A REVOLUTION GONE WRONG

INTRODUCTION

In the English language today, the Russian revolution has become a

somewhat fashionable catchphrase. Very few of us understand or
indeed care to understand the origins or the complexities that
belong to that catchphrase. Even when we appreciate the
theoretical concept to the effect that by definition revolution brings
about monumental changes, we do not know all the permutations
of the revolution, or the scope of its impact on the rest of the
world. On the African continent, Russia is just one of the many
countries in Europe and often rated as “first world”, and then
erroneously lumped together with other European countries as a
“coloniser” even though Russia did not colonise any African
countries.

10.2 LECTURE OBJECTIVES

By the end of this lecture you should be able to:

• learn some facts about the Russian revolution.

• get a glimpse into the scope of its impact on Europe and the world.
• read an up-close-and-candid account of life behind the “iron curtain” from a
survivor.
• learn some key words and useful terms and understand the contexts in which
they came into existence.

10.3 GENERAL COMMENTS

 Like most other revolutions, the Russian revolution had its
genesis in matters of “bread” (butter having been long forgotten).
Similar revolutions currently sweeping across the
African continent have two key words: food and fuel. Similar
Revolutions had rocked other European countries but on much
smaller scales and in earlier centuries. The Russian revolution
happened in the twentieth century and has perhaps become “the
defining” event of the twentieth century.

Russian Revolution was not, as many people suppose, one well

organised event in which Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown and Lenin
and the Bolsheviks took power. It was a series of events that took
place during 1917, which entailed two separate revolutions in
February and October (with a great deal of political wrangling in
between), and which eventually plunged the country into Civil War
before leading to the founding of the Communist State.

The first major event of the Russian Revolution was the February
Revolution, which was a chaotic affair and the culmination of over a
century of civil and military unrest. The causes of this unrest of the
common people towards the Tsar and aristocratic landowners are
too many and complicated to neatly summarise, but key factors to
consider were ongoing resentment at the cruel treatment of
peasants by patricians, poor working conditions experienced by city
workers in the fledgling industrial economy and a growing sense of
political and social awareness of the lower orders in general
(democratic ideas were reaching Russia from the West and being
touted by political activists).

On 23rd February 1917 the International Women's Day Festival in

St. Petersburg turned into a city-wide demonstration, as
exasperated women workers left factories to protest against food
shortages. Men soon joined them, and on the following day -
encouraged by political and social activists - the crowds had swelled
and virtually every industry, shop and enterprise had ceased to
function as almost the entire populace went on strike.

LENIN
One person keen to take advantage of the chaotic state of affairs in
St. Petersburg was Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov - aka Lenin. Lenin had
spent most of the 20th Century travelling and working and
campaigning in Europe - partly out of fear for his own safety, as he
was a known Socialist and enemy of the Tsarist regime. However
with the Tsar under arrest and Russian politics in chaos,
Lenin saw the opportunity to lead his party, the Bolsheviks, to
power. From his home in Switzerland he negotiated a return to
Russia with the help of German authorities. (As a proponent of
withdrawing Russia from the Great War, the Germans were willing
to facilitate Lenin's passage back via a 'sealed train'.)

Lenin's return in April of 1917 was greeted by the Russian populace,

as well as by many leading political figures, with great rapture and
applause. However, far from uniting the fractious parties, he
immediately condemned the policies and ideologies of both the
Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet. In his April
Theses, published in the Bolshevik newspaper Pravda, he advocated
non-co-operation with the liberals (ie. non-hardline Communists)
and an immediate end to the war.

With Russian politics still in a state of constant flux Lenin realised

that now was the time to capitalise on his party's popularity. He
planned a coup d'etat that would overthrow the increasingly
ineffective Provisional Government and replace them with the
Bolsheviks. October 24th was the date decided upon, and on that
day troops loyal to the Bolsheviks took up crucial positions in the
city, such as the main telephone and telegraph offices, banks,
railroad stations, post offices, and major bridges. Guards
commissioned by the Provisional Government, who had got wind of
the plot, fled or surrendered without a fight. By the 25th October
every key building in St. Petersburg was under Bolshevik control,
except the Winter Palace. On the 26th the Palace was taken with
barely a shot fired, and Lenin's October Revolution had been
achieved with the bare minimum of drama or bloodshed.

In 1923 Lenin died and Stalin took over the Communist Party, which
continued to rule Russia until 1991 when the USSR was dissolved.

JOSEPH STALIN

Generalissimus Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was born on 18

December 1878 in Georgia, Russia.
He was a Bolshevik revolutionary. Before Stalin, the office of the
Secretary General of the Soviet Union was elective. After the death
of Lenin in 1924, however, Stalin consolidated power and
eliminated all opposition. He took over Russia on 6 May 1941. He
remained in office until his death. He died on 5 March 1953.

It was Stalin’s centralized command economy which propelled

Russia from an Agrarian economy to an industrialised one, making
Russia the second largest economy in the world by the end of WW
II.

The attendant social, political and economic changes were so

radical and so quick, that the first ten years were catastrophic.
Millions of people were sent to penal labour camps. Millions more
were deported and exiled. Food production was disrupted and a
famine followed (1932-1933). Between 1937 and 1938, thousands
of Russians were executed in what came to be known as the Great
Purge. It was a campaign to eliminate all opposition, especially
within the ranks of the communist party and the Red Army.

