Leiba Bronstein (pseudonym Trotsky) was a well-known political, public and state Russian and Soviet figure. In addition, he became famous as a writer and a talented speaker: his literary articles, essays, books, and speeches brought him fame in a revolutionary environment. He also showed outstanding organizational and military abilities, holding various top positions both in the administrative apparatus and in the party.
Some biography facts
Leiba Bronstein was born in the Kherson province in 1879. He came from a Jewish family, his parents were we althy landowners. He studied at the Odessa School, where he showed himself well. Then he continued his studies in Nikolaev, where he became interested in revolutionary trends and ideology. Here he joined a circle, and later even became one of the participants in the workers' union. Some time later he was arrested and exiled, but fled abroad in 1902. During his imprisonment, he married A. Sokolovskaya, whom he never divorced, despite the fact that he subsequently re-started a family. Thus, Leiba Bronstein, whose youth was marked by revolutionary ideology, already in his youth established himself as an active and dangerouspropagandist.
In exile
After visiting several European countries, he gained even more popularity and fame. He immediately attracted the attention of V. Lenin, who recommended that he be included in the editorial board of the newspaper. He showed himself as a talented author of articles, but his activities were not limited to this. Leiba Bronstein participated in party life, was a member of congresses, and at first advocated reconciliation between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. However, in 1904 he broke with Lenin, whom he even criticized. By the same time, he developed the doctrine of the permanent revolution. This idea assumed that the bourgeois revolution carried out by the workers should pass into a new, socialist stage. During the years of his first stay abroad, he created a family for the second time with N. Sedova, but their marriage was civil, since the divorce from his first wife was not officially registered.
The first revolution and the second stage of emigration
Leiba Bronstein took a very active part in social and political life not only in European countries, he closely followed the events in Russia. When the first revolution began in the empire in 1905, he immediately returned to his homeland and headed the St. Petersburg Council of Workers. However, he was arrested and sentenced to a new exile, however, he again managed to escape. Abroad, he continued his publishing activities: he actively opposed the war and called on the peoples of the warring parties to disobey the governments. At the same time, he did not agree with Lenin's slogan about the need to unleash a civil struggle. He visited several European countries, but was constantly forced to move, as he was seen as a dangerous revolutionary. He visited the USA, the country made a strong impression on him with its industrial power, which allowed him to assert the idea of its superiority over European states. In 1917, with the beginning of a new revolution, Trotsky returned to Russia and immediately joined the struggle.
Second revolution and political career
At this time, the capital of the country was engulfed in riots. Many parties, factions and various groups fought for power. Leiba Bronstein, whose activities during this period acquired a particularly wide scope, of course, could not stand aside. He, along with a number of his supporters, joined the Bolshevik Party and took a very active part in the preparation of the October coup. Using great influence among the soldiers and sailors, he won them over to his side thanks to his oratory.
After the Bolsheviks came to power, Trotsky held a number of leading political positions: he was People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, then led the military and navy, and actually became the creator of a new army. But after the strengthening of Stalin's power, he gradually lost his posts, and then was expelled from the country in 1929. Eleven years later, Leiba Bronstein (whose awards - the Order of the Red Banner) waskilled in Mexico.
He is the author of a number of works on the history of the Russian revolutionary movement, as well as an autobiography.
