On November 7, 1917, the Russian Bolsheviks launched the October Revolution in Petrograd, which shocked the world. This was the first victorious socialist revolution in human history, which overthrew the original reactionary Provisional Government and established a completely new republic belonging to the working class.
And Lenin, as the chief planner of this revolution, seems indisputably worthy of becoming the leader of the new republic. But Lenin, who had always been confident, refused to become Chairman of the People's Council and demanded that the position be ceded to another person. So what was it that made the confident Lenin sigh and willingly give up the position of the first chair of the republic?
He was the commander of the October Revolution, the founder of the Red Army of the Soviet Union and the spiritual leader of the Fourth International.
Lev Davy dović Trotsky.
Lenin, who addressed the revolutionary soldiers and the masses during the October Revolution
However, it was such a glorious figure who made great achievements for the Soviet Union, but after Lenin's death, stalin expelled from the party. After that, Trotsky was exiled and expelled, and finally brutally assassinated!
Why, then, did Trotsky receive such a high degree of admiration from Lenin? Why did Stalin hold a grudge against him?
Trotsky with red army soldiers
Before answering these two questions, it is necessary to look back at Trotsky's tragic but magnificent life.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="10" > was born into a rich peasant family, but had a heart for the masses</h1>
Trotsky, whose original name was Bloenstein, was born in 1879 to a Jewish kulak family in Tsarist Russia, which gave Bloenstein the opportunity to get a good education. In 1896, Bühlenstein transferred to the then famous industrial city of Tsarist Russia, Nikolayev. During his schooling, he gradually learned about the brutality of Tsarist russian despotic rule and the hardships of workers' lives. He began to engage in the workers' movement, organized the "South Russian Workers' Union", and carried out propaganda work among the workers against the tsarist autocracy.
Trotsky as a student
Therefore, Brenstein's move is very difficult. Because although the rule of Tsarist Russia was brutal, it represented the interests of the landlords and the kulaks. Brünstein was born into the kulaks and belonged to the beneficiary class of Tsarist Russia. But for the sake of the great righteousness in his heart, he resolutely broke with his own class. Giving up a comfortable and beautiful life as a prince to participate in the dangerous workers' movement has to be said to be an admirable act.
The extravagant life of the Russian aristocracy was based on the harsh exploitation of workers and peasants
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="14" > participated in revolutionary activities, but was exiled</h1>
In January 1898, Bühlenstein, who was supposed to get a degree in mathematics, marry a rich lady, and live a carefree life, was arrested and imprisoned for his involvement in revolutionary activities. Soon after, Bloenstein was exiled to desolate Siberia, where "Trotsky" was his fellow prisoner.
Trotsky was so moved to hear about Bloenstein that he decided to give him his passport. to help him escape from exile. In this way, Bloenstein became Trotsky by his pseudonym, which was later known as the name.
Trotsky's prison photo
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="17" > flee exile and still have a heart for revolution</h1>
After escaping from exile, Trotsky was still obsessed with revolution. As soon as he regained his freedom, he immediately joined the then socialist party, the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, and participated as a delegate at the Second Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. Soon after the meeting, the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party split into two factions, the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks.
The Participants of the Fourth Congress of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party included Lenin and Stalin
At first Trotsky was a member of the Mensheviks. But as the Mensheviks allied themselves with Russian liberals and betrayed their revolutionary intentions, Trotsky immediately broke away from it. Thereafter, until the eve of the October Revolution of 1917, Trotsky remained a centrist outside the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="20" > the revolution broke out and returned to China to participate in the revolution</h1>
When Trotsky learned of the impending revolution in Tsarist Russia in 1905, he immediately sneaked back to Russia in February. He came to St. Petersburg to work in newspaper journalism to promote the development of the revolutionary situation, and later he was elected vice-chairman of the St. Petersburg Soviet. Soon after the Chairman of the Soviet Union was arrested. Trotsky was promoted from Vice-President to the position of President. On December 3 of the same year, Trotsky followed in the footsteps of his previous chairman and was imprisoned, and in 1906 he was sentenced to lifelong exile.
But Trotsky was not discouraged. He fled to London, England, the following year, and then to France. In September 1916, Trotsky was expelled by the French government, and he arrived in the United States at the end of the year.
Trotsky in 1915
Although in the United States, Trotsky was still mindful of the revolutionary activities of his homeland. He joined the editorial board of the Russian-language newspaper Le New World, sponsored by Bukharin, and continued to export revolutionary ideas to his Russian compatriots.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="23" > the February Revolution broke out and returned to China again</h1>
On March 27, 1917, the spring breeze of the February Revolution blew into the United States. Upon hearing the news, Trotsky immediately returned to His country and joined a revolutionary organization called the "District UnionIsts". Later, Trotsky was arrested and imprisoned by the Provisional Government for publicly expressing support for the ideas of Lenin and others.
