"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." -John Dalberg

George Orwell’s Animal Farm and the Russian Revolution ALLUSION: When a piece of literature references another writing or event in history. Orwell wrote it as an ALLEGORY to the Russian Revolution Used SATIRE to show what was wrong with a communist government (Russian government) Used story to show that ABSOLUTE power corrupts ABSOLUTELY

It all began with Czar Nicholas II (1868-1918) Ruled from 1894-1917 Was a CORRUPT king Kept his people POOR while he lived in luxury This made the people ANGRY and they wanted to OVERTHROW him

Along came Karl Marx… He had a new idea called COMMUNISM. Communism was a thought where all the people worked TOGETHER for the good of the WHOLE. All money and property became PUBLIC and handed out equally. The GOVERNMENT was in total control.

Vladimir Lenin liked the communist idea… He was one of the main men to go AGAINST the King Lenin adopted Marx’s ideas. He believed that the bourgeoisie (middle class) exploited the workers and must therefore be overthrown. When he overthrew the King in 1917, he took CONTROL of Russia When he died, there were TWO men left to fight over the power. Changed Russia to USSR

Trotsky VS. Stalin - Popular and a - Quiet – not a good speaker good speaker Really wanted to - Gained power use communism by using the to benefit all Russians KGB (secret police) - Chased Trotsky out of Russia – murdered him in Mexico

Joseph Stalin killed many… KILLED as many as 20 million people Used KGB, PROPAGANDA and religion to control the people Kept the people uneducated so they were easy to CONTROL

Revolution From 1918 –1921 there was civil war. Foreign countries including Britain, France, Poland and USA were alarmed at the spread of communism but the Red Army (the Bolsheviks) led by Trotsky proved successful.

Stalin Stalin continually opposed Trotsky. Benefited from the fact that education was controlled In his sinister way, Stalin secured his power base, and engineered the permanent exile of Trotsky in 1929. The exiled Trotsky was still very useful to Stalin as he now had Trotsky to blame for all the problems and difficulties that Russia suffered.

Religion Marx said religion was the "Opiate of the people" and a lie. Used to make people not complain and do their work

The Five Year Plan From 1927-1932, new economic plans, called the five-year plans, were introduced. The purpose was to improve industry.

Germany and Great Britain Stalin negotiated with both Germany and Great Britain. The Russo-German pact of August 1939 allowed Russia to occupy eastern Poland while Germany occupied the rest. On 22 June, 1941, Germany attacked her ally Russia without warning. Thus the unholy alliance between Nazism and Communism fell apart and Russia formed an alliance with Britain and the USA.

All men are created equal [but some are more equal than others]

Animal Farm Trailer