The Russian Revolution and Animal Farm

• Was a major contributor to Lenin's rise to power, and was very active with propaganda and with the public
• When Lenin died, Stalin seized power
• he eventually removed Trotsky from all power and had him exiled and killed.
• He used deceit and corruption to ascend to power.

• He modernized and industrialized the Soviet Union
• He killed millions of people through his agricultural systems.
• Developed an extreme police force and a military
• Led to him leading the Soviet Union to a victory in WWII

Pg 36 “At the Meetings Snowball often won over the majority by his brilliant speeches, but Napoleon was better at canvassing support for himself between times . . . especially successful with the sheep”

Pg 39: “They dashed straight for Snowball, who only sprang from his place just in time to escape their snapping jaws . . . then he put on an extra spurt and, with a few inches to spare, slipped through a hole in the hedge and was seen no more”

Pg 40: “Napoleon . . . announced that from now on . . . [m]eetings would come to an end . . . the workings of the farm would be settled by a special committee of pigs, presided over himself . . . there would be no more debates”

Pg 43: “Squealer explained . . . Napoleon had never in reality been opposed to the windmill. On the contrary, it was he who had advocated it in the beginning”

Pg 51: “The windmill was in ruins . . .

Napoleon: Do you know who is responsible for this . . . SNOWBALL! . . . Snowball has done this thing”

Pg 54: Starvation seemed to stare them in the face. It was virtually necessary to conceal the fact from the outside world.

Pg 55: “[T]here was something resembling a rebellion . . . Napoleon acted swiftly and ruthlessly . . .[n]ine hens had died”

Pg 96: “ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT[,] BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS”

Pg 101: “The animals outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which”

• living with the homeless
• Bad jobs including being a dishwasher.
• His first book provided a brutal look at the lives of the working poor.
• Not wishing to embarrass his family with his fist novel which was about him struggling to make a living in Paris and London, Blair published the book under the pen name George Orwell

• His service as a colonial policeman in Burma turned him into a fierce anti-imperialist with a commitment to exposing oppression and championing the rights of the working class.
• He felt that he was "part of the system" as a policeman

• He was a man of strong opinions who addressed some of the major political movements of his times, including imperialism, fascism and communism
• Did not have that much to lose in old age

• As British socialist John Molyneux describes,

"He adopted the role of the self-conscious outsider who, while investigating the conditions of the workers and the poor (and sympathizing with them), would retain his individual independence and detachment. In the process he never lost his skepticism about the political capacities of the working class."

• Orwell had a fear of what was happening in the Soviet Union, in how it was too late to change anything.
• He acknowledges how he saw all of this coming
• Benjamin the Donkey,

"the oldest animal on the farm and the worst tempered. He seldom talked, and when he did, it was usually to make some cynical remark"

• Self-Reflection of Orwell

• At Orwell's time, everyone in society loved the "pigs" but Orwell could see through the corruption and the lack of concern for the working classes
• Wishes he could act.

The Russian Revolution and Animal Farm

1917:

March 5th, 1953

Stalin Dies, leaving the Soviet Union to his successor, Nikita Khrushchev

Priorities

• Stalin's first priority was to continue creating the Communist state envisioned by Lenin and the Bolsheviks
• Did so through five-year plans and Collectivization of the Agriculture
• Industrialized Soviet Union, but at the cost of Millions of Lives
• Collectivization helped the five-year plans, but resulted in famines killing an estimated 10 Million People
• Though he did so through the sacrifices of many lives, Stalin was able to turn Russia into a Super Power

1928

-

1940

1924

February-

Czar Nicholas overthrown by liberal group led by Aleksandr Kelensky.

Pg 9: "And Now comrades, I will tell you about my dream of last night. I cannot describe that dream to you . . . when Man has vanished”

October-

Liberal Group overthrown by Bolsheviks, led by Vladmir Lenin and Leon Trotsky

Pg 10: "At last they could stand it no longer. . . Jones and his men suddenly found themselves being butted and kicked from all sides. . . the animals pursuing them in triumph"

• Stalin had successfully removed the major political enemies he faced, including Leon Trotsky, from political power.
• He started his first of many, 5 year plans

Pg 39: "They dashed straight for Snowball, who only sprang from his place just in time to escape their snapping jaws . . . and, with a few inches to spare, slipped through a hole in the hedge and was seen no more"

Stalin sent an agent to assassinate Trotsky with an ice-pick in his retreat in Mexico, 1940.

January-

Vladmir Lenin dies, leaving Trotsky and Stalin fighting for political power.

