Trotsky however was the complete opposite to Stalin. He was popular, an orator and a talented theorist who stirred loyalty in his troops. His radical ideas made him well-liked with the young and idealistic members of the communist party. Lenin in his testament identified Trotsky as a “the most able in the present communist committee” he also remarked on Trotsky’s “too far reaching self-confidence”…
Born into a world of change due Russian Industrial revolution, Trotsky was shaped by his historical context and early life. The Revolution took place in the late 19th century. Industrialization was occurring at a fast rate with export of grains and coal increasing, however the working class was still repressed. Trotsky was introduced to a place where change was prevalent, yet nothing had been done for the proletariat. This impacted on his views that became apparent in later life. Trotsky was introduced to Communism in 1897. Being an inexperienced political activist, he was caught and exiled to Siberia. Trotsky was aware of leading Marxist Russians residing in London, including Martov and Lenin, and he escaped to join them. Arriving in 1902, Trotsky established a strong relationship with Lenin, who appreciated his literary abilities. Lenin checked Trotsky’s writing, especially articles for the Communist newspaper ‘Iskra’. However, in the Party Congress of 1903, the Social democratic party split into the Lenin led Bolsheviks and Martov headed Mensheviks. Trotsky stood against Lenin, stating that his theories went against Marxist notion of freeing the working classes. Through the context of his times, and early life experiences, it can be discerned that events…
In 1922, when Vladimir Lenin died, someone needed to step up and the Soviet Union. As he was slowly dying, a power struggle emerged between Leon Trotsky, and Joseph Stalin. Even though Trotsky “had been widely viewed as the heir of Lenin, it was relatively easy for Stalin to combine with the other Bolshevik leaders in order to head off this threat” (Paley 10). In Lenin’s “Final Testament”, Lenin could already see that Stalin was quickly and surreptitiously gaining power. Stalin’s position of General Secretary gave him the ability to appoint people to important positions. Lenin was also reluctant to see Stalin as his successor because he thought that Trotsky could do a much better job. Lenin believed that Trotsky was the best man in the central…
Trotsky’s role as a Marxist has generated far from a balanced interpretation, as he is viewed as both an inventive, evolutionary Marxist yet also contrastingly viewed as someone with a lust for…
Trotsky was the reason as to how the Bolsheviks gained so much power as he insisted on using ex-tsarist officers to train and control the red army. He used strict discipline in order to help the army and this greatly supported the Bolsheviks and helped them win the civil war. Trotsky also was the reason as to how the civil war was won, because not only did he recruit trained army officers- which was extremely difficult to do due considering most supported the whites- but also because he organized food and weaponry (8) and forced the red army to attack the Kronstadt sailors across melting ice, ruthlessly stooping the result and putting an end to the civil war. In other words, he won the civil war virtually single handed. This was one of the main reasons as to how the Bolsheviks consolidated their power and without the training of the army commanded by Trotsky, they wouldn’t have had the chance to be noticed. Furthermore, without Trotsky’s harsh commands and the declaration of “war is the instrument of policy” the civil war would’ve carried on, destroying the Bolshevik party and everything they had worked…
We first see Trotsky’s intellect and passion at the young age of 18. In 1897 he helped establish the South Russian Worker’s Union in Nikolayev. Aaronson describes him as ‘confidently’ leading the union.…
During World War I, Russia performed poorly. Although Russia had a large number of soldiers, they weren’t trained properly and they didn’t have enough weapons, ammo, or food for the entire army. The czar of Russia decided to keep fighting, instead of backing out of the war. Leading to the Russian Revolution, where Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ ideology, communism, heavily impacted the Russian Revolution, leading to Russia becoming the Soviet Union. World War I left a large amount of damage to Russia’s economy and society.…
Trotsky had not been a Bolshevik initially – he converted from the Menshevik party in 1917. Therefore some of the party members doubted him as 100% trustworthy. Within the Civil War, he had created and led the ‘Red Army’ which was still very strong, and they feared that if he had the power to do so, Trotsky would use the Red Army to begin a violent coup and take over the whole country himself. On top of this, Trotsky himself hadn’t tried to build up support within the party and consequently after Lenin’s death when the party were in debate as to how the country should be run Trotsky had a difficult time trying to put forward his ideas as many supported Stalin.…
In 1925, Trotsky was forced to resign as Commissar for War. This was a potentially powerful position because it meant, if need be, the army would be on Trotsky’s side. Of course, Stalin realised this and how much of a threat it would be to him, and so it was he who persuaded the party to outvote Trotsky. Stalin did this by using his control of the party appointments to his advantage, as well as the 1921 ban on faction and the fears and jealousies within the party.…
