Republic of Animal Farm

The Republic of Animal Farm was proclaimed in April, with Napoleon elected unanimously as its first President. The announcement came on the same day that fresh fabricated evidence was revealed, purporting to show that Snowball had not merely attempted to lose the Battle of the Cowshed through a stratagem but had been openly fighting on Jones's side, even leading the human forces. This revision of history served to cement Napoleon's indispensable role and justify the violent suppression of dissent that had already begun: the expulsion of Snowball by Napoleon's nine dogs, and the subsequent executions of animals forced to confess to treason. The formal act of statehood marked a stage in the consolidation of a power that now rested on terror and the monopoly of force.

The Republic's founding ideology was Animalism, derived from Old Major's teachings, which had presented a vision of life free from human tyranny: the misery and slavery of animals under Man were to be replaced by a society where all animals were equal and the produce of their labour was their own. The Seven Commandments, inscribed on the barn wall, codified this vision into law: no animal was to wear clothes, sleep in a bed, drink alcohol, or kill another animal, and all animals were declared equal. The Rebellion itself had been achieved with unexpected ease, and the initial days were filled with the joyful destruction of the symbols of human domination—bits, nose-rings, whips, and ribbons were thrown onto a rubbish fire—and the triumphant assertion of animal ownership over the farm.

Almost immediately, however, the Republic began to deviate from these ideals. Napoleon, having eliminated Snowball, abolished the Sunday-morning Meetings and concentrated all decision-making in a special committee of pigs headed by himself. He surrounded himself with the nine enormous dogs, reared privately and now fiercely loyal, who enforced his will. A reign of terror followed: four pigs who had protested the abolition of meetings were forced to confess to secret collaboration with Snowball and were torn to pieces by the dogs; other animals confessed to equally absurd crimes and were slaughtered on the spot. Napoleon was now never referred to simply by name but as 'our Leader, Comrade Napoleon,' and the pigs invented titles such as 'Father of All Animals' and 'Terror of Mankind.' Minimus composed a poem, 'Comrade Napoleon,' inscribed on the barn wall opposite the Commandments, alongside a portrait of Napoleon in profile. Every successful achievement was credited to his wisdom, and the dogs ensured that no word of dissent was heard.

Economic inequality was institutionalized from the earliest days. The pigs reserved the milk and windfall apples for themselves, arguing that their brainwork required special nourishment, and later claimed the entire barley crop for beer. They moved into the farmhouse, slept in beds (after the Commandment was quietly altered to forbid only sleeping in beds with sheets), and eventually began to wear Mr. Jones's clothes. The other animals worked longer and harder than ever—sixty-hour weeks, then Sunday afternoons added, with rations halved for those who missed the voluntary work—while Squealer read out figures proving that production of every foodstuff had increased by two hundred, three hundred, or five hundred per cent. The animals could not remember clearly what conditions had been like before the Rebellion, and they believed him. The farm grew richer, but somehow the wealth went only to the pigs and the dogs; the others remained hungry, cold, and exhausted.

As the Republic matured, its symbols were revised to match the new reality. The green flag, originally bearing a hoof and a horn, became a plain green banner. The tradition of marching past the skull of Old Major was abolished, and the skull was buried. The name of the farm itself—'Animal Farm'—was quietly dropped, and the farm was once again called 'The Manor Farm.' The Seven Commandments, which had already been altered one by one, were finally reduced to a single maxim: 'All animals are equal but some are more equal than others.' The pigs learned to walk on their hind legs, and Napoleon himself appeared in the garden carrying a whip. The sheep, trained to bleat a new slogan, chanted 'Four legs good, two legs better!' whenever protest threatened, and the moment passed.

By the end, the Republic of Animal Farm had become indistinguishable from the human-run farm it had replaced. A delegation of neighboring farmers, led by Mr. Pilkington, toured the farm and praised its discipline and efficiency—noting that the lower animals did more work and received less food than any in the county. Napoleon and Pilkington drank a toast to the prosperity of 'The Manor Farm,' and the pigs and humans played cards together. When the animals outside looked in through the window, they could no longer tell which was which. The Republic had returned, in all but name, to the very system it had been founded to overthrow.