Leon Trotsky
Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and Marxist theorist.
Lev Davidovich Bronstein, known as Leon Trotsky, was born on 7 November 1879 into a wealthy Jewish farming family in Yanovka, then in the Russian Empire.[1] As People's Commissar for Military Affairs from 1918 to 1925, Trotsky built the Red Army and helped lead the October Revolution.[2] In Western countries, Trotsky was seen as a hero of the anti-Stalinist left because he defended a more democratic, internationalist socialism against Stalinist totalitarianism and contributed intellectually to Marxism.[3]
Quick Facts
- Took office
- 14 March 1918
- Left office
- 12 January 1925
- Premier
- Vladimir Lenin, Alexei Rykov
- Predecessor
- Nikolai Podvoisky
- Successor
- Mikhail Frunze
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
He helped to lead the October Revolution and as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs negotiated the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.[2] After escaping to London in 1902, Trotsky met Lenin there.[2] From 1923 onward, Trotsky headed the Left Opposition faction within the party, which advocated for more industrialisation, voluntary collectivisation, and party democratisation within the New Economic Policy framework.[2]
What the cited sources add
The same Stalin article claimed that Trotsky, as chairman of the Petrograd Soviet, only carried out decisions of the Military Revolutionary Committee and Political Bureau.[4] Stalin's article also asserted that Trotsky was assigned to the Commissariat of Foreign Affairs, not to any Defence Commissariat, when the first Soviet government was formed.[4] In an article written after January 2, 1911, Lenin called Trotsky "Judas" and a "scoundrel", accusing him of fighting liquidationism.[5] A letter Lenin wrote to Alexandra Kollontai on February 17, 1917, called Trotsky a "swine" for forming a bloc with the Right against the Zimmerwald Left.[6]
The Open Library record for "Leon Trotsky: the portrait of a youth" lists a 1970 publication by AMS Press of 181 pages.[7] The Open Library record for "History of Russian Economic Thought" lists a 2013 publication by Taylor & Francis Group of 176 pages.[8]
References
- Wikipedia, "Leon Trotsky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Библиотека газеты "Революция". Клушин В.И. Малоизвестное о Троцком", www.revolucia.ru (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Leon Trotsky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Deutscher 2015a, p. 646, 674–678 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Leon Trotsky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Barnett, "A History of Russian Economic Thought", Routledge, 2013, p. 101; Deutscher 2015a, p. 646, 674–678 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- CPGB: Stalin: "Slander and Truth" , Marxists Internet Archive; retrieved 26 July 2013.. facts only, no text reused. marxists.org
- Lenin: "Judas Trotsky's Blush of Shame" , Marxists Internet Archive; retrieved 26 July 2013.. facts only, no text reused. marxists.org
- Lenin: 123. To Alexandra Kollontai , Marxists Internet Archive, (9 June 2006); retrieved 26 July 2013.. facts only, no text reused. marxists.org
- Open Library record, ISBN 9780404022358 ("Leon Trotsky: the portrait of a youth."). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
- Open Library record, ISBN 9781134261918 ("History of Russian Economic Thought"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Leon Trotsky (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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