wrong. To Napoleon, the collapse of the windmill hasn't been caused by the forces of nature; it is a deliberate act of sabotage by the forces of darkness: Snowball. In order to maintain his iron grip on power, Napoleon must always be seen to be right. If something goes wrong, it will never be his fault, never his responsibility.

The battle represents World War ll, called The Great Patriotic War, but relates to two especially significant battles during the war: the Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 1942 – 2 February 1943) and the Battle of Moscow (October 1941 – January 1942).

During the former, fought on the Eastern Front, Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of Stalingrad. The battle was epitomised by fierce fighting at close quarters and air raids. It is regarded as one of the bloodiest battles in modern warfare and also the largest. Close to two million were killed in the battle. Both sides suffered heavy losses and the German forces and its allies were forced to withdraw. The battle was, therefore, a victory for the Soviets.

In the second battle, the conditions were quite similar. Both sides suffered heavy losses. The Germans advanced on Moscow and tried to surround the city in a pincer attack by launching two major offences. The Soviets resisted their attacks, however, when they constructed three major defensive belts and by employing many reserve troops and extra soldiers recalled from areas where fighting was not that severe. They stopped the Germans and then launched an offensive of their own. The Germans were forced to retreat.

The destruction of the windmill represents the destruction of what the Soviets had achieved by the time the Second World War began. The two battles nearly devastated both cities and, as already mentioned, heavy losses had been suffered. However, through their resilience and bravery, the Soviets survived these onslaughts, just as the animals did. 

The Battle of the Windmill in Chapter 8 of Animal Farm represents the fighting in World War II, particularly the Soviet victories over the Nazis fought at great cost to the Soviets. Before this battle in the novel, Mr. Frederick of Pinchfield, a neighboring farmer, buys wood from Napoleon but pays for it with fake bank notes. As a result, Napoleon puts Frederick under a death sentence. This situation is similar to the relationship between the Soviet Union, represented by the animals, and the Nazis, represented by Frederick, at the outset of World War II. The Soviet Union and the Nazis had signed a Non-Aggression Pact in 1939, but then the Nazis went back on their word and attacked the Soviet Union in 1941. 

Frederick and his men attack the farm, and they blow up the windmill. The animals fight back, although Frederick's men have guns, and chase the men away. As a result, the animals suffer heavy losses, as several animals die. This result is similar to the heavy losses the Soviets suffered as they pushed the Nazis out of Russia. Like the Soviets, the animals celebrate their victory in the Battle of the Windmill with great fanfare. 

Author and socialist George Orwell (1903-1950) wrote the satiric novel Animal Farm after serving with the loyalist forces during the Spanish Civil War. While in Spain, he witnessed the abuses of communism and became strongly opposed to any form of totalitarianism. Orwell’s inspiration for Animal Farm emanates from events during the Russian Revolution when the peasant population rose up against the monarchy in favor of socialism. The resulting political system was intended to share property, land, and capital among the people on an equal basis. As history records, the experiment in Russia moved instead toward communism under Joseph Stalin who formed a dictatorship, which controlled all political, economic, and social activity.

Orwell intends through his novel to destroy the idea of communism as a perfect society and demonstrate how human beings have the ability for selfish reasons to seize power through corruption. He shows his readers the truth about the exploitation of people by “totalitarian” states and reveals the methods of maintaining political power by eliminating the opposition. The author exposes the reader to the evils of communism by the powerful use of symbolism couched within a fable.

“The Battle of the Windmill” is a key symbol of the defeat of the humans by the animals, which mirrors the peasant revolution ousting the monarchy in Russia. The construction of a windmill to create electrical power is an idea proposed by Snowball who shared power with Napoleon at the beginning of the story:

This arrangement would have worked well enough if it had not been for the disputes between Snowball and Napoleon. These two disagreed at every point where disagreement was possible . . . But of all their controversies, none was so bitter as the one that took place over the windmill.

When a storm destroys the windmill, Napoleon blames Snowball, usurps power as the “Leader,” and eventually forces Snowball into exile. Once again, Orwell uses the windmill controversy to symbolize the actions of Stalin eliminating his opposition in Russia. Napoleon declares that the windmill was originally his idea and vows to re-build the structure by making it even stronger. The new windmill is named “Napoleon Mill.”

Mr. Frederick of Pinchfield Farm near Animal Farm is hated by the animals as a corrupt human. Napoleon strikes a deal with Frederick for the sale of lumber, but the human cheats him. Frederick leads an attack against Animal Farm and destroys the new windmill, but the animals are able to rout the humans and drive them away. This “Battle of the Windmill” represents the animal victory over the humans, much like the initial peasant victory over the monarchy in Russia. The animals now believe they can live independently by virtue of their common sense and reason, without assistance from humans, and without tyranny.

Nevertheless, the “Battle of the Windmill” ultimately evolves like the historical victory in the Russian Revolution:

No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.

