Among all the significant dates that are celebrated in our country, the Independence Day of Russia is one of the recent ones. True, it is officially referred to as the Day of Russia. The word "independence" was included in the name of the holiday from a document proclaiming the sovereignty of Russia, which was adopted on June 12, 1990 at the 1st Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation. In this and the next, in 1991, many former union republics declared their sovereignty. That is, the priority of republican politics and laws over the all-Union ones was demonstrated. The process of disintegration of the Soviet Union, which had existed for almost seventy years, began. The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, Armenia, Latvia, and Estonia were among the first to proclaim their independence. Adopted on June 12, Independence Day of Russia confirmed the decision of the people to actually revive the full and independent state of Russia, which since 1922 was only part of a multinational empire called the Soviet Union.
The Supreme Council of the Russian Federation decided that on June 12, when the Declaration was adopted, it should be celebrated in the country and included in the list of official holidays. Since 1992, it has become a non-working, “red” calendar day. Many politicians and ordinary citizens of the country saw Russia’s Independence Day as the beginning of liberation from the union, which ceased to play a positive role, lost integration ties, and caused rejection of the former sister republics. By that time, they had already expressed their disagreement to be in the Union, that is, to submit to the supreme union power of Kazakhstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Baltic countries. The grave economic crisis contributed to the growth of discontent among the people. The introduction of a card system for the purchase of products led the country to the brink of a popular rebellion. The point of view of the Russians - why we should feed other republics when we ourselves have nothing - was justified. Therefore, when the Independence Day of Russia was adopted, many believed in the bright prospects for the development of the country.
In the 1998 holiday address, B.N. Yeltsin proposed calling this holiday Day of Russia. Indeed, it is more convenient for pronunciation and, most importantly, more capacious in content. After all, this is not only a day of dissociation of the republic from other similar independent countries, but, most importantly, recognition of the significance of Russia, its thousand-year history, its original culture. The Day of Russia initially implied the rise of civic, patriotic feelings, the formation of national identity.
Whatever name he may have, Independence Day of Russia in any case should be a significant event for the whole country. We say - it should become, because until this holiday has not found its form, it has not formed a tradition. For most Russians, this is just another day off given by the calendar. Each city celebrates it in its own way. Of course, the most frequent components of the celebration are concerts, evening youth discos, and festive fireworks. At the state level, this day is marked by the presentation of State Prizes to the best people of the country for achievements in work, science, culture.
In Soviet times, almost all the holidays in the USSR were ideological. Even a holiday seemingly far from politics, like March 8, was, of course, ideologically sustained; the country glorified the heroines of labor, party leaders and the Komsomol. Now the ideological orientation has faded into the background. Among these holidays, perhaps, there are two: Day of Concord and Peace (November 4), which replaced the celebration of the beginning of the Bolshevik coup, and - Independence Day of Russia. To this, the latter, became popular, there is very little left: the education of the Citizen of Russia, proud of his country.