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and welcome to revolutions

2:29

as he approached his fifty second birthday

2:31

in the spring of nineteen twenty two what

2:33

a mere elites lenin was breaking down

2:36

the decades of stress exertion

2:38

rage passion resentment despair

2:40

feared doubt exaltation and

2:43

responsibility and finally caught

2:45

up with the decade

2:47

past in a succession of days and nights

2:49

of obsessive single minded focus and relentless

2:52

work the ever present threat of arrest

2:54

execution an assassination hanging over

2:56

his head lenin was plagued

2:59

through all these years my headaches and insomnia

3:01

exacerbated by a bitterly caustic

3:03

disposition and frequent now of rage

3:06

his temper flaring beyond control at long

3:08

time enemies suppose it friends this

3:11

turn of events that constant irritation

3:14

this was not a healthy lifestyle the

3:17

unlike many of his comrades sunovia

3:19

in particular lenin's unhealthy

3:22

lifestyle was not defined by hedonistic

3:24

voice the wasn't a glutton he

3:26

exercised rarely drink and

3:29

forbid people to smoke around him he

3:31

was instead defined by the moto

3:33

maniacal drive of a man who treated

3:35

both his mind and his body as mere

3:37

conduits for work and

3:40

of the mega maniacal drive of a man who believe

3:42

that if you wanted something done right you had to do

3:44

it yourself twenty

3:46

years of life in the revolutionary underground followed

3:49

by five years as de facto dictator of revolutionary

3:51

state in constant violent turmoil the

3:54

taken it's collective tall in

3:56

the spring of nineteen twenty one lennon

3:59

emerged from all potentially cataclysmic

4:01

stresses we talk about worn down to the

4:03

breaking point which the

4:08

in the summer nineteen twenty one the inner circle

4:10

the communist party had to reckon with the fact that

4:12

the boss could no longer maintain a full

4:14

workload aware that

4:17

more than anyone lenin was be indispensable

4:19

man of the revolution it goes

4:21

his comrades in the politburo zenobia

4:24

cabinet trotsky installing demanded

4:27

that he take a vacation every

4:29

the workaholic landed tried to put them off finally

4:32

relented in august nineteen twenty one he

4:35

took a holiday out to the gorky est the

4:37

neoclassical country mansion about

4:40

ten kilometers south a mosque the

4:42

estate had been expropriated after the soviet

4:44

government move to moscow and set it aside

4:46

for less he had for used

4:48

it to recuperate from fannie cap on to sas a

4:50

nation attempt to nineteen nineteen after

4:53

that he visited the mansion sparingly spending

4:56

most of his days and nights in the kremlin working

4:58

working always working but

5:00

unbeknownst to lennon as he arrived for the extended

5:03

holiday in the summer nineteen twenty one gorky

5:05

would more and more be his primary residence

5:08

during the final two and half years of his because

5:12

this holiday didn't really help much the

5:14

return to moscow in october still unable

5:16

to work full days still played by

5:18

headaches insomnia numbness in his

5:20

extremities and bouts of forgetfulness in

5:23

february nineteen twenty two he wrote declares again

5:26

unfortunately i am very ill my

5:28

nerves are could put

5:32

among all the other things that needed to

5:34

be dealt with an early nineteen twenty two the

5:36

ongoing famine the negotiations with

5:39

the germans that would lead to the treaty of paulo

5:41

the conference of the three internationals the upcoming

5:44

trial of the srs and just generally

5:46

trying to rebuild russian society lenin

5:49

also turned his attention to the state of the

5:51

communist party the very

5:53

clear he would not be around to manage things forever

5:56

and the party must be put on firm footing

5:58

if the revolution was to survive it is he

6:02

was well aware the fact that at present

6:04

the communist party was not a gigantic popular

6:06

for strong strength power and authority

6:09

from some huge proletarian working class

6:12

in march nineteen twenty two lenin wrote

6:14

to have yet to slot molotov future

6:16

soviet foreign minister but at this moment

6:18

a younger communist recently elevated

6:20

to the central committee and made a non voting

6:22

member of the politburo if

6:25

one does not wish to shut one's eyes to reality

6:28

when on to admit that at present a proletarian

6:30

