Trotsky’s Contribution to the Success Of The
Bolsheviks Up to 1922
Eleanor Moon – Mr Watt
Leon Trotsky was a key member of the communism in the 1900s. He had been interested in politics from an early age and had worked hard to get to where he was. Trotsky had a vital role in helping the Bolsheviks to their success by using his skills productively in his influential propaganda, the civil war and to help them gain power.
Trotsky got arrested during Tsarist regime by writing revolutionary propaganda. Behaviour like that showed his dedication to his communist beliefs and gave him his nickname ‘the pen’. He continued to write compelling speeches and soon the Bolshevik party realised how powerful his words were. He became the prominent speech writer for the party and he influenced the masses spectacularly. During the civil war, Trotsky travelled along the front line in an armoured train, boosting soldiers’ morale and urging them to fight a disparaging battle. They were severely outnumbered but his speeches helped them; leading to their victory. Later, Trotsky decided to start a newspaper called ‘Pravda’ which became the leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and the official voice of the Communist Party. It ran for decades and was eventually closed down in 1991 by order of President Yeltsin.
