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Animal Farm. by George Orwell. Where did Orwell get his idea for Animal farm?. Orwell grew up in British-controlled India. He once saw a man whip a horse and thought of man’s power over animals He continued the idea of life controlled by the government from his novel 1984 .
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Animal Farm by George Orwell
Where did Orwell get his idea for Animal farm? • Orwell grew up in British-controlled India. • He once saw a man whip a horse and thought of man’s power over animals • He continued the idea of life controlled by the government from his novel 1984. • Orwell was a socialist interested in Russian History
Orwell’s discovery in the Spanish Civil War • Liberal, revolutionary causes can be corrupted and evolve into another form of TOTALITARIANISM, a kind of dictatorship where one political party has total control and all opposition is ruthlessly oppressed • What starts off as a movement to help people can eventually be corrupted into something that hurts people.
Romanov Royal Family • Alexander III's reign coincided with an industrial revolution in Russia and the strengthening of capitalism. • His domestic policy was particularly harsh, directed not only against revolutionaries but other liberal movements • His son Nicholas met Alexandra, who was born in Germany.
Romanov Royal Family • When Alexander died, Nicholas married Alexandra, daughter of German Grand Duke Ludwig of Hessen. • They were coronated Czar Nicholas II and Czarina Alexandra. • Nicholas had absolute power and was seen by the Russian people as a god on earth. • They had four daughters and one son, Alexei.
Alexei Romanov • Alexi, the heir to the Russian throne had life-threatening hemophilia. • This fact was hidden from the Russian people. • The disease is transmitted through the mother, who felt guilty, and sought help through medicine and then through religious fervor.
Gregory Rasputin • Rasputin took care of Alexei and healed him more than once. • Czarina Alexandra completely trusted him. • Russian people did not understand his influence. • Some thought him holy, some thought him satanic, and some thought him hypnotic.
Death of Rasputin • Rasputin was hated by the Russian people, who questioned his morality. • The peasants thought he might be having an affair with the czarina. • He was killed by peasants, who thought killing him would improve the conditions for common people in Russia.
Life of the Russian peasants • Peasants did not have enough food, and wealth was unevenly distributed. • A few aristocrats had all the money, and many peasants had nothing. • They blamed Nicholas II, who did nothing to improve their conditions. • They believed the promises of a better life told them by revolutionaries.
Social Unrest • Factory workers were discontented with their wages and conditions • Bloody Sunday occurred when over 100 striking workers were killed by police. This act angered the peasants. • Underground secret newspapers encouraged revolution
Rise of Communism • Karl Marx in 1848 wrote Communist Manifesto. (Everyone should be equal and have equal resources.) • He said, “Workers of the world, unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains.”
Rise of Communism • Vladimir I. Lenin was also an author of communist theory. • He was a leader of the Bolshevik (majority) political party in Russia; he encouraged the peasants to revolt against Nicholas II.
Lenin • Lenin told the people that they could have a better life if they would revolt against the czar. • This gave them hope with stories of a better life. • Lenin was a great hero to the Russian people, and his corpse is still on display.
Leon Trotsky • Trotsky was a very gifted speaker and writer and a political genius. • He tried to end Russian involvement in WWII. • Trotsky had great thoughts and plans but he had trouble actually installing them. • He was not liked by Lenin.
Red October • “Red October” involved much bloodshed • It came at the heels of WWI, which cost Nicholas II many resources; people were hungry and miserable • People became angry with czarina, who was from Germany, the country that killed so many Russians in WWI.
Peasants Rise Up • The peasants held the Romanovs captive for several months. • Under pressure, Nicholas II abdicated (gave up) his throne to the Bolshevik party. • Other European countries sought to rescue the royal family but were unsuccessful.
Murder of the Romanovs • Members of the royal family and four servants were taken to the basement for their “protection” in the middle of the night. • They were then assassinated on July 18, 1918.
Murder of the Romanovs • The daughters had to be stabbed with bayonets because the bullets bounced off the diamonds they had secretly sewn into their corsets for protection. • The bodies were buried in a pit in the woods after being burned with fire and sulfuric acid in an attempt to make them unrecognizable. • Some of the remains were discovered in the 1970’s but were not shared with the world until 1989 after the fall of the communist regime.
Stalin’s Rise to Power • Within the Bolshevik party, Stalin plotted to take power away from Lenin. • Lenin was warned in a note about Stalin, but Lenin died of a series of strokes before he did anything about it. • The note resurfaced later, but Stalin assured party members that he did not have any hidden motives.
Stalin’s Rise to Power • Stalin tarnished Trotsky’s name with rumors and then expelled him from Russia. Trotsky turned up dead in Mexico later, probably under Stalin’s orders. • Stalin was a dictator by his 50th birthday. • He took more and more power
STALINISM:a reign of terror • Stalin took all of the individually owned farms as government property. • Farmers retaliated by destroying all of their livestock and produce. This then caused widespread starvation. • Millions of people were executed or sent into exile for trying to steal food.
STALINISM: a reign of terror • Stalin executed anyone whom he suspected might be against him, even soldiers and party leaders. • Everyone was afraid of cheka, or the secret police. (later called KGB) • Everyone spied on everyone else and turned in people (even family members) for “unlawful” thinking.
STALINISM: a reign of terror • Stalin allied with Hitler in 1939 and agreed to help him take Poland. • In exchange, Germany agreed to divide Poland and not to invade Russia. • Stalin was warned by the USA, Britain, and even his own cheka not to trust Hitler.
STALINISM:a reign of terror • Germany did not divide Poland with Russia, and Hitler’s forces did attack Russia in 1941, greatly setting back the industrial advances Russia had made. • Russia allied with Britain and USA to kick Germany out of Russia.
Stalinist Regimes • The Communists fought back • Winter fighting defeated the Germans • The German Army retreated across European Russia, leaving a trail of black smoke, many abandoned vehicles, and loose-covered shallow graves.
STALINISM • Stalin was responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of his people before he died in 1953 of a brain hemorrhage. • Stalinist governments spread throughout the world.
Spread of Communism • After WWII, communism began to spread throughout the world, including Stalinism -- terroristic communism. • These countries made technological advances in nuclear weaponry, industry, and space exploration. • They seemed to be hiding from the western world behind an “iron curtain.”
Stalinist Regimes • Violence or the threat of violence was used to control people.
Stalinist Regimes • The Soviet propaganda machine rewrote history to fit current policy using media to control what people thought or knew.
Fall of the Wall • On the November 9, 1989, the Border that separated Western Germany from Eastern Germany was effectively opened • The Fall of the Berlin Wall, which will always be used as a symbol for the end of the Cold War, made the "West" available to the "East.”
