Leon Trotsky, the exiled leader of the Communist party died in 1940, aged 61, when he was stabbed at the back of the head with a foot long ice axe. His brutal murder was orchestrated by Stalin 11 years after he had had him exiled from Russia, following a struggle over ideologies and the leadership of the Russian communist parties. Trotsky's was a life of great political success but his family life was traumatic which may explain the steely cruel pragmatism of his leadership.
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