Key Figures in Russia 1900's Flashcards
Who was Leon Trotsky?
A famous figure in the Bolshevik movement - the son of a prosperous Jewish farmer
What happened to Trotsky in 1898?
He and his commune of potential revolutionary workers and students were betrayed by Tsarist police and was imprisoned in Moscow and then exiled to Siberia
What did Trotsky do when he escaped from the prison camp he was being held in in 1902?
Left his daughter and wife behind and fled in Europe using a prison guards passport - met Lenin in Paris 1502
What did Trotsky not agree with?
Lenin’s ruthless authoritarian methods that had led to division of social democrats between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks - remained part of both groups
When did Trotsky return to Russia and why?
1905 to take part in the 1905 revolution
What was Trotsky known as for his brilliance as a writer?
‘The Pen’ including his contribution to the revolutionary paper ‘Iskra’
What did Trotsky found when he returned to Russia?
The first workers council or soviet (became the Bolshevik stronghold in Russia) he was appointed chairman and wrote three papers including The Russian Gazette
What happened shortly after he founded the soviets?
He was arrested again with other members of the Soviet and spent the next 15 months in prison before escaping in 1907 and left Russia for foreign exile
In 1908 what did Trotsky begin?
The publication of Pravda in Vienna, which was smuggled into Russia by members of the underground sea-men’s union
What happened to Trotsky in 1916?
He was deported from France and travelled to New York where he met Bukharin
Where was Trotsky on his way to by 27th March 1917?
Having heard news of revolution - on way to Russia but on request of PG they were held at a camp in Canada for a month
When did Trotsky finally arrive in Russia and what happened?
May - he was briefly imprisoned following the ‘July Days’ but when released he was made chairman of the Petrograd soviet (as he had been 12 years earlier)
When did Trotsky’s group join with the Bolsheviks and what was happening with numbers?
July 1917 - despite imprisoned Bolsheviks their numbers were increasing and increased by the threat of right wing coup headed by Kornilov
What did Trotsky famously say at the Congress of Soviets on the night of the October revolution as he was urged by Martov to form a coalition government?
“your party is over. Go to the place where you belong from now on - in the trash bin of history”
What was Trotsky’s role in October?
He was the main practical coordinator of the Bolshevik seizure of power
At the first meeting of the Party Central Committee what did Trotsky suggest and what role did he decline?
Suggested ministries should be called People’s Commissars and the government the ‘soviet of people’s commissaries’
Turned down chairman and Commissariat of Interior because of his Jewish origins
What post did he accept and what did this result in him getting involved with?
Foreign Affairs - (much to the fury of the western allies) became involved in separate armistice talks with the Germans and their allies at Brest-Litovsk
What happened on the 7th of Feb and on the 6th of March surrounding Treaty?
7th - Trotsky announced to Germans and allies that the Russian armies had been demolished - expression of his ‘neither peace nor war’ policy
6th - Treaty was signed under threat of Lenin’s resignation
When Trotsky moved to Moscow with Lenin and the rest of the Government what was he appointed?
Commissar of War and chairman of the Supreme War Council
What did Trotsky then reorganise and how?
The Red Army - by 1920 numbered 55,00,000 (48,000 former Tsarist officers and 214,000 non-commissioned officers)
How do we know the Trotsky Red Army was successful?
He defeated both the Poles and the Whites
Where did Trotsky spend the next two and a half years?
On his armoured train - included a squad of troops with machine guns and their own transport for deployment in the civil war
