Trotsky lev davidovich real name. First after Lenin - Lev Davidovich Trotsky

Lev Davidovich Trotsky (Leiba Bronstein) (born November 7, 1879 - death 08/21/1940) - revolutionary, ideologist of Trotskyism. One of the organizers of the 1917 revolution. Member of the Bolshevik Party from August 1917 to 11/14/1927. Member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) - RCP (b) - VKP (b). He was a member of the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) between the VIII and IX congresses of the party, a member of the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) from 9/25/1923 to 06/02/1924.

1924 - the confrontation between Trotsky and I.V. Stalin's leadership ended in Trotsky's defeat. 1927 - expelled from the party, exiled to Alma-Ata, 1929 - abroad. He sharply criticized the Stalinist regime as a bureaucratic degeneration of the proletarian power. 1938 - the initiator of the creation of the 4th International. 1940 - was killed in Mexico by the Spaniard R. Mercader, an agent of the NKVD.

Childhood. early years

Leiba Bronstein was born in 1879 in the village of Yanovka, Elisavetgrad district, Kherson province, into the family of a wealthy landowner from among the Jewish colonists. His father could only learn to read when he was old. He studied at a real school in Odessa and Nikolaev, where he was the first in all disciplines. Leiba loved to draw, was fond of literature, wrote poetry, translated I.A.Krylov's fables from Russian into Ukrainian, took part in the publication of a school manuscript magazine. At that time, his rebellious character first began to manifest: due to a conflict with a French teacher, he was temporarily expelled from school.

Trotsky in childhood and adolescence

The beginning of revolutionary activity. Arrest. Link

1896 - in the city of Nikolaev (where he moved) he joined a revolutionary circle. To get a higher education Leiba had to leave his new comrades and go to Novorossiysk. There he could easily enter the physics and mathematics department of the local university. But the revolutionary struggle has already captured the young man, and he soon left this university and returned to Nikolaev.

1898, January - was arrested, imprisoned, first in the Nikolaev prison, from there transferred to the Kherson prison, then to the Odessa and Moscow transit. In a Moscow prison he married an activist of the "South Russian Workers' Union" A.L. Sokolovskaya, whom I knew from the Nikolaev period of participation in this organization. Sentenced to four years of exile in Eastern Siberia, where he and his wife were taken in 1900, in the fall. At the stage I met F.E. Dzerzhinsky. In exile, he collaborated with the Irkutsk newspaper Vostochnoye Obozreniye, wrote under the pseudonym Antid Oto. He joined the Mensheviks.

Trotsky with his daughter Zina and first wife Alexandra Sokolovskaya

Emigration

1902, August - leaving his wife with two daughters, the youngest of whom was three months old, fled from Siberian exile with a passport in the name of Trotsky, which he himself wrote, not foreseeing that it would become his name for life.

Leon Trotsky went to London, where he met with V.I. Lenin. There he spoke more than once before the emigre revolutionaries. Trotsky amazed everyone with his intellect and oratorical abilities. Lenin proposed to include him in the editorial board of Iskra, but Plekhanov categorically opposed this.

1903 - in Paris, Trotsky married Natalia Sedova. But officially, until the end of his life, Alexandra Sokolova remained his wife.

Return to Russia

After the 1905 revolution, Lev Davidovich and his wife returned to Russia. In the course of the revolution, he proved himself to be an outstanding organizer, orator, publicist; de facto leader of the Petersburg Soviet of Workers' Deputies, editor of its Izvestia. He belonged to the most radical wing in the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP).

Arrest. Second emigration

After the publication of the Financial Manifesto, he was arrested and convicted. 1906 - was sentenced to life in Siberia, deprived of all civil rights. On the way to Obdorsk, he fled from Berezov.

He moved to Europe, where he made several attempts to unite scattered parties of a socialist orientation, but could not achieve success. In 1912-1913, Lev Davidovich Trotsky, as a military man of the newspaper Kievskaya Mysl, wrote 70 reports from the fronts of the Balkan Wars. Subsequently, this experience will help him organize work in the Red Army.

After the outbreak of the First World War, he fled from Vienna to Paris, where he published the newspaper Nashe Slovo. In it, he was engaged in the publication of his articles of a pacifist orientation, which became the reason for the expulsion of Trotsky from France. The revolutionary moved to America, where he hoped to settle, as he doubted the possibility of an imminent revolution in Russia.

Trotsky at a rally in Yekaterinodar (1919)

October Revolution

May 1917 - returned to Petrograd, joined the united social-democratic internationalists ("Mezhraiontsy"). Soon he became the informal leader of the "Mezhraiontsy", who took a critical position in relation to the Provisional Government. After the failure of the July uprising attempt, he was arrested by the Provisional Government.

At the 6th congress of the RSDLP (b) he was elected one of the honorary chairmen of the congress and a member of the party's Central Committee. 1917, September - after his release from prison, he was elected chairman of the Petrograd Soviet. He was one of the organizers of the armed uprising in Petrograd, during the October Revolution he played a leading role in the PVRK, led the suppression of the Kerensky-Krasnov rebellion.

Fall from the pinnacle of power

1918, autumn - Trotsky is appointed chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the RSFSR, that is, he becomes the first commander-in-chief of the newly formed Red Army. For the next years, he essentially lived on a train, on which he traveled on all fronts. During the defense of Tsaritsyn, Lev Davidovich entered into an open confrontation with Stalin. Over time, he began to understand that there could not be equality in the army, and began to introduce the institute of military experts in the Red Army, seeking to reorganize it and return to the traditional principles of building the armed forces. 1924 - Trotsky was removed from the post of chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council.

In exile

1927 - Lev Davidovich Trotsky was removed from the Central Committee Politburo, expelled from the party. 1928, January - was exiled to Alma-Ata. 1929 February - deported from the Soviet Union to Turkey.

He settled on the island of Prinkipo (Sea of \u200b\u200bMarmara, near Istanbul), wrote works about his life and revolution there, and harshly criticized Stalin's policies. Considering the Comintern, "captured" by the Stalinists, to be political bankrupt, Lev Davidovich began to organize a new, Fourth International.

He sharply opposed, calling for all the left forces of Europe to unite against German National Socialism. Summer 1933 - after the Fuhrer came to power, the radical French government of E. Daladier granted Trotsky asylum in France. 1935 - Trotsky was forced to leave this country. New asylum was granted to him by the Labor government of Norway, but in early 1937 he was expelled from there - apparently, due to Soviet pressure.

Last years

The revolutionary was now given refuge by the "leftist" president of Mexico, Lazaro Cardenas. Leon Trotsky settled in Coyoacan as a guest of the radical artist Diego Rivera. 1938 - the Fourth International was officially established by the Trotskyists.

Meanwhile, the secret services of the USSR did not cease to keep Trotsky under close supervision, having agents among his associates. 1938 - under strange circumstances in a Paris hospital after an operation, his closest and indefatigable colleague, the eldest son Lev Sedov, died. The news from the USSR was not only about the unprecedentedly brutal repressions against the "Trotskyists". His first wife and his youngest son, Sergei Sedov, were arrested and subsequently shot. The accusation of Trotskyism in the Soviet Union became in those days the most terrible and dangerous.

Death

In recent years, Lev Davidovich worked on his book about Stalin, in which he viewed Stalin as a fatal value for socialism. Sensing an imminent death, at the beginning of 1940, Trotsky wrote a testament in which he spoke of his satisfaction with his fate as a revolutionary Marxist, proclaimed an indestructible faith in the triumph of the Fourth International and in the imminent world socialist revolution.

1940, May - an attempt was made on the life of a revolutionary in Mexico by a group of murderers led by the famous artist A. Siqueiros. However, it did not succeed, but on August 20, 1940, NKVD agent Ramon Mercader struck Trotsky on the head with an ice pick.

Lev Davidovich Trotsky died the next day, August 21, 1940 in Coyocan (Mexico). He was buried in the courtyard of his house, where his museum is now.

TROTSKY LEV DAVIDOVICH

Real name - Lev (Leiba) Davidovich Bronstein

(born in 1879 - died in 1940)

The ideologist of Trotskyism. One of the leaders of the October Revolution. Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet (1917). The first People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs (1917-1918) and the first People's Commissar for Military Affairs (1918-1925) of Soviet Russia. Leader of the IV International. Killed as a result of a terrorist attack organized by the NKVD.

The giant frescoes in the presidential palace in Mexico City next to Marx, Engels and Lenin depict a man with a thin, predatory face, in pince-nez, with a wedge beard and a Stalinist mustache. In a sharp gaze - a somber fury and ruthlessness. This is how the outstanding Mexican artist Diego Rivera, who knew the famous Russian revolutionary, "Demon of the Revolution" and "Trotskyist number one", saw Lenin's ally and Stalin's main opponent, Leon Trotsky.

