Lenin's Testament
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Lenin's Testament is a set of documents allegedly dictated by Lenin to his nurse on the advice of his wife after he suffered multiple strokes. It is notable since it contains a recommendation to demote Stalin from General Secretary in favor of Bukharin and Trotsky. Historically illiterate Trotskyists and Western academics use it as "proof" that Lenin supported Trotsky or Bukharin over Stalin.
Lenin and Trotsky conflicted in 1903, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1920, 1921, and 1922, while Lenin often sided with Stalin in Party debates. This suggests that Lenin either did not write the "Testament" or was too debilitated by strokes to understand.[1]
Lenin supports Stalin
Lenin sided with Stalin in numerous debates. He praised him as early as 1913 in writing Marxism and the National Question.[1]
By the 1920s, Lenin supported Stalin in the Transcaucasian debate, and in 1922 defended him from Yevgeny Preobrazhensky's accusation that Stalin had too much power.[1]
Lenin chose Stalin as General Secretary of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. This was Stalin's most powerful position, as he was considered the most senior ranking member of the Politburo, a council of about a dozen people which would act when the Central Committee (of hundreds of people) was not in session.
Despite Trotskyist/Khrushchevite historical revisionism, historians Ian Grey, Adam Ulam, Robert McNeal, G.F. Alexandros et al concur that Lenin most likely chose Stalin for this post.[1]
Lenin's Testament
In December 1922, Lenin suffered a second, serious stroke and left Moscow. From then, a series of letters appeared known as "Lenin's Testament", allegedly dictated by Lenin to his nurse. In these, Lenin suddenly began to condemn Stalin as a "nationalist-socialist" and "a vulgar Great-Russian bully" and praise Trotsky and the Georgian deviation.
Lenin "wrote" (allegedly dictated a letter) to the lead Georgian deviator, Mdivani, pledging his support for the Georgian deviation, against Stalin, Dzerzhinsky and Ordzhonikidze. Trotsky around the same time proposed to support the Georgian deviation and split up the Transcaucasian republic, but the Politburo voted it down 6-1.[1]
It is speculated that Lenin's nurse or his wife Krupskaya (who later joined the Trotskyist opposition) ghostwrote these letters or misinformed Lenin after his stroke.[1]
The 13th Party Congress in 1924 did not publish these letters, but read them to a closed session with the explanation that "Lenin was ill".[1]
Legacy
Trotsky even wrote in 1925 that Lenin had no "testament".[2] However, he later changed his tune and claimed that Lenin's Testament made him the rightful "heir" of Lenin.
The spurious "Lenin's Testament" has been repeated uncritically by Cold War propaganda (such as CIA-edited Wikipedia[3]) and thus distributed to the average internet "researcher" of Stalin. One of the major sources for this lie is Nikita Khrushchev via his 1956 speech of lies.[1]
Further reading
- [1]
- Works by Grover Furr
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Bill Bland, "Lenin's Testament".https://marxists.info/archive/bland/1991/x01/lenins-testament.pdf
- ↑ The Real Stalin Series: Lenin's Testament. https://espressostalinist.com/the-real-stalin-series/lenins-testament/
- ↑ Wikipedia promoting the fake Lenin's Testament: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin#Declining_health_and_conflict_with_Stalin:_1920%E2%80%931923