Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky (1879-1940) was a Marxist revolutionary and one of the leaders of the Soviet Revolution in 1917. During the Revolution, he became the founder of the Red Army, and later became one of the first members of the Politburo, the highest government authority in the USSR. Following a power struggle with Stalin after the death of Lenin, Trotsky was expelled from the Soviet Union, and was assassinated in Mexico on Stalin's orders.
Facts about Leon Trotsky
- Trotsky was born Lev Davidovich Bronstein
- Trotsky was born in small village in modern Ukraine.
- By 1896, he was involved in revolutionary activities, organizing the South Russian Workers' Union under the name "Lvov."
- In 1900, he was sentenced to Siberian exile, escaping in 1902 and changing his name to Trotsky.
- Trotsky returned to Russia during the 1905 Revolution, working with the Bolsheviks in St. Petersburg.
- Trotsky returned to Russia again in 1917, becoming the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs in the new USSR.
He was once again arrested and sentenced to Siberia, but managed to escape to London.
His creation of the Red Army was a major factor in the Revolution's success. With Lenin's death, Stalin formed an alliance to keep Trotsky out of power, which eventually led to Trotsky's denunciation and exile from the USSR in 1929. He eventually moved to Mexico City, attacked by an NKVD agent in his home.