The book Animal Farm by George Orwell was written in comparison to the way that the Russian revolution had taken place. The main idea of the book was that the petite bourgeoisies (the middle class people) were the ones who took advantage of the revolt. The petite bourgeoisie moved up the social tower to be the bourgeoisie (the noble class). The proletariat (peasants) did not want to rebel because they were to worried about what they were going to eat the next day. Mr. Jones the owner and farmer of the Manor Farm from the book Animal Farm symbolizes Czar Nicholas II, leader of Russia during the revolution. Jones represents the old government, the last of the Czars. Czar Nicholas II was a poor leader at best, irresponsible with his public duties, cruel and at one time Czar Nicholas and Mr. Jones were actually decent leaders of their own affairs. Animal Farm begins describing how Mr. Jones did not really care about his farm. Mr. Jones, of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen houses for the night, but was too drunk too remember to shut the popholes (Orwell 3). The chickens could have gotten loose, or a stray animal could have reached the chickens and killed them. Czar Nicholas believed that certain events were bad omens, which in my opinion symbolized his poor leadership and irresponsibility towards Russia. Just like Mr. Jones not shutting the pop holes was symbolic of his bad leadership and irresponsibility towards the farm. Born on the day of the Russian calendar assigned to Job, a biblical character who endured many hardships, Nicholas often expressed a wry, fatalistic attitude about life. Various events seemed to him bad omens, meant to confirm his feelings of dread. For instance, at his coronation, an important ceremonial symbol worn by czars during this ceremony fell from his shoulders and hit the floor (Sherrow 35) Dr. W.H.C. Smith, in his book The Last Czar, describes how Nicholas II disliked public life and public duties (31). He also states, It was in his private life, in the role of husband and father, that Nicholas excelled. He loved his wife and his children and indeed made the small world of his own family his entire world (Smith 31). Jones also left the farm unattended which lead to hardships for the animals; just as Czar Nicholas II left Russia unattended also. On Midsummers Eve, which was a Saturday, Mr. Jones went into Willingdon and got so drunk that he did not come back till midday on Sunday. The men had milked the cows in the early morning and then had gone out rabbiting, without bothering to feed the animals. When Mr. Jones got back he immediately went to sleep on the drawing room sofa with the News of the World over his face, so that evening came and the animals were still unfed (Orwell 13-14) Czar Nicholas II and Mr. Jones are both poor leaders and irresponsible when it comes to their duties. Mr. Jones was cruel, leaving the animals with small rations of food. The animal could not have bared it any longer, knowing that the food was there but Mr. Jones would not feed them. After Mr. Jones irresponsibility of not feeding the animals, he comes out and whips them for opening the store-shed which stored the animals aliment. At last they could stand it no longer. 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. It was just then that Mr. Jones woke up. The next moment he and his four men were in the store-shed with whips in their hands, lashing out in all directions. This was more than the hungry animal could bear (Orwell 14) Czar Nicholas II is cruel to his people also. When a Czar of Russia was to be coronated it was a custom that free gifts were to be given out. But rumors started that there wasnt going to be enough for everyone, which caused the crowds to get out of control. Some were hurt and some were killed. The worst part about it that when Nicholas II was going to do something for the people killed in that riot, he easily changed his mind to go to a party to celebrate his coronation. Far worse was the tragedy that occurred after the coronation, a huge crowd of five hundred thousand people had come to Moscow for the traditional open air feast that would be held in a field outside the city. Free beer would be distributed, along with small souvenir, mostly enameled cups stamped with the imperial seal A rumor spread that there were not enough gifts and beverages to go around, which set off a stampede of people. Hundreds of people were trampled to death, and thousands of others were injured. The czar and czarina were upset and told their family they would go to pray at a monastery to mourn the event. Instead the czars uncles insisted that he attended a lavish coronation ball being given for him by the French embassy (Sherrow 35). Father Gapon was an Orthodox priest who ministered strikes at factories. The strikes did not grab the governments attention do he decided something exorbitant. On 21st January, 1905 He wrote to Nicholas, Do not believe the Ministers. They are cheating Thee with regard to the real affairs of state, the people believe in Thee. They have made up their minds to gather at the Winter Palace tomorrow at 2 p.m. to lay their needs before TheeDo not fear anything. Stand tomorrow before the people and accept our humble petition (Smith 42-43). No one knows if Czar Nicholas ever received the letter. But when the people got there Papa Czar as Smith states did not show up (Smith 31). When the marchers appeared before the Winter Palace, unarmed, singing hymns, and carrying religious pictures and pictures