His hero dreamed of giving water to the "red" horses from the Vistula and Rhine. With his first decrees, he introduced mass executions into practice, achieved the militarization of the national economy, the creation of "labor armies", and legalized forced labor in the camps. By order of Trotsky, 28 archbishops, 1215 priests, 15,375 teachers of higher educational institutions, doctors and teachers, and 54,560 officers were killed. This is the result of his activities in Russia. The results of Trotsky's long life are tens of thousands of Trotskyists in the Land of the Soviets and beyond. Modern Trotskyists are an indispensable part of Latin American cities. They are very colorful: long hair, braided in braids, black berets, skulls on a string, hanging on the chest. Until now, fans of leftist ideas come to Trotsky's house-museum in Mexico City. They chop off pieces of plaster from the walls "for prayer." Latin America is an active fiefdom of the IV International established by Trotsky in 1938 in Paris. And although over time this political association split into several groups, a new generation of "internationalists" in this region, following the precepts of their idol, claims to create the "Socialist Soviet United States of Latin America".

The real name of the ideologist of Trotskyism is Lev (Leiba) Davidovich Bronstein. He was born on November 7, 1879 on the Yanovka farm near the town of Bobrinets, Kherson province, into the family of a fairly large landowner. The father of the family came from a small Jewish town in the Poltava region. Only at the end of his life did David Bronstein learn to read syllables in order to get acquainted with the works of his son, who became famous. Despite his illiteracy, David managed to collect quite significant funds to buy a large land plot and trade grain even abroad.

The parents made sure that their son received the best possible education. At first, Lev studied at a private religious Jewish school, hedere. He did not know Yiddish well. But the boy mastered Russian literacy enough to write poetry, which, unfortunately, did not reach us. The next stage was the prestigious state school of St. Paul in Odessa, where he was hired with the help of a relative of MF Spenzer, who was a major publisher. Here Lev quickly became the first student, read a lot of fiction and aspired to become a writer. But already at this time the obstinate disposition of the future revolutionary, his desire for primacy and demonstration of intellectual superiority over his peers, which had so much harmed him in his "adult life", manifested itself. He was temporarily expelled from second grade for a conflict with a French teacher.

The last class of the real school Lev graduated in 1896 in Nikolaev. In the family where he settled, young people were fond of populist socialist ideas. Among the members of the small circle was the daughter of a populist, Alexandra Sokolovskaya, with whom the future revolutionary was not slow to fall in love. She managed to attract the young socialist-populist to Marxist ideas. Soon Bronstein became a member of the South Russian Workers' Union and received the first underground nickname Lvov.

Young people had a very rough idea of \u200b\u200bconspiracy. On January 28, 1898, Bronstein and other members of the group on the denunciation of the provocateur Schrenzel were arrested. In prison, Bronstein and Sokolovskaya, to the horror of Lev's parents, got married. Together they arrived in exile in Ust-Kut, and later lived in Verkhoyansk.

Despite the fact that in exile Bronstein was actively engaged in self-education and began to try himself in the journalistic field, the life of the exiled began to weigh on the revolutionary. He dreamed of Petersburg, Moscow, some of the Western capitals. With the consent of his wife, who remained in Siberia with two young daughters, he decided to escape. He managed to safely reach the European part of Russia, illegally cross the Austrian border and find members of the Austrian Socialist Party. The fake passport of the fugitive featured the surname Trotsky, borrowed from the Odessa prison warden.

In emigration, Leo stayed until 1905. From Austria, he moved to Zurich, where he first met Lenin and Krupskaya. Then there were London and Paris. Under the pseudonym "Perot" the young revolutionary collaborated in the newspaper "Iskra" and gave public lectures. At Lenin's suggestion in 1903, Trotsky was appointed to the editorial board of Iskra. He became close friends with Martov, Axelrod and Zasulich. But Plekhanov's new "Iskra-ist" evoked strong antipathy. The patriarch of Russian Social Democracy called him “the pet of the revolution” and was emphatically cold. Perhaps the reason for this was the pronounced narcissism of the young politician. Trotsky admired himself and did not hide it.

In Paris, Lev Davidovich met with the smart and beautiful Natalia Sedova. For freethinking, she was expelled from the Institute of Noble Maidens in Kharkov, and at the Sorbonne she studied art history. Soon Natalya left her husband to go to Trotsky.

In August 1903, the second congress of the RSDLP was held in London. Trotsky was a delegate from the Siberian Social Democratic Organization. When discussing the Party Rules, he supported the Menshevik Martov, in opposition to Lenin's opinion. For a long time, a very cool relationship was established between them.

When the revolution broke out in Russia in 1905, Trotsky arrived home with a false passport in the name of retired warrant officer Arbuzov. He strove to be in the center of events and succeeded. After the October strike, Lev Davidovich, thanks to his oratorical skills and amazing instinct in assessing situations, moved to the forefront of revolutionary leaders. He was elected to the Petersburg Soviet of Workers' Deputies.

On December 3, 1905, the entire top of the Soviet was arrested. Trotsky was again imprisoned, and after the trial he was sent to hard labor. The arrested were given government uniforms, but were allowed to keep their own clothes. This made it easier for Trotsky to escape even at the stage. Feigning sciatica, he was left in the town of Berezovo under the protection of two gendarmes. Having deceived the guards, the prisoner managed to overcome about 800 km, moving where on foot, where on deer through the snow-covered expanses of Siberia, and eventually ended up in Finland, and then lived for a long time in Vienna. When the local authorities, worried about the overly vigorous activity of the Russian, denied him the right of residence, he moved for short periods to Switzerland, France and even North America. Sedova with her children accompanied him everywhere. The old man Bronstein provided the revolutionary with the means to live. Something Lev earned as a journalist.

Trotsky received the news of the February Revolution in America and immediately rushed to Russia. In the Canadian port of Galtfax, he and his family were arrested at the suggestion of the British embassy, \u200b\u200bwhich claimed that he was traveling "with a subsidy from the German embassy to overthrow the Provisional Government." However, at the request of the Provisional Government, he and several other Russians were released. Lev Davidovich safely reached Scandinavia, and from there he moved to Petrograd.

Oratorical abilities and intuition again did not fail Trotsky. A month after his arrival, he became one of the most prominent figures among radical politicians. At the end of September, at the re-election of the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, Trotsky, at the suggestion of the Bolsheviks, was elected its chairman. At this time, Lev Davidovich still adhered to the democratic norms of political leadership, declaring when taking office: "The hand of the presidium will not rise to suppress the majority." He linked the beginning of the October armed uprising with the convocation of the Congress of Soviets, which was supposed to liquidate the regime of the Provisional Government and establish revolutionary power. On the whole, Trotsky did a lot to organize the October uprising. He played a leading role in the creation and functioning of the Military Revolutionary Committee under the Petrograd Soviet, which led the preparation and implementation of the uprising.

On the morning of October 25 (November 7 according to the European calendar), the Provisional Government was deposed, and power in Petrograd passed into the hands of the Military Revolutionary Committee. Democratic norms were immediately forgotten. A few days later, in the article "Towards Democracy" M. Gorky wrote: "Lenin, Trotsky and those accompanying them have already been poisoned by the rotten poison of power, as evidenced by their shameful attitude to freedom of speech, personality and the whole sum of those rights for the triumph of which democracy fought" ... The second person after Lenin in the state directed his efforts at unleashing and deepening terror.

From that moment on, the numerous differences between Trotsky and Lenin gradually disappeared. Lev Davidovich openly made it clear that only he understands the leader and is faithful to his ideas and institutions. The only exception was the position of Trotsky, the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, in the peace negotiations with the Germans in Brest-Litovsk. Lenin adhered to the idea of \u200b\u200bconcluding a separate, annexationist peace. Trotsky, on the other hand, invented the formula "no peace, no war", being confident that the peoples of Germany and Austria-Hungary would refuse to fight, and then a world revolution would break out. With the aim of exporting the revolution, he carried with him stacks of leaflets and brochures addressed to the enemy soldiers. The government of hungry Russia allocated 2 million gold rubles for revolutionary propaganda abroad. At the beginning of February 1918, in Brest-Litovsk, Trotsky announced a unilateral end to the war by Russia, the demobilization of the army and refused to sign a peace treaty. However, on February 18, hostilities were resumed, and in the end Russia had to conclude peace on more unfavorable terms than was initially proposed. After such a fiasco, Lenin nevertheless decided to put Trotsky at the head of the military department. In the conditions of the Civil War and intervention, this was one of the most important government posts. Lev Davidovich never served in the army, but he coped with the task brilliantly.

Trotsky was appointed People's Commissar for Military Affairs on March 14, 1918, and five months later he also became the Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic (RMC). He put forward the slogan "The Socialist Fatherland is in danger!" and set about building and strengthening the Red Army.

