Transcript of Russia 1894-1945 and Beyond. Why begin here? ● George Orwell wrote his novel during WWII between...
- Slide 1
- Russia 1894-1945 and Beyond
- Slide 2
- Why begin here? George Orwell wrote his novel during WWII
between November 1943-February 1944 in order to, in his words,
expose the Soviet myth in a story that could be easily understood.
To understand his story, we have to understand the history he was
reacting to.
- Slide 3
- Getting the terms straight Socialism o Focused on general
welfare and cooperation instead of individualism and competition o
Government directs production of goods o Workers have equal access
to resources and earn money based on the amount of labor they do o
Nonviolent Communism o Workers own all property and resources as a
community o All wealth is shared equally Social and economic status
of all is the same o Government is unnecessary o Only way to reach
is through violent rebellion Both terms below are a reaction
against CAPITALISM where property and the means of production are
privately owned. In capitalism, individualism and competition are
valued above the collective group working to help each other..
- Slide 4
- Where did these ideas come from? Karl Marx o The Father of
Communismwrote the Communist Manifesto in 1848 o Called for
destroying people in power through revolution to replace capitalism
with communism o Workers of the world unitetake over govt.
- Slide 5
- Slide 6
- Monarchy in Russia and Czar Nicolas II Russia was an absolute
monarchy from 1801-1917. o All land belongs to czar o Nobles run
country o Peasants have no rights o Keep out all new ideas from the
west so Russia falls far behind the rest of the world Nicolas II
ruled from 1894-1917 and was the last czar in Russia.
- Slide 7
- Who revolted against the monarchy? Russian Social Democratic
Workers Party (RSDWP) forms against monarchy -- party splits in
1902 o Mansheviks want peasants to lead revolt for themselves o
Bolsheviks want intellectuals to lead the revolt and create a
Marxist state for the peasants Vladimir Lenin becomes leader of
Bolsheviks
- Slide 8
- Slide 9
- Causes of the Revolution Sick of fighting in WWI population AND
military blame czar for poor performance Food shortages Job
shortages Inflation cost of everything REALLY high Buildings,
houses, and roads all falling apart All power with Nicholas II
- Slide 10
- How it happened February 1917 workers and military revolt,
Nicholas II is forced to give up all power o Temporary democracy
forms - NO problems are solved October 1917 Bolshevik Revolution o
Lenin leads the revolution in the capitol and takes over on Oct 25
only 20 die, temporary democracy disbanded o Czar Nicholas II and
family executed o White Russians wealthy class who knew their way
of life would end flee to other countries o Goal had been to start
a world revolution - Russian Civil War had to be crushed first
(lasts until 1921)
- Slide 11
- Vladimir Lenin Russia became communist under his dictatorship
Moved the capital to Moscow and took up residence at the Kremlin
(where czars used to livebecomes center of Russian Government)
Ruled by force Renamed Russia the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics) Dies January 1924
- Slide 12
- Who will take over after Lenin? Leon Trotsky Joseph Stalin
Lenin's #2 man Brilliant speaker, educated Pure communist, followed
Marx International outlook advocated helping push for a world
revolution Cant get enough support to come to power "Man of steel"
Not a good speaker, not educated like Trotsky Says he wants more
free market economy to help growth Hides his more violent side and
his desire for power Gets enough support to become General
Secretary of Communist Party
- Slide 13
- Stalin in Power Uses power as General Secretary to appoint his
own men to all positions Accused Trotsky of being a spy and had him
exiled and murdered Becomes dictator in 1929 Works to create true
socialism through Five Year Plans o Rapid industrial development to
modernize farming and increase production o 300% growth in economy
o Collectivization government owns all land and crops rather than
workers
- Slide 14
- Rapid Industrialization Marxist idea most efficient way to run
an economy is produce, produce, PRODUCE Stalin decided that to
compete with other countries, the USSR would have to work FAST
(Five Year Plan). Failed miserably! o Constant economy of
shortages
- Slide 15
- Stalin Continued Created KGB o Police force to do his dirty
work constantly threatening and spying on people to make them act
as they should Show trials o Any accused of acting against the
government got a fast trial, in private, without a jury, and only a
judge to decide o Forced to confess o Executed within 24 hours
Great Purge o Mass imprisonment in work camps (gulags) o Executions
to destroy political opposition (and at times supporters) o Quotas
of how many to be killed o Over 1 million actually die
- Slide 16
- Getting the people on his side: Stalinist Propaganda False
information used to manipulate and persuade people to support
Stalin Speeches, radio, film, posters, flyers, etc. Pravda o
Translates to Truth o Russian newspaper Stalin took over in 1930s
to print whatever he wanted Frequent target organized religion o
Ridiculed by Communist government as something that would die away
o Not favored because it had power over people and therefore
threatened rule
- Slide 17
- And what about the proletariat (workers) this was all for?
Lives stayed the same or got worse - life all about labor. Realized
the unfairness of communism but had no idea how to rebel. Blindly
followed each new leader o The older generation knew the govt was
wrong but realized it would be temporary, so they waited instead of
rebelling.
- Slide 18
- Stalin: Back and forth between enemy and friend Signed a
non-aggression pact with Hitler in 1939 promised not to invade
Germany and not to help the Allies o Hitler invaded Russia anyway
in 1941 Tehran Conference Stalin switches to the Allies o November
1943, Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill agree that Stalin will fight
Germany in the East and the rest will take back France in the West.
Point at which Orwell becomes REALLY frustrated and begins to write
Animal Farm!
- Slide 19
- George Orwell: Animal Farm In order to write about the Soviet
Union without being accused of siding with the Nazis (as the USSR
was one of the Allies), Orwell used the farm in his novel to
loosely disguise his criticisms. Orwell insisted on sharing the
truth, or his view of it, even though no one wanted to hear it. In
addition to his novel, he published an essay on how politicians use
language to deceive people. The result? Politicians were not a fan
of Orwell!
- Slide 20
- George Orwell: Animal Farm In his essay "Why I Write" (1946),
he wrote that Animal Farm was the first book in which he had tried,
with full consciousness of what he was doing "to fuse political
purpose and artistic purpose into one whole."Why I Write It was
initially rejected by a number of British and American publishers,
including one of Orwell's own publishers. It became a great
commercial success when it did finally appear partly because the
Cold War so quickly followed World War II...which Orwell himself
kind of foreshadowed in the book itself.Cold WarWorld War II Time
magazine chose the book as one of the 100 best English- language
novels (1923 to 2005).
- Slide 21
- Animal Farm published in 1945 ... Orwells still, small voice
has also made itself continuously heard in its own quiet,
persistent, almost nagging way.... Already in a score of countries
and a dozen languages Animal Farm has made its peculiar mark...;
and the political flavor of its message... has not been lost in the
translation (Woodhouse 1954).
- Slide 22