To what extent did twentieth-century governments use language as a tool of political control?
We live in 2026. Looking back from the present, it can sometimes feel as though humanity has moved beyond the fears that once defined the twentieth century. We imagined that by this point the world would be unrecognizable, perhaps filled with flying cars and technological wonders that belonged only to science fiction. Yet perhaps we underestimated something more fundamental: despite our progress, human societies remain shaped by the same questions that have followed us throughout history. Who holds power? Who controls truth? And most importantly, who decides what people are allowed to believe?
There was once 1914, the beginning of the First World War; 1939, when the world entered an even greater conflict. Then came 1945, when humanity emerged from destruction and hoped that such suffering would never be repeated. Many believed that the lessons of the twentieth century would guarantee a more peaceful and free future. But were societies truly free, or did governments simply discover new ways of influencing and controlling their populations?
George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, published in 1949, attempted to answer this fear. The novel describes a fictional totalitarian society in which the Party, represented by the figure of Big Brother, seeks complete control over every aspect of human existence. However, Orwell’s greatest warning is not simply about surveillance or physical oppression. It is about something far more powerful: the ability of governments to control reality itself through language.
The Party understands that if people can no longer express certain ideas, eventually they may no longer be capable of thinking of those ideas. This is the purpose of Newspeak, the fictional language created by Orwell, for the official language of Oceania. By reducing vocabulary and removing words connected to freedom, rebellion, and independent thought, the Party attempts to limit the human imagination. Orwell presents language as more than communication; it becomes a political instrument capable of shaping consciousness and affecting peoples thoughts.
The idea of Newspeak was not created in isolation. Orwell was writing in the aftermath of a century where governments had already demonstrated the power of political language. The rise of totalitarian regimes in the twentieth century revealed that controlling words could become a method of controlling people. Governments did not only use force to maintain power; they used propaganda, censorship, and carefully constructed political messages to influence how citizens understood their own reality.
In Nazi Germany, language became a central element of political control. Through propaganda, the government attempted to create a shared worldview in which loyalty to the state became a moral duty. Political language was used to identify enemies, justify discrimination, and present violence as necessary. The creation of terms and ideas that dehumanised certain groups allowed persecution to become more acceptable within society. Language did not simply describe political actions; it helped create the conditions in which those actions could occur.
Similarly, in Stalin’s Soviet Union, the control of language was closely connected to the control of history. The state attempted to present itself as the only source of truth, while opposing views were censored or removed. Political opponents could disappear not only physically but also from official records and public memory. This reflects one of Orwell’s most disturbing ideas in Nineteen Eighty-Four: that whoever controls the past controls the present. If a government can rewrite history, it can influence how citizens understand the world around them.
This also leads to Orwell’s concept: doublethink. In the novel, doublethink is the ability to accept two contradictory ideas simultaneously while believing both to be true. The Party can claim that “war is peace” and “freedom is slavery” because it has created a society where truth is not based on evidence or reality, but on political authority. Orwell suggests that the ultimate form of control occurs when people no longer recognise that they are being controlled.
But can someone truly be manipulated to such an extent that they abandon their own beliefs? Can good people commit harmful actions because they stop questioning authority? Can individuals lose their sense of morality when they simply follow the “herd”? History suggests that this is possible. Throughout the twentieth century, many ordinary people lived under systems where propaganda, fear, and social pressure influenced their understanding of right and wrong.
However, it would be too simple to argue that language alone allowed governments to control entire societies. Political control also depended on institutions of power: censorship organisations, surveillance systems, education, and sometimes violence. Language was one tool among many. Yet it was perhaps one of the most significant because it influenced how people interpreted every other aspect of their lives. Before governments could control actions, they often attempted to control ideas.
Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four remains powerful because it does not only describe one fictional dictatorship. It reflects the historical experiences of a century where governments attempted to reshape reality through words. The novel forces us to ask whether freedom is only the absence of physical oppression, or whether true freedom also requires the ability to think, question, and challenge accepted ideas.
I am grateful for what history has taught us and for the sacrifices made by previous generations. The twentieth century showed humanity the consequences of allowing language to become disconnected from truth. It taught some of us to distinguish between morality and logic, between facts and assumptions, and between obedience and responsibility.
We can learn, we can listen, and we can follow, but we must never lose ourselves in the process. Some may argue that remaining silent protects stability, but history suggests that indifference can be dangerous. Accountability is what protects societies from repeating their mistakes. The decisions made today will influence the generations that follow, and some consequences remain attached to history like super glue. This is widly seen through wars taking place nowadays, unfinsished disputes: Russia annexing Ukraine, North Korea- South Korea, Israel- Palestine conflict, Yemen, Sudan civil war, all of such conflicts which continue are all rooted in historical division and international rivalry.
Ultimately, Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is not simply a prediction of the future. It is a warning from the past. The history of the twentieth century demonstrates that governments understood the power of language: it could unite societies, create enemies, justify actions, and redefine truth. The greatest defence against political control is therefore not only laws or institutions, but individuals who refuse to surrender their ability to think independently. History has shown us what can happen when people stop questioning. Orwell reminds us why we must never allow it to happen again.
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