What is a European?

Dan Little asks What is a European?.

One of the theorists who believed that a pan-European identity was possible was Karl Marx. His view was partial but emphatically trans-national: he believed that international working men and women could come to have a shared class identity that transcended national boundaries. But the mobilization of working class men and women into the armies of Britain, France, Italy, Germany, and Russia in 1914 provided a harsh reality check on that notion, at least in the historical circumstances of the early twentieth century. It appeared that nation and patriotic feelings trumped class and international solidarity. (Here is a very interesting collection edited by Marcello Musto, The International Workingmen's Association, that provides some of the founding documents and later discussions of Marx's version of internationalism.)

Emphasis Mine

Nationality and patriotism are weapons for the Capitalists to divide the working class everywhere. Instead of recognising the Capitalist as the enemy, we are taught to hate the foreigner. Un-Australian is an insult even though it applies to 99.5% of the world's population.

One hundred years ago, the ideals of the Second International were betrayed by the social-democratic parties who rushed to prove their loyalty to the homeland by rushing off to war.

The anti-war stance of the Bolshevik Party helped it to win over the workers, soldiers, and peasants during the Russian Revolution. Most of the other socialist parties tried to keep Russia in the war, and lost support and members as a result. It was this consistent and clear focus on who the real enemy is, that helped develop the political consciousness of the working class and its allies.

We should remember we are human beings first, but it is the necessity that we have to work that defines our political consciousness. Being a worker defines how we see the world. We cannot rely on non-workers to look to our interests. We must do that ourselves.