character of the party's policy is determined

6:32

not by the class composition of the membership by

6:35

the enormous and undivided authority

6:38

of that very thin stratum of members it

6:40

might be described as the parties or guard

6:43

this thin stratum lennon described

6:46

was composed a bolshevik true believers do

6:49

with a few notable exceptions like trotsky

6:51

had joined the party long before nineteen seventeen

6:54

they were a small group of professional revolutionaries

6:57

turned state officials the were now

6:59

responsible for the success or failure

7:01

of their vision of the revolution

7:05

lennon's great concern was that was so few

7:07

truly reliable party leaders in charge

7:09

of everything the personality

7:12

conflicts petty grudges or personal

7:14

beef between just a small handful

7:16

of those leaders would cascade

7:18

into total political apocalypse when

7:21

it said molotov even the slightest

7:24

dissension in this stratum may be enough to

7:26

weaken its authority to such an extent they

7:28

should forfeit their power decision they

7:31

become unable to control events at

7:33

all costs therefore it was necessary to maintain

7:36

the solidarity of the old guard occupying

7:39

a position not unlike george washington lenin

7:42

was the one guy in the party that every

7:44

faction click and member listen

7:46

to and respected the

7:48

danger of a fatal rift to the party

7:51

after the bony hands of death remove

7:53

the unifying linchpin of lenin the

7:55

all to apparent but

7:58

know the pitfalls of having to feed the

8:00

reliable leaders was obvious the

8:02

problem was not easily solved by throwing

8:04

the doors open and inviting new blood into

8:06

the ranks as we've noted

8:08

several times when the communist party became

8:11

the ruling party after nineteen seventeen

8:14

membership in the party brought perks and privileges

8:16

and a measure of security their

8:18

food better lodgings better pay all

8:21

at a time of acute deprivation scarcity

8:23

and chaos naturally

8:25

this led to people joining the party who weren't even

8:27

close to ideological true believers they

8:30

just wanted a steady job as a clerk somewhere

8:32

and access to the party commissary and

8:35

of course pierce interest can extend to feed

8:37

your motives paternity for graft

8:40

corruption and abuse of power to

8:43

combat this and maintain the ideological

8:45

purity of the party they carried out periodic

8:47

purchase the internal reviews of

8:49

members a cold out those who fail

8:52

to meet some basic standards that

8:54

quote i used from episode ten point eighty

8:56

six about the bolsheviks being

8:59

terrified of being kicked out mainly because

9:01

they would lose their right to reside in the national hotel

9:03

another privilege is connected with this in

9:06

response to an eighteen nineteen point the

9:08

kicked out fully half the members of the the

9:10

nineteen twenty one the conducted another review

9:13

and expelled two hundred thousand people

9:15

about a third of the total party membership for various

9:17

infractions like indolence malfeasance

9:19

or corruption the now including past

9:22

associations with the mentioned x and summers

9:24

and other rival parties as meriting expulsion

9:28

though this was a struggle to strike a

9:30

balance between keeping the party open

9:32

enough so that minute differences between

9:34

a handful of leaders couldn't wreck everything not

9:37

so open the communists vision was

9:39

sacrifice to petty careerism in

9:42

an effort to bring some centralized regularity

9:45

to the practical would just accept the thirty lennon

9:48

initiated the creation of a new post called general

9:50

secretary of the party this

9:53

was meant to be an administrative job accepting

9:56

or rejecting members hiring and firing staff

9:58

organizing meetings planning congress's

10:01

dealing with the mountains and mountains of paper

10:03

reports and communications the

10:05

politburo and the central committee would still

10:07

decide all matters policy the

10:10

job at the general secretary would be to ensure

10:12

that policy was properly carried out

10:15

the post of general secretary were

10:17

specifically created for stalin who

10:20

had proved his loyalty determination

10:22

and administrative abilities to land in several

10:24

times over as both head

10:27

of the org bureau and also head

10:29

of a party branch called the workers and peasants

10:31

