these are only worth 10 marks so u shouldnt really spend that much time on them. theres heaps of info on the net for the first one, heres one of mine on trotsky but u would have to modify it down a lot - only include really important stuff.
Leon Trotsky was one of the most significant figures in the revolutionary period of Russian history. Born in 1879 in the Ukraine, he rose to prominence during the 1905 revolutions. His alliance with the Bolshevik came late, in 1917, however in the events leading to the Bolshevik revolution his organisational abilities and intellectual gifts meant that he was second only to Lenin. Trotsky’s life spanned an illustrious sixty one years, and centred primarily on the political and ideological stage of Russia. His decline, however, began following Lenin’s death in 1924 as he was outmanoeuvred by Stalin in the subsequent power struggle. Trotsky spent in later years in exile, until in 1940 he was murdered, presumably by one of Stalin’s assassins, with an ice pick.
Prior to the Bolshevik’s revolution in 1917, Trotsky was independent of both Menshevik and Bolshevik factions. Following the overthrow of the Tsarist government, Trotsky assumed the role of leading the Interdistrict Committee of Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) – which included both Mensheviks and Bolshevik. He also joined the newly established Petrograd Soviet of Workers and Democratic Soldiers. However, because he disapproved of the support which the Mensheviks were providing the Provisional government and the war effort; Trotsky joined the Bolshevik in July, 1917. He then became the leader of Military Revolutionary Committee. “On 12th October a Military Revolutionary was established … whereby the mechanics of the seizure of power were worked out and put into effect” (Gill). Through this Committee, Trotsky led the Bolshevik revolution in 1917. “The MRC operations, headed by Trotsky, had carried the day.” (McCauley) Following the fall of the provisional government and the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks, the Congress appointed a new Chairman – Lenin, and a new Commissar for Foreign Affairs – Trotsky.
As the new minister for foreign affairs, Trotsky became a principle figure in negotiations concerning Germany and central powers in 1918. Trotsky’s belief in ‘worldwide revolution’ meant that there would be little or no need for a foreign policy as all states would be united under the ideology of socialism. The reality, however, was quite different as some foreign capitalist states as well as Germany posed a dangerous threat to the Russian revolution. Peace negotiations began at the treaty of Brest-Litovsk, in which Germany demanded unrealistic portions of Russian land in return for peace. “Trotsky, who was the main negotiator at the peace talks, supported a strategy of ‘no war, no peace’”. (Gill) Trotsky was soon to resign from his role as commissar of foreign affairs due to his opposition to the demands made by Germany within the Brest-Litovsk Treaty. He then became Commissar of War and Chairman of the Supreme Military Council of Russia. Following the Bolshevik revolution, it was decided by Lenin that the Old Russian army would have to be turned into an instrument of the Communist party. Trotsky began to demobilise the old army, and in 1918, he formed an efficient military forced known as the ‘red army’. The Bolshevik used terror to stamp out any insurrection and prevent retreat. Both Trotsky and Lenin saw terror as a necessary instrument of government. Through Trotsky lacked extensive military skills, he was a talented organiser and easily won the respect of his troops. Lenin was so pleased with Trotsky’s achievement that in 1919 he declared, “Show me another man who could have practically created a model army in a year and won the respect of the military specialist as well.” It was mostly due to Trotsky’s management of the red army that the Bolshevik eventually won the civil war on 1918 to 1921. This ensured the survival of the Bolshevik government and resulted in Trotsky being elected as a member of the Communist Party Central Committee.
Within the politburo, Trotsky was second only to Lenin, and Lenin viewed Trotsky as extremely able. The two clashed in 1920 over the role of trade unions, however were reunited by the 1921 Kronstadt Uprising. In this uprising, a wave of strikes swept Petrograd as soldiers and sailors became restless due to the effects of war Communism. Trotsky’s red guards suppressed the mutineers with great bloodshed. This indicated that the party elite were prepared to use brutal force on their own supporters.
By the mid 1920’s there were many debates regarding what should be done about Russia’s economy. It was generally agreed that the tempo of industrialisation needed to be increased, however, such a development had to be financed by the peasants. Grain exports had to be expanded to pay for machinery imports and to finance development projects. Bukharin and the Right suggested the need to increase the production of consumer goods in order to provide incentives for the peasants to increase production of their own grain. Trotsky, however, proposed that the government should take a fixed percentage of grain and let the peasants sell the rest at free market prices. Lenin opposed this however, as he like many after the civil war, resisted the idea of reintroducing capitalism. Trotsky then began to argue for methods of direct mobilisation of grain. Lenin soon saw the merits of Trotsky’s first idea, and the incorporation of this policy (NEP) meant the end of war Communism. In 1925, Trotsky demanded an end to NEP, proposing the government should tax peasants as hard as possible, thereby increasing productivity through methods of socialism rather than capitalistic NEP. This strategy depended on the abandonment of NEP and a rapid expansion of socialism in the countryside, however it also had serious problems such as retaliation from peasantry and abroad.