of the Czar, they expected to find their Father Czar prepared to hear them. They did not find, Nicholas, who had gone to his palace at Czarskoe Selo outside the city. Instead they found soldiers and armed police who fired at them at point blank range. Over five hundred were killed and several thousand wounded (Smith 43). At one point of his reign over the farm Mr. Jones was doing a good job. When Mr. Jones was still at the farm things were going better. The animals had to do less work and had more privileges than when the pigs were taking over the farm. A similarity with Czar Nicholas II was when power went to the Bolsheviks. There was a food shortage when a revolt broke out on the Bolshevik government, men were drafted in to the military and inferno broke out in Russia. After the Bolshevik revolution, instability and confusion marked daily life in Russia. People found themselves controlled by different forces. After the revolution, many people had hoped for a government made up of elected representatives of workers, peasants, merchants, and minorities (Sherrow 74). After the windmill was destroyed in Chapter 7 of the book Animal Farm, Clover one of the horses, is becoming aware that it was not the reason that the revolt had occurred. As Clover looked down the hillside her eyes filled with tears. If could have spoken her thoughts, it would have been to say that this was not what they had aimed at when they had set themselves years ago to work for the overthrow of the human race. These scenes of terror and slaughter were not what they had looked for (Orwell 60). Similar to Russia, people did not revolt to become less united. People in Russia were in need of being one and learning to work as one. After the revolution, many people had hoped for a government made up of elected representatives of workers, peasants, merchants, and minorities. Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals. He sets them to work, he gives back to them the bare minimum that will prevent them from starving and the rest he keeps for himself". So Jones and the old government are successfully uprooted by the animals. Little do they know, history will repeat itself with Napoleon and the pigs. (Animal Farm)
For centuries, autocratic and repressive tsarist regimes ruled the country and population under sever economic and social conditions; consequently, during the late 19th century and early 20th century, various movements were staging demonstrations to overthrow the oppressive government. Poor involvement in WWI also added to the rising discontent against Nicholas as Russian armies suffered terrible casualties and defeats because of a lack of food and equipment; in addition, the country was industrially backward compared to countries such as Britain, France, Germany, and the USA. It had failed to modernize, this was to do with the tsars lack of effort for reforms. The country was undergoing tremendous hardships as industrial and agricultural output dropped. Famine and poor morale could be found in all aspects of Russian life. Furthermore, the tsar committed a fatal mistake when he appointed himself supreme commander of the armed forces because he was responsible for the armies constant string of defeats.
In this instance Nicholas did not understand the magnitude of his people's, more specifically the soldiers suffering while at war with Austria and Germany. Often times the war minister, Vladimir Sukhomlinov, misinformed Nicholas regarding the conditions of soldiers leaving the Russian army without food, clothing and weapons. Through this miscommunication, it left not merely the soldiers without defense, but the country defenseless along with them. As a result, “By the following spring, the shortage had grown so severe that many soldiers charged into battle without guns. Instead, commanders told them to pick up their weapons from the men killed in front lines. At the same time, soldiers were limited to firing just ten shots a day. Sometimes they were even forbidden to return enemy fire” (134). This was just one piece of the puzzle that led to the crumble of the Russian autocracy. Especially considering the fact that everyone could see their efforts for winning the war were dissipating all except for one, “. . . everyone in the tsar’s government knew it… everyone, that is, except Nicholas himself” (135). As shown in this instance, basic misconceptions can begin a ripple effect that has the power to put a country in
I can use this source in my research project to defend why Czar Nicholas II is innocent to the abuse of power of the office of Czar.It reveales to me that even thouch Nicholas struggled with being the new Czar he truly did a lot for Russia to improve in learning abilities.Above all else, Nicholas loved Russia first and then his family; He thought the fate of the two was inseparable. No one knew the fault of the Romanov Dynasty better than him. Czar Nicholas sincerely felt his responsibility for the country, He thought that his destiny was within the country he ruled. I think it was really difficult for him but it was the only way to admit his mistakes and to say "sorry" to his people.
Exploration of How Peter Medak Gains Viewers' Sympathy for Derek Bentley in the film Let Him Have It!
the soldiers lost their faith and not as loyal to Czar as they were in
The brutal attacks by Russian soldiers can also be likened to Nicholas I’s suppression of dissent in the rest of the Russian empire, particularly political dissent. When he was deciding on the public punishment of a...
