Dispute Within the Party
In 1920, following the revolution, there was a huge debate within the Bolshevik party over trade. Trotsky believed that trade unions should be incorporated into the state and trade activities should be regulated by the state. Lenin disagreed and he was fearful this feud would splinter the party. At the Tenth Party Congress in March 1921, Lenin’s side won and Trotsky’s supporters lost a number of leadership positions. As a result, the Kronstadt rebellion formed but was suppressed by Trotsky in order to show his allegiance to Lenin. This was the last major rebellion against Bolshevik rule.
Lenin’s health began deteriorating in late 1921. He had a series of strokes which severely limited his mobility and eventually caused his death in January 1924. During this time, Stalin made a grab for political power.
He was given the position of Central Committee general secretary and formed a troika consisting of him, Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev. Trotsky would have been the obvious choice to succeed Lenin, but Stalin was making moves to prevent this from happening.
Just before Lenin died, he wrote of his fear of the party splitting. The relationship between Lenin and Stalin soured, and eventually ended when Stalin insulted Lenin’s wife. Lenin wrote that Stalin should be replaced as secretary, but nobody heeded him. Stalin was able to move the party in his favor and Trotsky was slowly, but surely, pushed from his political positions and power.
Trotsky in Exile, His Record Erased
Trotsky was soon pushed from Russia completely. Stalin began a campaign to rewrite the record, besmirching his accomplishments and character. In January, 1928, Trotsky was exiled to present-day Kazakhstan. In February 1929, he was banished from the Soviet Union entirely. Trotsky moved around but eventually settled in Mexico City, continuing to write about the Soviet government. 16 of Trotsky’s allies were executed in 1936.
Stalin and his regime were dead set on assassinating Trotsky, and went about finding him. While sitting at a desk in Mexico City in 1940, Trotsky was murdered by a Russian agent with a pick-axe to the skull. He died at the age of 60 at a nearby hospital.
Stalin, threatened by Trotsky’s authority and influence, waged a war against his image and political power, even after his death. He attempted to wipe the record clean of Trotsky’s actions during the revolution. However, in 2001, the Russian government rehabilitated his image and attempted to give him back some of his former glory.
Many people believed Trotsky to be instrumental in creating the Soviet Union. He was brilliant, but often lonely and misunderstood. Despite the “rehabilitation” of his image, much damage still remains.