Not to detract from the discussion of debate norms and the archival material, but if we pan outward it’s apparent (to me at least) that Trotsky and Stalin were tied in their own way to the two fatal miscalculations underlying the tragic history of 20th century Communism:
1. The October Revolution led by Lenin and Trotsky was based on the erroneous assumption that it would trigger social revolutions in the advanced capitalist countries which would rescue the infant Soviet republic from isolation and impoverishment. 2. The subsequent attempt to build Socialism in One Country was predicated on the erroneous assumption that an autarchic Soviet economy would ultimately deliver higher living standards to its people and would overtake the more advanced West rather than restoring capitalism. Understandably, in neither case was the Soviet government prepared to surrender power to the forces bent on its destruction, particularly in the immediate aftermath of WWI through to WWII, when the advanced capitalist countries were wracked by crisis and Communist parties were everywhere in the ascendent. But I doubt the Bolsheviks would have seized power unilaterally if they could have foreseen the trials (both literal and figuratively) and outcome of what became a relatively brief and failed historical experiment. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#39199): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/39199 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/116179785/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