Writers were not spared. When Solzhenitsyn began his literary

career, the system applauded him as a true son of the Soviet Union.
At the time he was recording the positive changes that are
associated with Socialism and the economic transformation of
Russia into a superpower. With time, as happens with all regimes,
the communist party became oppressive and the socialist vision
was lost in the struggle for power. Writers began to document this
new reality in the Soviet Union. These writers were considered
dissidents and hunted down like other opposition candidates.
Solzhenitsyn was one of them. He survived the crackdown and went
into exile, from where he continued to write, like a true creative
spirit.

10.4 ALEKSANDR SOLZHENITSYN (1918-2008)

A Russian and Soviet novelist, dramatist, and historian

Solzhenitsyn helped to raise global awareness of the Gulag, through
his often-suppressed writings. Aleksandr was raised by his
prematurely widowed mother and an aunt in lowly circumstances.
His earliest years coincided with the Russian revolution. By 1930 the
family property had been turned into a collective farm. Later,
Solzhenitsyn recalled that his mother had fought for survival and
that they had to keep his father's background in the old Imperial
Army a secret. His educated mother (who never remarried)
encouraged his literary and scientific learnings and raised him in the
Russian Orthodox faith. Solzhenitsyn studied mathematics at Rostov
State University. At the same time he took correspondence courses
from the Moscow Institute of Philosophy, Literature and History, at
this time heavily ideological in scope. As he himself makes clear, he
did not question the state ideology or the superiority of the Soviet
Union until he spent time in the camps.

During World War II Solzhenitsyn served as the commander of a

sound-ranging battery in the Red Army, was involved in major
action at the front, and twice decorated. A series of writings
published late in his life, including the early uncompleted novel
Love the Revolution!, chronicle his World War II experience and his
growing doubts about the moral foundations of the Soviet regime.
In February 1945, while serving in East Prussia, Solzhenitsyn was
arrested for writing derogatory comments in letters to friends
about the conduct of the war by Joseph Stalin, whom he called
“Khozyain" ("the master"), and "Balabos", (Yiddish rendering of
Hebrew baal ha-bayis for "master of the house"). He was accused
of anti-Soviet propaganda under Article 58 paragraph 10 of the
Soviet criminal code, and of "founding a hostile organization" under
paragraph 11. Solzhenitsyn was taken to the Lubyanka prison in
Moscow, where he was beaten and interrogated. On 7 July 1945, he
was sentenced in his absence by Special Council of the NKVD to an
eight-year term in a labour camp. This was the normal sentence for
most crimes under Article 58 at the time.
In 1970, Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
He could not receive the prize personally in Stockholm at that time.
Instead, he received his prize at the 1974 ceremony after he had
been deported from the Soviet Union.

Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago has sold over thirty million

copies in thirty-five languages. It was based upon Solzhenitsyn's
own experience as well as the testimony of 256 former prisoners
and Solzhenitsyn's own research into the history of the penal
system. It discussed the system's origins from the founding of the
Communist regime, with Lenin himself having responsibility,
detailing interrogation procedures, prisoner transports, prison
camp culture, prisoner uprisings and revolts, and the practice of
internal exile. The Gulag Archipelago's rich and varied authorial
voice, its unique weaving together of personal testimony,
philosophical analysis, and historical investigation, and its
unrelenting indictment of communist ideology made The Gulag
Archipelago one of the most consequential books of the twentieth
century. The appearance of the book in the West put the word
“gulag” into the Western political vocabulary and guaranteed swift
retribution from the Soviet authorities. The play Prisoners can be
seen as a microcosm of The Gulag Archipelago.
10.4.1 PRISONERS

Action takes place on 9th July 1945, from one midnight to the next.
(PS: The Second World War ended with the surrender of the
Japanese on 15th August 1945)

This is a play divided into twelve scenes.

As the title suggests, most of the characters are prisoners. Forty-

one of the characters have been named. Another six are identified
by function (operative, escort or assessor). There are many more
shadowy characters, including but not limited to eight groups of
people: prisoners, typists, waitresses, secretaries, escort soldiers,
supervisors, sergeants and officers. The setting is a prison camp in
Russia in July 1945, at the end of the Second World War.

It can be argued, however, that the title is also symbolic of life

behind the “iron curtain” since the writer is a survivor and, more
importantly, many of the characters make statements that lead us
readers to that conclusion. Here are a few of them:

Scene 7 (pg 82-84)

RUBIN: ...But then we have the underground – the best in
the world.
TEMIROV: Nothing but show. Everything’s for show. ‘The
bridges may be made of iron, but their supports are of
wood.’
DIVNICH: Yes, I may say, the Soviet people are beggars!
When they come to Europe, they’re ready to pinch things
from the shop counter.
PECHKUROV: What does a collective farmer earn a day?
How much per day?
RUBIN: That’s because their work is badly organised.
PECHKUROV (shouting): ... you and your organisation! Just
give me some land and I’ll manage without your
organisation.
DIVNICH (advancing even closer): Your country is in a state
of collapse! It’s up the spout!
Crazy prices, empty shops! ...
 RUBIN: Well, things were just getting better, when the war
got in the way.
KULYBYSHEV: Tell that to the marines! Ah! War!
KLIMOV: How do you mean getting better. In 1939 there
were thousands of queues for bread all over the country –
was that due to war?
GAI: Why did you starve the Ukraine to death? Was that
because of the war?
RUBIN: You starved yourselves to death. You left the grain to
rot in rubbish dumps.
GAI: We refused to sow it. That’s true.
RUBIN: You should have sown it!
GAI: Who for? Why did you set up a blockade against us?
(he shouts to everyone in the cell): Quiet, there! Friends!
Does anyone know about the blockade of the Ukraine in
1931? When a komsomol would come into your own house
and prevent you from getting water from your own well!
Cattle died off from thirst. My baby sister died! DIVNICH: In
the twentieth century we have come round to slave labour!

