Animal Farm by George

OrwellHistorical Background

About the Russian Revolution

and Other History

Czar (Tsar) Nicholas II• Held absolute power as

the ruler of Russia• Involved his country in

WWI • Allowed his people to go

hungry• Worker revolted against

him – he was overthrown and then abdicated

• White Army remained loyal

• His children were Olga, Tatiana, Marie, Anastasia and Alexei

• He and his family were executed on July 16 or 17, 1918

Revolution• Unrest began as early as

1914• By Feb. 1917, the Revolution

was in progress – there were mobs in the streets & Czar’s soldiers stepped aside. Czar was forced to abdicate

• Bolsheviks gained control of telegraph lines and railroads in preparation for further revolution

• Oct. 1917 – the Revolution was complete and Bolsheviks were in control

• Bolsheviks took complete power, but there had been no unified government from Feb. – Oct., so things were in really bad shape

Rasputin

• Trusted advisor to the royal family

• A monk with “mystical” powers

• Seemed to help Alexei’s hemophilia

• Close friend of the Tsarina (Alexandra)

• Wouldn’t die – poisoned, shot 2-3x and drowned (1916)

Karl Marx

• Said history = struggle between oppressed and oppressors

• German philosopher• Wrote “Communist

Manifesto”• Called for revolution• Wanted a classless,

or equal, society

Vladimir Lenin

• Leader of the Bolsheviks

• Died in 1924 – Stalin & Trotsky fought for control

• Used Marx’s ideas as his basis

• Began stripping away private land

• Did get Russia out of the war, but not in good shape

Bolsheviks• Led by Vladimir Lenin• Began organizing in

early 1900s• Took complete power in

Russia Oct. 1917• Promised land, bread

and peace• Began stripping all land

from individuals and forbade the holding of private property

• Goal: equality and peace for all and forever

• Executed royal family in July 1918

Russian Civil War• Reds (Bolsheviks &

Communists) vs. Whites (wealthy, outraged & sympathetic to Czar)

• Whites supported by U.S. and Great Britain – they were against communism and upset by the terms of the treaty getting Russia out of WWI

• Reds won following 3 year campaign of terror

Leon Trotsky

• Worked closely with Lenin

• Obvious choice as successor

• Good planner, speaker and writer

• Focus was on industrializing USSR

• Forced into exile – murdered in Mexico 1940

Joseph Stalin

• Also worked with Lenin

• Worked to make alliances w/ people who would be loyal

• Totalitarian ruler• Didn’t tolerate any

disagreement• Used KGB (Secret

Police) to crush any disagreement

Propaganda

Hitler-Stalin PactHitler-Stalin Pact• Meant for 10 yrs, lasted 2

• Soviets could not enter war

• Economic Agreement (Soviets provide food while Germany provides furnished products such as steel)

• Secret Protocol (Soviets gained Baltic States such as Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and half of Poland for safety reasons)

• Pact lasted until Germany's surprise invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941

• http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=77108

August 23, 1939 Germany and Soviet Union signed

Nonaggression Pact

George Orwell• Author of Animal Farm• Written as a result of his

experiences in Spain• Loyal to ideas of

Democratic Socialism• Began working on

Animal Farm in 1943, despite wartime spirit of support for Stalin

• First published in U.S. in 1946

• Focused on writing against totalitarianism