A bit of clarification on Lenin and the vanguard and Trotsky...Lenin did not lead a coup d'etat nor does a vanguard party mean just that. Russia was a workers' state in 1917, no it was not truly socialist but the working class was indeed in the saddle. Soviets, workers' councils were set up, the ruling class was kicked out and workers' effectively took over the means of production (factories, etc.) Without a vanguard party like the Bolsheviks, the revolution would have been defeated. In fact, because of the lack of a revolutionary socialist organisation, revolutions were able to be defeated in Italy and Germany 1918. Capitalism is organised and geared to beating back any fundamental changed, so workers must be organised to overthrow the system that oppresses them.
Trotsky devised the theory of Permanent Revolution which is simply that a that an island of socialism cannot exist in a sea of capitalism, the socialist revolution must occur in all nations of the world. Lenin also held this belief of internationalism up until his death in '24. In fact, his last struggle was against Stalin and his eventual betrayal of the Oct. '17 revolution.
