Re: Trotsky and the collapse of Stalinism

[m-14970@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Hugh Rodwell)]

Joe, I think you've got hold of the wrong end of a very unwieldy stick in
your piece on Trotsky and the collapse of Stalinism.

In the first place, you say, 'Russia never had any capitalism to restore'.

Then you add:

>If anyone says, what existed in Russia, prior to the October
>1917 revolution, was capitalism, they're foolish. Large scale
>manufacturing, and industrial production, didn't begin in
>Russia, until well after the socialist state had been formed.
>Claims of capitalism, existing in Russia before the revolution,
>indicates a person holding such beliefs, is devoid of historical
>knowledge of Russia. Since capitalism didn't exist, it couldn't
>be restored; therefore statement that Trotsky had predicted a
>return to capitalism is stupid!

Here you are in a head-on collision with Lenin, and are in fact
characterizing him as 'foolish' and 'devoid of historical knowledge of
Russia'. Read the book he wrote in 1896-99 called 'The Development of
Capitalism in Russia' (Collected Works vol 3) and you'll see why.


Then you refer to Trotsky's plotting and lust for personal power, his poor
grasp of Marxism, his 'alignments with the bourgeoisie ... and landholding
Kulaks' etc. All of this nonsense was originally churned out by Stalinist
hacks on pain of losing their jobs and privileges. It's regularly
regurgitated by people who don't want to look at the actual historical
record of October, the early Comintern and the development of the Soviet
state before Stalin came to power (let alone what really happened after
Stalin came to power).

On October, the best course for assessing Trotsky's role (especially in
relation to Stalin's role) is to read the following works:

10 Days that Shook the World -- John Reed
History of the Russian Revolution -- Leon Trotsky
Everything Lenin wrote about October from 1917 to 1924
Everything Stalin wrote about October from 1917 to 1924 (that is, while
Lenin was still alive and able to check the claims being made)

On the subsequent development of the Soviet state, the Stalinist regime and
Trotsky's opposition to it, read for instance:

The Revolution Betrayed -- Leon Trotsky
The Stalin School of Falsification -- Leon Trotsky
My Life -- Leon Trotsky
Lenin and Trotsky - What They Really Stood For -- Alan Woods and Ted Grant
(International Publishers, Colombo, 1972)

Read also Stalin's different analyses at different times (references in the
books I've listed), and the various different analyses of these historical
events produced by the Soviet bureaucracy and various Russian ruling groups
after the death of Stalin (eg Khruschev's speech in 1956, The History of
the October Revolution (Moscow 1966), Volkogonov's biography of Trotsky a
couple of years ago).

Cheers,

Hugh




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