Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin, also known as ‘man of steel’, a name which was combined with steel and Lenin, was born in a small hut in a village in Gori, Russia on December 18th, 1879 . His family had low income and he was the only child who survived out of four others, due to a disease called smallpox. His father, a shoe maker, and also an alcoholic past away in a bar when Stalin was 11. Stalin, who was devoted to Marxism, received a scholarship to enter the Orthodox theological seminary in 1894, Tpilisi, Georgia. He and some other students joined a secret study group which went against Russia’s Tsarist government. Mostly, they would discuss about Karl Marx, who predicted a future revolution led by workers. During his fourth year of studying, he joined the very first Marxist group in Georgia called “Mesame Dais”. A year later, he got expelled from the seminary devoted to Marxism due to spread of subversive views.
A while later, Stalin joined an underground revolutionary Marxist movement, which was led by Lenin in Tpilisi. He was elected to be a member of the Tpilisi committee of the Russian Social Democratic Workers party in 1901. However the following year, he was arrested, imprisoned in Siberia. He successfully escaped two years later and rejoined the underground in Tpilisi. When the Russian Marxist split into two groups, Stalin determines himself with the Bolsheviks.
In 1904, he started organizing bank robberies and raids on money transports and the following year, he met Lenin for the first time at a Bolshevik congress in Finland, 1905. In 1917, the Russian Revolution took place, the Bolsheviks were in power and Russia was then called the Soviet Union. Soon, his writings and willingness to act as administer for Lenin allowed him to become a leading Bolshevik. In 1922, Lenin was ill, and decided to make Stalin the leader of the party and kicking Trotsky out. However, Lenin who started to discover and was shocked that Stalin was very different to himself, wrote a testament saying that Stalin should be removed from power. After Lenin’s death in 1924, he competed for Lenin’s position with Trotsky, as Trotsky led an opposition party that strongly disapproved Stalin, however, Trotsky himself, later who was strongly critical of the hierarchical, shut down the party himself and Stalin, (who had been the General Secretary of the Communist Party since 1922) defeated him by 1928, becoming the ruler of the country.
Stalin himself decided that the country should be industrialized and take away agriculture, he had factories built all over the country which helped fought the Germans in WWII. Stalin was an extremely cruel leader, he would kill people who didn’t agree with him and people he would want dead to starve, causing famines in some parts of the country. People who were against him would be placed in to concentration camps, and was estimated that he killed 20 to 40 million people. He died of a stroke in Kuntsevo Dacha near Moscow, Russia on March 5th, 1953.
A while later, Stalin joined an underground revolutionary Marxist movement, which was led by Lenin in Tpilisi. He was elected to be a member of the Tpilisi committee of the Russian Social Democratic Workers party in 1901. However the following year, he was arrested, imprisoned in Siberia. He successfully escaped two years later and rejoined the underground in Tpilisi. When the Russian Marxist split into two groups, Stalin determines himself with the Bolsheviks.
In 1904, he started organizing bank robberies and raids on money transports and the following year, he met Lenin for the first time at a Bolshevik congress in Finland, 1905. In 1917, the Russian Revolution took place, the Bolsheviks were in power and Russia was then called the Soviet Union. Soon, his writings and willingness to act as administer for Lenin allowed him to become a leading Bolshevik. In 1922, Lenin was ill, and decided to make Stalin the leader of the party and kicking Trotsky out. However, Lenin who started to discover and was shocked that Stalin was very different to himself, wrote a testament saying that Stalin should be removed from power. After Lenin’s death in 1924, he competed for Lenin’s position with Trotsky, as Trotsky led an opposition party that strongly disapproved Stalin, however, Trotsky himself, later who was strongly critical of the hierarchical, shut down the party himself and Stalin, (who had been the General Secretary of the Communist Party since 1922) defeated him by 1928, becoming the ruler of the country.
Stalin himself decided that the country should be industrialized and take away agriculture, he had factories built all over the country which helped fought the Germans in WWII. Stalin was an extremely cruel leader, he would kill people who didn’t agree with him and people he would want dead to starve, causing famines in some parts of the country. People who were against him would be placed in to concentration camps, and was estimated that he killed 20 to 40 million people. He died of a stroke in Kuntsevo Dacha near Moscow, Russia on March 5th, 1953.
