THE LIFE OF LEON TROTSKY
by Elizabeth

Leon Trotsky, a Communist leader in Russia, played a major role in the 1917 Russian Revolution. Born in the Ukraine on November 7, 1879, he was named Lev Davidivoch Bronstein. His Jewish parents led typical lives as farmers. His schooling took place in Odessa and Nikolayiv, and he briefly attended Odessa University. Trotsky appeared to be an excellent student with vast talent.

Trotsky’s political career first began in 1896 when he became involved in Marxism. The next year he and his first wife helped form the Soviet Russian Workers Union. Because the Union exposed poor factory conditions in Russia, they were arrested in 1898 and exiled to Siberia; nonetheless, in 1902 he escaped and fled to London, where he first met V.I. Lenin. Both Trotsky and Lenin shared the belief that there was a need to overthrow the provisional government in Russia. Therefore, he joined Lenin and others in the Russian Social-Democrats party and became well known within the party because of his skills at writing and speaking.

In 1905 Trotsky returned to Russia to participate in the 1905 Revolution. He was arrested the same year and again exiled to Siberia. During his exile, he developed the theory of "permanent revolution," in which revolution would take place in stages with Russia rising from a semi-feudal peasant society to capitalism and, ultimately, to socialism. He felt that the urban working class would have to follow through with the revolution because the peasant class did not have the knowledge or the ability to do so. The Revolution would also need to be a continual process in order to succeed. Trotsky escaped from Siberia in 1907 and spent the next ten years of his life as a revolutionary writer and editor.

In 1917 Leon Trotsky moved to New York City, but he soon heard of a Revolution in Russia. Immediately returning, Trotsky became part of the Bolshevik party with Lenin. In September Trotsky helped Lenin plan a takeover in which Lenin became the most powerful individual in Russia with Trotsky being the second. In 1918 when a Civil War broke out, Trotsky became the chairman of the Soviet Union. Trotsky also became the commissar of war and was given the task of organizing the military. He created the Red Army, which proved to be very successful. In the November Revolution when Lenin went into hiding, Trotsky had control of the country. However, Lenin did return to power before the Civil War ended in 1920. The Civil War confirmed Trotsky’s belief that socialism would fail without successful and continual revolutions elsewhere.

V.I. Lenin died of a stroke in 1924. Because Trotsky was the second most powerful individual in Russia while Lenin was living, many believed he would take control. However, Joseph Stalin proved to be too clever and eventually gained control of Russia. Trotsky lost his power in 1925, was expelled from the Communist party in 1927, and was exiled to Soviet Central Asia in 1928. After his last exile Trotsky moved to many different countries and wrote several books that denounced Stalin. In Russia, Stalin used Trotsky as a scapegoat to blame for many of the country's problems. Stalin finally silenced Leon Trotsky in Mexico in 1940, when a Stalinist agent killed Trotsky with an ice ax.

Leon Trotsky spent the majority of his life fighting for a successful revolution in Russia. He had many original ideas and thoughts about the changes that needed to take place in the country, and at some time he went to extremes working for his beliefs. Trotsky was definitely a strong, influential leader of Russia during the Revolutions that took place in the early 1900’s.

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