Proclamation of Animal Farm as Republic

In April, several years after the Rebellion, Animal Farm underwent a formal transformation. The farm was proclaimed a republic, and a presidential election was held. There was only one candidate, Napoleon, who was elected unanimously, cementing his absolute authority under a veneer of democratic procedure. The same day brought a new layer of historical revision. Napoleon announced that fresh documents had been discovered proving that Snowball, the expelled pig, had not merely attempted to lose the Battle of the Cowshed through a stratagem but had been openly fighting on Jones's side. According to this official account, Snowball had been the leader of the human forces, charging into battle with the cry "Long live Humanity!" on his lips. The wounds on Snowball's back—which a few animals still remembered having seen—were now said to have been inflicted by Napoleon's teeth. This announcement rewrote the history of the Rebellion, turning the former hero into a traitor and Napoleon into the true savior.

This proclamation of a republic was not a return to the ideals of old Major's speech—which had envisioned a society of free and equal animals—but rather the final step in Napoleon's consolidation of power. The election, with a single candidate, was a mere formality; the concurrent revelation of Snowball's supposed treachery served to eliminate any remaining loyalty to the old leader and to justify the terror that had already been unleashed. The pigs, who had long since moved into the farmhouse and adopted human habits, now held the title of a republic's leadership, while the ordinary animals continued to labor under worsening conditions. The farm had grown richer, but the benefits went to the pigs and dogs alone; the rest faced hunger, overwork, and the ever-present threat of the dogs.

The republican form also completed the transformation of the farm's ideology. Animalism, once a revolutionary creed for liberation, had been reduced to a set of commandments that were continually altered by the pigs. The flag, which had once borne a hoof and horn, had become a plain green banner. The title "Comrade" was suppressed, and the skull of old Major was buried. The new republic was a dictatorship in all but name, and the pigs—now walking on their hind legs, carrying whips, and wearing human clothes—were indistinguishable from the humans they had overthrown. The proclamation of the republic was thus a milestone in the pigs' journey from revolutionary leaders to tyrants, marking the point at which the last pretense of equality was abandoned and the regime adopted the full symbolic apparatus of a state.