Revolutionary Communist International20 October 2026
A collection of student organisations across Europe have put out a call for a youth strike against war and militarism to take place on 20 November, under the slogan of “Fight for our future, not their wars!” At a time when the European ruling classes are beating the war drums, implementing compulsory conscription laws and rearming to the tune of trillions, coordinated action against these reactionary policies is urgently needed.
Under pressure, some trade unions have called strikes on the same day. The general secretary of the CGIL in Italy, Landini, announced a general strike on 20 November, explicitly connected to the youth strike. The lecturers’ union in Britain, the UCU, has likewise called upon its members to join the youth on strike that day. The union leaders have come under massive pressure from the mood of anger sweeping Europe this autumn.
Already in September and October, youth have taken to the streets in a number of countries. In France, the movement against the underfunded education system has been met with stark state repression, has escalated, and is shaking the already feeble Macron government. In Spain, youth and workers are rising up against unaffordable housing, demanding a general strike. The pressure is such that the main trade unions have now announced a general strike for 11 November despite a general election being called for 29 November. In Germany tens of thousands have already held school strikes against Merz’s militarism and to reject conscription. And in Austria, students are striking against the government’s racist hijab ban.
In all of these movements the same sentiment rings clear: ‘Our rulers attack our rights and our living standards, while scapegoating migrants and whipping up racism. At the same time, they hand out billions for war, rearmament and the rich! Enough is enough!’
Quite right! Millions of youth across Europe are coming to the correct conclusion that the issues facing them are not simply a question of this or that political priority or party. It is the capitalist system itself and the imperialist ambitions of the entire European ruling class that are the cause behind the attacks on their generation. Consciousness is advancing by leaps and bounds, with one crisis after another compounding into a united front of discontent.
In this context, the youth strike on 20 November presents a historic opportunity to tap into this mood and tie these struggles together. Across Europe, coordinated action possibly involving millions of students, would be a decisive step forward in drawing these layers into the revolutionary fight for socialism.
Guns before butter
The past years of capitalist crisis have dramatically intensified the struggle between different gangs of imperialist robbers. For their part, the European ruling classes have backed the genocide in Gaza and funnelled billions into the war in Ukraine. Now, in a desperate attempt to save themselves from a humiliating defeat against Russia, they are whipping up a frenzy about a supposed future attack on a NATO country, in order to justify more arms expenditure.
To this end young people across Europe are being told to step into line and rally behind their own ruling classes. “Join the army!” Friedrich Merz, Emmanuel Macron, and Andy Burnham demand, while pointing to the enemy in the East as an existential threat to the so-called ‘democratic’ way of life in Europe. But nothing could be further from the truth.
In reality, it is the ruling class in the West who have been fanning the flames of war this entire time. They have gone along with every reckless adventure of US imperialism in an attempt to save what is left of the transatlantic alliance, bending over backwards to appease Donald Trump. In Ukraine, far from fighting for freedom, sovereignty or democracy, their sole aim has been to weaken Russia as a rival power, with ordinary Ukrainians being forced to pay the heavy price.
The European ruling classes have backed the genocide in Gaza and funnelled billions into the war in Ukraine / Image: Jaber Jehad Badwan, Wikimedia Commons
While high school students in France demand that their overfilled classrooms should not be infested with rats and cockroaches or left without air conditioning during 40 degree summers, Macron sends the armed police to beat them up, while he himself enjoys a day out to observe the test-firing of a new nuclear-capable missile. The ruling class could not have spelled out its priorities more plainly.
Who pays?
The European ruling classes are increasing defence spending to the tune of hundreds of billions. While arms companies are raking it in, the lavish spending raises the question: who foots the bill? Under capitalism there is no such thing as a free lunch – even less so today as Germany is in recession, inflation is wreaking havoc on Britain, and France is contending with a ballooning budget deficit.
In reality, it is the working class and youth across the world who are paying the price for the crimes of imperialism. Cuts to welfare spending and education, a higher pension age and soaring prices are all part and parcel of the imperialist drive to defend and expand spheres of influence in the world.
Since 2022, the world economy has seen the largest increase in military spending since the end of the Cold War. For the 11th consecutive year the money being spent on guns and bombs has risen, reaching nearly three trillion dollars on a world scale.
This is an unfathomable amount of money going to death and destruction, and yet we are told that there is not a penny or cent to spare for even maintaining the current levels of public services! In Germany, the Merz government is slashing benefits, cutting parental leave, doubling the price of prescription medicine and raising the retirement age. Big business gets tax breaks and subsidies while imposing redundancies, longer working hours and wage freezes on the workers.
