The Age of Dictators•George Orwell, which was the pen name of Eric Blair, was born in 1903 and died in 1950. •During his lifetime, Germany, Italy, Spain and Russia were ruled by totalitarian regimes and Europe was plunged into world war twice •Following the Second World War, the USSR and the USA confronted each other: the ‘free world’ against Soviet Russia and the beginning of the Cold WarWHITE SPACES - Culture, literature and languages USSR•After the Russian Revolution of 1917 and a long Civil War, the Bolsheviks established control over Russia and the country was renamed The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics•Lenin, the founder of the USSR, died in 1924; the following struggle for power between Trotsky and Stalin resulted in Trotsky going into exile and Stalin becoming dictator•All three historical figures appear in Orwell’s political satire, “Animal Farm”WHITE SPACES - Culture, literature and languages Stalin’s Country•Orwell was inspired to write “Nineteen Eighty-Four” through his observations of the way Stalin and other dictators used their power•Stalin ruled by fear: a network of spies meant that nobody was safe. Politicians spied on army chiefs, and children spied on pa