Leon Trotsky

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{{Infobox politician|name=Leon Trotsky|native_name=Лев Троцький|birth_name=Lev Davidovich Bronstein|birth_date=7 November 1879|birth_place=Yanovka, [[Kherson Governorate (1802–1920)|Kherson Governorate]], [[Russian Empire]]|death_cause=Assassination via iceaxe|death_place=[[Mexico City]], [[Mexico]]|death_date=21 August 1940|political_line=[[Trotskyism]]|image=Leon Trotsky picture.jpg}}{{Trotskyism}}

'''Lev Davidovich Bronstein''' (7 November 1879 – 21 August 1940), better known as '''Leon Trotsky''', was a controversial figure of the [[Russian Revolution]] who was later found to have disgraced himself by working in league with the [[Fascism|fascists]] and [[United States of America|U.S.]] intelligence services,<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=[[Stalin Society of Pakistan]]|title=Trotsky and Rivera were informants of the US government – American Researchers reveal|date=2015-06-20|url=https://stalinsocietypk.wordpress.com/2015/06/20/trotsky-rivera-were-informants-of-the-us-government-american-researchers-revealed/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220715201956/https://stalinsocietypk.wordpress.com/2015/06/20/trotsky-rivera-were-informants-of-the-us-government-american-researchers-revealed/|archive-date=2022-07-15|retrieved=2022-07-31}}</ref> as revealed during the interrogations of the [[Moscow trials|Moscow Trials]].

== Biographical sketch ==
Trotsky was known to have a flair for making speeches and being a charismatic person. For instance, he was reported to have spoken in [[Russia|Russian]], [[France|French]] and [[Germany|German]] straight for an hour each when given an hour to defend his position. He was also known to have an aristocratic and condescending attitude, being described as a "loner" by [[M. N. Roy]].

== Pre-revolution ==

=== Early life ===
Trotsky was a [[Mensheviks|Menshevik]] from 1903 to 1905.<ref>{{Web citation|author=[[TheFinnishBolshevik]]|newspaper=ML-Theory|title=Stalin & the myth of the ”Old Bolsheviks”|date=2016-12-20|url=https://mltheory.wordpress.com/2016/12/20/stalin-the-myth-of-the-old-bolsheviks/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622142456/https://mltheory.wordpress.com/2016/12/20/stalin-the-myth-of-the-old-bolsheviks/|archive-date=2022-06-22|retrieved=2022-08-07}}</ref> He supported the Russian imperial forces against [[Empire of Japan (1868–1947)|Japan]] in the [[Russo-Japanese War]], while [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]] believed the defeat of the tsarist government would strengthen the revolutionary movement.<ref>{{Citation|author=Joseph Stalin|year=1939|title=History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks)|chapter=The Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks in the Period of the Russo-Japanese War and the First Russian Revolution|mia=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1939/x01/ch03.htm|chapter-url=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1939/x01/ch03.htm}}</ref> Trotsky organized the August Bloc in 1912, which included [[Liquidationism|liquidationists]], Mensheviks, and [[Otzovism|Otzovists]]. Trotsky himself was a liquidator during this period.<ref>{{Citation|author=Joseph Stalin|year=1939|title=History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks)|chapter=The Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks in the Period of the Stolypin Reaction. The Bolsheviks Constitute Themselves an Independent Marxist Party|mia=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1939/x01/ch03.htm|chapter-url=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1939/x01/ch04.htm}}</ref> During the [[First World War]], Trotsky promoted [[Class collaboration|class collaborationism]] between the Russian [[bourgeoisie]] and [[proletariat]] against other nations.<ref>{{Citation|author=Joseph Stalin|year=1939|title=History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks)|chapter=The Bolshevik Party in the Period of the Imperialist War. The Second Revolution in Russia|mia=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1939/x01/ch03.htm|chapter-url=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1939/x01/ch06.htm}}</ref>

Trotsky joined the [[Mezhrayontsi]] group in 1913, which occupied a position between the [[Bolsheviks]] and Mensheviks. They were admitted to the Bolshevik Party in August 1917 at the 6th party congress.<ref>{{Citation|author=Joseph Stalin|year=1939|title=History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks)|chapter=The Bolshevik Party in the Period of Preparation and Realization of the October Socialist Revolution|mia=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1939/x01/ch03.htm|chapter-url=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1939/x01/ch07.htm}}</ref>

