# Leon Trotsky — Ten Days That Shook the World character guide > Leon Trotsky in Ten Days That Shook the World by John Reed. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Trotsky, Bronstein, L. D. Bronstein, L. Trotsky, Leon Trotsky **First appearance:** 0011-i-background ## Snapshot 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. ## Who they are 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? ## In the story ### [Political Parties](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/political-parties) Listed as a leader of the Bolsheviki and formerly a member of the Mensheviki Internationalists. ### [Ten Days That Shook the World](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/ten-days-that-shook-the-world) Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet, key organizer of the uprising. ### [Background](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/i-background) Bolshevik leader imprisoned after July Days; later released. ### [II: The Coming Storm](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/iv-the-fall-of-the-provisional-government) Declares the Provisional Government deposed and announces the new Soviet power at the Congress. ### [V: Plunging Ahead](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/v-plunging-ahead) Defends Bolshevik actions at the Duma and Congress, argues for proletarian coalition. ### [VII: The Revolutionary Front](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/viii-counterrevolution) Reports on the battle at Pulkovo and the situation at the front, then leaves to join the Red Guards. ### [IX: Victory](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/ix-victory) Rumored to be excluded from the proposed Provisional People's Council. ### [XI: The Conquest of Power](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/4-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/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?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/5-were-the-bolsheviki-conspirators) Mentioned as part of the 'Government of Lenin and Trotsky' that attacks and acts. ### [Questionnaire for the Bourgeoisie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/3-questionnaire-for-the-bourgeoisie) Key figure in the revolutionary government's enforcement measures. ### [Appendix to Chapter XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/appendix-to-chapter-xi) Referenced as calling the Cronstadt sailors the 'flower and pride of the revolutionary forces.' ### [5: Ridicule of the New Regime](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/5-ridicule-of-the-new-regime) Satirized as 'Robespierre-Trotsky,' depicted as comically inept in his pursuit of peace and foreign recognition. ### [Wine "Pogroms"](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/7-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/18-diplomatic-correspondence-of-the-soviet-government) Issued diplomatic notes to the Allies and neutral powers on behalf of the Soviet Government. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/characters/trotsky - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/characters