Lev Davidovich Trotsky (Leiba Bronstein): biography, political activity

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 performances brought him fame in a revolutionary milieu. He also showed outstanding organizational and military capabilities, occupying various high posts in both the administration and the party.

Some facts of biography

Leiba Bronstein was born in Kherson province in 1879. He came from a Jewish family, his parents were prosperous landowners. He studied at the Odessa School, where he proved himself well. Then he continued his studies in Mykolayiv, where he was carried away by revolutionary currents and ideology. Here he joined the circle, and later even became one of the participants in the workers' union. After a while he was arrested and exiled, but fled abroad in 1902. During his imprisonment he married A. Sokolovskaya, with whom he did not divorce, despite the fact that he subsequently re-created the family. Thus, Leiba Bronstein, whose youth passed under the sign of revolutionary ideology, already in his youth proved himself as an active and dangerous propagandist.

In the emigration

Having visited several European countries, he gained even greater 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 the reconciliation of the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. However, in 1904 he was followed by his break with Lenin, whom he even criticized. At the same time, he developed the doctrine of a permanent revolution. This idea assumed that the bourgeois revolution, carried out by the workers, must pass into a new, socialist stage. During his first stay abroad, he created the family again with N. Sedova, but their marriage was civil, since the divorce with the first wife was not officially formalized.

The first revolution and the second stage of emigration

Leiba Bronstein took a very active part in public 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 Soviet 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 belligerents to disobey governments. At the same time, he did not agree with the Leninist slogan of the need to unleash a civil struggle. He visited several European countries, but he was constantly forced to move, as he was seen as a dangerous revolutionary. He visited the United States, the country made a strong impression on him with his industrial power, which enabled him to assert the idea of its superiority over European states. In 1917, with the outbreak of a new revolution, Trotsky returned to Russia and immediately joined the struggle.

The second revolution and political career

At that time, the capital of the country was covered by mass riots. A lot of parties, factions and various factions fought for power. Leiba Bronstein, whose activity during this period acquired a particularly wide scope, of course, could not remain aloof. He joined a number of his supporters in the Bolshevik Party and took a very active part in the preparation of the October coup. Using great influence among soldiers and sailors, he, thanks to his oratory, attracted them to his side.

After the Bolsheviks came to power, Trotsky held a number of leading political posts: he was a People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, then he directed the military forces and the fleet, and in fact became the creator of a new army. But after the strengthening of Stalin's power, he gradually lost his posts, and then was deported from the country in 1929. Eleven years later Leiba Bronstein (whose awards - the Order of the Red Banner) was killed in Mexico.

He is the author of a number of works on the history of the Russian revolutionary movement, as well as autobiography.