On Trotskyism - Character Reference by Lenin- IC
"Trotsky distorts Bolshevism, because he has never been able to form any definite views on the role of the proletariat in the Russian bourgeois revolution" (The Historical Meaning Of The Inner-Party Struggle In Russia . 1910. Collected Works. Volume 16)
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"It is impossible to argue with Trotsky on the merits of the issue, because Trotsky holds no views whatever . We can and should argue with the confirmed liquidators and otzovists; but it is no use arguing with a man whose game is to hide the errors of both these trends; in his cache; the thing to do is to expose him as a diplomat of the smallest calibre" ( Trotsky ' s Di plomacy And A Certain Party Platform. 1911 C .W. VOL 17 )
"..this Judas who beats his breast and loudly professes his loyalty to the Party" (Judas Trotsky's Blush of Shame. 1911 CW Vol 17)
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"Trotsky's 'workers journal' is Trotsky's journal for the workers, as there is not a trace in it of either workers' initiative, or any connection with working-class organisations"...
"Trotsky possesses no ideological and political definiteness, for his patent for 'non-factionalism ' .•.is merely a patent to flit freely to and from, from one group to another ... Trotsky does not explain, nor does he understand, the historical significance of the ideological disagreements among the various Marxist trends and groups, although these disagreements run through twenty years ' history of Social Democracy and concern the fundamental questions of the present day"
"All that glitters is not gold. There is much glitter and sound in Trotsky's phrases, but they are meaningless" ... "But joking apart (although joking is the only way of retorting mildly to Trotsky's insufferable phrase-mongering)..."
"Trotsky is very fond of using, with the learned air of an expert, pompous and high-sounding phrases to explain historical phenomena in a way that is flattering to Trotsky. Reading things like these, one cannot help asking oneself: is it from a lunatic asylum that such voices came..."
"The reason why Trotsky avoids facts and concrete references is because they relentlessly refute all his angry outcries and pompous phrases. It is very easy, of course, to strike an attitude...
Or to add a still more stinging and pompous catch-phrase ... But is not this very cheap, Is it not this weapon borrowed from the arsenal of the period when Trotsky posed in all his splendour before audiences of high-school boys "
"The old participants in the Marxist movement in Russia know Trotsky very well, and there is no need to discuss him for their benefit. But the younger generation of workers do not know him, and it is therefore necessary to discuss him.. Trotsky was an ardent Iskra ist [i.e. a member of the Iskra group, of which Lenin was a leader} in 1901-03, and Ryozonov described his role at the Congress of 1903 as 'Lenin's cudgel'. At the end of 1903, Trotsky was an ardent Menshevik, i.e . he deserted from the Iskrists to the Economists In 1904-5, he deserted the Mensheviks and occupied a vacillating position, now co-operating with Martynov (the Economist), now procla iming his absurdly Left 'permanent revolution ' theory. In 1906-07 he approached. the Bolsheviks and in the spring of 1907 he declared that he was in agreement with Rosa Luxemburg.
"In the period of disintegration, after his long 'non-factional' vacillation, he went again to the right, and in August 1912, he entered into a bloc with the liquidators. He has now deserted them again, although in substance he reiterates their shoddy ideas.
"Such types are characteristic of the flotsam of past historical formations, of the time when the mass working class movement in Rus sia was still dormant, and when every group had 'ample room' in which to pose as a trend, group or faction.•. The younger generation of workers should know exactly whom they are dealing with, when ind ividuals come before them with incredibly pretentious claims..." (Disruption of Unity Under Cover of Outcries For Unity. 1914. CW Vol 20)
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"Trotsky has never yet held a firm opinion on any important question of Marxism. He always contrives to worm his way into the cracks of any given difference of opinion, and desert one side for the other"
(The Rt of Nations To Self-Determination. 1914. CW Vol 20)
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11 My pri nci pal material i s Cde.Trotsky's pamphlet,'The Rol e & Tasks of the Trade Uni ons' ...I am amazed at the number of theoreti cal mi s takes and glaring blunders it contai ns. How could anyone starting a big Party discussi on on this question produce such a sorry excuse for a carefully thought out statement?" ... "Cde Trotsky has ...made a number of mistakes bearing on the very essence of the dictatorship of the prol etariat" ... "Cde Trotsky's 'Theses' are pol i tically harmful. The sum and substance of his policy is bureaucratic harassment of the trade uni ons' (The Trade Uni ons , the Present Situation And Trotsky's Mistakes. 1920 CW Vol 32.)
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"Less than a month has passed since Trotsky started his 'broad dis cussion' ..and you will be hard put to find one responsible Party worker in a hundred who is not fed up with the discussjon and has not realised its futility (to say no worse)". "...what Trotsky wrote ...was an exercise in bureaucratic projecteering". "It is Trotsky and Bukharin who indulge most in intellectual verbosity dev oid of all facts" •.• "Trotsky's mistake is one-sidedness, infatuatic:n, exaggeration and obstinacy" (Once Again On The Trade Unions ...And The Mistakes Of Trotsky & Bukharin. 1921. C.W. Vol 32.)
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