For the youth of today across Europe, the choice is stark. If the ruling class implement their draconian attacks, we will be much worse off than the generation of our parents, or even our grandparents! Climate collapse, ballooning state debt and the sky-high cost-of-living are already threatening our future, and on top of this we are being asked to tighten our belts, so that the ruling class can fight wars to protect the profits of a tiny group of billionaires. It’s time to put our foot down.
Which programme?
Students and youth play an important role in the struggle against militarism and war. From the movement in the 1960s and 70s against the war in Vietnam, to the outpouring of anger against the genocide in Gaza, they have been at the forefront. And in recent years, strikes and walkouts against rearmament and conscription have also started to crop up across Europe. In Germany, two thirds of the youth reject conscription. This shows the immense potential for mobilising in the thousands and ultimately in the millions.
Students and youth play an important role in the struggle against militarism and war / Image: public domain
But the question must be posed: how can these initiatives actually succeed in stopping the war machine? Achieving political clarity, and sharpening the programme on which we mobilise and strike, is a precondition for advancing the struggle.
As history shows, imperialism and the drive towards militarism cannot be stopped within the confines of capitalism. On the contrary, it is an economic system built on profit, exploitation and competition between nations which leads to these horrors in the first place. Calling for peace, and making pacifist appeals to the ruling class and its political representatives, will solve nothing. In fact, it will sow false illusions in the very people who have blood on their hands, and on the idea that imperialism is merely a policy choice, rather than a necessity for the capitalist class.
A genuine anti-war movement must put forward a clear revolutionary policy. That means stating openly that the movement of the youth can only be won as a part of the class struggle. The movement must draw in the working class who possess the power to hit the capitalists where it hurts and run society and production in the interests of the majority. The Italian general strike for Palestine in October 2025, and the action of dockworkers in parts of Europe who have refused to handle weapons, have shown what is possible. In the end only a struggle for a socialist transformation of society can defeat imperialism, militarism and war.
The biggest obstacle on this path are the reformist leaders, whether in the trade unions or the political parties on the left. While on paper it should be their task to mobilise both the youth and the working class, they have long since renounced class struggle, let alone any ideas of revolution. Instead they seek compromises with the ruling class and try to redirect any movement on the streets into parliamentary channels. On the question of war, they appeal to international law and organisations like the United Nations to step in. But imperialist ‘peace’, as Lenin pointed out, can only be a prelude to new imperialist wars.
Overthrow the governments of the rich
Already, youth across Europe are realising that the only way to advance their struggle is by drawing in the working class, bringing society to a standstill and forcing the downfall of the powers that be.
In Spain, the call for a general strike that the unions have now called on 11 November came from the masses, who are perfectly aware that appeals and petitioning cannot guarantee basic human needs like affordable housing – even when a supposed ‘left’ government is in power. In France, references to May ‘68 are openly made by the students realising that through the power of strikes and factory shutdowns the government would be forced to capitulate.
The crisis of every European country is so profound that no single measure can alleviate the suffering in any meaningful way, or provide a decent future for the youth of today. The economic conditions dictate a government policy of cuts upon cuts, no matter who is in power.
To halt this ongoing social decline, which impacts the youth in a disproportionate and immediate way, a radical change is required. In short, the government of the capitalists would have to be replaced by a workers’ government. The union leaders and reformist politicians who say there is an easy or peaceful way to achieve what the youth demands, are pulling the wool over your eyes!
The immediate demands of the movement and the 20 November strike must therefore be linked to the prospect of overthrowing the governments of Europe, and the entire system that they defend.
As for the methods of action, they must be equal to this tremendous task. That means first and foremost widening the movement itself, drawing in every classroom of every school and university in every town and city. It means getting the workers in the education sector onboard, and widening the appeal to the working class as a whole. And it means, most importantly, to put class demands at the head of the movement, connecting the struggle against war and militarism to the struggle against capitalism.
The youth strike on 20 November can become a milestone in the struggle that is currently sweeping across Europe. The Revolutionary Communist International will participate enthusiastically, putting forward demands that aim to draw the sharpest possible line between the two irreconcilable sides in this struggle for the future: the youth and the workers on the one side, and the capitalists and the warmongers on the other!
In the imperialist countries of Europe we say “our main enemy is at home!”, following the stand taken by Karl Liebknecht at the outbreak of the First World War. We must fight to bring down the warmongers across Europe and point the finger squarely at their crimes and their hypocrisy! Only class war can halt the imperialist war machine. Only socialist revolution can overthrow capitalism and open the way for peace and a future for the youth.
We say:
- Books not bombs! Welfare not warfare!
- Expropriate the war profiteers without compensation!
- Defend the right to free speech and protest! Down with the repression of the anti-war movement!
- Peace between peoples, war against the billionaires!
- Workers of the world, unite!
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