George Orwell & The Russian Revolution
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George Orwell & The
Russian Revolution
George Orwell
Born Eric Arthur Blair on
June 25, 1903
Born in India (English)
Second of three children
Father was absent most
of his childhood
Went to school at age five
and two years later was
recommended for one of
the most successful
preparatory schools in
England at the time: St
Cyprian's School
George Orwell
Was awarded a
scholarship to attend this
prestigious school and
later earned scholarships
to two different
universities (Wellington
and Eton)
Joined the Indian Imperial
Police in Burma but
resigned in 1928 because
he hated imperialism
George Orwell
Adopted his pen name in 1933, while
writing for the New Adelphi
Lived for several years in poverty,
sometimes homeless, until he found a job
as a teacher
Poor health forced him to give this up to
work part-time as an assistant in a
secondhand bookshop
George Orwell
After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War,
Orwell volunteered to fight for the Republicans
against Franco's Nationalist uprising.
Admired the apparent absence of a class
structure in the revolutionary areas of Spain he
visited
Orwell was shot in the neck on May 20, 1937
Orwell and wife Eileen left Spain after narrowly
missing being arrested when the communists
moved in
George Orwell
Orwell began supporting himself by writing book
reviews for the New English Weekly until 1940
World War II he was a member of the Home
Guard and in 1941 began work for the BBC
Eastern Service, mostly working on programs to
gain Indian and East Asian support for Britain's
war efforts
Resigned in 1943 to become literary editor of
Tribune, the left-wing weekly (favored political
reform)
George Orwell
In 1944 Orwell finished
his anti-Stalinist allegory
Animal Farm, which was
published the following
year with great critical
and popular success.
Royalties from Animal
Farm provided Orwell
with a comfortable
income for the first time in
his adult life.
George Orwell
1936 -1945 was married to Eileen
O'Shaughnessy,
Adopted a son, Richard Horatio Blair
Eileen died in 1945 during an operation
1949-shortly before his death, Orwell
married Sonia Brownell
1950 - Died from tuberculosis
George Orwell
1949-Orwell was approached by a friend, who
had just started working for a Foreign Office unit,
which had been set up by the Labour
government to publish pro-democratic and anticommunist propaganda
Orwell gave her a list of 37 writers and artists he
considered to be unsuitable authors because of
their pro-communist beliefs
George Orwell’s Pen Name
Chose a pen name that stressed his deep,
lifelong affection for the English tradition
and countryside:
George is the patron saint of England (and
George V was monarch at the time)
The River Orwell in Suffolk was one of his
most beloved English sites.
The Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution
1880’s - Russian is ruled by a Czar
The country has begun the process of
industrialization
A great deal of money was being brought into
Russia – the lower, working class people (80%
of the population) saw very little
Not only were the most of the people still
peasants but the wealthy were quickly taking
away the precious land that they had
The Russian Revolution
Many people had come to work in the
cities hoping to cash in on the recent good
fortune or Russia
They worked long, hard hours for little pay
and most did not have enough food to eat
The living conditions for the poor in the
cities were deplorable while the czar lived
in luxury
The Russian Revolution
Czar Nicholas II
would do nothing to
help his people
March 8, 1917 – riots
broke out in
Petrograd, Russia
The losing army sided
with the rebels
Czar was overthrown
The Russian Revolution
Czar Nicholas II, his
family and a few staff
members were held
captive for some time
(they were kept in a
nice home)
There were
supporters that were
going to try to save
the royal family, so
they were executed
The Marxist Party
Karl Marx (1818-1883)
Father of Communism –
believed that we must
destroy capitalism for the
greater good
Wrote Communist
Manifesto –no private
land ownership
a system in which goods
are owned in common
and are available to all as
needed
Old Major in Animal Farm
Karl Marx
“Worker’s of the World Unite”, take over
government
Died before the Russian Revolution
In communism, all people are equal and
they all share everything equally
Vladimir Lenin
Adopted Marx’s ideas
Believed that
bourgeoisie (middle
class) exploited the
workers and must be
overthrown
Understood the power
of slogans (“Workers
of the world unite”)
Vladimir Lenin
When Lenin dies, there was a power
struggle between Trotsky and Stalin
It is believed that Lenin ordered Nicholas II
murdered
Changed Russia’s name to USSR (Union
of Soviet Socialist Republics)
The Marxist Party
Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)
Was a key figure in the
Bolshevik seizure of
power in Russia, second
only to Lenin in the early
stage of Soviet
communist rule
He lost out to Stalin in the
power struggle that
followed Lenin's death,
and was assassinated
while in exile.
Snowball
Leon Trotsky
Believed in “pure” communism (like Marx)
and wanted to improve life for all in Russia
Lead revolution with Stalin and Lenin
Was a brilliant speaker
Favored world revolution
Chased away by Lenin’s KBG (secret
police)
The Marxist Party
Joseph Stalin (18791953)
Continuously
opposed Trotsky
Average speaker, not
well educated
Didn’t exactly follow
Marx’s ideals
Craved power and
was willing to kill for it
Joseph Stalin
Used KBG
Lots of propaganda (created a department
of propaganda)
Lied to convince people to follow him
Benefited from the fact that education was
controlled
Stalin Takes Control
In his sinister way, Stalin secured his
power base and engineered the
permanent exile of Trotsky in 1929
The exile of Trotsky was useful because
he now had someone to blame for all of
the problems and difficulties Russia
suffered
Became a merciless dictator
KGB
Secret police that were totally loyal to
Stalin
Used force and often killed entire families
for disobedience
Religion
Marx said that religion was the “opiate of
the people” and a lie
Religion was tolerated b/c it would make
people not complain and would prevent
violent revolution
Tricked Communist Supporters
People trusted Stalin because he was a
“Communist”
Many stayed loyal after it was clear that he
was a tyrant because they were afraid to
oppose him
Russian Revolution Summed Up
Communism was supposed to fix the
problem of the Czar
Life was even worse long after the
revolution
Stalin made the Czar look like a nice guy
Kulaks
These were the land owning peasants who
did not want their farms to be collectivized
after the revolution.
On 1929 Stalin began exterminating them
5 Year Plans
1927-1932, new economic plans (called 5
year plans) were introduced
Their purpose was to improve industry
Language
Communism
Community
Commune
Communion
Communicate
Communal