Leon Trotsky (1879 - 1940)

Fri Nov 07, 1879

Leon Trotsky, born on this day in 1879, was a Marxist theorist, revolutionary, and politician. "Learning carries within itself certain dangers because out of necessity one has to learn from one's enemies."

Trotsky joined the Bolshevik Party a few weeks before the October Revolution and immediately became a leader within the party, thus also playing a key role in the October Revolution.

Trotsky became more prominent from March 1918 to January 1925 as the leader of the Red Army in the post of Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs. He was also a vital leading figure in the Red victory in the Russian Civil War and one of the seven members of the first Politburo.

After the rise of Joseph Stalin, Trotsky was removed from his positions and eventually expelled from the Soviet Union in February 1929. He spent the rest of his life in exile, and was assassinated in 1940 in Mexico City by Ramón Mercader, a Soviet agent.

Trotsky was a prolific author whose works include History of the Russian Revolution (1930) and The Revolution Betrayed (1936). Key characteristics of Trotskyist thought include the concepts of "Permanent Revolution" and the "United Front" of revolutionaries and reformers against common enemies.

"Learning carries within itself certain dangers because out of necessity one has to learn from one's enemies."

- Leon Trotsky

• Date: 1879-11-07
• Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.marxists.org.
• Tags: #Marxism, #Birthdays.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org