Trotski

Trotski, commonly known in English as Leon Trotsky, was born Lev Davidovich Bronstein on 7 November 1879 in the village of Yanovka, then part of the Russian Empire. He was a Marxist revolutionary and a prominent early leader of the Bolshevik faction, playing a central role in the October Revolution of 1917 and in shaping the early Soviet state.

During the Civil War that followed the revolution, Trotsky helped organize the Red Army and served as its leader, often credited with turning a scattered force into a disciplined military apparatus. He also held various government posts, including a period as the international representative of the Soviet government and, notably, as War Commissar. His work contributed to the consolidation of Bolshevik power and the establishment of Soviet control over former Russian territories.

After Lenin’s death, Trotsky argued against what he saw as bureaucratic centralism and the policy of “socialism in one country.” He was expelled from the Communist Party in 1927 and forced into exile the following years. Living in several countries, including France, Norway, and ultimately Mexico, he remained a vocal critic of Stalinist policies and organized the Left Opposition. In 1938 he helped found the Fourth International, seeking to build an international socialist movement independent of the Soviet-led Communist International.

Theoretically, Trotsky advocated permanent revolution, arguing that socialist transformation in less-developed countries required international socialist upheaval and could not be achieved in isolation. He continued to publish and influence leftist currents while in exile.

Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico City on 21 August 1940 by Ramon Mercader, an agent of the NKVD. His ideas inspired the Trotskyist movement, which remains active in various left-wing currents around the world.