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 operation1949-shortly before his death, Orwell

married Sonia Brownell1950 - 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 anti-communist 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 RevolutionIn 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 LeninWas a brilliant speakerFavored world revolutionChased away by Lenin’s KBG (secret

police)

The Marxist Party

Joseph Stalin (1879-1953)

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 himBenefited 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

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