The year 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War, and the World Anti-Fascist War. Russian WWII veteran Viktor Krivashov

How the Red Army Liberated China – a 100-Year Old Soviet Veteran – Viktor Krivashov – Remembers! (31.8.2025)

In Moscow, Harry Puyi learned to dress himself, hold his own penis when urinating, and clean himself whilst defecating. Puyi also learned to feed himself, and make his own bed – whilst helping others as an ordinary person. In his spare-time, Puyi studied Marxist-Leninism and Maoism. When he finally returned to his homeland – he could understand exactly what was happening – and why it had happened. He gave-up his four wives and endless concubines and settled-down with a businesswomen as a wife whilst he earned a living as a common gardener. Meanwhile, Stalin handed the entirety of Manchuria to Mao Zedong and the Communists – together with all the Japanese industrial machinery and captured munitions and weaponry. This boost gave the Chinese Communist the impetus they needed to finally defeat the US-backed Nationalists (who were just as fascistic as the Imperial Japanese) and liberate the whole of China. When the Trotskyite – Khrushchev – betrayed Stalin in 1956, the Sino-Soviet Split developed (Mao stayed loyal to Stalin) and the Soviet contribution to the Chinese Revolution was pushed into the background and discussed less openly in public. It is ironic that it is a capitalist Russia which has been pushed closer to a Socialist China – and that it has become expedient for both sides to brush-off elements of their shared history for mutual political benefit. Until recently, many young Chinese people were not taught that the Soviets had any part in their eventual liberation. As Marx said – history often repeats itself twice…

rotests poster featuring the removed “comfort women” memorial statue is displayed during a rally in Manila, the Philippines, Aug. 14, 2025. The statue was installed in December 2017 at the same protest site but was dismantled just four months later under sustained pressure from Japan. (Photo: China News Service/Zhang Xinglong)

Philippines: Women & Girls Remember Crimes of Japanese Fascism! (16.8.2025)

The greater percentage of this crime occurred within China – but involved many other ethnic groups as victims – including the Filipinos. Although a statue was raised in Manilla in 2017 to record their suffering – just four-months later – the Japanese government succeeded in cajoling the Philippines Authorities in removing it! Whether Trump ordered this first time around is open to speculation. For Socialists, WWII was a People’s War against the common enemy of fascism. WWII was not the usual bourgeois excess of one competing nationality against another – although for many – this is exactly how it is remembered. Indeed, many of the victorious nations have taken on a vitriolic attitude of blatant nationalism when it comes to remembering WWII – a nationalism that steers very near to the wind of fascism that was purportedly defeated. A People’s War led to a People’s Victory and not one nationalist group over another. The US and its lackeys often sully the remembrance of this war. It was a victory of the International Working Class over the forces of reaction – against capitalism in decline!

This photo taken on Aug. 5 shows protesters gathering at Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Dome, Hiroshima, Japan to criticize the Japanese government's ongoing military buildup policies. (Xinhua/Jia Haocheng)

Japan: 80 Years on – Reckoning with War Remains Unfinished! (7.8.2025)

The voices underscored a national memory shaped more by the narrative of victimhood than by a full reckoning with the causes and consequences of war, which offered a glimpse into how Japan remembers and forgets its wartime past.

While the physical scars of nuclear devastation are meticulously documented in museums and memorials, Japan’s aggressive wartime conduct is conspicuously muted in both public discourse and state education.

Outside the official ceremony, anti-militarist demonstrators gathered near the atomic bombing site. Their placards decried Japan’s growing defence budget and the possibility of nuclear “sharing” with the U.S.

They were kept outside the formal event by riot police, while right-wing activists tried to drown them out with loudspeakers.

The Red Flag Flies Over Red Square!

Russia: May 9th “Victory Over Fascism” – 80th [1945-2025] Commemoration! (9.5.2025)

From 1942-1945 he fought everyday in the North Atlantic. Recently, the “Russian Arctic Convoy Museum” – voted to remove the word “Russian” from its title – can you believe that? I stood with Veterans of these fine and brave men at the Soviet War Memorial in the grounds of the Imperial War Museum – and everyone of them had a positive viewpoint of the USSR and Russia. Like my grandfather (Arthur Gibson) these brave men were not permitted to march at the London Cenotaph (primarily by the Royal British Legion) due to their association with the Soviet Union. Ironically, the Soviet War Memorial was unveiled in 1999 – when “New” Labour was still pretending to be “left-wing”! Finally, all those loyal British military Veterans who had fought alongside our Soviet allies during WWII – were permitted a spot where they could finally parade and carry their flags with honour and dignity!