For this, the People's Commissar made extensive use of military specialists from the previous regime. Each of them signed up and knew that in the event of treason (or suspicion of treason), his family and comrades would pay first. The commissars, who controlled every step of the officers, were given the right to ruthlessly deal with the "counter-revolutionaries" "in time". This meant immediate execution on any suspicion of disloyalty.

Desertion was a serious problem in the Red Army during the Civil War. The mobilized peasants, who had recently received land, did not know and did not want to know what they were fighting for, and fled to their homes. To stop this, Trotsky created numerous commissions to combat desertion. In some months, it was possible to detain up to 100 thousand deserters. They were subjected to severe punishments, most often by shooting. To prevent the military units from fleeing from the battlefield, barrage detachments were deployed behind them during the battle, which had to shoot at their own in case of retreat without an order. Unlike the rest of the units, they were given vehicles with machine guns.

The People's Commissar often went to the active army. His legendary armored train, which traveled more than 200 thousand km during the war years, was a "flying command unit". He toured the fronts, took part in battles. On the train worked: a secretariat, a printing house, a telegraph station, a radio, a power station, a photography and filming group, an orchestra, a library, a garage and a bathhouse. Several cars were occupied by guards. Trotsky did not appear anywhere without bodyguards. Doctors examined him almost daily.

Special attention was paid to the issues of propaganda work.

The People's Commissar demanded that at every stop he was met by high officials with a guard of honor. Every opportunity was used to communicate with the Red Army. Those who distinguished themselves were given pre-stocked silver cigarette cases (from the royal pantry), binoculars, shirts, leather jackets, and sometimes the people's commissar took off his watch or donated his own weapon. On his initiative, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee established the Order of the Red Banner.

Military problems, however, did not make Trotsky forget about his main goal - the victory of the world revolution. He continued to take a keen interest in the state of the international labor movement, and took an active part in the work of the Executive Committee of the Comintern. The "demon of revolution" was an ardent supporter of the idea of \u200b\u200bpermanent revolution, put forward by the "Russian-German" revolutionary (later millionaire) Parvus (A. L. Gelfandt). In Trotsky's understanding, the revolution must continue, passing the national, international and world levels until the complete elimination of class society. Unlike Stalin, he did not believe in the possibility of building socialism in a single country. This and many other disagreements, as well as the dismissive attitude of the "main Trotskyist" to the future "leader" of the country of the Soviets, served as a pretext for an irreconcilable struggle between them, which was based on the usual struggle for political primacy and power. Trotsky considered himself the only heir to Lenin, and this ultimately led to his death.

The death of Lenin found Trotsky undergoing treatment in Kislovodsk. Upon learning of the death of the leader, the emotional Lev Davidovich fainted. But he did not attend the funeral. The telegram, due to Stalin's intrigues, carried disinformation.

Very quickly, Trotsky fell into disgrace. Lev Davidovich was sure that he, and not Stalin, would take the leading position in the country, and until the end of his life he believed that this was precisely the goal that Lenin pursued in his "Letter to the Congress." Disagreements with Stalin led to the fact that in 1925 Trotsky was removed from the post of People's Commissar of Military Affairs, and then sent to Alma-Ata.

Political claims to primacy led him to complain about the "unbearable conditions" of living in a hotel and demand permission to go hunting with his beloved dog Maya. All requirements were met. Trotsky hunted for his own pleasure and even thought about going to the tigers, and at the beginning of June he went to his dacha in the mountains.

However, the "eternal" oppositionist did not abandon his old habits and eagerly got involved in polemics over the future fate of the NEP. Sensing danger, Stalin decided to expel the political enemy from the country, not daring to destroy him physically. Moreover, the appearance of legality was created. A special meeting of the OGPU accused Lenin's former comrade-in-arms of preparing an armed struggle against Soviet power.

Stalin had serious problems with the expulsion of Trotsky. No country agreed to host a frantic revolutionary. Only Turkish President Kemal Ataturk was not afraid. On January 22, 1929, Trotsky and Sedova were transported to Frunze, there they were put on a train, and on the way they were informed that they would be exiled to Constantinople. Lev Davidovich was indignant. He could not imagine living with Russian emigrants. But I had to obey. On the ship Ilyich, Trotsky crossed the Turkish border with his wife and youngest son.

However, Trotsky did not stay in this country. For several years he was in constant travel. Visited France, Dalmatia and Norway. In 1932 he was stripped of his Soviet citizenship. The exile rushed about, not knowing how to take revenge, what to apply force to. Abroad, Trotsky did not stop fighting Stalin and his regime. In numerous articles and books, he exposed the Stalinist regime, often breaking into the tone of a quarrelsome neighbor in a communal apartment. In exile, Lev Davidovich wrote the book "The Stalinist School of Falsification" - one of the best on this issue. In parallel, he emphasized his outstanding role in the revolution. More serious steps have been taken. Back in 1929 in Turkey, he and his supporters organized an Opposition Bulletin exposing Stalin's methods of leadership and smuggled it to the USSR. Close ties were maintained with Trotsky's supporters in the Soviet state. As before, one of the main goals was to "accelerate the proletarian revolution" in the world.

His activities in exile became dangerous for the Soviet government. The mass extermination of Trotskyists began in the USSR. At the same time, innocent people also fell under the millstones of the state. The situation became threatening for Trotsky himself, his agents in various countries disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Sensing danger, he began to seek a more secure refuge.

Abroad, Trotsky had many supporters. Among them was a convinced "leftist", the famous Mexican artist Diego Rivera. He and his wife, Frida Kahlo, persuaded the President of Mexico, with whom they had a close relationship, to accept Trotsky. On the tanker "Ruth" provided by the Norwegian government, Lev Davidovich and his family crossed the ocean and on January 9, 1936, accompanied by a secretary and bodyguards, went ashore in the port of Tampico. Here a personal train sent by the president was waiting for them.

Lev Davidovich and Natalya Sedova were taken to Mexico City. Gradually, a small Trotskyist commune was formed in Rivera's house. The political emigrants were joined by their grandson Seva Volkov. Soon a romance arose between Trotsky and the owner's wife. It is not known how long Lev Davidovich's relationship with the ardent Trotskyite lasted, but Natalya Sedova quickly put an end to their relationship. After a stormy scene in a fit of humiliation, Trotsky, begging for forgiveness from his wife, called himself her "old faithful dog." Perhaps this would not have ended the matter, but the attack of appendicitis and the subsequent operation finally defused the situation. Nevertheless, it was somehow uncomfortable to live in the house of the deceived husband. Trotsky began to think about moving.

However, leaving their host family so easy meant admitting guilt. Lev Davidovich decided to justify the change of residence with ideological motives. In 1939, Rivera was suddenly removed from participation in the IV International. Now it was possible to move. Soon the couple and their entourage moved to a mansion on Vienna Street in 10 minutes. walk from Rivera's house. The naive artist was still among the admirers of the "great man." He was ready to stay in touch. But the unlucky lover flatly refused him from the house.

Trotsky has been assassinated more than once. The first attempt was made in Mexico in 1938. A suspicious messenger tried to break into Villa Kayokane, where the "Unyielding Lion" lived at the time. When he was exposed, he fled, but threw a packet of explosives near the house. On May 24, 1940, a convinced Stalinist and famous artist David Siqueiros, on the direct orders of Stalin, at the head of an armed detachment, tried to storm the villa. When this failed, the attackers left a time bomb near the entrance, which never detonated.

The atmosphere around Trotsky grew more and more tense. His secretary disappeared without a trace, the eldest daughter committed suicide, the youngest son who remained in his homeland was shot, and the eldest son died under mysterious circumstances. The elder brother of Lev Davidovich died in prison.

Trotsky knew that he was being hunted. At the gates of a specially bought large house, guards, mainly American Trotskyists, were constantly on duty. He drew up a will and often repeated in the morning: “They did not kill us that night. They gave us another day. "

Once a friend of one of the secretaries, the revolutionary Jacques Mornard, appeared in the house. He got into the confidence of the owner and, under the pretext of joint preparation of the article, began to visit Trotsky often. In fact, the young man's name was Ramon Mercader del Rio Hernandez. He was a lieutenant in the Spanish Republican Army and carried out a special assignment for the NKVD. Once, Mercader brought a specially shortened ice ax under the hollow of his outerwear, and when the owner bent over the writing table, he hacked it to death.

A tragic fate befell most of Trotsky's family members. The elder brother Alexander, despite the fact that he "dissociated himself" from Lev, was shot in 1938. The younger sister Olga, who became the wife of L. B. Kamenev, was shot in 1941. The first wife, Sokolovskaya, was exiled to Siberia. Two of her sons were killed even earlier, in 1936. Trotsky's youngest son was shot in 1937. Both daughters died, and one of them, as already mentioned, committed suicide. Both of his sons-in-law disappeared after the arrest.

