Leon Trotsky Historical Figure Nationality: Soviet Union (born in Ukraine) Religion: Atheist (born into Judaism) Date of Birth: 1879 Date of Death: 1940 Cause of Death: Ice-pick to the back of the head Occupation: Soldier, Politician, Philosopher Spouse: Aleksandra Sokolovskaya (divorced? 1903) Natalia Sedova Children: Three Affiliations: Communist Party of the Soviet Union Turtledove Appearances: The War That Came Early POD: July 20, 1936; Relevant POD: September 29, 1938 Appearance(s): West and East Type of Appearance: Contemporary reference "Joe Steele" POD: 1878 Relevant POD: July, 1932 Type of Appearance: Direct

Leon Trotsky (Russian, Лейба Давидович Бронштейн; born Leon Davidovich Bronstein) (1879-1940), was a Ukrainian-born Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxist theorist. He was an influential politician in the early days of the Soviet Union, first as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs and later as the founder and commander of the Red Army and People's Commissar of War. He was also among the first members of the Politburo. With the death of Vladimir Lenin, Trotsky attempted to thwart the rise of Joseph Stalin in the 1920s. He failed, and was expelled from the Soviet Union. He continued to criticize Stalin from abroad until he was assassinated in 1940.

Leon Trotsky in The War That Came EarlyEdit

Leon Trotsky was largely condemned by the communists of the world, most of whom followed the lead of Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union.

In late 1939, Spanish Republican general La Martellita paraphrased Trotsky when she told Chaim Weinberg that "Every man may be stupid under the Republic, Comrade, but you abuse the privilege," in an attempt to bring his politics in line with the Republic's.^[1] When Weinberg innocently pointed out Trotsky was the source of her comment, she grew less interested in disciplining him.

Leon Trotsky in "Joe Steele" Edit

Upon the death of Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky became the premier of the Soviet Union. He led his country through World War II and the Japanese War. He and U.S. President Joe Steele shared a deep emnity that they were able to put aside during their fight against Germany, but became enemies again after the war when the two rival countries divided up Japan. Trotsky prodded his North Japan to attack Steele's South Japan in 1948 as part of his agenda for International Revolution. The war ended in 1949. The United States destroyed North Japan's capital Sapporo with an atomic bomb. Three days later, the Soviet Union destroyed the South Japan city of Nagano with their own atomic bomb. With this tit for tat bombing, boundaries were returned to the status quo ante bellum. He was the still the Soviet leader at the time of Joe Steele's death in 1953.

NotesEdit

Political offices (OTL)
Preceded by Mikhail Tereshchenko (Minister of Foreign Affairs)	People's Comissar for Foreign Affairs 1917–1918	Succeeded by Georgy Chicherin
Preceded by Nikolai Podvoisky	People's Commissar for Army and Navy Affairs 1918–1925	Succeeded by Mikhail Frunze
Party political offices (ATL)
Preceded by Vladimir Lenin	General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union ("Joe Steele") 1924-19??	Succeeded by Incumbent at story's end

v · d · e Leaders of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union OTL Vladimir Lenin · Joseph Stalin · Georgy Malenkov · Nikita Khrushchev · Leonid Brezhnev · Yuri Andropov · Konstantin Chernenko · Mikhail Gorbachev · Vladimir Ivashko (acting) Worldwar Joseph Stalin · Vyacheslav Molotov · Lavrenty Beria (temporary) Miscellaneous Alternate History Joseph Stalin (The Man With the Iron Heart, The War That Came Early) · Leon Trotsky ("Joe Steele") · Mikhail Gorbachev (A World of Difference) · Vladimir Putin (The Gladiator)

v · d · e The War That Came Early Books Hitler's War • West and East • The Big Switch • Coup d'Etat • Two Fronts • Untitled sixth volume 1 of 5 Add photo POV Characters Juan Antonio Ansaldo* • Joaquin Delgadillo† • Aristide Demange • Willi Dernen • Peggy Druce • Hideki Fujita • Sarah Goldman • Luc Harcourt† • Adolf Hitler* • Theo Hossbach • Vaclav Jezek • Ivan Kuchkov • Fritz-Julius Lemp • Pete McGill • Anastas Mouradian • Ludwig Rothe† • Hans-Ulrich Rudel • Alistair Walsh • Chaim Weinberg • Sergei Yaroslavsky† Countries Belgium • Britain • China • Czechoslovakia • France • Germany • Italy • Japan • Philippines • Poland • Soviet Union • Spain • United States Events Spanish Civil War • World War II (The War That Came Early) *denotes a character who was a POV for a single scene. † denotes a deceased character.