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My Life

Core Argument

My Life is Leon Trotsky's sustained polemical autobiography, written in exile on Prinkipo island in 1929, which argues that the bureaucratic degeneration of the Soviet state under Stalin represented a counter-revolutionary Thermidor—a political reaction against the October Revolution. The book sets out to prove that Trotsky's political trajectory, from the Petersburg Soviet of 1905 through the October insurrection of 1917 to the leadership of the Left Opposition after Lenin's death, constitutes the authentic continuity of revolutionary Marxism, while Stalinism was a usurpation that systematically destroyed Lenin's party. The central thesis is that the struggle against "Trotskyism" was not a clash of personalities but "a new political chapter—the reaction against October, and the preparation of the Thermidor."

The autobiography argues that the theory of permanent revolution—the proposition that the proletariat, in alliance with the peasantry, could take power in backward Russia before the West—was vindicated by the events of 1917 and remained the "remote leitmotif" running through the entire revolutionary epoch. Trotsky insists that his differences with Lenin were never as great as the distance between Stalin-Bukharin and Marxism-Leninism, and that the supposed gulf between Trotskyism and Leninism was a retrospective fabrication by the epigones who rewrote party history after Lenin's death. The book concludes with a defiant affirmation that the October Revolution was a legitimate historical experiment requiring decades to judge, and that the Stalinist bureaucracy would eventually be overthrown by a new revolutionary generation.

Overview

The narrative opens with Trotsky's childhood at Yanovka, a remote Ukrainian estate where his Jewish farming family lived a grey existence of relentless labour and thrift. These early chapters establish the social landscape of the decaying landed gentry and the author's gradual awakening to injustice, shaped by the contrast between the oppressive countryside and the disciplined urban environment of Odessa. Trotsky traces his intellectual development from a vague oppositionism through his first encounter with Marxism in Nikolayev, his arrest and imprisonment, and his first Siberian exile, where he read Marx, wrote for the legal press, and resolved to escape. The escape narrative itself is rendered with wry humour—a series of absurd mishaps involving overturned carts, a rooster's shrieks, and lost glasses—that deflates any romantic pretension.

The book's middle sections cover Trotsky's first emigration and his apprenticeship alongside Lenin on the Iskra editorial board in London. The Second Party Congress and the Bolshevik-Menshevik split are analysed as a necessary political rupture, with Trotsky candidly acknowledging his own error in siding with the Mensheviks on Paragraph 1 of the party constitution. The 1905 Revolution marks a decisive transformation: Trotsky emerges as the best-prepared Social Democratic leader, chairing the St. Petersburg Soviet and crystallising the theory of permanent revolution. The trial, second exile, and escape are followed by a decade of European emigration, during which Trotsky observes the degeneration of German Social Democracy, launches the Vienna Pravda, and serves as a war correspondent in the Balkans. The outbreak of the First World War and the collapse of the Second International drive him toward the Zimmerwald Left, and his expulsion from France by the Tsarist secret police is exposed as a sordid frame-up.

The chapters covering 1917 constitute the book's political heart. Trotsky's arrival in Petrograd, his imprisonment by British authorities in Canada, and his leadership of the Military-Revolutionary Committee during the October insurrection are presented as the vindication of his theoretical predictions. The Brest-Litovsk negotiations, the creation of the Red Army, and the Civil War are recounted in detail, with particular attention to the military opposition at Tsaritsyn and the strategic disputes over the Polish campaign. The final sections trace the bureaucratic degeneration after Lenin's illness, the conspiracy of Stalin, Zinoviev and Kamenev, and Trotsky's expulsion from the party, internal exile in Alma-Ata, and final deportation from the Soviet Union in 1929. The book closes with a meditation on the "planet without a visa" and a testament reaffirming revolutionary conviction.

