Stalin: An Appraisal of the Man and His Influence

993 Pages·2016·27.84 MB·English

by  Leon Trotsky

STALIN
AN APPRAISAL OF THE MAN
AND HIS INFLUENCE
LEON TROTSKY
London

Front cover: 'The butcher' in contemplation. Stalin in the 1930s.
Back cover: May Day celebrations in Petrograd, 1917, the year of the
Revolution. The banner reads: 'Long live socialism'.
Previous double page: Stalin laying down the law to his inner circle of
bureaucrats in 1935. Scratched out are those who were later arrested and
purged.
This book is dedicated to Trotsky's grandson Esteban (Vsevolod) Volkov,
who has spent a lifetime fighting for the truth about Trotsky and his
struggle against Stalin. His enthusiastic support and encouragement for our
project from start to finish has played a major role in the publication of this
important book.
We also dedicate it to the memory of David King (30'h April 1943-11 rh May
2016), who tragically died before he could see Stalin finally in print.
STALIN
AN APPRAISAL OF THE MAN AND HIS INFLUENCE
Leon Trotsky
First edition approved by the estate of Leon Trotsky
Wellred Books, 2016
Material translated and edited from the previous editions © Alan Woods
Background co Trotsky's Stalin by Rob Sewell
Foreword by Esteban Volkov
Index and additional footnotes by John Peter Roberts
Cover design by Jose Camo
All images used from the David King Collection, with the kind
permission of David King, or from the public domain
Printed by Huella Digital, Zaragoza, Spain
ISBN: 978 I 900 00764 I (Clothbound hardback)
ISBN: 978 I 900 00766 5 (Case laminate hardback)
ISBN: 978 I 900 00767 2 (Paperback)
FOREWORD
TROTSKY'S LAST WORK FINALLY COMPLETED
On the tiny planet Earth, lost like a particle of sand in the vastness of space,
the most complex and wonderful phenomenon emerged: Life itself. This has
taken the most diverse and unimaginable forms, the most amazing of which
is the human species. Our species in turn has given rise to a wide variety
of individuals. Some are gifted with high levels of generosity and heroism,
to the extent of giving their lives without hesitation in the struggle for the
improvement and well-being of their fellow human beings.
At the other end of the scale, one can observe the most primitive instincts
of cruelty and evil. From a psychological and historical point of view, the
character of Stalin is doubtless of great scientific interest. No one was in a
better position than Leon Trotsky, that master of Marxist dialectics, to dissect
the anatomy and morphology of the man who was raised to power by the
triumph of the counter-revolution in the Soviet Union after the death of
Lenin.
The last work written by Leon Trotsky before he was assassinated on 20'h
August 1940 was the unfinished text of the biography of]oseph Djughashvili,
better known as Stalin. Here we have a truly multidimensional analysis.
Always within the framework of Marxism, it enables us to decipher the inner
meaning of Stalin and Stalinism; to understand the dynamic of historical
circumstances and the environment that allowed one of the most bloodthirsty
and cruel characters that history has recorded to rise to power.
According to the Soviet historian Volkogonov, Stalin lived in fear of the
man who organised the Red Army and was Lenin's comrade in arms. The news
x STALIN
that in distant Mexico that same indomitable revolutionary was working on
a biography which would reveal many uncomfortable truths about the tyrant
in the Kremlin was deeply disturbing to him and there can be little doubt that
it hastened the plans for Trotsky's assassination.
The biography of Stalin was made at the request of the US publishing
house Harper & Brothers. Contrary to the opinion of many literary critics
and historians, the making of this biography had nothing whatsoever to do
with anger or revenge. As a matter of fact, Leon Trotsky only undertook the
task reluctantly. His main interest was to conclude a biography of Lenin,
which he had already begun.
At the time Trotsky was living in Coyoacan in a small 'family' composed of
himself, Natalia Sedova and a group of young Trotskyist comrades. Harper &
Brothers offered a substantial sum of money for the book. Obliged by pressing
financial difficulties and constant shortages, the Russian revolutionary felt he
had no alternative but to accept.
Charles Malamuth was assigned the task of translating Trotsky's work from
Russian into English, despite the fact this did not please the author. When
Trotsky was assassinated on Stalin's orders, Harper & Brothers appointed
Malamuth to edit the unfinished biography with a view to its publication.
Displaying a total lack of ethical spirit, Charles Malamuth introduced a large
number of annotations of his own writing that contravened the author's ideas
and also shortened the text, excluding a large amount of material.
The publishers' interest in the book was purely commercial. They were
not worried about the accuracy and objectivity of its content. Harper &
Brothers went ahead with publication of the book, which was published in
1946 in this mutilated form. The vehement protests and demands ofTrotsky's
widow Natalia Sedova and his lawyer Albert Goldman against these changes
and irregularities were ignored.
Fortunately, three quarters of a century after the death of Leon Trotsky,
some very knowledgeable Marxist revolutionaries, who fully identify with his
ideas, have undertaken the admirable and difficult task of re-issuing his last
great work in all of its authenticity and its fullest dimensions. For more than
ten years the comrades of Wellred Books have worked to restore as much of
the missing material as possible and eliminate all the additions and distortions
of Malamuth.
The current edition is enlarged by a third on the previous editions. It has
added to and enriched the vast arsenal of Marxist theory which is the ultimate
legacy of Leon Trotsky. It only remains for me to express my great admiration
FOREWORD XI
for the tenacious and enthusiastic efforts made by members of Socialist Appeal
and the International Marxist Tendency (IMT), as well as many generous
friends, whose names I will not mention as the full list would be too long.
I would like to mention Rob Sewell, who was the originator of this
project, venturing into the files of the manuscript for the Stalin biography, in
the Houghton Library at Harvard. The result represents a most valuable and
impressive achievement made possible by the patient work of many generous
and skilled collaborators, who managed to collect this very heterogeneous
material in both English and Russian. Much of it was in manuscript form,
often in a poor condition, which then had to be typed up from microfilm
copies.
Finally, I should like to pay tribute to the British Marxist Alan Woods.
With his knowledge of the Russian language and his very profound familiarity
with the ideas of Leon Trotsky, I believe there is no other person more suitable
for the task of translating, editing and incorporating this new material,
reorganising and refining the text to produce the best version of the last work
which the great Marxist revolutionary was unable to complete.
Esteban Volkov
23'd May 2016