Peter Edgerly Firchow and Peter Davison contend that the "Battle of the Windmill," specifically referencing "the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Moscow," represents World War II. During the battle, Orwell first wrote, "All the animals, including Napoleon" took cover. Orwell had the publisher alter this to "All the animals except Napoleon" in recognition of Stalin's decision to remain in Moscow during the German advance. Orwell requested the change after he met Józef Czapski in Paris in March 1945. Czapski, a survivor of the Katyn Massacre and an opponent of the Soviet regime, told Orwell, as Orwell wrote to Arthur Koestler, that it had been "the character greatness of Stalin" that saved Russia from the German invasion.