Leon Trotsky, also
spelled Trotskii, was
originally Lev
Davidovich Bronshtein. He was born in
the Ukraine and assassinated in Mexico.
In-between he was arguably the brightest of the
Russian Revolutionaries.
His interpretation
of
communism
is called Trotskyism.
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.
Greco-Persian Wars
Also called the
Persian Wars, the Greco-Persian Wars were
fought for almost half a century from 492 to
449 BC. Greece won against enormous odds. Here
is more:
