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George Orwell's 1945 allegorical novel Animal Farm contains various anthems adopted by the eponymous farm, most notably the original anthem "Beasts of England" and its later replacement "Comrade Napoleon".
The later song "Comrade Napoleon" praises Napoleon and fails to represent freedom at all. This change is used to show the corruption of the principles of the animals' rebellion by Animal Farm's leader Napoleon.[1] Both The Internationale and "Beasts of England" reflected the principles of Marxism and Animalism, respectively. Their replacement by different anthems reflects how these ideologies were arguably distorted by Stalin and Napoleon and thus had to be replaced and suppressed.
The development corresponds to the historical events of 1943, when Joseph Stalin had The Internationale, previously the anthem of the Soviet Union, replaced with a new, more patriotic national anthem. However, while "Beasts of England" was outlawed in the novel, The Internationale was not banned by the Soviet Union at any time and remained as the anthem of the Communist Party.
- ^ Hauss, Charles (2005). Comparative Politics: Domestic Responses to Global Challenges: Domestic Responses To Global Challenges. Cengage Learning. ISBN 9780534590536.