Animal Farm Notes

When History and Literature MergeCritics often consider Animal Farm tobe an allegory of the RussianRevolution. In the early 1900s,Russia’s Czar Nicholas II faced anincreasingly discontented populace.Freed from feudal serfdom in 1861,many Russian peasants werestruggling to survive under anoppressive government. By 1917,amidst the tremendous suffering ofWorld War I, a revolution began. Intwo major battles, the Czar’sgovernment was overthrown andreplaced by the Bolshevik leadershipof Vladimir Lenin. When Lenin died in1924, his former colleagues LeonTrotsky, hero of the early Revolution,and Joseph Stalin, head of theCommunist Party, struggled forpower. Stalin won the battle, and hedeported Trotsky into permanentexile.Czar Nicholas IIJoseph StalinVladimir LeninLeon Trotsky