Animal Farm by George Orwell

1
Animal Farm by George Orwell

• Historical Background
• About the Russian Revolution
• and Other History

2
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

3
Revolution

• Unrest began as early as 1914
• By Feb. 1917, the Revolution was in progress
  there were mobs in the streets Czars 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

4
Rasputin

• Trusted advisor to the royal family
• A monk with mystical powers
• Seemed to help Alexeis hemophilia
• Close friend of the Tsarina (Alexandra)
• Wouldnt die poisoned, shot 2-3x and drowned
  (1916)

5
Karl Marx

• Said history struggle between oppressed and
  oppressors
• German philosopher
• Wrote Communist Manifesto
• Called for revolution
• Wanted a classless, or equal, society

6
Vladimir Lenin

• Leader of the Bolsheviks
• Died in 1924 Stalin Trotsky fought for
  control
• Used Marxs ideas as his basis
• Began stripping away private land
• Did get Russia out of the war, but not in good
  shape

7
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

8
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

9
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

10
Joseph Stalin

• Also worked with Lenin
• Worked to make alliances w/ people who would be
  loyal
• Totalitarian ruler
• Didnt tolerate any disagreement
• Used KGB (Secret Police) to crush any disagreement

11
Propaganda
12
Hitler-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

13
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