Written by George Orwell and published in 1945, “Animal Farm” explains the history of the Soviet Union from the Bolshevik Revolution up until the end of the Second World War. The book is anti-Stalinist, however, the author, who fought for the Republican Army during the Spanish Civil War, identified himself as a democratic socialist, making for an interesting critique of Soviet Communism from an avid leftist. 

Creature coup d’etat

The book, which takes place in England, begins with a pig named Old Major giving an inspirational speech to the rest of the livestock. Old Major told the animals that he didn’t have much time left and that his comrades must overthrow Jones, the owner of the farm, in order to gain their freedom. Old Major died not long after and so the animals chased Jones out of the farm. They changed the name from Manor Farm to Animal Farm and wrote down commandments for the community that instructed their citizens to treat all animals equally and never to act like humans. 

Since they were the smartest, two pigs named Snowball and Napoleon were left in charge of the farm. They constantly disagreed yet had equal power, until one day Napoleon and nine dogs he had trained as killers chased Snowball off the farm, leaving Napoleon as the sole leader. At Napoleon’s command, the pigs no longer had to work, but the rest of the animals were forced to toil even harder. Napoleon demands his subjects to construct a windmill so that the animals’ stalls can have power, but it soon gets knocked down by a storm. With the help of his propagandist, a pig named Squealer, Napoleon tells the animals that it wasn’t actually a storm that had toppled the windmill, but was actually Snowball who had snuck in the farm at night and destroyed all their days of diligent labor. 

The two other farms in the area, Foxwood, owned by a man named Pilkington, and Pinchfield, operated by a man named Frederick, get suspicious of the animal run-farm. However, the pigs make an alliance with Pinchfield because they see Foxwood as a bigger threat.

Pig Propaganda

Back at Animal Farm, the pigs told the citizens the reason for the overthrow of Jones wasn’t for freedom, rather it was so all the other animals could serve the pigs. The 7 farm commandments were thrown out the door as the animals’ lives became even worse than they were under Jones’ rule. The pigs blamed Snowball for all their problems, but whenever anyone questions anything, the swine threaten that Jones will return to rule the farm if the animals don’t do what the pigs insist. 

One day as the community is called to a meeting by Napoleon, his nine killer dogs began to murder animals for crimes they didn’t commit. By the end of the purge, many are left dead. 

Capitalist Pigs

Shortly after this massacre, Frederick and men armed with guns from Pinchfield farm launched a surprise invasion of Animal Farm. The attack proved successful and the animals were pushed back, but at the newly rebuilt windmill the humans suffered a devastating loss and were forced to retreat. Still, many comrades were killed and the windmill was completely leveled. 

After the victory, their new ally Pilkington and the pigs held a meeting. During this conference, the other animals are stunned to see the pigs talking, drinking, and playing cards with the humans. Even they, who had been so gullible, knew that everything they had fought and sacrificed for had been a malevolent myth. 

The Author

Eric Arthur Blair, known by his pen name George Orwell, was born on June 25, 1903, in Fort William, British India. Later moving to England, Orwell authored many books including “1984” (1949), “The Road to Wigan Pier” (1937), “Homage to Catalonia” (1938), “Keep the Aspidistra Flying” (1936), and of course, “Animal Farm” (1945). In December 1936, Orwell traveled to Spain where he joined the POUM (Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista) or the Workers’ Party of Marxist Unification. Starting as a private in the Republican Army, he quickly was promoted to corporal and then lieutenant. He was twice wounded in action, surviving a shot through the throat and arm before fleeing the country after narrowly escaping a Communist purge in Barcelona. 

Although a socialist, Orwell was an anti-Stalinist, a theme expressed in many of his other books. Orwell called himself a Democratic Socialist, believing in socialism with free speech and elections, but opposing Joseph Stalin and the Soviet government. Although a proponent of Socialism, “Animal Farm” is a history and critique of Soviet Communism. 

Revolution

In the book, Manor Farm under Jones’ rule symbolizes Tsar Nicholas II and the Russian Empire. The pig Old Major stands for Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, who was the head of the Red Forces during the Russian Civil War from 1917-1922 and the first leader of the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death in 1924. While inspiring a revolution but not starting one, Old Major could also be Karl Marx, the author of the “Communist Manifesto.”

