Download - Russia 1894-1945 and Beyond
Russia 1894-1945 and Beyond
Why begin here?●George Orwell wrote his
novel during WWII
between November 1943-
February 1944 in order
to, in his words, “expose
the Soviet myth in a story
that could be easily
understood.”
●To understand his story,
we have to understand
the history he was
reacting to.
Getting the terms straight…
●Socialism oFocused on general
welfare and cooperation
instead of individualism
and competition
oGovernment directs
production of goods
oWorkers have equal
access to resources and
earn money based on the
amount of labor they do
oNonviolent
●CommunismoWorkers own all property
and resources as a
community
oAll wealth is shared
equally Social and economic
status of all is the same
oGovernment is
unnecessary
oOnly way to reach is
through violent rebellion
Both terms below are a reaction against CAPITALISM where property and the
means of production are privately owned. In capitalism, individualism and
competition are valued above the collective group working to help each other..
Where did these ideas come
from? ●Karl MarxoThe Father of
Communism—wrote the Communist Manifesto in 1848
oCalled for destroying people in power through revolution to replace capitalism with communism
o“Workers of the world unite”—take over gov’t.
Monarchy in Russia and Czar
Nicolas II●Russia was an absolute monarchy from 1801-1917.oAll land belongs to czar
oNobles run country
oPeasants have no rights
oKeep out all new ideas from the west so Russia falls
far behind the rest of the world
●Nicolas II ruled from 1894-1917
and was the last czar in Russia.
Who revolted against the
monarchy?
●Russian Social Democratic Workers Party (RSDWP)
forms against monarchy -- party splits in 1902oMansheviks want peasants to lead revolt for themselves
oBolsheviks want intellectuals to lead the revolt and create
a Marxist state for the peasants
Vladimir Lenin becomes leader of Bolsheviks
Causes of the Revolution●Sick of fighting in WWI – population AND military
blame czar for poor performance
●Food shortages
●Job shortages
●Inflation – cost of everything REALLY high
●Buildings, houses, and roads all falling apart
●All power with Nicholas II
How it happened●February 1917 – workers and military revolt, Nicholas II
is forced to give up all poweroTemporary democracy forms - NO problems are solved
●October 1917 – Bolshevik RevolutionoLenin leads the revolution in the capitol and takes over on
Oct 25 – only 20 die, temporary democracy disbanded
oCzar Nicholas II and family executed
o“White Russians” – wealthy class who knew their way of
life would end – flee to other countries
oGoal had been to start a world revolution - Russian Civil
War had to be crushed first (lasts until 1921)
Vladimir Lenin●Russia became communist under his dictatorship
●Moved the capital to Moscow and took up residence
at the Kremlin (where czars used to live—becomes
center of Russian Government)
●Ruled by force
●Renamed Russia the USSR (Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics)
●Dies January 1924
Who will take over after
Lenin?Leon Trotsky Joseph Stalin
●Lenin's #2 man●Brilliant speaker, educated
●Pure communist, followed
Marx
●International outlook –
advocated helping push for
a world revolution
●Can’t get enough support to
come to power
●"Man of steel"●Not a good speaker, not
educated like Trotsky
●Says he wants more free
market economy to help
growth
●Hides his more violent side
and his desire for power
●Gets enough support to
become General Secretary
of Communist Party
Stalin in Power●Uses power as General Secretary to appoint his
own men to all positions
●Accused Trotsky of being a spy and had him exiled and
murdered
●Becomes dictator in 1929
●Works to create “true” socialism through Five Year PlansoRapid industrial development to modernize farming and
increase production
o300% growth in economy
oCollectivization – government owns all land and crops
rather than workers
Rapid Industrialization●Marxist idea – most efficient way to run an
economy is produce, produce, PRODUCE
●Stalin decided that to compete with other
countries, the USSR would have to work
FAST (Five Year Plan).
●Failed miserably!
oConstant “economy of shortages”
Stalin Continued●Created KGB
o“Police” force to do his dirty work – constantly threatening
and spying on people to make them act as they should
●Show trials
oAny accused of acting against the government got a fast
trial, in private, without a jury, and only a judge to decide
oForced to confess
oExecuted within 24 hours
●Great Purge
oMass imprisonment in work camps (gulags)
oExecutions to destroy political opposition (and at times
supporters)
oQuotas of how many to be killed
oOver 1 million actually die
Getting the people on his side:
Stalinist Propaganda●False information used to manipulate and persuade
people to support Stalin
●Speeches, radio, film, posters, flyers, etc.
●PravdaoTranslates to “Truth”oRussian newspaper Stalin took over in 1930s to print
whatever he wanted
●Frequent target – organized religionoRidiculed by Communist government as something that
would die awayoNot favored because it had power over people and
therefore threatened rule
And what about the proletariat
(workers) this was all for?●Lives stayed the same or got worse - life
all about labor.
●Realized the unfairness of communism but
had no idea how to rebel.
●Blindly followed each new leaderoThe older generation knew the gov’t was wrong but
realized it would be temporary, so they waited instead
of rebelling.
Stalin: Back and forth between
enemy and “friend”●Signed a non-aggression pact with Hitler in 1939 –
promised not to invade Germany and not to help the
AlliesoHitler invaded Russia anyway in 1941
●Tehran Conference – Stalin switches to the AlliesoNovember 1943, Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill agree
that Stalin will fight Germany in the East and the rest will
take back France in the West.
●Point at which Orwell becomes REALLY frustrated
and begins to write Animal Farm!
George Orwell: Animal Farm●In order to write about the Soviet Union without
being accused of siding with the Nazis (as the
USSR was one of the Allies), Orwell used the farm
in his novel to loosely disguise his criticisms.
●Orwell insisted on sharing the truth, or his view of it,
even though no one wanted to hear it.
●In addition to his novel, he published an essay on
how politicians use language to deceive people.
●The result? Politicians were not a fan of Orwell!
George Orwell: Animal Farm●In his essay "Why I Write" (1946), he wrote that Animal Farm
was the first book in which he had tried, with full consciousness
of what he was doing "to fuse political purpose and artistic
purpose into one whole."●It was initially rejected by a number of British and American
publishers, including one of Orwell's own publishers.●It became a great commercial success when it did finally
appear partly because the Cold War so quickly followed
World War II...which Orwell himself kind of foreshadowed in the
book itself.●Time magazine chose the book as one of the 100 best English-
language novels (1923 to 2005).
Animal Farm published in
1945“... Orwell’s still, small voice has also made itself continuously heard in its own quiet, persistent, almost nagging way.... Already in a score of countries and a dozen languages Animal Farm has made its peculiar mark...; and the political flavor of its message... has not been lost in the translation” (Woodhouse 1954).