Some of the coincidences of events, character and appearance of the “fiery revolutionary” with other political figures of the era are curious. Trotsky was born in the same year as Stalin. On the day of his birth, the October Revolution took place. With Lenin, he had the same type of nervous system: both were hysterical. The posthumous drawing from Trotsky is surprisingly similar to the face of the deceased leader of the Bolshevik revolution. The ideologue of Trotskyism wore the same pince-nez as Beria and Himmler.

L. D. Trotsky is an outstanding revolutionary of the twentieth century. He entered world history as one of the founders of the Red Army, the Comintern. L. D. Trotsky became the second person of the first Soviet government. It was he who headed the people's commissariat, was engaged in naval and military affairs, showed himself to be an outstanding fighter against the enemies of the world revolution.

Childhood

Leiba Davidovich Bronstein was born on November 7, 1879 in the Kherson province. His parents were illiterate people, but fairly wealthy Jewish landowners. The boy did not have any peer friends, so he grew up alone. Historians believe that it was at this time that such a trait of Trotsky's character as a sense of superiority over other people was formed. From childhood, he looked at the children of farm laborers with disdain, never played with them.

Youth period

What was Trotsky like? His biography has many interesting pages. For example, in 1889 he was sent by his parents to Odessa, the purpose of the trip was to educate the young man. He managed to enroll under a special quota allocated for Jewish children at the St. Paul's School. Quite quickly, Trotsky (Bronstein) became the best student in all subjects. In those years, the young man did not think about revolutionary activities, he was fond of literature, drawing.

At the age of seventeen, Trotsky found himself in a circle of socialists engaged in revolutionary propaganda. It was at this time that he began to study with interest the works of Karl Marx.

It is hard to believe that the books of which were studied by millions of people quickly enough turned into a real fanatic of Marxism. Even then, he differed from his peers with a sharp mind, showed leadership qualities, and knew how to conduct discussions.

Trotsky plunges into the atmosphere of revolutionary activity, creates the "South Russian Workers' Union", the members of which were the workers of the Nikolaev shipyards.

Persecution

When was Trotsky first arrested? The biography of the young revolutionary contains information about the many arrests. The first time he was imprisoned for revolutionary activities in 1898 for two years. Then there was his first exile to Siberia, from which he managed to escape. The surname Trotsky was inscribed in the fake passport, it was she who became his pseudonym for his entire life.

Trotsky is a revolutionary

After escaping from Siberia, the young revolutionary leaves for London. It was here that he met Vladimir Lenin, became the author of the newspaper "Iskra", publishing under the pseudonym "Pero". Having found common interests with the leaders of the Russian Social Democrats, Trotsky quickly becomes popular, accepting active agitators among migrants.

Trotsky easily established a trusting relationship with the Bolsheviks, using his oratorical skills and eloquence.

Books

During this period of his life, Leon Trotsky fully supported Lenin's ideas, therefore he received the nickname "Lenin's club". But a few years later the young revolutionary goes over to the side of the Mensheviks and accuses Vladimir Ulyanov of dictatorship.

He was unable to find mutual understanding with the Mensheviks either, since Trotsky tried to unite them with the Bolsheviks. After unsuccessful attempts to reconcile the two factions, he declares himself a "non-factional" member of the social democratic society. Now, as the main goal, he chooses the creation of his own trend, which differs from the views of the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks.

In 1905, Trotsky returned to revolutionary Petersburg, and found himself in the midst of the events taking place in the city.

It was he who created the Petersburg Soviet of Workers' Deputies, voiced revolutionary ideas in front of people with a revolutionary mood.

Trotsky actively advocated the revolution, so he ended up in prison again. It was at this time that he was deprived of his civil rights, sent to Siberia for an eternal settlement.

But he manages to escape from the gendarmes, cross over to Finland, then leave for Europe. In 1908, Trotsky settled in Vienna and began publishing the newspaper Pravda. A couple of years later the publication was intercepted by the Bolsheviks, and Lev Davidovich left for Paris, where he was in charge of the publishing house of the newspaper Nashe Slovo. In 1917, Trotsky decides to return to Russia and leaves from the Finland Station for the Petrosovet. He is given membership, given the right to an advisory vote. A couple of months after his stay in St. Petersburg, Lev Davidovich manages to become the informal leader of those who support the creation of one common Social Democratic Labor Party.

In October of the same year, Trotsky forms the Military Revolutionary Committee, and on November 7 he carries out an armed uprising, the purpose of which is to overthrow the provisional government. This event in history is known as the October Revolution. As a result, the Bolsheviks came to power, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin became their leader.

The new government endows Trotsky with the post of People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, a year later he becomes People's Commissar for Naval and Military Affairs. From that time on, he was engaged in the formation of the Red Army. Trotsky imprisons, shoots deserters, violators of military discipline, not sparing those who interfere with his vigorous activity. This period in history has been called the Red Terror.

In addition to military affairs, Trotsky at this time actively cooperates with Lenin on issues related to foreign and domestic policy. His popularity peaked by the end of the Civil War, but due to the death of Lenin, Trotsky was unable to carry out all the reforms aimed at moving from War Communism to the New Economic Policy. He failed to become Lenin's full-fledged successor, this place was taken by Joseph Stalin. In Leon Trotsky, he saw a serious rival, so he tried to take steps to neutralize the enemy. In the spring of 1924, a real persecution of Trotsky began, as a result of which Lev Davidovich was deprived of his post, membership in the Central Committee of the Politburo.

Who replaced Trotsky as People's Commissar of Defense? In January 1925, this position was taken by Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze. In 1926, Trotsky tried to return to the political life of the country, he organized an anti-government demonstration. But the attempts were unsuccessful, he was exiled to Alma-Ata, then to Turkey, deprived of Soviet citizenship.

We have already noted who replaced Trotsky at the post of People's Commissar of Defense, but he himself did not stop active struggle with Stalin. Trotsky began to publish the Bulletin of the Opposition, in which he tried to write about Stalin's barbaric activities. In exile, Trotsky is working on the creation of an autobiography, writes the essay "History of the Russian Revolution", telling about the necessity and inevitability of the October Revolution.

Personal life

In 1935 he moved to Norway and came under pressure from the authorities, which did not plan to spoil relations with the Soviet Union. His works were taken away from the revolutionary, and he was placed under house arrest. Trotsky did not want to put up with such an existence, so he decides to leave for Mexico, following from a distance the events unfolding in the USSR. In 1936 he completed work on the book Revolution Betrayed, where he called the Stalinist regime an alternative counter-revolutionary coup.

Alexandra Lvovna Sokolovskaya became Trotsky's first wife. He met her at the age of 16, when he had not yet thought about revolutionary activities.

Alexandra Lvovna Sokolovskaya was six years older than Trotsky. It was she, according to historians, who became his guide to Marxism.

She became an official wife only in 1898. After the wedding, the young went to Siberian exile, in which they had two daughters: Nina and Zinaida. The second daughter was only four months old when Trotsky managed to escape from exile. The wife remained in Siberia alone with two babies. Trotsky himself wrote about that period of his life that he escaped with the consent of his wife, and it was she who helped him move to Europe.

In Paris, Trotsky meets with an active participant in the publication of the newspaper Iskra. This led to the collapse of his first marriage, but Trotsky managed to maintain friendly relations with Sokolovskaya.

A series of troubles

In his second marriage, Trotsky had two sons: Sergei and Lev. Since 1937, numerous misfortunes began to lie in wait for the Trotsky family. The youngest son was shot for political activity. A year later, during an operation, his eldest son dies. A tragic fate befell the daughters of Lev Davydovich. In 1928, Nina died of consumption, and in 1933 Zina committed suicide, she could not get out of a state of severe depression. Soon Aleksandra Sokolovskaya, Trotsky's first wife, was shot in Moscow.

The second wife of Lev Davydovich lived after his death for another 20 years. She died in 1962 and was buried in Mexico.

The mystery of the biography

Trotsky's death still remains an unsolved mystery for many people. Who is he, that secret agent who is associated with the death of Lev Davydovich? Who killed Trotsky? This issue deserves a separate consideration. Pavel Sudoplatov, whose name is associated with the death of Trotsky, was born in 1907 in Melitopol. In 1921 he became an employee of the Cheka, then was transferred to the ranks of the NKVD.

Some historians believe that it was he who killed Trotsky on Stalin's orders. The task from the "leader of the peoples" was to eliminate the enemy of Stalin, who at that time lived in Mexico.

Pavel Anatolyevich Sudoplatov was appointed deputy head of the 1st department of the NKVD, where he worked until 1942.

Perhaps it was the assassination of Trotsky that allowed him to rise so high up the corporate ladder. Lev Bronstein all his life was Stalin's personal enemy, his opponent. No one knows exactly how Trotsky was killed; many legends are associated with the name of this man. Someone considers Trotsky a state criminal who fled abroad in an attempt to save his life.

