Many wars fought on the European continent have occurred throughout history. In Europe’s long history, there have always been numerous wars. Some of these were civil, and others were fought with other nations. True leaders have stood up in those wartime situations to fight for their followers’ rights and represent them. Eventually, many of them became heroes in their own countries. These leaders became symbols of their respective countries despite differing ideologies and methods. On the 19th of March 1918, Leon Trotsky, a Russian, encouraged people in Moscow to form an armed force to overthrow the ruling government. He yelled, “Comrades!” with passion. He passionately exclaimed, “Comrades!
The speeches made by Leon Trotsky in Russia’s history will never be forgotten. Trotsky was the one who made the most powerful speeches to convince many Russians to join the army during the civil conflict. His ‘We Need An Army’ speech will be remembered forever by all Russians. That speech changed history in the country and made it follow his views, ideologies including Marxism. He was also a Russian politician and revolutionary. He was well-known for his Marxism or Trotskyism. He was a Commissar of War in the Russian Civil War. He also created the Red Army. He and his Red Army lived in a train with armor. He captured people’s attention with his speeches and manifestos and finally created an army capable of defeating the Whites.
This speech was given by Leon Trotsky to increase the attention on his army. Trotsky is not just asking more people to join the army, as is evident in her opening sentence.
“Comrades! “Our Soviet Socialist Republic is in need of a well organized army.”
He is asking the soviets to join his rebellion against the capital. Trotsky asks for his army’s continued and increased efforts to help him overthrow capitalist power.
“We will work harder, we will work together, and we’ll go further along the path of labor discipline, creative work, and harnessing ourselves.”
It is clear that he wants everyone to do their best to reach the goals he has set for his country. This speech was addressed to Russian citizens. His audience is them. They are his audience.
The speech deals with the topic of power. Leon Trotsky’s speech generates a lot of power and the message that he conveys to his audience is what motivates people to risk their life for his ideals and to overthrow government. When a man uses his position, power, and voice he can accomplish this. It was a time when terror reigned. Russia was experiencing a major crisis. The government tried to maintain power but the people revolted. In the end, with the help of this man and other revolutionary, Russia became a socialist, Marxist country. This is the context of Russian civil war.
This speech’s main purpose was to demand a change of government, by leading a people’s army to overthrow the current government and establish a socialist one. Trotsky desired a revolution and to achieve this he required an army. He wanted a powerful army that could overthrow the current government. This speech emphasizes the need to have an army that is disciplined and works hard. Throughout the speech, Leon tries to convince people to join his army and represent his Trotskyist ideas. Here is an example.
“We must have an army which will provide us with the power to fight the inevitable battle against imperialism. The army would not only help us defend ourselves, but it would also be a great asset in the fight of the international workers.
This is why we need an army. Trotsky’s strong language is used to convince the reader that an army is needed. Trotsky states that the army must be disciplined.
Revolutionary discipline is needed for proper organization of an army, and especially to make the best use of its specialists.
This shows how important it is to have a disciplined army that can follow orders and win wars. It is important to work hard when you are forming an Army.
We won’t be stopped by anything. “We will not be halted by any difficulties.”
This part of speech emphasizes the need to put in hard work if this revolt is to be successful.
This speech does not use a lot of pathos, logos or ethos. If not, a pathos example could be.
“There is no doubt about the fact that, the more imperialism grabs hold of Europe, the more furious and horrific will be its wrath. The European worker-soldier will return home from the trenches to find his family living in poverty, with hunger, while his nation will have fallen into economic ruin as a consequence of their inhuman suffering.”
Leon’s emotion is that international imperialism does not actually strangle anyone. However, he perceives it as such.
Trotsky was a novice in the military and had no experience to pass on. This speech also lacks logos, as the author only talks about what will happen if the people revolt and never gives any concrete facts. Leon Trotsky passed away on August 21st, 1940. In Russia, he will be forever remembered for his revolutionary views as well as his ideology named Trotskyism.
