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

ARMING THE REPUBLIC 435
rein to Red Guards and partisans. At first Trotsky proposed
firm action, and suggested to Moscow that the three commissars
be removed from the Ukraine and replaced by convinced
disciplinarians. He even complained about the 'softness' of his
friend Rakovsky, who headed the Soviet Ukrainian government;
and he asked that either S. Kamenev or Voroshilov
should be appointed commander of the Ukrainian front, with a
categorical assignment to subdue the guerrillas.'
From Moscow no reply came at first. The longer Trotsky
stayed in the Ukraine, however, the more he felt himself overwhelmed
by the prevalent chaos. He came to think that the
military disorder could not be overcome before the economic
and political condition of the country had become more normal.
He could not, he reported to Moscow, centralize and discipline
troops whom he was unable to feed, clothe, and arm. 'Xeither
agitation nor repression can make battleworthy a barefoot,
naked, hungry, lice-ridden army." He asked for supplies from
Russia, but in vain. In addition, the Ukrainian peasantry
showed utter hostility towards the Soviets; and the Bolshevik
leaders on the spot were half-resigned to defeat. The reshuffiing
of commanders he himself had proposed could not remedy these
conditions. In the meantime Lenin began to urge him with
increasing impatience to carry out the proposed change in the
Ukrainian command.
At the beginning of July Trotsky returned to Moscow. This
was the lowest point in his fortunes during the civil war. He
admitted that he had misjudged the position on the eastern
front when he opposed the pursuit of Kolchak. :\'ow he had to
answer strictures on his management of the Ukrainian front.
In addition, the Commander-in-Chief whom he had promoted
and backed had become the victim of scathing attacks. Stalin
pressed for Vatzetis's dismissal and even charged him with
treason. He proposed that Kamcnev, the victor over Kolchak,
whom Trotsky had so recently demoted, should be appointed
Commander-in-Chief. Stalin himself, incidentally, had just
successfully dircctnl the dtfi:ncc of Pctrograd against Yudcnich;
1
Trotsky believed that Voroshilov had in the meantime hccome a convinced
adherent of his policy (cable of 17 .\lay sent from Kharkov to the Central Committee.
The Trotsky Archius). Now it wa• Lenin who denounced Voroshilov for 'pilfering'
army stocks, &c. (Lenin's cable to Trotsky of 2 June).
2
Message of 1 July 1919.