Leon Trotsky and World War One: August 1914 - February 1917

by I. Thatcher

Overview

The First World War was one of the most important events of the 20th-century. It was also a crucial period in Leon Trotsky's political biography. This work is the first comprehensive examination of Trotsky's writings of 1914-1917 and the context in which they were produced. Its findings challenge Trotsky's autobiography and the standard account by Isaac Deutscher. Trotsky's war-time journalism is shown to be of continuing relevance to contemporary issues ranging from European unity to ethnic cleansing in the Balkans.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312234874
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	09/09/2000
Edition description:	2000
Pages:	262
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.03(d)

About the Author

Ian Thatcher is Lecturer in the History of Soviet Russia, Department of History, University of Leicester.

Table of Contents

Switzerland
• Kievskaya Mysl
• The Censor in Paris
• Lenin and the Bolsheviks
• Martov and the Mensheviks
• Russian Social-Patriotism in Paris
• Russian Politics
• European Social-Democracy
• From the Old World to the New: Spain and America
• Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

The author has presented Trotsky's ideas at this period with clarity and sympathy, seeing in them germs of his own future career. Russian Review

From the Publisher

WWI was important for Trotsky because as it progressed, he moved closer to Lenin. But from 1914-18 the differences between Trotsky and the Bolsheviks increased. Thatcher's study works against that of Isaac Deutscher, showing for example that Trotsky had much greater freedom of expression both in France and in Russia than claimed by Trotsky. Thatcher (history, U. of Leicester) also shows Trotsky's wartime journalism not only important for Trotsky scholarship, but to be of continuing relevance to contemporary issues ranging from European unity to ethnic cleansing in the Balkans. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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