Leon Trotsky Analysis

Leon Trotsky’s exile from the Soviet Union meant he had to travel to numerous countries while trying to find asylum. He finally found asylum in Mexico. This is a picture depicting his arrival in Mexico with his wife Natalya Sedova. Frida Kahlo came to greet them upon their arrival and let them stay in the Casa Azul (Blue House). Trotsky was later assassinated in Mexico. This photograph depicts how famous Trotsky was at the time. This international fame led Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, prominent Mexican artists and members of the Communist Party, to be willing to help with accommodating Trotsky. This fame meant that although the Soviet Union’s propaganda war slandered his name, he still was respected by some members of the Communist party. This respect from Mexican communists is a contrast to the viewpoint demonstrated in J.T. Murphy’s The Errors of Trotskyism, written by a British member of the communist party. 2. What does Source B suggest about _Trotsky’s exile from the Soviet Union__? The author of this source shares the sentiments of the leftists in the Bolshevik Party. The answer to the question on how to handle the NEP was also related to the question of how the Soviet Union should industrialize: should the peasants be forced to work on agriculture (left) or should they be persuaded to work on agriculture (right) in order to sell surplus until there is enough capital to begin to industrialize? The source antagonizes the NEP and instead argues that the policy of war communism should have been continued. This source shows how effective Stalin’s propaganda machine against Trotsky was. The effects of the revolution within the Soviet Union are clearly international as seen by the author of this document. The extent of the reaches of Soviet communism at the time could have been contributed to the efforts done to try and catalyse a global communist revolution and the uprising of the proletariat against the bourgeois. The Comintern was a communist organization that tried to create the aforementioned worldwide revolution. However, Trotsky’s idea of “Permanent Revolution” was not successful. Stalin countered this notion with his idea of “Socialism in One Country.” 3. …show more content…
With reference to its origin, purpose and content, analyze the value and limitations of Source C for an historian studying __Trotsky’s exile from the Soviet Union__. The origin of this document is an autobiography of Trotsky written after his deportation from the Soviet Union in 1930. The purpose of this document is for Trotsky to depict himself in a positive light after all the negative publicity he received from the Stalin propaganda machine and Leftist opposition. The content of this document is a story of Trotsky’s life and the significant events in it. It also serves as an explanation of Trotsky’s positions. This excerpt in particular sheds light on Trotsky’s treatment before his exile. The values of this source is that it is a first-hand account of the treatment of one of Stalin’s opponents. Many of Stalin’s opponents did not live to tell the tale like Trotsky did - making his testament even more valuable. Trotsky was the most significant threat to Stalin’s power before it was fully realized and his survival is miraculous. The limitations of this source is that it is heavily opinionated and biased. 4. Compare and contrast Source C & D on the subject of__Trotsky’s exile from the Soviet Union__. Source C is an excerpt from Leon Trotsky’s autobiography My Life : An Attempt at an Autobiography. Source D is a commemoration of “this day in history” about Trotsky’s exile by Stalin. Source C is a primary source from Trotsky himself about his experience of being deported from the Soviet Union. Source D is a secondary source from a popular history website. Source D is effective in being unbiased and objective. It gives a brief summary of the events regarding Trotsky’s exile. Source C shows the emotional side of Trotsky’s exile. Source D is more subjective because it is only states the facts and it is also very brief. 5. Using the sources and your own knowledge of history, examine the__Trotsky’s exile from the Soviet Union__. The amount of restrictions to Trotsky’s freedoms during his downfall showed just how much the Communist Party in the Soviet Union came to negatively view Trotsky. These restrictions demonstrate