Although first published in 1981, this play is about events that

happened in Russia in 1945. References are made to Russian history
including the mention of historical figures in their historical context.

One of the figures mentioned continuously is Joseph Stalin. Indeed,

his statue is eminently present in most of the scenes. Towards the
end, the play predicts the end of communism, in stage directions
given on page 105:

He rushes off towards the left door, being muddled, then

remembers and turns back towards the right door. Because
of his running about, Stalin’s statue begins to topple.

10.5 SUMMARY
 In this lecture I have talked about the Russian revolution. We have seen that
like other revolutions in Europe earlier on, the Russian revolution was a popular uprising
to change the form of governance from the feudal Tsarist regime to a more inclusive
one. We have noted that although the experiment, fuelled by Marxism, started off well
with time the once revolutionary leaders became greedy, insecure and brutal. We have
singled out Solzhenitsyn’s Prisoners for closer examination because it captures most of
the issues that concern the Russian state during that time. Russia was the last country in
Europe to remove the monarchy from power, and their revolution is the only European
one to have taken place in the twentieth century, the repercussions of which are still
being felt. In terms of chronology this brings us to a significant pause in the study of
modern European literature. In the next lecture, we will discuss children’s literature and
science fiction.

10.6 ACTIVITY

Read the extract below from Prisoners then do the following

exercises:
Draw up a character sketch of Colonel Rublyov, bearing in
mind that in this play he is the second in command to the
general.

Using information from this extract and elsewhere, write a

comparison between the situation in the fictional world of
Prisoners and what is happening in the real world of Libya,
Egypt or Zimbabwe.

Extract from Prisoners, Sc 12, pg 117

KAMCHUZHNAYA: Professor Mostovshchikov. Our
scientific experts have confirmed that he’s an
outstanding specialist in atomic physics. In Europe he
worked in ...
RUBLYOV: Be brief.
KAMCHUZHNAYA: Maybe he shouldn’t be in the
general flow. A person like that might be needed,
and probably soon.
RUBLYOV (speaking with difficulty and some pauses):
‘Soon’ – nothing. He’s to be in the general flow! In
fact, I instruct you to see to it that he’s sent off on a
special Polar detachment intended for particularly
heavy physical labour. Of course, we’ll see to it that
he doesn’t die. When he gets to a certain point, he’ll
be yanked out, sent to Lubyanka; some respectable
general would express his sincere regrets about not
having known in time that such a great scientist was
in need of help and defence and would respectfully
beg the Professor to return to his scientific studies,
but to overlook the inconvenience of the barbed wire
around his laboratory. Mistovshchikov, who until
recently had been beaten over the head by some
miserable guard, would experience bliss, a renewal,
and not to have to pick-axe the frozen soil of Siberia
for an inch of butter for his breakfast, he would do
more for us than for all the tea in china.
KAMCHUZHNAYA (overwhelmed): What a profound
thought!
RUBLYOV: We’ve had some experience. Systems
similar to this have been in operation for some
fifteen years and with great success. That’s how the
best machines in our Air Force were made. ...
.....

Pg. 119
RUBLYOV: Well, Mr. Vorotyntsev, how are you? (he
switches on the ceiling light) VOROTYNTSEV: Better
than you’d wish.
RUBLYOV: You didn’t expect to be summoned?
VOROTYNTSEV: I did sign article 206, what else is
needed?
RUBLYOV: The thing is ... you know ... in my private
capacity ... I wanted to let you know that your case is
to be heard by the military tribunal – tomorrow.
VOROTYNTSEV: Did you have to take the trouble just
for that?
RUBLYOV: Apart from that ... (he suffers a sharp
attack of pain. He stumbles backwards, his head
thrown back, across the middle of the room. He
knocks against an armchair and sits down in it,
controlling hiself): Apart from that, I wanted to warn
you about your fate ...
VOROTYNTSEV: It was decided before the trial. I
understand that. As in every other case ...
RUBLYOV: Decided, yes, but differently from all the
others.
VOROTYNTSEV: I understand that too. I shall be shot.
RUBLYOV (looks at him fixedly): You’re mistaken.
You’ll be hanged.
VOROTYNTSEV: And, of course, secretly. In a corner.
RUBLYOV: The day after tomorrow.
VOROTYNTSEV: I’ve worked that out. Is that all?
RUBLYOV: What else do you want?
VOROTYNTSEV: There’s nothing else that I can expect
from a Bolshevik government. I know, it’s the end.
May I go?
RUBLYOV: Don’t tell me you’re more comfortable
there than here? The air is fresh here, there are
comfortable armchairs here, instead of straw, slop
buckets, stench.
VOROTYNTSEV: People are clean there.
RUBLYOV: Wait and you’ll understand why I
summoned you. Do sit down. No, not there – on the
couch. (Vorotyntsev, however, sits down by the
empty table for the accused. Rublyov moves towards
him, dragging his chair right up to the little table and
sits down).
RUBLYOV: Tell me, colonel, how come you have such
bright eyes? Your back is so straight – why? You hold
your head up high – why? You’ve known for a long
time that we would execute you, after all. You are
going to die, die the day after tomorrow! Have you
no fear of losing your life, tell me, colonel? (they
stare at each other): I don’t ask out of sheer
curiosity. I’m also a damned man. There’s no
salvation for me either. I have a terrible illness.
Today is the 9th of July. By the 15th I’ll no longer be
here. Forget who I am. Today I’m no longer your
enemy. I summoned you out of friendly feelings.
Because now you’re no longer an enemy of mine.
VOROTYNTSEV: I wish you were my enemy. As the
saying goes, I respect courage even in a Tartar. But
you’re not an enemy. You’re an executioner.
...
RUBLYOV: .. I want to meet death with the same
defiance shining in my eyes as in yours. Teach me the
secret of your fortitude.
VOROTYNTSEV: There’s no secret. I’m already 69
years old and I can see that I’ve followed the right
path. Why should I lose courage?

