Essay on Similarities Between Napoleon And Stalin
📌Category: | Animal Farm, Books |
📌Words: | 769 |
📌Pages: | 3 |
📌Published: | 29 June 2022 |
The source of corruption is most often brought about through power, Lord Acton understood this best as seen in his quote, “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Joseph Stalin and his caricature Napoleon in Animal Farm both sought to destroy their oppression by the ruling class and named themselves the leaders of their land, sadly they both became the oppressors they previously railed against through their policies of silencing their people and giving themselves special treatment. Both Joseph Stalin and Napoleon in Animal Farm are examples of how power fosters corruption and selfishness.
Both Joseph Stalin and Napoleon came from humble beginnings. Napoleon worked as a slave at the Manor Farm, he and the other farm animals worked relentlessly day and night just to get the bare necessities to survive, sometimes not receiving them all. Joseph Stalin, as a young boy lived in poverty in Georgia and soon became radicalized by his circumstances and Marxist theory. These two men soon joined the revolution efforts in their respective homes and emerged as the Communist Party’s leaders after the death of Lenin and Old Major.
The animals of Old Manor and the proletariat of Russia were hopeful for a promising future after their revolutions, they looked forward to an economy where they reaped the benefits of their own work and were freed from oppression. Sadly, this vision did not come to fruition and the more powerful Stalin and Napoleon became, the more they mirrored Mr. Jones and the Russian Tsar.
Napoleon ascends slowly into that of a tyrannical leader after gaining power in the Communist Party, he contradicts the Seven Commandments of the farm and becomes increasingly human-like. He begins by breaking the commandment that “all animals are equal,” as he creates a hierarchy on the farm with the pigs as the supervisors or leaders and the other animals as the working class. Napoleon abused his power as a supervisor by using it as an excuse to eat more apples and sleep while the horses starved and slaved away. By the end of the story, Napoleon has completely betrayed the working animals by having Boxer, who represents the working class, killed in exchange for alcohol. He had slowly become the ruler he fought to destroy as he gained more power, by killing animals, drinking alcohol, and walking on two legs. The power of being an absolute ruler slowly led to the destruction of his values and principles.
Like Napoleon, Joseph Stalin’s values and morals changed by the end of his regime. He destroyed democracy in the USSR and instituted the ‘Great Purge’ which is believed to have killed 750,000 people, many of them innocent. After the death of Lenin, party leadership questioned Stalin’s power as he had effectively declared himself dictator. Stalin became increasingly paranoid and feared members of his party were attempting to replace him as their leader or kill him. This mistrust ultimately led to the killing of Sergei Kirov, a popular party leader whom Stalin viewed as a threat to his power, who Stalin claimed to have started an anti-Stalin conspiracy. After the death of Kirov, no one who doubted or questioned Stalin was safe. Stalin used his secret police (NKVD) to assassinate Old Bolsheviks, party leaders, and government officials, justifying it by stating that they were counter-revolutionaries and “enemies of the people”.
The voices of the Soviet Union were silenced throughout Stalin’s reign and men who he viewed as enemies were either murdered, exiled, or imprisoned. Those who were convicted of being anti-Stalinists were subjected to the Moscow Trials, where they were either jailed or sent to forced labor camps if found guilty of a crime. Innocent men were coerced into confession, by being submitted to torture and intimidation if they did not admit to any wrongdoings. The ‘Great Purge’ allowed Stalin to exile and assassinate all and any people who critiqued his leadership and policies. The paranoia of losing his power led Stalin to execute these atrocious acts, if not for Stalin’s need to remain in power it is fair to say that the ‘Great Purge’ would not have happened.
Stalin and Napoleon sought power to bring equality and rights to the oppressed class. In the events after their revolutions, the two worked hard to help the working class by allowing their workers to reap the benefits of their labor and introducing workers’ rights. Eventually, Napoleon and Stalin eliminated their opponents and won the battle for leader of their parties. As absolute leaders of their land, they slowly allowed their power to corrupt their policies and plans for their land. Paranoia filled their lives as they feared attacks on their leadership, this led them to introduce policies that destroyed democracy in their land and eliminated anyone who questioned their power. This power soon led to selfishness and a need to remain in power. Ultimately, it caused the working class to experience the same conditions as before the revolution as Stalin and Napoleon began to resemble Mr. Jones and the Russian Tzar in their leadership.