== Post-revolution ==
Trotsky supported the [[Russian revolution of 1917|October Revolution]], but opposed the [[New Economic Policy]].<ref name=":1">{{Citation|author=Joseph Stalin|year=1939|title=History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks)|chapter=The Bolshevik Party in the Period of Transition to the Peaceful Work of Economic Restoration|mia=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1939/x01/ch03.htm|chapter-url=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1939/x01/ch09.htm}}</ref> He soon went in opposition to Lenin and formed an opposition bloc in 1926 with [[Grigory Zinoviev|Zinoviev]]. A joint meeting of the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]] and the Central Control Commission expelled Trotsky from the party in November 1927.<ref>{{Citation|author=Joseph Stalin|year=1939|title=History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks)|chapter=The Bolshevik Party in the Struggle for the Socialist Industrialization of the Country|mia=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1939/x01/ch03.htm|chapter-url=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1939/x01/ch10.htm}}</ref> He argued that [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]]'s government had entered a stage of bureaucracy and believed that terrorism against the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)|Soviet Union]] was inevitable.<ref name=":0">{{News citation|author=[[TheFinnishBolshevik]]|newspaper=ML-Theory|title=Analyzing the Moscow Trials|date=2022-07-03|url=https://mltheory.wordpress.com/2022/07/03/analyzing-the-moscow-trials/|retrieved=2022-07-23}}</ref>

=== Exile ===
After being exiled from the Soviet Union, Trotsky offered to provide information to U.S. intelligence services in exchange for political asylum in the United States. The U.S. refused to give him asylum and he moved to Mexico. He gave U.S. officials in Mexico information about communists and [[Communist International (1919–1943)|Comintern]] agents and received financial contributions from wealthy Statesians.

In 1932, Trotsky organized an anti-[[Leninism|Leninist]] opposition bloc that included [[Trotskyists]], Zinovievites, and [[Left-communism|left-communists]].

In the 1930s, Trotsky argued that the Soviet Union would inevitably lose the upcoming [[Second World War]] to [[Empire of Japan (1868–1947)|Japan]] and [[German Reich (1933–1945)|Nazi Germany]]. He believed that it was necessary to overthrow the Soviet government to save the country from encircling capitalist armies.<ref name=":0" /> He also blamed Stalin and the [[Communist International (1919–1943)|Comintern]] for [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]]'s rise to power. He continued to consider the Soviet economy [[Socialism|socialist]] but believed the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|CPSU]] was [[Corruption|corrupt]] and [[reactionary]].<ref name=":0223">{{Citation|author=Ludo Martens|year=1996|title=Another View of Stalin|chapter=The Great Purge|isbn=9782872620814|publisher=Editions EPO|pdf=https://gateway.ipfs.io/ipfs/bafykbzaceab64vxtxpqt2cdl4zsrsftmedqidn4foq74gr25qkd35z5nwogdi?filename=Ludo%20Martens%20-%20Another%20View%20of%20Stalin-Editions%20EPO%20%281996%29.pdf|page=120–121}}</ref>

Trotsky supported [[Mikhail Tukhachevsky|Tukhachevsky]]'s plot to overthrow Stalin and favored the military leadership of the [[Workers' and Peasants' Red Army|Red Army]] over the political commissars. By 1938, he was openly advocating the overthrow of the CPSU. He said that, "whoever defends, directly or indirectly, Stalin and the Bolshevik Party, is the worst enemy of socialism" and called for a fourth Russian revolution.<ref name=":022332">{{Citation|author=Ludo Martens|year=1996|title=Another View of Stalin|chapter=Trotsky's role on the eve of the Second World War|isbn=9782872620814|publisher=Editions EPO|pdf=https://gateway.ipfs.io/ipfs/bafykbzaceab64vxtxpqt2cdl4zsrsftmedqidn4foq74gr25qkd35z5nwogdi?filename=Ludo%20Martens%20-%20Another%20View%20of%20Stalin-Editions%20EPO%20%281996%29.pdf|page=177–181}}</ref>

== Theoretical criticisms ==
Trotsky claimed that [[socialism in one country]] was impossible.<ref name=":0" /> He underplayed the importance of the national question and rejected an alliance between the proletariat and the [[Peasantry|peasants]].<ref name=":1" />

== Legacy ==
[[Trotskyism]] has proven to be a major diversion in the workers' movement even after Trotsky's death.<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=Peace, land and bread|title=On the Problem of Trotskyism|date=2021-09-27|url=https://www.peacelandbread.org/post/on-the-problem-of-trotskyism}}}</ref>

== Further reading ==

* [[Library:On the shortcomings of party work and measures to eliminate Trotskyist and other double-dealers|''On the Shortcomings of Party Work and Measures to Eliminate Trotskyists and Other Double-Dealers'']]
* [[Library:Trotsky and the Military Conspiracy|''Trotsky and the Military Conspiracy'']]
* ''[[Library:Trotsky’s Day in Court|Trotsky's Day in Court]]''
* [[Library:Trotskyism: Counter-Revolution in Disguise|''Trotskyism: Counter-Revolution in Disguise'']]
* [[Library:Trotskyism or Leninism?|''Trotskyism or Leninism?'']]

== References ==
[[Category:Revolutionaries]]
[[Category:Trotskyism]]

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Leon Trotsky