Background Notes

Russian Revolution

Revolution

• The over throw of one form of government and the replacement with another form of government.

The Four Stages Of Revolution

• Step One: The Revolution• Step Two: Period of Euphoria and

Commitment • Step Three: Tightening of

Authority & sacrifices to meet goals

• Step Four: Control gained by new elite

Timeline

• 1613 – Michael Romanov becomes first Romanov tsar

• 1861 – Czar Alexander II signs the emancipation decree freeing the Russian serfs

• 1894 – Czar Nicholas II came to the throne

• 1903 – Bolshevik Party formed

Karl Marx

• German thinker & writer

• Ideas helped form the Communist Manifesto

• Das Kapital

• Outlined a new social order in which all natural goods and produce would be owned by the government in the name of the people

The Last Russian CzarA Czar is like a king

The Czar and his family were murdered. Remains have beenfound that prove the whole family perished

Rasputin

• Siberian monk.

• Led a drunken lifestyle which Alexandra refused to believe because he helped her son Alexi heir to the throne because of his illness of hemophilia

• Czar’s relatives attempted to poison him, then shot him 4 times, and finally drowned him.

• Rasputin was murdered

Revolution• Nicholas II was not as

competent a Romanoff• He responded to the

needs of people when it was too late

• He would give freedom and then take away. Alexandra was German and hated by the people because of the horror of WWI

• Bolshevik political party took power after the Czar was over thrown

Lenin

• Name Ulyanov (changed to avoid arrest).

• Returned to Russia after the 1917 revolution.

• The Bolshevik party accepted Lenin and his ideas of communism & one party rule.

• He maintained peace amongst the political factions

Timeline

• 1905 – Angry peasants first protest in St. Petersburg Square; Russia’s first parliament, the duma, convenes

• 1914 – Outbreak of World War I

• 1916 – Nobles kill Rasputin; Czar loses loyalty of people

• 1917 – February Revolution: Czar Nicolas II forced to abdicate throne; Lenin and Bolsheviks take control of government

Leon Trotsky

• Son of a Jewish Farmer who was an early follower of Marxism Worked with Lenin

• Took part in the October Revolution 1917.

• Opposed Stalin • Eventually arrested

and murdered in 1940

Timeline

• 1918 – Civil War breaks out between White and Red Army; Bolshevik Party renamed Communist Party

• 1921 – Red Army defeats White army; Bolsheviks in control of the government

• 1922 – Russia renamed Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

• 1924- Lenin dies and Stalin takes over the government

Joseph Stalin

• Stalin means steel

• Absolute ruler 1929-1955.

• He helped turn Russia into an industrial nation, helped defeat the Nazis, established communist regimes throughout Eastern Europe.

• Institutionalized terror.

Teheran Conference, Iran, 1943

• “The Big Three”:– Russia: Stalin– USA: FDR– Britain: Winston

Churchill

• Meeting of Allied leaders to consolidate support against Germany during WWII

USSR/Soviet Flag• The hammer = symbol of the proletariat

and the sickle = the peasants. • The gold star = unity and contained five

points (one for each class in communist society - workers, peasants, intellectuals, youths and soldiers).

• The red background = revolution and was emulated around the world by most communist countries.

Despair Can Lead to Conflict•Oppression of the working class•Suppression of the human spirit•Loss of personal freedoms

•Conflicts

Leads to overthrow

Steps to Conflict

The following are the 3 steps to conflict and the specifics of the Russian Revolution:

Leads to overthrow

Loss of Hope-Workers work to over throw the wealthy

Poor Economy - Oppression –-

Totalitarianism

Autocracy: unrestricted rule by oneMonarchy-Rule by one, royal class

Purges

Elitism

Communism Socialism

Despair Can Lead to Conflict•Oppression of the working class•Suppression of the human spirit•Loss of personal freedoms

•Conflicts

Propaganda

Leads to overthrow

Loss of Hope- Workers work to over throw the wealthy

Poor Economy - Oppression – Socialism –Communism-

Totalitarianism Capitalism

Autocracy: unrestricted rule by oneMonarchy-Rule by one, royal class

Purges

Elitism

Nicholas II & Alexandra Romanov--Hemophilia

BolsheviksComrades

chekaCommunal PropertySecret meetings

DasKapital

Hunger and War

Bread & PeaceRasputinFanatic

Duma

The October Revolution

Lenin, Trotsky, Karl Marx, Stalin

Oligarchy, rule by few

General Hopelessness

Propaganda

BloodySunday

Russia

n Revolution

Despair Can Lead to Conflict•Oppression of the working class•Suppression of the human spirit•Loss of personal freedoms

•Conflicts

George Orwell

1903-1950

George Orwell

• Born Eric Blair • 1903, Bengal India• Father custom official

in India• Returned to England

for education

George Orwell

• Scholarship to Eton • Teacher was Aldus

Huxley, author of “A Brave New World”

• Police official in Burma, where he learned to dislike imperialism

George Orwell

• Experiences led to his fascination with “man’s dominion over man”

• Dressed in old clothes and mixed with tramps and beggars to gather information for his writings.

George Orwell

• After writing many articles, his first book Down and Out in Paris and London was published in 1933, a strong statement on social injustice

• 1933 he changes his name to George Orwell. George because it is so English and Orwell was a river near his home.

Socialism

• Married Eileen O’Shaugnessy

• Worked as a Teacher and tutor

• Took his wife to Spain to fight in the Spanish Civil War

• Returned to England and wrote of his experiences

Writes Fiction & Non Fictions

• His novel, Coming Up For Air in 1939 foreshadowed the bombing of London during WWII

• Orwell wrote Animal Farm between 1943 and 1944, wide acclaim for his insights on human nature, socialism and communism.

• Animal Farm explores what power can do to individuals

Life of Tragedy

• Tragically lost his wife during a minor surgery

• Cared for their adopted son until his death

• Fell in poor health

Final Years

• Married Sonia Brownell, his editorial assistant.

• Died January 23, 1950 of tubercular hemorrhage

• Age 46

Last Novel

• 1984 was Orwell’s Last Novel. The fascinating novel, paints a bleak future for humans if we are not careful to guard our freedoms. Curiously some of his predictions for society have proven true.

George Orwell

• George Orwell strongly believed that communism was dangerous

• Concerned with man’s power over others

• Believed in socialism and social justice

• Orwell’s works were political and science fiction. Animal Farm as well as 1984 are considered science fiction

Animal Farm Settings

• Historical Setting: Russia

• Literary Setting: England

• Historical Dates: 1917--1945