inspectorate which was tasked with

10:34

overseeing the state civil service to prevent endemic

10:36

sloths and corruption which was reflecting

10:38

badly on the soviet state that

10:41

the eleven party congress and the spring of nineteen twenty

10:43

two stalin was appointed to this new

10:45

position of general secretary the communist

10:47

party nobody realized

10:50

what a massive point of political leverage

10:52

stone now control neither

10:56

lennon nor stalin nor anyone else

10:58

took this appointment to be and anoint meant

11:01

of stolen as heir apparent there

11:03

was no heir apparent and if there

11:05

was one the betting money was still

11:07

on trotsky he

11:09

was by far the most famous party leader ever

11:12

since his explosive entrance onto the world

11:14

stage during the october revolution when

11:17

he even more than lenin was the face

11:19

of the bolshevik party crosby

11:21

had been the most visible communist leader he

11:24

was the head of the red army during the civil war the

11:26

engaged and international diplomacy he

11:29

traveled extensively making speeches writing

11:31

articles delivering radio address is reviewing

11:33

military installations and economic development

11:37

most people outside the inner circle the communist

11:39

party likely took it for granted

11:41

the trotsky was line and successor that

11:45

inside the inner circle it was a different matter

11:48

the real old guard bolsheviks

11:50

like sunovia cam and af and stalin

11:53

trump's he was still a newcomer a

11:55

latecomer who had joined them

11:57

only after fifteen years of training the

12:00

salt and mutual denunciations their

12:02

attacks on one another where a matter of public

12:04

record ultimately

12:07

trotsky had seen the light and

12:09

lenin repeatedly impressed upon his comrades

12:11

trotsky indispensability that

12:14

only added to the personal grudges growing

12:16

up amongst them precisely

12:18

the grudges when and worried about meanwhile

12:23

in the spring of nineteen twenty two and lenin

12:25

himself was growing sicker by the day eventually

12:28

doctors imported from germany surmised

12:30

he may be suffering some kind of lead poisoning

12:32

from the bullet still lodged in his neck

12:35

from the assassination attempt by fannie kaplan

12:38

the on april twenty third nineteen twenty two

12:40

the day after his fifty second birthday lennon

12:43

underwent surgery to remove this post the

12:46

surgery itself was a success what

12:49

while he recovered from the procedure the

12:51

underlying condition it was meant to sex

12:54

remained because as

12:56

we now know he wasn't suffering from

12:58

lead poisoning but instead

13:01

from a disease that was absolutely wrecking

13:03

his brain cells just

13:05

about a month after the surgery the first

13:07

great hammer wow

13:10

out at gorky recovering from surgery when

13:13

in suffered a major stroke on the night of may twenty

13:15

sixth nineteen twenty two the

13:18

result was partial paralysis on his right

13:20

side temporary loss of speech

13:22

and motor functions and severe lapses

13:24

in memory and cognitive ability in

13:27

the days that followed he retained self aware consciousness

13:30

but was no longer able to do simple physical

13:33

and mental tasks when he found

13:35

himself unable to perform basic arithmetic

13:38

lennon issued his first of many requests

13:40

that in the event of total paralysis incapacitation

13:43

or mental degeneration the

13:46

minister cyanide so

13:48

well russian media was consumed with us

13:51

sensational trial of the as ours in the summer

13:53

of nineteen twenty two the chairman

13:55

of the people's commissar as was added gorky recovering

13:57

from an undisclosed stroke after

14:00

the first on certain days when death did

14:02

seem imminent lennon started to

14:04

recover over the summer by

14:07

july he was allowed have visitors and read

14:09

newspapers again although his close

14:11

his comrades in the politburo forbid him

14:13

from doing any serious work and case disrupted

14:15

his recovery they put

14:17

newly minted general secretary stolen

14:19

in charge of enforcing lennon's isolation ask

14:23

with keeping papers callers petitioners

14:25

and questions away and preventing

14:27

the workaholic lennon from trying to do an

14:29

end run around these precautions and resume an

14:31

active schedule too soon this

14:34

latest sign made snowmen

14:36

