On November 4, Russia once again celebrated National Unity Day. Meanwhile, this holiday is still (and it has been celebrated since 2005) by many people perceived extremely ambiguously. Some believe that there is no unity in Russia, and each interprets this absence in his own way: someone says that the stratification of society into rich and poor is too strong, someone that liberals and conservatives are too irreconcilable, someone simply does not sees a unifying project for the country's future. Some stress precisely social injustice and believe that this holiday was invented solely so that the people would stop celebrating November 7 as the date of the revolution (which, by the way, is a hundred years old this year). And, finally, still others refer to formal features. Say, the Troubles did not end with the departure of the Polish garrison from Moscow in 1612,so what are we celebrating? But in fact, we can say that this holiday is mystical. And it carries in itself not so much the image of the past as the reflection of the future. The future as it can be, if we do not again get bogged down in squabbles and squabbles.
What, in fact, we note
Yes, if you approach it exclusively from a formal point of view, then there can be no exact date for the celebration. Judge for yourself. Historians tell us that already on November 1 (all dates are given according to the new style) of 1612, the so-called Second Militia drove the Polish garrison out of Kitai-Gorod, and that was forced to retreat to the Kremlin. Only on November 2, the command of the Poles entrenched in the Kremlin signed a surrender, and the very next day the garrison surrendered. But sometimes these events of four hundred years ago fit into one day. Like, on the fourth of November (do not forget about the confusion with the calculation of the number according to the new style in relation to that time) the fortifications of Kitai-Gorod were taken, and this was the turning point: the bloodless Polish-Lithuanian garrison lost the will to further resistance.
Kazan Mother of God …
However, let's leave all this temporary specifics to historians and researchers of those distant events. We are only interested in some points and trends, so to speak. For example, what other holiday is celebrated on November 4th? On this day, the Orthodox celebrate the day of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. And let's remember also that when the forces of the militia in 1612 took Kitai-Gorod under the command of Minin and Pozharsky, the icon of the Kazan Mother of God was in the train. This is a very important detail. It is believed that it was thanks to this icon that the victory was achieved. Let's remember this.
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Trouble is complete disintegration
And now let's also remember what scientists write about the Time of Troubles. And they write, for example, that this was not just the time of the complete disintegration of the state, it was the time of the disintegration of public life and even the spiritual disintegration of individuals. There was nothing: neither spiritual, nor moral, nor any practical guidelines. Discord, fog that darkens and dilutes any perspective. This applied to princes, boyars, and common people - everyone. Betrayal and apostasy ceased to frighten, passing from the category of the impossible to the category of the ordinary. As some researchers note, this is due to the loss of faith by many of the clergy. Swamp. Swamp. Nowhere to step and nothing to lean on. In this sense, even the civil war of the last century was less of a blow. Because then each of the opposing sides had, as they would say now, their own project for the future. And among the "red", and among the "whites", and among the "democrats" and among the "monarchists". In 1612 there was no project for the future.
The winners of the Troubles - who are they?
But now imagine: in this general discord and general anarchy, there are suddenly forces that are capable not only of resistance, but of unification. But for this it was necessary, no matter how pathetic it sounded, to rise above the futility of being, to look around with a glance at what was happening and realize that Russian statehood itself was at stake, and along with it, Russianness itself. And such forces were found in all classes. These are church hierarchs - Patriarch Hermogenes, Archimandrite Dionysius. This is Prince Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky and, of course, Prince Dmitry Pozharsky. These are the merchant Kuzma Minin and the peasant Ivan Susanin. As they summarize, various researchers write, the then Russian militia is a combination of all estates of the Moscow state.
Higher power
This is where the temptation appears to talk about mysticism, about the intervention of higher powers. On the other hand, why temptation? Why not talk? Was the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God? Was. Did the people believe in her help? I believed. Such faith is worth a lot at such a time. Such faith helps to overcome the most incredible obstacles and achieve victory when, it would seem, it is impossible. And in general, how often does it happen in history that forces that have deep contradictions, put forward serious claims to each other, suddenly unite in order to accomplish some overvalued deed? It is a rarity. And even the argument that each of the estates had its own great practical reason for organizing resistance and for uniting on this basis in no way diminishes the fact that the success of such an undertaking is also extremely rare. Usually, already at the initial stages of such events, feuds begin, completely sweeping away any good intentions. And then everything turned out in the best way.
The revolution divides
If we again recall the time of the Russian revolutions of 1917, then everything was exactly the opposite. And the point is not even that a revolutionary situation is when the lower classes do not want, but the upper classes cannot, the point is that everyone sees a way out of it in a completely natural way in different ways. All right, Russian society, having eliminated the autocracy, reached some kind of consensus or at least a compromise in establishing the rules by which it will try to live on. Not at all. Russian society has started such a war within itself, which, it seems, continues to this day. At least modern “white” and “red” still cannot reconcile.
And experience, son of difficult mistakes …
In general, doesn't experience tell us that the lack of unity is extremely dangerous even now? And here you don't even need to learn from your mistakes, although this is extremely useful. But it is in recent times and right now that we see the disintegration of states that have lost their unity, and even the most powerful powers of the world sometimes reach in their internal squabbles to the extreme point when one step separates from chaos. It just seems that everything bad is happening to someone, but it cannot happen to you. And the comfort zone is a very, very conditional thing.
How to defeat the turmoil?
Yes, if we look at the state in which we are approaching the centenary of the October Revolution of 1917 in the context of comprehending our past, then it seems too early for us to celebrate unity. But, on the other hand, if you look closely, it turns out that the Bolsheviks, who took power in that chaos, were forced to step on the throat of their own revolutionism and become rabid conservatives in terms of state building. It was in this area that they accomplished the seemingly impossible. The country was literally pulled out of the swamp of decay and uncertainty by the ears, prepared for the coming big war, then this war was won, and for a long time the USSR was the leader in the world in many respects. But, again, looking closely, we will find that success always came to the Bolsheviks when they united the country. When, for example,they used military experts and other "bourgeois" specialists with might and main when Stalin pronounced "brothers and sisters" in the church way, when he significantly reduced the persecution of the church and made toasts to the glory of the Russian people. When the Bolsheviks acted solely on the basis of revolutionary expediency dividing society, it always became dark and stuffy. By the way, the "whites", if they were then victors, would be forced to repeat the entire path of the Bolsheviks, with all their successes and failures and other extremely unpleasant moments. They would also have to sew the country with the harshest of threads. Otherwise, the confusion will not be defeated. When the Bolsheviks acted solely on the basis of revolutionary expediency dividing society, it always became dark and stuffy. By the way, the "whites", if they were then victors, would be forced to repeat the entire path of the Bolsheviks, with all their successes and failures and other extremely unpleasant moments. They would also have to sew the country with the harshest of threads. Otherwise, the confusion will not be defeated. When the Bolsheviks acted solely on the basis of revolutionary expediency dividing society, it always became dark and stuffy. By the way, the "whites", if they were then victors, would be forced to repeat the entire path of the Bolsheviks, with all their successes and failures and other extremely unpleasant moments. They would also have to sew the country with the harshest of threads. Otherwise, the confusion will not be defeated.
Celebration of our future
But here's the question: why bring to turmoil? We're like scientists already. Look, the Russian Empire in its best times was a very delicate mechanism for maintaining class unity. As soon as the mechanism began to rust, as soon as they forgot to resort to the necessary modernization, everything began to burst at the seams and, in the end, collapsed. We just need to understand that only within the framework of our statehood are we worth something, that no one but ourselves needs us at all. We need to learn how to resolve our internal contradictions within the framework of our very statehood, which rests on a very fragile foundation - unity. Any concept will do: capitalism, socialism, or even autocracy - if unity and statehood are the basis. But this is not a place to preach. There is only one thing left to say:just as once a miracle (according to popular rumor) helped to expel the Poles from Moscow, so now a miracle can reconcile both "whites" and "reds", and, excuse me, gray-brown. Such a mysticism of awareness of one's responsibility for oneself, children, and therefore for the country. Therefore, this mystical holiday of unity must be celebrated. As a reminder. About the past and … the future. Because there will be no unity, and there will be no future.
Mark Raven