Historical/ Political/ Economic Context

Nineteen Eighty Four:

Rise of Totaliarnism in 1930s Europe:
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Joseph Stalin (USSR (originally just The communist party))

Adolf Hitler ( Nazi Germany/ The National Socialist German Workers Party)
Francisco Franco (Spain)
Benito Mussolini (Italy)

Note that whilst 1984 was published in June of 1949 and Mao Zedong came to
power in September 1949.Maos rise to power and the conflict of the Civil war within
China would have had impacts on Orwell since it was another demonstration of
huge conflicts of ideology on a global scale. As well as this, Chiang Kai-shek; The
leader of the republic of China was quite brutish and oppressive as a ruler,
especially to those of lower class during wartime.
Totalitarianism was coined by Mussolini himself as Totalitario to describe the
new fascist state of Italy.
A state can be classified as Totalitarian if it fits the following criteria:
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Powerful ideology
Described by Mikael Gorbachev as a Cult of Personality: Ideology of a
political personality to the point of worship; i.e busts, posters were
common in most dictatorships. One common example is during Stalins
rule there was a lot of busts and posters praising him.
Single Mass party lead by the charismatic leader
A system of terror implemented by a secret police force
e.g. the Gestapo under Stalin, the NKVD and later the KGB in Soviet Russia
Centralised control of the economy
GOSPLAN under Russia
5 yr plans
Essentially there is a lack of private ownership of the factors of
production, factories are told what to produce by the government.
Especially important during wartime where most factories could be
directed towards munition and weaponry production.
However this would often lead to a problem in terms of the production of
sustainable resources. (Russia experienced this when War communism
was implemented (Although they were not totalitarian yet) leading to
mass famine)
Propaganda and Censorship; control of the media.
Very common in dictatorships in general
More often than not there is a large scale suppression of freedom of
speech and expression

Under Stalin artists were only allowed to create art if it fit under Socialist
realism i.e. they were only allowed to portray the Workers struggle
within their paintings.
Stalin completely altered Russian history, literally having a book written
called The short course on Russian history in which he integrated
himself into key events within Russia, such as his role in the October
revolution and the civil war.
(This paragraph is not really useful as context) Despite not having any
prominence within the party beforehand. Rightly dubbed the Grey- blur
for being absolutely useless. His actual rise to power started when he was
appointed General Secretary of the Soviet Party under Lenin, mainly
because the members of the Party believed it to be a boring job and
thought he would be useless on it either way. But surprisingly gave him a
large amount of power in deciding who could join the party, and he filled
the party with his supporters.
Hitler was notably a very charismatic character and a powerful speaker,
this was one of his main tools of propaganda. As well as his use of his
minister of propaganda Goebbels who would make use of film to further
propaganda.

Relevance to 1948: Much of the characteristics that paralleled totalitarian

governments can be reflected in the world of Oceania under Big Brother:

The thought police = Secret police

Cult of personality = Big Brother
No one can be trusted (Children tattling on parents) = Actually happened
under Stalin and Hitler as children were indoctrinated to report any
dissenters, especially parents.

The Great Depression of 192939

This marked huge economic turmoil for the entire world, especially to
those who were active participants within the First World War, as their
economys tanked under the pressures of wartime production. This was a
large reason as to why many of the major world powers failed to oppose
Hitler when he began breaking the Treaty of Versailles; all of their
economies were too weak, and as were everyone elses; they feared that
if they retaliated they probably would not have back up.

The Cold War:

Pre-Cold War:

World War II and the plans put in place by Theodore Roosevelt, Winston Churchill
and Joseph Stalin at the Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam conferences toward the end of
the war.
-

These conferences were mainly talks concerning the remaining power of

Russia. Russia wanted to develop satellite states within Poland and its
neighbourhood because they were scared of another German attack, as the
Polish corridor was their main method of approaching Russia.
In contrast, West wanted the declaration of Liberated Europe proposed that
3 of the powers would pledge co=operation in applying the self-determination
principle of the newly liberated nations from Germanys rule. This was
effectively useless as Stalin amended so much of it to the point that it didnt
accomplish anything.
Churchill and Rosevelt were powerless against Stalins demands because they
needed Russia to defeat Japan at the end of the war.

Cold War:
The Iron Curtain: A metaphoric division of Europe, heavy conflict between Russia
and the West
-

There was this belief that Russia could not be appeased by politics, especially
with Stalin in charge. Thereby they had to utilise military tactics to beat
Russia
I am convinced that there is nothing they admire so much as strength, and
there is nothing for which they have less respect for than military weakness
Churchill.
Reinforced by the Clifford Memorandum which stated that the yonly
response to Russia is with military power.
Truman Doctrine:
Free countries that are being occupied by a non-democratic government
Counteract movements that threatened democracy
Essentially tried to drive Americans to fear communism (Later furthered
by Mcarthyism)
Response to Russias pressuring of Turkey to support Greece in civil War
and Britains retraction due to financial issues.
Save Greece and Turkey, America was no longer isolationist; they acted as
the Worlds police.