one of london's most frequent contacts during

14:38

these final years and by design

14:41

one of his only contacts during his final

14:43

years allowing stolen

14:45

to build an image of quite literally being

14:47

lenin's right hand man no one

14:49

else even in the picture trotsky

14:52

meanwhile stayed away the not

14:54

even once did he visit lynette the gorky

14:56

est the mistake he would not

14:58

be able to later undo when it came

15:00

time for his final showdown was stolen lennon

15:05

meanwhile sought to balance the authority granted

15:07

destroyed my ski to become

15:10

deputy chairman of the people's commissar there

15:13

were a few deputy chairman already that

15:16

given trump's be stature if he

15:18

took the title deputy chairman it

15:20

would be a clear public nod that

15:22

lenin believed trotsky was a

15:25

viable successor but

15:27

rather than take this he

15:29

refused after being

15:31

pressed to take it several times and nineteen twenty

15:33

two lennon finally offered it one

15:35

last time in september and trotsky

15:38

adamantly turned it down that

15:40

is somewhat inexplicable refusal to

15:43

become deputy chairman of the people's commissars

15:45

may have stemmed from trotsky his unwillingness

15:47

to take what he considered an inferior trail

15:50

it may also have been driven by the keen awareness

15:52

that if he took the job it's personnel

15:54

would be controlled by general secretary stalin

15:57

that he's most persistent personal

15:59

rights but whatever

16:01

the reason it left lennon disappointed

16:04

and trump's be without a clear institutional claim

16:06

to being lenin's anointed air there

16:09

was another mistake he would not be able

16:11

to later on do the

16:15

fault of nineteen twenty two and lennon had

16:17

recovered more than anyone could have reasonably

16:19

hope back in may that was far

16:21

from recovered back to his old strength he

16:24

would in fact never recover his old string

16:27

when the fifth anniversary of the october revolution

16:30

came round in november nineteen twenty two lenin

16:32

was unable to attend the celebrations but

16:35

he was able to make a few other public appearances

16:38

including a speech to the bolshoi theater at the

16:40

end of the month learning hope that

16:42

he was back to adults but

16:45

one french communist in attendant said those

16:48

who were seeing him for the first time said

16:51

this is still the same linen the

16:53

for the others no such allusion was possible instead

16:56

of the alert lennon they had known the

16:58

man before them now was strongly affected

17:00

by paralysis is features remained

17:02

immobile his usual simple

17:05

rapid confident speech was replaced

17:07

by a hesitant jerky delivery indeed

17:11

instead of marking his return the speech

17:13

at the bolshoi theater would be among lennon's final

17:15

appearances and while

17:19

residing in the kremlin in mid december nineteen twenty

17:21

two and lenin suffered what was probably

17:23

a series of small strokes that permanently ruined

17:25

his ability to right he

17:27

could now only dictate to a small circle of

17:29

secretaries headed by curb skier and

17:32

lennon sister maria who oversaw

17:34

his daily routine and took down his word

17:36

in a limited time allotted to him by the doctors

17:40

after a series of small medical incidents

17:43

the second major hammer found on

17:46

the night of december twenty second lennon suffered his

17:48

second major stroke leaving him

17:50

totally paralyzed on is right side and

17:53

severely limiting his ability to think

17:55

and speak but

17:57

despite the second major medical catastrophe

18:00

lenin was not done yet no

18:03

confined to a bad he was alert enough

18:05

to want to keep grappling with the political affairs

18:07

of the day specifically

18:10

the political affairs of the day involved a highly

18:12

complicated intraparty squabble

18:14

over policy and personal down in georgia

18:17

i do not want to get bogged down at the details of the

18:19

georgian affair as it is a very messy can

18:21

of worms both sides and

18:23

the controversy wanted lennon's up someone

18:27

who'd definitely was on one of the two

18:29

sides outraged define

18:31

lennon secretaries asking for a dossier

18:33

compiled by rivals on the other

18:35

side in late january

18:38

nineteen twenty three he and group sky i got into

18:40

an argument over the phone were stolen

18:42