The trial was canceled due to the conspirators being members of the aristocracy, so they were never convicted and instead were exiled. This did not sit well with the peasants, who were unhappy with their monarch after disastrous military exploits that costs 3.3 million Russian lives. Three months after Rasputin’s death, Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II were forced to step down from their thrown within a year. Nicholas II, Nicholas’ wife, son and four daughters were murdered along with the family’s chef and the lady-in-waiting.
only shows you where the programme is set and the name of it, not much
It was Tzar Nicholas 2 political naivete and extreme obstinance that led to the downfall of the Russia
George Orwell’s foremost objective when composing Animal Farm was to depict the Russian Revolution of 1917 as an affair that produced a government more repressive, totalitarian and lethal than the one it replaced. Various components of the text including the setting, characters and plot were created intentionally to parallel key figures and events surrounding the communist territory of Russia during the revolution. Manor Farm – where the plot unfolds – is based on the country of Russia. The character of Mr Jones is a replica of Tsar Nicholas II, the final Russian emperor. Throughout Nicholas’ rule, the Russian people were faced with horrendous poverty and turmoil, just like the animals in Orwell’s novel lead lives of starvation and desire, as revealed when the creatures rebel against Mr Jones due to the fact that he hadn’t fed them in days (page 12)...
...wed that even though the Czar was in control, he needed the people in order to rule and to keep the Russian economy thriving. It proved he was just one very corrupt man. And furthermore, it set new laws protecting the people from the Czar himself. Without this, Nicholas may not have thought he needed to spread and show his people the power they possessed; Russia itself may not have entered World War One.
George Orwell, the author, used the piece to speak about communist Russia by using a farm as an allegory. One of the characters he used was Mr. Jones who representer Czar Nicholas II, he was the Russian leader before communists overthrew him. Mr Jones was the farmer who took care of the the animals. The animals represent different citizens of Russia, major economic groups, and the media in Russia. Mr. Jones was overthrown by the Pigs, who represented the communists. It has been acknowledged that Czar Nicholas II had a lot of personal issues while governing Russia, this is referred to in the novel when the narrator says “Mr. Jones, of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen-houses for the night, but was too drunk to remember to shut the pop-holes. With the ring of light from his lantern dancing from side to side, he lurched across the yard, kicked off his boots at the back door, drew himself a last glass of beer from the barrel in the scullery, and made his way up to bed, where Mrs. Jones was already snoring.” ( Orwell 1). Both in Russia and on the farm, the issues of the current leader made it easier for the people, or pigs to take over country or farm. When Russia was taken, over Czar Nicholas tried to flee, much like Mr. Jones, as seen in the quote “Mrs. Jones looked out of the bedroom window, saw what was happening, hurriedly flung a few possessions into a carpet
Tsar (King) Nicholas II was the last emperor of Russia. His father died at forty-nine, leaving twenty-six year old Nicholas II as the emperor. Nicholas II married Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, who later changed her name to Alexandra Feodorovna, the day after his father’s death. Nicholas II was coronated in 1896 on May 26. His wife, Alexandra Feodorovna, was coronated with him as Tsaritsa (Queen). Nicholas II was mildly famous for calling his wife ‘Sunny’. He was coronated on the night his father died and his coronation was conducted by his father’s personal priest.
Russians were devastated and horrified with the situation; they started losing faith off Nicholas II. They decided to protest. An unarmed protest group led by the radical priest Father George Gapon marched on January 22nd, 1905 on Sunday towards the Tsar’s Winter Palace at St. Petersburg. They headed with a petition signed by almost 150,000 people urging to end the war. They were not intent of having any war against the Tsar or wanted any form of “political protest”. Their petition clearly stated that they plead to their Tsar to help them. The demonstrators were unware of the Tsar being absent in the Palace. Father Gapon explaining the situation to the imperials, handed over the petition to one of them at the Palace’s gate, in return the nervous imperials sighting the huge crowd marched towards them open fired at the crowd. The crowd urged that they were here not for any revolutions, rather wanted to offer the petition to their Tsar. The number of deaths inflated from a few to thousands. The death numbers were so high that the soldiers “disposed the bodies in the night to disguise the real numbers killed” (Trueman, 2016). The Tsar was informed about this Bloody Sunday
The Romanov family was murdered in a brutal way. On the 17th of July 1918, in Yekaterinburg, Russia, the death of the imperial Romanov family occurred. Awoken in the middle of the night, with the idea of being photographed, the family of seven, a doctor, and 3 servants were taken down to a cellar and there they learned of their fate. On March 15, 1917, a little over a year before their death, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicated the throne. He and his family went under house arrest after his abdication and remained so until their death. Their lives shouldn’t have been taken in the way the they were. Their bodies were disfigured and unrecognizable once the murder was complete; the room of which the assassination occurred was in shambles, and the bodies were thrown into a mine shaft.