1. On your allegory chart…
Write anything that is UNDERLINED on the LEFT HAND side of your chart under the proper title.

2. Historical Context
One of Orwell's goals in writing Animal Farm was to portray the Russian (or Bolshevik) Revolution of 1917 as one that resulted in a government more oppressive, totalitarian, and deadly than the one it overthrew.

3. Karl Marx (1818-1883) From Prussia, later wrote in England
Believed that society progresses through class struggle between workers (proletariat) and the ruling class (bourgeoisie)
Published “The Communist Manifesto” which was the foundational text that defined the philosophy of communism
Influenced many socialist and communist leaders

4. Communism arose in Russia when the nation’s exploited and overworked peasants (working class people) rebelled against and overwhelmed the wealthy and powerful class of capitalists & aristocrats (upper class people).

5. Tsar Nicholas II (1868–1918) The last Russian emperor.
He insisted he was the
undisputed ruler of Russia (ism?)
During his reign, the Russian people experienced a time of poverty and upheaval, marked by the Bloody Sunday massacre in when unarmed protesters demanding social reforms were shot down by the army near Nicholas' palace.

6. Bolshevik Revolution (1917)
Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown in two (violent and bloody) phases of a revolution
New political party (Bolsheviks/Soviets) took over
Eventually became the “communist” party
Without a tsar, Russia became the “Soviet Union,” a communist state led by Vladimir Lenin

7. Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) Leader of the Soviets (Bolshevik), popular
Lenin was inspired by Karl Marx's theory of communism, and argued that "workers of the world unite" against their economic oppressors.
Lenin was uncompromising in his views: He is widely believed to have been responsible for giving the order to kill Nicholas and his family after the Bolsheviks had gained control.
Lenin was responsible for changing Russia into the U.S.S.R.

8. When Lenin died (1924),
Joseph Stalin &
Leon Trotsky
competed for
control of the
Soviet Union.

9. Leon Trotsky (1879–1940) One of Lenin's allies
Marxist thinker who participated in a number of revolutionary demonstrations and uprisings.
Believed that a worldwide series of rebellions were necessary to achieve the revolution's ultimate aims.
Trotsky was exiled from the USSR, lived in Mexico, and killed by the agents of Joseph Stalin.

10. Joseph Stalin (1879–1953) Another one of Lenin’s allies
Stalin was AUTOCRATIC, and unconcerned with debates and ideas.
He valued power for its own sake and by had took complete control of the Communist Party and USSR through acts of terror and brutality.
Stalin became one of the world's most feared and ruthless totalitarian dictators.

11. Ways Stalin Controlled…
Stalin created KGB (his secret police that he used to eliminate all opposition)
Stalin used the press to spread propaganda to manipulate the public and present a falsely positive self-image.
Stalin used his relationship with religious leaders to have them promote conformity and devotion to the communism.
[There were wise naysayers, who opposed Stalin but didn’t do anything to stop the party]

12. Stalin had control from 1922 until his death in 1953.
Campaign to purge the Communist Party of people accused of sabotage, terrorism, or treachery; he extended it to the military and other sectors of Soviet society.
Targets were often executed, imprisoned in labor camps or exiled.
In the years following, millions of ethnic minorities were also deported.
His control result in over 20 million deaths.

13. Russian Revolution Figures
Karl Marx
(Philosophical influence, died 1883)
Tsar Nicholas II
(Overthrown, 1917)
Vladimir Lenin
(Died, 1922)
Joseph Stalin vs. Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
(Exiled)
Joseph Stalin
(Forcibly seized power in 1922)

14. United States/England
[FDR/Churchill]
Germany
[Hitler]
At the end of WWII, teamed up with Russia to strategize and divide up land/power
Non-aggression deal with Russia fell through at the beginning of WWII; tensions grew