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Stalin expelled Trotsky from the Bolshevik party in 1927 and exiled him from Russia in 1929.

Stalin expelled Trotsky from the Bolshevik party in 1927 and exiled him from Russia in 1929.

Trotsky eventually settled in [[Mexico]] in 1937. On August 20, 1940 Soviet agent and Spanish communist [[Ramón Mercador]] murdered Trotsky with a ice pick in Trotsky's [[Mexico City]] home.

Trotsky's most influential idea was the notion of permanent revolution.  Trotsky asserted that the unification of developed and backward countries in the worldwide operations of capitalism created a combination of separate and uneven stages of development in backward countries like Russia, permitting the Russian proletariat the capability of carrying out a revolution but at the same time requiring the permanent extension of revolution in time and space until the extinction of class distinctions.  

Western commentators on Trotsky generally fall into four categories, aside from orthodox Trotskyists, who have generally been concerned with preserving his ideas rather than developing them. First, the pro-Soviets oppose him and his ideas, especially on the issue of socialism in one country. The second group, described as sympathetic critics, has examined Trotsky's stands and while generally in agreement, has commonly found his views mistaken on three points in particular: his conversion to Leninism, his failure to move against Stalin in 1923, and his characterization of Stalinism as a workers' state. A third group of commentators has viewed Trotsky skeptically, an unlikely alternative to Stalin. The realist group, in contrast, faults Trotsky for failure to realize the true nature of events after 1917. After glasnost in the 1980s Trotsky was rehabilitated in Russia as an important leader and some of his writings have been published.<ref> Michael Cox, "Trotsky and his Interpreters; Or, Will the Real Leon Trotsky Please Stand Up?" ''Russian Review'' 1992 51(1): 84-102. </ref>

One of Trotsky's famous quotes (which also sums up the [[Atheism]] in the Communist Movement) was : "Religions are illogical primitive ignorance. There is nothing as ridiculous and tragic as a religious government."

One of Trotsky's famous quotes (which also sums up the [[Atheism]] in the Communist Movement) was : "Religions are illogical primitive ignorance. There is nothing as ridiculous and tragic as a religious government."

==Further reading==

==Further reading==

* Daniels, Robert V. ''Trotsky, Stalin and Socialism.'' (1991). 208 pp.

* Daniels, Robert V. ''Trotsky, Stalin and Socialism.'' (1991). 208 pp.