Trotsky was important in organising and coordinating the actual take over Petrograd in November, but Lenin was even more important because he was a strong leader who guided the Central Committee of the Party and pushed to make the takeover happen. For example, he produced the April Theses, which gave the Bolsheviks clear goals and made them better focused and organized, which was vital if they were going to take over successfully. He also put together the slogan ‘Bread, Peace, Land, and All power to the Soviets!’ which was designed to appeal to a broad range of people and he gave speeches and led rallies to inspire people to join the party. This meant that the Bolsheviks grew in popularity because they were offering people what they wanted – in particular they were the only party who opposed the war and all the other parties were associated with the much-disliked Provisional Government, which seemed to be doing…
Life was hard for the poor in Russia during the revolution they worked very hard for very little pay. The Russian revolution involved the collapse of an empire under tsar Nicholas II the rise of Maxian Socialisim under Lenin and his Bolsheviks. Lenin promised everyone in Russia peace, land, and bread. A little while the Bolsheviks seized power and took Lenin's position.…
Lev Davidovich Bronstein was a major political figure in the turn of the twentieth century for the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialists Republics) aka Russia. Bronstein’s impact was greater with national history than international history. He was born on November 7, 1879, Ukraine (Yanovka) and later changed his name to Leon Trotsky, the name of his prison guard at Odessa prison whilst in exile in Siberia. Trotsky was introduced to Marxism at a young age of 17 at a school in Nikolayev. Marxism is a political ideology crated by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels that presents the idea of having a revolution involving violence in order to obtain a classless society. The rise of Trotsky’s political power starts during his first jail sentencing in 1898 where he had joined the ‘Russian Social Democratic Labour Party’ (RSDLP). This was the initial development of Leon Trotsky and his road to important political positions. It was these significant political roles that strongly impacted the, not only Russian, but International history as we know it today.…
In April 1918 when Trotsky was appointed commissar of war by the government it was a major turning point in the civil war. Whilst Lenin was working on the land that the Bolsheviks had and trying to ensure that it did not fall into the hands of the whites, Trotsky began to eradicate people who were against the Bolsheviks.…
In 1896 Trotsky at the age of 17 moved to Nikolayev to continue studying. In his time there he attended a socialist discussion circle. As Trotsky’s father was a wealthy farmer, he argued that Narodnik peasant socialism was better than Marxist, proletariat socialism. Narodnik’s believed Russia could bypass western capitalism with a socialism based on peasant revolution. Trotsky held this view up until his first exile to Siberia when he developed his theory of permanent revolution. Trotsky helped organize the South Russian Workers' Union in Nikolayev in early 1897. Using the name 'Lvov' , he wrote and printed leaflets and proclamations, distributed revolutionary pamphlets which encouraged socialist ideas among workers and students.…
In fact, Trotski is quoted saying “We have not organised the revolution to kill”(Spartacus). However, there were too many groups trying to destroy the Bolsheviks. This forced Vladimir Lenin to create the “Extraordinary Commission for the Suppression of the Counter-Revolution” also known as the Cheka; A secret police force. While the creation of this group was Lenin’s idea, Trotsky was put in charge, and repeatedly eliminated numerous enemies of the revolution. This was Trotsky’s first step in winning the civil war. When the “Whites” attacked the Bolsheviks and started the Civil War, Lenin appointed Trotsky as the Commissar for War, and President of the Supreme War Council. Thus, Trotsky single handedly was responsible for the Bolsheviks victory in the Civil War after defeating all enemy threats with terror and fulfilling the head leadership roles he was appointed to. Trotsky was extremely valuable to the Bolsheviks due to the fact that without him, they would have lost the Civil War. Without Trotsky, there would have been no one suitable to fill his numerous positions in which he had to make hard decisions that conflicted with his personal morals and mastermind many of the Bolsheviks victories. In addition, the vicious, blunt leader rebuilt the Russian army with the help of the Red Guards and through a recruiting and training process which proved difficult due to the fact that most officers supported the “Whites”. Trotsky was single handedly responsible for increasing the amount of soldiers from 7,000 in March 1918 to 5 million in Sep 1920(Brown, 1990). Without the essential rassemblement of this army, Trotsky would have not had the fire power to order Red Guards to ruthlessly put down the revolt of the Kronstadt sailors in March of…