Was Leon Trotsky a positive or negative influence on Russia?
I don’t think that you can accuse Trotsky for being a ruthless leader, after all he was the leader of the opposition against Stalin’s regime. He joined the Bolsheviks at the period between the first revolution of February (against char) and the revolution of October (socialist revolution). He was highly talented and that’s why Lenin trusted him as the leader of the Red Army during the period of the civil war and the counter-revolution. After the death of Lenin the question of who will be the next leader wasn’t just the competition between two different individuals but mainly the question of how the newly formed USSR would continue. We can say many things about the personality of the two opponents but some historical facts played a decisive role. Trotsky was supporter of the idea that revolution has to be permanent and international while Stalin believed that it is possible to build socialism only in one country. The defeat of the german revolution made Trotsky’s plan looking quite utop
