About
Born Lev Davidovich Bronstein to a wealthy Jewish farming family in Ukraine, Trotsky embraced Marxism in his youth. Arrested for revolutionary activity, he escaped from Siberian exile in 1902 using a forged passport bearing the name Trotsky. A leading figure in the 1905 Revolution, he was exiled again. After the February Revolution of 1917, he joined the Bolsheviks and organized the October Revolution. As People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs and then for War, he founded the Red Army and led it to victory in the Russian Civil War. After Lenin's death, he lost the power struggle to Stalin, was expelled from the party and exiled. He founded the Fourth International and developed the theory of permanent revolution.
* 1879-10-26 — † 1940-08-21
Major works
- Literature and Revolution (1923)essay
- My Life (1930)autobiography
- The History of the Russian Revolution (1931)history
- The Revolution Betrayed (1936)essay
Key milestones
- 1917Organizes the October Revolution and becomes chairman of the Petrograd Soviet.
- 1918Founds the Red Army and commands it during the Russian Civil War.
- 1938Founds the Fourth International.
Themes
Permanent revolutionMarxismCritique of StalinismRussian RevolutionExile
Sources: gla.ac.uk · britannica.com · bbc.co.uk
