There are many elements that are presented in the novel <em>Animal Farm</em> that can be found in real historical events. This is because the book is meant to be an allegory of modern political systems.
For example, the Russian Revolution can be compared to the rebellion in the farm. In the Russian Revolution, the workers tried to take control of production away from the elites who had owned it so far. This is similar to how the animals took the farm from the farmer. The Russian Revolution also culminated in a society controlled by a single party and which operated in a cooperative way, with strong central control. This is the same way in which the farm operates once the animals take over.
In terms of WWII, a parallel that we can find is that of the rise of strong leaders and the cult of personality. During the war, characters such as Churchill, Hitler, Emperor Hirohito and Mussolini were presented as being extremely powerful, capable and larger-than-life, with support among their people being extremely high. This is the role that the pigs try to adopt in the farm.
Finally, a parallel that we can find when it comes to the Cold War is the use of propaganda. During the Cold War, the United States used propaganda and repression in order to convince the population of the dangers of communism. In the same way, the Soviet Union used these methods to discourage the ideas of capitalism. The use of propaganda to scare and manipulate people is shown in the book, when Napoleon attempts to create crazy and unfair stories about Snowball.
The answers that are fully correct regarding 20th century Republican election results are:
- won majorities in the House, Senate and won the Presidency in the middle of the century.
- elected Dwight D. Eisenhower twice.
Both of those correct answers involve Dwight Eisenhower, as it was the case in the 1952 election that Republicans gained control of both houses in Congress for the first time since the Depression era, and also won the presidency. (Note: The Republican lost their Congressional majorities in 1954.) Republicans had also won the presidency and control of both houses of Congress at earlier points in the 20th century, such as the 1900 election which brought Teddy Roosevelt into the presidency. They held that control throughout T.Roosevelt's two terms in the White House. The Democrats took back control of the House of Representatives in the 1910 election (under the Taft presidency), and followng that a Democrat, Woodrow Wilson, took over the presidency. The Republicans won back control in 1920 with the election of Warren Harding as president and reassertion of control of both houses of Congress.
Dwight Eisenhower won the presidential elections of 1952 and 1956.
The option about Ronald Reagan is <u>almost</u> correct, because Reagan did win the electoral votes of all but one state (Minnesota) in 1984. However, the win by Richard Nixon in 1972 was an even stronger win for the Republicans. Nixon also won all but one state (Massachusetts) in electoral college voting. But Nixon's margin of victory in the popular vote in 1972 was larger than Reagan's in 1984. Nixon got nearly 61% of the popular vote in 1972, far ahead of the 37.5% his Democratic opponent got. Reagan's share of the popular vote in 1984 was 58.8%, with the Democratic candidate getting 40.6% of all votes.