Leon Trotsky

Alternate views of Leon Trotsky

Historians have long debated Leon Trotsky’s role in Russian history. Right wing historians like Richard Pipes see Trotsky was just another authoritarian leader, like Lenin and Stalin. They emphasise his brutality as a military commander and his naivety as a politician. The left wing view of Trotsky is divided between those who still accept the Stalinist version of events, and those who see him as a prophet, betrayed by schemers and fools alike. Isaac Deutscher is probably the best example of the latter view.

Richard Pipes’ view

Richard Pipes is one of the best known critics of Leon Trotsky. Pipes is an American anti- communist historian, who is contemptuous of virtually all aspects of the Bolshevik Revolution and communism in general. Pipes is very critical of Trotsky’s career, and believes his place in history is exaggerated. These views are expressed in his two key works, A Concise History of the Russian Revolution (published in 1995) and Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime 1919-1924 (published in 1994).

In Pipes’ view, Trotsky’s role in the November Revolution has been exaggerated by his admirers. Pipes believes that Lenin was primarily responsible for the success of the uprising, and that Trotsky just carried out Lenin’s commands.

Pipes also criticizes Trotsky for his negotiating strategy at Brest-Litovsk. He argues that the idea of delaying the negotiations only riled the Germans, resulting in a more punitive and humiliating peace than would otherwise have been the case.

Pipes’ main criticism of Trotsky during the Civil War is the brutality with which he pursued his goals. He points to the reintroduction of conscription and the death penalty, and the abolition of soldiers’ committees as negative developments, and believes that Trotsky’s methods were more brutal than those of the Tsarist regime. In particular, Deutscher condemns Trotsky for his role in the crushing of the Kronstadt Rebellion in 1921.

Deutscher...