The British bourgeoise has finally decided to enter the Common Market, hoping in that way -If got to solveat least to ameliorate the chronic crisis with which it has been faced for over The Decline of British Imperialism The economic structure Britain is the result of a long period of British domination of the world market. Imports of foodstuffe and raw materials were paid for by income from capital lavested abroad and by the Invisible exports produced by the panies, and the Brilish banks, which COLdominated their respective sectors.
The decline of British Imperialism, which began with the first world war and was accelerated by the second, upset this traditional economic structure. The proportion of British exports In world commerce has been steadily shrinking, so that Britain today is In States, West Germany, and Japan.
The world position of Britain's merchant marine, banks and insurance weakened. Income from capital Invented abroad represents a far smaller have brought about the decline of the permanent balance-of-payments crisis, perialiam throughout the world in the past twenty-five years have substantially Increased the Importance of the markets for Industrial products, Technological competition and technological superprofits today play role compared to the former 'game preservee" In the colonies and colonial lah capital is severely bandicapped relative to its principal competitors - the United Stales, West Germany, Japan, Italy, France, Its industry la less modernized. Its rate of growth has threatens to become more pronounced.
For an entire period the British bourgeoisie thought it could hang on to its Commonwealth" and its "special relationa" with the United States to get Itself out of the hole. Ten years later It had to recognize that it was mistakAmerican Imperialism has been buying out enterprises in Great Britain at an accelerating rate It has increased Ite penetration of Canada, Common Market countries have contested British ascendancy in countries like Nigerta, Tanzania, and Kenya. The colonial game preserves" have evaporated. All that British ImperialIam was left with was a more and more pronounced debilitation, not only in comparison with the United States and Japan, but even In comparison with the Six. The bankruptey of Rolle Royce acquires real symbolie The Turn Toward the Common Mar. ket and the Gaullist Veto The British capitallets then appiled warfare: "If you can't lick 'em, 'em." By entering the Common Market they hope to enjoy a greatly enlarged outlet, which In several areas (electronics, seronautic construction, synthetic fibers, the garment Industry, the petroleum industry, the food Industry), they are still ahead of their continental com petitors, whether In technology, the ize of their most powerful firme, or Among the 200 most powerful Buropean firma, forty-nine are British (more than the German and French Other industries (steel, clectrical construction, probably automobiles, too)
stepped-up competition.
however, the British bourgeoisie hopes that as a result of entering the European Economic Community, lts positions on the Kuropean market, and thence on the world market, will be The following consideration is even lore important. International compe tition leads to a more and more Incapital. In face of the "multinational"
American gients, with subsidiaries in practically every capitalist country, "multinational" companies controlled European capital from several FIAT-Citroen, Dunlop-Pireill, HoeschHoogovens Imulden, Empain-Schnelder) are being established. This concentration In the industrial sphere is strongly reinforced by mutual cooperation agreements and interlocking between big European banks and finanAs the example of the Dunlop-Pirelli merger demonstrates, British capital i* constrained to participas in this merger movement, under penalty of being en shed beeen the American glants and the European giants. But If Great Britain remains outside the Common Market, Brilish capitalists "European" game will way to exert pressure on, and no avenue of direct political conbeing erected little by Little on this new economic base. By entering the Common Market, the is teying to develop its political in#trumente to meet the needs of its most During the mid-Sixties, the decisive circles of the Brilish bourgeoisie had already made a turn in this direction. If Great Britain was not able to join the Common Market at that time, It was due essentially to resistance on the part of the Gaullist wing of French The reasons for this resistance were complex. Iwo facrors, nevertheless, played the principal role. French in dustry, which had not as yet achieved equilibrium with West German Industry, lared entering the lists with a second competitor, superlor on every count. De Gaulle, desirous of bullding • European army and government feared that the maritime and Atlantic British Imperialism would upset that plan, The French Bourgeoisie Changes Nevertheless, the French bourgeoisie had to realize, and very quickly, that in blocking Greel Britain's entry into the Common Market, it was engaging in a profitless venture - one that bene. fited ite major competitor. After May uprising in Francej, after de Gaulle's removal, it was Bonn and not Paris that became the uncontested leader of the Europe of the Six. Enjoying in dustrial predominance, having the most stable and desirable currency -the deutsche mark - at its disposal, coddled by Washington as ite privi leged ally, West German capital alone profited from the Imbalance of political and economic forces that Great Britain's exclusion had caused within Pompidou's change in orientation -the reason for his victory in the last presidentin] elections-stema from Today the head man of the moderate Caulliate is keeping the promises made in 1969 to the entire French bourgeoisie. The difficultien on the path to Britain's entry into the Common Market have been removed.
