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Name:
Leon Trotsky
Born: Lev Davidovich Bronstein
Dates:
Born: 1879 in the Ukraine
Died: August 20, 1940 (assassinated)
Exiled to Siberia: 1898
Joined the Bolshevik Party: 1917
Organized the Red Army: 1918-1921
Commissar of Foreign Affairs and of War: 1917-1924
Suppressed the Kronshtadt Rebellion: 1921
Expelled from the Communist Party: 1927
Exiled to Turkey: 1929
Published The Revolution Betrayed: 1937
Biography:
Leon Trotsky was a Russian revolutionary who was at first aligned with Lenin, for
example by collaborating on the revolutionary journal Iskra (spark), but that
relationship later ended and he joined rival communist groups. Elected to the
Bolshevik Party's Central Committee, he was an important leader of the October
Revolution.
Unfortunately, these efforts were not enough to save him later on when he opposed the reactionary policies of Joseph Stalin, leading to his exile in 1927. While abroad he involved himself in attempts to create a new International Communist movement which would remain loyal to what he regarded as the original goals and principles of communism. In the years 1936, 1937, and 1938 Moscow held very public trials against many accused of treason, among the Trotsky who was also accused of being a ring-leader.
Trotsky denied these charges and it is clear that Stalin orchestrated these trials for the sole purpose of purging the Communist Party of any who might be disloyal to him, including those who still had positive feelings towards Trotsky. Stalin's obsession with Trotsky as a possible rival continued unabated, especially after Trotsky published The Revolution Betrayed, a history of the Russian Revolution which was highly critical of Stalin. Ramon Mercader, the Spanish Communist who killed Trotsky in Mexico City with a pickaxe, was an agent of Stalin who had posed as an admirer in order to get close.
Also Known As: none
Alternate Spellings: none
Common Misspellings: none
Related Resources:
What are Political and Legal Philosophy
The Philosophy of Politics and the Philosophy of Law are often studied separately, but they are presented here jointly because they both come back to the same thing: the study of force. Politics is the study of political force in the general community, while jurisprudence is the study of how laws can and should be used to achieve political and social goals.What is Philosophy?
What is philosophy? Is there any point in studying philosophy, or is it a useless subject? What are the different branches of philosophy - what's the difference between aestheitcs and ethics? What's the difference between metaphysics and epistemology?
