The "Cold War" and Yugoslavia

by Vic Williams

The NATO bombing of Serbia and Kosovo was the latest episode of the "Cold 
War" turning hot. Churchill's speech at Fulton at the end of World War II 
gave formal announcement of its beginning but other politicians proclaimed 
its ending with the break-up of the Soviet Union, but it began earlier and 
is still continuing.

After WW2, the Cold War was pursued mainly by the USA and European powers 
joined in NATO and focused on military confrontation of the socialist 
Soviet Union and the Eastern European countries moving towards socialism. 
These countries countered by forming the defensive Warsaw Pact.

The justification for formation of NATO was based on the false claim that 
the Soviet Union was preparing to invade Western Europe.

The Cold War is essentially the political and, if deemed necessary, 
military action, in the confrontation of the national sections of the 
capitalist class and their governments against the working class and their 
communist parties, either in established socialist states or as part of the 
struggle for national independence or towards socialism.

The working class and their parties in their drive for improved wages and 
living conditions, for more democracy and for socialism, confront the aims 
of the national and international capitalists and their governments in a 
cold undeclared war.

The parallel drive of transnationals and the US Government towards global 
domination — against other national capitalists and their governments — 
is interwoven with the development of the Cold War.

US Leads Cold War

The US capitalist class, spearheaded by financial giants and key 
transnationals, has drawn together and dominated the other sections of the 
capitalist class.

Individually and collectively they have waged the Cold War with a wide 
range of weapons: economic pressure, boycotts and blockades, and an 
increasing barrage of ideological weapons in newspapers, radio and TV and 
books.

They have exploited political, religious and racial antagonisms to disrupt 
the economic and political struggles of the national working class and 
their international links.

They have built organisations like the CIA for spying, disruption, 
assassination, against campaigns for national independence and socialism. 
When they have not been successful they have turned the Cold War into 
threats of war and into hot wars.

The working class and their parties have countered with their ideological 
campaigns and exposures strengthening the working class resistance.

They have used their weapons of strikes and demonstrations both for their 
own needs and also for international solidarity. The Soviet Union and other 
socialist countries have given educational and organisational aid.

They gave military materiel and personnel to the liberation forces 
struggling against colonial oppression.

The Cold War against national independence and moves towards socialism 
became hot before WW2 ended, when US forces fought against and disarmed the 
Hukbalup, who had defeated most of the Japanese invaders of the Philippines 
and were turning their country towards independence and socialism.

British forces assisted the Dutch forces in the attempt to re-establish 
colonial rule of Indonesia when the Japanese had been defeated.

The Chifley Government, sniffing the wind, refused to send in Australian 
troops and the Australian working class applied boycotts against Dutch 
shipping using our ports and helped Indonesia become independent.

In the early 1950s the USA, wearing the cloak of the United Nations, waged 
a three-year war on North Korea, a communist-led country.

In 1961, the USA organised an attack on Cuba, and imposed an economic 
blockade that continued and intensified but did not overthrow the socialist 
government.

The major example of the Cold War turning hot was the US invasion of 
Vietnam on an excuse later proved to be false. It was stalled militarily by 
the Vietnamese and politically by the resistance of the working class, 
communist parties and peace movements with broad progressive leaderships in 
the USA, Australia and other countries.

Disintegration of Soviet Union

The economic destabilising by capitalist financial forces, the draining of 
the economy with the huge costs of military build-up from the Cold War, and 
the exploiting of internal leadership weaknesses played their part in the 
disintegration of the Soviet Union.

Weakened with loss of markets, by economic, financial pressures and 
exploitation of religious and racial differences, most of the previous 
socialist governments in East Europe collapsed and major capitalist forces 
took control.

Yugoslavia was the last of the East European countries with elements of a 
socialist government to remain; the only one that did not have US military 
forces and bases on its soil.

German and US Governments using boycotts, financial pressures, exploitation 
of internal political, racial and religious conflicts dismembered the 
Republic of Yugoslavia.

They added military aid and activities in carrying out the amputations of 
area after area. With US transnationals having 65 percent control of 
information, through newspapers, radio and TV, they convinced many people 
with their demonisation of Milosevic and in some countries won majority 
agreement on the justice of their actions.

The US and NATO forces then concentrated their main Cold War on Serbia, the 
last uncontrolled part of Europe — the Republic of Yugoslavia; in their 
eyes it represented the last communist controlled part of Europe because of 
the extensive state ownership of much of productive property.

The appendix of the Rambouillet diktat recognised this in the clause 
demanding that state ownership be transferred to foreign ownership. It 
proposed to give NATO full power over all aspects of work conditions for 
any work controlled by NATO.

The USA and Germany created the hot spot, the KLA to carry out terrorist 
acts which could be used as the supposed reason for the indiscriminate 
bombing of Serbia and Kosovo.

Resistance to NATO bombing

However, those forces in the working class and the peace movement who 
recognised the air attacks as part of the Cold War becoming hot, have 
responded with their resistance.

All communist parties recognised the NATO bombing as open aggression. They 
organised campaigns, drawing in trade unions and the peace movements, and 
others on political conviction.

Very little news of demonstrations and strikes in European countries, such 
as Greece, Germany, Italy and Russia, got through the media blanket. One of 
the few sources of reliable information came through the Internet.

The spreading of news of action by forces against the NATO bombing began to 
increase the opposition to the bombing and possible ground attack. Those 
using the slogan "Stop the bombing; stop the genocide" confused and blunted 
the campaign against US and NATO.

The crisis of world overproduction, the US transnational and government 
drive for global domination will inevitably increase the resistance of the 
world working class and the people.

The Cold War against the working class activities can burst into hot wars. 
Wherever and whatever excuses are given by the aggressors, we need to give 
international support for those attacked when the Cold War becomes hot war.