397. Stalin: Killing Trotsky (Part 3)
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Who was Leon Trotsky and how did his early life shape his revolutionary path?
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Born Le Bronstein, his comfortable childhood was far removed from the life we might expect for a communist revolutionary. But what drove him to become one of the leading figures of the Russian Revolution and why, long after Stalin had stripped him of his army, his party, and his country, did he still want Trotsky dead?
Well hello and welcome to Empire with me, Anita Arnand.
And me, William Durumple.
Last time we left you with Lenin's dying testament, a letter about the men who should step into his job. And in that document, he talked about Stalin and he called him too crude for the job. And he asked comrades, he went further and said, find a way to remove him. And this document also had something to say about the other man vying for the job. Lenin thought Trotsky might have been the most Stableman on the Central Committee, but he had a caveat. But, but, but. Trotsky, he said, has an excessive self-confidence.
Today we turn to Trotsky properly, the rival Stalin feared and hated most, and eventually had killed by an ice pick, or was it an ice axe on the other side of the world? Anyway, we are joined today by the wonderful Giles Milton, friend of the show and author of the Stalin Affair, The Impossible Alliance that won the war. With Giles, we're going to be discussing Stalin and Trotsky's infamous rivalry. Welcome, Giles.
Welcome back. Thank you very much for having me back. And it was an ice axe. We know definitely from the wound, the ghastly wound, the gash to Trotsky's head, which we will be coming to, I'm sure, later in the episode. Uh we know for sure that it was a an ice axe. Something with a a long flanged head rather than a kind of micro. If if you get the one of those in the back of your head, it doesn't go well for you. I would not either No, I wouldn't give an ice pick. No, I wouldn't think an ice pick
is that much fun either. But look, before we get to the end, because this is the Dal Runpool method, before we get to the end of the story, let's start at the beginning of the story. Giles, tell us about Trotsky the Boy. He wasn't Trotsky, he was Lev Bronstein. And can I just say that I I don't know if I've mentioned it on the other podcast, but Lev Bronstein also happens to be the name of Leon Britton, uh a former Tory cabinet minister. Yeah. Yeah, he changed he was also Left Bronstein and he changed his name to Leon Britton. So you've got two very different people. Trotsky, Leon Britton. But we're talking about Trotsky. So he's born on tw the twenty sixth of October, eighteen seventy nine. Where does he fit in the scheme of his family?
Yeah, he's born uh in the Ukraine. Uh he is one of eight children, and they are a family. They're they're wealthy, prosperous farmers. I suppose we'd call them in English, we'd call them yeoman farmers. They own quite a lot of land, they've made quite a lot of money, um, but they are illiterate. The dad can't read and write, and nor can the mum, and they produce these eight children.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Who was Leon Trotsky and how did his early life shape his revolutionary path?
0:00–7:05
2
What role did Trotsky play during the 1917 Russian Revolution and why did Stalin view him as a threat?
7:05–12:39
3
How did Stalin begin to marginalise Trotsky after Lenin’s death?
12:39–19:26
4
Why did Trotsky flee to Mexico and what was life like for him there?
19:26–25:00
5
What were the first failed assassination attempts on Trotsky in Mexico?
25:00–30:51
6
How did the assassin Ramón Mercader finally kill Trotsky with an ice‑axe?
30:51–36:34
7
What was Stalin’s reaction to Trotsky’s murder and how did it affect his grip on power?
36:34–42:22
8
What clues does Trotsky’s story give about Stalin’s long‑term strategy against his rivals?
42:22–48:03
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from Empire: World History
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