If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next

Epic released it on 24 August 1998 as the lead single from This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours. It sold 156,000 copies in its first week and went to number 1 in the UK despite Steps' "One for Sorrow", released the same day. It has sold more than 600,000 copies in the UK and is certified platinum. The song was not originally intended for the album: it was recorded in a separate session, seen as a potential B-side, and Wire called the original demo crap.

Wire wrote the lyrics in Barcelona. The theme is the Spanish Civil War and the Welsh volunteers who joined the International Brigades. The title is from a Republican propaganda poster. The line "If I can shoot rabbits / then I can shoot fascists" is attributed to a Welsh miner, John (Tom) Thomas, quoted in Hywel Francis's book Miners Against Fascism, and Wire acknowledged the influence of the Clash's "Spanish Bombs". It was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales and mixed at AIR Studios in London, with Dave Eringa producing, engineering and mixing. Nick Nasmyth played Wurlitzer, Hammond and Mellotron.

It is in the Guinness World Records as the number one single with the longest title without brackets. It lost the 1999 Brit Award for Best British Single to Robbie Williams's "Angels". The band performed it at the Concert for Ukraine on 29 March 2022.