There are many aspects to the story 1984 that can be closely related to historical events. In 1984 Gorge Orwell depicts a world with very close ties to Stalin's Soviet Union but in a very different time setting. Both worlds show a government in fear of losing power and using similar methods like; erasing the past, controlling the media, and having a strong figurehead leader to try and keep control of their worlds. "Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.  (Orwell 37) This quotation taken from the story 1984 is the party's quote. The party believes that in order to keep control in the future they need to control the past. Stalin also functioned on these beliefs; Stalin tried to rewrite the past to his advantage by creating movies of historical events by placing himself as important roles when in reality he had little or no involvement with the matter. The parties in 1984 lied about their allies. The party claimed that the country had always been in alliance with the same country. In reality the party had switched allies and rewrote the past to appeal to the population. These to worlds were built on a foundation of lies that their governments had fed them. These governments believed that the people would soon forget the truth and would learn to accept and believe the new past. In order to enforce the belief of a false past the worlds of 1984 and Stalin's Soviet Union relied heavily on the control of the media. Neither worlds wanted the media to intervene with their lies, so instead of allowing freedom of speech or press these worlds controlled the media. Anything that was: written, filmed or any other works of art had to be approved or edited before the final product could be released. A prime example of this is how Stalin had to approve every painting of him in order to keep his image strong and perfect. This approval process was also used in the world of 1984. The government had to re