apparently berated her for breaching

18:44

the help protocols that we're supposed to keep these

18:46

kind of controversies away from comrade

18:48

lenin that one suspects i

18:50

was only partly why lenin was so irritated

18:53

as he was definitely not a disinterested

18:56

party in the georgian affair it

18:58

is worth noting however that while controlling

19:01

lennon's access to information was obviously

19:03

advantageous to stalin the

19:05

also requested to be relieved

19:07

of these duties on february first the

19:10

gets more than anything it was turning out to be an annoying

19:12

hassle the politburo

19:14

have a rejected his request and instructed

19:17

stolen to maintain his vigil over

19:19

the chief still

19:22

not fully recovered from the second stroke the

19:24

third hammer fell on the night of march

19:27

ninth nineteen twenty three the

19:29

third major stroke laid upon

19:31

lennon the familiar litany of results

19:34

total paralysis on the right side complete

19:36

loss of speech mental confusion

19:39

and an inability to communicate the

19:42

inner circle the party when into an acute state of

19:44

emergency as they were justifiably afraid

19:46

that this was it lennon

19:48

is about to die and we're gonna have to grapple

19:50

with the fallout and we've

19:52

known going back to the early days of the history

19:54

of rome that's how critical these moments

19:57

of political succession are especially

19:59

when know air has been named and

20:01

at the moment no air has been named

20:05

lennon tried to hasten his own demise by once

20:07

again demanding cyanide stalin

20:09

refused to carry out the instruction and his

20:11

comrades in the politburo concurred that

20:14

they should simply wait and see though

20:17

in merits of nineteen twenty three lenin

20:20

was not totally out of commission on the

20:22

eve of the twelve party congress

20:25

for one of the only times in his long tenure

20:28

as leader of the party lennon

20:30

would not be in attendance but

20:32

even in his absence when and

20:34

was the dominant personality his

20:37

oldest bolshevik comrades sunovia

20:39

and caminos both paid almost

20:41

embarrassing honor to the great leader setting

20:44

the groundwork for what would become the cult of

20:46

linen where he wasn't embalmed

20:48

relic representing he roic revolutionary

20:51

infallibility even

20:54

absent the third stroke though lenin was not gonna

20:56

be at the twelve party congress the

20:58

other members of the politburo agreed

21:00

that was vital to show the delegates to the

21:02

congress nothing but iron clad solidarity

21:04

from the leadership preventing any

21:07

of the various opposition factions from prying

21:09

open an opportunity this

21:11

public solidarity would cover over

21:14

widening personality conflicts among them

21:16

most especially surrounding trotsky the

21:19

was increasingly critical of his comrades

21:21

and as a result increasingly isolated

21:24

trotsky had only a few true allies laughed and central

21:27

committee and none at all in the inner

21:29

circle the politburo and

21:31

was stolen now serving his general secretary the party

21:34

this was not going to change anytime soon

21:38

but for the moment none of them saw a public

21:41

rift for or against trotsky as being

21:43

in any of their interests that

21:45

he did indeed present a united front of the twelve

21:47

party perhaps

21:49

he agreed to meet his criticisms and

21:51

to give no hint to opposition elements in the party

21:54

that he might lead them against the old guard rising

21:57

to speak on behalf of emotion confirming

21:59

their you know solidarity he said i

22:02

shall not be the last in our midst to defend

22:04

this motion the put it into effect

22:06

and to fight ruthlessly against all who may

22:08

try to infringe if

22:10

in the present mood the party warrant

22:13

you emphatically about things which seem dangerous

22:15

to the party is right

22:18

the even if exaggerate because

22:20

what might not be dangerous and other circumstances

22:23

must appear doubly and trembley suspect

22:25

at present still

22:28

inside the inner circle trotsky

22:30

zealously defended the leadership's ability

22:32

to be right no matter what including

22:35

the facts this was

22:37

a position trotsky would support right up until

22:39

the moment he realized he had been pushed out of the

22:41

inner circle whereupon he would begin

22:43

to champion those calling for more democratic

