The first significant event in which Trotsky proved himself as a loyal and Valuable member of the Bolshevik party was in the 1917 revolution.
Under orders from Lenin, Trotsky leading the Red Guard drew up plans to take over Key points such as Bridges, railway stations, banks, post offices and town halls in the capital city of st Petersburg, Petrograd.
It was Trotsky’s idea to use the congress to seize control of Russia and claim the best intentions of the people and soviet as his motive.
At this time back home in Russia Lenin was in hiding meaning that it came down to Trotsky to also plan and organise the Bolsheviks coup d’etat. It was during the night of the 6th and the 7th of November that Trotsky used the cover of darkness to strategically take control of the key points in the city with very little resistance.
The Bolsheviks now had a great advantage in that they had sole use of the transport system and communications, they were able to move around the armies and communicate freely.
Though the Bolsheviks had seized power they still needed to maintain it.
The people of Russia had grown tired of the long running war that had left them starving and destitute and then civil war broke out again, and it was here that Trotsky played another critical role in the success of the Bolsheviks this time in securing control for the long term.
The anti Bolshevik parties such as the Mensheviks whilst supporting many of the Bolshevik core policies wanted them brought about in very different ways and so planned to seize power from the Bolsheviks.
The first big problem that Trotsky faced here was one of armaments, the ‘whites’ had a highly disciplined and effective army something Trotsky didn’t have.
Having proven himself as a leader Trotsky was appointed chairman of the supreme war council by Lenin.
Trotsky had the task of quickly creating an army superior to the ‘whites’ forces.
To gain members Trotsky used schemes such as special privileges for soldiers and their families and kept them well fed and looked after and then made it compulsory for men to join the red army gaining some 330,000 conscripted men.
He forced the Tsars former officers to become officers in his new red army.
In a short time Trotsky had managed to build up the Bolsheviks an army of 22,000 officers commanding 330,000 soldiers.
Trotsky devoted time to boosting the morale of his troops travelling around on his private train from battle to battle with words of encouragement.
Around this time the Tsar and indeed the entire Romanov family seemed to just disappear with many rumours that they were all murdered by the Bolsheviks however these rumours were never positively confirmed.
I do believe however that the Bolsheviks murdered the Tsar and his family and I believe that this was more of Trotsky’s good thinking to eliminate all remnants of previous reigns and bring about the end of the monarchy and the beginning of the idea of the Bolsheviks being the rightful rulers of the soviet.
Although some people opposed Trotsky as a true Bolshevik as he had earlier been involved with the Mensheviks he soon proved himself to be a great asset to the success of the Bolsheviks up until 1922 and without him the course of the Bolshevik party would not have been the same.
By Sam Pedwell: