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Browse: Home / History and Politics

When did Joseph Stalin exile and murder Leon Trotsky?

Question by Jessa: When did Stalin exile and murder Trotsky?
I need it for school thanks ^^

Answers and Views:

Answer by TG
He saw him as a threat to his hold on power. Trotsky had a lot of support among the Bolsheviks.

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Comments ( 2 )

  1. History Writer says

    He was last exiled during the Moscow show trials
    In August 1936, the first Moscow show trial of the so-called "Trotskyite-Zinovievite Terrorist Center" was staged in front of an international audience. During the trial, Zinoviev, Kamenev and 14 other accused, most of them prominent Old Bolsheviks, confessed to having plotted with Trotsky to kill Stalin and other members of the Soviet leadership. The court found everybody guilty and sentenced the defendants to death, Trotsky in absentia. The second show trial of Karl Radek, Grigory Sokolnikov, Yuri Pyatakov and 14 others took place in January 1937, with even more alleged conspiracies and crimes linked to Trotsky. In April 1937, an independent "Commission of Inquiry" into the charges made against Trotsky and others at the "Moscow Trials" was held in Coyoacan, with John Dewey as chairman. The findings were published in the book Not Guilty.
    On August 20, 1940, Trotsky was successfully attacked in his home by a NKVD agent, Ramón Mercader, who drove the pick of an ice axe into Trotsky's skull.
    The blow was poorly delivered, however, and failed to kill Trotsky instantly, as Mercader had intended. Witnesses stated that Trotsky spat on Mercader and began struggling fiercely with him. Hearing the commotion, Trotsky's bodyguards burst into the room and nearly killed Mercader, but Trotsky stopped them, shouting, "Do not kill him! This man has a story to tell." Trotsky was taken to a hospital, operated on, and survived for more than a day, dying at the age of 60 on August 21, 1940 as a result of severe brain damage. Mercader later testified at his trial:
    "I laid my raincoat on the table in such a way as to be able to remove the ice axe which was in the pocket. I decided not to miss the wonderful opportunity that presented itself. The moment Trotsky began reading the article, he gave me my chance; I took out the ice axe from the raincoat, gripped it in my hand and, with my eyes closed, dealt him a terrible blow on the head."
    According to James P. Cannon, the secretary of the Socialist Workers Party (USA), Trotsky's last words were "I will not survive this attack. Stalin has finally accomplished the task he attempted unsuccessfully before."[

    Reply
  2. Gromm says

    Trotsky was sent into “internal” exile (meaning, still within the USSR, but far from any big city) in 1927.

    In 1929, Trotsky was forced to leave the USSR completely and forever.

    He lived first in Turkey; then in France; then in Norway; and finally in Mexico.

    He was murdered in Mexico on August 21st, 1940.

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