The world described in Nineteen Eighty-Four parallels the Stalinist Soviet Union and Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany. There are thematic similarities: the betrayed revolution, with which Orwell had famously dealt in Animal Farm; the subordination of individuals to “the Party”; and the rigorous distinction between the Inner Party, Outer Party, and everyone else. There are also direct parallels of the activities within the society: leader worship, such as that towards Big Brother, who can be compared to dictators like Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler; Joycamps, which are a reference to concentration camps or gulags; Thought Police, a reference to the Gestapo or NKVD; daily exercise reminiscent of Nazi propaganda movies; and the Youth League, reminiscent of Hitler Youth or Little Octobrists/Young Pioneers.
Orwell based many aspects of Oceanian society on the Stalin-era Soviet Union. The “Two Minutes’ Hate”, for instance was based on Stalinism’s habitual demonisation of its enemies and rivals, and the description of Big Brother himself bears a physical resemblance to Stalin. The Party’s proclaimed great enemy, Emmanuel Goldstein, resembles Leon Trotsky, in part because both are Jewish, had the same physical description and the Trotsky’s real last name was Bronstein. (“Emmanuel Goldstein” could also be an allusion to anarchist Emma Goldman.)
The world of Nineteen Eighty-Four also reflects various aspects of the social and political life of both the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Orwell is reported to have said that the book described what he viewed as the situation in the United Kingdom in 1948, when the British economy was poor, the British Empire was dissolving at the same time as newspapers were reporting its triumphs, and wartime allies such as the USSR were rapidly becoming peacetime foes (“Eurasia is the enemy. Eurasia has always been the enemy”).
In many ways, Oceania is indeed a future metamorphosis of the British Empire (although Orwell is careful to state that, geographically, it also includes the United States, and that the currency is the dollar). It is, as its name suggests, an essentially naval power. Much of its militarism is focused on veneration for sailors and seafarers, serving on board “floating fortresses” which Orwell evidently conceived of as the next stage in the growth of ever-bigger warships, after the Dreadnoughts of WWI and the aircraft carriers of WWII; and much of the fighting conducted by Oceania’s troops takes place in defense of India (the “Jewel in the Crown” of the British Empire).
The three slogans of the Party, on display everywhere, are:
· WAR IS PEACE
· FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
· IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
Each of these is of course either contradictory or the opposite of what is normally believed, and in 1984, the world is in a state of constant war, no one is free, and everyone is ignorant. The slogans are analysed in Goldstein’s book. Though logically insensible, the slogans do embody the Party. For instance, through constant “war”, the Party can keep domestic peace; when freedom is brought about, the people are enslaved to it, and the ignorance of the people is the strength of the Party. If anybody (like Winston) becomes too smart, they are whisked away for fear of rebellion. Through their constant repetition, the terms become meaningless, and the slogans become axiomatic. This type of misuse of language, and the deliberate self-deception with which the citizens are encouraged to accept it, is called doublethink.
Under Ingsoc, society is composed of three levels:
1. The Inner Party, which makes policy decisions and runs the government, which is referred to as simply The Party.
2. The Outer Party, which works in the state jobs and is the middle class of the society. “Members are allowed no vices other than cigarettes and Victory Gin.” The Outer Party is also under the most scrutiny, being constantly monitored by two-way telescreens and other implements of surveillance.
3. The Proles, which form the vast lower class, the rabble that is kept happy and sedate with beer, gambling, sports, casual sex and prolefeed (“rubbishy texts”). The proles are named for the proletariat, the Marxist term for the working class. The Proles make up 85% of the population of Oceania.