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Animal Farm

Animal Farm. Background and History. George Orwell. His work is marked by awareness of social injustice, opposition to totalitarianism, and commitment to democratic socialism. 1903 : Eric Blair is born in Motihari , Bihar , in British India.

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Animal Farm

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  1. Animal Farm Background and History

  2. George Orwell • His work is marked by awareness of social injustice, opposition to totalitarianism, and commitment to democratic socialism. • 1903: Eric Blair is born in Motihari, Bihar, in British India. • 1922: Unable to attend college, he joins the Imperial Police Force in what is then Burma.

  3. George Orwell • Disillusioned by his experience, he quits his job in order to become a writer. • Returns to England and experiences lower-class life – which becomes the inspiration for his book Down and Out in Paris and London (1933). • Investigates life in the coal mines of northern England for The Road to Wigan Pier (1937). • Travels to Spain to take part in the Spanish Civil War (1936).

  4. George Orwell • Frustrated at the treatment of the working poor both by the rich, and by those political groups who claim to speak for them – particularly Communists. • 1945: Animal Farm published. After seeing a little boy driving a cart pulled by a large horse, Orwell writes, “It struck me that if only such animals became aware of their strength, we should have no power over them. Additionally, men exploit animals in the same way that the rich exploit the poor.” • 1949: Nineteen-eighty-four published. • 1950: Dies of tuberculosis

  5. Satire FDA Recommends At Least 3 Servings Of Foods With Word ‘Fruit’ On Box • A humorous story with a critical attitude directed toward an institution or humanity itself. Used with the purpose of improving human institutions or humanity.

  6. Karl Marx • German economist who argues that human societies progress through class struggle: a conflict between an ownership class that controls production (bourgeoisie) and a dispossessed laboring class (proletariat).

  7. Karl Marx • Marx argued that class struggles under capitalism between the bourgeoisie and proletariat would lead to the working class' conquest of political power, followed by a classless society, communism, a society governed by a free association of producers.

  8. Pre-revolutionary Russia • Czar Nicholas II • Russian Orthodox Church

  9. The Russian Revolution • 1917: A popular uprising overthrows the government of Czar Nicholas II. • Following a civil war between the "Red" (Bolshevik) and "White" (anti-Bolshevik) factions, the Bolsheviks – led by Vladimir Lenin – emerge victorious, and begin transforming Russia into the Soviet Union. • 1918: Bolsheviks execute the Czar and his family in St. Petersburg.

  10. The Russian Revolution • Leon Trotsky: A widely-traveled journalist, forceful speaker and skilled organizer. His planning helped orchestrate the Bolshevik rise to power. • Josef Stalin: Becomes General Secretary of the Party in 1922. Used his position to gain control of the party. Gave his own supporters important jobs at all levels of the party. Josef Stalin Vladimir Lenin Leon Trotsky

  11. The Russian Revolution • 1924: Trotsky and his supporters are driven out of the party and the Soviet Union. • 1929: On his 50th birthday, Stalin is hailed as Lenin’s successor and “the great wise father” of the Soviet Union. • A “cult of personality” develops around Stalin in which he is glorified as an almost superhuman hero.

  12. The Russian Revolution • 1928: Stalin implements a Five-Year Plan. The goal is to increase industrial output by 250 percent before 1933. • To do this, the nation cuts down on production of consumer goods. • This means shortages, delays and poor service for most people.

  13. The Russian Revolution • 1928: Stalin uses armed force to “collectivize” the farms, turning many small farms into large, industrial farms. • Russian peasants, who had a long history of laboring as serfs, see this plan as a loss of their freedom.

  14. The Russian Revolution • 1935-1939: The Great Purge: Many important members of the Communist Party are put on trial and forced to make public confessions of “crimes” they could not possibly have committed. They are then executed.

  15. The Russian Revolution • 1940: An assassin, sent by Stalin, murders Trotsky in Mexico. • The Soviet Union becomes a totalitarian state – one in which the government controls every aspect of the lives of its citizens.

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