Labels:text | human face | man | glasses | person | clock OCR: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Trotsky, Leon Leon Trotsky A passionate believer in the socialist ideal, Leon Trotsky was Vladimir Lenin's deputy during the Bolshevik revolution and the civil war that followed. But after Lenin's death he was forced from office by Joseph Stalin and driven into exile, where he continued to champion the cause of international socialism until his assassination by the Soviet secret police in 1940. Although initially opposed to Lenin's ideas, Trotsky joined the Bolsheviks in 1917 and quickly showed a flair for public speaking and great organizational ability. He orchestrated the Bolsheviks' seizure of power on November 7; and later took on the task of welding the Red Army into the efficient fighting force that won the civil war. When Lenin died in 1924 Trotsky seemed Leon Trotsky, Russian the obvious person to succeed him, but he was revolutionary, 1879-1940 outmaneuvered by Stalin and expelled from the Communist party. As Stalin's U.S.S.R. became increasingly nationalistic, Trotsky maintained his idealistic views and, from LLL exile, published attacks on Stalin, most notably "The Revolution Betrayed." CHRONOLOGY
