May 1 is the official name of the holiday. Public holidays of Russia. May in modern Russia

16.10.2019

The holiday, which is celebrated in Russia, the United States and a number of countries in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia on the first day of May, is known under several names at once - International Workers' Day, Spring and Labor Day, Labor Day, Spring Day. In Soviet times, most Russians named this holiday by the date of its holding - May 1 or May Day.

The emergence of the tradition of celebrating May Day is associated with the events that took place in Chicago in the 19th century. On May 1, 1886, large-scale rallies and demonstrations of workers began in the city, which demanded from their employers the introduction of an eight-hour working day.

The action ended in clashes with the police. On May 3, at Cyrus McCormick's reaper plant, police opened fire on strikers, killing at least two workers. On May 4, at a protest in Haymarket Square, a terrorist threw a bomb at police, who responded by firing at the crowd. Sixty police officers were injured, eight were killed, and the exact number of workers killed was not determined. The police arrested hundreds of townspeople, and seven anarchist workers were sentenced to death.

In July 1889, the Paris Congress of the Second International, at the suggestion of the French delegate Raymond Lavigne, in solidarity with the Chicago workers, decided to hold annual workers' demonstrations on May 1.

On May 1, 1890, the holiday was first held in Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Italy, USA, Norway, France and Sweden. In the UK, it took place on 4 May. The main slogan of the demonstrations was the demand for an eight-hour working day.

In 1891, by decision of the Brussels Congress of the Second International, the sections of the International in each country were given the right to independently set the date and form of celebration on May 1, after which in Great Britain and some other countries the demonstrations were postponed to the first Sunday in May.

On May 1, 1891, the Social Democratic group of revolutionary Mikhail Brusnev organized the first festive gathering of workers in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg).

The May Day celebration became a May Day - an illegal revolutionary meeting of workers, usually held outside the city.

On July 30, 1928, by a resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, the weekend of Soviet citizens became longer, there were two Days of the International - on May 1 and 2.

May 1, 1933 passed over Red Square. From that moment on, air parades were held regularly until the beginning of World War II, as an integral part of the demonstration of Soviet military power. At the parades, the achievements of the Soviet aviation industry were shown - the Maxim Gorky aircraft, the fastest fighter of its time, the I-16, and others.

During the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), parades and processions in honor of May 1 were not held.

On May 1, 1956, for the first time, there was a television report on the military parade and demonstration of workers in Red Square. Since that time, festive events on Red Square have been broadcast annually by central TV channels.

In 1970, the Fundamentals of Labor Legislation of the USSR assigned a new name to the holiday: May 1 and 2 officially became the Days of International Workers' Solidarity.

On May 1, 1990, during a demonstration, an alternative column with anti-communist and anti-Soviet slogans entered Red Square. Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and other leaders of the country left the podium of the Mausoleum, the broadcast of the event was stopped, and the military parade did not take place.

In 1992, by the resolution of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation of June 30, the Day of Solidarity of Workers was renamed into the Day of Spring and Labor.

In 1993, the May Day demonstration of workers in Moscow ended in riots. According to official data, as a result, several dozen people were injured, and a riot police officer was killed.

In 2001, the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, adopted on December 30 (Article 112), made May 2 a working day, and only one day remained - May 1 - the Holiday of Spring and Labor.

The Spring and Labor Day is celebrated in Russia with mass demonstrations and rallies, festivities and concerts.

In 2016, she took part in festive events on the Day of Spring and Labor in Russia, more than 2 thousand rallies and processions were held in 1.2 thousand cities and towns.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

The list of Russian holidays for May 1, 2018 will acquaint you with state, professional, international, folk, church, unusual holidays that are celebrated in the country on this day. You can choose an event of interest and find out its history, traditions and rituals.

Holidays May 1

Spring and Labor Day (May 1)

We will tell you which holiday is celebrated on May 1. Its history began in 1886, when American workers staged a strike and demonstration that ended in a bloody clash with the police.