Thun the Europe of the Six becomes the Europe of the Ten (Treland, Denmark, and Norway, economic satellites of Great Britain, are also joining the European Economic Community)
Inside this Europe of the Ten, a Franco-British enterite cordiale, discreetly supported by Italy, will be the counterweight to West Germany's too pronounced supremacy.
Pompidou's choice is all the more logical in that the British bourgeoisie, still attached to its Independence in numerous areas, will support (inside the EEC) the reservations that French big capital has concerning new steps (cominon European currency, common industrial policy, common puble-works policy, ete.), to which the Weat German bourgeoisie, as well as the bourgeoisle of the Benelux coun The Tories Want the Workers to There remain but one obstacle in the way of the Europe of the Ten: the trade-union militancy of the British In order to participate in the Common Market with a real opportunity for success, British big capital must. at any cost, reverse the tendecy toward a falling rate of profit, which has been manifest in this country for almost a decade. To this end, It has to increase the rate of exploitation of te working class. It has to reduce worcing-class resistance to such an Increase by reducing trade-union power and militancy at the work pieces.
The antistrike and antitrade union law that the Conservative government pushed through the British Parliament represents one jaw of the pincers that In supposed lo crack the militancy of the English workers (who, along with the Italian workers, are the most militant in Europe) The other Jaw of the pincere is a dellberately prolonged re cession that has produced 800,000 unemployed ( the highest number since 19401) and unemployment rates of B to 10 percent of the unskilled workere In working-class bastions such an Glasgow and other cities of Scotland In chie connection, the status of BeitIsh capitaliem on the eve of its entry Into the Common Market in rather similer to that of French capitalism Just before the Common Marker was inaugurated in 1958. Both were wuffering pronounced structural deficienBoth had to "render harmless" an overly turbulent working class, no deficiencies could be re moved at the expense of the masses. Thanks to Gaulliam, French big capital achieved its alm. Mr. trying to imitate Charles de Gaulie's exploits. Bui the political and social relationship of forces is much more unfavorable for British capitaliem in 1971 than it was for French capitalThe conservative policies of the Torles, added to the effecta of recession might take the form of a landalide.
Thus the Tories bave to act faat, because they don't know If they have ten years ahead of them, as did de Gaulle. Their tactic of resorting to drastic remedies, which seems clumsy al a distance, derives from thie necensity, It also takes into consideraton the "moderating" role of the trade union and Labour party bureaucracy It was the Wilson team that cleared the path for Great Britain's entry into the Common Market and for the modernization" of British capitaliem at the expense of the workers. It was the Wilson team that got all the reactionary measures of the Heath cabinet under way from the anti-immigration legislation to the antitrade-union leglalation, by way of the "incomes polley"
and increased unemployment. Heath enlarged on what Wilson bad started. Moreover, Heath could only have come to power because Wilson's pro foundly antiworking-class policy had disgusted millione of Labour votera and had kept them away from the Today It la essential, for the relative and more relative, foot) of Bellish capitallem, that La. bour's return to power does not mean wiping out all the reforma. With the help of the tradeunion apperatus, Wilson is bually tak He has succeeded in stifling the spontaneous tendency of the British workers to oppose the antiunion legis Iation by means of a political general strike. He is making no preparations for purely and simply deleting this He merely promises to eliminate Its most "repugnant aspects. Today he is maneuvering in the same way -to prevent the Labour party from declaring Ite opposition to the Common Market to the extent that It would take the country out of It 11 Labour were relurned to power. Statementa of principle are not too bothersome (they might even attract some votes in the elections, should the ocarise). But above all must nothing be changed in what the Torles accomplished in these areas.
The most important factor, however. is dependent neither on legislation not on International treaties. It dependa on the dynamic of the class struggle. It the working class is victorious in re wisting the two pronged sasault of unemployment and antistrike legislation, if it preserves its fighting potential intact, it will make every effort to com raises —for every rise in prices (es pecially prices of food products) that would result from belonging to the Common Market. Joining the Common Market, far from reducing "eco nomie class struggles, would thus The naive confidence of this same working class in the efficacy of par. lamentary reforms and the electoral process would receive a second healthy shock, on the heels of the shock inflicted on it by its experience with the Wilson governments. In this was. its polltical radicalization would be re inforced, Increased recourse lo orga nizing strike committees and growing workers" control and workers' councile would thus gradual.
The social crisis would thus Little by little evolve toward a revolutionary outcome. The efforts of big capital to make the British bourgeolele participate in the construction of io" captal. int Europe would in that case end with the intensified participation of the Brit ish working class in the struggle fo "our" Europe —the red Europe of the workers, a socialist Europe.