Stopping a War/Chapter 13
13. A Frontal Attack on Imperialism
Throughout the anti-war campaign the editors of l'Humanité kept the economic aspects of the war in the foreground. On June 19 an appeal from the Communist International was printed, reviewing the economic and political situation with particular reference to the Riff War. On July 2 an appeal to French intellectuals signed by Henri Barbusse and a large number of fellow journalists denounced the war and called upon the French workers to enforce peace. On May 21, 1925, l'Humanité printed a story of the visit of Abd-el-Krim to Paris in the spring of 1923, giving names, dates, and other minute data connected with his purchasing of arms and ammunitions from French houses.
"The workers are against all European imperialism," declares l'Humanité in its issue of July 20, because "the defeat of French imperialism will signify the immediate cessation of hostilities and the saving of precious working class lives." Therefore, "the French workers hope for and wish this defeat.
"Down with the criminal Moroccan War!
"Down with French imperialism!
"Peace without phrases!"
The Republican Association of Ex-soldiers (A.R.A.C.) issued a vigorous appeal which appeared in l'Humanité May 21:
"Ex-soldiers, victims of the war, up!
"There is no money to pay pensions to the victims of the war!
"There is money, on the other hand, to support the war in Morocco. …
"The natural riches of the Riff are coveted by French imperialists.
"There lies the secret of the Moroccan expedition."