russian revolutionaries

A new exhibition about Trotsky reveals unseen aspects of his legacy. "Revolutionary Lion," a new exhibition at the Museum of Political History, pays tribute to the life and work of Leon Trotsky. On Nov. 6, the museum unveiled a modest but concise exhibition of rare photographs, manuscripts, letters and other artifacts in honor of the 130th anniversary of Trotsky's birth, on Nov. 7, 1879.  

So this is a good opportunity to appraise the historical legacy of Trotsky. One of the most extraordinary achievements in advancing scholarly understanding of the USSR, and the experience of Stalin's rule is the compendious work by J. Arch Getty and Oleg V. Naumov "The Road to Terror" which assembles and discusses hundreds of previously top secret Soviet documents from the 1930s. This describes the process of the growing use of state terror, and in particular how the causes were not solely the persona  

Of all the leaders of the Bolshevik revolution, Leon Trotsky commanded the most compelling public presence and, eventually, exerted the most lasting influence on Western intellectuals. Still, the arc of his life story moved from pre-eminence to thwarted ambition and ideological collapse. Born Lev Davidovich Bronstein on a Ukrainian farm, Trotsky grew up to became a spellbinding orator and a magnificent writer who, with Vladimir Lenin, propelled the Bolshevik takeover of the Russian government in Novembe

was often given the benefit of the doubt by authors who might otherwise have exercised their skepticism.   -Leon Trotsky

 

"Disinformation is a very postmodern thing," writes Mary-Kay Wilmers, "it allows you to have your cake and eat it."  

Lenin once defined a revolutionary situation as one that occurred when the rulers could not go on in the traditional way and the ruled did not wish to continue in that old way.  

Official media made ample coverage of the military ceremony and the wreath dedicated to "the triumph of the Socialist Revolution of October in Russia, 1917, headed by Vladimir Ilich Ulianov Lenin".  

But two Berlin friends recently made me feel better by confessing that, despite being in the right city on the right date, they too missed the fall of the wall. One simply slept through the tumultuous events that unfolded after an East German official casually stated that the border was open.  

 

During these years [since Stalin took power in the USSR] hundreds of Oppositionists, both Russian and foreign, have been shot, or have died of hunger strikes, or have resorted to suicide. Within the last twelve years, the authorities have scores of times announced to the world the final rooting out of the opposition. But during the "purgations" in the last month of 1935 and the first half of 1936, hundreds of thousands of members of the [Communist] party were again expelled, among them several tens of tho