The web has numerous sites to Lenin and Trotsky, however most are either over sycophantic or of limited academic interest.  Those offered below are of greater value. What is missing are sites with critical analysis.

 

Biographies

• VI Lenin from the Time 100 series. By David Remnick
• Lenin brief bio from the BBC
• A chronology of Lenin Neat and useful from the Lenin Internet Archive but the red background makes use difficult!
• Vladimir Lenin By Henry M. Christman from Essential Works of Lenin. detailed bio  §
• Biography of Lenin (written by Lunacharsky in 1918)
• N. K. Krupskaya's  Reminiscences of Lenin written by Lenin's wife in 1933 and published in 1970. Very full. This is all the book: use the chapters for guidance
• Photographs of Lenin and even more here! Visual biography...
• Examples of  Socialist Realism: Lenin painted Lenins .....

Aspects of his life

• The Life of Lenin From The Lenin Web. Many articles of its own on specific periods of Lenin's life before 1917 especially.  Courtesy of the archived Wayback Machine (the original site is offline at the moment- hence the limited images but the worthwhile detailed narrative is intact.)  §
• Childhood and Youth By Institute of Marxism-Leninism in Moscow Lenin, a biography Progress Publishers, 1983 U.S.S.R.  §
• Alexander Ulyanov Trial Levine, I.E - Lenin: The Man who made a revolution, Julian Messner, New York, 1969.  §
• The Conspirator Payne, Robert - When Vladimir became Lenin..The life and death of Lenin, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1964. §

Lenin's women

• Troika and terror (Vladimir Illyich Lenin's love life as basis for play by David Pinner) (Critical Essay) The playwright on Lenin's extraordinary love life.
• The Guardian: Lenin's lieutenant  Article on the role of Inessa Armand
• Inessa Armand and Nadezhda Krupskaya wife and mistress from Spartacus site

 

casahistoria home                              visit caféhistoria for updates and current topic news

 

2. Lenin: Ideas 

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• Leninism For a concise, but clear explanation of the salient points
• Lenin and Trotsky: What they Really Stood for by Ted Grant and Alan Woods 
• A History of the Bolshevik Party by Alan Woods. Monumental online book published by Welred. However, detailed and clear index on this page makes dipping in & out easy.
• An excerpt on Leninism and State Capitalism from the work of Noam Chomsky Brief but useful ideas.
• Lenin Collection Very large collection of Lenin speeches and writing. Set out chronologically from the Marx2Mao site.
• Lenin's famous speeches Many audio (RealPlayer) speeches of lenin and his contemporaries (Later sections deal with other Comunist leaders) with text in Russian if you wish ....)

see also casahistoria  The political ideologies of  Revolution on the 1917 site of casahistoria

• The crucial Lenin works in full and online:
  • What is to be Done? (Probably the easiest of the three to use..)
  • Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism 
  • The State and Revolution 

General Lenin sites

• Lenin Internet Archive  Stylish with bios, documents and photos. A Useful section is that of Biographical Portraits written by Lenin contemporaries. One of the few Lenin sites being regularly maintained now.
• Vladimir Illyich Lenin Homepage  Chronological layout of source materials, but takes time to find what you need. Best if you are looking for some specific source.  §
• Lenin Social Nerve: Unfortunately this is no longer maintained. The link here is to the excellent Wayback Machine copy. Unfortunately this is missing many images and aspects from the site. it is still worth using.   § As I wrote originally: The site modestly claims: "contains the most information offered on-line about the life and work of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. The site includes over 500 photographs of Lenin, the Russian Revolutions of 1905 and 1917.  The site includes photographs and biographies of the prominent revolutionaries of the time, like Leon Trotsky.  The Biographical section on Lenin contains information gathered to suite the intellectual mind on the controversies and legends of Lenin." The site is very good though... The pick of the general Lenin sites. in case it returns. here is the original site URL:  www.socialnerve.org/lenin/index.html 

casahistoria home                              visit caféhistoria for updates and current topic news

 

3. Trotsky 

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Biographies

• Leon Trotsky Brief bio from BBC
• Leon Trotsky  Simple, but well illustrated biography
• My Life By the man himself. Originally published in 1930 by Charles Schribner’s Sons, NY. This is the full version online
• Trotsky Internet Archive Photo Gallery Extensive.
• Many sites now on Frida Kahlo as well as Lenin, Trotsky. Most of dubious value too... Here are a better pair:
  • Frida Kahlo: Well set out. Better than most.
  • Frida Kahlo: Good on images

Ideas and writings

• Trotsky’s History of the Russian Rev  The full text of his monumental study, but well listed for dipping in and out of ……
• Trotsky on the Russian Civil War Well linked page to Trotsky military writings.   §

General sites

• Trotsky Internet archive Useful guide to Trotsky sites. Good image pages.

 

casahistoria home                              visit caféhistoria for updates and current topic news

 

4. Domestic policy, 1917-24 

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• The History Guide - The Aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution Good article looking at the Lenin years.
• Freedom and Revolution: The Bolshevik Experience  An introduction to the Russian revolution. Originally published in the Irish anarchist journal, Red & Black Revolution

For links to the deaths of the Romanovs, click on the 1917 casahistoria page

 

