The Russian Revolution By Trotsky And Stalin
“Russia Revolution” is also known as the “Russian Revolution of 1917” . There were two revolutions in Russia in the same year. The first one was in February, while the second one was in October. The first revolution overthrew Russia’s imperial government, while the second one granted Bolsheviks to power. The reasons for the revolution were; corruption in the government and inefficiency. This led to a broken bond between most of the Russian citizens and Tsar .
My history and prominence in the Russian revolution were well-drafted during World War I. I actively supported Lenin. Lenin was the leader of Bolsheviks (revolutionary party). Bolsheviks were entirely committed to the idea of Karl Marx . The party believed that there could come a time when the working class could liberate themselves from both political and economic control. The fear was based on the possibility of the creation of a socialite society which could be based on equity.
On the other hand, Mensheviks were not in support of Bolsheviks. This meant a quick revolution as the workers were not yet ready to rule themselves. Bolsheviks wanted to hold power and dictate until the modernization of Russia. Bolsheviks were still weak by the February revolution. The revolution led to the overthrow of Tsar. At the time, I was working at the Swiss Socialist Party. I published ‘The War and the International, a book that opposed the war. On 19th November 1914, he moved to France . Paris, in January 1915, began to edit an ‘internationalist Socialist newspaper.’ I came up with “peace without indemnities or annexations, peace without conquerors or conquered” slogan Advocating Russia defeat, Lenin demanded a break from the second international . In September 1915, Trotsky attended Zimmerwald Conference. In the anti-war socialist meeting, I advocated for a middle course to those who stayed in the second international. I also suggested those who broke from the second international (e.g., Lenin) to form Third International. Although Lenin opposed initially, he voted for the suggestion to avoid an antiwar socialist split. Many nations did not like my idea of the anti-war, and therefore, I had a series of deportations from France to Spain and the United States consecutively .
I had various reasons for holding the views of initiating peace amongst the people instead of war. First, I liked to keep in order. Being a member of the Bolshevik group, I could support Lenin on the fight for a peaceful revolution to take over the state . Stalin took no part in the prior revolution and development of Russia, and hence he could not care for the results of war. Stalin is said to have written various articles that I refer to as propaganda. I compare them with the pieces that were written by Bolshevik. The Bolshevik group, with their pens in hand, did popularize the same ideas more ably.
Later on, I noted that Russia’s revolution needed some ‘force’ and not only peace. I changed my views of the anti-war campaign. After the coup, which led to Bolsheviks taking over power, I assumed the position of ‘People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs.’ Despite the various successful and unsuccessful series of meetings to talk and signing treaties about peace, the German government was not for the peace negotiations. Without an option, I pushed Bolshevik for the formation of a military council. I reassigned his position on 13th March 1918, and I was crowned as the “People’s Commissar of Army and Navy Affairs – in place of Podvoisky.” After gaining full control of the Red Army that was initially had formed, I made it better than it was before. That is by changing it from “a ragtag network of small and fiercely independent detachments into a large and disciplined military machine, through forced conscription, party-controlled blocking squads, compulsory obedience and officers chosen by the leadership instead of the rank and file.”
I did not at all advocate violence. It is evident from the articles that I wrote on the importance of keeping the peace, anti-war, among others. Apart from the materials, I talked about the order. I regularly held meetings with the anti-war socialist . I even suggested that people who remained in the war had to stay in second international with a passed law. The other people who broke from the war were to make a third worldwide according to his suggestion. After I had got a position with the Bolshevik, I also held a series of meetings discussing peace, although not all the people were for peace. Others believed that war was the only solution. I was in full support of the negotiations that took place in 1917. I was also not in favor of the disagreement with the Germans in December 1917, which led to war.
I did not leave Russia despite the change in my plans for maintaining peace. I managed to fight for my rights and the rights of the other people. It was After the defeat of Trotsky and Zinoviev in October 1927 when I was expelled from the central committee . Later, I was exiled on 31st January 1928 t Alma Ata, Kazakhstan.
To sum up, there was no need to raise war in Russia. Every time a war is launched in a country, there is always a retrogressive development. In other words, war is the biggest enemy of progress and development in the country. For instance, when Russia got involved in the war, many of the Russian soldiers landed into a catastrophic loss to German armies. It was after the war that Russia learned that it was not the perfect match for any of the western or central Europe. Russia also suffered from economic disruption, which even led to a scarcity of food. People organized riots because of food scarcity.
References
- Augustyn, Adam, Patricia Bauer, Brian Duignan, Alison Eldridge, Erik Gregersen, Amy McKenna, Melissa Petruzzello, et al. 2019. Russian Revolution. Edited by inc. Encyclopædia Britannica. 14th November. Accessed 11th March 2020. https://www.britannica.com/event/Russian-Revolution.
- Bitesize. 2016. Reasons for the success of the October Revolution, 1917. 21st March. Accessed 11th March 2020. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zyc72hv/revision/6.
- Mavor, James. 2016. The Russian revolution. Abingdon, Oxon : Routledge: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. Accessed March 2020.
- Trotsky, Leon. 2010. Leon Trotsky on France. New York: Pathfinder Press.
