Animal Farm
The Russian Revolution
Introduction to Communism and Animal Farm
In 1945 the fear of
communism was spreading across
the globe. An author by the name of
George Orwell chose to warn the world of
the subtle takeover of communism. In his
novel, Animal Farm, he painted a vivid
parody of the Russian Revolution, and
therefore of communism’s rise to power.
The Russian Revolution
• Czar Nicholas II was an
ineffective leader of Russia
in the time before World
War I. During the war these
characteristics of bad
leadership were brought
out, and the people
revolted in order to gain
equality among
themselves. This was the
beginning of the Russian
Revolution.
The Russian Revolution
• After the Czar was
eliminated, Russia set up a
provisional government for
a short time, which was
soon overthrown by the
Bolsheviks. The
Bolsheviks used their
influence to create the
Soviet Union, a country
formed around the idea of
Communism, or a society
without classes in which all
property is owned by
everyone.
The Russian Revolution
• However, the one party
state soon became
corrupted. The leaders of
the state lived in luxury
while the rest of the party
worked hard and lived in
poor conditions. The
communist leaders assured
the public that they needed
a one party state so as to
ensure that there would be
no more ‘capitalist
exploitation’ such as in the
time of the Czar.
The Russian Revolution
• In the years following 1924
one communist leader
began to gain considerable
amounts of power. Stalin
used force to consolidate his
power and become the
undisputed leader of the
union, beating out the more
intelligent and clever
Trotsky. Under Stalin things
became more difficult than
they had been even under
the Czar.
Karl Marx
• Karl Marx was
a German philosopher, political
economist, historian, political
theorist, sociologist,
communist, and revolutionary,
whose ideas are credited as
the foundation of communism.
His ideas were published as
the Communist Manifesto,
which predicted that the
working class would eventually
rise up and take the means of
production for themselves, in
which all people would own
land and property equally.
Leon Trotsky
•
Lev Davidovich Bronstein, later
known as Leon Trotsky was the
People's Commissar for Foreign
Affairs within the Soviet Union,
and later the leader of the Red
Army. On the surface, Trotsky
remained the most prominent and
popular Bolshevik leader,
although his "mistakes" were
often alluded to
by troika partisans. Behind the
scenes, he was completely cut off
from the decision making
process. By 1927 he was cast out
of the Soviet Union by Stalin,
even though he was the more
intelligent and well liked leader.
Joseph Stalin
• Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze
Jughashvili) in 1878, was the
General Secretary of the
Communist Party of the Soviet
Union's Central Committee from
1922 until his death in 1953. During
this time he used his influence and
force to assume full control of the
Soviet Union. After Lenin’s death it
was originally planned that there
would be three leaders of the Soviet
Union that would rule with equal
power called the troika, which was
supposed to be composed
of Grigory Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev,
and Joseph Stalin.
Animal Farm
• Mr. Jones ruled his animals
carelessly and ineffectively,
and they soon grew tired of
it. A pig by the name of Old
Major told the animals that
they needed to rebel
against the humans, and
establish a farm in which
they would all be equal.
Old Major died soon after
this speech, and never saw
such a revolution.
Animal Farm
• Using the maxims of
Animalism (equality among
all animals), the animals
worked the farm
themselves and reaped
the benefits. However,
within time a definite line of
power was drawn between
the pigs and the rest of the
animals.
Animal Farm
• Power was mostly concentrated
between Snowball and Napoleon,
Snowball being more likeable and
clever than Napoleon. However
with superior force, (the use of
dogs), Napoleon cast out
Snowball and began to institute
new laws and ideals that gave
more and more luxuries to him
and made conditions hard for the
other animals. He assured them it
was for their safety so that Jones
would not come back.
Characters
Russian Revolution
Animal Farm
Czar Nicholas II
Mr. Jones
Karl Marx
Old Major
Leon Trotsky
Snowball
Joseph Stalin
Napoleon
Propaganda Dept.
Squealer
KGB (Secret Police)
The Dogs
Russian Orthodox Church
Moses the Raven
Vain, selfish Russians
Mollie
Skeptical, quiet people
Benjamin
Dedicated, ignorant Communists
Boxer
Czar Nicholas II vs. Mr. Jones
Czar Nicholas II
Mr. Jones
Poor, inefficient leader
Doesn’t take care of animals
(little food)
Sadistic, cruel to his
opponents
Beat animals with whip
Rare moments of kindness
Mixed in milk with animal mash
Karl Marx vs. Old Major
Karl Marx
Old Major
Came up with communism
Started Animalism
Wanted workers to
overthrow government
Wanted Animals to overthrow
Jones
Died before Russian
Revolution
Died before Animal Revolution
Leon Trotsky vs. Snowball
Leon Trotsky
Snowball
Smart, passionate speaker
Sincere leader
Pure communist (Wanted a Wanted life better for all
better life for everyone)
Chased away by Stalin’s
KGB
Chased away by Napoleon’s
secret police of dogs
Joseph Stalin vs. Napoleon
Joseph Stalin
Napoleon
Not educated nor a good
speaker
Not as clever as Snowball
Brutal, crude, corrupt
Cruel, vicious
Didn’t care about welfare
for all Russians
Didn’t care about welfare for all
Animals.
Killed his enemies
Killed enemies
Utilized propaganda
Used Squealer and Moses
Used force to take over and Used force to exile Snowball
exile opponent
and take over the farm