Leon Trotsky, My Life

642 Pages·2015·25.13 MB·English

T
lrots;ky
w •
^n^tfempt/aTrbn Autobiography

Ny Life

LeoTrno tsky
My Life
AnA ttempatta nA utobiography
witha ni ntroducbtyi Joons peh Hansen
PATHFINDEPRR ESSI,N C.
NEW YORK1 970
1907
Copyrigh©t by PathfindePrr essI nc.
Allr ightrse served
1970
FirsEtd ition,
1917
SecondPr intign,
PathrmdePrr essIn,c .
410
WestS treet
N.Y .1 0104
New York,
Manufacturine dt heU niteSdt ateosfA merica
73-108175
Libraroyf C ongresCsa taloCga rd Number
INTRODUCTION
WithT rotsiknCy o yoacan
BYJ OSEPHHA NSEN
Sevearl times I haveh eardo fp lanst om ake a fllrn oft helif e
of Trotskyo r atl east ofh isfi naly earsin MexicoOn.e attempt
was made at a televissihoonw on the assassinaiton.I tw as a
miserablbeu sine,ss mores landerotuhsa n truthfulH.o lAl ywood
entreprentehuart I know ofe vens pentt imei nM exicos tudying
thel ocalaen d gathering mateIrni tharlee. casesI, h avebe en
askedt o providien formatitoonh elpl endv erisimilitudteo p ro­
ductiotnhsa wte rep lannedTw.o oft hemf eltlh rougahn d thet hird
may suffetrh es ame fat-ew hichpe,r haps,i sn ota lotgethert o
be deplodr.e The producersbe gan witht heiorw n preconceived
notionsa s tow hatc onstitudtresa maticm ateriaaln dh ow Trotsky
might be benti ntot hesen otionsN.o ne of them had much in­
teresitn portrayinTgr otsky'rse ali nner driveosr his central
commibnenta nd goali n lifeT.h e audiencet heyh ad inm ind
mightn ota cceptth iass ag oode veninge'nst ertainment.
To make a truthfulfi lmo f Trotskyr equirteask inhgi m as a
politicfiagulr e,b utn ott hek indc haracteroisftt hiecbo urgeois
worldo f today.H e was of a differkeinntd- committeld.i kae
greata rtistto, p resenting faai thfulr eflectiono f hist imes,o r,
more accurealty,a scientiwshto hasbec ome convinctehda tth e
main problemf acinmga nkindi st oc hangeth e frameworokf
our times, to end thel onga gonizeedp ocho fw arrincgl asses
and to replacietw itha sociebtuyi lotn thef oundatioonf a ra­
tionally plaecnonneodm y. He coulda lsobe picturtredu thfully
as a tribunaen d fighterp reoccupiwedi thc onstructitnhgeo rga­
nizatiorne quirtedo w ins ocialiosnm a worlds cale.
To make a mm of Trotskyi n whicha ll thisi sc ast asideis
likep resentinPgi erraen d MarieC uriew ithouthte ir drivteo
discovert hes ecret of radioactiviotry t hedr udgeryo ffr action­
atingh ugea mountso f pitchblenidne o rder toi solatthee m ys­
teriosuusb tsancepso,l oniuamn d radiumo;r a "dramao"f Louis
Pasteurw ithouhti sp assionatien teresitn b aderiologayn d the
painstakilnagb oratowroyr k he engaged in againstth ea dvice
ofw ell-meanifrnige ndws ho soughtto p ersuadhei mn ott ow aste
hisv aluabtliem eo n chimeriacnadli nsolubplreo blems.
Isn'tth isr atheorb viousY?e ta person as perspicacioas us
IsaacD eutschedri dn ots eei tE.v enDe utschevirew ed Trotsky's
v
INTRODUCTION
engagemenitn buildinag w orldp artyo fs ocialrisetv olutioans
a "foible."
Trotskyw,h o was well acquaintewdi thF reud'wso rk,u nder­
stoodh imselvfe ryw ellI.n many placehse hasm ade perfectly
clearh ow thoroughlhye was guided by fullcyo nscioauism s;
andh eh ass pecified whatt heyw ere.
Int hef orewortdo M y Lifeh et elsl us that "excepfto rt hey ears
oft hec iviwla r,th"e "mani contenotfm y life. .. hasb een party
and literarayc tivity." Almost" a thirdo f a centuryo fm y con­
sciousl ifweas entireftlllye dw ithr evloutioanry strugglAen.d
if I had to livei to vera gain.I wouldu nhesitatintgalkye th e
samep ath."
