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LEON TROTSKY
1879 - 1940
The Brightest of
the Russian Revolutionaries
Leon Trotsky, also
spelled Trotskii, was
originally Lev
Davidovich Bronshtein. He was born in
the Ukraine and assassinated in Mexico.
Photo Top
Leon Trotsky around 1940, The
Trotsky Archive, marxist.org
Leon Trotsky's Name
Lev Bronshtein was exiled to Siberia in 1898. He
escaped and took with him the name of one of his
prison guards, Trotsky.
Leon Trotsky's Family
Leon Trotsky's parents were Jewish.
His father was David
Bronshtein, a farmer. His mother was
Anna Bronshtein.
Bronshtein is also spelled Bronstein.
Trotsky had four
siblings. Two died in infancy. An older brother
and an older sister survived infancy.
In 1903, Trotsky
married Natalya Sedova.
They had two sons, Lev
and Sergey.
Leon Trotsky and International Politics
From January 9, 1918, Trotsky headed
the negotiations that would eventually result in
the
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
After this feat, Trotsky switched offices and
became the People's Commissar of War.
Leon Trotsky as War Commissar
From March 1918, Trotsky was in
charge of creating a functional Red Army to
defend the progress of the Bolshevik Revolution.
This army was put to the test during the
Russian Civil War
1918-1920.
The Red Army was
successful.
In March 1921,
Trotsky led his troops to brutally crush the
Kronshtadt Rebellion,
also spelled Kronstadt Revolt.
Trotsky functioned
as war commissar until November 1924.
Losing to Stalin
Lenin died in January 1924 and
Josef Stalin
was busy becoming god. Stalin put all potential
rivals on a black list and Trotsky was on it. He
was fired from the office of war commissioner in
January 1925, from the Politburo in October
1926, from the party in 1927, and from the
country in January 1929.
Looking for a new
home, Trotsky and his wife Natalya Sedova found
many doors closed. They eventually ended up in
Mexico. Trotsky made friends with the famous
painter Diego Rivera
and even better friends with his wife,
Frida Kahlo.
TROTSKY
WITH ADMIRERS IN MEXICO
(Harry De Boer and James H. Bartlett and their
spouses)
U.S.
National Archives
Being a
revolutionary to the bone, Trotsky kept busy
politically and of course, Stalin sent his goons
to put an end to that. The first assassination
attempt, a machine gun attack on Trotsky's
residence, was unsuccessful. The second one, an
ice pick skillfully swung by
Ramón Mercader,
got the job done.
Ramon Mercader
served 20 years in Mexican prison. He was
released in 1960 and
Khrushchev declared him officially
Hero of the Soviet Union.
Stalin being
Stalin systematically killed Trotsky's family
one by one.
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Leon Trotsky's Short Biography
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October 26, 1879
(November 7, 1879
old style) |
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Birth in Yanovka, Ukraine |
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18.. |
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School in Odessa |
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1896 |
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Moves to Nikolayev, joins
the Social Democratic Party |
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1898 - 1902 |
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Exiled to Siberia as
Bronshtein, escapes as Trotsky, goes to London |
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1903 |
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The Social Democratic
Party splits into
Bolsheviks
and
Mensheviks. Trotsky
joins the Mensheviks. |
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Early 1905 |
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Returns to Russia to
support the
Russian
Revolution of 1905 |
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Late 1905 |
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Gets arrested |
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1906 |
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Trial and exile to Siberia
once again |
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1907 - 1914 |
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Escapes again and goes to Vienna,
works as a journalist |
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1914 |
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WWI starts and
Trotsky goes to Switzerland, then Paris |
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January 1917 |
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France kicks him out and
Trotsky goes to New York, works again as a journalist |
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May 1917 |
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Returns to Russia to
support the
Russian
Revolution of 1917, becomes a Bolshevik |
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November 1917 - 1918 |
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People's Commissar for Foreign
Affairs |
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March 26, 1918
(March 13, 1918
old style) |
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People's Commissar of War
and Chairman of the Supreme War Council |
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January 15, 1925 |
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Trotsky writes letter of
resignation as War Commissar |
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January 17, 1925 |
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Central Committee confirms
Trotsky's resignation |
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January 26, 1925 |
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Frunze named
new War Commissar |
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1929 |
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Trotsky exiled, goes to Turkey |
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1933 |
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Goes to France |
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1935 |
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Goes to Norway |
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1936 |
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Goes to Mexico |
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August 21, 1940 |
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Assassinated at Coyoacán,
Mexico |
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