How was Trotsky killed? This question still torments domestic and foreign historians. It was Lev Bronstein who made a significant contribution to Russian history. There is no exact information about how Trotsky was killed, but Stalin tried to eliminate his rival by any means throughout his political life.

Lenin's and Trotsky's views on the reality of Soviet Russia differed significantly. Lev Bronstein regarded the Stalinist regime as a bureaucratic degeneration of the proletarian regime.

Secrets of death

How was Trotsky killed? In 1927, he was faced with serious charges of carrying out counter-revolutionary activities under Art. 58 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR, Trotsky was expelled from the party.

The investigation into his case was short. Just a few days later, a car with prison bars was driving Trotsky's family to Alma-Ata, far from the capital. This journey became for the founder of the Red Army his farewell to the capital streets.

For Stalin, Trotsky's death would have been an excellent way to eliminate a strong enemy, but he was afraid to deal with him directly.

In search of an answer to the question of who killed Trotsky, we note that many KGB agents tried to crack down on Trotsky.

In exile, the Mexican artist Rivera provided a haven for his family. He shielded Trotsky from the attacks of the local communists. Police were constantly on duty at Rivera's house, Trotsky's American supporters reliably guarded their leader and helped him conduct active propaganda work.

Soviet counterintelligence in Europe was led at that time by Ignacy Reiss. He decided to end his espionage work and informed Trotsky that Stalin was trying to end him and his supporters outside the Soviet Union. To do this, it was supposed to use various methods: blackmail, cruel torture, terrorist acts, interrogation. A few weeks after sending this letter to Trotsky, Reiss was found dead on the way to Lausanne, and about ten bullets were found in his body. Mexican police found out that the people who killed Reiss were tracking Trotsky's son. In 1937, Stalin's supporters were preparing an attempt on Leo, but Trotsky's son did not arrive at the appointed time in Mulhouse. This incident forced Stalin's supporters to think about a possible leak of information, they started looking for an informant. The Trotsky family, having learned about the planned murder, became even more circumspect and more careful.

Lev Davydovich wrote to his son that when an attempt was made on his life, Stalin would be the customer of the murder.

In September 1937, the results of the Leon Trotsky case were published by an international commission headed by Dewey. They spoke of the complete innocence of Lev Sedov (son) and Lev Trotsky (father) on the charges brought against them in Moscow. This news gave Stalin's opponent strength for work and creative activity. But his joy was overshadowed by the death of his son Lev during the operation. The young man became a victim of the NKVD, death overtook him at the age of 32. The death of his son knocked down Trotsky, he grew a beard, the sparkle in his eyes disappeared.

The youngest son refused to renounce his father, for which he was sentenced to five years in the camps and exiled to Vorkuta.

Only Zina's son, Seva (Trotsky's grandson), who was born in 1925 and lived in Germany, managed to survive.

Life in exile

Historians put forward different versions regarding the place where Trotsky was killed. In the spring of 1939, he settled in a house near Coyoacan in Mexico. An observation tower was built at the gate, police were on duty on the street, and an alarm was installed in the house. Trotsky grew cacti, bred rabbits and chickens.

Conclusion

In the winter of 1940, Trotsky wrote a will, where in every line one could read the expectation of tragic events. By that time, his relatives and supporters had been destroyed, but Stalin did not want to stop there. Trotsky's criticism, which sounded from the other end of the earth, cast a shadow on the bright image of the leader that had been created over so many years.

Lev Davydovich in his messages addressed to Soviet sailors, soldiers, peasants, tried to warn them about the depravity of agents of the GPU, commissars. He called Stalin the main source of danger for the Soviet Union. Of course, such statements were painfully perceived by the "leader of the peoples", he could not allow Trotsky to live. On Stalin's orders, NKVD agent Jackson, who was the son of the Spanish communist Caridad Mercader, is sent to Mexico.

The operation was carefully planned, thought out to the smallest detail. Jackson met Sylvia Agelof, Trotsky's secretary, and gained access to the house. On the night of May 24, 1940, an attempt was made on Lev Davydovich.

Together with his wife and grandson, Trotsky hid under the bed. Then they managed to survive, but on August 20, Stalin's plans to eliminate the enemy were implemented. Trotsky, who was hit on the head with an ice screw, did not die immediately. He managed to give some orders regarding his wife and grandson to his devoted workers.

When the doctor arrived at the house, part of Trotsky's body was paralyzed. Lev Davydovich was taken to the hospital, they began to prepare for the operation. The craniotomy was performed by five surgeons. Most of the brain was damaged by bone fragments, and part was destroyed. Trotsky survived the operation, and for almost a day his body was desperately fighting for life.

Trotsky died on August 21, 1940, without regaining consciousness after the operation. Trotsky's grave is located in the courtyard of a house in the Coyoacane area of \u200b\u200bMexico City, a white stone was erected above it, and a red flag was erected.

Leon Trotsky is an outstanding revolutionary of the 20th century who went down in history as one of the founders of the Civil War, the Red Army and the Comintern. He was actually the second person in the first Soviet government and headed the people's commissariat for military and naval affairs, where he proved himself to be a tough and implacable fighter against the enemies of the world revolution. After his death, he led the opposition movement, speaking out against politics, for which he was deprived of Soviet citizenship, expelled from the Union and killed by an agent of the NKVD.

Lev Davidovich Trotsky was born (real name at birth - Leiba Davidovich Bronstein) on November 7, 1879 in the Ukrainian outback near the village of Yanovka, Kherson province, in a Jewish family of wealthy landowners. His parents were illiterate people, which did not prevent them from earning capital on the harsh exploitation of peasants. The future revolutionary grew up alone - he did not have peer friends with whom he could play pranks and play, since he was surrounded only by the children of farm laborers, at whom he looked down. According to historians, this laid in Trotsky the main character trait, in which the feeling of his own superiority over other people prevailed.

In 1889, young Trotsky's parents sent him to study in Odessa, since even then he showed an interest in education. There he entered the quota for Jewish families at St. Paul's School, where he became the best student in all disciplines. At that time, he did not even think about revolutionary activity, being carried away by drawing, poetry and literature.

But in his last years, 17-year-old Trotsky got into a circle of socialists, which was engaged in revolutionary propaganda. At the same time he became interested in studying the works of Karl Marx and subsequently became a fanatical adherent of Marxism. It was during this period that a sharp mind, a tendency to leadership, a polemic gift began to appear in him.

Immersed in revolutionary activity, Trotsky organized the "South Russian Workers' Union", into which the workers of the Nikolaev shipyards entered. At that time, they were little interested in wages, since they received a fairly high salary, and worried about social relations under the tsarist rule.

In 1898, for his revolutionary activities, Leon Trotsky first went to prison, where he had to spend 2 years. This was followed by his first exile to Siberia, from which he fled a few years later. Then he managed to make a fake passport, in which Lev Davidovich randomly entered the name Trotsky, like the senior warden of the Odessa prison. It was this surname that became the future pseudonym of the revolutionary, with whom he lived the rest of his life.

Revolutionary activity

In 1902, after escaping from Siberian exile, Leon Trotsky went to London to join Lenin, with whom he established contact through the channels of the newspaper Iskra, founded by Vladimir Ilyich. The future revolutionary became one of the authors of the Leninist newspaper under the pseudonym "Pero".

Having become close to the leaders of the Russian Social Democracy, Trotsky very quickly gained popularity and fame, speaking with agitating essays in front of migrants. He amazed those around him with his eloquence and oratory, which allowed him to win a serious attitude towards himself in the Bolshevik movement, despite his youth.

During that period, Leon Trotsky supported Lenin's policies as much as possible, for which he was dubbed "Lenin's club." But this did not last long - literally in 1903, the revolutionary went over to the side of the Mensheviks and began to accuse Lenin of dictatorship. But he also “did not get along with the leaders of Menshevism,” because he wanted to try on and unite the factions of the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, which caused great political disagreements. As a result, he declared himself a "non-factional" member of the Social Democratic society, with the goal of creating his own current, which would rise above the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks.

In 1905, Leon Trotsky returned to his homeland, to Petersburg seething with revolutionary sentiments, and immediately burst into the thick of events. He quickly organizes the St. Petersburg Soviet of Workers' Deputies and delivers fiery speeches to crowds of people who were already as electrified as possible with revolutionary energy. For his active work, the revolutionary again went to prison, as he advocated the continuation of the revolution even after the tsarist manifesto appeared, according to which the people received political rights. Then he was also deprived of all civil rights and exiled to Siberia for an eternal settlement.

On the way to the "polar tundra", Leon Trotsky manages to escape from the gendarmes and get to Finland, from where he will soon move to Europe. Since 1908, the revolutionary settled in Vienna, where he began to publish the newspaper Pravda. But four years later, the Bolsheviks, under the leadership of Lenin, intercepted this publication, as a result of which Lev Davidovich went to Paris, where he began publishing the newspaper Nashe Slovo.

