Leon Trotsky

Leon Trotsky (7th November 1879 – 4th September 1938), born Lev Davidovich Bronstein was a Russian revolutionary, and Soviet politician.

Background

Initially supporting the Menshevik-Internationalist faction within the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, he joined the Bolsheviks just before the October Revolution, immediately becoming a leader within the Communist Party.

During the early days of Soviet Russia, he served first as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs and later as the founder and commander of the Red Army, with the title of People's Commissar of Military and Naval Affairs.

Following the death of Vladimir Lenin, Trotsky was involved in an inter-party struggle regarding Lenin's successor, which he lost to Joseph Stalin and Nikolai Bukharin. He would later be removed from all positions in the Soviet government. He would die on September 4th, 1938 at his home in Bereslavka, Ukraine.

Death and autopsy

Following Trotsky's death, a standard medical evaluation was undertaken by a team of Soviet physicians. The report stated that the cause of death was extreme head trauma, caused by an external blow to the parietal region of the skull.

Reports state that the impact was caused by a blunt, hard object. However, it is unspecified which objects this may refer to. The remainder of the medical analysis had been classified by the Soviet government, since its completion in early 1939 and had disappeared after the collapse of the USSR.

History

In real life, much like in The New Order, Trotsky was one of Lenin's possible successors, although unlike in The New Order, Stalin was ultimately the one who came out on top. He died later in real life than he did in The New Order (August 21, 1940), and unlike in The New Order, was assassinated while living in exile in Mexico with an icepick.