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Section III (Personalities): Leon Trotsky, Revolutionary and Theorist of Permanent Revolution
Quick questions on Trotsky's exile and writings: HSC Modern History Personality
7short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is my Life (1930)?Show answer
My Life: An Attempt at an Autobiography was completed at Prinkipo in the spring of 1929 and published in German, French, English, and Russian editions in 1930. The book covered the period from Yanovka to the 1929 expulsion. It is the principal participant account of Trotsky's life and the basis of Deutscher's three-volume biography.
What is the History of the Russian Revolution (1932)?Show answer
The three-volume History of the Russian Revolution was the major literary work of the exile. Volume one (The Overthrow of Tsarism) appeared in 1931; volumes two and three (The Attempted Counter-Revolution; The Triumph of the Soviets) appeared in 1932. The English translation by Max Eastman appeared with Gollancz in 1932-1933.
What is norway, 1935 to 1936?Show answer
In June 1935 Trotsky and Natalia Sedova moved to Norway on a permit granted by the Norwegian Labour Party government of Johan Nygaardsvold. They settled at the home of Konrad Knudsen at Wexhall near Oslo. The conditions of the Norwegian permit prohibited political activity.
What is mexico, 1937 to 1940?Show answer
The Cardenas government of Mexico, sympathetic to Trotsky as a victim of Stalin, granted asylum on 7 December 1936. Trotsky and Natalia Sedova boarded the Norwegian tanker Ruth at Oslo on 19 December 1936 and arrived at Tampico on 9 January 1937. Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo housed them at the Blue House (Casa Azul) in Coyoacan, Mexico City. From April 1939 they moved to a separate house on Avenida Viena, also in Coyoacan.
What is q1?Show answer
Source A is an extract from My Life (1930) on the Prinkipo years. Using Source A and your own knowledge, explain the conditions of Trotsky's exile. [5 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
Evaluate the extent to which Trotsky's exile writings shaped twentieth-century socialist thought. [25 marks]
What is q3?Show answer
Compare the views of Isaac Deutscher and Bertrand Patenaude on Trotsky in exile. [10 marks]
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