Editing Leon Trotsky (section)

== Exile (1929–1940) ==
=== Turkey ===
Deported from the Soviet Union in February 1929, Trotsky arrived in Turkey. For his first two months, he lived with his wife and eldest son at the [[List of diplomatic missions of Russia|Soviet Consulate]] in [[Istanbul]] and then a nearby hotel. In April 1929, Turkish authorities moved them to the island of [[Büyükada]] (Prinkipo), into a house called the Yanaros mansion.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.marxist.com/esteban-volkov-return-to-prinkipo.htm|title=Esteban Volkov: Return to Prinkipo|first=Greg|last=Oxley|date=1 February 2004|website=Marxist.com|access-date=10 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110160934/https://www.marxist.com/esteban-volkov-return-to-prinkipo.htm|archive-date=10 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> During his Turkish exile, Trotsky was under surveillance by [[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk|Mustafa Kemal Pasha's]] police. He was also at risk from former White Army officers on Prinkipo. However, his European supporters volunteered as bodyguards, ensuring his safety.<ref name="marxists.org">{{cite web|url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1935/06/french.htm|title=Leon Trotsky: An Open Letter to the French Workers|date=10 June 1935|website=Marxists.org|access-date=8 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161123230116/https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1935/06/french.htm|archive-date=23 November 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> He requested entry to Belgium, France, Norway, Germany, and the United Kingdom, but all refused.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7728106|title=Application by Leon Trotsky for permission to reside in England.|date=24 June 1929|publisher=UK National Archives}}</ref>
[[File:Trotsky House Istanbul.jpg|thumb|left|Trotsky's house, the Yanaros mansion on [[Büyükada]], Turkey, as it appears today. He lived there from April 1929 to July 1933.]]

Soon after arriving in Turkey, Trotsky established the ''[[Bulletin of the Opposition]]'', a Russian-language journal first published in July 1929 in Paris.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lubitz |first1=Petra |last2=Lubitz |first2=Wolfgang |title=Biulleten' oppozitsii |url=https://www.trotskyana.net/Leon_Trotsky/Biulleten__Oppozitsii/biulleten__oppozitsii.html |website=trotskyana.net |access-date=29 May 2024 |date=August 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kassow |first1=Samuel |author-link=Samuel Kassow |title=Trotsky and the ''Bulletin of the Opposition'' |journal=Studies in Comparative Communism |date=Summer 1977 |volume=10 |issue=1 / 2 |pages=184–197 |doi=10.1016/S0039-3592(77)80006-9 |jstor=45367174 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/45367174 |access-date=29 May 2024 |issn=0039-3592}}</ref> In a 1931 letter titled "What is Fascism," he attempted to [[Definitions of fascism#Leon Trotsky|define fascism]], asserting the [[Communist International]] wrongly described [[Miguel Primo de Rivera|Primo de Rivera's dictatorship]] as "[[fascist]]" because it lacked a mass movement base in the lower classes.<ref>{{cite web|author=L. Trotsky|title=What is Fascism|url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1931/11/fascism.htm|date=15 November 1931}}</ref>

On 20 February 1932, Trotsky and his family lost their Soviet citizenship and were forbidden to enter the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Swain|2006|p=191}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Open Letter to the C.E.C. of the U.S.S.R.|url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1932/03/cec1.htm|date=1 March 1932}}</ref> In 1932, he entered fascist [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://stanforddailyarchive.com/cgi-bin/stanford?a=d&d=stanford19321205-01.2.20|title=The Stanford Daily, Volume 82, Issue 44, 5 December 1932|website=Stanforddailyarchive.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675056639_Soviet-Leader-Leon-Trotsky_Trotsky-with-dignitaries_Roman-civilization_Trotsky-in-exile|title=Former Soviet leader Leon Trotsky, in exile visits ruins of ancient Roman sites with other dignitaries in Naples, Italy.|website=Criticalpast.com|date=1932}}</ref> en route to a socialist conference in Denmark.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1932/11/radio.htm|title=The Stalinists and Trotsky's Radio Speech to America|date=3 December 1932|website=Marxists.org}}</ref> By late 1932, Trotsky contacted the anti-Stalin opposition inside the USSR to discuss forming a bloc.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Thurston|first=Robert W.|title=Life and Terror in Stalin's Russia, 1934–1941| page =25|date=1996|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-06401-8|jstor=j.ctt32bw0h}}</ref> There was no evidence of any alliance with [[Nazi Germany]] or the [[Empire of Japan|Empire of Japan]], as the Soviet government claimed. Alleged bloc members included Zinovievites, [[Right Opposition|rightists]], and "capitulated" Trotskyists like Kamenev and Zinoviev. Trotsky feared the right gaining too much power within the bloc. Historian [[Pierre Broué]] concluded the bloc dissolved in early 1933, as some members like Zinoviev and Kamenev rejoined Stalin, and Trotsky's Harvard archive letters do not mention the bloc after 1932.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pierre Broué: The "Bloc" of the Oppositions against Stalin (January 1980)|url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/broue/1980/01/bloc.html|access-date=4 August 2020|website=Marxists.org}}</ref>

=== France ===
{{See also|Trotskyism in France}}
In July 1933, Prime Minister [[Édouard Daladier]] offered Trotsky asylum in France. Trotsky accepted but was forbidden to live in [[Paris]] and was soon under French police surveillance. From July 1933 to February 1934, Trotsky and his wife lived in [[Royan]]. Philosopher and activist [[Simone Weil]] arranged for them and their bodyguards to stay briefly at her parents' house.<ref name="marxists.org" /> Following the [[6 February 1934 crisis]], French Minister of Internal Affairs [[Albert Sarraut]] signed a decree to deport Trotsky.<ref name="marxists.org" /> However, no foreign government would accept him. French authorities then instructed Trotsky to move to a residence in the village of [[Barbizon]] under strict police surveillance, where his contact with the outside world became even more restricted than in Turkey.<ref name="marxists.org" /> In May 1935, soon after France agreed to the [[Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance]], Trotsky was officially told he was no longer welcome. He applied to move to Norway.

=== Norway ===
[[File:Heradsbygdveien 26, Hønefoss.jpg|thumb|Konrad Knudsen's House in Veksal, Norderhov, Norway, where Trotsky lived from June 1935 to September 1936]]
After Justice Minister [[Trygve Lie]] granted permission, Trotsky and his wife became guests of [[Konrad Knudsen]] at [[Norderhov]], near [[Hønefoss]], living at Knudsen's house from 18 June 1935 to 2 September 1936. Trotsky was hospitalized for a few weeks at [[Oslo University Hospital, Ullevål|Oslo Community Hospital]] from 19 September 1935.<ref name=Swain>Geoffrey Swain, ''Trotsky'' (Taylor & Francis, 2014) pp.199-202</ref><ref>Oddvar Høidal, ''Trotsky in Norway: Exile, 1935–1937''</ref>

Following French media complaints about Trotsky's role in encouraging the [[Matignon Agreements (1936)|May–June 1936 mass strikes in France]] with his articles, the Norwegian government, led by [[Johan Nygaardsvold]], grew uneasy. In summer 1936, Trotsky's asylum became a political issue for the fascist [[Nasjonal Samling]], led by [[Vidkun Quisling]],<ref name="author">Oddvar Høidal's ''Trotsky in Norway: Exile, 1935–1937.''</ref> alongside increased Soviet pressure. On 5 August 1936, Nasjonal Samling fascists burgled Knudsen's house while Trotsky and his wife were out. The burglars targeted Trotsky's works and archives. The raid was largely thwarted by Knudsen's daughter, Hjørdis, though some papers were taken.<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1936/12/nor.htm|title=Leon Trotsky in Norway (1936)|date=January 1937|website=Marxists.org|access-date=8 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161123230427/https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1936/12/nor.htm|archive-date=23 November 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> "Evidence" from the burglary was used by the government against Trotsky.<ref name="author" />

On 14 August 1936, the Soviet [[Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union|TASS]] agency announced a "Trotskyist–Zinovievist" plot and the imminent start of the [[Moscow Trials]]. Trotsky demanded a full, open inquiry. The accused, including Grigory Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev, were sentenced to death and executed on 25 August 1936. On 26 August, eight policemen arrived at Knudsen's house, demanding Trotsky sign new residency conditions: no writing on current politics, no interviews, and all correspondence inspected. Trotsky refused and was told he and his wife would be moved.<ref name="auto1" /> The next day, police interrogated him about his political activities, officially citing him as a "witness" to the 5 August fascist raid.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1936/12/nor.htm|title=Leon Trotsky in Norway|access-date=8 March 2018|website=Marxists.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715072452/https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1936/12/nor.htm|archive-date=15 July 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 2 September 1936, Trygve Lie ordered Trotsky and his wife transferred to a farm in [[Hurum]],<ref name=Hurum>{{cite web|url=http://www.dagsavisen.no/fremtiden/en-sensasjonell-rettssak/|title=En sensasjonell rettssak|access-date=31 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130929072142/http://www.dagsavisen.no/fremtiden/en-sensasjonell-rettssak/|archive-date=29 September 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> where they were under house arrest.<ref name="author" /> Treatment at Hurum was harsh: confined indoors 22 hours daily under constant guard, with only one hour twice daily for walks. Trotsky was prevented from posting letters or responding to critics. Only his lawyers and [[Norwegian Labour Party]] Parliamentary leader [[Olav Scheflo]] were allowed visits.<ref name="author" /> From October 1936, even outdoor walks were prohibited.<ref name="author" /> Trotsky smuggled out one letter on 18 December 1936, ''The Moscow "Confessions"''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1936/03/confession.htm|title=The Moscow "Confessions"|date=18 December 1936|website=Marxists.org|access-date=6 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161123230450/https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1936/03/confession.htm|archive-date=23 November 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> On 19 December 1936, they were deported on the Norwegian oil tanker ''Ruth'', guarded by [[Jonas Lie (government minister)|Jonas Lie]]. Later, in Mexico, Trotsky scathingly criticized his treatment, accusing the Norwegian government of trying to silence his opposition to the Moscow Trials:
{{Blockquote|When I look back today on this period of internment, I must say that never, anywhere, in the course of my entire life—and I have lived through many things—was I persecuted with as much miserable cynicism as I was by the Norwegian "Socialist" government. For four months, these ministers, dripping with democratic hypocrisy, gripped me in a stranglehold to prevent me from protesting the greatest crime history may ever know.<ref name="author" />}}

=== Mexico ===
[[File:Leon Trotsky House, Mexico City (7144251529).jpg|thumb|Trotsky's house in [[Coyoacán]], Mexico City, from April 1939 until his assassination in August 1940]]
[[File:Trotsky & Khalo.jpg|thumb|Trotsky (centre, with glasses and goatee) arrives in Mexico, January 1937, with his wife Natalia Sedova (to his left). Artist [[Frida Kahlo]] is behind them (to Trotsky's right).]]
[[File:Trotsky Speech In Mexico (1930-1939).webm|thumb|Video of Trotsky speaking in Mexico, thanking the country and President Lázaro Cárdenas for asylum, and denouncing Stalin's trials as based on false evidence. (c. 1937–1939)]]
The ''Ruth'' arrived in Mexico on 9 January 1937.<ref name="author" /> President [[Lázaro Cárdenas]] welcomed Trotsky and arranged a special train, ''The Hidalgo'', to bring him to Mexico City from [[Tampico]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.marxist.com/house-in-coyacan-reflections-trotsky.htm|title=The House in Coyoacán – Reflection on Trotsky's last years|first=Alan|last=Woods|date=30 June 2003|website=Marxist.com|access-date=10 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110162137/https://www.marxist.com/house-in-coyacan-reflections-trotsky.htm|archive-date=10 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

From January 1937 to April 1939, Trotsky and his wife lived in Coyoacán at [[La Casa Azul (The Blue House)]], home of painter [[Frida Kahlo]] (with whom Trotsky had an affair) and her husband, fellow painter [[Diego Rivera]].<ref>Herrera, Hayden (1983). ''A Biography of Frida Kahlo''. New York: HarperCollins. {{ISBN|978-0060085896}}</ref><ref name="Patenaude, Bertrand">Patenaude, Bertrand M. (2009) ''Trotsky: Downfall of a Revolutionary'' New York: HarperCollins. {{ISBN|978-0060820688}}</ref> Kahlo later presented him with ''[[Self-Portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky]]'' on his birthday, the 20th anniversary of the October Revolution.<ref name=kettenmann>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s_ZdPsktyjEC&dq=%22Self-Portrait+Dedicated+to+Leon+Trotsky%22&pg=PA41 | title=Frida Kahlo, 1907-1954: Pain and Passion | publisher=Taschen | author=Kettenmann, Andrea | year=2003 | pages=41 | isbn=9783822859834}}</ref> His final move, after a break with Rivera, was to a residence on Avenida Viena in April 1939.<ref name="Patenaude, Bertrand" />

Trotsky wrote prolifically in exile, including ''[[History of the Russian Revolution]]'' (1930) and ''[[The Revolution Betrayed]]'' (1936), a critique of the Soviet Union under [[Stalinism]]. He argued the Soviet state had become a "[[degenerated workers' state]]" controlled by an undemocratic bureaucracy, which would either be overthrown via a [[Political revolution (Trotskyism)|political revolution]] establishing workers' democracy, or degenerate into a capitalist class.<ref>Daniel Gaido, "Marxist Analyses of Stalinism", ''Science & Society'' 75/1 (Jan. 2011): 99–107. www.jstor.org/stable/25769086.</ref>

In Mexico, Trotsky worked closely with [[James P. Cannon]], [[Joseph Hansen (socialist)|Joseph Hansen]], and [[Farrell Dobbs]] of the [[Socialist Workers Party (United States)|Socialist Workers Party]] of the United States, and other supporters.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://spartacus-educational.com/USAcannonJ.htm|title=James P. Cannon|work=Spartacus Educational|access-date=6 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106053432/https://spartacus-educational.com/USAcannonJ.htm|archive-date=6 November 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Cannon, a long-time leader in the American communist movement, had supported Trotsky since reading his criticisms of the Soviet Union in 1928. Trotsky's critique of Stalinism, though banned, was distributed to Comintern leaders. [[Chen Duxiu]], founder of the [[Chinese Communist Party]], was another supporter.<ref>Chen, Duxiu. [https://www.marxistsfr.org/archive/chen-duxiu/1931/05/chinlo.htm "The Unification of the Chinese Opposition"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211053628/https://www.marxistsfr.org/archive/chen-duxiu/1931/05/chinlo.htm |date=11 December 2017}}, ''The Militant'', 15 June 1931.</ref>

Trotsky collaborated with [[André Breton]] and Diego Rivera on the [[Manifesto for an Independent Revolutionary Art]] (1938), emphasizing artistic freedom outside capitalist and Stalinist constraints. This inspired the International Federation of Independent Revolutionary Art (FIARI) in 1938, though it was short-lived, ending before 1940.<ref>André Breton and Leon Trotsky, ''Manifesto for an Independent Revolutionary Art'', 1938, in ''Free Rein'', University of Nebraska Press, 1995.</ref>

=== Moscow show trials ===
In August 1936, the first Moscow show trial of the "Trotskyite–Zinovievite Terrorist Center" was staged. Zinoviev, Kamenev, and 14 other prominent Old Bolsheviks confessed to plotting with Trotsky to kill Stalin and other Soviet leaders. The court found all defendants guilty, sentencing them, including Trotsky [[Trial in absentia|in absentia]], to death. The second show trial (Karl Radek, [[Grigori Sokolnikov]], [[Yuri Pyatakov]], and 14 others) in January 1937 linked more alleged conspiracies and crimes to Trotsky. These trials were widely seen as fabrications. In response, an independent Commission of Inquiry, chaired by American philosopher [[John Dewey]], was established. After investigating the allegations, the [[Dewey Commission]] found Trotsky not guilty of the charges made against him in the Moscow Trials. Its findings were published in the book ''Not Guilty''.<ref>''Not Guilty; Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Charges Made Against Leon Trotsky in the Moscow Trials, John Dewey, chairman'', New York, London, Harper & brothers, 1938, xv, 422 pp. 2nd edition New York, Monad Press, distributed by Pathfinder Press 1973, c. 1972 xxiii.</ref>
{{blockquote|The Moscow trials are perpetuated under the banner of socialism. We will not concede this banner to the masters of falsehood! If our generation happens to be too weak to establish Socialism over the earth, we will hand the spotless banner down to our children. The struggle which is in the offing transcends by far the importance of individuals, factions and parties. It is the struggle for the future of all mankind. It will be severe, it will be lengthy. Whoever seeks physical comfort and spiritual calm let him step aside. In time of reaction it is more convenient to lean on the bureaucracy than on the truth. But all those for whom the word 'Socialism' is not a hollow sound but the content of their moral life—forward! Neither threats nor persecutions nor violations can stop us! Be it even over our bleaching bones the future will triumph! We will blaze the trail for it. It will conquer! Under all the severe blows of fate, I shall be happy as in the best days of my youth; because, my friends, the highest human happiness is not the exploitation of the present but the preparation of the future.|Leon Trotsky, 'I Stake My Life', opening address to the [[Dewey Commission]], 9 February 1937{{sfn|North|2010|p=viii}}<ref>Full text of ~ [http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1937/09/life.htm "I Stake My Life!"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101114233838/http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1937/09/life.htm |date=14 November 2010}} – Leon Trotsky's telephone address to the N.Y. Hippodrome Meeting for the opening event of the [[Dewey Commission]] on the Moscow Trial, delivered on 9 February 1937.</ref>}}