The victory in the “Battle of the Windmill” is short-lived. The pigs become just like humans.

After toiling very hard to rebuild the windmill with walls twice as thick as before, the animals hear rumors that Frederick is planning to attack it. At first, the pigs downplay this idea, because Napoleon has been secretly negotiating to sell timber to Frederick, the Hitler figure in the story. However, after Frederick takes the timber and cheats the animals out of the payment for it, Napoleon goes on high alert. He places sentinels all over the farm.

The attack comes. Frederick and his men are able to drive the animals back. The men dig a hole near the windmill and pack it with explosives. They then blow the windmill up.

This devastating blow causes the animals to explode with anger and a desire for vengeance. They rally and aggressively attack Frederick and his men, driving them off the farm.

After the men are gone, Squealer wants the animals to celebrate the victory of the Battle of the Cowshed. Boxer, however, wonders,

"What victory?" . . . His knees were bleeding, he had lost a shoe and split his hoof, and a dozen pellets had lodged themselves in his hind leg. "What victory, comrade? . . . they have destroyed the windmill. And we had worked on it for two years!"

Nevertheless, the pigs make a great celebration out of this "victory."

At first, the animals are devastated. But after Squealer and the pigs work their magic, the animals forget and even begin to celebrate. 

This is the second time they have built the windmill. It was first lost in a storm. Napoleon is counting on the money from wood he has sold to Frederick, but Frederick gives him fake bank notes, essentially stealing the wood. The money was to be for the machinery in the windmill. Then Frederick and his men attack and destroy the windmill. Napoleon asks Pilkington for help in fighting them off but Pilkington refuses. Although they are able to drive Frederick and his men away, this is a devastating defeat. (In the historical parallel, the Animals/Russians are able to drive off the Humans/Germans, but they suffer much destruction and many casualties.) 

However, Squealer turns this pyrrhic victory into a grand victory. Squealer is an artist of propaganda. When the commandments need changed to suit the pigs' newest desires, he makes subtle changes so that the animals might not know the difference. He is able to spin arguments around to suit the pigs' latest agenda. And he does this with the Battle of the Windmill as well. The losses are great. The loss of the windmill is huge because it took so long to build and because it was the second time building it. Boxer is incredulous when Squealer proclaims it a victory. But as he and the other pigs celebrate, the weary animals come to believe that it actually has been a victory. Such is the power of propaganda. Even the theft of the wood is forgotten. 

Two whole days were given over to celebrations. There were songs, speeches, and more firing of the gun, and a special gift of an apple was bestowed on every animal, with two ounces of corn for each bird and three biscuits for each dog. It was announced that the battle would be called the Battle of the Windmill, and that Napoleon had created a new decoration, the Order of the Green Banner, which he had conferred upon himself. In the general rejoicings the unfortunate affair of the banknotes was forgotten. 

The destruction of the windmill that the animals have worked so hard and suffered so much to put up occurs in Chapter 8 of this great novel. The men are successful in blowing up the windmill, but then the animals turn on them viciously and force them to flee. However, although they are "victorious" it is clear that this is a hollow victory at best:

They had won, but they were weary and bleeding. Slowly they began to limp back towards the farm. The sight of their dead comrades stretched upon the grass moved some of them to tears. And for a little while they halted in sorrowful silence at the place where the windmill had once stood. Yes, it was gone, almost the last trace of their labour was gone! Even the foundations were partially destroyed. And in rebuilding it they could not this time, as before, make use of the fallen stones... It was though the windmill had never been.

In spite of Squealer's cheery optimism and characteristic warping of the truth, the animals recognise that the destruction of the windmill symbolises the end of Animal Farm as they know it. Interestingly, earlier on in the novel, the windmill symbolised the desires of Snowball and the progress and prosperity of the Farm, but now its destruction indicates how impossible Snowball's desires now are. Therefore the battle of the windmill represents a crushing defeat in so many ways for the animals.

The toppling of the windmill the second time comes at the hands of Mr. Frederick and his men. Previously, Animal Farm neighbors Frederick and Pilkington were vying for the right to buy a stack of lumber from the pigs.

The pigs went back and forth as to who they would allow to buy the wood; getting the animals to first hate one neighbor and then the other until they finally allowed Frederick to buy the timber.

However, Frederick tricked the pigs by giving them counterfeit bills in exchange for the lumber (probably because he was mad that the animals jerked him around so much during negotiations). This was just the first step, though, in  Frederick's revenge. He then showed up on the farm with backup and as part of his attack on the farm, he placed dynamite at the base of the windmill and blew it up.

The windmill takes center stage after the revolution. Initially it is Snowball's  idea to make a windmill for power, but after a while Napoleon makes it his own project. Moreover, he accuses Snowball of destroying and sabotaging the project. 

