Lev Trotsky

Lev Davidovich Trotsky, or Lev Davidovich Bronstein, born in 1879 in Russia to a wealthy Jewish family, killed in 1940 in Mexico. Russian revolutionary, without whom the creation of the Soviet terror system would not have been possible. While Lenin sought a "regular" armed revolution, Trotsky advocated the involvement of much wider means. He drew the masses of workers with him, dragged Tsarist officers and experts from outside the party to his side. In this way he multiplied the strength of the Bolsheviks and directed the anger of the people against the government.

Professor Goeffrey SwainGeoffrey Swain is the Alec Nove Chair in Russian and East European Studies at the University of Glasgow. He has written extensively on the modern history of Russia and Eastern Europe, including biographies of the dissident communists Trotsky and Tito. expresses the opinion that without Trotsky the Bolsheviks would not have been able to hold on to power for even a year:

It is no exaggeration to say that without him the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 would not have succeeded.

Of Trotsky, on the other hand, he expressed this opinion:

A unique mixture of ruthlessness, inspiration and organisational passion.

The Russian historian [Vladimir Chernyaev] in turn wrote of Trotsky as follows:

He was an ideologue and practitioner of red terror. He hated 'bourgeois democracy', believing that a lack of backbone and a soft heart would bring doom to the revolution. He also believed that the oppression of the possessing strata and political opponents would clear the arena of history for the march of socialism. (...) he initiated concentration camps, forced labour camps (...). Finally, he took part in many practices that would become symbols of the Stalinist era, including the organisation of mass executions.

Chernyaev emphasised in Trotsky's biography that not only was he directly responsible for the success of the revolution, but he also laid the foundations of an authoritarian system that fought resistance among the population with terror and violence for decades.

Trotsky is often seen as an almost romantic figure - an opponent of Stalin, exiled and shot by a Soviet spy. In reality, Trotsky criticised Stalin not because he disagreed with his methods. He criticised Stalin for not wanting to spread the Bolshevik revolution beyond the borders of Russia. Trotsky adhered to the idea that communism should spread across Europe and then the world.

Trotsky was murdered in exile on Stalin's orders by Ramon Mercader, an NKVD agent.

SOURCES
https://wielkahistoria.pl/lew-trocki-najwiekszy-przeciwnik-stalina-bez-niego-bolszewicy-nigdy-nie-przejeliby-wladzy-w-rosji/