In respect to 1984:

This can be paralleled to talk of the consistent shift of alliances between the Wars
(Eurasia, Oceania and East Asia). Especially relating to Russia.
1. Russia was an ally during WWI under Tsarist rule, they were pretty weak
because they still utilised the feudal system and failed to industrialise, as
such they lost to Germany really hard.
2. Beginning of WWII; Russia was sort of neutral, they were really weak and
mainly dealing with internal affairs since the abdication of the Tsar, the Rise
of Communism, and the Civil war.
3. Russia withdraws from the war based on Lenins policy of Peace at all costs
under the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in order to try and get Russia to rebuild its
economy. This angered a lot of the Western powers as it meant that Germany
was basically safe from one of their flanks.
4. Under Stalin; Russia signs the Non- Aggression Pact
5. Germany backstabs Russia by attacking them, but attacks during winter so
everything fails
6. Russia is now allies with the West
7. Cold War starts, and now Russia is no longer allies with the West
Technological advances post- World War I and World War II
-

Heavy industrialisation; Ford creates the assembly line

Russia (which can draw the majority of its comparisons to Oceania) went
under a period of immense industrialisation which saw Russia catch up to the
West in less than 10 years. Workers were forced to work and any dissenters
or people, who even accidentally broke machines, were late, injured
themselves; were immediately either executed or sent to the Gulags.
Germany was not allowed to militarise. But under Hitler they did anyway and
went through mass industrialisation; predominately focusing on weaponry.
Both Germany and Russia began developing heavily; Germany had cutting
edge tanks, Russia began attempting to replicate the atomic bomb.

Decline in Christian religious belief post-World War II:

-

The mass atrocities within the Wars and the turmoil saw many people go
towards science and its potential to further the world. Especially with the
increased need to develop technologies to further prevent future conflict.

Metropolis
The revolutionary wave across Europe toward the end of WWI:
-

Russian Revolution 1917:

Communist insurrection of the Provisional government (The Tsar had
already abdicated)
Was actually bloodless, but marked the beginning of communist takeover
of Russia
German Revolution:
Revolution at the end of the First World War
The republic was a semi-presidential representative democracy, which
emerged in the aftermath of the German Revolution of 191819. A
national assembly was convened in Weimar, where a new constitution for
the German Reich was written, and adopted on 11 August 1919.
The Weimar Republic and the consequences of the Treaty of Versailles:
They were not allowed to militarise
They could not own an air force, and only allowed a small navy and army
They owed 132bn Marks to the Allied forces
They experienced hyperinflation of 1923
the humiliation of defeat and occupation
Emerging German nationalism particularly by Hitler, talking about how
Germany deserved to be a great nation again. (Make America Germany
great again)
*Although Metropolis was made in 1927, therefore it could not of seen
Hitlers rise to power. It would have been exposed to Hitlers infamous

failed takeover the Beer Hall Putsch as well as the publication of Mein
Kampf in 1925.
The Golden Age of Weimar 192429:
Gustav Stresemann:
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Period of relative stability

Growing economy
Consistent decrease in civil unrest
Still pressure to pay reparation debt

Dawes Plan (Source: Wikipedia)

An agreement of August 1924, the main points of The Dawes Plan were:
1. The Ruhr area was to be evacuated by foreign troops
2. Reparation payments would begin at one billion marks the first year,
increasing annually to two and a half billion marks after five years
3. The Reichsbank would be re-organized under Allied supervision
4. The sources for the reparation money would include transportation, excise,
and customs taxes
5. Germany would be loaned 800 Million Marks from the USA
The Dawes Plan provided short-term economic benefits to the German economy
and softened the burdens of war reparations. By stabilizing the currency, it brought
increased foreign investments and loans to the German market. But, it made the
German economy dependent on foreign markets and economies. As the U.S.
economy developed problems under the Great Depression, Germany and other
countries involved economically with it also suffered. The Allies owed the US debt
repayments for loans.
Hyperinflation; predominately caused by poor economic management. In light of
the rapid growth of inflation, the government decided to print money in order to pay
off debt. (In Laymans terms, they increased the money supply, therefore as there is
an increase in the amount of money, but the worth remains the same. Each
individual unit of currency is worth significantly less.)
Hugo Stinnes:

Bought many of the Germany newspapers

Huge industrial power by getting paid in dollars, playing on the inflation of
the Germany currency
By the early 1920s, Stinnes was also using his influence in the press to attack
the Versailles Treaty. Stinnes leveraged his access to hard foreign currency
during the period of inflation in the Weimar Republic by borrowing vast sums
in Reichmarks, and repaying the loans with nearly worthless currency later.
This earned him the title of "Inflationsknig" (Inflation King). In 1923, the
American magazine Time called him "The New Emperor of Germany" to
describe his far-reaching political influence and wealth.
Impact of modern capitalism and industrial growth:

the rise of labour movements and trade unions in the 1920s;

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Originally, workers had very little power when it came to wage decisions and
working conditions because of the sheer power of employers as well as the
replicability of workers.
This was countered by the introduction of trade unions which would represent
a group of workers and allow them to stand up against the large coporations.
tensions between labour and capital (workers strikes, social unrest etc.)

Urban expansion and the rise of modern American cities and culture
during the 1920s:
New York and Chicago

Notably around this time Alfred Hitchcock began directing films

Cultural Renaissance in Germany:

Influenced by the brief cultural explosion in the Soviet Union, German

literature, cinema, theatre and musical works entered a phase of great
creativity. Innovative street theatre brought plays to the public, and the
cabaret scene and jazz band became very popular.
Artists in Berlin were influenced by other contemporary progressive
cultural movements, such as the Impressionist and Expressionist painters
in Paris, as well as the Cubists.