Chapter Guide

  1. Preface (Volkov) — Esteban Volkov's preface refutes Stalinist falsifications and provides intimate testimony of Trotsky's final years in Mexico, including the two assassination attempts.
  2. Introduction — A biographical sketch situating Trotsky as one of the two greatest Marxists of the twentieth century, tracing his trajectory from 1905 to assassination.
  3. Foreword — Trotsky establishes the autobiography as a polemical weapon, arguing the struggle against "Trotskyism" represents the Thermidorian reaction against October.
  4. Yanovka — Trotsky's childhood on a remote Ukrainian estate, shaped by the grey existence of a lower-middle-class Jewish farming family and the isolation of the steppes.
  5. Our Neighbours and My First School — The social landscape of decaying landed gentry and Trotsky's first formal education with a hired teacher.
  6. Odessa: My Family and My School — Trotsky's move to Odessa, his German-founded realschule, and the oppressive official formalism of the education system.
  7. Books and Early Conflicts — Trotsky's voracious reading, his expulsion from school for leading a protest against a teacher, and the formation of his oppositional mood.
  8. Country and Town — The conflicting influences of rural Yanovka and urban Odessa, and the intellectual enmity toward empiricism that became the pivot of Trotsky's radicalism.
  9. The Break — Trotsky's encounter with Marxism and populism in Nikolayev, his break with his family, and his first political writings.
  10. My First Revolutionary Organisation — The formation of the South Russian Workers' Union, Trotsky's conspiratorial work, and the mass arrests of January 1898.
  11. My First Prisons — Trotsky's imprisonment in Nikolayev, Kherson, and Odessa, where he studied the Bible in four languages and wrote a manuscript on freemasonry.
  12. My First Exile — Exile to Ust-Kut on the Lena River, Trotsky's study of Marx, his marriage to Alexandra Lvovna, and his decision to escape.
  13. My First Escape — The farcical escape from Siberia involving hay carts, a rooster's shrieks, and a meeting with Victor Adler in Vienna.
  14. An Émigré for the First Time — Trotsky's arrival in London, his relationship with Lenin, and his lecture tour defending historical materialism against the Russian subjective school.
  15. The Party Congress and the Split — The Second Congress of the RSDLP and the Bolshevik-Menshevik schism over Paragraph 1 of the party constitution.
  16. The Return to Russia — Trotsky's break with the Mensheviks, his return to Russia after Bloody Sunday, and the crystallisation of the theory of permanent revolution in Finland.
  17. The Year 1905 — The October general strike, the St. Petersburg Soviet, and Trotsky's emergence as the best-prepared Social Democratic leader.
  18. Trial, Exile, Escape — The trial of the Soviet, Trotsky's second exile, and his escape by reindeer across the Urals.
  19. My Second Foreign Exile: German Socialism — Trotsky's observations of German Social Democracy's degeneration and his life in Vienna from 1907.
  20. Preparing for a New Revolution — The launch of the Vienna Pravda, the Balkan Wars, and Trotsky's candid admission of his error in convening a unity conference excluding the Bolsheviks.
  21. The Beginning of the War — The outbreak of the First World War, the collapse of the Second International, and Trotsky's pamphlet The War and the International.
  22. Paris and Zimmerwald — Trotsky's work on Nashe Slovo in Paris and his attendance at the Zimmerwald conference.
  23. My Expulsion From France — The frame-up orchestrated by the Tsarist secret police leading to Trotsky's expulsion from France.
  24. Through Spain — Trotsky's transit across Spain, his arrest in Madrid, and his deportation to New York.
  25. New York — Trotsky's brief stay in New York, his work on Novy Mir, and his prediction of proletarian power in Russia.
  26. In a Concentration Camp — Trotsky's arrest and internment by British authorities in Canada, and his release after the intervention of the Petrograd Soviet.
  27. In Petrograd — Trotsky's return to revolutionary Petrograd, his mass meetings at the Modern Circus, and the whirl of political work.
  28. Concerning Slanderers — A dissection of the calumny that Trotsky and Lenin were German agents, tracing its origins and refutation.
