Trotsky 's Influence On The Revolution

Alexander Kerensky had a remarkable career. He was born in Simbirsk on the Volga River on May 2, 1881. His father was a head schoolmaster. Kerensky trained and graduated as a lawyer. He went on to a legal practice in St. Petersburg where he specialized in defending cases that involved political offenses.

He was born Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov on April 22, 1870 in Simbirsk, Russia now Ulyanovsk in his honor.Vladimir changed his last name to Lenin while doing underground work for his party. His family was well educated and cultured and Vladimir the 3rd of six children was very close with his family. Lenin valued education very highly and was a very voracious reader and when he finished HS

Despite starting his political journey as a supporter of the Menshevik wing (peaceful communism), Leon Trotsky became one of the paramount powers of the Bolshevik party, leading their Red Army to victory during the Russian civil war of 1918 to 1921; so

It appeared that Russia was finally headed to the right path when Czar Nicholas II relinquished his thrown in March of 1917. The provisional government who took control

In 1917, Russia was crumbling into pieces. The World War I was draining all of Russia’s resources. There was shortage of food throughout the country, which left people starving. At the battlefront, millions of Russian soldiers were dying, they did not possess many of the powerful weapons that their opponents had. The government under Czar Nicholas II was disintegrating, and a provisional government had been set up. In November of 1917, Lenin and his communist followers known as the Bolsheviks overthrew the provisional government and set a communist government in Russia. However, in 1924, Lenin died and Josef Stalin assumed leadership of the Soviet Union, which was the name for the communist Russia. Stalin was a ruthless leader who brought

In 1922, Vladimir Lenin founded the Soviet Union, and during these years, Stalin became one of his most loyal followers. As he continued to gain popularity and began to move up the party ladder, Stalin became Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. This role enabled him to appoint his allies to government jobs and have a base of political support (History.com Staff, 2009). When Lenin passed away in 1924, Stalin began creating a "cult of personality" around himself and got artists to paint pictures glorifying him (Trueman, 2015). He also built himself to be a great genius and a leader who was guided by Lenin and described himself as "Lenin's right hand man" (Kenny 2015). In the late 1920's, Stalin gained complete control over the Soviet Union and became its dictator.

The Marxists in Russia divided into two different political parties: The Mensheviks and Bolsheviks. Lenin led the Bolsheviks, they believed that the only way Russia would prevail was if it where to be governed by a small elite core of revolutionaries. February of 1917, workers gave protesting another try and actually had the soldiers side with them. The Tsar finally admitted defeat and stepped down from the throne and a provisional government was put into place. The leader of the provisional government was Andrew Kerensky, and when he decided to continue fighting World War I many soldiers deserted him and everyone turned to the Bolsheviks. The only political party to be completely against the provisional government as well as World War 1.

He left Trotsky in charge of planning the event, and he became the main leader of the Bolsheviks, the communist party he founded. In an attempt to bring the government down,in November 6th the Red Guards, first took main points in the city of Petrograd . Not many people were killed in the process. In November 8, the soldiers decided to take the Winter Palace. Here the Provisional Government surrendered and were captured and arrested.Lenin then gave a speech, revealing his own self and announcing that the government he was creating.

The first factor that led to the 1917 Russian Revolution and the communist government that followed was Russia’s participation in World War I. When Russia first entered the war in 1914, they were confident, but their economy and political and social states were not doing well enough to sustain a war. At the time, Czar Nicholas Romanov II was the leader of Russia. Russia had an autocracy for a government, which meant Nicholas had all the power. He appointed his cousin, Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich, to be the commander-in-chief of the Russian army for World War I. Nikolaevich had never been a commander before, but Nicholas still chose him

Lev Davidovich Bronstein was a major political figure in the turn of the twentieth century for the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialists Republics) aka Russia. Bronstein’s impact was greater with national history than international history. He was born on November 7, 1879, Ukraine (Yanovka) and later changed his name to Leon Trotsky, the name of his prison guard at Odessa prison whilst in exile in Siberia. Trotsky was introduced to Marxism at a young age of 17 at a school in Nikolayev. Marxism is a political ideology crated by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels that presents the idea of having a revolution involving violence in order to obtain a classless society.

When Joseph Stalin was a young adult he decided to become an active member in the Bolsheviks. An organization started by Vladimir

To the Bolsheviks disappointment, the new government kept Russian involvement in The Great War and the two front war stayed persistent for Germany. With Lenin seeking passage into Russia and the government showing no intention of letting him, it wasn’t until Germany’s financial support that he able to sneak into the country via train.

Furthermore, the many roles that Trotsky undertook in his political career, notably Commissar for War prove that Trotsky was most definitely ‘the most able of men’. According to Service, Trotsky as Commissar for War ‘surprised everyone with his organisational capacity and ruthlessness as he transformed the Red Army into a fighting force’. During his role as commissar Trotsky was able to increase the size of the Red army to three million, introduced conscription, maintained obedience and discipline by enforcing the oath of the red warrior and the death penalty for deserters and used ex-Tsarist officers to assist in the organisation of the army. Trotsky’s ability to successfully transform the Red Army and the significant role he played in Civil War are largely the reason for the Bolshevik victory and further highlight that Trotsky ‘was the most able of men’.

Iosif Dzhugashvili, more commonly known as “Joseph Stalin” or “the man of steel” was born in Gori Georgia, Russia on December 18, 1878. Stalin lived under the rule of Tsar Alexander II and Tsar Nicholas II (Joseph Stalin). Joseph Stalin’s dad was an alcoholic, while his mom was deeply religious. They were a poor family and Stalin was usually mistreated by his dad. It is believed this is why Stalin’s heart hardened and he became cruel and heartless (Ryan). Despite his modest background, he was destined to change the course of history. Joseph Stalin became the head of the Communist Party, ruled Russia as a totalitarian state, and was responsible for the deaths of millions

Lenin believed that Trotsky was the best suitable to take the Communist party to the next level. Trotsky was not all that popular among party members though and Stalin was in a position as Gen Sek, or General Secretary, to place his people in powerful positions throughout the party. Also, Stalin worked extremely hard at achieving power whereas Trotsky was rather lazy. Because of these reasons along with Stalin's "zero tolerance" attitude towards everyone, he was able to seize control.