...
RUBLYOV: .. Are you quite sober?
VOROTYNTSEV: Yes, today, in the hour of your
greatest outward victory, even in your prison and
before my very death I’ve been given to see that you
have lost utterly! That you’re doomed! You
persecuted our Monarchy, and look at the filth you
established instead. You promised paradise on earth,
and gave us CounterIntelligence. What is especially
cheering is that the more your ideas degenerate, the
more obviously all your ideology collapses, the more
hysterically you cling to it. That means you’re
finished. Without this pathetic ideology of yours you
might have saved yourselves. With it – it’s all up with
you. For the last twenty-eight years Russia has never
been quite so far from Bolshevinism. In the
counterintelligence cell I saw it quite clearly – Russia
does not belong to you, Comrades! The people in
that cell are different from the ones you arrested in
1918. They do not wear signet rings on their white
fingers, their forage caps still bear the marks of the
five-cornered star. They’re all young, brought up in
your schools, not ours, on your books, not ours, in
your faith, not ours – but they’re grown up ...
RUBLYOV (nodding): Not ours, but not yours either.
VOROTYNTSEV: A tiny whiff of freedom was enough
to blow away the black cloud of your magic from the
youth of Russia! You used to revile the first wave of
émigrés, you said that they were mercenary; that
they didn’t want to understand progressive ideas.
Maybe so. But where does this second wave of
émigrés come from – all those millions of simple
Russian lads who have tasted twenty-four years of a
new society and refuse to return home?
RUBLYOV: How do you mean, refuse? Where did you
come across them? In the cells? They came back,
quite voluntarily. They are coming back – that’s the
surprising thing! But they’ll be sent into camps – and
your second wave of émigrés will vanish!
VOROTYNTSEV: But then, how come they didn’t
understand your progressive ideas? As far as I can
see, they reject your ideologists.
RUBLYOV: They reject your saints as well. They don’t
need our ideas – they have their own: to do a bit of
moon-lighting, to pinch what is available, to spend it
all on drink, to have it off with a skirt.
VOROTYNTSEV: Natural demands, after all. What
they want is to live, let’s face it.
RUBLYOV: Now, that’s sensible. We agree at last ...
You, on the other hand ...
VOROTYNTSEV: But you prevent them living.
RUBLYOV: You, on the other hand, suffer from some
kind of illusions. We prevent them living? How, then,
do you explain the way we’ve taken off? You must
look at facts, Colonel. The fact is, that Marxism has
not yet reached its centenary, but look at the size of
the continent we’ve acquired. (he indicates the map):
and we’re still growing. (he is exhausted, and sits
down)
VOROTYNTSEV: Yes, I must say, there have been
years when one could have lost courage. I’ve been
defeated many times – however hard one worked,
however hard one tried – it all vanished without
trace. It seemed that even when no mistakes were
made, there was one defeat after another. Why? I
don’t know. There seems to be some divine and
limitless plan for Russia which unfolds itself slowly
while our lives are so brief. There are moments when
at some event one is even seized with mystical terror
– and even asks oneself: why is everything so
useless?! But don’t keep on referring to your
victories. Looking back, one can explain each one of
them, crack it open like a walnut. The Civil War? (he
rises thereafter and paces about the room): Imagine
you are an English minister in 1917 and look at
Russia from there. What a country! An ocean of
pearly grain. Ancient, solid forests, the size of several
Europes! The bowels of the earth bursting with
whatever a human being needs on this planet.
Hundreds of navigable rivers, swarming with fish and
flowing into oceans, warm or cold, fresh water or
salty. Within some paltry twenty years we developed
oil fields, quarries, coal mines, factories, railways.
Within some paltry ten years we had Stolypin
villages everywhere. Were you to give them liberty,
we could have had a second America of prosperous
farmers. Siberia, that frightening, impenetrable
Siberia, the haunt of bears and vagrants, was on the
point of becoming another Canada – four times as
vast ...
RUBLYOV: Don’t go too far! Illusions again! And
don’t you steal our achievements!
VOROTYNTSEV: But what have you done to Siberia?
Instead of filling in the marshes with wooden logs,
you’ve filled them with corpses. Along the wastes of
the Yenisey river you put up barbed wire. Along the
arctic ocean you’ve put up the fences and
observation towers of the labour camps. One of your
most arrogant myths is that you have developed the
Russian economy. But you’ve done is to cripple its
original thrust. A factory is in the wrong place,
approaches to it are from the wrong end, and any
new building needs repairs within three months. I’ve
been watching you all these years with all the
attention of hatred and I haven’t missed a thing!
RUBLYOV: Magnitogorsk. Turksib – I’m too lazy to
enumerate them all. Kuzbassk for coal ...
VOROTYNTSEV: But the twentieth century is not set
in concrete ...
RUBLYOV: Blakhashsk for copper smelting ...
VOROTYNTSEV: While the copper itself is a thousand
miles away. Just tell me, do you think that without
you there would have been no radio broadcasts, no
electrified railways? Don’t pretend that progress is
because of your system. You’re trailing behind the
century and when you have to fight, the trouble is
you don’t know which way to turn and you foul it
up ... The Russian people used to be hardworking ...
RUBLYOV: ... for the landowners ...
VOROTYNTSEV: ... good-natured ...
RUBLYOV: ... in front of the police ...
VOROTYNTSEV: ... adaptable, many-sided,
exceptionally gifted ... RUBLYOV: ... but not
allowed to go to school ...
10.7 FURTHER READING

Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. 1948.

10.8 SELF-TEST QUESTIONS

1. What are some of the causes of the Russian revolution?

2. From your general knowledge and after reading through the play
Prisoners, what were some of the negative aspects of communist rule in the
former U.S.S.R.?

NB/ READ ON BELOW;

 Animal farm
A Description of the Characters and Events in the George Orwell's
classic Parody of the Russian Revolution.

 Mankind
 The Pigs
 The Horses
 The Dogs
 The Birds
 Other Animals
 Places
 Things
 Key Events

Mankind Capitalist and Royalty

Mr Jones - Mr Jones is a farmer, and the owner of

Manor Farm. He represents the last Tsar of Russia,
Nicholas Alexandrovich Romanov (Nicholas II).

Mrs. Jones - She represents the Tsar's wife,

Alexandra.

Mr. Pilkington - Owner of Foxwood (Leader of England).

He doesn't represent one person in particular, but rather is a
composite of all of the leaders of England.

Mr. Frederick - Owner of Pinchfield (Leader of Germany).

Frederick is a composite of the leaders of Germany.
However, throughout most of the book, Frederick is a
representation of Hitler. It is said that Frederick had
''flogged an old horse to death (A reference to Hitler's
euthanasia program), he had starved his cows (A reference
to the Jews?), he had killed a dog by throwing it into the
furnace (Most likely a reference to Night of Knives), and
that he amused himself in the evenings by making cocks
(French? / Children?) fight with splinters of razor-blade tied
to their spurs.''

Mr. Whymper - A solicitor living in Willingdon. Acted as

an intermediary between Animal Farm and the outside
world in matters of trade. Represents capitalist who did
business with the Soviet state.

Pigs
The Communists

Napoleon - Napoleon is Joseph Stalin, the second

leader of the Soviet Union. Animal farm skips the
short rule of Lenin (and seems to combine Lenin with
the character Old Major), and has Napoleon leading
the farm from the beginning of the revolution.

Squealer - This pig represents the Russian media,

which spread Stalin's version of the truth to the masses.

Snowball - Snowball represents Leo Trotsky. Trotsky was

one of the original revolutionaries. But as Stalin rose to
power he became one of Stalin's biggest enemies, and was
eventually expelled from the Politburo in 1925 - one year
after Stalin took control of the nation. In the novel,
Snowball was exiled from the farm just as Trotsky had been
in 1929. But Trotsky was not only exiled in body, he was
also exiled from the minds of the Russian people - His
historical role was altered; his face cut out of group
photographs of the leaders of the revolution. In Russia he
was denounced as a traitor and conspirator and in 1940 a
Stalinist agent assassinated him in Mexico City.

Old Major - The father of 'Animalism'. He represents Karl

Marx, but in some ways also symbolizes the original
communist leader - Vladimir Lenin. (In the book, Old
major's skull is displayed in a similar manner to the way
Lenin's remains were displayed to the public) The book also
says that Old Major had been exhibited at shows under the
name Willingdon Beauty, but I'm not sure whether or not
this is a reference to a real-life.
 Horses
The Workers

Boxer - Boxer represents the working class. Boxer

is portrayed as being a dedicated worker, but as
possessing a less-than-average intelligence. His
personal motto was, "I will work harder!" The
novel describes the horses as being the pig's "most
faithful disciples" and that they "absorbed
everything that they were told [by the pigs], and
passed it on to the other animals by simple
arguments".

Clover - Boxer's female counterpart.

