Trotsky: Five Key Facts
One of the great ideologues of the 1917 Russian Revolution, Leon Trotsky was assassinated on Stalin’s orders in Mexico eighty years ago.
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To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit http://www.djreprints.com. https://www.barrons.com/news/trotsky-five-key-facts-01597804805 FROM AFP NEWS Trotsky: Five Key Facts By Pascale JUILLIARD August 18, 2020 Order Reprints Print Article Text size One of the great ideologues of the 1917 Russian Revolution, Leon Trotsky was assassinated on Stalin's orders in Mexico eighty years ago. Here are some key facts about the founder of the Red Army who inspired legions of followers for decades. Prison guard's name On November 7, 1879 in southern Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire, Lev Davidovich Bronstein was born into a wealthy Jewish family of farmers. While in Odessa pursuing his studies he joined the revolutionary movement and was arrested and deported to Siberia. He escaped in 1902, leaving behind his wife and two children, and began his first emigration, taking refuge initially in London on a fake passport under the name "Trotsky", which he took from a prison guard in Odessa. In London he met another political exile and fellow Marxist -- Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, or Lenin. The two men clashed at first but would later join forces in Russia for the revolution. Life in exile Trotsky lived a very peripatetic life, residing in several countries in Europe and the United States. After London he went on to Munich and then Geneva with Natalia Sedova whom he met in Paris and would become his second wife. Trotsky was back in Russia in 1905 during its first revolution and there he joined the first "Soviet", or Council of Workers in Saint Petersburg, where he was again arrested and deported for life to Siberia. And again he escaped to begin his second emigration, which took him to Vienna, Zurich, Paris and the United States, from where he travelled back to Russia for the 1917 revolution. After Lenin's death in 1924, Trotsky was ousted by his rival Joseph Stalin and expelled from the Soviet Union in 1929. He went to Turkey, France and Norway, before taking refuge in Mexico, where he would remain for the rest of his life.Red Army founder In the years after the 1917 revolution, while civil war raged in Russia between the "red" Bolsheviks and the "whites" who opposed the new regime, Trotsky founded the Red Army. In less than three years it counted some five million men, compared with the Red Guards who had no more than a few thousand volunteers. Trotsky mobilised the troops by travelling thousands of kilometres (thousands of miles) in an armoured train across the vast country, using his talents as a speaker to inspire soldiers while not hesitating to have deserters and opponents shot.Permanent revolution While Stalin pursued "socialism in one country", Trotsky championed "permanent revolution" worldwide. In 1938 in Paris he founded the revolutionary organisation known as the Fourth International, intended as an alternative to the Third International installed in Russia under Stalin. Its aim was to create a new world socialist party true to Lenin's ideas and that would spread the revolution. For decades afterwards, a wide range of parties and groups have called themselves Trotskyist.Death by ice pick By the time Trotsky took refuge in Mexico in 1937, Stalin's purges -- which saw Soviet citizens deemed hostile to the regime executed, incarcerated and exiled in vast numbers -- had started. On May 24, 1940, Trotsky escaped an assassination attempt when a commando stormed his home in Mexico City and machine-gunned the bedroom where he slept with his wife. Three months later, on the night of August 20, Ramon Mercader, a Spanish communist working as an agent for the Soviet Union, visited Trotsky's home under the pretext of showing him an article. Barron's Newsletters The Barron's Daily A morning briefing on what you need to know in the day ahead, including exclusive commentary from Barron's and MarketWatch writers. I would also like to receive updates and special offers from Dow Jones and affiliates. I can unsubscribe at any time. I agree to the Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. Enter your Email SIGN UP You have been successfully subscribed to The Barron's Daily. Your first delivery will arrive within two days. Continue Reading While Trotsky sat at his desk, engrossed in reading, Mercader plunged an ice pick into his head. Trotsky died the next day in a hospital in Mexico City. He was 60 years old. The Barron's news department was not involved in the creation of the content above. This article was produced by AFP. For more information go to AFP.com.© Agence France-Presse Close Trotsky: Five Key Facts One of the great ideologues of the 1917 Russian Revolution, Leon Trotsky was assassinated on Stalin's orders in Mexico eighty years ago. From To Message SEND An error has occurred, please try again later. 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