This holiday, which is celebrated in 140 countries of the world, has become a symbol of the class struggle and the unity of workers defending their rights.

May Day was one of the main holidays of the Land of the Soviets. Since 1918, according to the Labor Code of the RSFSR, May 1 has become a non-working day.

And according to the decree of the Central Executive Committee of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR "On holidays dedicated to the International Day, and on special days of rest", from 1928 it became a day off and the next day - May 2.

In Soviet times, festive demonstrations took place in our country on this day, at which workers carried banners with portraits of politicians, production leaders, calls, slogans, etc., and military parades were organized.

The last official May Day demonstration in the USSR took place in 1990.

On May 1, 1991, on Red Square in Moscow, a rally was held against the rise in prices for consumer goods, organized by trade union organizations.

In 1993, at a rally followed by a march in the capital, there were clashes between demonstrators and riot police.

Live day

From the very early morning, the spring holiday of the Slavs begins - Zhivin's Day. Alive - the goddess of life, birth, spring, fertility. She is the wife of Dazhbog and the daughter of the Goddess Lada. Alive - the Goddess of Life and Spring in all manifestations. It is she who gives the vitality of the Rod.

Alive is the goddess of all the life-giving forces of mother nature, the first spring shoots and waters seething from the melting snow, the patroness of young wives and young girls. By the way, Christians have replaced the cult of the Goddess Alive with the cult of Paraskeva Friday.

On this day, all women perform ritual dances near the fire with brooms in their hands, thereby clearing the place of evil spirits and all kinds of evil spirits. So they glorify the Goddess Live, who sends spring to the Earth, revitalizing nature. It is also customary to jump over the fire on this day, thereby clearing oneself from all sorts of misfortunes, ailments and obsessions that have accumulated over the long winter.

Kuzma Ogorodnik

The popular Christian holiday Kuzma Ogorodnik is celebrated on May 1 (April 18, old style) every year. According to the church calendar, the memory of Saint Cosmas of Chalcedon, confessor, bishop, is honored on this day.

Other names of the holiday: St. Kuzma's Day, Cosma, Kuzmin's Day, Ogorodnik.

The day was called the gardener because Saint Cosmas is the patron saint of vegetable gardens and crops. But the cuckoo, which begins its song in the green kingdom, is also an important bird of this day.

Story

Saint Cosmas lived in the 8th-9th centuries. Born in the capital of the Byzantine Empire, the city of Constantinople. Even in his youth, he decided to devote his life to Christianity. Cosmas left the vain world, went to a monastery and became a monk. He fasted strictly, prayed. Over time, he managed to achieve perfection in many ways.

After Cosmas was appointed bishop of the city of Chalcedon (Kalkedon), he had to face the iconoclastic heretics on more than one occasion. He sacredly protected Orthodox teaching from their attacks and continued to worship holy icons.

For disobedience to the church, which succumbed to the heresy of iconoclasm, the Bishop of Chalcedon was arrested. After some time, he was tortured, they persistently suggested that he give up the worship of holy icons. But Cosmas firmly endured the torture and remained unshakable in his faith. One of the tortures was his last. The saint supposedly died in the year 816.

Birthday postage stamp

history of the holiday

The English boy Rowland Hill, who later became a teacher, from early childhood was used to hearing his mother, who worked in one of the city's post offices, all the time complained about some absurdities in her work, the unjustified high cost of postal services. Among other things, the woman repeatedly expressed the idea of possible improvements and solutions to many problems in the mail.

Rowland Hill remembered well the conversations of his mother and in 1837 published a satirical article, which contained some ideas about reorganizing the postal service, improving its work. It was thanks to this publication, just three years later, that the English postal service began to operate on a new unified system, initiated by Rowland.

The very first stamps appeared simultaneously with the transition of the post office to the new system. A batch of 1 penny stamps was issued on May 1, 1840. They were done in black and featured the profile of Queen Victoria. A couple of days later, new stamps arrived at the post offices. Their face value was already two pennies, and they were blue.

