!

Last weekend, the newly-elected national leadership of the Revolutionary Communist Party – the British section of the Revolutionary Communist International – met to take stock of the recent election, including the campaign around Fiona Lali, and to discuss the tasks ahead. We publish here our agreed perspectives.

The Spanish student strike of 1986/87 was an epoch-making movement, lasting three months, involving three million school and university students, with hundreds of thousands in demonstrations, which ended up in a victory against the Socialist Party government. This document, written at the time by Alan Woods, is a blow-by-blow account of the movement which draws out the main political points. Alan was in Spain for most of the struggle, involved in daily discussions with the leading Spanish Marxists which led the movement.