against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I understand it.

Animal Farm, much like 1984, was written largely with this political motive in mind.

Remember, Animal Farm, the famous satire of the Soviet Union, was originally published in 1945, written during a context in which the United Kingdom had actually been allied with the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany during World War II. This immediate political context must also be weighed against pro-Stalinist apologists among journalists such as Walter Duranty.

With this in mind, it is also worth noting that Orwell himself was not alone in trying to publicize and bring attention to the oppression of Stalinism, as can be seen in Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon, which sought to bring public awareness to the Stalinist purges.

It was in this context that Orwell wrote Animal Farm, seeking to influence public opinion against Stalin in a time when public support would have been at its strongest. Indeed, on these grounds, Orwell's novella was actually quite controversial when it was originally written, but at the same time, one might also state that this was also the reason it was so important for Orwell to write Animal Farm to begin with.

Orwell felt that political action and political speech were necessary in order to live a life of integrity and honor. Setting aside his particular views, we can say that Orwell wrote Animal Farm because he felt that he must say something about the political climate in which he was living. 

Had he held different political views, he may have written an allegory informed by capitalist beliefs...who knows, but given his outlook on integrity he probably would have written something even if he wasn't an adherent of democratic socialism. 

George Orwell was inspired to write this short novel by the Russian Revolution of 1917. Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate his role as Emperor of Russia, and he and his entire family were assassinated a year later by the Bolsheviks. The character of Old Major, the pig who dies early in the story, is inspired by Vladimir Lenin, and Napoleon the pig is Joseph Stalin whereas Snowball the pig is Leon Trotsky.

Nicholas was an incompetent leader who was out of touch with the Russian people and who refused to change with the times, just as Mr. Jones (the farmer who owned Manor Farm) overworked his animals and did not treat them well. The animals rebelled against Jones just as the Russian people, led by Lenin and the Communist Party, rebelled against the tsar. Lenin helped to foment rebellion but then died in early 1924.

Stalin then lead the Communist party in Soviet Russia after Lenin's death until his own death in 1953. Just as Napoleon runs Snowball off the farm, Stalin had Trotsky removed from power in 1928 and eventually banished from the USSR altogether a few months later. Trotsky preferred a democratic socialism that was antithetical to the more dictatorial regime endorsed by Stalin, which is also evident in the ideological conflict between Snowball and Napoleon.

Orwell's biography has everything to do with the reasons for writing Animal Farm. He says in one memoir that he wanted to write a piece of political fiction that would be entertaining, which is why he chose the animal fable as the vehicle for his satire. Orwell had worked for the British government in Burma where he observed and participated in its imperialist regime. While British imperialism was not the totalitarianism depicted in the novel, he did learn from his experience much about the relationships and the psychology of power, which in his mind, naturally corrupts the individual, even if he is well meaning--which the pigs in Animal Farm are not. The seduction of power is one topic Orwell studies in Animal Farm.

George Orwell wrote Animal Farm as a fable because this genre is one of the most effective satirical literary devices. Orwell desired to satirize the Soviet Union--to show that Stalinism was not true to the principles of the Russian Revolution. The format of the fable allows one to accomplish this without bogging down the reader in pages and pages of narrative.

The reason Animal Farm is so much shorter than 1984--Orwell's most popular work--is that symbolism accomplishes much of the descriptive legwork. Orwell does not have to spend pages and pages proving that Napoleon and the other pigs are pigs; he makes them actual pigs and reinforces this description throughout the book.

Moreover, the simplicity of the fable inhibits the peculiar psychology of the author from impeding the story's narrative and moral. It is for this reason that C.S. Lewis--an expert on allegory--considered Animal Farm vastly superior to the dystopian 1984.

Orwell wrote Animal Farm to illustrate the way Stalinism had betrayed the ideals of the socialist revolution in the Soviet Union. As he put it, "I thought of exposing the Soviet myth in a story that could be easily understood by almost anyone and which could be easily translated into other languages." 

Though popular today, when alive Orwell managed to alienate people on both the left and the right. Although he was a Democratic Socialist, socialists condemned him for betraying the revolution in pointing out its flaws (as he did in Animal Farm) and rightwing people condemned him for his socialism.

Orwell called it as he saw it, and like other leftwing intellectuals, was dismayed at Stalin, a person he depicts as Napoleon the pig in the novel. Like Stalin, Napoleon has show trials in which animals, such as the three poor, not very intelligent hens "confess" to so-called crimes and are executed. Like Stalin, Napoleon runs his rival Snowball (Trotsky) out of the country. Also like Stalin, Napoleon ends up signing a pact with the enemy. In Stalin's case, it was Hitler; in Napoleon's case Farmer Jones.

