The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and International Students for Social Equality (ISSE) in Sri Lanka will hold a public meeting in Colombo on November 10 entitled “Seventy years since World War two: lessons and warnings”.

The World War II was not a struggle between democracy and fascism, but the product of the same fundamental contradictions of capitalism that exploded in World War I. Four years of carnage between 1914 and 1918 resolved none of the underlying national rivalries or economic dilemmas, leading to a second global conflict just two decades later. It resulted in unspeakable barbarism, including the deaths of at least 70 million people.

The apologists for the profit system maintained following the World War II that the conditions that produced the conflict could never re-emerge. However, over the past 12 months, as the global economy has plunged into the most severe downturn in 75 years, even defenders of capitalism have pointed to the dangers of World War III. Already, since 2001, American imperialism has invaded and occupied Iraq and Afghanistan and is preparing for a military assault on Iran.

The SEP/ISSE meeting in Colombo will discuss the crucial historical lessons of World War II. That terrible conflagration was not inevitable. It was the treacherous political role of Social Democracy and Stalinism, which had repeatedly blocked the working class from advancing its own revolutionary and progressive solution to the crisis of world capitalism that left war as the only “solution”.

Wije Dias, SEP general secretary and a member of the International Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site, will deliver the main report, followed by questions and discussion. We warmly invite WSWS readers and all those opposed to war and militarism to attend.

Place: Public Library Auditorium, Colombo 07.

Date and Time: Tuesday, November 10, 4.00 p.m.