CAMBRIDGE A2 HISTORY: LEON TROTSKY. Contains: who was Trotsky, early life, meeting Lenin, disputes, uprisings, provisional government, disagreements and resignation, Trotsky leader, Trotsky dead.

1. HISTORY CAMBRIDGE A2 (PAPER 4)
PRESENTATION 9
STALIN MODULE
3. RELATION WITH TROTSKY
AND OTHER SOVIET LEADERS
LEON TROTSKY

2. POWERPOINT BASED ON
Lynch, Stalin’s Russia 1924-53, Chapter 2
Harris, Stalin - a new history
Isaac Deutscher, The Prophet Unarmed, Trotsky: 1921–1929

3. “The end may justify the means, as long as there is
something that justifies the end.”
“Learning carries within itself certain dangers because
out of necessity one has to learn from one's enemies.”
“Ideas that enter the mind under fire remain there
securely and forever.”
Leon Trotsky

4. WHO WAS TROTSKY
Communist Leon Trotsky helped ignite the Russian Revolution of 1917,
and built the Red Army afterward. He was exiled and later assassinated by
Soviet agents.

6. SYNOPSIS
Born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein on November 7, 1879, Leon Trotsky's
revolutionary activity as a young man spurred his first of several ordered
exiles to Siberia.
He waged Russia's 1917 revolution alongside Vladimir Lenin. As
commissar of war in the new Soviet government, he helped defeat forces
opposed to Bolshevik control.
As the Soviet government developed, he engaged in a power struggle
against Joseph Stalin, which he lost, leading to his exile again and,
eventually, his murder.

7. EARLY LIFE
Leon Trotsky was born Lev Davidovich Bronstein in Yanovka, Ukraine—in
the Russian Empire—on November 7, 1879.
His parents, David and Anna Bronstein, were prosperous Jewish farmers.
When he was 8 years old, Trotksy went to school in Odessa, then moved
in 1896 to Nikolayev, Ukraine, for his final year in school. While there, he
became enthralled with Marxism.
In 1897, Trotsky helped found the South Russian Workers' Union. He was
arrested within a year and spent two years in prison before being tried,
convicted and sent to Siberia for a four-year sentence. While in prison, he
met and married Alexandra Lvovna, a co- revolutionary who had also
been sentenced to Siberia. While there, they had two daughters.

8. MEETING LENIN
In 1902, after serving only two years of his sentence, Leon Trotsky
escaped exile, abandoning his wife and daughters.
On forged papers, he changed his name to Leon Trotsky, a moniker he
would use the rest of his life.
He managed to make his way to London, England, where he joined the
Socialist Democratic Party and met Vladimir Lenin.
In 1903, Leon Trotsky married his second wife, Natalia Ivanovna. The
couple had two sons.

9. DISPUTES
During the early years of the Social Democratic Party, there were often
disputes among the party's leadership over its form and strategy. Vladimir
Lenin argued for a small party of professional revolutionaries who would
lead a large contingent of non-party supporters.
Julius Martov advocated for a larger, more democratic organization of
supporters. Leon Trotsky tried to reconcile the two factions, resulting in
numerous clashes with both groups' leaders.
Many of the Social Democrats, including the ambitious Joseph Stalin,
sided with Lenin. Trotsky's neutrality was seen as disloyal.

10. UPRISINGS
On January 22, 1905, unarmed demonstrators marching against the
Russian Tsar were killed by the Imperial Guard. When word reached Leon
Trotsky, he returned to Russia to support the uprisings.
By the end of 1905, he had become a leader of the movement. In
December, the rebellion was crushed, and Trotsky was arrested and once
again sent to Siberia. At his trial, he put on a spirited defence and
increased his popularity among the party's elite.
In January 1907, Trotsky escaped prison and travelled to Europe, where he
spent 10 years in exile in various cities, including Vienna, Zurich, Paris and
New York, spending much of the time writing for Russian revolutionary
journals, including Pravda, and advocating an anti-war policy.

11. PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT
After the overthrow of Russian Tsar Nicholas II, in February 1917, Trotsky
set out for Russia from New York. However, Okhrana (the Tsar's secret
police) persuaded British authorities to have him detained at Halifax,
Canada. He was held there for a month, before the Russian provisional
government demanded his release.
After he arrived in Russia in May 1917, he quickly addressed some of the
problems forming in post-revolutionary Russia. He disapproved of the
provisional government because he felt it was ineffectual. The new prime
minister, Alexander Kerensky, saw Trotsky as a major threat and had him
arrested. While in jail, Trotsky was admitted to the Bolshevik Party and
released soon after. He was elected chairman of the Petrograd Soviet, a
strong hold of dissent against the provisional government.

12. DISAGREEMENTS AND RESIGNATION
In November 1917, the provisional government was overthrown and the
Soviet Council of People's Commissars was formed, with Vladimir Lenin
elected chairman.
Leon Trotsky’s first role in the new government was serving as commissar
for foreign affairs and making peace with the Germans.
Talks began in January 1918, and Germany had a long list of demands for
territory and reparations. Trotsky wanted to wait out the German
government, in hopes that it would be defeated by the Allies or suffer
internal insurrection. However, Lenin felt that peace with Germany needed
to be made so they could concentrate on building a communist
government in Russia. Trotsky disagreed and resigned from this post.

