Ramaswami: History offers us two examples for us to learn lessons and act. One, in 1919, after the influenza pandemic, there began a wave of general strikes led by working class, which inspired many more sections of people to come out and protest against their governments, winning some concessions. These struggles laid the basis for the defeat of colonial powers after the end of the Second World War in 1945 and also the subsequent social transformation witnessed throughout the world. The second example is that of the 1930s, which was used by the dictatorial and fascist forces to usurp power and threaten the survival of humanity.