The teacher-turned-postal reformer was invited to the post office and made an excellent career there. Incidentally, the postal service of the Russian Empire began to officially use stamps as a guarantee of payment for services since 1858, but in St. Petersburg, "stamp covers" for the needs of the city post were used already in 1845.

For many, May 1 is a holiday that is one of the most beloved. Despite the fact that it falls on the last month of spring, it is he who is considered a symbol of the beginning of heat and sunlight. And for Russians, it also means the beginning of the May holidays - a series of days free from the hustle and bustle of work and devoted exclusively to relaxing with family and friends.

Despite such love for this date, few people know how the story of May 1 began. If the older generation still remembers the scale of the celebration during the Soviet era, then for the younger generation this day often means only an additional day off. But at the same time, May Day has a rich history, which will be interesting for everyone to get acquainted with.

The origins of the holiday

This date originates in the American city of Chicago, where a large-scale protest of workers took place on May 1, 1886. Tired of unbearable conditions, people demanded to limit the number of working hours per day to 8. But the rally not only failed to achieve its goal, but also led to numerous casualties among the protesters.

The American authorities, which were not going to shorten the 15-hour workday, ordered the police to take harsh measures against the protesters. As a result, massive fire was opened, which claimed hundreds of lives. Despite this, every year on May 1, workers continued to hold protests, demanding that their difficult working conditions be taken into account. Such rallies often ended in real fights with the police. It was in memory of the first Chicago protest that the date began to be celebrated, first of all, as Labor Day.

Such mass demonstrations did not go unnoticed. The Congress of the Second International, which was held in Paris in 1889, decided to call May 1 World Day of Workers' Solidarity. This was done in honor of the workers of Chicago, who were the first to dare to rebuff the existing system.

In addition, at the Congress it was decided that people of all states have the right to go to rallies annually on May 1 and put forward their demands, which are of a social nature. Thus, the Labor Day was officially recognized at the state level.

The emergence of a holiday in Russia

The history of the May 1 holiday in Russia begins in 1890, when world communists celebrated this date for the first time. This happened in Warsaw. Inspired by the example of their American colleagues and the actions of the Poles, Russian workers gradually came to the idea of starting protests. The first mass demonstrations of the proletariat were noted in 1897, when the holiday took on a political color.

But, despite the fact that the Labor Day was officially recognized by the authorities, the mass celebrations were informal for a long time. It was only in 1901 that the first slogans were noticed openly demanding a change of government. By 1912, the number of representatives of the proletariat who participated in the May demonstrations had reached 400,000. And already in 1917, as many as millions of people walked the streets, demanding the overthrow of the tsarist government. It was in this year that the Russian holiday became official, and demonstrations and parades began to be held openly.

The coming of the Bolsheviks to power was an important stage in the celebration of May 1, and the history of the holiday took on a different color. The status of this day has also changed. Now the date was awarded the title of "the largest holiday in the Soviet Union", which must have been celebrated by all residents of the country.

In each settlement, whole work collectives walked along the streets, carrying posters reflecting the existing ideology. And the reward for the most distinguished was the opportunity to participate in the main parade of the country, which took place on Red Square in the capital.

Despite the fact that initially May Day was of a political nature, which is why it was celebrated quite strictly, over time it turned into a favorite national holiday. Slogans calling for action against the capitalist order have replaced banners with solemn congratulations.

People began to celebrate this date in a family or friendly circle, rejoicing in a two-day weekend. Traditionally, the first day was devoted to parades, in which political speeches were replaced by congratulations, large-scale processions were held, covered by television. But the second day could be spent on a fun May Day with loved ones and relax before working days.

This is how May 1, or the Day of Spring and Labor, gradually turned from an annual political rally into a favorite popular celebration. Red flags and balloons are integral attributes of this date. The older generation recalls with pleasure what a unique atmosphere reigned at that time throughout the country. The first real warmth, the feeling of the magic of spring and the opportunity to spend two extra days off with loved ones - this is what May Day symbolized for the working class of the Soviet Union.

