A NIMAL F ARM By George Orwell

“ EVERY LINE OF SERIOUS WORK THAT I HAVE WRITTEN SINCE 1936 HAS BEEN WRITTEN, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, AGAINST TOTALITARIANISM AND FOR DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM AS I UNDERSTAND IT ” -George Orwell

A NIMAL F ARM Published in August a crucial moment in European and world history What happened? President Roosevelt Mussolini and Hitler had died Germany had surrendered US dropped atomic bombs over Japan Of the big three leaders, only Stalin survived

B EGINNING OF THE C OLD W AR In many ways the story begins at the start of the Cold War. During WWII, Russia had been ally of the US and England After the Battle of Normandy (1944) Western nations felt strong unity with Russia Russians suffered huge losses but still helped protect England from German invasion After Animal Farm, Russia fell out of favor- the novel became viewed as a predictor of what was to come later

W AS O RWELL ATTACKING R USSIA THEN ? Orwell’s attack of Russia has been questioned What were his intentions? Orwell was concerned with the damage that the Soviet state did to the cause of socialism Orwell wrote: “Nothing has contributed so much to the corruption of the original idea of Socialism as the belief that Russia is a Socialist country and that every act of its rulers must be excused, if not imitated. And so for the past ten years I have been convinced that the destruction of the socialist myth was essential if we wanted a revival of the socialist movement.”

W HAT AM I TALKING ABOUT ? Lets define a couple terms: Totalitarianism Democracy Socialism Communism

T OTALITARIANISM Of, relating to, being, or imposing a form of government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control over all aspects of life, the individual is subordinated to the state, and opposing political and cultural expression is suppressed

D EMOCRACY government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.

S OCIALISM theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, l and, etc., in the community as a whole (in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.

C OMMUNISM a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state. A theoretical economic system characterized by the collective ownership of property and by the organization of labor for the common advantage of all members. A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people.

Y OUR J OB We need to know more… You will be placed in groups and each group will create a PowerPoint presentation over the following topics: Czar Nicholas II Karl Marx and the Communist Manifesto Joseph Stalin Leon Trotsky Stalin’s Purge Trials Liquidation of the kulaks Battle of Stalingrad The Nazi-Soviet pact KGB Vladimir Lenin (not the singer-songwriter)

W HERE TO START Start somewhere that offers reliable information; a place you can really trust for accurate information NOT THE INTERNET I know you think it is amazing and it is, but check out the resources that we know we can trust like RWT databases Books- go figure! Then you can check out the online resources for pics and other important information (keep in mind that you need to cite sources) Citing sources- there are links on the “links” section of the class webpage on how to do this correctly.

W HO DOES WHAT ? Break your group into different roles Here are some suggestions: Historian- keeps track of sources used Recorder- takes notes Publisher- writes the information into PowerPoint Gopher- goes and gets the resources and anything else needed for the group Dud- you don’t want to do this; gets the worst grade, if they get any points at all because they did nothing to help out the others in the group