22:45

openness inside the party he

22:47

was not there yet in

22:50

exchange for not criticizing his fellow members

22:52

of the politburo with the twelve party congress trotsky

22:55

was allowed to present his pet economic theories

22:58

as the official party line this

23:01

appears now to be quite literally academic

23:04

the trotsky apparently considered are far

23:06

more weighty proposition at the time most

23:09

famously the presented the new economic

23:11

crisis facing russia which he dubbed the

23:13

scissors crisis this

23:16

crisis was not a shortage of scissors although

23:18

there probably was one but rather

23:20

an alarming divergence of prices for industrial

23:23

goods and prices for agricultural goods

23:26

basically with the industrial sector only

23:28

partially rebuilt the cost of producing

23:31

goods in their resulting scarcity drove prices

23:33

up finally recent bountiful harvest

23:36

partly thanks to grain provided by the american

23:38

relief administration the food

23:40

prices were falling lot

23:42

id on a graph the diverging lines looked like pair

23:45

of open scissors what it meant

23:47

in practice was that even if the peasant sold

23:49

all their surplus it would not have enough

23:51

to buy any of the things they needed to buy

23:54

this might once again lead them to conclude

23:56

that there was no point in producing surpluses which

23:59

was a major cause at the recent famine

24:01

last it would prevent the industrial sector from generating

24:04

enough revenue to drive further expansion

24:08

crosby's answer to this was to push for more

24:10

rational planning inside the industrial sector

24:12

was still operating inside the ndp

24:15

free more not

24:17

wanting to inflame the peasantry after

24:19

several years of antagonism and famine

24:22

right to be called upon the working class

24:24

as to bear the sacrificial brunt of policies

24:26

that would reduce the price of industrial

24:29

goods up to and including

24:31

smashing their wages he

24:34

said there may be moments when the government

24:36

pays you know wages or when it pays you

24:38

only half your wage and when you

24:40

the worker have to lend the other half to

24:42

the state the

24:44

what we have years trotsky telling the industrial

24:47

proletariat whom the communist party

24:49

is meant above all to represent and

24:51

who have spent the last several years getting absolutely

24:54

hammered by scarcity unemployment and

24:56

mistreatment yeah we need you to

24:58

send for some more for the good of the revolution this

25:01

was justified by noting that such imposed

25:03

hardships were different from those imposed

25:05

by bourgeois states because the communist

25:08

party was after all the party of the workers not

25:10

the party the bourgeoisie oh really

25:13

this was the proletariat voluntarily

25:15

imposing hardships opponents this

25:18

was no doubt a great comfort to the working classes

25:20

of russia especially since the leaders

25:22

of the communist party had recently worked so hard

25:24

to destroy the workers opposition movement inside

25:26

the party which was specifically organized

25:28

to look after the interests of the proletariat

25:33

during a period immediately before

25:35

and immediately after the to of party congress

25:38

when and absence was so strongly felt

25:41

those closest to him suddenly

25:43

began producing new pronouncements

25:45

from the incapacitated leader these

25:48

pronouncements took the form of notes allegedly

25:50

dictated back in late december nineteen twenty

25:52

two and early january nineteen twenty

25:55

three the first

25:57

that was produced on april the sixteenth

25:59

while the twelve congress is going on and

26:01

it was a soul searching denunciation of great

26:04

russian chauvinism coupled

26:06

with a demand to treat minority nationalities

26:08

with dignity respect and autonomy which

26:11

that him against centralized years

26:13

in the party then

26:15

an openly worry that the terms of newly created

26:18

you ssr would serve russian interests at

26:20

the expense of that nationality it

26:22

is quite natural denotes read that

26:24

in such circumstances the freedom

26:27

to secede from the union by which we

26:29

justify ourself will be a mere

26:31

scrap of paper on able to defend

26:33

the non russians from the onslaught of that

26:35

really russian man the great russian

26:37

chauvinist and substance a rascal