Here is what Napoleon says:

The windmill was blown to smithereens by the humans. Frederick, the owner of Pinchfield farm, had cheated the animals out of their timber by paying with forged money. When Napoleon found out, he was stupefied and pronounced a death sentence on Frederick. He also warned the animals to prepare for another attack on the farm, considering the circumstances. Sentinels were placed all over the farm to keep watch.

When the attack came, the animals could not overwhelm the humans as easily as they had done during The Battle of the Cowshed, for Frederick and his men came prepared and fired at the animals as soon as they launched their attack. The animals had to flee and sought refuge in the farm buildings. They were at a complete loss. The humans had control of most of the pasture including the windmill.

Meanwhile Frederick and his men had halted about the windmill. The animals watched them, and a murmur of dismay went round. Two of the men had produced a crowbar and a sledge hammer. They were going to knock the windmill down.

Napoleon believed that it would be impossible for the men to knock the windmill down for the walls had been reinforced and were twice as thick as they had been before. However, it was Benjamin who realized what the men were up to, for those with the hammer and crowbar were drilling a hole at the bottom of the windmill. Benjamin commented:

‘I thought so,’ he said. ‘Do you not see what they are doing? In another moment they are going to pack blasting powder into that hole.’

The animals could not respond and:

Terrified, the animals waited. It was impossible now to venture out of the shelter of the buildings. After a few minutes the men were seen to be running in all directions. Then there was a deafening roar. The pigeons swirled into the air, and all the animals, except Napoleon, flung themselves flat on their bellies and hid their faces. When they got up again, a huge cloud of black smoke was hanging where the windmill had been. Slowly the breeze drifted it away. The windmill had ceased to exist!

This pernicious and vindictive act encouraged the animals and with ignited fervour, they viciously attacked the humans, driving them off the farm. They were victorious! There were great celebrations and the battle was named 'The Battle of the Windmill', but sadly, the windmill was gone forever. The animals' hard work had come to nothing. The windmill would later be rebuilt for a different purpose. instead of generating electricity, it would be used for milling corn. 

The windmill originally collapsed in November, when "raging south-west winds" tumbled its walls, leaving it in ruins. The destruction of the windmill was not blamed on the weather, but on Snowball. The animals quickly began rebuilding during the "bitter winter." The following spring brought the news that "Snowball was secretly frequenting the farm by night!" "Four days later," Napoleon ordered executions by those animals believed to be collaborating with Snowball.

Throughout the year the animals worked even harder than they had worked in the previous year.

Although the machinery still had to be purchased and installed, the windmill was finally completed

... in the autumn, by a tremendous, exhausting effort...

"Two days later," the animals were notified that the lumber had been sold to Frederick. Soon, the timber was delivered, and "three days later" it was discovered that "the bank-notes were forgeries!"

The very next morning the attack came...

and the windmill was blown up by Frederick and his men. Although no specific date is given, it came during the autumn (fall) season.

In Chapter 6 of Animal Farm, there is a storm in November and this is what destroys the windmill. Napoleon had initially opposed building the windmill, but after he chased Snowball off the farm, he began supporting the windmill. In fact, he made the windmill the animals' top priority, even to the point where other duties became neglected. As those duties were neglected, Napoleon began trading with other (human) farmers for needed supplies. 

Since Napoleon had put so much support behind the windmill, he feared looking like a fool. So, instead of taking responsibility or even simply blaming the weather, he blamed Snowball for the windmill's destruction. 

Do you know the enemy who has come in the night and overthrown our windmill? SNOWBALL!" he suddenly roared in a voice of thunder. "Snowball has done this thing! In sheer malignity, thinking to set back our plans and avenge himself for his ignominious expulsion, this traitor has crept here under cover of night and destroyed our work of nearly a year. 

Napoleon blamed Snowball, rather than the actual cause (storm), because he felt it would further demonize Snowball in the animals' eyes. In turn, Napoleon also hoped this would reestablish the animals' loyalty in himself as their trustworthy leader. 

It is Napoleon who is at a loss during the Battle of the Windmill. When Frederick's men attack the farm and blow up the windmill, Napoleon doesn't know what to do. This is meant by Orwell to parallel what happened in the Soviet Union during World War II; indeed, the Battle of the Windmill is an allegory of the USSR's involvement in that conflict. Hitler's invasion of Russia genuinely took Stalin by surprise, even though he'd suppressed all intelligence that indicated an attack was imminent. Stalin didn't believe that Hitler would be foolish enough to launch an invasion while still fighting in Western Europe; a war on two fronts made no sense to him. So in the immediate wake of the Nazi invasion, Stalin was reduced to a state of torpor and indecision.

And it's the same with Napoleon, who of course is an allegorical representation of Stalin in Animal Farm. The animals look set to lose the battle until they start fighting back with everything they've got. They eventually prevail, but it's no thanks to Napoleon's less than inspiring leadership. Nevertheless, the ever-loyal Squealer immediately spins the Battle of the Windmill as a huge personal triumph for Napoleon, the monumental victory that's just been won entirely due to his staggering military genius.