Apr
10
The Exile of Leon Trotsky
April 10, 2012 | | Comments Off on The Exile of Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
In October of 1917, the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia and named Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov (otherwise known as Lenin) their leader. After negotiating a peace treaty with the Central Powers (namely Germany) Lenin appointed Trotsky as the “commissar of war,” to command the Red Army. Trotsky moved quickly to put down the White Army: anti-Bolshevik forces within Russia.
Just a few years later, in 1923, Vladimir Lenin died of a stroke. Trotsky, on vacation in the Caucasus region at the time, was unable to attend his funeral. With Trotsky abscent, Joseph Stalin ascended to power. As leader of the Communist Party, Stalin stripped Trotsky of his post and demoted him. Finally, in 1927, Stalin expelled Trotsky from the Communist Party – accusing Trotsky of planning to overthrow him. In the early part of 1929, Trotsky was permenantly exiled from the country.
Trotsky moved to Istanbul, in Turkey, where he resided for four years. Constantly threatened by former White Army leaders and current Soviet sympathizers, Trotsky sought assylum in France. In 1935, the French government forced Trotsky to leave after political pressuring by Stalin and the Soviet government. From there, Trotsky moved to Norway but was again forced to leave a little more than a year. In 1937 Trotsky moved to Mexico City at the behest of Diego Rivera – a communist, mural artist and husband to Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.
Trotsky was assassinated in his home in Coyoacan on August 20, 1940.
Original Content by Matt Rudderow
Picture from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Trotsky
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