After the February Revolution in 1917, Trotsky decided to return to Russia. Directly from Finland Station, he went to the Petrosovet, where he was granted membership with an advisory vote. In just a few months of his stay in St. Petersburg, Lev Davidovich became the informal leader of the Mezhraiontsi, who advocated the creation of a single Russian Social Democratic Labor Party.

In October 1917, the revolutionary created the Military Revolutionary Committee, and on October 25 (November 7 according to the new style), he conducted an armed uprising to overthrow the provisional government, which went down in history as the October Revolution. As a result of the revolution, the Bolsheviks came to power under the leadership of Lenin.

Under the new government, Leon Trotsky received the post of People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, and in 1918 he became People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs. From that moment on, he took up the formation of the Red Army, taking tough measures - he imprisoned and shot all violators of military discipline, deserters and all his opponents, giving no mercy to anyone, even the Bolsheviks, which went down in history under the concept of the "Red Terror".

In addition to military affairs, he worked closely with Lenin on issues of domestic and foreign policy. Thus, by the end of the Civil War, Leon Trotsky's popularity reached its climax, but the death of the "Bolshevik leader" did not allow him to carry out the planned reforms to switch from "war communism" to the New Economic Policy.

Trotsky was never able to become Lenin's “successor” and his place at the helm of the country was taken by Joseph Stalin, who saw Lev Davidovich as a serious enemy and hastened to “neutralize” him. In May 1924, the revolutionary was subjected to real persecution by opponents under the leadership of Stalin, as a result of which he lost the post of People's Commissar of Naval Affairs and membership in the Central Committee of the Politburo. In 1926, Trotsky tried to regain his position and organized an anti-government demonstration, as a result of which he was exiled to Alma-Ata, and then to Turkey, with the deprivation of Soviet citizenship.

In exile from the USSR, Leon Trotsky did not stop his struggle with Stalin - he began to publish the Bulletin of the Opposition and created an autobiography My Life, in which he justified his activities. He also wrote a historical essay "History of the Russian Revolution", in which he proved the exhaustion of Tsarist Russia and the need for the October Revolution.

In 1935, Lev Davidovich moved to Norway, where he came under pressure from the authorities, who did not want to worsen relations with the Soviet Union. All his works were taken from the revolutionary and placed under house arrest. This led to the fact that Trotsky decided to leave for Mexico, from where he "safely" followed the development of affairs in the USSR.

In 1936, Leon Trotsky finished his book Revolution Betrayed, in which he called the Stalinist regime a counter-revolutionary coup. Two years later, the revolutionary proclaimed the creation of an alternative to "Stalinism" of the Fourth International, the heirs of which still exist today.

Personal life

The personal life of Leon Trotsky was inextricably linked with his revolutionary activities. His first wife was Alexandra Sokolovskaya, whom he met at the age of 16, when he had not even thought about his revolutionary future. According to historians, it was Trotsky's first wife, who was 6 years older than him, who became the young man's guide to Marxism.

Sokolovskaya became Trotsky's official wife in 1898. Immediately after the wedding, the newlyweds were sent to Siberian exile, where they had two daughters - Zinaida and Nina. When the second daughter was only 4 months old, Trotsky fled Siberia, leaving his wife with two small children in her arms. In his book "My Life", Lev Davidovich, describing this stage of his life, indicated that his escape was accomplished with the full consent of Alexandra, who helped him to flee abroad without hindrance.

While in Paris, Leon Trotsky met his second wife Natalya Sedova, who participated in the work of the Iskra newspaper under the leadership of Lenin. As a result of this fateful acquaintance, the revolutionary's first marriage fell apart, but he maintained friendly relations with Sokolovskaya.

In the second marriage with Sedova, Leon Trotsky had two sons - Lev and Sergei. In 1937, a series of misfortunes began in the revolutionary family. His youngest son Sergei was shot for his political activity, and a year later Trotsky's eldest son, who was also an active Trotskyist, died under suspicious circumstances during an operation to remove appendicitis in Paris.

The daughters of Leon Trotsky also suffered a tragic fate. In 1928, his youngest daughter Nina died from consumption, and his eldest daughter Zinaida, deprived of Soviet citizenship with her father, committed suicide in 1933, being in a state of deep depression.

Following his daughters and sons, in 1938 Trotsky also lost his first wife, Alexander Sokolovskaya, who remained his only legal wife until his death. She was shot in Moscow as a stubborn supporter of the Left Opposition.

The second wife of Leon Trotsky, Natalya Sedova, despite the fact that she lost both sons, did not lose heart and supported her husband until the last days. She, together with Lev Davidovich, moved to Mexico in 1937 and after his death lived there for another 20 years. In 1960, she moved to Paris, which became an “eternal” city for her, where she met Trotsky. Sedova died in 1962, she was buried in Mexico next to her husband, with whom she shared his difficult revolutionary fate.

Murder

On August 21, 1940 at 7:25 in the morning, Leon Trotsky died. He was killed by NKVD agent Ramon Mercader in the house of a revolutionary in the Mexican city of Cayoacan. Trotsky's assassination was the result of his correspondence struggle with Stalin, who at that time was the head of the USSR.

The operation to eliminate Trotsky began back in 1938. Then Mercader, on the instructions of the Soviet authorities, managed to infiltrate the circle of the revolutionary in Paris. He appeared in the life of Lev Davidovich as a Belgian subject, Jacques Mornard.

Despite the fact that Trotsky turned his home in Mexico into a real fortress, Mercader managed to penetrate it and execute Stalin's order. In the two months preceding the assassination, Ramon managed to get into the confidence of the revolutionary and his friends, which allowed him to often appear in Cayoacan.

12 days before the assassination, Mercader arrived at Trotsky's house and presented him with a written article about the American Trotskyists. Lev Davidovich invited him to his office, where for the first time they managed to be alone. On that day, the revolutionary was alarmed by Ramon's behavior and his attire - in the extreme heat he appeared in a raincoat and a hat, and while Trotsky was reading the article, he stood behind his chair.

On August 20, 1940, Mercader again came to Trotsky with an article, which, as it turned out, was an excuse to retire with the revolutionary. He was again dressed in a cloak and a hat, but Lev Davidovich invited him to his office, without taking any precautions.

Sitting behind Trotsky's chair, carefully reading the article, Ramon decided to fulfill the order of the Soviet authorities. He took an ice ax out of his coat pocket and struck them with a strong blow to the revolutionary's head. Lev Davidovich uttered a very loud cry, to which all the guards came running. Mercader was seized and beaten, after which he was handed over to the police special agents.

Trotsky was immediately taken to the hospital, where two hours later he fell into a coma. The blow to the head was so severe that it damaged the vital centers of the brain. Doctors fought desperately for the life of the revolutionary, but he died 26 hours later.

For the murder of Trotsky, Ramon Mercader received 20 years in prison, which was the capital punishment under Mexican law. In 1960, the revolutionary's killer was released and immigrated to the USSR, where he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. According to historians, the preparation and execution of the operation to assassinate Lev Davidovich cost the NKVD $ 5 million.

L.D. Trotsky, the leader of the October Revolution, author of the theory of * permanent revolution *, ideologist and creator of the Soviet state, the Red Army and the Comintern had four children. None of them bore the surname * Trotsky *, but each paid in full for his father's sins. Both daughters from their first marriage accompanied their parents to prisons from birth.

Nina died of consumption in 1928 very young, Zinaida was expelled from the USSR and committed suicide in Germany in 1933. Their husbands, participants in the Civil War, Nevelson and Volkov, also died in the camps. The fate of the sons of Sergei and Lev was even more tragic. Sergei did not share his father's views, he even left home in protest against his policies. A patriot, he refused to emigrate, he graduated from the technological faculty in Russia.

In 1935 he was convicted in the * Kremlin case *, received five years of exile, miraculously got a job at a plant where he could have successfully worked on the creation of a gas generator, but was again arrested on a trumped-up case for * an attempt to poison the workers of the plant *. He was declared an enemy of the people and died in the camps. The same fate befell his wife, with Cator he divorced a year and a half before his arrest. Lev Sedov, on the contrary, was an ardent supporter of his father's ideas; in exile he became one of Lev Davidovich's assistants. He died under mysterious circumstances in Paris. His sudden death is still controversial: was it due to poisoning or due to a medical error? By 1938, Trotsky had lost all of his children.

August 21 of this year marks 75 years since the day when Leon Trotsky was killed. The biography of this famous revolutionary is well known. But the following circumstance is striking: he became an enemy not only for those who are deservedly regarded as counter-revolutionaries - enemies of the October Revolution of 1917, but also for those who, together with him, prepared and carried it out. At the same time, he never became an anti-communist and did not revise revolutionary ideals (at least the initial ones). What is the reason for such a sharp break with his like-minded people, which ultimately led to his death? Let's try together to find the answer to this question. Let's start with a biographical note.