Pg 18: "[T]he disputes between Snowball and Napoleon. These two disagreed at every point where disagreement was possible"

Secret Police, The Great Purge, and Opposition

• Stalin's Practices were not met with total obedience
• Stalin greatly expanded on Lenin's Secret Police, creating a system similar to Hitlers
• Stalin initiated the Great Purge to eliminate any possible opposition
• Gulags

Pg: 43 "Squealer explained . . . Napoleon had never in reality been opposed to the windmill. On the contrary, it was he who had advocated it in the beginning"

WWII

The Reach of Stalin's Rule

WWII, and the Creation of Puppet States

• Stalin's Agenda in WWII was to influence Eastern European countries in order to establish communism
• Used secret police to eliminate possible oppression
• Katyn Massacre - The secret massacre of Polish nationals
• The discovery that Russia committed crimes was revealed in 1992 - around 50 years later

• The USSR has killed an estimated 61,000,000 people, Stalin killing ~43,000,000 of these people
• Stalin's Rule left it's impact on the world for years after he died.
• Stalin created the transition from a Leninist ideology, into a Stalinist

Stalinism: A style of ruling characterized by state terror, authoritarianism, centralized and single-party state, idealized socialism, rapid industrialization, collectivation of agriculture, and puppet communist governments

1910

1930

1940

1920

1960

1934

1922

January-

Stalin begins his Great Purge against the Soviet People.

Orwell's Early Life

Russia--> USSR

April-

• Joseph Stalin promoted to general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
• This was a position of extreme power and influence, directly under Vladimir Lenin

Pg 55: [T]here was something resembling a rebellion . . . Napoleon acted swiftly and ruthlessly . . . [n]ine hens had died.

• Stalin set the stage for consecutive Soviet Union Practices
• Because of Stalin's disappearance from public appearances, he became "worshiped" by the public

Stalin's Influence Shortly Before and After Death

Pg 60: "Imediately the dogs bounded forward, seized four of the pigs by the ear and dragged them . . . to Napoleon's feet . . . they confessed that they had been secretly in touch with Snowball . . . three hens . . . a goose . . . a sheep . . . [t]hey were all slain on the spot"

Pg 6: "The work of teaching and organizing the others fell naturally upon the pigs, who were generally recognized as being the cleverest of the animals . . . Napoleon . . . [and] Snowball"

Orwell's choices as a reflection of his time

Pg 18: "Painted out MANOR FARM from the top bar of the gate and in its place painted ANIMAL FARM"

Orwell's choices as a Reflection of his Time, History, and Political Thoughts

Pg 19: “THE SEVEN COMMANDMENTS

Whatever goes upon 2 legs is an enemy.

Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.

No animal shall wear clothes.

No animal shall sleep in a bed.

No animal shall drink alcohol.

No animal shall kill any other animal.

All animals are equal”

Czar Nicholas=Mr. Jones

Political Views

Orwell's other motives

• A self-proclaimed socialist
• However he had a hatred for the Soviet Union system of corruption and power-hungry leaders

Pg 10: “After a few preliminary tries, the whole farm burst out into Beasts of England in tremendous unison . . . the uproar awoke Mr. Jones . . . [e]veryone fled to his own sleeping-place”

Pg 16: “For the first few minutes the animals could hardly believe in their good fortune . . . they raced back to the farm buildings to wipe out the last traces of Jones’s hated reign”

The Ascent to Power in Russia

Joseph Stalin

Leon Trotsky

Vladimir Lenin :

Czar Nicholas:

• Led Bolshevik Party in Revolution
• Studied the teachings of Karl Marx
• Believed that progression of man lied in the conflict of classes.
• Sought to establish socialism

• Led monarchy in pre-revolution Russia, led Russia during a time of social and political and social unrest
• led Russia to World War I
• Under the Czar, Russians faced shortages of food, fuel (heat), repression, major military losses
• Hated by the citizen who hoped for more

Overthrown by liberal group led by Aleksandr Kerensky in 1917

• Anti-war journalist during WWI
• Started as a military leader in Lenin's army
• Worked his way through the ranks
• Seized power with Stalin upon Lenin's death
• In a power struggle with Stalin
• Was not as popular as Stalin, and was eventually exiled

Lenin=Old Major

Pg 9: “And Now, comrades, I will tell you about my dream of last night. I cannot describe that dream to you . . . when Man has vanished”

Joseph Stalin= Napoleon

Pg 10 “Someone: What is going to happen to all that milk?

Napoleon: Never mind the milk, comrades . . . that will be attended to”

Leon Trotsky=Snowball

Pg 66: “Napoleon was now never spoken of simply as “Napoleon.” . . . It had become usual to giec Napoleon credit for every successful achievement and every stroke of good fortune”