George Orwell

Animal Farm and The Farm Animals’ Revolt by Nikolai Kostomarov

"Animal Farm" by George Orwell is a satirical allegorical novella that tells the story of anthropomorphic farm animals rebelling against their human farmer, aiming to establish a society of equality, freedom, and happiness. However, the rebellion is betrayed, and a pig named Napoleon establishes a dictatorship, leading the farm back to a state worse than before.

Orwell intended "Animal Farm" to reflect the events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent Stalinist era in the Soviet Union. As a democratic socialist and a critic of Joseph Stalin, Orwell used the novella to satirize Stalinism. His anti-Stalinist stance was influenced by his experiences during the Spanish Civil War, particularly the conflicts between the POUM and Stalinist forces.

Originally titled "Animal Farm: A Fairy Story", the subtitle was dropped by U.S. publishers in 1946. Orwell wrote the book between November 1943 and February 1944, during the UK's wartime alliance with the Soviet Union. The manuscript faced rejections from publishers, including Orwell's own Victor Gollancz, causing a delay in its publication. The novella gained commercial success during the post-war shift from wartime alliance to the Cold War era.

Orwell was not the first writer who used animal revolt as allegory of revolution. Nikolai Kostomarov's "Skotskoi Bunt" ("The Farm Animals’ Revolt") published in 1917, predates Orwell's "Animal Farm" and Władysław Reymont's "Bunt" ("Revolt"), Each story follows a similar premise of animal rebellion but takes unique narrative paths.

Kostomarov's tale introduces a bull as the instigator, selling Marxist ideas to fellow animals. Reymont's story emphasizes psychological motivations, portraying a character named Mute who initially supports the rebellion. Orwell's "Animal Farm" focuses on political satire and exposes the corrupting influence of power.

The passage also notes the ideological foundations in Kostomarov's and Orwell's stories, contrasting with Reymont's emphasis on psychological aspects. The shifting emphasis in each story reflects the socio-political context of its time, from theoretical arguments (Kostomarov), psychological motivations (Reymont), to biting political satire (Orwell).

Although the book was published in Russian, the language which Orwell did not know, it looks like that he knew about the book through his Russian friends, such as Gleb Struve, who, for example introduced Zamyatin's book "We" to Orwell.

Ultimately, the narrative of animal rebellion is seen as a parable of revolution, capturing the evolving ideas and contexts of revolutions throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries. George Orwell faced challenges in publishing the novella during the early stages of World War II due to the wartime alliance between the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany. Stalin's regime was viewed favorably by many in the Western world during this period, as the Soviet Union was a crucial ally in the fight against the Axis powers.

Stalin's leadership was characterized by a series of political purges, mass arrests, and executions, known as the Great Purge or the Great Terror, during the late 1930s. Millions of people, including political opponents, intellectuals, and ordinary citizens, were subjected to persecution, imprisonment, and death. The forced collectivization of agriculture resulted in widespread famine, causing significant suffering and loss of life.

Despite these harsh realities, Stalin's image was often manipulated for political purposes. During World War II, the Soviet Union under Stalin played a crucial role in defeating Nazi Germany on the Eastern Front. The Allies, including Western countries, found themselves in a strategic alliance with the Soviet Union against a common enemy. As a result, wartime propaganda sometimes portrayed Stalin as a heroic leader, downplaying or ignoring the atrocities committed under his regime.It is also speculated that Western block tregarded Russia as main enemy , so they were interested in weaker Russia, weaker Trotsky party, so they ignored Stalin atrocities.

However the geopolitical landscape shifted after the war. Trotskism was defeated. As the Soviet Union, under Stalin's leadership, became more powerful the Western perspective on Stalinism changed. The anti-communist sentiments that characterized the Cold War era created a new context for understanding and appreciating Orwell's critique of totalitarianism in "Animal Farm."

The novella's criticism of Stalinist oppression and its allegorical representation of the Russian Revolution found resonance in the anti-communist agenda of the Cold War period. "Animal Farm" became a tool for those opposing communism, offering a powerful narrative that illustrated the dangers of totalitarian rule. Orwell's work was then more readily accepted and celebrated in the West as it aligned with the prevailing political sentiments.

In this way, the popularity and reception of "Animal Farm" were influenced by the evolving political dynamics and the ideological struggle of the Cold War, making simplified Orwell's critique of communism particularly impactful during that era. After Orwell died his wife sold rights of Animal Farm to CIA and film adaptation was created exclusively on CIA money. Also translations of Animal Farm were funded by CIA.