26:39

in it that's just the typical

26:41

russian bureaucrat is there

26:43

is no doubt that the infant test small percentage

26:46

of soviet and soviet ties workers

26:48

they'll drown in that tide of chauvinist a great

26:50

russian riffraff like a fly and milk

26:53

these note on the nationalities also read

26:56

where we careful enough to take measures to provide

26:58

the non russians with a real safeguard against

27:00

the truly russian bully i do

27:02

not think we took such measures although we

27:05

could and should have done so then

27:09

lennon took a direct shot stalin i

27:12

think that snow and he spent his infatuation

27:14

with pure administration together with his

27:16

spite against the notorious nationalist

27:18

socialism the fatal role here

27:21

in politics spite generally place

27:23

the basis of rules and

27:26

just to be clear by nationalist socialism

27:29

we hear mean though socialists who wanted

27:31

to incorporate autonomy of nationalities

27:33

into the system as opposed to pure centralize

27:35

ours who wanted to overthrow such national

27:38

differentiations so we

27:40

are not talking about the national socialism

27:42

but you might be thinking of now

27:46

and everything i'm about to say next i

27:48

have to say that i am heavily influenced by the case

27:50

stephen kotkin makes in his biographies

27:52

of stalin that the provenance

27:54

of all of this miraculous dictation

27:56

from lennon the dubious at best

28:00

unlike all the other dictation produced around the same

28:02

time the typed up notes

28:04

suddenly produced in the spring of nineteen twenty three

28:07

do not have matching handwritten originals

28:09

in the archives nor do they

28:11

bear lennon's initials which he typically

28:14

used to mark that yes this was in fact

28:16

coming from him other

28:18

dictation from the same period has both of these

28:20

markers of authenticity but

28:22

not these later documents that we are here

28:24

talking about they were simply typed

28:27

up and asserted to be lenin's words

28:30

there is another curious example this back

28:33

in march just before lennon's third stroke

28:35

where he apparently demanded stolen apologize

28:37

to curb sky a for parading her over the phone

28:39

that one time this document

28:42

to lax lennon's initials and a handwritten

28:44

original the

28:46

far more explosively than comments

28:49

on the nationality in mid may

28:51

groups guy a produce lenin's remarks

28:53

on the advisability of expanding the ranks

28:55

of the central committee to fifty or one hundred

28:57

members this document

29:00

t was allegedly dictated back in december

29:02

nineteen twenty two just after lennon

29:04

second stroke the

29:06

notes have no official title but

29:08

they later became known as lenin's testament

29:12

because in addition to his comments about the advisability

29:14

of expanding the ranks of the central committee the

29:17

also made observations about several senior members

29:19

of the beauty the notes read

29:21

quote comrade stalin

29:24

having become secretary general has unlimited

29:26

authority concentrated in his hands and

29:29

i not sure whether he will always be capable

29:31

of using that authority with sufficient

29:33

caution comrade

29:35

trotsky on the other hand is distinguished

29:38

not only by outstanding ability he

29:40

is personally perhaps the most capable

29:42

man in the present central committee that

29:45

he has displayed excessive self assurance

29:47

and shown excessive preoccupation with

29:49

a purely administrative side of the work at

29:53

his oldest comrade lenin said only the

29:55

october episode with so no bf and

29:57

cam enough was of course no accident but

30:00

neither can the blame for it be laid upon them

30:02

personally any more than non bolshevism

30:05

can be upon chomsky as

30:07

caught can notes this is an extremely

30:10

backhanded absolution of sunovia

30:12

and cam and apps opposition to the october revolution

30:15

because though they were the oldest of

30:17

the old guard we're not great test

30:19

of october came the failed miserably

30:23

he also mentioned to younger leaders nikolai

30:26

boo current and gyorgy pure taco

30:29

he said the current is not only

30:31

a most valuable and major theorist of the

30:33

party the is also rightly considered

30:35

the favorite of the whole party that

30:37

his be radical views can be classified as fully

30:39

marxist only with great reserve there's

