Ministries of Nineteen Eighty-Four nature of their society. Perpetual warfare also "helps preserve the special mental atmosphere that a hierarchical society needs." Since that means the balance of the country rests in the war, the Ministry of Peace is in charge of fighting the war (mostly centered around Africa and India), but making sure to never tip the scales, in case the war should become one-sided. Oceanic telescreens usually broadcast news reports about how Oceania is continually winning every battle it fights, though these reports have little to no credibility. As with all the other "Nineteen Eighty-Four" ministries, the Ministry of Peace is named
George Orwell gave a talk at the Adelphi Summer School held at Langham, entitled "An Outsider Sees the Distressed Areas"; others who spoke at the school included John Strachey, Max Plowman, Karl Polanyi and Reinhold Niebuhr. Orwell's research for "The Road to Wigan Pier" led to him being placed under surveillance by the Special Branch from 1936, for 12 years, until one year before the publication of "Nineteen Eighty-Four". Orwell married Eileen O'Shaughnessy on 9 June 1936. Shortly afterwards, the political crisis began in Spain and Orwell followed developments there closely. At the end of the year, concerned by Francisco Franco's military