Date: Thu, 15 Feb 1996 15:45:03 -0500 (EST)
From: Justin Schwartz <jschwart-AT-freenet.columbus.oh.us>
Subject: Re: Trotsky's prose



Both wrong. Trotsky was a Menshevik for a long time. He, like many people
(including Lenin) regarded the split as temporary and healable. In 1917,
after his role on the Inter-Regional Group, which tried to mediate one
last attempt at reconciliation, T quit and rejoined the Bolsheviks. He was
welcomed pretty much with open arms. Lenin was delighted to have him back.
The charge that T was anti-B was later ressurected by Stalin in his anti-T
campaign. From 1917 to his death T was an ardent B. Of coyrse he became
convinced that the party had left Bolshevism at some point--this was
rather late, well after the purges had started to eat up the rest of the
Old B's. When he finally came to think it was hopeless, T called for the
foundation of a 4th International.

I find it sort of odd that CPers tend to be very respectful of all of
Lenin's views except his very high assessment of T. With regard to that,
they follow Stalin. Mostly since Khrushchev they have not repeated thge
ridiculous lies of the purges, that T was a fascist agent or conducted a
systematic campaign of sabaotage and terrorism in the USSR. But they don't
respect Lenin's judgment of T, which was good enough to make him in effect
the No. 2 man in the Soviet govt and the Party while Lenin lived. The
explanation for this is obvious, of course.

--Justin 

On Wed, 14 Feb 1996, CEP wrote:

> You(Scott Marshall) wrote: 
> 
> >
> >Well not really since he spent a lot of time fighting Lenin as a 
> Menshiviki.
> 
>     Carlos:
> 
>     Scotty, Scotty ....  Trotsky was never a Menshevik, but an opponent
>     of menshevism.  He was the head of the Siberian delegation to the
>     famous 1903 Congress.  Trotsky wrote in his official report:
> 
>             "Mensheviks are a danger to the revolution, Bolsheviks
>             will become a problem only after they take power"
> 
>     Centrist, maybe.  Menshevik, nope.  Again, Scotty, read some
>     Trotsky and learn a thing or two.
> 
> 
> 
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