Mollie - Mollie seems to be some sort of representation of

Russia's upper classes. But, since Orwell portrays her as a
horse - the same animal used to represent the 'working class'
horses Boxer & Clover - Mollie may simply represent
members of the working class that remained faithful to the
Czar. In either case, Mollie was never really in favor of the
revolution. She went along with it, but she didn't actually
engage in the fighting. Mollie didn't mind being a 'servant'
to the humans, since she was constantly being pampered by
them. After the revolution, Mollie begins to miss the
beautiful ribbons (fine clothes) and sugar cane (fine food)
she used to receive from her human masters. She eventually
flees the animal farm to live elsewhere in Willingdon.

Dogs
The Army - The "Dogs of War"

Dogs - The dogs represent the military/police. In the

beginning of the book, they voted against accepting the rats
& rabbits as 'comrades'. Shortly after the revolution, several
'pups' are stolen from their mothers. Later in the book, these
pups (now fully grown - and fully trained) protect Napoleon
from a second potential revolution, and help to enforce his
decrees.

Jessie, Bluebell, Pincher - The only three dogs that are

mentioned by name. They do not have a very active role in
the novel. All three are mentioned as being present at old
major's meeting, but Pincher is never mentioned again
(except in the 'epilogue', when it is mentioned that all three
dogs are dead) - Jesse and Bluebell are the mothers of the
'pups' which serve as Napoleon's bodyguards (and I assume
Pincher is the father). Jesse and Bluebell also participate in
the 'Battle of the Windmill'.

Birds
Farmers, Clergy, And other 'non-labour' groups.

Birds - The primary motto of Animalism is "Four legs good,

two legs bad". The birds argued with this saying since it
seems to exclude birds, which have two legs and two wings.
Squealer set them at ease by explaining, "A bird's wing,
comrades, is an organ of propulsion and not of
manipulation. It should therefore be regarded as a leg. The
distinguishing mark of man is the hand, the instrument with
which he does all his mischief."
In real life, there were several classes of citizens 'left out' of
socialist rhetoric as well. Most of the communistic slogans
dealt with the 'proletariat' - which was primarily a reference
to urban factory workers. The rural farmers, the clergy, the
'intelligentsia', and other 'non-labour union' types probably
felt left out, just as the birds did in the novel. And, just as in
real life, most would be left out - or killed - after the
revolution.
The birds were different from the other animals - they stood
on two legs. And in real-life, the peasant farmers were
unique as well - many of them owned land. Though the land
was eventually 'collectivized' by the state in the 1930's,
these peasants were allowed to own land ('walk on two
legs') for the first decade of communism. Property owners in
the city lost their land (were forced to 'walk on four legs')
immediately following the revolution. And the primary
reason for this, as Squealer explained above, was that the
peasants weren't using their ownership of property to enrich
themselves on the backs of the workers - they generally
farmed the land themselves, and so their land ownership
was tolerated for some time (their wings were "an organ of
propulsion, not of manipulation").

Moses - The raven Moses symbolizes the Russian Orthodox

Church. In the beginning of the novel, Moses was Mr.
Jones's 'pet'. Moses fled the farm shortly after the
revolution, but eventually returned. Moses never did any
work. All he did was sit around telling stories - primarily of
"Sugar Candy Mountain", a paradise where animals lived on
after they have died. At first Napoleon tried to get rid of
Moses. But eventually Moses was allowed to stay on the
farm and was even given a small ration of 'beer'.

Hens - Peasant Farmers. In Chapter seven, Napoleon calls

for the hens to 'surrender their eggs'. This is a reference to
Stalin's attempt to collectivize the peasant farmers of
Russia. The hens attempted to resist the order at first, just as
the peasant farmers of the Ukraine. But, just as in real life,
they were eventually starved into submission. In the book, 9
hens died during the incident. In real-life, it is estimated that
somewhere between 4 and 10 million Ukrainian peasants
were starved to death by Stalin.
In the book, it was also said that the Hens smashed their
own eggs to protest Napoleon's actions. In real-life,
Ukrainian farmers would slaughter their own livestock
before joining a collective as a form of protest. So many
farmers engaged in this practice, that livestock in the
Ukraine dwindled by 50%-80% between 1928 and 1935.
The problem got so out of hand that Stalin eventually
executed any farmer found guilty of engaging in this
practice. Even the act of 'neglecting' your livestock was
punishable by death.

Three young Black Minorca pullets - The leaders of the

hen's 'resistance'. The book says that these three chickens
'made a determined effort to thwart Napoleon's wishes'. The
dictionary defines a Minorca Hen as 'A domestic fowl of a
breed originating in the Mediterranean region and having
white or black plumage.' - a reference to the Ukrainians
possibly? (although not exactly on the Mediterranean, the
Ukraine is in the same general area)
Never the less, It was the Ukrainian peasants who formed
the primary resistance to Stalin's attempts to collectivize
farming, so the 'black Minorcan Pullets' are almost certainly
a reference to the Ukrainians.
But it is also possible that Orwell may be referring to
specific group of Ukrainians - the Ukrainian Kulaks. The
Kulaks were middle and upper class peasants that owned
farmland in Ukraine. It was they that had the most to lose by
collectivizing.
(And as a side note, Minorca is "A Spanish island in the
Balearics of the western Mediterranean Sea. Held by the
British and the French at various times during the 18th
century, it was a Loyalist stronghold in the Spanish Civil
War." This is curious since Orwell had personally
participated in the Spanish Civil War, and was probably
well aware of this islands' act of resistance.)

