50 Years Ago: Britain and France

But. it may be asked, why should we, the working class in England, care a straw for the workers of Paris? . . . Is not the Parisian worker our enemy? Is he not our competitor in the industrial world? Has not France for centuries been the great antagonist of England? Was it not Napoleon III who. after his ignominious defeat at Sedan, suggested to the victorious Germans that they should settle their differences and make war against the “common enemy’’—England? And was it not against France that Nelson and Wellington gained their most memorable victories?

But the revolutionaries of England recognise that, while we are compelled to compete with the workers of France in the industrial field, as with the workers of Germany and all other countries, we have also to compete with the English workers here, and the French and German workers are no more our enemies than our fellow wage slaves of Britain.

Yet, while we are compelled to compete with each other in the labour market, in spite of this there exists a common interest amongst the working class, an interest that recognises no distinction of race or sex. and that unity of interest is the abolition of the system which compels us to fight for a mere existence. This common interest attaches to the whole working class just as the capitalist class, who combat each other for the world’s markets, have a common cause in keeping the working class in subjection.

From an article on the Paris Commune 1871 SOCIALIST STANDARD, March 1913.