On February 23, Russia celebrates Defender of the Fatherland Day. The holiday originated in the USSR, then on February 23 every year it was celebrated as a national holiday - "Day of the Soviet Army and Navy". After the collapse of the USSR, the holiday is still celebrated in a number of CIS countries.
On February 23, Russia celebrates Defender of the Fatherland Day.
The holiday originated in the USSR, then February 23 was annually celebrated as a national holiday - the Day of the Soviet Army and the Navy. After the collapse of the USSR, the holiday is still celebrated in a number of CIS countries.
It is unofficially celebrated as men's day.
The history of the holiday dates back to January 28 (January 15, old style) 1918. On this day, against the backdrop of the ongoing World War I in Europe, the Council of People's Commissars (the de facto government of Soviet Russia), headed by its chairman Vladimir Lenin, adopted a Decree on the organization of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA).
In the first days of January 1919, the Soviet authorities remembered the approaching anniversary of the decree of the Council of People's Commissars on the organization of the Red Army. On January 10, the chairman of the Supreme Military Inspectorate of the Red Army Nikolai Podvoisky sent a proposal to the presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee to celebrate the anniversary of the creation of the Red Army, timed to coincide with the next Sunday before or after January 28. However, due to the late submission of the application, no decision was made.
Then the initiative to celebrate the first anniversary of the Red Army was taken over by the Moscow Soviet. On January 24, 1919, its presidium, which at that time was headed by Lev Kamenev, decided to time these celebrations to the Day of the Red Gift. This day was arranged by the appropriate commission at the All-Russian Central Executive Committee in order to provide assistance to the fighting Red Army men. The day of the red gift was set for February 16, but the commission did not have time to hold it on time. Therefore, the Day of the Red Gift and the Day of the Red Army, timed to coincide with it, were decided to be celebrated on the Sunday following February 16, i.e. February 23.
In 1920-1921. No Red Army Day was celebrated.
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On January 27, 1922, the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee published a decree on the 4th anniversary of the Red Army, which stated: "In accordance with the decree of the 9th All-Russian Congress of Soviets on the Red Army, the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee draws the attention of the executive committees to the upcoming anniversary of the creation of the Red Army (February 23)."
In 1923, a resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee Presidium, adopted on January 18, read: “On February 23, 1923, the Red Army will celebrate the 5th anniversary of its existence. On this day, five years ago, the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of January 28 of the same year was published, which laid the foundation for the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army, the stronghold of the proletarian dictatorship. However, this statement did not correspond to the truth, since the mentioned decree was published in the central newspapers almost immediately after its adoption.
The 10th anniversary of the Red Army in 1928, like all the previous ones, was celebrated as the anniversary of the decree of the Council of People's Commissars on the organization of the Red Army from January 28 (15 according to the old style), but the date of publication itself, contrary to the truth, was directly linked to February 23.
In 1938, a fundamentally new version of the origin of the date of the holiday, not related to the decree of the Council of People's Commissars, was presented in the "Short Course on the History of the CPSU (b)". The book stated that in 1918, near Narva and Pskov, “a decisive rebuff was given to the German occupiers. Their advance to Petrograd was suspended. The day of rebuff to the troops of German imperialism - February 23 was the birthday of the young Red Army."
Later, in the order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR of February 23, 1942, the wording was changed: “The young detachments of the Red Army, who first entered the war, utterly defeated the German invaders near Pskov and Narva on February 23, 1918. That is why February 23 was declared a day birth of the Red Army.
In 1951, the last interpretation of the holiday appeared. The History of the Civil War in the USSR indicated that in 1919 the first anniversary of the Red Army was celebrated "on the memorable day of the mobilization of workers to defend the socialist Fatherland, the mass entry of workers into the Red Army, and the formation of the first detachments and units of the new army."
In the Federal Law of March 13, 1995 N32-FZ "On the days of military glory of Russia", February 23 is officially called "The Day of the Red Army's victory over the Kaiser's troops in Germany in 1918 - the Day of the Defenders of the Fatherland."
In accordance with the amendments made to the Federal Law "On the Days of Military Glory of Russia" by the Federal Law of April 15, 2006, the words "Day of the Red Army victory over the Kaiser's troops in Germany (1918)" are excluded from the official description of the holiday, and is also stated in the only including the concept of "defender".
Since 2002, by the decision of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, February 23 in Russia is a non-working day.