From October to Brest-litovsk

by Leon Trotsky

Had the revolution developed more normally -- that is, under peaceful circumstances, as it had in 1912 -- the proletariat would always have held a dominant position, while the peasant masses would gradually have been taken in tow by the proletariat and drawn into the whirlpool of the revolution. But the war produced an altogether different succession of events. . . .

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction, Russian Revolution, Russia, Audiobook, Russian Literature

124 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1919

About the author

See also Лев Троцкий

Russian theoretician Leon Trotsky or Leon Trotski, originally Lev Davidovitch Bronstein, led the Bolshevik of 1917, wrote Literature and Revolution in 1924, opposed the authoritarianism of Joseph Stalin, and emphasized world; therefore later, the Communist party in 1927 expelled him and in 1929 banished him, but he included the autobiographical My Life in 1930, and the behest murdered him in exile in Mexico.

The exile of Leon Trotsky in 1929 marked rule of Joseph Stalin.

People better know this Marxist. In October 1917, he ranked second only to Vladimir Lenin. During the early days of the Soviet Union, he served first as commissar of people for foreign affairs and as the founder and commander of the Red Army and of war. He also ranked among the first members of the Politburo.

After a failed struggle of the left against the policies and rise in the 1920s, the increasing role of bureaucracy in the Soviet Union deported Trotsky. An early advocate of intervention of Army of Red against European fascism, Trotsky also agreed on peace with Adolf Hitler in the 1930s. As the head of the fourth International, Trotsky continued to the bureaucracy in the Soviet Union, and Ramón Mercader, a Soviet agent, eventually assassinated him. From Marxism, his separate ideas form the basis of Trotskyism, a term, coined as early as 1905. Ideas of Trotsky constitute a major school of Marxist. The Soviet administration never rehabilitated him and few other political figures.

Reviews

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a hair over a hundred pages long, this historical treatise by Comrade Trotsky I found to be surprisingly easy light reading after having finished a massive and even drier historical war tome. Overall, it's a fairly surface treatment of the political power struggles going on before, during and just slightly after the Russian Revolution, but it was interesting, coming from the horses' mouth -- though we can reliably judge Trotsky as an unreliable narrator, to some degree. The masses are a pretty amorphous construct in Trotsky, and different factions are not delineated with much precision as they are in other accounts. My favorite phrase in the book is "instincts of slavery," which the working classes tend to revert to when opportunities to seize and maintain self governance arise, instead opting to be led, exploited, controlled and lied to. Of course, that opportunity is always there, but as we are seeing right now, it's easy to distract and lead people off into the weeds of Crazyland. Every time Trotsky described the platitudinous wishy washy modus operandi of Kerensky and the Mensheviks it sounded dead like the non-progressive liberal wing of the US corporate Democratic Party, led by Papa Biden -- who not surprisingly is running from campaign promises like an old pro. One of my favorite passages in the book has Trotsky complaining about the Party's opponents having the temerity to accuse them of trying to create conditions for revolution, and then in the next paragraph admitting he was doing just that. LOL.

KR@KY 2021

[Jape · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good brief description of the fist proletarian revolution in human history and its immediate challenges. It's not series of sequential events it's an historical examination unfolding social contradictions and the class forces that these contradictions set in motion. Obviously Trotsky's three part 'History of the Russian Revolution' is better description of the October revolution and 'My Life'has a better description of the civil war and Brest-Litovsk. The thing that most struck me about this book is Trotsky's description of the Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries and their formal approach to "ending the war" and power in genreal.... the limitation, lack of confidence in the proletariate, and inability to break with the liberal "experts". I haven't seen a better description of this disease anywhere.

[Thom Swennes · Rating 3 out of 5]

From October to Brest-Litovsk by Leon Trotsky clears up some common misconceptions of the Russian Revolution. Many revolutions by their mere conceptions cause and nurture chaos and the Russian Peoples Revolt against Tsar Nickolas II is a prime example of this. From October to Brest-Litovsk by Leon Trotsky covers the time from October 1917 until the armistice with Germany to end World War I. Although this war aided the revolution, it wasn’t directly the cause. The revolutionists’ first and primary goal was to depose of the powerful house of Romanoff and an ending of Russian participation in World War I. By October 1917 the first aim was complete and before the second target could be addressed the exact form of government had to be first decided. This commentary describes the social, political and military climate in a short and concise way. Trotsky’s views could be slightly tented with prejudice but it does add color to this time. I don’t think this is a book for everyone as it tends towards dryness.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting. A view on the Russian Revolution which you don't normally hear. Its been a while since I engaged with this material though so I cant really critically evaluate it. All I can really say is that its a good glimpse into how at least one sect of Communism sees revolutionary activity, and it is an interesting narrative insofar as you know the ending and you see the logic which develops towards that conclusion. Marxists tend to have a teleological view of history, and this makes me wonder if it actually helps them achieve their revolutionary goals. If you believe that you are historically destined to win under the current material conditions, well thats a good morale boost isn't it?

[for-much-deliberation ... · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leon Trotsky, Commissar for Foreign Affairs and leader of the Soviet delegation during the peace negotiations in Brest-Litovsk from December 1917 to February 1918, presents an account of Russian affairs from the October Revolution to the signing of the Brest-Litovsk treaty with Germany.
Trotsky justifies his actions regarding this signing and details events at that time...

Read or listen here: http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/book...

[James Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book depicting the roles of the army, workers, peasants and party in the bloodless revolution. Seeds planted by the bourgeoisie for the civil war are planted for further class warfare.

[Alicia Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

[Charles Arthur Hepbaum]

Bummer of an ending, hope things turned around.

[Audiobook Heaven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, I listened to the audiobook version on YouTube. I will leave the link below so that everyone can enjoy it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LegMh...

[Andrea Hickman Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this quite interesting. It's the first time I've read about the Bolshevik Revolution from their perspective. That's hardly surprising given the West's antagonism towards Communism. I'm not sure I'd be interested in reading more about it, though, as it's not a part of history that particularly interests me. Of course, if I come across something that looks interesting on the subject, I'm not exactly known for my ability to not read a book...

[Graham]

One hundred years later ... I'm catching up on current events.