How Dubious Loyalties Shaped the 1917 October Revolution
In the wild political landscape of 1917 Russia, the October Revolution unfolded with bizarre twists. Trotsky's Menshevik-to-Bolshevik switch, Left SRs' strange bedfellowship, and Germany's support for Lenin created shifting loyalties and unforeseen alliances.
In the swirling political maelstrom of 1917 Russia, where intrigue and espionage were as common as borscht and vodka, the October Revolution unfolded in a bizarre atmosphere of shifting loyalties and unexpected alliances. This chapter in history, often obscured by grand ideologies and fervent rhetoric, reveals the bizarre twists and turns of fate that brought the Bolsheviks to power.
Our tale begins with a character almost as enigmatic as Rasputin himself – Leon Trotsky. Until a few months before the October Revolution, Trotsky sported a political badge of honor as a Menshevik, a faction of Russian Social Democrats that stood in opposition to Lenin's Bolsheviks. This unusual entry on Trotsky's resume would surely have raised some eyebrows at Bolshevik HQ.
