Trotsky; was not a one dimensional figure and his political heirs do him no favours by portraying him as one.

After I recently published a book review of Stalin’s Nemesis: The exile and murder of Leon Trotsky, I came under a fair amount of criticism for writing the following. “The picture the book paints of Trotsky as a man, is very poor indeed. His arrogance and the lack of empathy he showed to those closest to him in Mexico, especially his wife Natalia, a giant of a human being and Diego Rivera, a volatile free spirit who loved life, was shocking in the extreme; and in Rivera's case displayed a lack of judgement which made one understand why Trotsky was such a god awful (party political) politician.” *

In reply to those who took offence at this, and my comparison of Trotsky’s behaviour over this matter with “A nasty small minded bourgeois hypocrite, who believed his own excreta did not stink.” I would simply ask how else could I have described his behaviour? OK, I may have over egged the pudding and used inappropriate language, and as a friend reminded me it is not only members of the bourgeois who behave in a despicable manner towards their loved ones and friends. 

Touché I thought; however, whilst I appreciate those who have dealt with my criticism of Trotsky's in a comradely manner, despite being appalled by what I wrote, I stand by my admittedly jaundiced judgment of Trotsky's personal behaviour whilst in Mexico. Not least as he was not a private individual, but a revolutionary politician.  A man who wrote a book entitled 'Their morals and ours' and amongst many others, a tract about bad language, thus he cannot but be judged harshly when he fails to live up to the public standards he himself set.

As I said in my review of the book, I felt one of its great strengths was it filled out Trotsky's public persona. I really do not see the necessity here to argue over Trotsky's important contribution to the forward march of human kind, with his titanic exposure of Stalinism, his contribution is there in the public record for all to see and does not become any less so due to how he behaved in his personal life whilst he was in Mexico.  

Leon Trotsky was a human being, with personality weaknesses and flaws and in this he was no different from the rest of us. By ignoring these I believe it lessens his stature not heightens it, as it places him on a ‘god like pedestal’ that no human being can possibly live up to. In the early days of the Trotskyist movement, the small group of embattled comrades who gathered around Trotsky to fight the Stalinist monolith, were forced to fight on the ground their opponents set, and in the process undoubtedly picked up some of the bad habits of their foes. 

Stalin's creatures publicly portrayed him as Lenin’s closest collaborator, an exceptional human being, a giant amongst his peers, the font of all wisdom, without personal weaknesses, in the process Stalin, for his supporters and admirers became beyond criticism, Within time, Trotsky’s supporters began to portray him in an almost identical manner. (Plus ape the worst of Stalinist democratic centralism, an organizational methodology which prior to joining the Bolsheviks, Trotsky himself had once opposed.)  

Thus the supporters of both men created a public persona which was a totally distorted picture of their hero and leader, portraying them without any of the normal character flaws of us ordinary mortals. I can understand why Trotsky's comrades felt the need to do this when their leader was still alive, and the Stalinists ruled the Soviet Union and were a major political force throughout the labour movements of the world. For if they were to admit even Trotsky's minor human weaknesses, their enemies would have exploited this without mercy.

Thankfully Stalinism is no longer a major political force, whilst it inexcusably still lingers within pockets of the international Labour Movement, it is far from the force it once was; and in many ways we can thank Leon Trotsky for this. Thus I am bewildered and a little sad that the heirs of the great man still persist in portraying him as a one dimensional figure, not least because Trotsky was about much, much, more than Stalinism alone, and would have been the first to admit, history does not stand still. 

* I have added party political here as it helps explain my meaning better.