May 1 in modern Russia

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, this date is still celebrated. But the previous excitement around the holiday is gone, and the main joy from it is additional days off. The last solemn parade dedicated to May 1 was held in 1990.

Now this day is traditionally celebrated with a picnic, and for many residents of the country it is an additional opportunity to work in the garden.

Despite the fact that the holiday no longer pleases people on such a scale, its significance has not been forgotten. The famous slogan “Peace! Work! May!" still continues to sound in congratulations. The warm holiday that has rallied the entire working class will remain among the most beloved.

May 1 in various countries

This day is celebrated not only in the USA and Russia. The number of countries that have joined the celebration of this significant date is 142. Most of them celebrate it on May 1, but there are states where the celebrations are held on the first Monday of the month.

This holiday is especially loved in:

Spain;
Germany;
Sweden;
Greece;
France;
Italy;
Holland.

Each country has its own traditions of May Day celebration. For example, young Spaniards on this day present their halves with the first spring flowers, which bloom by this time.

And in Germany, large-scale festivities, whole fairs and funny dances are held. In addition, there is a wonderful tradition here - young people in love plant a tree in front of the window of their chosen one.

On the night of April 30 to May 1, giant fires are lit in Swedish cities, in which garbage that has accumulated throughout the year is burned. After that, it's time for dancing and fun. And in the morning, various rallies in support of the working class begin.

In Greece, this day is a holiday symbolizing the changing seasons. Young girls collect the first flowers, weave wreaths from them and decorate their homes.

In France, May Day is associated with lilies of the valley. It is these flowers that personify happiness that the French give, congratulating each other.

Italians on this day return to the pagan origins of the holiday. Flower festivals are held in honor of the goddesses Maya and Flora.

In Holland, May Day is the time of the Tulip Festival. Many people from all over the world come here specially to watch this colorful spectacle.

Thus, May 1 is a wonderful holiday that unites different peoples. It doesn't matter what version of the celebration is held in the country. In any case, this is a bright spring holiday that brings a lot of positive emotions.

Russians are looking forward to the May holidays with special impatience - there are so many days off at the beginning of the month when the summer cottage season opens! But if today every baby knows what May 9 is for Russia, then very few people can clearly tell what exactly we are celebrating on May 1. Let's figure it out together with what kind of holiday is May Day.

If we delve deeply into history, then even in antiquity, our ancestors arranged large-scale celebrations, which fell on the end of April and the beginning of May. Thus, they tried to appease the gods before starting to work in the fields. The Slavs celebrated the departure of the spring cold, arranged ritual baths in cold water, burned fires, greeted the goddess I Live, according to legend, reviving nature.

The inhabitants of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome worshiped the goddess Maya, who was the patroness of farmers. In the last month of spring, in honor of the goddess and the beginning of a new harvest season, they held a big celebration.

Everyone probably remembers from history that two centuries ago a poor man's working day lasted from 12 to 15 hours. On April 21, 1856, workers' protest marches were held in Australia, which demanded that the working day be reduced to 8 hours without reducing wages. They managed to get their way. And even without bloodshed

In 1886, workers in the United States and Canada also decided to organize rallies and demonstrations in order to achieve an 8-hour workday, a fixed wage, and social security. On this day, every city revolted. However, the center of the protests was Chicago, where about 40,000 workers took to the streets. Here it was not possible to resolve the matter peacefully. Thousands of dismissals of workers followed, demonstrations were dispersed with the help of weapons. A lot of people died. In memory of the victims, the Paris Congress of the Second International declared May 1, 1890, the Day of Solidarity of the Workers of the World and proposed to mark it with demonstrations demanding an 8-hour working day and other social requirements. The holiday has become an annual event.

How was May Day celebrated in Russia?