Following Lenin’s death in 1924, Trotsky and Stalin became involved in an intense struggle for power and leadership of Russia. After Lenin the most dominant member of the Party was Trotsky, however the most influential member was Stalin. Lenin himself saw Trotsky as the more likely and obvious successor, however it was Stalin who eventually overpowered Trotsky and filled the void left by Lenin’s death. Many factors contributed to Trotsky’s demise, such as the fact he was not widely liked by other Party members due to his late involvement in the Bolshevik Party and a history of bitter disputes with Lenin. The two suffered irreconcilable ideological differences – Stalin’s theory of ‘revolution in one country’ opposing Trotsky’s ‘world revolution’. Stalin himself also held four highly important positions, being Commissar for Nationalities, Liaison Officer between Politburo and Orgburo, Head of the Worker’s Inspectorate and General Secretary of the Communist Party. It was to Stalin that Trotsky lost his position as commissar of war in 1925 – another crucial factor contributing to his demise. Although it appears that Stalin’s supremacy over Trotsky was only obvious in the political arena, it was also evident in a social context as a result of events to which Trotsky failed to appear at, such as Lenin’s funeral, and the result of Lenin’s final testament never being publicly read out directly after his death. The positions which Stalin held meant that he had the control and the ability to manipulate other party member’s opinions and action. Stalin boasted strength and will of character; he was an intense and coercive leader who overpowered Trotsky in the struggle for power in the USSR. Despite Trotsky’s succession over Lenin as appearing to be of a more likely and logical nature, he could not prevent Stalin from triumphing as leader due to his lack of political power and character strength. Stalin’s power over Trotsky eventually led to his exile from Russia in 1928 and his expulsion in 1929.
During his time in exile, Leon Trotsky continued his prolific writings. From 1929 to 1940, he published the journal, “Bulletin of the Opposition”, in which he supplied articles on matters such as Soviet politics and international affairs. In 1930, he published his famous autobiography, “My Life”, which is re-known for its self – analysis. One of Trotsky’s finest works appeared from 1931 and 1933, entitled, “History of the Russian Revolution”. Texts which also emerged from Trotsky’s time in exile include, “The Russian Betrayed” (1937), and “Stalin” (1941). After one assassination attempt in May 1940, Leon Trotsky was murdered following Stalin’s orders in August of the same year, by Ramon Mercader, a Spanish agent for the Soviet Secret Police.
As one of Soviet Russia’s most brilliant Marxist leaders, Trotsky was “a man of action”, thinker and a writer, whole political and literary activity spanned the first four decades of the 20th Century. His skills as an organiser and military strategist did a lot to ensure the success of the Bolshevik revolution in 1917 and the defeat of the Bolshevik enemies in the following Civil War. His conviction in world revolution effectively created a commitment to radical domestic policies and to the use of severe measures when needed. For Trotsky, the success of the Bolshevik revolution was a necessary factor of the process of world revolution, which is one of the reasons why he refused to sway from the use of violence against Bolshevik enemies. Yet despite his ability to be ruthless and merciless, Trotsky failed to match Stalin’s ability to manipulate and control other party members, thus demise and downfall was inevitable.
as for the second one, heres my response for a similar question ormaybe the same one cant remember.
Leon Trotsky was made Commissar of War in 1918, on the eve of the Civil War in the spring of 1918 which erupted between the centralised, unified Red Army and the decentralised, unorganised White Army. At this time, the Red Army was virtually on the point of disintegration.
