isaac-deutscher-the-prophet-armed-trotsky-1879-1921

342 THE PROPHET ARMED
and character. He had acquired a mastery in judging the merits
and the faults of his colleagues and subordinates and in handling
them with the greatest advantage to the party. Blunt and
even ruthless in serious controversy, he was otherwise reserved,
tactful, and careful to spare his followers' susceptibilities and
weaknesses, and open-minded to their ideas and suggestions.
Trotsky's \·olcanic passion and his mighty language stirred
the souls of the people in a way in which Lenin's incisive didactic
prose never did. '.\ow, when they were once again united in
a common cause, Lenin listened to Trotsky's overflowing tirades
with approval and even with admiration, but also with something
of that uneasiness with which the muzhik listened to
urban grandiloquence. The contrast in their temperaments extended
to other qualities as well. The many years of political
free-lancing had left their traces on Trotsky. He did not possess
the habits of free and easy teamwork which make the strength
of a real leader of men. Lunacharsky, even when he still
looked up to Trotsky with intense admiration, dwelt emphatically
on this feature, saying that Trotsky had never succeeded
in organizing any stable group of followers.' He was imperious
and wrapped up in himself. It is all the more remarkable that
in the next few years he proved himself so great and brilliant
an administrator. His administrative achievement, however,
was due not to his management of men but to the clarity and
precision of his schemes, to his drive and will-power, and to his
systematic method of work. The capacity for systematic work,
in which he surpassed Lenin, was rare in a country where
people attached little value to time or to steady effort. His
present close partnership with Lenin was based on certain
personal adjustments as well as on common purpose. vVith indubitable
sincerity he acknowledged Lenin's leadership. He did
so without a hint of sycophancy and without renouncing his
own independence, but with distinct remorse for his past mistake
in underrating Lenin as a revolutionary and leader. Lenin,
on his part, did his best to make Trotsky feel in the party as if he
had always. been in it and of it. In the course of the six years of
their partnership, years which brought a number of new disputes,
Lenin made not a single allusion to their past controversies,
except to say privately that in some respects Trotsky had
' Lunacharsky, Po/itichukye Si/uety, pp. 2:;-30.