Transcript Animal Farm by George Orwell

Animal Farm
by 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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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