LENIN AND TROTSKY

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 75, 22 December 1920, Page 7

LENIN AND TROTSKY

AN INTIMATE SKETCH

To feu- men has it fallen to aehiove such universal notoriety as has oome the way of Lenin, and Trotsky. About their doings and about the inovomont which they lead reams have boon written.' But, strangely enonsh, little has been heard about the personality of the men themsfelvos. ■ Beyond those who- liavo come into direct contact with them, few peopie have anything but the. vague idea of the personal attributes of tho two great Bolshovik leaders," who sprang from obscurity to capture the reins of power in one of'tile greatest nations of tho oivilised world. : To us, states a Melbourne paper, thev appear as monsters of iniquity, hyprocrites fitted for the seventh division of Diirgfitorr. and bloodthirsty cut-throats, inaugurating a campaign of murder and rapine. We have learned to think of them as huge, fierce men, with fiery eyos and bristling hair and whiskers—a typo of modern ogre who eats ft sheep a day. The other countries of tlie. world do not hanker after the 'possesion ,of Lenin.i and Trotskys. and modosn methods of propaganda have been allowed free nla.V in drawing nicturcs of. them which are as unattractive as thev are inaccurate.

Both Lenin and Trotsky seem to he yery much of the same type as the average demagogue' in every country of the world. They have all tho eeotism, and arrogance, all the baltant love of sensationalism and the unquenchable thirst for'power and self-agcrandisemcnt. But they were dealing with a country which eifered tliem unlimited scops for their operations—where human life is valued at a lower figure than anywhere else in the world. They came, with a n«w_ cry—for Russia—of oeace. and tho brotherhood of man, and they came with all the . artifices, of the professional politician and agitator—ths fiery oratory, ine intrigue, the promises of the cominsr millennium. And becauso the Russian people had reached tho limit of endurance and because the catch-cries which have, grown hoary with', sure in other countries of the world were new to them and tantalising!}- inviting, the Russian their ultimate sorrow—acccpted Lenin and Trotsky at thiir face value. Neither Leniil nor Trotsky came from the ranks of the proletariat. Lenin is an hereditary noble and the son of a State counsellor. His real name is Ilitcli Vladimir Ulianoff, and ho was born at Sim'birsk on April 10, 1870. Tho paiontngo of Trotsky is somewhat obscure, and whilst one well-known writer says that ho was the son of a provincial chemist, another declares that he was tho son of a wealthy Moscow merchant. One thing is, howover, clear, and that is that lie is a Jew of Jews. ICnown to the -world as Ley Davidovitch Trotsky, his real name is Loiba Bronstoin. The contrast between the two men is sKtrcme. Lenin .would pass without comment at any gathering of Sunday school teachers. Ho is cold, absorbed,- and unattractive. Trotsky, on the otliir hand, is more of the type of the revolutionary—a fiery oratpr w.ith flashing eyes and an amazing fift of swaying crowds. Both- of them are, like Zimoviev, Radek, . Lilnaoharslcy, and most of the other leading Communists, been Socialist journalists, and Trotsky acquired in New York much of the vivid sensationalism. of American journalism.

Lenin lias chosen to envelop himself as much as possible in a vsil of mystery, recognising the prominence and ouriosity wheh a rerolutonary , "mystery man" is bound to attract. He is described a 8 a little man, very plump, and with a "bull" neck and broad ehouUUrs. He has a round red face, high intellectual. forehead,' a slightly turned up nose, brownish; moustache, and a short stubbly beard. One writer says , that he looks more like a provincial grocer than tlijr leader of the. greatest revolutionary movement .in the world's ; history. His grey eyes are, however, his most notable attribute, and one cannot help noting the, half-contemptuous, halfsmiling look _that advertises his boundless egotism'and conscious superiority. He certainly,, possesses .dauntless .courage and grim, relentless determination, but it is impossible to ignore his utter unBcrupulousnegs in all public matters. Though he has been guilty of every form of intrigue;and dishonesty, in his public life, the brdath of suspicion has never touched his private life. He is a good and husband, an honest, upright man in his private "dealings, and the wave of corruption which has swept all Russia has passed him by. His absolute lack of the quality known as "temperament" and his cold, calculating man-. ner, do not. make him by "any means ft lovable or attractive : character! The people, 'whilst taking the more human Trotsky as something of a joke, say that Lenin is of the gods. And his great intellect, his extraordinary cunniug and his apparent disinterestedness give him a power over the. simple Russian proletariat! that Trotsky "could ever possess. Where Trotsky might shrink from the crimo of murdering thousands of. people in cold blood, Lenin would not hesitate if he. had convinced himself that it was for the good of the cause. I'or Lenin has always been earnest, and "for the cause" he haa never wavered. In his youiJi he was- expelled from school and banished from Kazan for desecrating an ikon and participating in an antistudents' riot. He sub.se'luetly studied law and' economics in FetrOgrad, and_ afterwards went to Germany. On his return he was arrested for isiking part in .the Socialistic activities, and; wasbanishedtoSiberia for three years. Later he went abronrd and lived in Germany, Franco, and then Switzerland-. whence he returned to Russia in the notorious sealed railway car at the time of the Zimmerwald conference in 1915. Of Lenin, Gorky has 6aid: "He is as a chemist working with human materials instead of chemicals—working as. coolly and disinterestedly without' rei gard for human life."

