Trotsky, hero, traitor or prophet - Bio by Ronald Segal

[MJM]

Just finished this book and it was really good, I highly recommend it.
It's a great source of historical data around the 1917 revolution and the events that followed. It was a pro Trotsky work and painted him in a very good light. I found him to be a highly likeable chap and a true revolutionary from what I read here.
I do have criticisms after reading it of him and the actions he took after Lenins death in particular.
I think he was too concerned with being seen to be taking power, when he should have been doing just that. His inability to take a leading role in the party led to Stalins taking of power. Instead of towing the party line and taking a step back he should have taken a step forward as everyone apparently wanted him to. This inability made others around him doubt his ability to lead in a tough situation outside of revolutionary warfare.
This ultimately led to Stalin being able to create the systems that made his rule total.

[MAN with a RED face]

trotsky the great!
stalin the shit!

[Ian]

Is it really necessary to take a side in this old debate, both Trotsky and Stalin were authoritarian (not something I am against in every circumstance, just the majority of the time).
Let me ask you this in 1922 after Trotsky had made sure all the Kronstadt mutineers were dealt with (mostly with bullets, I'm not going to go into whether I think it is good or not), and he was receiving a huge backlash the world over for what he did to Nestor Makhno's army in the Ukraine would people have said "this is a democrat!" or "this man puts a human face on socialism!". I doubt it.

(Edited by Ian Rocks at 9:56 am on Feb. 19, 2003)

[RedComrade]

War is war, people are always quick to glorify brutal warriors, as long as they're of the same nationality. I feel Trotsky did what he had to do to win a war.