Russia 1894-1945 and Beyond

Why begin here?●George Orwell wrote his

novel during WWII

between November 1943-

February 1944 in order

to, in his words, “expose

the Soviet myth in a story

that could be easily

understood.”

●To understand his story,

we have to understand

the history he was

reacting to.

Getting the terms straight…

●Socialism oFocused on general

welfare and cooperation

instead of individualism

and competition

oGovernment directs

production of goods

oWorkers have equal

access to resources and

earn money based on the

amount of labor they do

oNonviolent

●CommunismoWorkers own all property

and resources as a

community

oAll wealth is shared

equally Social and economic

status of all is the same

oGovernment is

unnecessary

oOnly way to reach is

through violent rebellion

Both terms below are a reaction against CAPITALISM where property and the

means of production are privately owned. In capitalism, individualism and

competition are valued above the collective group working to help each other..

Where did these ideas come

from? ●Karl MarxoThe Father of

Communism—wrote the Communist Manifesto in 1848

oCalled for destroying people in power through revolution to replace capitalism with communism

o“Workers of the world unite”—take over gov’t.

Monarchy in Russia and Czar

Nicolas II●Russia was an absolute monarchy from 1801-1917.oAll land belongs to czar

oNobles run country

oPeasants have no rights

oKeep out all new ideas from the west so Russia falls

far behind the rest of the world

●Nicolas II ruled from 1894-1917

and was the last czar in Russia.

Who revolted against the

monarchy?

●Russian Social Democratic Workers Party (RSDWP)

forms against monarchy -- party splits in 1902oMansheviks want peasants to lead revolt for themselves

oBolsheviks want intellectuals to lead the revolt and create

a Marxist state for the peasants

Vladimir Lenin becomes leader of Bolsheviks

Causes of the Revolution●Sick of fighting in WWI – population AND military

blame czar for poor performance

●Food shortages

●Job shortages

●Inflation – cost of everything REALLY high

●Buildings, houses, and roads all falling apart

●All power with Nicholas II

How it happened●February 1917 – workers and military revolt, Nicholas II

is forced to give up all poweroTemporary democracy forms - NO problems are solved

●October 1917 – Bolshevik RevolutionoLenin leads the revolution in the capitol and takes over on

Oct 25 – only 20 die, temporary democracy disbanded

oCzar Nicholas II and family executed

o“White Russians” – wealthy class who knew their way of

life would end – flee to other countries

oGoal had been to start a world revolution - Russian Civil

War had to be crushed first (lasts until 1921)

Vladimir Lenin●Russia became communist under his dictatorship

●Moved the capital to Moscow and took up residence

at the Kremlin (where czars used to live—becomes

center of Russian Government)

●Ruled by force

●Renamed Russia the USSR (Union of

      Soviet Socialist Republics)

●Dies January 1924

Who will take over after

Lenin?Leon Trotsky Joseph Stalin

●Lenin's #2 man●Brilliant speaker, educated

●Pure communist, followed

Marx

●International outlook –

advocated helping push for

a world revolution

●Can’t get enough support to

come to power

●"Man of steel"●Not a good speaker, not

educated like Trotsky

●Says he wants more free

market economy to help

growth

●Hides his more violent side

and his desire for power

●Gets enough support to

become General Secretary

of Communist Party

Stalin in Power●Uses power as General Secretary to appoint his

own men to all positions

●Accused Trotsky of being a spy and had him exiled and

murdered

●Becomes dictator in 1929

●Works to create “true” socialism through Five Year PlansoRapid industrial development to modernize farming and

increase production

o300% growth in economy

oCollectivization – government owns all land and crops

rather than workers

Rapid Industrialization●Marxist idea – most efficient way to run an

economy is produce, produce, PRODUCE

●Stalin decided that to compete with other

countries, the USSR would have to work

FAST (Five Year Plan).

●Failed miserably!

oConstant “economy of shortages”

Stalin Continued●Created KGB

o“Police” force to do his dirty work – constantly threatening

and spying on people to make them act as they should

●Show trials

oAny accused of acting against the government got a fast

trial, in private, without a jury, and only a judge to decide

oForced to confess

oExecuted within 24 hours

●Great Purge

oMass imprisonment in work camps (gulags)

oExecutions to destroy political opposition (and at times

supporters)

oQuotas of how many to be killed

oOver 1 million actually die

Getting the people on his side:

Stalinist Propaganda●False information used to manipulate and persuade

people to support Stalin

●Speeches, radio, film, posters, flyers, etc.

●PravdaoTranslates to “Truth”oRussian newspaper Stalin took over in 1930s to print

whatever he wanted

●Frequent target – organized religionoRidiculed by Communist government as something that

would die awayoNot favored because it had power over people and

therefore threatened rule

And what about the proletariat

(workers) this was all for?●Lives stayed the same or got worse - life

all about labor.

●Realized the unfairness of communism but

had no idea how to rebel.

●Blindly followed each new leaderoThe older generation knew the gov’t was wrong but

realized it would be temporary, so they waited instead

of rebelling.

Stalin: Back and forth between

enemy and “friend”●Signed a non-aggression pact with Hitler in 1939 –

promised not to invade Germany and not to help the

AlliesoHitler invaded Russia anyway in 1941

●Tehran Conference – Stalin switches to the AlliesoNovember 1943, Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill agree

that Stalin will fight Germany in the East and the rest will

take back France in the West.

●Point at which Orwell becomes REALLY frustrated

and begins to write Animal Farm!

George Orwell: Animal Farm●In order to write about the Soviet Union without

being accused of siding with the Nazis (as the

USSR was one of the Allies), Orwell used the farm

in his novel to loosely disguise his criticisms.

●Orwell insisted on sharing the truth, or his view of it,

even though no one wanted to hear it.

●In addition to his novel, he published an essay on

how politicians use language to deceive people.

●The result? Politicians were not a fan of Orwell!

George Orwell: Animal Farm●In his essay "Why I Write" (1946), he wrote that Animal Farm

was the first book in which he had tried, with full consciousness

of what he was doing "to fuse political purpose and artistic

purpose into one whole."●It was initially rejected by a number of British and American

publishers, including one of Orwell's own publishers.●It became a great commercial success when it did finally

appear partly because the Cold War so quickly followed

World War II...which Orwell himself kind of foreshadowed in the

book itself.●Time magazine chose the book as one of the 100 best English-

language novels (1923 to 2005).

Animal Farm published in

1945“... Orwell’s still, small voice has also made itself continuously heard in its own quiet, persistent, almost nagging way.... Already in a score of countries and a dozen languages Animal Farm has made its peculiar mark...; and the political flavor of its message... has not been lost in the translation” (Woodhouse 1954).