The red army had to be established quickly as it was needed to fight the White Army during the Civil War, in addition to assisting the consolidation of Bolshevik power. The main threat to the Bolshevik government came from General Nikolai Yudenich. In October, 1918, he captured Gatchina, only 50 kilometres from Petrograd. Leon Trotsky arrived to direct the defense of the capital. Red Guard units were established amongst industrial workers and the rail network was used to bring troops from Moscow. Outnumbered, Yudenich ordered his men to retreat and headed for Estonia
Trotsky firmly believed that the reorganisation of the Red Army would in-turn, lead to its success in the Civil War. “Our Soviet Socialist Republic needs a well-organised army…we need an army which would give us powerful strength for the inevitable coming struggle…” Trotsky was able to lead a well organised and effective military force which functioned as a well co-ordinated army. "Show me another man who could have practically created a model army in a year and won respect of the military specialist as well."-Lenin. Trotsky re-organised the army along strict hierarchical lines with the reintroduction of conscription and the implementation of the death penalty for desertion. Trotsky also appointed former tsarist officers as commanders of the Red Army and fixed them with Bolshevik officers. Trotsky, being highly mobile, enabled him to travel to the various fronts and support and encourage the battling soldiers.
The reintroduction of conscription was imposed on the workers and peasants of the Russian Society between the ages of 18 and 40years of age in 1918. Conscription meant that the Bolshevik Party’s numbers grew rapidly. In March 1918 there were 100,000 supporters and by the end of 1919, the Red Army had around three million troops; the figure reached around five million by the end of 1920. But it is estimated that one million deserted in 1918 and nearly four million by 1921. The Red Army primarily conscripted peasants. However, Trotsky argued that “In order to implement conscription, to defend the Soviet Republic, we need to take into account not only weapons, not only rifles, but also people.” Trotsky believed that the re-introduction of conscription was needed to increase the number of supporters. Volunteers however, did come forward to form the elite units, but the greater parts of the three million recruits were conscripted.
Trotsky argued that the implantation of the death penalty for desertion (and for a range of other offences) that “masses of men cannot be lead towards death unless the army command has the death penalty in its arsenal.” Not only was desertion made a capitol offence, as was serious insubordination and failure to carry out central orders. Discipline was very tough in the Red Army, and the death penalty was not used sparingly, but frequently. Unwilling peasant conscripts knew certain death lay before them if they retreated in a battle – they would be machine gunned by their own side. Those who could not fight or who were deemed too unreliable to serve at the front were forced into non-combative labour battalions. Trotsky believed that it was not only vital but the death penalty was also essential to make men fight.
Trotsky re-established senior tsarist officers as ‘military specialists’ to train and command the army units of the Red Army. He believed that under these strict hierarchical lines, he would be able to‘re-organise’ the Red Army effectively and exploit the military skills already gained and empowered in the former tsarist officers. Many of these officers were unemployed and willing to work and seized the opportunity to get back into the world they knew best. To ensure the officers remained loyal to the Red Army, he attached each former officer with a political Commissar and held their families hostage. This meant that the units were managed by the dual leadership of commander and commissar. The political commissars were often fanatic Bolsheviks whose function was to report on the actions of the officers and to ensure that they were politically correct. Realism told Trotsky that was the only solution given the time and circumstances. If a former Tsarist officer betrayed the Red Army not only would they be sentenced to death but, as does their family. The Commissars were hated by the Army however they performed their spying role with such passion that Trotsky later employed the same system in the factories. The commissars were one of the aspects of the severe discipline and centralised control that Trotsky imposed. After the February revolution, the soldiers’ committees were no longer permitted and the hierarchy of the ranks was restored.
Trotsky was an exceedingly mobile leader with a high morale. One of the most remarkable features of Trotsky’s activities as Commissar of War was the use of his own personal train, by means of which he maintained constant and direct contact with the front. Trotsky visited the fronts in his train, ordering executions for failures, promotions for success, arranging supplies, haranguing troops, encouraging the faint-hearted, and carrying through against opposition in a number of radical measures which determined the subsequent form of the red army. His presence did however, make a huge difference and he genuinely seemed to be able to inspire men. The train also served as an administrative centre, command post, military headquarters, arsenal, supply centre, troop transportee and had many more features. Trotsky believed that the train’s presence in a particular area would inspire the Reds and terrify the Whites. Trotsky defines the train as “the train linked the front with the base, solved urgent problems on the spot, educated, appealed, supplied, rewarded and punished”. Trotsky saw his essential task as being to inspire and where necessary, to terrorise the Reds into victory.
Trotsky led the Red Army into victory, defeating the decentralised and unorganised Whites. His re-organisation of the Red Army is arguably the necessary means of the Army’s success. He believed that conscription was necessary to maintain support, that the implementation of the death penalty for desertion was essential for men to fight and the introduction of former tsarist officers as commanders of the army the only solution under the circumstances. Whatever his detractors may have said, “The fact remains that the Reds won the Civil War.”
good luck with it, but remeber thier not worth much so they dont have to be too long
hope i helped!!!