Cockerels - Serve as an alarm clock for Boxer. Napoleon

had a black cockerel who marched in front of him and acted
as a kind of trumpeter (He would let out a loud "cock-a-
doodle-doo" before Napoleon spoke.) Frederick (Hitler) was
said to hold cockfights where the combatants had splinters
of razor-blade tied to their spurs.

Pigeons - The pigeons, who fly out each day to spread the
word about 'animalism' to the other farms in Willingdon,
represent the "Communist World Revolution" - The
Communist International, or Comintern, as it is widely
known.

Geese - ? Mentioned in the "Beast of England"

Turkeys - ? Mentioned in the "Beast of England"

Ducks - They are generally only mentioned in conjunction

with the hens, and, just like the hens, are portrayed as being
less intelligent than the other animals. The obviously
represent some type of peasantry, but it is unclear as to with
specific group Orwell is referring to since Orwell never
gives any specifics of the Duck's role on the farm. The book
merely states that some ducklings (who have lost their
mother) were present at Old Major's 'meeting', and that
clover has protected them so the other animals wouldn't
trample on them. The ducks are mentioned as assisting with
building the windmill. It is also said that they helped the
hens "save five bushels of corn at the harvest by gathering
up the stray grains". The book also states that the Ducks,
along with the Sheep and the hens, were on the lower end of
the intelligence scale - completely incapable of grasping the
full ideas of 'animalism'.
Since ducks are water-borne foul, it is possible that they
may represent the 'farmers of the sea' ... fishermen
perhaps??

The Other Animals

Old Benjamin, the donkey - " Benjamin could read as well
as any pig, but never exercised his faculty. So far as he
knew, he said, there was nothing worth reading." (Old
Men?)

Muriel, the white goat - Literate. (Old Ladies?)

The Cat - Voted on both sides of the 'rat-comrade' question.

"The cat joined the Re-education Committee and was very
active in it for some days. She was seen one day sitting on a
roof and talking to some sparrows who were just out of her
reach. She was telling them that all animals were now
comrades and that any sparrow who chose could come and
perch on her paw; but the sparrows kept their distance." The
Cat disappeared right before the 'purges'.

The cat seems to represents some of the more 'shady'

members of Russian society, but it is unclear exactly who
Orwell had in mind. Con Men? Circus Folk? Gypsies?

Rats & Rabbits - The rats and rabbits are the wild animals
that live on the farm. The seem to represent beggars, thieves
and gypsies. During the first animal meeting, a vote is taken
on whether or not these creatures should be considered as
'comrades'. It is decided that they should be included as
'animals'.

It is also mentioned that Jones' men went out 'Rabbitting'

shortly before the revolution Perhaps a reference to the
Czars' attempt to maintain 'law & order' when he sensed that
a revolt was near.

Cows - The cows are another animal that is scarcely

mentioned in the book, so they too are difficult to pin down.
All that is said about them is that during the revolution "One
of the cows broke in the door of the store-shed with her horn
and all the animals began to help themselves from the bins."
After the revolution, Napoleon creates a re-education
program for the cows called "the Clean Tails League". To
me, this makes it sound like the cows represents prostitutes.
The 'clean tails' thing could be a reference to a anti-VD
campaign, but that could just be my imagination running
away with me. They could simply represent Milkmaids.

Fox - When Jones heard the Animals singing 'Beasts of

England' at old major's meeting, he feared that there was a
'Fox in the yard '. The fox is probably just a metaphor for
revolutionaries.

Sheep - The sheep represent the masses at large. "Four legs

good, two legs bad! Four legs good, two legs ba-a-a-a-d!"
 Places
Locations mentioned in the novel

Animal Farm - The Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.). 'Animal

Farm' is the name the animals gave their farm after the
revolution.

Manor Farm - Russia. 'Manor Farm' was the name of the

farm when Jones ran it. Eventually, the Pigs decided that
they preferred this old name to the new moniker 'Animal
Farm'.

Foxwood - Foxwood represents England. The novel

describes it as "a large, neglected, old-fashioned farm, much
overgrown by woodland, with all its pastures worn out and
its hedges in a disgraceful condition. Its owner, Mr.
Pilkington, was an easy-going gentleman farmer who spent
most of his time in fishing or hunting according to the
season."

Pinchfiled - Pinchfiled represents Germany. Orwell

described it as "The other farm, which was called
Pinchfield, was smaller and better kept. Its owner was a Mr.
Frederick, a tough, shrewd man, perpetually involved in
lawsuits and with a name for driving hard bargains."

Willingdon - All of the farms mentioned in the book are

located in the city of Willingdon, which is a metaphor for
Europe.
England - Since farms represent the various nations,
England is a representation of the entire world.

The Farmhouse - (The Kremlin.) Home of Mr. Jones (the

Czar). After the revolution, there were some that wanted to
destroy the farmhouse, but it was decided to preserve it as a
museum. (The Kremlin was saved in a similar manner).
Eventually, Napoleon (Stalin) decided to take up residence
there.

The Red Lion - A Pub in Willingdon. This may represent

the Royal Palace in England, or could merely represent one
of the smaller nations in Europe.