Trotsky 19 .(juite a different sort of fanatic—one with an eye to the main chance. He is 43 years of age, lias a Jong, prominent hose, which bespeaks his Seajiwo origin, fierce black eyes that actually flash, and a huge forehead, surmounted by a great mass of black, wavy i ir " visually he is depicted with a pointed, scanty, stubby beard, but at one stage he parted with it.. He has heavy, cruel, protruding lips, and his movements 'are quick and animated. One exuberant American word-spinner has described him as "the greatest Jew'sinee Christ ; _ but there is ' ample evidence that ho is nothing beyond a clover and unscrupulous opportunist, with a atraugo Rift:for organisation, a vast capacity for work, and the faculty for working on the feelings of a mob, that has been on; of the greatest factors in his rise from obscurity. .During his youth he was twice banished to Siberia for being connected . with rovoluSionary propaganda but on both occasions ho escaped, and in the revolution; of 1905 he appoared, at 28 years of age, as the president of the Petrograd Council of Wormen. After his banishment and .escape,, he • lived for ten years in Switzerland, Austria, .and Germany, supporting himsolf by Socialistic journalism. He later wont to Paris, where his views were, subjectetl -to the severest criticism by his fellow journalist and future leader, Lenin, nnd subsequently he soent some time in America. . ..

On. his return to liussia he became associated with the Russian Social Democratic party, but when the split occurred he sided first with the llelishcviki and later formed a middle party, until hn was able 1.0 gauge, which faction was likely to triumph. Whilst Lenin sneers nt public honour, and is above suspicion in 'his private life, Trotsky is just, the opposite. Trotsky makes a sre.it pretence of public propriety, whilst "his private doings are, to say the least of them, questionable. An amazing man in many respects, lie can be- affable, friendly, and ho is in.most things intensely human. He loves ostentation and power, and befirms in htivinf! the strongest military guard he can get to add to his dignity,

'ho of his skin.- Perhaps his queerest trait is his iii-.- M working tnroughout the night and resting (luring the day. Ho seems t • t!>rti 'r luit tin* ni';ht i? the proper time for work, and thinks nothing of calling mi iitlir.uils and fellow workers on l.lio telephone in the small hours of the morning. to ask t'he most trivinl questions. A .writer in the "Fortnightly Review" describes his arrival at Ekaterinburg in a special train, with a vast retinue of officials, and with all the exterior of the carriages plastered with blatant posters advertising the efficacy oi Bolshevism as a panacea for all ills. Ho worked on 11-*' trainI 1 -*' train n = lie did in his office, and blw&jb Instated on the whole of Ma staff

(females included) taking the same vigorous physical exercise as he hinisolf tr-ok. But-he certainly has achieved things. Out of men sick and tired of warfare Trotsky formed a numerous and well-disciplined army. Bis extraordinary mental precision and ruthless physical unergy and undoubted personal 'bravery have certainly contributed very largely lo his advancement. He is still a prolific writer, and on the. train en route to Ekaterinburg ho not only produced a newspaper, but contributed long, fiery articles to journals published by the wayside. T'hoy aro,;a strange combination these two—as opposite as rhe poles in most respects— but -both animated by Fanatical antfhusiasm for "the cause" and aided by an almost uncanny understanding of the | psychology pi tha Russian, people.