George Orwell's World

Big Brother Is Watching You!

Modern World Civilization

Handout Twelve

Topic: The World of George Orwell

XII. The World of George Orwell

A. Background.

B. The Wacky World of World War I.

C. The Russian Revolution.

D. Spread of the Bolshevism.

E. The Coming of Fascism.

F. The Rise of Hitler

G. Orwell’s World View.

 QUESTIONS:

  1. What were the origins of World War I? How can we explain why so many people were killed for absolutely nothing?
  2. Who was George Orwell? Did his background prepare him for the fame that he would obtain later in life? What was the message that he was attempting to warn people about the dangers of totalitarianism?
  3. In Animal Farm, Orwell uses a child’s tale to depict the evils of Stalinism. What do you see that is similar to real events that took place during the 1920s and 1930s in Russia? Explain.
  4. What did Germany lose in World War I? How did that contribute to the coming of World War II?
  5. What did Stalin want to do for Russia? How did Lenin and Trotsky perceive him? How did Stalin gain power and keep it for so long? Explain.
  6. How did the Communist Party seek to expand the power of the Soviet Union? What role did the COMINTERN play in that process?
  7. In 1923 few people would believe that Hitler could come to power? How did he do it? Why was he so successful?
  8. What were Hitler’s goals for his new Germany?
  9. Why did the British adopt appeasement in the 1930s? Did appeasement avert the coming of World War II? How did the Second World War begin in Europe? Explain.
  10. What is fascism? How did it operate? Why did it emerge in Europe following World War I? Explain.
  11. The Great Depression was a catastrophe for most of the industrialize world. What happened? Why did it occur and what role did it play in the coming of World War II? Explain.

 TERMS:

 Caudillo                          NSDAP                            Falange

COMINTERN                Anschluss                            Francisco Franco

Stalin                              Sudeten Crisis                     Weimar Republic

Purges                            Munich Agreement              Fourteen Points

Collectivization              Beerhall Putsch                    Mein Kampf

CHEKA                          SS/SA                                  Sergei Kirov

V. I. Lenin                      Hoare-Leval Agreement      Trotsky

fascism                           Mussolini                             Night of the Long Knives