Soon after, the districts joined the Bolsheviks. Although still in prison, Trotsky was elected a member of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party by the third highest vote, only two votes less than Lenin.
Lenin, who gave a speech to the soldiers of the Red Army during the February Revolution
After his release from prison, because Lenin was hiding from his want at the time, Trotsky temporarily assumed the chairmanship of the Petrograd Soviet. He became the supreme leader of the October Revolution and directly led the Red Army to victory in the October Revolution. It was precisely because of such brilliant achievements in the October Revolution that Lenin was willing to cede the position of Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars to Trotsky.
But the rest of the party did not have the generosity of Lenin. Since Trotsky had only joined the Bolsheviks on the eve of the October Revolution, many regarded him as a revolutionary opportunist. In desperation, the position of Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars was eventually handed over to Lenin, but Trotsky also held a very important position within the Committee.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="26" > consolidate revolutionary power and quarrel with comrades</h1>
In 1921 the Red Army entered Georgia and established The Georgian Soviet regime. At this time, Lenin and Trotsky had a great difference of opinion on many issues, so he reused Stalin to balance them. But then Stalin's brutal policy of repression gradually aroused Lenin's disgust, and Lenin had to seek cooperation with Trotsky again.
Stalin, Lenin, Trotsky (from left to right).
At a conference on foreign trade, Lenin wrote to Trotsky asking him to represent himself against Stalin in the conference. These letters were written by Lenin's wife, Krupskaya, dictated by Lenin.
Stalin was furious when he learned of this and insulted Krupskaya on the phone. Fortunately, Krupskaya was concerned about His illness and did not tell him about it. But eventually Lenin learned of this, and he angrily wrote to Stalin and threatened him with an apology.
But Stalin did not have a sincere apology, he simply wrote at the end of the apology letter: "Since you think that in order to maintain the relationship, I should retract the above words." I can take it back without thinking about what it is, where I'm 'wrong', or what I want it to be. ”
It is conceivable that lenin would undoubtedly be even more disgusted with Stalin if he received such a sour reply.
Lenin and Stalin
However, on the same day that Stalin replied. Lenin, aggravated by anger and exertion, suffered from aphasia and could no longer speak. During Lenin's deteriorating health, Stalin forged a political alliance with the party elders Kamenev and Zinoviev against the prestigious Trotsky.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="30" > mentor died, and the contradiction between Tor and Si intensified</h1>
On January 21, 1924, the great revolutionary teacher Lenin passed away. Fortunately, he wrote his will before his condition deteriorated. In his will, Lenin proposed reforming the Soviet government apparatus and proposed that Stalin be transferred from his post as General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. Surprisingly, at the Thirteenth Congress of the CPSU, Lenin's will was not made public, but only among the senior leaders of the Central Committee.
Stalin offered his resignation on the advice of Lenin's will, but Kamenev, Zinoviev and others disagreed. They considered Lenin's proposal inappropriate and unanimously elected Stalin as General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.
In response, Trotsky wrote On Lenin and The Lesson of October, bluntly criticizing the betrayal of Lenin by Kamenev, Zinoviev, and others.
This created a situation in which the two joined forces with Stalin against Trotsky. The trio published articles stating that "Trotskyism" was not true Leninism, and Stalin also stated that "the task of the Party is to bury the Trotskyist trend."
Trotsky and Stalin after Lenin's death
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="33" > contradictions intensified, and he fled overseas</h1>
Isolated Trotsky was defeated in the political struggle and was relieved of his post as Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council. Later, he was exiled and deported by Stalin. He went into exile in Turkey, France, Norway, and finally settled in Mexico.
In 1938, he was in Mexico in open opposition to the Stalin-controlled Third International, with supporters who founded the World Socialist Revolutionary Party, the Fourth International. In 1940, he was chiseled into the back of the head with an ice axe by agents of Soviet intelligence and died the next day. The death of a generation of revolutionaries, Trotsky, at the hands of the Assassins, has to be said to be a great regret in the world.
Trotsky's posthumous photograph of himself who died in the head after the sharp weapon attack
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="36" > Chinese "Trotskyists" and Trotsky</h1>
It is worth mentioning that we need to separate the so-called "Trotskyists" in China from the Trotskyists. The Trotskyists in China are a group of left-wing fighters who think they have mastered Trotsky's true teachings and know the truth of the revolution.
But in fact, they are a group of generalists who do not learn any skills and can only play tricks. They opposed Chairman Mao's great strategy of encircling the cities in the countryside, and even believed that they should not resist Japanese aggression and should surrender China's great rivers and mountains to Japan.
The Trotskyites wrote many letters criticizing these ideas, but they still used the guise of Trotsky to deceive China, which made Trotsky's reputation in China not very good.
However, I believe that as the truth of history is pulled apart little by little, we will eventually have a more objective and fair view of Trotsky.