Trotsky played a major role in the Revolution of 1917 and it was the most significant event in his life. Trotsky was still in exile at the beginning of 1917. After the overthrow of the Tsar he left New York, where he was working on the revolutionary newspaper Novy Mir, to travel to Russia immediately. He was detained by British authorities, under the persuasion of the Okhrana, in Canada on the way. He was released a month later after protests from the Provisional Government, arriving back in Russia in May, 1917. He returned a Menshevik but quickly joined the Bolsheviks in July. He was seen as a threat to the new government and was arrested soon after before being released as Lenin's second-in-command to help save the Provisional Government from Kornilov. This was significant because Trotsky realised that the Provisional Government could be replaced. In October he became Chair of the...