By Martin Suchanek, Workers’ Power, Germany.

It was a very special camp. And a highly successful one at that. The mere fact that we were able to hold the event despite serious disruption by the state is a political success in itself. Just a few weeks before the event, the original venue was cancelled due to pressure from the Verfassungsschutz (domestic intelligence agency). For us, however, it was always clear that we would go ahead with the event regardless of the venue. And that is exactly what we did. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our comrades and supporters who helped to organise Internationalism 2026 even under these conditions and make it a success.

More importantly, however, it was the first camp organised by Arbeiter:innenmacht (Workers Power Germany), Arbeiter*innenstandpunkt (Workers Standpoint Austria), Marxistische Aktion Schweiz (Marxist Action Switzerland) and REVOLUTION (International Communist Youth Organisation in Austria and Germany) as part of the International Socialist League (ISL). Once again, we were able to welcome comrades from our sister organisations: the Movimiento Socialista de los Trabajadores (MST) from Argentina, Workers Power from Britain, the Partito Comunista dei Lavoratori (PCL) from Italy and Socialismo y Libertad from the Spanish State, as well as comrades from Denmark.

Internationalism

For us, internationalism is not simply a word. Rather, it shapes our politics, our methods, our programme and our organisational structure. Over five days we addressed key issues relating to the international class struggle and the fight against the German government lead by Merz,  in 65 workshops and plenary discussions. If we want to change this world fundamentally – which means to revolutionise it – we must understand the root causes of the capitalist crisis, the struggle for the redivision of the world, the looming ecological catastrophe, war, displacement, the rise of the far right, racism and nationalism. We must understand the struggle against the social oppression of women and queer people, young people, oppressed nations, migrants and refugees as an integral part of the class struggle and learn to build these movements and mobilisations and to bring a socialist perspective into them.
Unfortunately, the space available in this report is not sufficient to cover even the most important points of discussion and contributions. However, we are particularly pleased with the contributions from comrades from other sections, some of whom delivered their presentations in person and others online. These included comrades Esra from Kenya, Shahzad from Pakistan, Bill from the USA and Mariano from Argentina.

Topics

In the sessions we addressed the development of the global economy, the decline of US hegemony and the rise of China as the USA’s most important imperialist rival, as well as the crisis within the EU. Furthermore, we engaged intensively with the war in Ukraine and its dual nature – a new Cold War between Russia and NATO on the one hand, and Ukraine’s justified war of defence on the other.

We devoted several workshops to the situation in Iran, the struggle against US imperialism, and the revolutionary prospects for overthrowing the reactionary regime there. We also examined the situation in Palestine in equally intensive detail.

We devoted the second day to the struggle against the oppression of women and LGBTIAQ people, as well as the struggle against racism. We plan to publish a comprehensive set of theses on racism by the end of this year as part of our theoretical journal “Revolutionärer Marxismus” (Revolutionary Marxism). We presented an interim report on this work at the camp.

The crisis in the EU and the all-out attack under Merz on pensions, jobs and social security systems formed another key focus. As always, this raises the pressing question: how can we break the influence of the bureaucracy, which paralyses all resistance with its policy of social partnership and its support for German imperialism? Another key focus was the struggle against rearmament and militarisation – both at a theoretical and practical level, and in REVOLUTION’s campaign to mobilise in schools and on the streets, as part of a broad alliance against conscription and the Bundeswehr (German Army) in schools.

Crisis of leadership

As in all our camps, a central theme was the crisis of working class of leadership and our intervention in the labour movement. Several workshops therefore focused on Die Linke, the critique of its reformist programme, and the tasks facing revolutionaries.
We also turned our attention to the lessons to be learnt from the historical failure of Stalinism – a debate we consider essential, given that Maoist and Stalinist currents currently present themselves, particularly amongst young people, as an alternative to social-democratic reformism and trade union bureaucracy, albeit a false one.

A highlight of our discussions was the prospect revolutionary regroupment holds out for the working class, especially the debate on the situation in Argentina, where the Workers Left Front Unity (FIT-U) stands at a turning point. It faces the task of overcoming its limitations as a mere electoral front and becoming a party capable of organising the tens of thousands of voters who have turned away from Peronism and towards the FIT-U, and of winning them over to a united revolutionary workers’ party based on a programme for a workers’ government. As part of a European tour by Alejandro Bodart, we are planning to hold a major public event in Berlin in early October.

Unlike at the previous camp, we also organised several workshops to teach practical skills. And, as always, there were not only debates and discussions, but also a political and cultural evening and leisure programme featuring sport, film screenings, a cello and violin concert, and a rap battle – which has now become a regular feature of our camps.

We emerged from the camp feeling reinvigorated

Finally, in a series of workshops, we focused on building the International Socialist League (ISL), its programme, its methods and its further development as an international current, including our work in Kenya, Pakistan and Argentina, and our international campaigns such as our participation in the Global Sumud Flotilla. We also raised hundreds of Euros for our comrades in Lebanon and their struggle against the Lebanese government’s ‘normalisation’ of relations with Israel. We devoted the closing plenary session entirely to the question of building our international current and how we can achieve a revolutionary International. Speakers from Argentina, Spain, Germany and Austria, as well as numerous contributions from the audience, gave a very positive assessment of the event. And rightly so.

Internationalism 2026 has helped to strengthen the groups Arbeiter:innenmacht, Arbeiter*innenstandpunkt, Marxistische Aktion and REVOLUTION. At the same time, and above all, Internationalism 2026 has also strengthened the ISL.

Firstly, and above all, because our comrades have acquired new knowledge and new skills for the class struggle. It is a central task of every camp to strengthen revolutionaries, to train and strengthen cadres for the struggle. For cadres cannot be formed only at the moment of revolution. Revolutionary consciousness does not fall from the sky, and organisation does not arise spontaneously. How we analyse situations, convince people and organise struggles – we must learn all of this.

And the camp has contributed greatly to this. We have spent a week acquiring knowledge and learning how, together, we can take it out into the world in the coming months. In our schools, universities and workplaces, in trade unions and organisations such as Die Linke.

Secondly, a five-day camp such as Internationalism 2026 is not merely a place where individuals acquire new knowledge. It serves just as much to strengthen an organisation as a collective bound by solidarity, as an instrument of joint struggle. For it is the shared fighting spirit, the morale that such a camp is capable of fostering, and the lived experience of exchange and internationalism across borders that make a camp truly successful.
Because we do not merely want to understand the world correctly; we want to radically change it, to overturn all conditions in which people are forced to be enslaved, despised, humiliated and alienated beings. Anyone who wants to create a socialist world, free from exploitation and oppression, must also want the means to do so: a revolutionary party and an International!