Napoleon’s dictatorship is further evidenced when he sets the dogs against Snowball to increase his political power. Eventually, Napoleon becomes a corrupted dictator and exploits the other animals through violence and tyranny. Evidence of a communism begins with Old Major’s vision that all animals could share in the wealth of the farm without a distinction of “classes”. After Old Major’s
This meant that Napoleon was above all the other animals on the farm, Napoleon was a leader; therefore, the animals had to follow what he said. All animals were not ‘equal’ and this is the moment that Clover realises it. Commandment 6 was broken when the traitors were slaughtered for ‘protesting when Napoleon abolished the Sunday meetings’. The traitors represent the mass execution of the people who disagrees with Stalin’s ideas during the 1930’s. Stalin’s ideas were not the same as communism and Orwell is able to portray this when he specifically states that ‘Napoleon’ abolished the meetings, later in the scene, Orwell again wrote that Napoleon ‘demanded’ other animals to ‘confess’.
What in your view was the short term significance of Trotsky in the period 1917-1927? Trotsky played a key role in the Bolshevik party, encouraging revolution which saw the Bolsheviks gain power in 1917. He built up a strong Red Army during the civil war, which was used to ensure the survival of the Bolshevik government. He was seen by many as the second man to Lenin and the most likely candidate to take over as leader after Lenin’s death which portrays his significance. However, evidence suggests that after Lenin’s death he lost his power considerably, eventually being banned from the Communist party.
However, Old Major only ends up asserting that man is entirely evil because some men commit evil acts. Nevertheless, the animals show how it is not only men who perform evil deeds. When the animals take over the farm after the rebellion, Snowball and Napoleon become the leaders of the farm and they both enter into a power struggle over the farm. Eventually, Napoleon manages to get rid of Snowball and starts to bring the farm into a state of decay: “They had come to a time when no one dared speak his mind, when fierce, growling dogs roamed everywhere” (pg. 87).
It is a story about a revolution for an ideal, and about how that ideal is changed until it disappears altogether from the new society after the revolution. In this story Orwell attacks that new society, and despite the negative picture that he paints, he attacks it with humor. In this way we can call Animal Farm a satire. Before anything we have to examine the time when Orwell lived, to find the true reasons to call this novel a political one. Animal Farm was published in August of 1945.
Lenin was exiled by Tsar Nicholas as an extremist and only made his way back to liberate Russia due to the First World War, in which he managed to sneak through the German frontline to help lead the Bolshevik uprising. At this moment in time the Provisional Government had already taken control after the popular revolution that had led to Tsar Nicholas’ abdication from the throne and eventual murder. However upon his return the role of liberator was immediately taken up with his April Theses aimed to gain support of the populace and put more sway behind the Bolshevik party, timely named “Peace, Bread Land.” In which he addressed the major issues of the population and the Proletariat whom he which knew would be the ones to help reach the end of capitalism due to the Marxist guidelines to the life line of capitalist society. This stance on policies also managed to place partisanship into Russia through opposing the Provisional Government on anything that was said. As Maxim Gorky said then “Lenin is a gifted man who has all the qualities of a leader”.
The main reason that Stalin was able to rise to power was his ingenious defeats of both the left and right wings of the Party. The key figure Stalin had to take down from the left wing was Leon Trotsky. Trotsky was important because in effect, it was his leadership of the Red Army during the Civil War that had won the war for the Reds. If it hadn’t been for Trotsky, the Bolsheviks may not have been in the position they were by 1924. The first step Stalin took towards removing the threat of Trotsky was to lie to him about the date of Lenin’s funeral.
This is exemplified by the amoral actions that both utilized in order to gain and hold power, witnessed in the case of Napoleon during his inquisition and execution of certain farm animals, all in order to instill fear in the other animals. This is very similar to the case of Stalin during his execution of innocent people he had labeled as enemies of the state for the purpose of instilling fear in others and promoting obedience to the state. The evil done by Stalin was so great that “measures taken by Stalin to discipline those who opposed his will involved the death by execution or famine of at least 10 million peasants” from 1932 to 1933 alone (Kreis). Later, after gaining power, Napoleon orders that “in future all questions relating to the working of the farm would be settled by a special committee of pigs, presided over by himself”, better showcasing his totalitarian desires (Orwell 26). Thus Napoleon and Stalin are conveyed as mirror-images of each other, as was certainly the intention of the author.
How far was Lenin responsible for the Bolsheviks’ growing hold on power in the years 1917-1924? To a fairly large extent, Lenin was responsible for the Bolsheviks’ growing hold on power from 1917-24. Lenin had, of course, led the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution, the reason the Bolsheviks had any power in the first place, and it was Lenin who dissolved the Constituent Assembly. He also managed to hold on to power by introducing War Communism during the Civil War. On the other hand, it can be argued that Trotsky’s leadership of the Red Army during the Civil War was just as, or even more important in the Bolsheviks’ seizure of power, as was the image of the Bolsheviks as being patriotic heroes fighting against Tsarist leaders and foreign invaders.
However there are other reason which just as or more important than Trotsky’s leadership such as the ideas and sacrifices made by Lenin during the year’s 1917-1924 such as signing the harsh treaty of Brest-Litovsk and enforcing the New Economic Policy or NEP, to create economic sacrifices rather than political ones which allowed the Bolsheviks to remain in power. One way and the main way that Trotsky’s leadership of the red army was responsible for the survival of the Bolshevik government was the victory of the Civil war. In 1918 Russia was plunged into civil war when the White army, a group of pro tsarist and pro provisional government supporters attacked the Bolsheviks. However the reds won the war due the work of Leon Trotsky and his leadership of the red army. For example Trotsky organised and disciplined the army very well, he recruited ex tsarist army officers who were experienced in combat also due to his recruitment strategy membership rose from 7000 in March 1918 to 5 million in September 1920 and he also organised key victories such as the last battle between white and red forces between the 7th and 15th of November 1920.