Animal Farm by George Orwell Background Notes: Russian History.

Animal Farmby George Orwell

Background Notes:

Russian History

Early History• Origins: tribal, nomadic people both north

and south

• Scandinavian invasion: Vikings (862 AD)

• Mongol invasion 1223 – Genghis Khan

• Muscovite (from Moscow) princes:– Daniel Nevsky (1263)– Ivan the Great (1462)– Ivan the Terrible (1533)

Russification

• Attempt to unify vast areas of Russia by requiring Russian language and emphasizing Russian culture

The Romanovs

• 1613 – Michael Romanov elected tsar

• Romanov mission: make Russia great European power; problem:– Economically and culturally backward– Success depended on suffering of people– Method of control (Law Code of 1649) froze

residency and social status of populace

Romanovs

• Peter the Great (1682)

• Catherine the Great (1762)

• Alexander I (1801)

• Nicholas I

• Alexander II – eased censorship (assassinated 1881)

• Alexander III – increased authoritarianism

Czar Nicholas

Nicholas II:The Last Emperor

• Married Alexandra (German princess; granddaughter of England’s Queen Victoria)

• Four daughters, then son (Alexei)-had hemophilia

• Rasputin – peasant pilgrim, “mystic” believed by Alexandra to have healing power on son; held power over Alexandra

Rasputin

Russia under Nicholas

• Maintained autocratic government

• Ineffective ruler

• Drove to develop industry

• Rapid economic growth but workers suffered

• War with Japan (defeated)

• Revolution of 1905– Bloody Sunday

– Created Duma to appease– People demanded more– Limited power

Russia and WWI

• Russia allied with West to stop German domination of Europe

• Nicholas needed on front to command army

• Alexandra left to rule (Rasputin influenced)

• Food shortages; strikes broke out

• Army mutinied

• Nicholas forced to abdicate

Death of Romanovs

• Family eventually taken prisoner

• Killed in Siberia probably under order of Lenin in 1918

The Communists

• Took over 1917• Philosophy based on writings of Karl Marx

(Communist Manifesto)• Became “Union of Soviet Socialist

Republics” (Soviet Union)• Theory of Socialist society: 3 groups

(working class, peasantry, white collar intelligentsia) coexist harmoniously and lay foundation for Communist Utopia

Lenin

Life under Communists

• Bolsheviks (militant faction of socialist movement) gained control

• Vladimir Lenin – first Bolshevik leader• White Russians (loyal to czar)– fought

against Bolshevik “Red Army” • Red Army led by Leon Trotsky defeated

White Russians• Trotsky given powerful position in Lenin’s

government

Trotsky

Struggle for Power

• Lenin dies (natural causes)

• Struggle for power between Trotsky and Joseph Stalin (party’s general secretary)

• Stalin takes over

• Trotsky exiled

• Trotsky assassinated in Mexico under orders from Stalin

Stalin

Stalin

• Cruel leader

• Removed anyone he didn’t trust

• Sent to labor camps

• 1934- 2/3 of Central Committee executed

• 1937-1938: 1 million people shot; 2 million died in camps (Purges)

Stalin’s Relationship with Hitler• Initial cooperation

• Nazi expansion – Stalin sought alliance w/France & England

• Secret negotiations w/Germany

• Continued anti-German talks w/Allies

• Signed non-aggression pact w/Hitler (possible expansionist thoughts for himself), shocking Allies

• 1939: Germany invades Poland (begins WWII)• Stalin invades Poland from East• Stalin deports thousands of Poles to Siberia• Stalin takes Finland and parts of Baltic• June 22, 1941 – Germany invades USSR

• Stalin enters the war on the side of the Allies

• January, 1943 – Germans DEFEATED in Battle of Stalingrad (turning point in war)

• Soviets continue pushing Germans back toward Germany

• U.S. troops move toward Germany from the west

• Soviets/U.S. meet in Berlin; Nazis are defeated

• War ends 5/8/1945

Post War USSR

• Stalin dies 1953

• Kruschev

• Breshnev

• Gorbechev

• Communist rule collapses in 1991; primary surviving state: Russia

“-isms”Socialism: you have two cows. Give one to your neighbor.Communism: you have two cows. Give both cows to the government, and they may give you some of the milk.Fascism: you have two cows. You give all the milk to the government, and they sell it.Nazism: you have two cows. The government shoots you and takes both of the cows.Anarchism: you have two cows. Keep both of the cows, shoot the government agent, and steal another cow.Capitalism: You have two cows. Sell one cow and buy a bull.

Animal Farm Literary Terms

Fable – a brief story, usually with animal characters, that teaches a lesson or moral Satire – a type of writing that ridicules the faults of individuals, societies, or behaviors Allegory – story written on both a literal and symbolic level of meaning