Was Orwell influenced by Stalin's regime?

[nscherneck]

I noticed similarities between Stalins USSR and Big Brothers Oceania: the purges, labor camps, the denunciations, etc. Now if i recall correctly Stalin died in '53 and little was known of his atrocities until well after his death. So i guess my question is was the society that Orwell created coincidentily similar to Stalins USSR or did he have some insight into what had been happening within the Soviet Union at the time he wrote the book?

[B-Mental]

I do believe that word was leaking out about the atrocities, and yeah, I believe he did use it as a reference...with or without atrocities.

[bazarov]

It was a role model, and whole world was aware of Stalin's regime.

[The Atheist]

I noticed similarities between Stalins USSR and Big Brothers Oceania: the purges, labor camps, the denunciations, etc. Now if i recall correctly Stalin died in '53 and little was known of his atrocities until well after his death. So i guess my question is was the society that Orwell created coincidentily similar to Stalins USSR or did he have some insight into what had been happening within the Soviet Union at the time he wrote the book?

Given that Orwell had covered all of Stalin's excesses in Animal Farm, prior to 1984, it's pretty much a given that he drew on the USSR to some degree, but he also had a couple of other great examples of pogroms which are overlooked as inspiration - Germany. The Thought Police are as similar to the Gestapo as they are to the KGB (Ogpu, as I imagine it was then).

Even during his time in Spain, Orwell saw first-hand the rounding up of dissenters, who ultimately became "unpersons", so don't try to pin the whole thing on Stalin. I'd go along with Orwell thinking rightly that all totalitarian regime by nature must have a means of disposing of dissent - permanently.