=== Fourth International ===
{{Trotskyism}}
{{Main|Fourth International}}
Initially, Trotsky opposed establishing parallel communist parties or a parallel international organization to compete with the Third International (Comintern), fearing it would split the communist movement. He changed his mind in mid-1933 after the [[Nazi Party|Nazi]] takeover in Germany and the Comintern's response. He stated:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/works/1930-ger/330715.htm|title=Marxists.org|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051121162621/http://marxists.org/archive/trotsky/works/1930-ger/330715.htm|archive-date=21 November 2005|access-date=26 October 2005}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|An organization which was not roused by the thunder of fascism and which submits docilely to such outrageous acts of the bureaucracy demonstrates thereby that it is dead and that nothing can ever revive it... In all our subsequent work it is necessary to take as our point of departure the historical collapse of the official Communist International.<ref>Leon Trotsky. ''To Build Communist Parties and an International Anew'', 15 July 1933.</ref>}}
In 1938, Trotsky and his supporters founded the [[Fourth International]], intended as a revolutionary and internationalist alternative to the Stalinist Comintern.

=== The Dies Committee ===
[[File:Leon Trotsky and American admirers. Mexico - NARA - 283642.jpg|thumb|Trotsky (centre, seated) with American comrades, including [[Harry DeBoer]] (left, standing), in Mexico, shortly before his assassination, 1940]]
In late 1939, Trotsky agreed to appear as a witness before the Dies Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, a precursor to the [[House Un-American Activities Committee|House Committee on Un-American Activities]]. Representative [[Martin Dies Jr.]], the committee chairman, sought the suppression of the American Communist Party. Trotsky intended to use the forum to expose [[NKVD]] activities against him and his followers. He also planned to argue against suppressing the American Communist Party and to call for transforming [[World War II]] into a world revolution. Many supporters opposed his appearance. When the committee learned the nature of Trotsky's intended testimony, it refused to hear him, and he was denied a U.S. visa. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union immediately accused Trotsky of being paid by oil magnates and the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI).{{sfn|Deutscher|2003c|p=482}}

=== Final months ===
After quarrelling with Diego Rivera, Trotsky moved to his final residence on Avenida Viena in April 1939.<ref>Patenaude, Bertrand M. (2009) ''Trotsky: Downfall of a Revolutionary'' New York: HarperCollins; {{ISBN|978-0060820688}}, pp. 171–73.</ref> On 27 February 1940, he wrote "Trotsky's Testament," expressing his final thoughts. Suffering from [[high blood pressure]], he feared a [[cerebral haemorrhage]]. He reiterated his "unshaken faith in a [[World communism|communist future]]."<ref name=Testament>[http://www.newyouth.com/content/view/169/68/ "Trotsky's Testament"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724015711/http://www.newyouth.com/content/view/169/68/ |date=24 July 2011}} (27 February 1940) Retrieved 12 June 2011.</ref> Forcefully denying Stalin's accusations of betraying the working class, he thanked his friends and, above all, his wife, Natalia Sedova, for their loyal support:
{{Blockquote|In addition to the happiness of being a fighter for the cause of socialism, fate gave me the happiness of being her husband. During the almost forty years of our life together she remained an inexhaustible source of love, magnanimity, and tenderness. She underwent great sufferings, especially in the last period of our lives. But I find some comfort in the fact that she also knew days of happiness.

For forty-three years of my conscious life I have remained a revolutionist; for forty-two of them I have fought under the banner of Marxism. If I had to begin all over again I would of course try to avoid this or that mistake, but the main course of my life would remain unchanged. I shall die a proletarian revolutionist, a Marxist, a [[dialectical materialist]], and, consequently, an irreconcilable [[atheist]]. My faith in the communist future of mankind is not less ardent, indeed it is firmer today, than it was in the days of my youth.<br />Natasha has just come up to the window from the courtyard and opened it wider so that the air may enter more freely into my room. I can see the bright green strip of grass beneath the wall, and the clear blue sky above the wall, and sunlight everywhere. Life is beautiful. Let the future generations cleanse it of all [[evil]], [[oppression]] and [[violence]], and enjoy it to the full.<br />L. Trotsky<br />27 February 1940<br />Coyoacán.<ref name=Testament />}}