It is rather difficult to describe it briefly, but let's try. Lev Bronstein (Trotsky) was born on November 7 (what an amazing coincidence of dates, how can you not believe in astrology?) 1879 in the family of a wealthy Jewish landowner (more precisely, a tenant) in Ukraine, in a small village, which is now in the Kirovograd region ...

He began his studies in Odessa at the age of 9 (note that our hero left the parental home as a child and never returned to it for a long time), continued it in 1895-1897. in Nikolaev, first in a real school, then at the Novorossiysk University, but soon stopped his studies and plunged into revolutionary work.

So, at eighteen - the first underground circle, at nineteen - the first arrest. Two years in different prisons under investigation, the first marriage with the same as himself, concluded by Alexandra Sokolovskaya directly in Butyrka prison (appreciate the humanism of the Russian authorities!), Then exile to the Irkutsk province together with his wife and brother-in-law (humanism is still in action). Here Trotsky Lev does not waste time - he and A. Sokolovskaya have two daughters, he is engaged in journalism, is published in Irkutsk newspapers, and sends several articles abroad.

This is followed by an escape and a dizzying journey with forged documents in the name of Trotsky (according to the testimony of Lev Davidovich himself, that was the name of one of the guards in the Odessa prison, and his surname seemed to the fugitive so euphonious that he offered it to make a fake passport) to London itself.

Our hero made it there by the very beginning of the second congress of the RSDLP (1902), at which the famous split between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks took place. It was here that he met Lenin, who appreciated Trotsky's literary gift and tried to introduce him to the editorial board of the newspaper Iskra.

Before the first Russian revolution, Trotsky Lev held an unstable political position, vacillating between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. This period includes his second marriage with Natalya Sedova, which he concludes without divorcing his first wife. This marriage was very long, and N. Sedova was with him until his death.

1905 is the time of the unusually fast political rise of our hero. Arriving in Petersburg, seething after the Bloody Resurrection, Lev Davidovich organized the Petersburg Council and became first deputy chairman, G.S.Nosar (pseudonym Khrustalev is a lawyer, Ukrainian, originally from Poltava region, shot in 1918 on Trotsky's personal instructions), and after his arrest and chairman. Then, at the end of the year - arrest, in 1906 - trial and exile in the Arctic (area of \u200b\u200bpresent-day Salekhard) forever.

But Trotsky Lev would not be himself if he allowed himself to be buried alive in the tundra. On the way to exile, he makes a daring escape and single-handedly makes his way through half of Russia abroad.

This was followed by a long period of emigration until 1917. At this time, Lev Davidovich began and abandoned many political projects, published several newspapers, and tried in every way to gain a foothold in the revolutionary movement as one of its organizers. He does not take the side of either Lenin or the Mensheviks; he hesitates all the time between them, maneuvers, tries to reconcile the warring wings of Social Democracy. He is desperately trying to occupy a leadership position in the Russian revolutionary movement. But he does not succeed, and by 1917 he finds himself on the sidelines of political life, which leads Trotsky to the idea of \u200b\u200bleaving Europe and trying his luck in America.

Here he made very interesting acquaintances in various circles, including financial ones, which allowed him to arrive in Russia after the February Revolution, in May 1917, clearly not with an empty pocket. The previous chairmanship in the Petrograd Soviet provided him with a place in the new reincarnation of this institution, and financial opportunities are being promoted to the leaders of the new Soviet, which, under the leadership of Trotsky, enters the struggle for power with the Provisional Government.

He eventually (in September 1917) joined the Bolsheviks and became the second person in the Leninist party. Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Stalin, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Sokolnikov and Bubnov are seven members of the first Politburo, founded in 1917 to govern the Bolshevik revolution. Moreover, from September 20, 1917, he was also the chairman of the Petrograd Soviet. In fact, all the practical work to organize the October Revolution and its defense in the first weeks of Soviet power is the work of Leon Trotsky.

In 1917-1918. he served the revolution, first as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, and then as the founder and commander of the Red Army in the post of People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs. Trotsky Lev was a key figure in the victory of the Bolsheviks in the civil war in Russia (1918-1923). He was also a permanent member (1919-1926) of the Politburo of the Bolshevik Party.

After the defeat of the Left Opposition, which waged an unequal struggle against the rise of Joseph Stalin and his policies in the 1920s aimed at increasing the role of the bureaucracy in the Soviet Union, Trotsky was removed from power (October 1927), expelled from the Communist Party (November 1927 g.) and expelled from the Soviet Union (February 1929).

As head of the Fourth International, Trotsky in exile continued to confront the Stalinist bureaucracy in the Soviet Union. On Stalin's orders, he was killed in Mexico in August 1940 by Ramon Mercader, a Spanish-born Soviet agent.

Trotsky's ideas formed the basis of Trotskyism, a major branch of Marxist thought that opposed the theory of Stalinism. He was one of the few Soviet political figures who was not rehabilitated either under the government of Nikita Khrushchev in the 1960s, or during the period of Gorbachev's perestroika. In the late 1980s, his books were released for publication in the Soviet Union.

Only in post-Soviet Russia was Leon Trotsky rehabilitated. His biography has been studied and written by a number of famous historians, including, for example, Dmitry Volkogonov. We will not retell it in detail, but analyze only a few selected pages.

In order to understand the origins of the formation of the personality of our hero, you need to take a closer look at where Leon Trotsky was born, informs the site rosregistr. It was the Ukrainian hinterland, the steppe agricultural zone, which remains the same to this day. And what did the Jewish Bronstein family do there: father David Leontievich (1847-1922), who was born in Poltava region, mother Anna, from Odessa (1850-1910), their children? The same thing as other bourgeois families in those places - she earned capital by the brutal exploitation of Ukrainian peasants. By the time our hero was born, his illiterate (note this circumstance!) Father, who lives, in fact, surrounded by people alien to him in nationality and mentality, already owned an estate of several hundred acres of land and a steam mill. Dozens of farm laborers bent their backs on him.

Doesn't all this remind the reader of something from the life of Boer planters in South Africa, where instead of black kaffirs there are swarthy Ukrainians? It was in such an atmosphere that the character of little Leva Bronstein was formed. No peer friends, no reckless boyish games and pranks, just the boredom of a bourgeois house and a look from above at the Ukrainian farm laborers. It is from childhood that the roots of that sense of one's own superiority over other people, which constituted the main character trait of Trotsky, grow.

And he would be a worthy assistant to his dad, but, fortunately, his mother, being a little educated woman (from Odessa, after all), felt in time that her son was capable of more than simple exploitation of peasant labor, and insisted that he be sent to study in Odessa (live in an apartment with relatives). Below you can see what Leon Trotsky was like as a child (photo presented).

In Odessa, our hero was enrolled in a real school according to a quota that was allocated for Jewish children. Odessa was then a bustling cosmopolitan port city, very different from the typical Russian and Ukrainian cities of the time. In Sergei Kolosov's film The Split (we recommend watching it to anyone interested in the history of the Russian Revolution), there is a scene when Lenin in 1902 meets Trotsky, who fled from his first exile, in London and is interested in the impression that the capital of Great Britain made on him. He replies that it is simply impossible to experience a greater impression than Odessa made on him after moving to it from a rural backwater.

Leo is an excellent student, becoming the first student in his course all the years in a row. In the memoirs of his peers, he appears to be an unusually ambitious person, the desire for superiority in everything distinguishes him from fellow students. By the age of majority, Leo turns into an attractive young man, for whom all doors in life should be open in the presence of wealthy parents. How did Leon Trotsky continue to live (his photo during his studies is presented below)?

Trotsky planned to study at Novorossiysk University. To this end, he transferred to Nikolaev, where he completed the last course of a real school. He was 17 years old, and he did not even think about any revolutionary activity. But, unfortunately, the sons of the landlord were socialists, they dragged the high school student into their circle, where various revolutionary literature was discussed - from Narodnik to Marxist. Among the members of the circle was A. Sokolovskaya, who recently completed obstetric courses in Odessa. Six years older than Trotsky, she made an indelible impression on him. Wanting to show off his knowledge in front of the subject of his passion, Leo intensively took up the study of revolutionary theories. This played a cruel joke on him: having started once, he never again got rid of this occupation.

Apparently, it suddenly dawned on the young ambitious - after all, this is it, the very thing to which you can devote your life, which can bring the coveted glory. Together with Sokolovskaya, Trotsky plunges into revolutionary work, prints leaflets, leads social-democratic agitation among the workers of the Nikolaev shipyards, organizes the "South Russian Workers' Union".

In January 1898, over 200 members of the union, including Trotsky, were arrested. He spent the next two years in prison awaiting trial - first in Nikolaev, then in Kherson, then in Odessa and Moscow. In Butyrskaya prison, he came into contact with other revolutionaries. There he first heard about Lenin and read his book The Development of Capitalism in Russia, gradually becoming a real Marxist. Two months after his imprisonment (March 1-3, 1898), the first congress of the newly formed Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) took place. Since then, Trotsky has defined himself as a member.

