Trotskyism

[ trot-skee-iz-uhm ]

noun

1. the form of Communism advocated by Leon Trotsky, based on an immediate, worldwide revolution by the proletariat.

Trotskyism

/ ˈtrɒtskɪˌɪzəm /

noun

1. the theory of Communism developed by Trotsky, in which he called for immediate worldwide revolution by the proletariat

Trotskyism

1. The doctrines of the twentieth-century Russian political leader Leon Trotsky , who believed that communism should depend on the cooperation of the proletariats (see also proletariat ) of all nations rather than on domination by the Soviet Union . Trotsky's ideas were opposed by Joseph Stalin , the Soviet premier , who sent Trotsky into exile, made him a nonperson , and eventually had him assassinated.

Derived Forms

• ˈTrotskyist, nounadjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Trotskyism¹

First recorded in 1920–25; Trotsky + -ism

Example Sentences

He bounced from Trotskyism to Stalinism to Anarchism, while also researching different religions, including Islam, Christianity, and his own Jewish heritage.

From BBC

Paranoia about Trotskyism was then endemic among Communists—Trotsky believed that revolution should be fostered in all countries, and Stalin loathed him—and few were more paranoid than Marty.

From The New Yorker

In Paris his encounters with the French non-Communist left, and its complacent anti-Americanism, expunged the last traces of the Trotskyism he had embraced in his youth.

From New York Times

Singer’s protagonist, Morris Krakower, is haunted in the night by the ghost of a former comrade, who publicly attacked others for Trotskyism and then himself “vanished,” a victim of Stalin’s reign of terror.

From The New Yorker

In the Soviet Union men were being shot for Trotskyism.

From Literature