Stalin knew that having betrayed the Revolution, he needed to eliminate those who defended and embodied the ideas of Bolshevism and world revolution. First and foremost this fell to Leon Trotsky, who had been driven into exile some eleven years earlier. All the resources of the Russian state were now set in motion to carry out his assassination. Before long, Stalin had murdered several of Trotsky’s co-workers, seven of his secretaries, and four of his children – the latest being his son Leon Sedov in early 1938.
Rob Sewell, Leon Trotsky: the man and his ideas
Today marks the anniversary of Leon Trotsky’s assassination. Struck down 72 years ago by an ice-pick to the head from a cowardly Stalinist assassin, he soon fell into a coma and died the following day, 21st August 1940.