Allegory

Animal Farm and the Russian Revolution

George Orwell intended Animal Farm to be an allegory about the Russian Revolution and the following rise of the Soviet Union. In this section, you can read a brief summary of the historical events during and after the Russian revolution. Afterwards we will give a detailed overview of how these events correspond to the story of Animal Farm.

In response to a long period of poverty and Russia’s disastrous involvement in WWI, the people rose up against Tsar Nicholas II, who was forced to step down during the February Revolution of 1917 (and was later executed along with his wife and daughters).

The February Revolution was followed by the October Revolution led by Vladimir Lenin, which eventually led to the Russian Civil War. The civil war ended in 1922 with Lenin’s establishment of the new Soviet Union. 

After Lenin’s death in 1924, Josef Stalin rose to power within the Communist Party and gained control of the Soviet Union. In the following years, he increasingly established himself as a dictator and pulled the government in the direction of more strict control with both the people and the economy.

Leon Trotsky had also participated in the revolution and playe...