Animal Farm: Background Info

Socialism

Socialism is a political ideology that gives power to the people. It’s a government run by the people for the people; socialists think that things like the NHS and water should be free to the people - we shouldn’t have to pay to be treated for illness or pay for the water that keeps us alive. In a socialist’s ideal world, the poor wouldn’t get any poorer and the rich wouldn’t get any richer. Any wealth should be shared with the community instead of the elite rich.

Capitalism

Capitalism is where properties, trade and industry are owned and controlled by individual private owners so they can keep the money/profits they make, instead of having everything run and the profit shared with the community. The “free market” economy that the Capitalism has means that people can buy (things like food) and sell by their own judgement.

Communism

Communism is an extreme way of Socialism, as they say that there shouldn’t be any upper class or lower class/social classes. It’s a political way of thinking; an idea of how society should run and be organised. “Common ownership” is the communist idea that everyone everywhere should own the tools/factories/farms that are used to produce goods and food – all property is owned by the community and each person contributes and receives according to their needs.

Russian Revolution (in brief)

The Russian Revolution in 1905 was an outbreak of mass political and social turmoil that spread across the Russian Empire. A strike the year before, which was put down by the army that opened fire and killed hundreds of the demonstrators, was thought to be the catalyst. Some of the uprising was against the government, while some was directionless. All this included strikes from workers, peasant rebellion and military revolt. There was no socialism in Russia at the time; the poor were getting poorer and the rich were getting richer. The Tsar responded to this by forming elected groups to represent the needs of the peasants. The unrest grew over the years with the ousting of the Tsar in 1917.

Who was Joseph Stalin?

Joseph Stalin was a powerful and murderous dictator of the Soviet Union in Russia for a quarter of a century. Stalin’s reign of panic led to and caused the death and suffering of millions. After Vladimir Lenin’s death in 1924, Joseph advocated himself as Lenin’s political successor and gradually overtook his competition. Stalin was effectively the dictator of the Soviet Union by the late 1920s. With Stalin as leader, the Russian population suffered greatly during the Great Terror of the 1930s when Stalin purged the party of ‘enemies of the people’, resulting in the murder of thousands and the exile of millions to slave labour camps.

Who was Leon Trotsky?

Leon Trotsky played a key role in the seizure of power in Russia, when he was second only to Vladimir Lenin in the beginning of the Soviet communist rule. Trotsky’s first post in the new government was foreign commissar, where he found himself negotiating peace with Germany. Later on, he was made war commissar and built up the Red Army which succeeded against the White Russian forces in the civil war. However, in the power contest that followed Lenin’s death, Trotsky lost out to Joseph Stalin, and in 1927, Leon was thrown out of the Communist party.