January 15, 2015

Trotsky on Trotskyites


Trotsky on Trotskyites

On January 15, 1935, Grigory Zinovyev, Lev Kamenev, and 16 others were tried in relation to the murder of Leningrad party boss Sergei Kirov. After they were convicted on the sixteenth, Leon Trotsky weighed in on the absurdity of it all. Yet in those absurd times, just one trial was not enough. One year later, many of the same people, including Zinovyev and Kamenev, were again tried, convicted, and executed for their alleged participation in a massive conspiracy masterminded by Trotsky himself.

“Everything Gradually Becomes Clear” (excerpt)

A letter to American friends, January 26, 1935

After the Moscow group of old Bolsheviks were arrested, the first government announcements and official articles claimed that Zinovyev, Kamenev, and Co. had set “the restoration of the capitalist regime” as their objective, and aimed to cause a foreign “military intervention” (by way of… the Latvian consul!). Of course, not a single person seriously believed that.

And yet Stalin’s lackeys, appearing to us in the guise of Comintern “leaders,” do not tire of repeating that Zinovyev, Kamenev, et al. “themselves admitted to their crimes.” What crimes? Preparing the restoration of capitalism? Preparing a military intervention? Preparing the murders of Kirov and Stalin? No, not quite. Faced with the barrel of a gun, they admitted: 1) that they had been very critical of collectivization methods; 2) that they did not sympathize with Stalin or Kaganovich; 3) and that they had not kept these thoughts and feelings from their closest friends. Just that! All of this was in 1932. For these heinous crimes, the most serious of which was their lack of love for Stalin, they were once excluded from the Party. Afterwards, however, they repented and were reinstituted. So what crime have they committed since repenting? Out of the avalanche of empty words and lackey’s curses we could extract only a single concrete incident: in December 1934, Zinovyev told his friends that the Comintern was managing the single-front policy incorrectly, and that the initiative was being practically handed over to the social democrats.

The sheer fact that this kind of critical review of Stalin and Bela Kun’s most recent policy is being cited in court as a criminal act and officially quoted as evidence of a counter-revolutionary conspiracy shows what unheard-of indignity has been visited upon the Party by the unbridled excesses of the Thermidorean-Bonapartist bureaucracy!

Let us assume that Zinovyev’s criticism is mistaken. Let us even allow the lackeys their right to call any criticism directed against them “criminal.” But then what is the relevance of “restoring capitalism” and “military intervention”? What is the connection between demanding a more revolutionary policy against the bourgeoisie and a plan to restore the bourgeois regime? Where is the common sense in this? It has been completely buried by monstrous eruptions of base vileness!

Source: http://www.magister.msk.ru/library/trotsky/trotm380.htm

You can read more about Kirov's assassination and the source of the accusations here and here.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons (artist: Yuri Annenkov)

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955