Victory Day - history and traditions

Victory Day - history and traditions

Victory Day on May 9 is the history of the holiday from its creation to the present day. What do you remember about the first Victory Day, what changes have occurred since then. What traditions of celebrating the Great Victory remain today and what new things have our generation brought to this holiday.

After the victory of the Soviet Union in the Second World War, which for our people became the Great Patriotic War, Victory Day on May 9 is the most desired and at the same time the most controversial holiday. As the song of the same name says, “this is a holiday with tears in our eyes.” Otherwise it can not be. During the four years of war, the Soviet people lost more than 20 million people. And this is only confirmed data. Now many sources claim that the actual death toll is over 40 million. It cannot be said that the war is a thing of the distant past. Until now, here and there the remains of soldiers who died on the battlefield, weapons, shell fragments or even unexploded mines are found. The wound inflicted by the fascist invaders on our country still bleeds. Just as the whole country rallied to fight the enemy in those harsh years, so now Victory Day is not celebrated as an ordinary May holiday. For our people, this is the greatest holiday that has many meanings.

This is the day of remembrance of the fallen. This is a tribute to living heroes. This is the rejoicing of a liberated people. This is an eternal reminder to the young people at what cost the Great Victory was achieved.

It, like any great holiday, has its own history and traditions.

HISTORY OF MAY 9 IN THE USSR

The celebration of Victory Day is scheduled on this May day for a reason. It was on May 9, 1945 that the Nazi troops completely capitulated.

Installing a flag on the roof of the Reichstag

In honor of this event, the first Victory Parade took place on June 24 in Moscow on Red Square. The parade was commanded by General Rokossovsky, and was hosted by Georgy Zhukov, the unforgettable Marshal of Victory. Sitting on a white horse, he solemnly rode around the respectfully frozen Soviet troops and reported in full form to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. As you know, at that time the army, like the whole country, was headed by I.V. Stalin.

Military equipment also took part in the parade. A full range of combat units were represented, forging victory on all fronts. Among them:

T-34 – legendary tank

BM-13 "Katyusha" - a widely known guards rocket mortar

The ZIS-3 gun is one of the symbols of victory

GAZ M-1 - "one and a half", famous front-line workers, were widely represented in various modifications.

The parade ended with the overthrow to the foot of the mausoleum of V.I. Lenin fascist standards. This honorable mission went to the soldiers of the Dzerzhinsky regiment. It is clear that this was the most hasty parade in Russian history. Technical glitches and inconsistencies could not be avoided. In particular, they did not have time to develop a new uniform for soldiers and officers, and they did not want to hold a parade in the field. There was not enough good material in a country that lay in post-war ruins. Therefore, the uniform was designed and hastily sewn from poorly dyed material. As luck would have it, it started to rain during the parade, and the front-line soldiers stoically endured it, standing in colored puddles, with streaks of paint on their faces.

This is how the first parade dedicated to the Great Victory took place. Despite everything, this was the first celebration of Victory Day.

It is interesting that for many years, starting from 1948, this holiday was not celebrated with pompous events and was not even a “red day of the calendar.” It was a memorable day, but not a day off.

Officially, Victory Day became a holiday in 1965. Then two significant events converged - L.I. became Secretary General. Brezhnev and, in addition, the year was the anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War.

Thanks to this, this holiday was revived in all its grandeur and became what we know it to this day.

DIFFERENT DATES OF THE SAME HOLIDAY

Many people wonder why Victory Day in Russia is celebrated on May 9, and in other countries on May 8. There are two main theories to explain this discrepancy.

Not everyone knows that before the surrender of Germany, a preliminary protocol was first signed. This event took place on the night of May 8, 1945 in Reims at Eisenhower's headquarters. It was signed by Field Marshal Jodl on the German side, and General Susloparov on the Soviet side. The protocol stated that from May 8 the German army would completely cease hostilities on all fronts. Immediately after this, American and British newspapers rushed to trumpet that the German army had capitulated to the Allies on that date. This is the first version of the event.

It was planned that the act of surrender would be signed there. However, Stalin was not satisfied with this state of affairs. His opinion was that such a significant event in world history should, firstly, be officially arranged and, secondly, take place in the capital of defeated Nazi Germany.