Trotsky and the Russian revolution / Geoffrey Swain.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Swain, Geoff, author.

Series:

Seminar studies in history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Trotsky, Leon, 1879-1940.

Trotsky, Leon.

Soviet Union--History--Revolution, 1917-1921.

Soviet Union.

History.

Rossiĭskai︠a︡ kommunisticheskai︠a︡ partii︠a︡ (bolʹshevikov).

Rossiĭskai͡a kommunisticheskai͡a partii͡a (bolʹshevikov).

Trotsky, Leon / 1879-1940.

Soviet Union / History / Revolution, 1917-1921.

Local Subjects:

Trotsky, Leon / 1879-1940.

Rossiĭskai͡a kommunisticheskai͡a partii͡a (bolʹshevikov).

Soviet Union / History / Revolution, 1917-1921.

Physical Description:

xix, 164 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2014.

Summary:

Each book in the Seminar Studies series provides a concise and reliable introduction to complex events and debates. Written by acknowledged experts from historical Documents, a Chronology, Glossary, Who's Who of key figures and Guide to Further Reading, Seminar Studies are the essential guides to understanding a topic. Supporters of Stalin saw Trotsky as a traitor and renegade. Trotsky's own supporters saw him as the only true Leninist. In Trotsky and the Russian Revolution, Geoffrey Swain restores Trotsky to his real and central role in the Russian Revolution. In this succinct and comprehensive study, Swain contests that: In the years between 1903 and 1917, it was the ideas of Trotsky, rather than Lenin, which shaped the nascent Bolshevik Party and prepared it for the overthrow of the Tsar. During the autumn of 1917 workers supported Trotsky's idea of an insurrection carried out by the Soviet, rather than Lenin's demand for a Party-orchestrated coup d'état. During the Russian Civil War, Trotsky persuaded a sceptical Lenin that the only way to victory was through the employment of officers trained in the Tsar's army. As well as examining Trotsky's critique of Stalin's Russia in the 1930s, this volume probes deeper to explore the ideas which drove Trotsky forward during his years of influence over Russia's revolutionary politics, discussing such key concepts as how to construct a revolutionary party, how to stage a successful insurrection, how to fight a revolutionary war, and how to build a socialist state. Book jacket.

Contents:

Introduction: Trotsky in history; What is Leninism, what is Trotskyism?

Developing a World View: Upbringing: from rebel to Marxist; Battling with Lenin; Living revolution; Results and prospects

The Triumph of the "Worker Intellectual": The party divided; Pravda, the voice of the worker intellectual; Hope abandoned, hope restored

Living the Revolution: Ending the quarrel with Lenin; Checking adventurism, combating reaction; Insurrection; Results and prospects in action

Defending the Revolution: Peasant distrust; Building an army; Stalin and military specialists; Peasants during wartime; From command crisis to victory

Building a Workers' Economy: Labour armies; War with Poland; The trade union controversy; Planning proposals; Planning progress; Bureaucratic obstruction of planning

Combating Thermidor: Deviationist; Planning resumed; Opposition; Towards exile

Conclusion

Documents.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 155-159) and index.

ISBN:

9780415736671

0415736676

9781447901440

1447901444

OCLC:

855507206