For thee leveny earsr emaining tohi m afterh e wroteM y Life.
Trotskyc ontinuted od o whath e had donei nth e previouthrsee
decades.H is order of prioritwiaess n otth e same as thato fs o
many intellectuwahlos c ame toa dmire his genius. Theiny put
firstp lachei sb estk nown books,L iteraturea ndR evolution, The
Historyo f the Russian RevolutioThen, RevolutionB etrayed,
Stal-inAn Appraisalo fth e Man and HisI nfluenceT.h eyr ated
as nexti n thel istt hem ass ofa rticlpeasm,p hletboso.kl ets- on
German fascism.o n theS panish revolutioonn, the deepening
crisiisn France.o n the wholet urbulencto ursoef ev entsa s the
worldm ovedt owardist ssec ondg lobawlar .
Few oft hemw erea ttracted by thec ontributioTnrso tsky made
in thei nternadli scussionosf theF ourthI nternatioThniasl .is
understandabfloer.t hesew ritincgasn be fully appreciatedo niy
by cadrewsi tha considerabMlaer xisbta ckgrounAsd . forT rot­
sky'"sp arty"a ctivitipeasrt.i cularilnty h ef male leven-ypeerairo d.
thei ntellectuaatbl ess hta ves implnyo tbe en interested.
Trotskyh imselhfo.w evert.o oka differenattti tudeI.nt hej our­
nalw hichh e keptf ora time inF rancea nd Norway. he jotted
thef ollowing very rethvoeuaglhitnsig n hisM arch2 5,1 933,
entry:·
"Fora longt ime now I.haven otbe en ablet os atisfmyy need
toe xchangied easa nd discuspsr oblemwsi ths omeone elIs aem.
reducedt oc arrying on a dialoguwei ht then ewspaper,s or rather
througthh en ewspaperwsi thf actasn do pinions.
"And stilIl thi nk thatt hew orki nw hich I am engaged now,
despitiet se xtremeliyn sufficieanntd fragmentary naturei.sth e
• Re printebdy permissiono ft hep ublishefrrso mL eonT rotskTyr.o t­
sky'Dsi anli n Exile, Ca1m9b3r5i,d gMea,s s:H arvard Univel1lity
PressC,o pyright1,9 58.b y theP resideanntd Fellowosf Harvard
College.
vi
INTRODUCTION
1917,
most importanwto rk of my life-omrei mportantth an
more importantth ant hep eriodo ft heC iviWla r or any other.
"For thes ake of claritIy w ouldp uti tthi s way.H ad I not
1917
beenp resenitn inP etersbutrhge,O ctobeRrev olutiowno uld
stillh avet akenp lac-e on the coniditont hatL eninw as presnet
and in command. Ifn eitheLre nin nor I had been presenitn
Petersburtgh,e rwe ouldh aveb eenn o OctobeRre volutiont:h e
leadershoifp t heB olshevPiakr tyw ouldh avep reventeitdf rom
occurri-ngof this I have nott hes lightdeosutb t!If L eninh ad
notbe en in PetersburIg d,o ubtw hetheIr couldh avem anaged
to overcomet her esistanofc et heB olshevik leaThdee rsstr.u g­
glew ith 'Trotskyismw'i t(hthL ee p.r,o letarrieavno lutiwoonu)l d
1917,
have commenced in May, and theo utcomeo ft her evolu­
tionw ouldh aveb eeni nq uestioBnu.t I r epeatg,r antetdh ep res­
enceo f Lenint heO ctobeRerv olutiowno uldh aveb een victorious
anyway.T he same couldb y and largebe saido ft heC iviWlar ,
althoughi n itsf irspte riode,s peciallayt thet imeo ft hef alolf
Simbirsakn d Kazan,L enin wavereda ndw as besetb y doubts.
But thisw as undoubtedlay p assinmgo od which he probably
nevere vena dmittetdo a nyoneb ut me[.T rotskayd dsa footnote
here:I m ust tell aboiungt r etahtiedsre tail.]
"ThusI cannots peak oft he' indispensaboiflm iyt wyo'r k,e ven
1917 1921.
aboutt hep eriodf rom to Butn ow my work is' in­
dispensabilneth 'e full sense oft hew ord.Th ere isn o arrogance
in this claima ta llT.h e collapsoeft het wo Internatiohnasa ls
posed a problewmh ichn oneo fth e leadeorfts h eseI nternationals
isa t alle quippetdo s olveTh.e vicissituodfmes y personal fate
havec onfrontmeed witht his problema nd armedm e withi m­
portanetx perienicned ealinwgi thi tT. herei sn ow no one except
me to carryo utt hem issioonf arminga new generatiowni th
ther evolutionarmye thodo vert heh eadso f the leaderosf t he
Second andT hird InternatioAnnadl .I am ina completaeg ree­
mentw ithL enin( orr atheTru rgenevt)h att hew orstv icei st o
55
be moret han yearosl d!I n eeda tl easatb outf ivmeo rey ears
ofu ninterrupwtoerdk t oe nsurthee succession."
