Changes

== Biography ==

== Biography ==

Orwell's political views became to move away from the far left when he volunteered to fight the Spanish [[Fаscist]] forces to keep them from overturning the socialist government of Spain in the [[Spаnish Civil War]] (1936-1939). He enlisted in the POUM (In English, Workers Party for Marxist Unity) Militia, and saw action on the Aragon front, where he fought side by side with Anаrchists and Communists, as well as Republican regulars.  

Orwell's political views became to move away from the far left when he volunteered to fight the Spanish [[Nationalist]] forces to keep them from overturning the [[Soviet]]-backed revolutionary socialist government of Spain<ref>"Since the fall of the Soviet Union and the opening of state archives in Moscow, scholarship has considerably darkened the view of the Communist role in Republican Spain.... [The] Spanish government... was in no serious sense democratic.... [I]t was composed largely of revolutionary parties that showed no willingness to allow the right wing a political future in Spain, and it was extremely brutal in its treatment of clerics, landowners, and suspected Fascists.... [It] was probably headed toward Soviet-style totalitarianism before Franco ever launched his rebellion.... Stalin was among the Spanish government’s first arms suppliers of choice." George Packer, "[http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/10/31/051031crbo_books#ixzz0mOubjsda The Spanish Prisoner]," ''The New Yorker'', October 31, 2005. Cf. Stanley G. Payne, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=Mmfv1Z4Z18YC The Spanish Civil War, the Soviet Union, and Communism]'' (Yale University Press, 2004) ISBN 030010068X</ref> in the [[Spаnish Civil War]] (1936-1939). He enlisted in the POUM (In English, Workers Party for Marxist Unity) Militia, and saw action on the Aragon front, where he fought side by side with Anаrchists and Communists, as well as Republican regulars.  

He became disillusioned with the Spanish government's policy of withholding arms from the POUM and the Anarchists, which he saw as an attempt by the Communists to water down the revolutionary nature of the Anti-Fascist resistance, and centralize power in the hands of the Moscow-backed Communist Party. Taking a bullet through his neck but surviving, Orwell was invalided to Barcelona, where he witnessed the [[Stalin]]ist repression of [[Trotsky]]ist and [[Anarchist]] parties. Orwell and his wife were forced to escape from Spain as fugitives, after the POUM was banned by the increasingly repressive regime.  

He became disillusioned with the Spanish government's policy of withholding arms from the POUM and the Anarchists, which he saw as an attempt by the Communists to water down the revolutionary nature of the Anti-Fascist resistance, and centralize power in the hands of the Moscow-backed Communist Party. Taking a bullet through his neck but surviving, Orwell was invalided to Barcelona, where he witnessed the [[Stalin]]ist repression of [[Trotsky]]ist and [[Anarchist]] parties. Orwell and his wife were forced to escape from Spain as fugitives, after the POUM was banned by the increasingly repressive regime.  

Despite his persecution, Orwell initially continued to support the Republic upon his return to England, viewing a Communist dominated Spain as better than a Fascist Spain. He recounted his experiences in Spain in the book ''[[Homage to Catalonia]]''.<ref>[http://www.george-orwell.org/Homage_to_Catalonia/index.html]</ref> He remained a socialist, and was for a time in the late 1930s a member of the [[Independent Labour Party]], although he split from the ILP over its opposition to the [[Second World Wаr]]. Orwell served in the [[Home Guаrd]] during the war.

Despite his persecution, Orwell initially continued to support the Republic upon his return to England, viewing a Communist dominated Spain as better than a Nationalist Spain. He recounted his experiences in Spain in the book ''[[Homage to Catalonia]]''.<ref>[http://www.george-orwell.org/Homage_to_Catalonia/index.html]</ref> He remained a socialist, and was for a time in the late 1930s a member of the [[Independent Labour Party]], although he split from the ILP over its opposition to the [[Second World Wаr]]. Orwell served in the [[Home Guаrd]] during the war.

Orwell had only ten years left in his life when he returned.  During that period he and his wife adopted a baby boy, but Orwell's wife died shortly thereafter.   

Orwell had only ten years left in his life when he returned.  During that period he and his wife adopted a baby boy, but Orwell's wife died shortly thereafter.