It's 1903, and the Russian Marxist movement is ready to answer Vladimir Lenin's call to unite into a single party. Lenin is looking to become the de facto leader of the new party, but he's not the only one in the running. Many of his comrades favor his emerging rival Julius Martov, so Lenin is relying on his new silver-tongued acolyte Leon Trotsky to help him bend the party to his will. But Trotsky isn't willing to be anyone's pawn. And when a fissure rips through the new party, Lenin and Trotsky find themselves on opposite sides of the divide - just as public opposition to the Russian tsar sparks bloodshed on the streets of St. Petersburg.