2. Context

• Engels
• Upper Secondary (Key Stage 4)
• GCSE

Goals for today 

Hideki Tojo&nbsp;<div>Josef Stalin&nbsp;</div><div>Adolf Hitler&nbsp;</div>

Totalitarianism

Totalitarianism is a political system in which order is imposed on the population through ideological manipulation and the systematic use of state terror. A totalitarian state is a one-party state in which dissent is ruthlessly suppressed. The term has been used to describe both Hitler's Germany (a fascist totalitarian state) and Stalin's Soviet Union (a communist totalitarian state).

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/society-politics-law/george-orwell-and-nineteen-eighty-four/content-section-0?intro=1

1984's place in history? What do you know about historical events from 1914 - 1945? 

•  time of major economic slump – ‘the age of catastrophe’
  
•  Great War 1914-18 killed over 8 million people, and when added to Russian Revolution and epidemics of disease sweeping Europe during this period, around 13 million lost their lives
  
• soldiers returning were promised ‘a land fit for heroes’ in propaganda but in actuality economies struggled to recover
  
• the Wall Street Crash at the end of the 1920s threw world into recession, and in 1933 around 2.5 million breadwinners were unemployed and single party politics was replaced by coalition
  
•  - Extremist groups, Italian Fascists and Mussolini, as well as German Nazis and Hitler, brought economic stability through violence and aggression typified by ‘heroic’ leaders and racial purity
  

Left wing politics 

Capitalism and a demand for material gain and monetary wealth was seen to be outdated after the Wall Street Crash.

Socialism and Communism were seen by some as an alternative – what could this entail?

Discuss what you think are the main principles of Socialism, Communism or both. 

Left wing philosophy 

• Socialism argues that the nation’s wealth should be owned by every member of the community.
  
• The Communist extreme argued that such an aim could only be achieved through violent revolution. This was based on the Russian Revolution and Communist system in place there.
  
•  Russian Communist leaders argued that by seizing power after WW1 and ruthlessly controlling society from the top they moved Russia from a backward nation to an industrial power.
  
•  There was a belief that capitalism was in the process of destroying itself and a time would come when some of the ruling elites of Europe would turn to fascism. This would result in a second world war fought amongst themselves leading to a final confrontation between Communism and Fascism – the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) was seen as the first battle of this conflict.
  

Criticism of Communism

In 1939, the resemblance between Communism and Fascism was highlighted by a pact made between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia to not attack one another, as well as their joint invasion and division of Poland

Even in 1941 when the Nazi’s invaded Russia, making the Soviets part of the Allied forces, there were huge reservations about the Communist regime.  Opposition was mainly to the use of violence, suppression, media management and propaganda by those in charge of the Soviet State; namely Josef Stalin

How can we link this to Orwell and his novels? 

Read the Historical timeline text in MB files  about George Orwell and his background. What are the significant points of interest that we might find relevant when reading his novel?

Consider…

Family and relationships

Employment

Political views

Education

Overt links to any contextual points we have discussed

Write your thoughts in your exercise book 

www.audible.com

How can we link this to Orwell and his novels? 

You need to know what it was like to live in Europe during the 1940s, the political and social changes occurring in the world and biographical details of George Orwell. You also need to understand how the novel was received from both the public and the media at the time of production and today.

In one group of 3 and one of 2  

 George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair) biographical details

 Politics, political change in Europe in 1920 -1949

 Society, social changes in Europe in 1920 -1949

 The reception of 1984, at the time of production and today

Research to present in the next lesson 

10 - 15 minute presentations 

All  notes must be collected in a Word document that will be shared with the class 

Cite your sources 

Links to help you out 

https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/biography/

https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-31915;jsessionid=7CF8725AFFC9CA7EA8884B41C1219592

https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/orwell_george.shtml

https://study.com/academy/lesson/when-was-1984-written.html

https://www.openculture.com/2014/01/george-orwell-explains-in-a-revealing-1944-letter-why-hed-write-1984.html

https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/why-i-write/

https://owlcation.com/humanities/A-Historical-Analysis-of-1984-by-George-Orwell

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/07/1984-george-orwell/590638/