Last year the International Women's Day turned exactly 100 years old. At the International Conference of Socialist Women, held in Copenhagen in August 1910, at the suggestion of Clara Zetkin, it was decided to determine a special day in the year dedicated to the struggle of women for their rights. The following year, on March 19, mass demonstrations took place in Germany, Austria, Denmark and Switzerland, in which more than a million people took part. Thus began the history of March 8, originally "International Women's Day in the struggle for economic, social and political equality."
History of the holiday 8 March: the official version
In 1912, mass demonstrations in defense of women's rights were held on May 12, in 1913 - on different days of March. And only since 1914 the date for March 8 was finally fixed, most likely for the reason that it was Sunday. In the same year, the day of the struggle for women's rights was first celebrated in tsarist Russia at that time. With the outbreak of World War I, the struggle for the cessation of hostilities was added to the requirements of expanding women's civil liberties. The history of the holiday on March 8 was later tied to the events of 08.03.1910, when demonstrations of women workers in sewing and shoe factories were held in New York for the first time, demanding higher wages, better working conditions and shorter working hours.
Having come to power, the Russian Bolsheviks recognized March 8 as the official date. There was no talk of spring, flowers and femininity: the emphasis was solely on the class struggle and the involvement of women in the idea of socialist construction. Thus began a new round in the history of the day of March 8 - now this holiday has spread in the countries of the socialist camp, and in Western Europe it has been safely forgotten. An important milestone in the history of the holiday on March 8 was 1965, when it was declared a day off in the USSR.
Holiday of 8 March today
In 1977, the UN adopted resolution No. 32/142, which consolidated the status of the international day for women. However, in most states where it is still celebrated (Laos, Nepal, Mongolia, North Korea, China, Uganda, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Burkina Faso, Congo, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Poland, Italy), this is the International Day struggle for women's rights and international peace, that is, an event of political and social significance.
In the countries of the post-Soviet camp, despite the history of origin on March 8, there has been no talk of any "struggle" for a long time. Congratulations, flowers and gifts rely on all women - mothers, wives, sisters, girlfriends, co-workers, toddlers and retirement grandmothers. Refused only in Turkmenistan, Latvia and Estonia. In other states there is no such holiday. Perhaps, because there is a great honor Mother's Day, which in most countries celebrate on the second Sunday in May (in Russia - on the last Sunday in November).
How are they related on February 23 and March 8?
Very interesting fact from the national history of the holiday on March 8. The fact is that the famous February Revolution of 1917, which laid the foundation of the October Revolution, began in Petrograd from a mass meeting of women protesting against the war. Events grew like a snowball, and soon a general strike, armed uprising began, Nicholas II abdicated. What happened next is well known.
The bitterness of humor is that on February 23, according to the old style - this is the new March 8. That's right, another day on March 8 laid the beginning of the history of the future of the USSR. But Defender of the Fatherland Day is traditionally timed to other events: February 23, 1918, the beginning of the formation of the Red Army.
Still from the history of the celebration on March 8
Did you know that a special women's day existed in the Roman Empire? Free-born married Romans (matrons) dressed in the best outfits, decorated the head and clothes with flowers and visited the temples of the goddess Vesta. On this day, their husbands presented them with expensive gifts and honors. Even the slaves received souvenirs from their owners and were released from work. Hardly to eat
The Jews have their own holiday - Purim, which on the lunar calendar falls every year on different days of March. It is the day of the warrior woman, the brave and wise queen Esther, who cunningly saved the Jews from destruction in 480 BC, true, at the cost of tens of thousands of Persians. Some tried to directly connect Purim with the history of the origin of the holiday on March 8. But, contrary to speculation, Clara Zetkin was not Jewish (although the Jew was her husband Osip), and it is unlikely she would have thought of attaching the day of the struggle of European feminists to the Jewish religious holiday.