  29. From July to October — The July Days, the Kornilov mutiny, and the Bolsheviks' march to power through the Soviets.
  30. The Deciding Night — The final hours before the Bolshevik seizure of power on 24 October 1917.
  31. 'Trotskyism' in 1917 — A historical challenge to the Stalinist narrative, arguing that Trotsky's and Lenin's positions were identical on every principal question.
  32. In Power — The improvised creation of the Soviet government, Trotsky's refusal of the chairmanship, and his work as Commissar for Foreign Affairs.
  33. In Moscow — The move of the government to Moscow, Trotsky's appointment as War Commissar, and the building of the Red Army.
  34. Negotiations at Brest-Litovsk — The diplomatic duel with Kühlmann and Hoffmann, and the exposure of German imperialism's annexationist aims.
  35. Peace — The internal party struggle over the Brest-Litovsk treaty, Trotsky's "neither war nor peace" formula, and the final capitulation.
  36. A Month at Sviyazhsk — The defence of the Volga front in August 1918, the imposition of discipline, and the recapture of Kazan.
  37. The Train — The mobile apparatus of the Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council, covering 105,000 kilometres across thirty-six journeys.
  38. The Defence of Petrograd — The defeat of General Yudenich's offensive in October 1919, against Lenin's initial advice to abandon the city.
  39. The Military Opposition — The struggle against Voroshilov's faction at Tsaritsyn and the defence of centralised military organisation.
  40. Disagreements Over War Strategy — Four major strategic disputes, including the catastrophic Polish campaign of 1920.
  41. Transition to the New Economic Policy and My Relations With Lenin — Trotsky's early proposal for the NEP and the trade union dispute of 1920-21.
  42. Lenin's Illness — Lenin's strokes, his plan to remove Stalin, and the consolidation of the Stalin-Zinoviev-Kamenev trio.
  43. The Conspiracy of the Epigones — The crystallisation of the conspiracy against Trotsky during his illness in autumn 1923.
  44. Lenin's Death and the Shift of Power — The psychological transformation of the ruling stratum and the campaign against Trotskyism after Lenin's death.
  45. The Last Period of Struggle Within the Party — Trotsky's removal as War Commissar, the United Opposition, and the defeat of the Chinese Revolution.
  46. The Exile — Trotsky's deportation to Alma-Ata, his literary work, and the secret correspondence with the opposition.
  47. The Deportation — The GPU ultimatum, Trotsky's forced removal from the Soviet Union, and his arrival in Constantinople.
  48. The Planet Without a Visa — A meditation on the collapse of bourgeois democracy and the refusal of asylum by European states.
  49. Testament of Leon Trotsky — Trotsky's political and personal testament, reaffirming revolutionary conviction in the face of imminent assassination.

Key Concepts

  • Permanent Revolution — The theory that the proletariat, in alliance with the peasantry, could take power in backward Russia before the West, rejecting stagist, class-collaborationist models.
  • Thermidor — The bureaucratic counter-revolution within the Soviet state, analogous to the Thermidorian reaction that followed the French Revolution.
  • Epigones — Stalin, Zinoviev, and Kamenev, the successors who falsified party history and suppressed Lenin's legacy.
  • Conciliationism — Trotsky's early error of believing in unity between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, which he later acknowledged as a fundamental mistake.
  • Bureaucratic Degeneration — The process by which a conservative apparatus developed its own interests independent of the revolution's original trajectory.
  • Left Opposition — The faction led by Trotsky after Lenin's death that defended the ideas of October against Stalin's "socialism in one country."
  • Soviet Thermidor — The protracted reaction achieved through intrigue rather than guillotine, expressed in the baiting of the theory of permanent revolution.
  • Revolutionary Fatalism — The understanding that the task is to find one's place within the causal sequence of history, not to measure history by personal fate.

Chapters

49 chapters