Trotsky Lev Davidovich: biography, quotations

On August 21 this year 75 years have passed since the day when Leon Trotsky was killed. The biography of this famous revolutionary is well known. But the following circumstance is striking: he became an enemy not only for those who are quite deservedly classed as counterrevolutionaries - enemies of the October Revolution of 1917 , but also for those who prepared and carried it out with him. However, he never became an anti-communist and did not revise revolutionary ideals (at least, the original ones). What is the reason for such a sharp break with their like-minded people, which eventually led to his death? Let's try together to find the answer to this question. To begin with, we give a biographical reference.

Lev Trotsky: a short biography

Describe briefly this is quite difficult, but still try. Leo Bronstein (Trotsky) was born on November 7 (what an amazing coincidence of dates, how can one not believe in astrology?) In 1879 in the family of a wealthy Jewish landowner (more precisely, a tenant) in Ukraine, in a small village that is now in the Kirovograd region .

He began his studies in Odessa at the age of 9 (note that our hero left his parents' home as a child and never returned to it again), continued it in 1895-1897. In Nikolaev, first in a real school, then at Novorossiysk University, but soon ceased his studies and plunged into revolutionary work.

So, at the age of eighteen - the first underground circle, at nineteen - the first arrest. Two years in different prisons under investigation, the first marriage with the same as himself, imprisoned Alexandra Sokolovskaya directly in Butyrskaya prison (assess the humanism of the Russian authorities!), Then a link to the Irkutsk province with his wife and brother-in-law (humanism is still in Action). Here Trotsky Leo does not waste time - he and A. Sokolovskaya have two daughters, he is engaged in journalism, he is published in Irkutsk newspapers, several articles are being forwarded abroad.

Then follows the escape and a dizzying journey with forged documents to the name Trotsky (according to the testimony of Lev Davidovich himself, that's the name of one of the guards in the Odessa prison, and his last name sounded so flattering that he proposed it for making a false passport) to London itself.

There our hero hastened to the very beginning of the second congress of the RSDLP (1902), at which a famous split took place between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. Here he met Lenin, who appreciated the literary gift of Trotsky and tried to introduce him to the editorial board of the newspaper Iskra.

Prior to the first Russian revolution Trotsky Leo occupied an unstable political position, hesitating between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. By this period is his second marriage to Natalia Sedova, which he concludes, without divorcing his first wife. This marriage was very long, and N. Sedova was with him until his death.

1905 - the time of extraordinarily rapid political rise of our hero. Arriving in St. Petersburg after the Bloody Resurrection, Lev Davidovich organized the St. Petersburg Soviet and became first its deputy chairman, GS Nosar (pseudonym Khrustalev is a lawyer, Ukrainian, born in Poltava, shot in 1918 by Trotsky's personal order), and after His arrest and chairman. Then, at the end of the year - the arrest, in 1906 - the court and exile in the Arctic (the region of present Salekhard) forever.

But Trotsky the Lion would not be himself if he had allowed himself to be buried alive in the tundra. On the way to exile, he makes a daring escape and goes alone through half of Russia abroad.

After this, a long period of emigration followed until 1917. At this time Lev Davidovich begins and throws many political projects, publishes several newspapers, in every possible way tries to gain a foothold in the revolutionary movement as one of its organizers. He does not take the side of either Lenin or the Mensheviks, he constantly hesitates between them, maneuvers, tries to reconcile the warring wings of Social-Democracy. He is desperately trying to take leadership positions in the Russian revolutionary movement. But he does not succeed, and by 1917 he is on the sidelines of political life, which leads Trotsky to the idea of leaving Europe and trying his luck in America.

Here he acquired very interesting acquaintances in various circles, including financial ones, which allowed him to come to Russia after the February Revolution, in May 1917, clearly not with an empty pocket. The former chairmanship of the Petrossoviet provided him with a place in the new reincarnation of this institution, and the financial opportunities are put forward to the leaders of the new Council, which under Trotsky's leadership enters the struggle for power with the Provisional Government.

He eventually (in September 1917) joined the Bolsheviks and became the second person in the Leninist party. Lenin, Lev Trotsky, Stalin, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Sokolnikov and Bubnov - these are the seven members of the first Politburo, founded in 1917, to rule the Bolshevik revolution. He also served as chairman of the Petrograd Soviet on September 20, 1917. In fact, all practical work on organizing the October Revolution and its defense in the first weeks of Soviet power is the work of Lev Trotsky.

In the years 1917-1918. He served the revolution first as a people's commissar for foreign affairs, and then as the founder and commander of the Red Army in the post of People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs. Trotsky Leo was a key figure in the victory of the Bolsheviks in the civil war in Russia (1918-1923). He was also an invariable member (1919-1926) of the Politburo of the Bolshevik Party.