The overthrow of Jones from Manor Farm represents the Bolshevik Revolution in October 1917 that forced the newly implemented Russian Provisional Government, that took power after the 1917 February Revolution, to abdicate. Similar to actual historical events, Jones and his men return to the farm to attempt to reinstate Jones as head of the new Animal Farm, but they are defeated. This is clearly a calling to the Russian Civil War (1917-1922) in which Tsarists, who wanted to reimplement Tsarism, and Minsheviks, who wished to reinstate the Provisional Government, fought alongside each other as the White Guard against the Communist Red Army. Despite this last ditch attempt to stop the Soviets, the effort eventually failed when the Tsar and family were murdered and the White Armies were defeated. 

Once the farm was secured, two pigs emerged as leaders, Snowball (Leon Trotsky) and Napoleon (Joseph Stalin). After Lenin’s death, most assumed that Trotsky would succeed him as leader, however, Stalin was determined to claim the powerful position. Exiled to Turkey by Stalin, Trotsky attempted to flee to numerous countries, including the United Kingdom, France, and Norway before being accepted in Mexico in 1936. Having spent four years in the Central American country, he was murdered by assassins in his home in May 1940.  In the book, when Snowball was exiled, he most likely escaped to a neighboring farm, however, it’s unclear what happened to him after he left. Napoleon, now the sole ruler, used him as a scapegoat for the animals’ problems and many of the issues on the farm, like when their prized windmill was knocked down by a storm. 

Tensions Rising

The two neighboring farms, Foxwood, which represents the United States and the United Kingdom, and Pinchfield, which symbolizes Nazi Germany, are run by Pilkington and Frederick. At first, Animal Farm allies themselves with Frederick and Pinchfield farm, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Non-Aggression Pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in August 1939. The animals hate Pilkington and his way of running Foxwood farm, because Napoleon’s propagandist, a pig named Squealer, convinced them. Squealer also told his comrades that their lives are still better than under Jones although they’re being worked like slaves while the pigs don’t have to lift a finger. Similar to the 1930s Soviet Union, the people’s lives were terrible. Although life as a peasant in Imperial Russia was miserable, life as a regular citizen in Soviet Russia was arguably worse. 

Allying himself with Frederick, Napoleon’s next action was to purge the farm of any dissident animals. He called a meeting and then his killer dogs murdered many of them for crimes they didn’t commit. The dogs symbolize the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs or the NKVD, Stalin’s secret police force that he used to execute and imprison millions of people during the Great Purge from 1936 to 1938. This included removing officers of the Red Army who had previously served with the Russian Imperial Army or the White Army, political dissidents, land-owning Kulaks, and Orthodox Christians. Stalin also used targeted famines to eliminate certain ethnic groups that he disliked or saw as a threat such as Kazakhs and Ukrainians. 

Shortly after this massacre, Frederick and other men with guns entered the gates of Animal Farm. They are caught by surprise and forced to retreat to the windmill, where they defeat the humans, but with heavy casualties. Frederick’s invasion of Animal Farm stands for Operation Barbarossa, the joint Axis Invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. Retreating deep into the Caucasus Mountains in September 1942, the entire German 6th Army was uncircled during the Battle of Stalingrad in February 1943. After the battle, the Soviets slowly push the Axis Armies out of Soviet territory, and in May 1945, the capital of Nazi Germany, Berlin, was conquered by the Red Army. Although repelling the enemy from their homeland, the Soviets paid dearly for their victory. Up to 28,000,000 Soviets were killed during the war, only 10,000,000 of which were soldiers. 

Fresh off their victory against the humans, Napoleon and the commanding pigs of Animal Farm held a meeting with Pilkington and the leaders of Foxwood. During this conference, the workers were shocked to see the pigs breaking every one of the original seven commandments, which had been established to keep the animals from becoming like the humans, even going so far as walking on two legs just like man. 

After Germany’s surrender, the Soviets and Western Allies held a meeting that would split Germany into four occupation zones between the United States, United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union, known as the Potsdam Conference. While occupying all of East Germany, East Berlin, and a fourth of Austria, the Soviets also were allowed to occupy Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Hungary, which were later turned into Soviet puppet governments. In addition, they reimplemented the Moldovan SSR, re-annexed the Baltic States, retook lands occupied by Finland, and expanded the Ukrainian and Belarusian SSRs. 

The Soviet Union, supposed to be for the equality of the people, became the most tyrannical, most corrupt government ever in existence, just like how Animal Farm, which was created for the liberation of the animals from Jones’ rule, oppressed the animals more than Jones ever did. Instead of focusing on the freedom and equality of their people, the leaders became only interested in expanding their power and influence. Ironically, the pigs were supposed to hate humans, but now they’ve become just as bad.