Alexandra Sokolovskaya (1872-1938) for some time before being sent into exile was imprisoned in the same Butyrka prison in Moscow, where Trotsky was at that time. He wrote her romantic letters, begged for her consent to marry him. Tellingly, her parents and the prison administration supported the ardent lover, but the Bronstein couple were categorically against it - apparently, they had a premonition that they would have to raise children of such unreliable (in the everyday sense) parents. Despite his father and mother, Trotsky nevertheless marries Sokolovskaya. The wedding ceremony was performed by a Jewish priest.

In 1900 he was sentenced to four years of exile in the Irkutsk region of Siberia. Because of their marriage, Trotsky and his wife are allowed to settle in one place. Accordingly, the couple was exiled to the village of Ust-Kut. Here they had two daughters: Zinaida (1901-1933) and Nina (1902-1928).

However, Sokolovskaya failed to keep such an active nature as Lev Davidovich next to her. Having gained some fame for the articles written in exile and tormented by a thirst for activity, Trotsky lets his wife know that he is unable to stay away from the centers of political life. Sokolovskaya resignedly agrees. In the summer of 1902, Leo escapes from Siberia - first on a cart hidden under the hay to Irkutsk, then with a forged passport in the name of Leon Trotsky by rail to the borders of the Russian Empire. Alexandra subsequently fled Siberia with her daughters.

After fleeing Siberia, he moved to London to join Plekhanov, Vladimir Lenin, Martov and other editors of the Leninist newspaper Iskra. Under the pseudonym "Pen" Trotsky soon became one of its leading authors.

At the end of 1902, Trotsky met with Natalya Ivanovna Sedova, who soon became his companion, and from 1903 until his death, his wife. They had 2 children: Lev Sedov (1906-1938) and Sergei Sedov (March 21, 1908 - October 29, 1937), both sons died before their parents.

At the same time, after a period of secret police repression and internal disorder that followed the first congress of the RSDLP in 1898, Iskra succeeded in convening the second congress of the party in London in August 1903. Trotsky and other Iskra-ists took part in it.

The congress delegates were divided into two groups. Lenin and his Bolshevik supporters advocated for a small but highly organized party, while Martov and his Menshevik supporters sought to create a large and less disciplined organization. These approaches reflected the difference in their goals. If Lenin wanted to create a party of professional revolutionaries for the underground struggle against the autocracy, then Martov dreamed of a party of the European type with an eye to parliamentary methods of struggle against tsarism.

At the same time, the closest associates presented Lenin with a surprise. Trotsky and most of the Iskra editors supported Martov and the Mensheviks, while Plekhanov supported Lenin and the Bolsheviks. For Lenin, Trotsky's betrayal was a strong and unexpected blow, for which he called the latter Judas and, apparently, never forgave.

During 1903-1904. many faction members went over to the other side. Thus, Plekhanov soon parted with the Bolsheviks. Trotsky also left the Mensheviks in September 1904 and until 1917 called himself a "non-factional Social Democrat" in an attempt to reconcile various groups within the party, as a result of which he took part in many clashes with Lenin and other prominent members of the RSDLP.

How did Leon Trotsky feel about Lenin personally? Quotations from his correspondence with the Menshevik Chkheidze quite clearly characterize their relationship. Thus, in March 1913, he wrote: "Lenin ... is a professional exploiter of all backwardness in the Russian labor movement ... The entire edifice of Leninism is currently built on lies and falsification and carries a poisonous beginning of its own decay ..."

Later, during the struggle for power, he will be reminded of all his vacillations regarding the general course of the party set by Lenin. Below you can see what Trotsky Lev Davidovich was (photo with Lenin).

So, everything that we know about the personality of our hero so far does not characterize him very flatteringly. His undoubted literary and journalistic talent is leveled out by painful ambition, posturing, selfishness (remember A. Sokolovskaya, left in Siberia with her two young daughters). However, during the period of the first Russian revolution, Trotsky unexpectedly manifests himself from a new side - as a very courageous man, an outstanding orator, capable of igniting the masses, as a brilliant organizer. Arriving in May 1905 in the seething revolutionary Petersburg, he immediately rushes into the thick of events, becomes an active member of the Petrograd Soviet, writes dozens of articles, leaflets, and speaks in front of crowds electrified with revolutionary energy with fiery speeches. After a while, he was already deputy chairman of the Soviet, actively participating in the preparation of the October general political strike. After the appearance of the tsarist manifesto of October 17, which granted the people political rights, he sharply opposes it, calls for the continuation of the revolution.

When the gendarmes arrested Khrustalev-Nosar, Lev Davidovich takes his place, is preparing combat workers' squads, the shock force of the future armed uprising against the autocracy. But in early December 1905, the government decided to disperse the Soviet and arrest its deputies. An absolutely amazing story takes place during the very arrest, when the gendarmes burst into the meeting room of the Petrograd Soviet, and the presiding Trotsky only by force of his will and the gift of persuasion drives them out the door for a while, which allows those present to prepare: destroy some documents dangerous to them, get rid of weapons. But the arrest nevertheless took place, and Trotsky again finds himself in a Russian prison, this time in the St. Petersburg "Kresty".

The biography of Lev Davidovich Trotsky is replete with bright events. But our task does not include its detailed presentation. We will confine ourselves to a few vivid episodes in which the character of our hero is most clearly manifested. Among them is the story of Trotsky's second exile to Siberia.

This time, after a year of imprisonment (however, in quite decent conditions, including access to any literature and press), Lev Davidovich was sentenced to eternal exile in the Arctic, in the Obdorsk region (now Salekhard). Before leaving, he handed over to the wild a farewell letter with the words: “We are leaving with deep faith in the quick victory of the people over their age-old enemies. Long live the proletariat! Long live international socialism! "

It goes without saying that he was not ready to sit for years in the polar tundra, in some squalid dwelling and expect a saving revolution. Besides, what kind of revolution could we talk about if he himself did not participate in it?

Therefore, the only way out for him was immediate escape. When the caravan with prisoners reached Berezovo (a famous place of exile in Russia, where the former Highness Prince A. Menshikov spent the rest of his life), from where there was a way to the north, Trotsky feigned an attack of acute radiculitis. He made sure that he was left with a couple of gendarmes in Berezovo until he recovered. Having deceived their vigilance, he flees the town and gets to the nearest Khanty settlement. There, in some incredible way, he hires deer and travels through the snow-covered tundra (this is happening in January 1907) for almost a thousand kilometers to the Ural Mountains, accompanied by a Khant guide. And having reached the European part of Russia, Trotsky easily crosses it (let's not forget that the year 1907 is coming, like him, the authorities tie “Stolypin's ties” around their necks) and ends up in Finland, from where he moves to Europe.

This adventure, if I may say so, ended quite safely for him, although the risk to which he exposed himself was incredibly high. He could easily be stabbed with a knife or stunned and thrown into the snow to freeze, having coveted the rest of the money that he had with him. And it would have been the assassination of Leon Trotsky not in 1940, but three decades earlier. There would not have happened then either an enchanting take-off during the years of the revolution, or all that followed. However, the history and fate of Lev Davidovich himself ordered otherwise - for good luck for himself, but on the grief of long-suffering Russia, and to his homeland, no less.

In August 1940, the news spread around the world that Leon Trotsky was killed in Mexico, where he lived in the last years of his life. Was this a global event? Doubtful. It has been almost a year since Poland was defeated, and two months have passed since the surrender of France. China and Indochina were on fire. Feverishly preparing for the war of the USSR.

So, apart from a few supporters from among the members of the Fourth International created by Trotsky and numerous enemies, ranging from the authorities of the Soviet Union and ending with most world politicians, few commented on this death. The newspaper Pravda published a murderous obituary composed by Stalin himself and filled with hatred for the slain enemy.

It should be mentioned that they tried to kill Trotsky several times. Among the potential murderers, even the great Mexican artist Siqueiros was noted, who participated in the raid on Trotsky's villa in Mexico as part of a group of Orthodox communists and personally fired an automatic fire on Lev Davidovich's empty bed, not suspecting that he was hiding under it. Then the bullets went by.

But what killed Leon Trotsky? The most amazing thing is that the weapon of this murder was not a weapon - cold or firearms, but an ordinary ice ax, a small pickaxe used by climbers during their ascents. And the NKVD agent Ramon Mercador, a young man whose mother was an active participant in the Spanish Civil War, was holding it in the hands. An orthodox communist, she blamed the defeat of the Spanish republic on Trotsky's supporters, who, although they fought on the side of the republican forces in the civil war, refused to act in line with the policy set from Moscow. She passed on this conviction to her son, who became the true instrument of this murder.

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