After the defeat of the Left Opposition, which waged an unequal struggle against the rise of Joseph Stalin and his policy in the 1920s, aimed at increasing the role of bureaucracy in the Soviet Union, Trotsky was removed from power (October 1927), expelled from the Communist Party (November 1927 ) And expelled from the Soviet Union (February 1929).

As the head of the Fourth International, Trotsky in exile continued to oppose the Stalinist bureaucracy in the Soviet Union. On Stalin's orders, he was killed in Mexico in August 1940 by Ramon Mercader, a Soviet agent of Spanish descent.

Trotsky's ideas formed the basis of Trotskyism, a major trend of Marxist thought, which opposed the theory of Stalinism. He was one of the few Soviet politicians who were not rehabilitated under Nikita Khrushchev's government in the 1960s, nor during Gorbachev's perestroika. In the late 1980s his books were published for publication in the Soviet Union.

It was only in post-Soviet Russia that Lev Trotsky was rehabilitated. His biography was studied and written by a number of well-known historians, among whom, for example, Dmitry Volkogonov. We will not retell it in detail, but we will analyze only some selected pages.

The origins of character formation in childhood (1879-1895)

In order to understand the origins of the formation of the personality of our hero, we need to look more closely where Leon Trotsky was born. It was the Ukrainian outback, the steppe agricultural zone, which remains the same even today. And what did the Bronstein family of Jews do there: Father David Leontievich (1847-1922), who comes from Poltava, mother Anna, a native of Odessa (1850-1910), their children? The same thing as other bourgeois families in those places-earned capital by the brutal exploitation of Ukrainian peasants. By the time of the birth of our hero, his illiterate (note this circumstance!) Father, who lives, in fact, surrounded by people of his own nationality and mentality people, already owned an estate of several hundred acres of land and a steam mill. Dozens of farm laborers have turned their backs on him.

Does the reader not recall all this something from the life of planters-Boers in South Africa, where only instead of black kafrov swarthy Ukrainians? In such an atmosphere, the character of the little Leo Bronshtein was formed. Neither peer friends, nor reckless boyish games and antics, one boredom of a bourgeois house and a glance from above on Ukrainian farm laborers. It is from childhood that the roots of that sense of superiority over other people grow, which was the main characteristic of Trotsky's character.

And to be to him a worthy assistant to his father, but, fortunately, his mother, being a little educated woman (odessess all the same), in time felt that her son is capable of more than simple exploitation of peasant labor, and insisted that he be sent To study in Odessa (live in an apartment with relatives). Below you can see what was in childhood Lev Trotsky (photo presented).

The personality of the hero begins to manifest itself (1888-1895).

In Odessa, our hero was enrolled in a real school for a quota, which was allocated for Jewish children. Odessa was then a noisy cosmopolitan city-port, very different from the typical Russian and Ukrainian cities of that time. In the serial film of Sergei Kolosov, "Split" (we recommend that you watch it for everyone who is interested in the history of the Russian revolution), there is a scene in which Lenin met in London in 1902 Trotsky, who fled from his first exile, and is interested in the impression the capital of Britain made on him. He replies that a greater impression than Odessa made upon him after moving to it from the rural backwoods is simply impossible to experience.

Studying Leo is excellent, all the years in a row becoming the first student in his course. In the recollections of his peers, he appears to be an unusually ambitious man, the desire for excellence in everything distinguishes him from his fellow students. By the age of majority, Leo turns into an attractive young man, who, with wealthy parents, should have all the doors open in his life. How did Leon Trotsky live further (his photo during the period of study is presented below)?

First love

Trotsky planned to study at Novorossiysk University. To this end, he was transferred to Nikolaev, where he finished the last course of the real school. He was 17 years old, and he did not think of any revolutionary activity. But, unfortunately, the sons of the owner of the apartment were socialists, they dragged a high school student into their circle, where various revolutionary literature was discussed - from the Narodnik to the Marxist. Among the participants of the circle was A. Sokolovskaya, who had recently completed midwifery courses in Odessa. Being older than Trotsky for six years, she made an indelible impression on him. Wishing to shine with knowledge in front of the subject of his passion, Leo intensely engaged in the study of revolutionary theories. This played a cruel joke with him: starting once, he never again got rid of this lesson.

Revolutionary activity and imprisonment (1896-1900).

Apparently, the young ambitious person has suddenly dawned - after all here it, the very thing, to which it is possible to devote a life, which can bring the coveted glory. Together with Sokolovskaya, Trotsky plunges into revolutionary work, prints leaflets, leads social-democratic agitation among the workers of the Nikolayev shipyards, and organizes the "South Russian Workers' Union".

