Four Years out of Five at War The Reality of British Aggression
George Orwell invented a take on Stalinist Russia to write ‘1984’ but could just as easily been prophesising the present day UK state. He wrote of a state that had its citizens under constant surveillance, was able to watch what you were doing in your own home, and a state that was in near constant conflict on far away battlefields –always, of course, the victim.
Sound familiar? Well the UK state has the highest number of CCTV cameras per capita in the world, estimated at anything up to 4.8m. Add to that the ability, through measures such as Echelon or the recent Communications Data Bill, to monitor all your communications and you begin to get the picture.
But the dark reality of British military aggression is far more long-lasting than anything Stalinist Russia or Orwell’s imagination could conjure.
The British state has been in existence since 1707. At the time of writing that is 305 calendar years. Over that period it has spent only 64 full calendar years at peace. Put another way it has been involved in various conflicts on every continent for 241 of those years – 80% of the time, or 4 years out of every 5.
These wars have not been fought to prevent invasion – or“defend” Britain. These wars have been fought to advance the interests of the British ruling class. Wars over the natural resources of the world. Wars to keep other peoples under British rule. Wars against Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Protestants, Catholics. Wars against democracy. But always, always against the working people of this planet.
The workers not just of those countries directly exploited by Britain, but the many workers slaughtered across Scotland, England, Ireland& Wales for standing up for their rights. Place-names such as Tranent, St. Peters Square, Merthyr or Ballymurphy show clearly the role that these “brave heroes” can, will and do execute in the line of their duties to defend the capitalist system in Britain. They are just cannon fodder signed up to protect and advance the interests of the British ruling class.
Whether the cause has been spices from India, 'protecting' the Suez canal, or oil from Libya and Iraq, the times and places may change but the underlying economic reasons remain.
As socialist republicans this history is a strong justification for our support of Scottish Independence. Our collective shameful contribution to Britain’s murder machine will forever be a stain upon this nation, but we can seek to redress this through an anti-Imperialist strategy which places Scotland firmly on the side of the oppressed peoples of the world and on the other side of the barricades from hired British murderers in uniform.
An anti-imperialist strategy which opposes all aspects of the British military machine – from Faslane on the Clyde through every RAF base to the so-called Scottish Regiments.
But the youth of Scotland are already one step ahead. Even in the midst of a global recession with spiralling youth unemployment and a constant stream of propaganda from the media and establishment recruitment to British Crown Forces in Scotland is a record low-levels. No more are our young heading off in droves to die for the profit margins of Shell & BP.
Their fight is at home. Their enemy is British imperialism and its ally Scottish capitalism. Which Side Are You On?
List of Wars Involving British State 1707 - Present
1701-14 War of the Spanish Succession 1715 Jacobite Rising 1717-20 War of the Quadruple Alliance 1719 Jacobite Rising 1740-48 War of the Austrian Succession 1745-46 Jacobite Uprising 1749-54 2nd Carnatic War 1754-63 Seven Years War 1757-63 3rdCarnatic War 1758-61 Anglo-Cherokee War 1763-66 Pontiac’s Rebellion 1766-69 1stAnglo-Mysore War 1774-1783 1st Anglo-Maratha War 1775-83 American Revolution 1780-84 2ndAnglo-Mysore War 1782-92 3rdAnglo-Mysore War 1793-97 French Revolutionary Wars 1798 Suppression of rebellion in Ireland 1798-99 4thAnglo-Mysore War 1799-1802 2ndFrench Revolutionary War 1801-07 Temne War 1802-05 2nd Anglo-Maratha War 1803 Irish Rebellion 1803-05 Kandayan War 1803-05 3rd French Revolutionary War 1806-07 4th French Rev. War 1806/7 Invasion of Buenos Aires 1806/7 Ashanti-Fante War 1807-09 Anglo-Turkish War 1807-12 Anglo-Russian War 1807-14 Gunboat War 1807-13 Peninsular War 1809 French Rev War 1810-11 Anglo-Dutch Java War 1810-17 Merina Conquest 1811 Ga-Fante War 1811-12 4th Xosa War 1812-15 War of 1812 1815 Kandayan War 1815 France 1817-18 3rdAnglo-Maratha War 1818-19 5th Xosa War 1820-30 Greek War of Independence 1823-26 Anglo-Burmese war 1823-31 Ashanti-War 1828-34 Portuguese Civil War 1833-40 Carlist War 1829 Invasion of Western Australia 1834-36 6th Xosa War 1837 Canada and NZ rebellions put down 1838 Myall creek massacre in NSW; Battle of Blood River in S.Africa 1839-1842 Afghan war 1839-42 Chinese opium war 1839-51 Uruguayan Civil War 1845-46 Sikh War 1846-7 7th Xhosa War 1848-49 2nd Sikh War 1851-3 8thXhosa War 1852 Burmese War 1853-56 Crimean War 1856-7 Nicaragua 1856-60 2nd Opium War 1856-7 Anglo-Persian War 1857-8 Indian Mutiny 1860-61 2nd New Zealand LandWar 1863-64 2nd Ashanti War 1863-65 3rd New Zealand LandWar 1864-5 BhutanWar 1867-74 Klang War 1868-72 New Zealand Land War 1868 War of the Abyssianian Succession 1869 Red River Rebellion 1873-4 3rd Ashanti War 1877-8 9th Xhosa War 1878-80 2nd Afghan War 1879 Zulu War 1880-1 1st Boer War 1884-9 Mahdist War 1885-87 3rd Burmese War 1896 Zanzibar War 1899-1901 Boxer Rebellion 1899-1902 2nd Boer War 1901-2 Anglo-Aro War 1903-4 Invasion of Tibet 1914-18 World War I 1918-20 Russian Civil War 1919-23 Turkish War of Independence 1919 3rd Afghan War 1919-21 Irish War of Independence 1936-39 Suppression of Arab Revolt in Palestine 1938-48 Zionist Wars 1939-45 2nd World War 1948-60 Malayan Anti-British National Liberation War 1950-53 Korean War 1952-60 Mau-Mau uprising 1956-57 Suez‘Crisis’ 1962-66 Indonesia-Malaysia War 1962-75 Dhofar Rebellion 1968-98 Irish war of national liberation 1982 Malvinas’War 1991 1st Iraq War 1998 2nd Iraq War 1998-99 Kosovan War 2001- present Afghan War 2003-9 3rd Iraq War 2012 Invasion of Libya