We may not remember the distinct historical parallels that Orwell references, but the warning against an idealistic rebellion turning into a tyranny is still being heeded.

The novel criticized the Soviet Union, one of England's allies in World War II. This is why it wasn't published until after the war ended. The themes of the book are topics Orwell had been concerned with for much of his life, such as politics, truth, and class conflict. He used animals to write this allegorical fable that could be read on the surface as an entertaining story about animals. His deeper meaning, however, was an attack on those who misuse their political power. This criticism was directed at Joseph Stalin, the dictator of Russia at that time. Orwell used the animals to satirize humans who abuse their power in government. It has never been out of print since it was first published.

Animal Farm is a scathing critique of the Russian Revolution and Soviet Communism, but at its heart, like many of Orwell's works, it is a critique of dictatorship. The story itself shows the gullible nature of people and the ease with which movements and governments are subverted and destroyed. Orwell, who was a socialist, wrote the story as a cautionary tale for anyone who held up Soviet Russia, the Russian Revolution, or Communism as examples to follow.

In a letter to his friend Dwight Macdonald, written in 1946, Orwell explains that:

What I was trying to say was, "You can't have a revolution unless you make it for yourself; there is no such thing as a benevolent dictat[or]ship. . . ."

From Orwell's perspective, it was necessary to point out that revolutions, which he wasn't necessarily against, would only work if they evolved organically. At the start of the story, when the animals overthrow the farmer and establish "animalism," the rules and systems of their society come from the power and authority of the revolution and the animals themselves.

However, once the pigs take charge and the animals let them, there is little hope for anyone on the farm. The myth of the benevolent dictator, something that seems prevalent in all forms of communism, is thoroughly dismantled in Animal Farm. Orwell shows the dangers of dictatorship and the shifting narrative of a communist system that replaces the revolutionary government, pointing out with clarity the flaws in such systems.

Actually, the book was written before World War II as a response to the Russian Revolution, in which revolutionaries overthrew the czar and took control of the government. Animal Farm portrays the irony of the communist movement: what started out as a society of equals devolved into a state where some were more equal than others. There will always be the "pigs" who must have power and privilege, while the "sheep" fall in line and do the government's will. In overthrowing one oppressor (the farmer in Animal Farm; the czar in Russia), the animals/Russians have gained another, perhaps harsher oppressor.

George Orwell said that the purpose of ANIMAL FARM was “the destruction of the Soviet myth” of the events of the Russian Revolution from 1917-1943 (especially the political figures of Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin). He added, however, that, more specifically, the book is an allegory that satirizes dictatorship in general. The name of the ruling pig, “Napoleon,” is a reminder that there have been dictators outside Russia. Not Stalin in particular, but totalitarianism, is the enemy Orwell exposes.

Orwell's "Animal Farm" was written in reponse to the rise of communism and the aggression of Hitler and World War II.

Communism may have looked good on paper, but as Orwell repeatedly shows, it does not work in practice. The tenet "All animals are created equal" soon is amended to "but some are more equal than others."

For more on the historical context of the novel, please visit the link below.

Animal Farm was written towards the end of World War II in 1945. As the war was coming to an end, it was clear to many that the Soviet Union would emerge as one of the world's preeminent powers. George Orwell wrote this story as an allegory of the Communist Revolution in Russia in 1917 and Joseph Stalin's subsequent rise to power.

The book may appear to be a condemnation of socialism; however, Orwell had many socialist sympathies of his own. What he actually criticizes in this book (as well as in 1984) is totalitarianism and the hypocrisy of authoritarian governments. In Animal Farm, Napoleon is meant to represent Stalin. Orwell shows just how Napoleon uses revolutionary messages to subdue and brainwash the animals he rules over while ignoring the very ideals he pretends to uphold. Orwell wanted his readers to draw a parallel to Stalin who frequently did the same.

Yet there is more to the story. Orwell was also fed up with the censorship laws of Great Britain at the time. During World War II, the Soviet Union was an ally of convenience for Great Britain. Although the two nations had serious ideological differences, they were united in their fight against Nazi Germany. To that end, British authorities censored anything critical of the Soviet Union during the war. Orwell saw this as hypocrisy. Although a number of publishers rejected the manuscript, Orwell was able to eventually get it printed by making his story an allegory, rather than an outright attack on the totalitarian nature of Soviet leadership.