In January 1898, more than 200 members of the union, including Trotsky, were arrested. He spent the next two years in prison awaiting trial - first in Mykolayiv, then in Kherson, then in Odessa and Moscow. In Butyrka prison, he made contact with other revolutionaries. There he first heard about Lenin and read his book "The Development of Capitalism in Russia", gradually becoming a real Marxist. Two months after his imprisonment (March 1-3, 1898), the first congress of the newly formed Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) was held. Since then, Trotsky has defined himself as a member.

First marriage

Alexandra Sokolovskaya (1872-1938) for some time before being sent into exile was imprisoned in the same Butyrskaya prison in Moscow, where Trotsky was also at that time. He wrote romantic letters to her, begged her to consent to marry him. What is characteristic, her parents and the prison administration supported the ardent lover, but the Bronstein couple was categorically against - apparently, they had a premonition that they would have to raise children so unreliable (in the everyday sense) of their parents. Against father and mother Trotsky still marries Sokolovskaya. The wedding ceremony was held by a Jewish priest.

The first Siberian reference (1900-1902)

In 1900 he was sentenced to four years of exile in the Irkutsk region of Siberia. Because of marriage, Trotsky and his wife are allowed to settle in one place. Accordingly, the couple was exiled to the village of Ust-Kut. Here they had two daughters: Zinaida (1901-1933) and Nina (1902-1928).

However, to keep such an active nature, like Lev Davidovich, Sokolovskaya was not close to her. Received some fame due to the articles written in exile and tormented by a thirst for activity, Trotsky tells his wife that he can not stay away from the centers of political life. Sokolovskaya agrees without a murmur. In the summer of 1902, Leo fled from Siberia - first on a hidden under a hay cart to Irkutsk, then with a false passport in the name of Leon Trotsky by rail to the borders of the Russian Empire. Alexandra subsequently fled from Siberia with her daughters.

Leon Trotsky and Lenin

After his escape from Siberia, he moved to London to join Plekhanov, Vladimir Lenin, Martov and other editors of the Leninist newspaper Iskra. Under the pen name "Perot" Trotsky soon became one of its leading authors.

At the end of 1902, Trotsky met with Natalia Ivanovna Sedova, who soon became his companion, and from 1903 until his death, his wife. They had 2 children: Lev Sedov (1906-1938) and Sergei Sedov (March 21, 1908 - October 29, 1937), both sons died before their parents.

At the same time, after the period of repressions of the secret police and internal disorder that followed the first congress of the RSDLP in 1898, Iskra managed to convene the 2nd Party Congress in London in August 1903. Trotsky and the other Iskra-ists took part in it.

Delegates to the Congress divided into two groups. Lenin and his Bolshevik supporters advocated a small but very organized party, and Martov and his Menshevik supporters sought to create a large and less disciplined organization. These approaches reflected the difference in their goals. If Lenin wanted to create a party of professional revolutionaries for an underground struggle against the autocracy, then Martov dreamed of a party of a European type with a focus on parliamentary methods of fighting tsarism.

At the same time, the closest associates presented Lenin a surprise. Trotsky and most editors of the Iskra supported Martov and the Mensheviks, while Plekhanov supported Lenin and the Bolsheviks. For Lenin, Trotsky's betrayal was a powerful and unexpected blow, for which he called the latter Judas and, apparently, never so.

Throughout 1903-1904. Many members of the factions crossed to the other side. Thus, Plekhanov soon parted with the Bolsheviks. Trotsky also left the Mensheviks in September 1904 and until 1917 called himself the "non-factional Social Democrat", trying to reconcile various groups within the party, as a result of which he took part in many clashes with Lenin and other prominent members of the RSDLP.

How personally did Leon Trotsky treat Lenin? Quotations from his correspondence with the Menshevik Chkheidze quite distinctly characterize their relations. So, in March 1913 he wrote: "Lenin ... a professional exploiter of all backwardness in the Russian working-class movement ... The whole building of Leninism is now built on lies and falsifications and bears the poisonous beginning of its own disintegration ..."

Later, during the struggle for power, he will be remembered by all his vacillations about the general course of the party set by Lenin. Below you can see how Trotsky was Lev Davidovich (photo with Lenin).

The Revolution (1905)

So, everything that we know about the personality of our hero is still not very flattering him. His undoubted literary and journalistic talent is leveled by painful ambition, posturing, egoism (remember A. Sokolovskaya, left in Siberia with two young daughters). However, during the first Russian revolution, Trotsky manifests himself unexpectedly on the new side - as a very courageous man, an outstanding orator, capable of igniting the masses, as their genius organizer. Arriving in May 1905 in a boiling revolutionary Petersburg, he immediately rushes into the thick of events, becomes an active member of the Petrograd Soviet, writes dozens of articles, leaflets, appears in front of electrified revolutionary energy crowds with fiery speeches. After a while he was already deputy chairman of the Council, actively participating in the preparation of the October general political strike. After the appearance of the tsarist manifesto of October 17, which granted political rights to the people, sharply opposes it, calls for the continuation of the revolution.

