39 years later the “order reigned in Paris” again after the suppression of the Paris Commune and executions of thousands of its participants to the relief of the royal courts in Russia, Germany and England. In order to further secure the “lasting peace”, between 1891 and 1893, France and Russia signed political and military agreements. Needless to say that “order” was not in the interest of the people and neither was the “peace” that followed. 

These kind of examples can be multiplied throughout history: the 1938 fall of Spanish Republic (preceded by the suppression of the workers’ and peasants councils and armed militias by the republican government); 1938 partition of Czechoslovakia, 1939 fall of Poland, 1940 fall of Paris and so on and so forth. These well-known historical events point to the obvious truth, that neither “peace” nor “order” are always and by default “good” or beneficial for the working class.

When back in 2001 and 2003 we (me and many friends and comrades) protested against American invasions on Afghanistan and Iraq (and against the participation of Polish army in these acts of state terrorism), for most of us, it was obvious for that “stopping the war” was not enough to solve the problem of dictatorships, genocides and social inequalities. It was not (or at least not only) about “peace” (lack of war). It was about the military onslaught committed by the US Army and its allies (among which Poland was one of the most loyal ones) in their global competition for resources, trade routes and political control. After twenty years, we also tend to forget that Putin’s Russia was fully in favour of the “global war on terror” and that only few years back they had launched the genocidal war against the Chechens, back then labelled as “islamists” and “terrorists”.

Would anyone praise the situation in Paris or Warsaw between 1940 and 1944 as “peaceful”? Will “peace” prevail on the rubbles of Gaza (or in the Gaza holiday resorts generously suggested by Trump)? Can we speak of “peace” in the city of Mariupol, where the occupation authorities bring Russian settlers and dispossess the local inhabitants? The end of military activities is never a simple return to what was before the war. Neither “order” nor “peace” should be confused with justice and liberation. No matter how much we would wish for that not to be the case, the wars are not always fought by “equally bad” sides. And more often than not, “the colour of the flag under which the workers are exploited” actually matters. That said, we should also remember to be critical about the “good” or “less bad” sides and never assume that their victory will automatically be beneficial for the oppressed. 

As I do not have an in-depth knowledge about the situation in Palestine, Syria, Kurdistan, New Caledonia, Yemen, Kashmir and other “global hot spots”, I focus on Ukraine in a hope of developing grassroots solidarity and connecting different struggles for liberation, recognition and social justice. Since 2022, In the framework of Workers’ Aid to Ukraine campaign organized by the International Labour Network of Solidarity and Struggle, the independent and democratic unions maintain and develop contacts with our Ukrainian comrades: unions of miners and metal workers, medical workers, railroad workers, students and teachers. We talk to the working class men and women who serve in the army. With our limited capacities, we provided them with some basic equipment, which the state was unable to provide. We supported the civilians in the frontline areas. But most of all, we have been supporting the organisational and humanitarian efforts of the independent unions in the war-torn country. We organize meetings and invite Ukrainian comrades to the international events. 

Forget the presidents, ministers and generals whose politics and alliances can change at any moment! We have already seen US political leadership flirting with Russia in their readiness to cut the deal over the heads of Ukrainians. We have seen Polish liberals playing the card of anti-Ukrainian sentiments in their attempts to attract the far-right voters. We have seen Turkish authorities’ cynical use of the Ukrainian question in order to secure its domination over the Black Sea. Talk to the organized working class, feminists, housing groups, LGBT+ communities! Our actions should derive from solidarity with the oppressed and exploited against the oppressors and exploiters, with the evicted against the evicting.

We are well aware that the end of war (no matter how it will look like) in Ukraine will not mean the end of struggle. Since the beginning of Russia’s full scale invasion, Ukrainian working class has been facing not only Russian bombs and missiles but also social cuts and labour code deregulation introduced by the Ukrainian government. At the same time, it is the working class that keeps the country functioning and it is the working class and the unemployed who are fighting and dying on the front lines. The Ukrainian authorities are already inviting international investors to the country and promising huge profits and the loud case of the US government trying to lay its hands on Ukraine’s rare earth mineral resources is just a top of an iceberg. For Ukrainian unions and social movements, it means a lot of work , in which they will need international support. We should stand together with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters in their struggle against Russian invaders and occupiers; against irrational, anti-social policy of the Ukrainian government and against post-war reconstruction based on low-paid workforce, draining the natural resources and transferring the profits to the tax heavens (off-shores).

In the end, it is all not about “peace”, it is about justice and the struggle against oppression and exploitation and for the working class empowerment! Without justice and equality, “peace” is just an empty word. 

Warsaw, 25 April 2025

Ignacy Jóźwiak : sociologist and social anthropologist, member of the IP Union (Poland), participant of the Workers Aid to Ukraine campaign.

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