On Thu, 30 Oct 1997, Ricardo Duchesne wrote:
> This statement is both wrong in fact and theory. The Gulag was a
> creation of Stalin, whose ascendancy to power was made
> possible, to a large degree, by Lenin's creation of a
> highly centralized political party - as Trotsky had predicted back
> in 1903. (Yes, I know about the letters. But up until them, Lenin
> relied, without much complaint, on Stalin's hard, merciless, callous
> political methods.
What "hard, merciless, callous, political methods" did Stalin
practice while Lenin was still alive? Accepting the land
policy of the majority party among peasants (SRs) and welcoming them into
the government? Bending over backwards to maintain the support of peasants
(the NEP)? Upholding the right of national self-determination? Were there
any "confessions" by German agents who had managed to worm their way into
the Party' leading bodies while pretending to be revolutionaries for
several decades?
Bill Burgess