Napoleon
Napoleon is one of the most intelligent pigs on the farm (being named after Napoleon who fought in the French Revolution). Although he is not a good speechmaker, like Snowball is, he manages to be the main dictator of the farm. In the beginning, when Napoleon removed the nine puppies from Jessie (the mother of the puppies), he secretly raised them himself, so that they were in his control. Nobody knew what he did with the puppies, until 1 day when they were fully grown and kicked Snowball off the farm. With Snowball gone, Napoleon took total control and since he isn’t a speaker, Squealer did all the speaking for him.
“In these days Napoleon rarely appeared in public, but spent all his time in the farmhouse, which was guarded at each door by fierce-looking dogs. When he did emerge, it was in a ceremonial manner, with an escort of six dogs who closely surrounded him and growled if anyone came too near.” (Chapter 7, Paragraph 5)
“With the help of Squealer and the other pigs, he re-writes history, turning Snowball into a villain, and increasing his own role in the Rebellion. He relies on the gullibility of the strongest animals, like Boxer the horse, and the apathy of the wisest, like Benjamin the donkey. When anyone questions Napoleon's version of history, he has a herd of sheep chant loudly over their protests.” (Shmoop)
“In these days Napoleon rarely appeared in public, but spent all his time in the farmhouse, which was guarded at each door by fierce-looking dogs. When he did emerge, it was in a ceremonial manner, with an escort of six dogs who closely surrounded him and growled if anyone came too near.” (Chapter 7, Paragraph 5)
“With the help of Squealer and the other pigs, he re-writes history, turning Snowball into a villain, and increasing his own role in the Rebellion. He relies on the gullibility of the strongest animals, like Boxer the horse, and the apathy of the wisest, like Benjamin the donkey. When anyone questions Napoleon's version of history, he has a herd of sheep chant loudly over their protests.” (Shmoop)
Comparison of Stalin and Napoleon
In the novel, Napoleon played Joseph Stalin, a Russian dictator. Stalin was extremely good at pulling strings, he had a secret police force called the NKVD and was later changed to KGB. In 1924, after Lenin's death, Stalin kicked off Trotsky and became the ruler of the country. Stalin was extremely careful of the media, as he wanted everyone to have faith in him, especially the children who are simple minded. He had commissioning paintings of himself as he never appeared much in the public.
Like the story, Napoleon had nine dogs who eliminated Snowball, a pig that portrays Trotsky, one of Stalin’s chief rivals. Napoleon also did the same with the barn animals, he used Boxer (a hard working and simple minded horse) as a puppet so that the barn animals would trust him, since Boxer talks about how great Napoleon is. Napoleon never appeared much in public as his image was made up through Squealer and the sheep.
“One of the biggest parallels between Napoleon and Stalin has to do with the way Animal Farm’s productivity slumps off while Napoleon is in control. He decides to fill the granaries with sand to hide the smaller harvest. This episode is an allusion to how Stalin disrupted agricultural production with his Five-Year-Plans (begun in 1928). When the Plans resulted in widespread famine across Russia, Stalin did his best to conceal coverage of the famines and to make it look like Russia was doing as well as before.“ (Shmoop)
Just as Napoleon mocked Old Major’s ideas, Stalin mocked Karl Marx’s ideas. However, both Napoleon and Stalin had a different view of what Old Major/ Karl Marx had in mind of a communist state and turned out a whole lot like fascism (which is the opposite of communism).
Like the story, Napoleon had nine dogs who eliminated Snowball, a pig that portrays Trotsky, one of Stalin’s chief rivals. Napoleon also did the same with the barn animals, he used Boxer (a hard working and simple minded horse) as a puppet so that the barn animals would trust him, since Boxer talks about how great Napoleon is. Napoleon never appeared much in public as his image was made up through Squealer and the sheep.
“One of the biggest parallels between Napoleon and Stalin has to do with the way Animal Farm’s productivity slumps off while Napoleon is in control. He decides to fill the granaries with sand to hide the smaller harvest. This episode is an allusion to how Stalin disrupted agricultural production with his Five-Year-Plans (begun in 1928). When the Plans resulted in widespread famine across Russia, Stalin did his best to conceal coverage of the famines and to make it look like Russia was doing as well as before.“ (Shmoop)
Just as Napoleon mocked Old Major’s ideas, Stalin mocked Karl Marx’s ideas. However, both Napoleon and Stalin had a different view of what Old Major/ Karl Marx had in mind of a communist state and turned out a whole lot like fascism (which is the opposite of communism).