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From The Militant, Vol. 12 No. 24, 14 June 1948, p. 1.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for the Encyclopaedia of Trotskyism On-Line (ETOL).
The present lull in Washington’s “cold war” against Moscow has sufficed to bring out sharply many öf the deep-seated antagonisms among the various capitalist powers. Relations between London and Washington have deteriorated to a point where prominent spokesmen and periodicals on both sides speak quite openly about the growing rift. Many cleavages are likewise appearing within the Western European bloc itself, in particular the opposition of France to Anglo-American plans for the “reconstruction” of Western Germany and the Ruhr.
Palestine is merely one of the focal points in the Near East where the American and British imperialists are now colliding. Compelled to retreat before Wall Street’s overwhelming preponderance, the British imperialists' are nevertheless determined to hang on wherever they can in this highly strategic oil-producing area.
An equally bitter behind-the-scenes struggle is occurring over the control of the Mediterranean. London is adamant against the return of Cyprus to Greece or the resumption by Italy of her former North African colonies. With Greece and Italy now virtual American dependencies, this would assure Wall Street control over century-old “bastions” along the lifeline of Britain’s crumbling empire.
An aggravation of the current Anglo-American conflict would lead to the gravest paroxysms in the capitalist world. That is why the soberest, spokesmen of American imperialism are beginning to voice alarm.
On the other hand, the French imperialists find themselves clashing with the Anglo-American combination on the question of Germany and the Ruhr. The French capitalists want to “unite” the coal of the Ruhr with the iron of Lorraine. This would open up the possibility of France’s replacing Germany as the industrial power on the Continent.
Britain and the U.S., each for its own reasons, are united in opposing this. They demand an “international control” of the Ruhr, which would, in effect, mean their joint control over this key area. It took a six week conference in London to ram this proposal down the throat of the Schumann government. Regardless of whether or not the Schumann-Bidault government manages to survive the test on this issue, the crisis over the Ruhr will be a chronic one, worsening, more and more the relations between France and her imperialist rivals.
At the same time, the intraimperialist struggle for world markets is entering an acute stage. England must expand her exports or fall into national bankruptcy. French exports, which slumped alarmingly last autumn, remain no larger than they were before the franc was devaluated in January of this year. Meanwhile, American exports have also been sliding off.
The refusal by Congress to approve for more than one year the American tariff rates negotiated at the ITO blows up whatever hopes European capitalists may have had of achieving even a relative stabilization of world trade. The consequence is a fiercer competition for the dwindling world market.
The Marshall “Aid” Program, the chief, if not sole means of mitigating all the inter-imperialist antagonisms, bids well to prove a source of some of the sharpest clashes. We have already pointed out, in The Militant how the ECA is being used to batter down the British currency and along with it, Britain’s position as banker in her empire.
On top of all this come the drastic slashes made by the House in the ECA funds. Whether these ECA cuts are sustained by the Senate or not, the very action has brought sharply home to the European capitalists how completely dependent they are on moods and even whims in Washington.
European capitalism’s growing crisis feeds the inter-imperialist conflicts.
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