13. TROTSKY LEADER
After the Bolsheviks took control of the Soviet government, Lenin ordered
the formation of the Red Army and appointed Leon Trotsky its leader.
The army's first orders were to neutralize the White Army (Socialist
revolutionaries opposed to Bolshevik control) during the Russian Civil War.
Trotsky proved to be an outstanding military leader, as he led the army of
3 million to victory.

14. ELECTED MEMBER OF COMMUNIST PARTY
The task was difficult, as Trotsky directed a war effort that was at times on
16 different fronts. It also didn't help that some members of the Soviet
leadership, including Lenin, became involved in military strategy,
redirecting the Red Army's efforts and countermanding some of Trotsky's
orders.
In late 1920, the Bolsheviks finally won the Civil War, ensuring Bolshevik
control of the Soviet government. After the White Army surrendered,
Trotsky was elected a member of the Communist Party central committee.
He was clearly positioned as the Soviet Union's number-two man, next to
Lenin.

15. State control over unions
During the winter of 1920-21, as the Soviet government moved from war
to peace-time operations, an increasingly acrimonious debate grew over
the role of trade unions.
Believing that the workers should have nothing to fear from the
government, Leon Trotsky advocated the state control the trade unions.
He reasoned that this would give officials a tighter control over labour and
facilitate a greater integration between government and the proletariat.
Lenin criticized Trotsky, accusing him of harassing the unions and
abandoning his support for the proletariat.

16. Split with Lenin
A breach between the two developed and other officials, including Joseph
Stalin, took advantage, siding with Lenin to gain favour. As Trotsky dug in
and refused to modify his position, the dissention grew and Lenin feared
the conflict would splinter the party.
At a meeting at the Tenth Party Congress in March 1921, the issue came to
a head when several of Trotsky's supporters were replaced by Lenin's
lieutenants. Trotsky finally dropped his opposition and, to show his
allegiance to Lenin, ordered the suppression of the Kronstadt Rebellion (an
uprising of sailors and longshoremen protesting heavy-handed Bolshevik
tactics). But the damage was done, and Trotsky had lost much of his
political influence over the dispute.

17. Stellar record as a military leader
By 1922, the pressures of revolution and injuries from an earlier
assassination attempt had taken their toll on Vladimir Lenin. In May, he
suffered his first stroke and questions arose over who would succeed him.
Leon Trotsky had a stellar record as a military leader and administrator and
seemed the obvious choice among the rank and file membership of the
Communist Party. But he had offended many in the Politburo (the
Communist Party's executive committee), and a group of Politburo
members, led by Joseph Stalin, joined forces to oppose him. The previous
month, Lenin had appointed Stalin to the new post of Central Committee
General Secretary. Though not a significant post at the time, it gave Stalin
control over all party-member appointments. He quickly consolidated his
power and started lining up allies against Trotsky.

18. Outmanoeuvred by stalin
Between 1922 and 1924, Vladimir Lenin tried to counter some of Stalin's
influence and support Trotsky on several occasions.
However, a third stroke virtually silenced Lenin and Stalin was free to
completely push Trotsky out of power.
Lenin died on January 21, 1924, and Trotsky was isolated and alone,
outmanoeuvred by Stalin.
From that point on, Trotsky was steadily pushed out of important roles on
Soviet government and, eventually, pushed out of the country.

19. Banished in soviet union
Between 1925 and 1928, Trotsky was gradually pushed from power and
influence by Stalin and his allies, who discredited Trotsky's role in the Russian
Revolution and his military record.
In October 1927, Trotsky was expelled from the Central Committee and exiled
the following January to the very remote Alma-Ata, located in present-day
Kazakhstan.
Apparently, that was not far enough for Stalin, so in February, 1929, Trotsky was
banished entirely from the Soviet Union. Over the next seven years, he lived in
Turkey, France and Norway, before arriving in Mexico City.

20. Trotsky allies executed
Trotsky continued to write and criticize Joseph Stalin and the Soviet
government. During the 1930s, Stalin conducted political purges and
named Trotsky, in absentia, a major conspirator and enemy of the people.
In August 1936, 16 of Trotsky's allies were charged with aiding Trotsky in
treason. All 16 were found guilty and executed.
Stalin then set out to assassinate Trotsky. In 1937, Trotsky moved to
Mexico, eventually settling in Mexico City, where he continued to criticize
Soviet leadership.

21. Trotsky Dies
In the early months of 1940, Leon Trotsky's health was failing and he knew
he was a marked man. In February, he wrote a testament expressing his
final thoughts for posterity and forcibly denied Stalin's accusations.
On August 20, 1940, Trotsky was sitting at his desk in his study in Mexico
City. Ramon Mercader, an undercover agent for the Soviet Union's secret
police, attacked Trotsky with a mountaineering ice ax, puncturing his skull.
He was taken to the hospital, but died a day later, at the age of 60.

22. Trotsky rehabilitated
For decades, Leon Trotsky was discredited in the Soviet Union, the result of
Stalin's hatred and his totalitarian control. However, 10 years after the
collapse of the Soviet government, in 2001, Trotsky's reputation was
officially "rehabilitated" by the Russian government.
His legacy of being the most brilliant intellect of the Communist Revolution
and his reputation as a tireless worker, rousing public speaker and decisive
administrator was restored. Some historians believe if he had not
subordinated himself to Lenin during the Bolshevik Revolution, the history
of the Soviet Union might have been very different. However, Trotsky had
allowed his intelligence and arrogance to antagonize those less able than
himself, and in the end, alienated many around him, allowing deceitful
men like Stalin to take advantage.