Ten Days That Shook the World · Character

Leon Trotsky

Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet's Military Revolutionary Committee, he is the organizer who turns revolutionary rhetoric into guard posts, orders, and the mechanics of taking power.

major

Also known as Trotsky, Bronstein, L. D. Bronstein, L. Trotsky, Leon Trotsky

First appearance: Background

As a major figure in Ten Days That Shook the World, Leon Trotsky is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

Listed as a leader of the Bolsheviki and formerly a member of the Mensheviki Internationalists.

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Where Lenin supplies the doctrine, Trotsky supplies the timetable, coordinating the Military Revolutionary Committee that will decide whether the Provisional Government falls or holds. Reed catches him in the thick of the argument over who counts as 'the people of Russia'—the workers who interrupt a captain's speech, or the peasants the captain insists are the real nation. Trotsky's importance to the early-middle arc is that he embodies the practical question the book keeps asking: can a disciplined minority act on behalf of a majority that has not yet spoken?

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Character Web

27 connections

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Relationship types

Other

Character groups

Anti-Bolshevik and Bolshevik Leaders
Bolshevik and Menshevik Figures
Protagonist
Diverse Revolutionary Participants

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

The emotional peak occurs when the narrator, after witnessing the destruction of sacred and historic Kremlin s…

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Leon Trotsky appears across 19 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

Political Parties
Listed as a leader of the Bolsheviki and formerly a member of the Mensheviki Internationalists.
Ten Days That Shook the World
Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet, key organizer of the uprising.
Background
Bolshevik leader imprisoned after July Days; later released.
II: The Coming Storm
Implicitly referenced as a leading Bolshevik figure; the Bolsheviks are central to the chapter's events.
IV: The Fall of the Provisional Government
Declares the Provisional Government deposed and announces the new Soviet power at the Congress.
V: Plunging Ahead
Defends Bolshevik actions at the Duma and Congress, argues for proletarian coalition.
VII: The Revolutionary Front
Goes to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to order translation of the Decree on Peace; six hundred functionaries resign in protest.
Counterrevolution
Reports on the battle at Pulkovo and the situation at the front, then leaves to join the Red Guards.
IX: Victory
Rumored to be excluded from the proposed Provisional People's Council.
XI: The Conquest of Power
Trotsky is mentioned as barred from the coalition, later downplaying the negotiations, and as the People's Commissar who faced resistance at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
XII: The Peasants’ Congress
Mentioned as remaining in the government after the agreement, despite initial demands for his elimination.
Trotsky’s Speech at the Council of the Russian Republic
Delivers the speech, denouncing the government and announcing the Bolsheviks' withdrawal from the Council.
Appendix to Chapter III
Mentioned alongside Lenin as part of the Bolshevik government that 'attacks and acts' in contrast to Kerensky's hesitancy.
5: Were the Bolsheviki Conspirators?
Mentioned as part of the 'Government of Lenin and Trotsky' that attacks and acts.
Questionnaire for the Bourgeoisie
Key figure in the revolutionary government's enforcement measures.
Appendix to Chapter XI
Referenced as calling the Cronstadt sailors the 'flower and pride of the revolutionary forces.'
5: Ridicule of the New Regime
Satirized as 'Robespierre-Trotsky,' depicted as comically inept in his pursuit of peace and foreign recognition.
Wine "Pogroms"
Praised the Cronstadt sailors as the 'flower and pride of the revolutionary forces' for their disciplined role in destroying wine.
Diplomatic Correspondence of the Soviet Government
Issued diplomatic notes to the Allies and neutral powers on behalf of the Soviet Government.

Chapter companion notes

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