We publish an English translation of a leaflet of the red women's committee Bremen.
Proletarians of all countries, unite!
Against passing on the costs of the war to the working class!
For free local transport, abolition of the value added tax and the assumption of the cost of electricity!
The war that Russian imperialism unleashed against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, weighs heavily on the Ukrainian people. Our class brothers and sisters in Ukraine are being displaced by the thousands, abused as cannon fodder and murdered. But the war is also having its effects outside Ukraine – including here in the FRG.
The war has once again accelerated the effects of the economic crisis. Thus, the war is not the cause, but accelerator of price increases and inflation. As a result, it can be felt here, especially in the wallets of many, because all sorts of things are becoming more expensive. The price of oil has increased by a quarter in the first week of the war, which makes for even higher fuel prices. Diesel was already more expensive than gasoline in the meantime, and both are over two euros. The prices of the most basic food items, such as bread and pasta, have skyrocketed since the start of the war. Everyday consumer goods such as toilet paper, soap and detergent have also become more expensive. There are two main reasons for this. First, Ukraine is a major producer of wheat and other grains. Russia and Ukraine together produce more than a quarter of the world’s wheat. The war is now creating a shortage that has so far caused wheat prices to rise by almost 10 percent. This will ultimately be passed on to the consumer, the workers and the people. On the other hand, the worldwide rise in energy prices triggered by the war ensures not only that heating and driving cars will become more expensive, but also that the manufacture of all products for which energy must be expended will become more expensive.
Even before the outbreak of war, prices were high due to inflation and the rise in the cost of raw materials. Food was on average 5.3 percent more expensive in January 2022 than in the previous year. With the war, the situation has only gotten worse. But instead of creating a balance or keeping prices low, such as by abolishing the value-added tax, free local transport, a basic income for all, subsidies of basic groceries that reach the poorest of the population and do not flush more money into the coffers of the big monopolies, taking over heating costs of Hartz IV recipients and low-income earners, the German imperialists use the war for their own interests. Above all, the warmongering German government, led by gangster Olaf Scholz, is now pushing militarization. A whole 100 billion euros are now being pumped into the Bundeswehr as so-called special assets to increase the offensive capabilities of the imperialist German army. At the same time, they are talking about reactivating conscription in order to be able to burn us up in their murderous army. With mendacious war propaganda they justify their steps, while the workers and the people are plunged into further misery.
The cost of their militarization and of the imperialist war must now be borne above all by us, the working class. The price that the war requires is being passed on to us. Whether it is the increased prices or the 100 billion for the Bundeswehr paid by our tax money. It is the price for a war that is not our war, that is not in our interest, quite the contrary. A war of the imperialists will never serve us, because they shed the blood of our class for their murderous interests. We do not support this war, must fight the rearmament plans and must not put up with the passing on of the costs of the war. Our answer is resistance, because it is “class against class” and “war against war”. We must express this resistance and declare war on the imperialist warmongers.
Down with the imperialist war!
Down with the warmongering government!
Not one person and not one cent for the Bundeswehr!
Red Women’s Committee Bremen
March 2022
