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1. Explain Trotsky’s contribution to the success of the Bolsheviks up to 1922. Trotsky’s contribution towards Bolshevism can be assessed in three main areas: his role in the October Revolution of 1917, his creation and leadership of the Red Army and his role in the triumph of the Reds in the Civil War following the overthrow of the Provisional Government. During the short time spent under Provisional Government rule following the collapse of Tsardom many exiled revolutionaries returned to Russia intent on overthrowing the inadequate government and its Duma. Upon Trotsky’s arrival in May he immediately joined the Bolshevik Party and was arrested two months later for his involvement in the ‘July Days’. He was released on the 23rd of September as part of an agreement made between Alexander Kerensky and the Bolsheviks so that Kerensky could utilise the Red Guards and the Soviets to defend Petrograd against the threat of General Kornilov’s troops. Trotsky was soon elected chairman of the Petrograd Soviet during a period of increased Bolshevik membership. This put him in a strong position from which to plan an uprising. He helped to enlist 25000 recruits to defend Petrograd and eventually persuaded Kornilov to pull back his troops. Soon after he became a member of the Petrograd Revolutionary Committee and alongside Lenin formed an integral element and driving force as the main organiser in the defeat of the Provisional Government. Ironically, as Stalin put it: “The entire work of the practical organisation of the uprising was carried out under the immediate direction of the chairman of the Petrograd Soviet. One may state without hesitation that the party was indebted first and foremost to Comrade Trotsky.” His role in this period of political change and its temporary conclusion shows him as a key figure in the introduction of Communism in Russia and the Bolshevik rule that accompanied it; however, his role in the subsequent struggles and trials that threatened to uproot Bolshevism demonstrates his contributions to the overall and more far-reaching success of the Bolsheviks and consequently the world wide success of Communism. In November 1917 Lenin appointed Trotsky as the People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs and with German troops pushing ever closer to Petrograd gave him a position as chief negotiator in the task of pulling Russia out of the First World War. After a long delay caused by the harsh terms put forward by Germany the Brest-Litovsk Pact was finally signed and forced Russia to surrender huge areas of land. Despite these losses the treaty saved the Bolsheviks because if fighting had continued it could have been severely weakened by the strains of war and allowed an opposition to grow in strength and overthrow the nascent government. As Lenin insisted: “If war should break out again, our government would be wiped out and peace would be made by some other government. We must become strongly entrenched in power, and for that we need time.” In 1918 this opposition presented itself as a disorganised and mostly unlinked grouping of anti-Communists who for a time succeeded in gaining control of a large part of Russia. With this vast enemy closing in from all sides Lenin moved the government headquarters from Petrograd to Moscow and designated Trotsky Commissar for War with the essential job of creating a Red Army.
Approximate Word count = 2097
Approximate Pages = 8.4
(250 words per page double spaced)
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