30:42

something scholastic about him the

30:44

has never made a study of the dialectics and i think

30:46

never fully understood your

30:49

talker the unquestionably a man

30:51

about standing will and outstanding ability that

30:53

shows too much as zeal for administering

30:55

and the administrative side of the work to

30:58

be relied upon a serious political manner

31:01

both of these remarks of course are made only

31:03

for the present on the assumption that both these

31:05

outstanding and devoted party workers fail to

31:07

find an occasion to enhance their knowledge and

31:09

amend their one sidedness

31:12

none of this is exactly a ringing

31:14

endorsement of any of the principal claimants

31:16

to lennon's mantle and while trotsky

31:19

perhaps comes off the best as the most

31:21

capable man in the present central committee and

31:24

blue car and gets noted as a favorite

31:26

of the whole party neither

31:28

is without their major fault lenin's

31:31

former deviant mention isn't was plainly noted

31:33

as was boo current apparent in maturity

31:37

then to make sure there was no mistake

31:40

a further short addendum to this text

31:42

allegedly dictated in the first week of january

31:44

nineteen twenty three dead aim

31:46

at stalin storm

31:49

and is to rule the addendum

31:51

said and this defect

31:54

although quite tolerable in our midst

31:56

and in dealing among us communist becomes

31:58

intolerable in a secretary the that

32:01

is why i suggest that the comrades think

32:03

about a way of removing stolen from that

32:05

post and appointing another man in

32:07

his stead the when all other respects

32:09

differs from comrade stalin having

32:11

only one advantage namely that

32:14

being more tolerant more loyal more

32:16

polite and more considerate to the comrades

32:18

less caprices etc this

32:21

circumstance may appear to be a negligible

32:24

detail but i think that from the standpoint

32:26

of safeguards against a split and

32:28

what i wrote above about the relationship

32:31

between stone and trotsky is not a minor detail

32:34

but it is a detail which can assume decisive

32:36

importance

32:39

these explosive remarks

32:41

were not like printed improved or anything

32:43

like that they landed like

32:45

a bombshell inside the close knit ranks

32:47

of the inner party with is

32:50

practically dying breath comrade

32:52

lenin was saying get rid of stalin

32:56

the thing is and here's where i'm following

32:58

kotkin it's very likely

33:00

lennon didn't see any of this that

33:03

a little click of secretaries around him

33:05

cook these remarks up themselves the

33:07

group's gaia as the most likely mastermind

33:10

she herself was staring down life without lennon

33:13

and her own antagonistic relationship with someone

33:15

may have led her to want to knock him down a peg to

33:18

perhaps in favor of trotsky perhaps innovia

33:20

perhaps because anyone

33:22

but but

33:25

to be clear this is all conjecture based

33:27

on the notable lack of evidence confirming

33:29

that these notes were dictated when and where

33:32

and by whom they were alleged to have been dictated

33:36

but whether they were actually lenin's

33:38

words or not they were taken

33:40

at the time and afterwards to

33:42

be lenin's words they caused

33:44

an enormous amount of turmoil

33:47

inside the inner party inside

33:49

that upper stratum that lennon

33:51

himself was so concerned might be destroyed

33:53

by personality conflicts that

33:55

would in turn destroy the entire revolution

34:01

next week we will reach the final

34:03

chapter of lenin's life the

34:06

final chapter of are highly detailed

34:08

accounting of the russian revolution because

34:10

i'm going to use that chapter to mark the end

34:13

of the revolutionary age and the

34:15

beginning of simply the early history

34:17

of the u ssr and

34:19

the revolutionary work was a course not over

34:22

and there will be three more additional episodes

34:24

the take us through the great purges in the nineteen thirties

34:27

but the revolution would now be directed

34:29

from above rather than from below it

34:32

would be a political economic and cultural revolution

34:35

waged by a government instead

34:37

of against the government lennon

34:40

had managed to live long enough to see his revolution

34:42

come to pass and after many

34:44

decades of relentless work it

34:46

is time to extinguish his revolutionary