Lenin

[Kilian]

I read somewhere that Lenin didnt believe in a government?

I also read somewhere that Lenin wanted Trotsky to be his follower and sent a letter to the central committee telling that but Stalin got ahold of that letter and buried it?

are these true?
please answer to me

[Michael De Panama]

The answer to your first question: No. Of course Lenin believed in government.

The answer to your second question: Yeah, he wrote that in his Last Testament:

"I think that from this standpoint the prime factors in the question of stability are such members of the C.C. as Stalin and Trotsky. I think relations between them make up the greater part of the danger of a split, which could be avoided, and this purpose, in my opinion, would be served, among other things, by increasing the number of C.C. members to 50 or 100.

Comrade Stalin, having become Secretary-General, has unlimited authority concentrated in his hands, and I am not sure whether he will always be capable of using that authority with sufficient caution. Comrade Trotsky, on the other hand, as his struggle against the C.C. on the question of the People's Commissariat of Communications has already proved, is distinguished not only by outstanding ability. He is personally perhaps the most capable man in the present C.C., but he has displayed excessive self-assurance and shown excessive preoccupation with the purely administrative side of the work."

http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/work...tamnt/index.htm

[Kilian]

Thank you but what do you mean "of course he believed"

[Mazdak]

he wrote it because of stalins stupid behavior. He never doubted stalins ability. He also wasnt a great fan of trotsky anyway. And he wasnt in the best state of mind either, he was barely able to write or speak. Youu really cant use that against Stalin because of how incoherent lenin was at the time.

[Michael De Panama]

Lenin believed in democratic centralism, a highly organized form of government. Had he "not have believed in government", he would not have been at the core of a huge government.

Mazdak, I explained this to "lenin", or "Dzerz", whatever you want to call him, on the Lyceum. He never changed his mind about Stalin's ability to rule Russia, and the whole "Lenin was just pissed off that Stalin cursed at his wife on the phone" excuse just doesn't fly. Had he have changed his mind, he would have told someone. He would have written another letter. But he didn't. Even "Dzerz" recognized that Lenin didn't want Stalin to rule Russia.

And, although he did have his bitterness towards Trotsky's past participation with the Mensheviks, he DID believe that Trotsky was the right guy for the job.

[uth1984]

"he wrote it because of stalins stupid behavior. He never doubted stalins ability. He also wasnt a great fan of trotsky anyway. And he wasnt in the best state of mind either, he was barely able to write or speak. Youu really cant use that against Stalin because of how incoherent lenin was at the time. "

Lenin WAS keen on Trotsky, both professionlly and personally. He was a friend of Lenin and his wife. Also, his abilities were trusted so much that Lenin gave him total independance on the Civil War (Trotsky occupied the post of Commissariat for War)

Also, even Lenin thought that Stalin was overly ruthless and heavy handed, for example, the Georgia affair.

[Ian]

Although Lenin liked Trotsky his choice as a succesor was not a single leader (be it Stalin or Trotsky) but a collective leadership perhaps including Stalin or Trotsky and an unknown number of members in this leadership. To accomadate for this Lenin wanted to see the Central Committee grow from under 20 members to 50-100 members. I believe this would have been the best for The Soviet Union and that time but that's in the past...

[Mazdak]

And thats the way it was. the triumvirate of Stalin Kamenev and Zinoviev!!!