Trotsky Arouses the People, Sukhanov

• Trotsky played a crucial role in the Bolshevik siezure of power on November 7, 1917


• He was born Lev Davidovich Bronstein, as the son of a prosperous Jewish farmer in Ukraine


• Trotsky was attracted early to the ranks of the revolutinoaries, and he shared their fate


• He was exiled to Siberia in 1902, but escaped to Switzerland with a fake passport in the name of Leon Trotsky


• He was exiled again in 1905 after the revolution of 1905, and escaped again


• After a period abroad, Trotsky returned to Russia after the over throw of the tsar in 1917 and assumed a leading role with the Bolsheviks


• Trotsky is elected the charman of the Petrograd soviet as Kerensky's regime begins to totter in September 1917


• He masterminded the Military-Revolutionary Committee, the Bolshevik strike force


• On November 4 Trotsky delivered a rousing speech in the Peoples' House, which was a popular venue for working-class meetings