In the Russian Empire, May Day was first celebrated in 1890 in Warsaw. This tendency was picked up by St. Petersburg, where in 1981 on May 1, the May Day strike of workers took place. In Moscow, the first May Day took place in 1895. Since 1897, May Day celebrations began to be political in nature and were accompanied by massive demonstrations. In 1917, May 1 was first celebrated openly. In all cities of the country, millions of workers took to the streets with the slogans of the Communist Party "All power to the Soviets", "Down with the capitalist ministers."

In 1918, in post-revolutionary Russia, a law was passed stating that May 1 will be celebrated at the national level.

In the USSR, the May Day demonstrations were of great importance. It was a really large-scale celebration. Organizations have been preparing for it for weeks. In the first years of Soviet power, military equipment came out to the parade in honor of May 1, they staged real performances with acrobatic and gymnastic numbers. It was a real holiday that was expected.

It had many names. Initially, in the USSR, May 1 was called the Day of the International. In 1930, this day was renamed the International Proletarian Solidarity Day. During the Great Patriotic War, it was named the Fighting Festival of the International Proletariat. After that, the official name appeared - International Labor Day. Since 1997, on May 1, we have been celebrating Spring and Labor Day.

The first of May or the first Monday of May in Russia, the United States and many countries of the world celebrate a holiday known under several names - International Workers' Day, Spring and Labor Day, Labor Day, Spring Day.

In Soviet times, most Russians named this holiday by the date of its holding - May 1 or May Day.

How the tradition of celebrating May 1 appeared

The history of the May 1 celebration began in the United States. On May 1, 1886, large-scale workers' demonstrations began in Chicago demanding an eight-hour day. The action ended in clashes with the police. On May 3, at Cyrus McCormick's reaper plant, police opened fire on strikers, killing at least two workers. On May 4, at a protest in Haymarket, a terrorist threw a bomb at police, who responded by firing at the crowd. Sixty police officers were injured, eight were killed, and the exact number of workers killed was not determined. The police arrested hundreds of townspeople, and seven anarchist workers were sentenced to death.

Several years later, at the Paris Congress of the Second International, at the suggestion of the French delegate Raymond Lavigne, in solidarity with the Chicago workers, it was decided to hold annual workers' demonstrations on May 1.

The sections of the International in each country were given the right to independently set the date and form of the May 1 celebration, after which in the UK and some other countries the demonstrations were postponed to the first Sunday in May.

In Russia, a festive meeting of workers took place on May 1, 1891 in St. Petersburg, organized by the Social Democratic group of the revolutionary Mikhail Brusnev.

Public Holiday

After the October Revolution, the holiday became official. In his honor, the first May Day parade of the Red Army took place on the Khodynskoye field in Moscow, in which about 30 thousand people took part. Military parades in the framework of the May 1 celebration have become traditional and are held annually.

By a resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, the weekend of Soviet citizens became longer - on May 1 and 2.

On May 1, 1933, the first air parade took place over Red Square. From that moment on, air parades were held regularly until the beginning of World War II, as an integral part of the demonstration of Soviet military power.

On May 1, 1956, there was the first television coverage of the military parade and demonstration of workers in Red Square. Since that time, festive events on Red Square have been broadcast annually by central TV channels.

The official May Day demonstration was last held in 1990. During the demonstration, an alternative column with anti-communist and anti-Soviet slogans entered Red Square. Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and other leaders of the country left the podium of the Mausoleum, the broadcast of the event was stopped, and the military parade did not take place.

A couple of years later, the International Day of Workers' Solidarity was renamed the Spring and Labor Day.

May Day demonstration and rally of the "Labor Russia" movement

In 2001, the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, adopted on December 30 (Article 112), made May 2 a working day, and only one day remained - May 1 - the Holiday of Spring and Labor.

The date is celebrated in Russia with mass demonstrations for social and labor justice, folk festivals and concerts.

In 2014, the May Day action of trade unions for the first time in the history of modern Russia took place on Red Square. Several dozen mass events took place in the capital.