When the gendarmes arrested Khrustalev-Nosary, Lev Davidovich took his place, engaged in the preparation of combat workers' squads, the strike force of a future armed uprising against the autocracy. But in early December 1905 the government decided to overturn the Council and arrest its deputies. An absolutely amazing story occurs at the very time of the arrest, when the gendarmes break into the meeting room of the Petrograd Soviet, and the presiding Trotsky only forsakes them by force of his will and the gift of persuasion, which allows the present to prepare: destroy some dangerous documents for them, get rid of weapons. But the arrest still took place, and Trotsky again finds himself in a Russian prison, this time in St. Petersburg's "Crosses".

The second escape from Siberia

The biography of Lev Davidovich Trotsky abounds in vivid events. But our task does not include its detailed presentation. We confine ourselves to a few vivid episodes in which the character of our hero is most clearly manifested. Among them is the history connected with Trotsky's second reference to Siberia.

This time after a year of imprisonment (however, in quite decent conditions, including access to any literature and press), Lev Davidovich was sentenced to eternal exile in the Arctic Circle, in the Obdorsk region (now Salekhard). Before leaving, he handed over to his will a farewell letter with the words: "We leave with deep faith in the rapid victory of the people over its age-old enemies. Long live the proletariat! Long live international socialism! "

It goes without saying that he was not ready to sit for years in the polar tundra, in some wretched dwelling and expect a saving revolution. Besides, what kind of revolution could be talked about if it does not participate in it?

Therefore, the only way out for him was an immediate escape. When the caravan with the prisoners reached Berezovo (the famous place of exile in which the former lord Prince A. Menshikov spent the rest of his life), from where the way was to the north, Trotsky simulated an attack of acute radiculitis. He achieved that he was left with a pair of gendarmes in Berezovo until he recovered. Deceived by their vigilance, he escapes from the town and gets to the nearest Khanty settlement. There somehow incredibly hires reindeer and on the snow-covered tundra (the case takes place in January 1907) almost a thousand kilometers travels to the Ural Mountains, accompanied by a hunter guide. And getting to the European part of Russia, Trotsky easily crosses it (we will not forget that the 1907th year, such as he, the authorities are tying the "Stolypin ties" on their necks), and finds himself in Finland, from where he moves to Europe.

It was quite successful for him, it was, let's say, an adventure, although the risk to which he exposed himself was incredibly high. He could easily be stabbed with a knife or stunned and dropped in the snow to freeze, after pozarivshis the rest of the money that he had. And it would be the murder of Leon Trotsky not in 1940, but three decades earlier. Then there would be no enchanting take-off in the years of the revolution, nor all that followed. However, the history and fate of Lev Davidovich himself was ordered differently - fortunately for himself, but on the mountain of long-suffering Russia, and his homeland in no less degree.

The last act of life drama

In August 1940, the world circled the news that Leon Trotsky was killed in Mexico, where he lived in the last years of his life. Was this a global event? It is doubtful. It's almost a year since Poland was defeated, and it's been two months since the capitulation of France. China and Indochina were in flames of war. He feverishly prepared for the war of the USSR.

So, except for a few supporters from among the members of the Fourth International created by Trotsky and numerous enemies, from the authorities of the Soviet Union to the majority of world politicians, few people commented on this death. The newspaper Pravda placed a murderous content on the obituary, composed by Stalin himself and filled with hatred for the murdered enemy.

It should be mentioned that Trotsky was tried repeatedly to kill. Among the potential killers was noted even the great Mexican artist Siqueiros, who participated in the raid on Villa Trotsky in Mexico as part of a group of Orthodox communists and personally released an empty queue of Lev Davidovich, without suspecting that he was hiding under it. Then the bullets passed by.

But what killed Leon Trotsky? The most surprising thing is that the weapon of this murder was not a weapon - cold or gunshot, but an ordinary ice pick, a small pick used by climbers during their ascents. And it was held in the hands of an agent of the NKVD Ramon Mercador, a young man whose mother was an active participant in the civil war in Spain. As an orthodox communist, she blamed Trotsky's supporters for the defeat of the Spanish republic, although they participated in the civil war on the side of the republican forces, but refused to act in line with the policy asked from Moscow. This belief she gave to her son, who became the true instrument of this murder.