Sugar Candy Mountain - An obvious reference to

'Heaven'. In the novel, Moses "...claimed to know of the
existence of a mysterious country called Sugarcandy
Mountain, to which all animals went when they died. It was
situated somewhere up in the sky, a little distance beyond
the clouds, Moses said. In Sugarcandy Mountain it was
Sunday seven days a week, clover was in season all the year
round, and lump sugar and linseed cake grew on the
hedges. The animals hated Moses because he told tales and
did no work, but some of them believed in Sugarcandy
Mountain, and the pigs had to argue very hard to persuade
them that there was no such place". Later in the novel, the
Pigs quietly allow Moses (the church) to return the farm.
Here, Orwell is demonstrating religion's use an "opiate of
the masses". The Pigs realized that by offering their subjects
the promise of a mystical reward after their death, it would
help make their miserable over-worked lives more bearable
for them to endure.

Things
Some of the Symbolism from the book.

Animalism - Communism

Hoof & Horn - Hammer and Sickle

Animal Committees - (Soviet Committees). "Egg

Production Committee for the hens, the Clean Tails League
for the cows, the Wild Comrades' Re-education Committee
(the object of this was to tame the rats and rabbits), the
Whiter Wool Movement for the sheep,"

'Beasts of England' - The song 'Beasts of England' is a

metaphor for the ideology of Communism. In the novel it is
said that the song spread throughout the countryside - just as
belief in the communist system spread throughout all of the
labor unions in the world. In many democratic countries
(including the U.S.), socialist parties began to grow and
socialists politicians began winning seats in legislatures.

Windmill - The windmill is a symbol for Stalin's 'Five-Year

plan'. Just a the windmill was promised to make the animal's
life easier, the 'Five-Year Plan' was supposed to improve
Soviet industry to the point that the proletariats' life as well
by increasing production and allowing the soviets to shorten
the work-week. And just like the windmill, Stalin's plan was
an utter failure. After the destruction of the Windmill, the
Animals decided to build another one and in real-life, Stalin
kept churning out new 'Five-year Plans' - promising that
each new plan would solve all of Russia's problems and
bring the USSR closer to parity with the industrialized
nations of the west.
Drinking of alcohol - After the revolution it is decided that
animals should never again consume alcohol. After a short
time, the pigs ignored began to break this cardinal rule. This
is a metaphor for the intoxicating effects of power.

'Milk' - Shortly after the revolution, the pigs are forced to

decide what to do with the 'milk' (a reference to some sort of
commodity). The animals assume that the pigs will
distribute it equally among the masses, and are shocked
when they discover that the pigs have decided to keep it for
themselves.

'Apples' - The pigs decided to keep the apples as well.

Key Events
A few of the Major Plot points in the novel

The Animal Revolt - The Russian Revolution.

Battle of Cowshed - The Return of Jones . Red October.

The battle of the Tsarists forces against the Bolsheviks. (The
Reds vs. the Whites) "The civil war between the Bolsheviks
(Reds) and the anti-Bolsheviks (Whites) ravaged Russia
until 1920. The Whites represented all shades of anti-
Communist groups, including members of the constituent
assembly. Several of their leaders favored setting up a
military dictatorship, but few were outspoken czarists."
For more info, follow these links...

Pigeons sent to incite other rebellions - Cummunist

Internetionale

The Meeting - The Soviet, The Pre-Bolshevik Provisional

Government
From the book...
"Here the work of the coming week was planned out and
resolutions were put forward and debated. It was always the
pigs who put forward the resolutions. The other animals
understood how to vote, but could never think of any
resolutions of their own."

From Real Life...

"The Constituent Assembly met only once, in January 1918.
Lenin dissolved it by issuing his DRAFT DECREE and sent
heavily armed guards to prevent its meeting again. Those
who were not Bolsheviks were indignant when they
witnessed this unconstitutional act. Just the same, there was
no public outburst. Why the delegates did no more than
weakly protest is clear: the Bolsheviks had already taken
action on what interested the people most -- Bread, Land
and Peace. Were the Russian people ready for democracy?
Regardless of how we can answer this question one thing is
clear -- Lenin made it impossible for the Assembly to meet."

The hens' revolt - This signifies the Ukrainian peasants’

bitter resistance to collective farming. (See: HENS)

Destruction of the Windmill - This destruction is symbolic

for the failure of the Five Year Plan. In the Book, it was
described as follows:
"November came, with raging south-west winds. Building
had to stop because it was now too wet to mix the cement.
Finally there came a night when the gale was so violent that
the farm buildings rocked on their foundations and several
tiles were blown off the roof of the barn. The hens woke up
squawking with terror because they had all dreamed
simultaneously of hearing a gun go off in the distance. In
the morning the animals came out of their stalls to find that
the flagstaff had been blown down and an elm tree at the
foot of the orchard had been plucked up like a radish. They
had just noticed this when a cry of despair broke from every
animal's throat. A terrible sight had met their eyes. The
windmill was in ruins." ... " He gave it as his opinion that
Snowball had probably come from the direction of Foxwood
Farm"

The Purges of 1936-38: - (Ch 7) "Napoleon stood sternly

surveying his audience; then he uttered a high-pitched
whimper. Immediately the dogs bounded forward, seized
four of the pigs by the ear and dragged them, squealing with
pain and terror, to Napoleon's feet...."

Selling of the wood to Frederick - Nazi-Soviet pact

Battle of the Windmill - Battle of Stalingrad - German

Invasion of Russia During WWII.