What else is it but a description of almost any empire? Of course German expansionist ambitions were largely driven by envy of other European power' empires ove

What else is it but a description of almost any empire? Of course German expansionist ambitions were largely driven by envy of other European power' empires overseas. One essential difference though was in Hitler's attitude to race and racial purity. He didn't want just an empire ruled by Germans, he wanted an empire consisting only of Germans, and that's the distinction Orwell is pointing out.