Who was Leon Trotsky? A well-known democratic activist, a communist politician, and a military genius are phrases that describe this man. Trotsky was a diehard Marxist who believed in the communist reform of Russia in the early twentieth century. He rose to power by climbing up the political ladder with the support of Vladimir Lenin and fans of his famous views on government. The man is represented in, “Animal Farm” by Snowball, a pig who helps lead overworked and underfed animals to what he believed a Utopia. Leon Trotsky was an important part in the revolution and the reforming of Russia, just as Snowball was to Manor Farm.
Trotsky was born in 1879, to successful Jewish farmers; under the name Lev Davidovich …show more content…
When he became an adult, the first historically important thing he did was to help found a South Russian Workers’ Union. This was in 1897. He was soon jailed for treason among other charges and held in jail for two years before even being brought before a court. Then he was sentenced to four years in a Siberian prison, where he met his wife, Alexandra Lvovna. The married and had two children in the prison. But the family did not stay together for long, as Lev escaped the prison and changed his name to Leon Trotsky. He traveled to London for legal safety and promptly joined a Socialist Democratic Party there. In 1902, Leon met Vladimir Lenin. The following year Trotsky married for the second time and had two sons with Natalia Ivanovna. All was well until Lenin and Julius Markov (another member of the Socialist Democratic Party) began to argue over the way the socialist party would run. Trotsky chose not to take sides. Multiple other members followed Trotsky in that decision, including Joseph Stalin (Leon Trotsky, Biography.com). Unfortunately for him, his neutrality was taken as disloyalty, and he left the party. In 1905 Leon lead a movement for government reform in Russia, and was …show more content…
He suggested that the trade unions he helped create be taken over by the state, because with the new form of government they would not be needed. This sparked suspicion and agitated almost all of the former proletariat and many people Trotsky worked with. This suggestion lost Trotsky much of his political influence. Vladimir Lenin was growing older at this point, and people began to wonder who he would pass the torch to. Soon after his first stroke, Lenin appointed Joseph Stalin as General Committee General Secretary. Stalin quickly used this position to get power and supporters. Lenin’s third stroke rendered him virtually silent, and Stalin used this time to seize totalitarian power. Stalin saw Trotsky as an immediate threat to his parade. Trotsky was kicked from the communist party in 1929 by corrupt Stalinists in the party (Leon Trotsky, Marxists.org). Stalin then used his position to turn everyone against Trotsky and discredit Trotsky’s war records. Trotsky was exiled to present day Kazakhstan. Eventually, Stalin was able to banish Trotsky from