Trotskyh ad justf ivem ore yearst o liveb,u ti tw as notu n­
interruptDeudr.i ngt hosef ivey earshe liveidn c onsatnti nsecu­
rityt,h et argeotf reactionr anginfgr omt heN orwegiafna scists
to the implacabkliel leorfs StalinG'PsU . NeverthelTersost sky
didw hat he couldt op asso n as much as possibolfeh isex per­
ience.
Among the youngesotf us who came to livwei thh im and
Nataliian the finaly earso ft heiexri le,L .D . didn ots peak di­
rectlyo f this problemW.e felitt h,o wever. Diany a nd day out,
vii
INTRODU CTION
thel ifoef t heh ouseholwda s an engagementi n buildintgh e
Fourth IntearntionaTlh.e importanocfec ontinuiitnyp rogram,
inm ethod,i n successioonf cadres,b ecame parto fo ure lemen­
tary thinkinAgl.l o f us werec ommittedd,e dicateevde nt, ot his
work as essentiparle paratifoonr t hec omingr evolutionoapr­y
portunittiheasht i story was cteopr rtoaviidne .Ev erytihngT rotsky
himsedlifd w asd irectetdo wardt higso al.
Ifa certairno manticimsamy be thoughtto a ttactho t his,t he
impressiiosnm istakenI.n practei icta mountedt oh ardw ork.
learningh ow toh andled etailfso,l lowitnhgr ougehf ficiewnittlhy­
oute verl osinsgi ghot ft hegr eat ultimateo bjectivWeh.a ts ep­
aratesth isk indo fp artyb uildinfgr oma ny othesru stainaedn d
difficulte nterpriissie t sp urposaen d goalw hich ist oa ssurteh e
survivaolfm ankinda nd tom ake possibthlee e xpansioonf c ivi­
lizatioonn a trulhyu man basis.
In a shorta rticolne Rosa Luxemburga nd theF ourthI nter­
1935,
nationawlr,i tteinn June Trotsky, arguing against the
theoryo f thes pontaneiotfyt hem assesa nd fort hen ecessiotyf
a Leninipsatr typ,u ti tl ikteh is":W ithouthte slighteexsatg gera­
tioni tm ay be saidT:h e wholew orlds ituant iiosd eterminebdy
thecr isiosf t hep roletarlieaand ers"h ip.
This crisihse, c ontinue"dc,a nnoto,f coursebe, overcombe y
means of an abstracfto rmulaI.t i sa questiono fa n extremely
humdrum processB.u t noto fa purel'yhi storicparlo'c estsh,a t
is,o f theo bjectivper emiseosf c onscioaucst ivibtuy,to f an un­
interruptcehda ino f ideological, poalnidti coarlg anizational
measurefso rt hep urpose of fusintgo geththeer best,m ostc on­
sciouesl ementosft hew orldpr oletarbeinaeta tha spotlebsasn ner,
elementwsh osen umb er and self-confidmeunscte b e constantly
strengthenwehdo,s ec onnectionwsi thw iders ectionosf t hep role­
tairatm ust be developeda nd deepened-in a word:t or estore
to thep roletariautn,d ern ew and highlyd ifficulatn d onerous
conditiointshs,i s toriclaelae drship."
1937
When Trotsky agreed in the midsummero f toth e pro­
posal made by thel eadershoifp t heA merican movemtheantt
I joinh iss mall stoaffs fe cretaraineds g uardst,h er iisats sign­
ment I gotw as to bringa new Dodge sedanfr om Ohio,w here
ith ad been purchasetdo, MexicoM.ax Sterlintgh,eh usband
of Rae SpiegeTlr,o tsky'Rsu ssiasne cretaarty t heti me,c ame
along.W e reachedM exicoC ityw ellaf terd ark and I was for
waitinugn tilt hen extm orningt o go outt o Coyoacitn.M ax,
howeverh, adb een therebe forek,n ew thes treetasn,d was anx­
ioust of indR ae,w ho mightb ea tt heh ouse.
AvenidaL ondresw as veryd ark.T he highw allss,o meo f
themc apped witbhr okeng lasst hatg litteriedn o urh eadlights,
viii