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[[Image:Trockiy2.jpg|right|thumb|Leon Trotsky]]

[[Image:Trockiy2.jpg|right|thumb|Leon Trotsky]]

'''Leon Trotsky''' ([[Russian language|Russian]]:  Лeв Давидович Трóцкий) , born '''Lev Davidovich Bronstein''' (Russian: Лeв Давидович Бронштéйн) (1879-1940), pronounced (traht'-skee) was a leader with [[Lenin]] in the [[Bolshevik]] ([[Communist]]) [[October Revolution]] in Russia in 1917. A charismatic orator, systematic organizer and brilliant theorist, Trotsky was primarily an intellectual whose writings greatly influenced leftist movements worldwide.  An energetic organizer he planned the successful Petrograd uprising in November 1917, created the Red Army, and played the central role in winning the civil war (1918-20).  Trotsky's independence and aloofness made him a poor backstage negotiator and he was easily outmaneuvered by Stalin, who controlled the party apparatus, After Lenin's disability in 1923, Trotsky lost power to [[Stalin]]. Forced into exile, he denounced the Soviet regime as  an impure form of Communism; Stalin had him assassinated in [[Mexico]] in 1940.     

'''Leon Trotsky''' ([[Russian language|Russian]]:  Лeв Давидович Трóцкий) , born '''Lev Davidovich Bronstein''' (Russian: Лeв Давидович Бронштéйн) (1879-1940), pronounced (traht'-skee) was a leader with [[Lenin]] in the [[Bolshevik]] ([[Communist]]) [[October Revolution]] in Russia in 1917. A charismatic orator, systematic organizer and brilliant theorist, Trotsky was primarily an intellectual whose writings greatly influenced leftist movements worldwide.  An energetic organizer he planned the successful Petrograd uprising in November 1917, created the Red Army, and played the central role in winning the civil war (1918–20).  Trotsky's independence and aloofness made him a poor backstage negotiator and he was easily outmaneuvered by Stalin, who controlled the party apparatus, After Lenin's disability in 1923, Trotsky lost power to [[Stalin]]. Forced into exile, he denounced the Soviet regime as  an impure form of Communism; Stalin had him assassinated in [[Mexico]] in 1940.     

Trotsky made many blunders and exaggerations, including losing his nerve when Germany invaded Russia in 1918; taking the credit due the generals for the Red victory in the civil war; claiming to be the father of the New Economic Policy of the 1920s; claiming to be on good terms with Lenin in the 1920s; displaying profound naivety in dealing with Stalin in 1924; and his [[wishful thinking]] that Stalinism was on the verge of collapse in the 1930s.

Trotsky made many blunders and exaggerations, including losing his nerve when Germany invaded Russia in 1918; taking the credit due the generals for the Red victory in the civil war; claiming to be the father of the New Economic Policy of the 1920s; claiming to be on good terms with Lenin in the 1920s; displaying profound naivety in dealing with Stalin in 1924; and his [[wishful thinking]] that Stalinism was on the verge of collapse in the 1930s.

==Civil War==

==Civil War==

Trotsky also helped build the [[Red Army]] that defeated the White Russian Army in the subsequent Civil War in Russia, despite having no military experience of any kind. He also crushed the [[Anarchist]] movement of [[Nestor Makhno]] and brutally suppressed the [[Kronstadt Rebellion]]. Many massacres were committed under his orders, as even other leftists admit.<ref name="Slate">Clive James, [http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/clives_lives/2007/04/leon_trotsky.html "Leon Trotsky: He was a mass murderer, not the true champion of the working class."], Slate, April 2, 2007 </ref>

Trotsky also helped build the [[Red Army]] that defeated the White Russian Army in the subsequent Civil War in Russia, despite having no military experience of any kind. He also crushed the [[Anarchist]] movement of [[Nestor Makhno]] and brutally suppressed the [[Kronstadt Rebellion]]. Many massacres were committed under his orders, as even other leftists admit.<ref name="Slate">Clive James, [http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/clives_lives/2007/04/leon_trotsky.html "Leon Trotsky: He was a mass murderer, not the true champion of the working class."], Slate, April 2, 2007</ref>

==Power struggle==

==Power struggle==

==Historiography==

==Historiography==

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>

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>

* Brotherstone, Terry , et al eds. ''The Trotsky Reappraisal'' (1992) [http://www.questia.com/read/59387717?title=The%20Trotsky%20Reappraisal online edition], 19 short essays by scholars  

* Brotherstone, Terry , et al eds. ''The Trotsky Reappraisal'' (1992) [http://www.questia.com/read/59387717?title=The%20Trotsky%20Reappraisal online edition], 19 short essays by scholars  

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

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

* Deutscher, Isaac. ''Trotsky'' (3v, 1954-63), by a far-left admirer of Trotsky

* Deutscher, Isaac. ''Trotsky'' (3v, 1954–63), by a far-left admirer of Trotsky

* Garza, Hedda. ''Leon Trotsky'' (1986) short survey

* Garza, Hedda. ''Leon Trotsky'' (1986) short survey

* Kolakowski, Leszek. ''Main Current of Marxism'' (1978), 3:183-219, on Trotsky in 1930s

* Kolakowski, Leszek. ''Main Current of Marxism'' (1978), 3:183-219, on Trotsky in 1930s