Politics

• A Guide to Electoral Behaviour in Revolutionary Russia This site gives the result of various elections held in Russian during 1917/19, in several forms of statistical chart (pie, bar graph etc.). Although the information is certainly specialist, and there is no explanation as to what each party stands for, you can draw some interesting conclusions about Bolshevik support.
• Constitution of the Soviet Union, 1918 Undergraduate support article by Professor O'Brien, Dept of History, John Jay College of Criminal Justice,New York
• 'Institution building in Soviet Russia; the case of 'State Kontrol'' by T.F. Remington. Looks at the Bolshevik efforts to establish institutions after the October Revolution. From Slavic Review, 1982.
• 'Russian labor and Bolshevik power after October' by William G Rosenberg (smaller version) Looks at the relationship between the Bolsheviks and organsed labour after October 1917. From Slavic Review (1985). See also: Reply to Rosenberg by Lewin ¦ Reply to Rosenberg by Brovkin ¦ Response by Rosenberg
• 'The Mensheviks' political comeback: elections to the provincial soviets in the spring 1918' by Vladimir Brovkin Looks at the Menshevik recovery in the breathing space (peredyshka) between Brest-Litovsk and the outbreak of Civil War. From Russian review, 1983.
• 'The commune state in Moscow in 1918' by Richard Sakwa The aricle focuses on the problems the Bolshevik leadership faced in matching ideology to practical need in the early months of the Bolshevik state. From Slavic Review, 1987.

• Constituent Assembly  and Workers' Opposition Introductory accounts and good choice of documents from the Spartacus site.
• Cheka and Red Terror also from the Spartacus site. Good sources
• Origins of the Cheka The origins of the Soviet Secret Police, known as the Cheka, from its origins in 1917 until its formal abolition in 1922.
• 'The "July uprising" of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries in Moscow 1918' by Lutz Hafner Looks at how the Bolsheviks were able to provide a motive for removing the SR's. From Russian Review, 1991.
• 'Workers' unrest and the Bolsheviks' response in 1919' by Vladimir Brovkin Outlines the growth of worker unrest and the changed response of the Bolshevik to what were "strikes" and became "Menshevik provocation" or "sabotage" ....From Slavic Review, 1990'
• Bolshevik opposition to Lenin; G.T. Miasnikov and the Workers Group' by Paul Avrich Outlines the nature of this opposition - especially to NEP and the future demise of Miasnikov after 1923 with his failure to reform the party and his eventual rejection of it.. From Russian Review, 1984. After the middle of the month the site often exceeds its limit and is usually closed but can also be read here from a mirror site.

Kronstadt

• The Kronstadt Uprising by Brian R. Train. A detailed narrative of the event. §
• Kronstadt Uprising Spartacus site
• The Kronstadt Rebellion (1921) Undergraduate support article and source by Professor  O'Brien, Dept of History, John Jay College of Criminal Justice,New York
• The Truth About Kronstadt. Presented in 1992 by Scott Zenkatsu Parker as an Honours Thesis at Bates College
• What was the Kronstadt Rebellion? Huge pdf (80 pages) on the uprising and its implications. Unknown appendix to tome on Russian Revolution...
• Hue and Cry Over Kronstadt By Leon Trotsky Trotsky's angle on the Mutiny.

casahistoria home                              visit caféhistoria for updates and current topic news

 

5. The Civil War and Intervention 

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• Civil War: Whites v Reds and Allied intervention two introductory pages from BBC history.
• The Russian Civil War This two-page account of the Russian Civil War concentrates on broad trends rather than specific events. Examining the strengths and weaknesses of both main sides, and including information on regional differences and international involvement, this would be an ideal accompaniment to a timeline or narrative. Oddly, it neglects to mention the importance of the railways to the Red Army.
• Russian Civil War , White Army   &  Red Army Thorough accounts and documents from the Spartacus site.
• The Civil War Competent account of war and outcome. Prof Rempel lecture based on Donald W. Treadgold, Twentieth Century Russia, (Westview Press, 1987).
• Lenin and the First Communist Revolutions, Civil War section From the Museum of Communism. Detailed, with maps.
• Trotsky on the Russian Civil War Well linked page  §
• Red Army. Sound initial outline of the origins of the Red Army from Firstworldwar.com
• White Falcons: the White Air Forces 1918-1920 Interesting, if slightly offbeat article on the airforces (especially Finnish)
• White Songs and Poetry The following are several examples from soldiers' songs and poetry from the Russian Civil War. While some of the authors are known, the names of many have been lost or never recorded. This small sample is drawn from research into the White movement in South Russia, in particular General Wrangel and his Crimean government, and it is composed of examples found in the memoir literature of White emigres. But the purple background is .....too purple.....  §
• 'Russian anarchists and the civil war' by Paul Avrich Interesting atricle looking at how The Bolsheviks attempted to enlist anarchist support. From Russian Review, 1968

Allied Intervention 

• Allied Intervention in the Russian Civil War, 1918-1920 - includes overview, chronology, and links to sites about American, Australian, British, and Canadian participation. Good detail for the military details and specifics, from Regiments.org.
• America's Secret War  American intervention in the Russian Civil War, 1918-1920, with links to documents.
• Prelude to Intervention: The Decision of the United States and Japan to Intervene In Siberia, 1917-1918 Article by Daniel A. Leifheit from the America's secret war site.
• Bloody Battle On Peace Day On November 11, 1918, World War I officially ended, but for American troops in the Russian town of Toulgas, the war was just beginning. Vincent Cortright explains in this, often griping, article.  §
• North Russian Expeditionary Force 1918-1919 - scrapbook of newspaper clippings, photographs, and notes compiled by P.O. George William Smith onboard the HMS Borodino.
• Much Ado about Nothing: Allied Intervention in the Russian Civil War - Brief article from George Mason University, VA, assesses the significance of Allied involvement in the Russian Civil War.
• Maj. Gen. William S. Graves, U.S. Army – Truly a Soldier of the Old School  Valuable bio of the Commander, American Expeditionary Force, Siberia By Russell Evans of the Americanism Educational League.