E X T E N S I O N WHAT INFLUENCED ORWELL AND 1984 Orwell was deeply influenced by the political, historical and cultural events of his times when he wrote 1984. However, it was the situation in Russia which mostly affected him. From 1922, when Lenin fell ill, until 1928 there was a power struggle between Leon Trotsky, Minister of War, and Joseph Stalin, then Secretary of the Communist party and an increasingly influential member of the Politbureau1, who, in his role, could control the purges designed to keep the party pure. Stalin soon proved invincible by using the secret police to suppress all plots against him. Trotsky was forced to resign, and he was later expelled from the Politbureau, exiled from Russia, and eventually assassinated. From 1928 until World War II, Stalin enjoyed supreme power. Among the changes he brought to Russian life were collective agriculture, industrialisation with forced labour, the creation of an authoritarian state and the annihilation2 of all political opposition. 1928 saw the beginning of an era of the FiveYear Plans, each of which set ambitious goals for the following five years. The goals of the first Five-Year Plan were never reached, yet Joseph Stalin the government announced that they had been realised in 1932. Changes were felt in Russian society as well. Freedom to choose one s job was non-existent; those who resisted were sent to labour camps, and the vast majority of unskilled workers became controlled by a minority of loyal skilled workers and bureaucrats who enjoyed privileges prohibited to the masses: a new elite was created. To refute3 contradictory information, Stalin had histories re-written to show that Lenin had favoured his accession to power. Also, he eliminated any critics during the Great Purges of 1934-1938, which 2. annihilation: complete destruction. 3. refute: to prove that something is wrong or false. 1. Politbureau: small group of party bosses whose function was to manage the day-to-day activities of the Communist party. 39