In March 1917, Trotsky heard that the communists were planning on revolting. He tried to get back to Russia, but was arrested by the British and made a prisoner of war in Canada. The Russian tsardom had collapsed and been replaced by a provisional government which intervened on Trotsky's behalf. Upon his return, he accepted an invitation by Lenin to join the Bolshevik Party and participate in the revolution.

Trotsky spoke before large Russian audiences, denouncing the Provisional Government and imploring them to overthrow the regime. Trotsky then headed the Military Revolutionary Committee, the force that would lead the insurrection in October. Defeating the Provisional Government proved easy, but the anti-Bolshevik forces like the Mensheviks and other socialists were another matter. It took great strategy on the part of Trotsky to defeat these powers.

It is rumored that after gaining power, Lenin proposed that Trotsky head the government. Trotsky refused to accept the honor and instead became Commisar of Foreign Affairs. Trotsky's reasoning was that counterrevolutionists could use Trotsky's Jewish origins against him. Their was an anti-semitic notion in Russia at the time and a Jewish head of state would be an easy target.

After winning the civil war, Trotsky's career was at an all time high. The names Trotsky and Lenin intermingled in the minds of the Russian masses.
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