George Orwell

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George Orwell The Russian Revolution
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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

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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

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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

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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

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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)

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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.

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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

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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

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George Orwells 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.

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The Russian Revolution
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The Russian Revolution

• 1880s - 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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Karl Marx

• Workers of the World Unite, take over
  government
• Died before the Russian Revolution
• In communism, all people are equal and they all
  share everything equally

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Vladimir Lenin

• Adopted Marxs ideas
• Believed that bourgeoisie (middle class)
  exploited the workers and must be overthrown
• Understood the power of slogans (Workers of the
  world unite)

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Vladimir Lenin

• When Lenin dies, there was a power struggle
  between Trotsky and Stalin
• It is believed that Lenin ordered Nicholas II
  murdered
• Changed Russias name to USSR (Union of Soviet
  Socialist Republics)

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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

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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 Lenins KBG (secret police)

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The Marxist Party

• Joseph Stalin (1879-1953)
• Continuously opposed Trotsky
• Average speaker, not well educated
• Didnt exactly follow Marxs ideals
• Craved power and was willing to kill for it

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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

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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

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KGB

• Secret police that were totally loyal to Stalin
• Used force and often killed entire families for
  disobedience

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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

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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

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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

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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

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5 Year Plans

• 1927-1932, new economic plans (called 5 year
  plans) were introduced
• Their purpose was to improve industry

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Language

• Communism
• Community
• Commune
• Communion
• Communicate
• Communal