BOOK OF THE DAY: CARLA KINGreviews Stalin's Nemesis: The Exile and Murder of Leon Trotskyby Bertrand M Patenaude Faber Faber 340 pp, £20.
ALMOST THE first thing people think of in connection with Leon Trotsky is not his theory of permanent revolution or his brilliant leadership of the Red Army, but his death from an ice-pick in Mexico.
One is struck both by the incongruity of that instrument and by an enmity that extended across the globe to stand behind Ramón Mercader’s blow: that of Joseph Stalin.
The book describes Trotsky’s last years in Mexican exile from January 1937 to his murder on August 20th, 1940. The move to Mexico – occasioned by the refusal of any European government to allow him asylum – was made possible through vigorous pressure on the government by the man who was to become his host, protector and friend – the artist, Diego Rivera.
By the time Trotsky and his wife, Natalia, arrived in Mexico, the show trials had started. He was being reviled by the international left which believed charges of Trotskyist conspiracies levelled at the accused leaders in Moscow.
In an effort to clear his name, a hearing was organised under the chairmanship of the eminent American philosopher and educational reformer, John Dewey. Despite its finding the charges against Trotsky baseless, the threats and assaults on his house continued. Just three months before his assassination his villa in Coyoacan, near Mexico City, was invaded by armed attackers, Trotsky and Natalia’s bedroom and that of their grandson, Seva were strafed by gunfire, the three narrowly missing death.
The complexities of Trotsky’s character are well depicted here. As a public man he could be warm and charming and he attracted a circle of devoted followers. Yet he was also driven, self-absorbed and exacting of his family and followers. His coolness towards his daughter, Zina, who followed her father into exile, was probably a factor in her suicide. His son, Lev – who died under suspicious circumstances in Paris in 1938 – had put up with constant carping criticism from his father. Trotsky’s wife, Natalia, endured a life of constant uprooting, the murder of one and possibly both sons, and her husband’s numerous infidelities.
Trotsky’s friendship with Rivera was an attraction of opposites – his precision in habits and demeanour contrasted with Rivera’s reckless, riotous and anarchic persona. It might have ended sooner had Rivera been aware of a brief affair between his friend and his wife, fellow-artist Frida Kahlo.
The book depicts the events and changing atmosphere in the Trotsky household, positioning Trotsky’s life in Mexico in relation to the unfolding international situation, providing glimpses of his earlier career and discussing his ideas. His assassination may be seen as part of the liquidation of the Bolshevik leadership which took place in the show trials and purges of the mid-1930s. But it also marked the end of the process.
As Patenaud points out, Trotsky’s continued survival abroad provided a useful bogey to Stalin who could allege foreign plotting against the Soviet Union. Once the trials were over, Trotsky had outlived his usefulness. Patenaud traces the infiltration of the household by GPU (Stalin’s secret police) agent Ramón Mercader, who, after winning the family’s trust as a driver, was able to penetrate the villa’s defences and armed guard.
Patenaude’s extensive use of Trotsky’s papers in Harvard and sources in the Hoover archives (on which he is a specialist), and in particular memoirs by Trotsky’s aides, has made it vivid and immediate. It will be an indispensable read for anyone seeking to understand both the man and his turbulent times.
Carla King is a lecturer in modern history at St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, in Dublin.