Stalin: An Appraisal of the Man and His Influence torrent

Stalin: An Appraisal of the Man and His Influence - Leon Trotsky [epub]

Leon Trotsky (1879-1940, born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein) was a Russian Marxist revolutionary, theorist, politician, founder and first leader of the Red Army. As Stalin rose, Trotsky was removed from power, expelled from the Communist Party, deported and assassinated in Mexico City on Stalin's orders. Most of this book was written and revised by Trotsky by 1940, but the rest was put together by an editor after his murder.

He begins with biography. Stalin originally was a theology student, but "decidedly lost all taste for theology" and led a "double life" for about five years. During the October Revolution, "Others did the fighting; Stalin supervised them from afar". In power, Stalin removed from circulation, counterfeited and substituted new material (particularly about himself) for publications such as Pravda.

Trotsky's name was deleted from revised publications such as Lenin's Works. He suspects that Stalin may have taken steps to advance Lenin's final illness, despite the "monstrosity of such suspicion". He concludes that "Stalin remains a mediocrity". He observes with satisfaction that "The vengeance of history is more terrible than the vengeance of the most powerful General Secretary. I venture to think that this is consoling"