War and capitalism, an alliance against the working class

Apr 25, 2025

Amaia Muñoa, deputy general secretary of ELA, and Aitor Murgia, head of the Research Office.

History shows that war is a key instrument for the expansion of capitalism. In times of crisis, major powers resort to militarization to protect their economic interests and those of large corporations, justifying the conflict with rhetoric about security and stability. In this sense, competition between states, far from being a confrontation based on democratic principles or human values, is a dispute for control of markets, resources, and the global workforce. This strategy has had dire consequences for the population: the death of innocent civilians, forced migration, the destruction of key infrastructure, and so on. The Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people is a clear example of this.

In this process of militarization, NATO has played a central role. For ELA, this organization has never guaranteed peace, but has always acted as an arm of Western imperialism, promoting military interventions and exacerbating international conflicts. In the Basque Country, the population rejected joining the Atlantic Alliance in 1986, and ELA asserts this position and denounces the European institutions' submission to a militaristic strategy.

Under Trump, the US has demanded that European NATO members significantly increase their contributions if they wish to remain under its umbrella. At the same time, Trump continues to flirt with Putin to end the conflict in Ukraine and seize as many of that country's resources as possible. Faced with this situation, the European Union has decided to deploy a new remilitarization strategy, seeking "greater autonomy in defense and prevention of a hypothetical Russian invasion of the EU." However, it is worth asking whether Russia is the EU's rival or whether the problem lies within, with the rise of European Trumpism in Italy, France, Germany, and Spain.

The proposal to allocate €800 billion to military purposes, presented by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, comes at a time when austerity policies continue to impact the working classes. This model perpetuates job insecurity and exclusively benefits the large arms industries. It also represents a further step in subordinating society to the logic of capital and war.

Through the shock doctrine, using fear, they seek support to justify the huge amounts of public money that will be invested in the arms industry—money that will be paid for by the working class (through taxes or debt). Furthermore, prioritizing military spending will lead to a decrease in the budget for social spending, as we are seeing in Germany, the United Kingdom, and France. In the Spanish state, and consequently in the Basque Country, the Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (AIReF) has made it clear that increased military spending will put pressure on public finances (up to a 1.6% reduction in public spending). In other words, it will bring cuts.

In the Basque Country, too, some economic sectors see the military industry as a lucrative business. According to the Gasteizkoak collective, there are more than 200 companies that dedicate all or part of their production to this sector, compared to 70 companies 15 years ago. However, the support of the Basque Government and some political forces in defending corporate interests, legitimizing our society's insertion into a dynamic of war, and ignoring the human, social, and ecological consequences this entails, is particularly serious. ELA proposes converting the military industry into sustainable sectors that are useful to society, and the administration must play a central role in this process.

Warmongering not only impacts the economy but also freedoms, increasing repression of the union movement and making employment precarious. Furthermore, the pretext of security justifies the persecution of migrants and the reinforcement of borders, turning the Mediterranean and the Atlantic into death traps. From a feminist and anti-racist perspective, war reinforces patriarchal and racist structures, promoting violence and a hegemonic masculinity based on imposition.

This commitment to a war economy clashes squarely with the model of society defended by ELA, which reaffirms its commitment against militarization and war and will endorse it through a resolution at the congress to be held on June 2 and 3. ELA will continue to mobilize against the increase in military spending and will continue to demand that these resources be allocated to fundamental rights such as health, education and housing; it will defend the working class's right to conscientious objection; it will seek to promote economic activity in sustainable productive sectors; and it will continue to combat war-mongering and fascist rhetoric, promoting peace and the self-determination of peoples.