The twenty-third day of February is the date on the calendar, known as "men's day." That's when all the males accept congratulations. But is it really worth congratulating all the men? And how did this date appear on the calendar at all? And why is a day off declared on this day? All this should be sorted out. The history of the holiday Defender of the Fatherland Day still leaves a lot of questions.
Surely the most popular answer to the question: "What is the twenty-third day of February?" will be: "February twenty-third is the Eighth of March, but only for men." Is it so? What kind of holiday is this? Where did it come from? It’s necessary to understand. To achieve this goal, you will need to plunge into the bowels of history. Let's get started.
The history of the holiday Defender of the Fatherland Day
The roots of possible versions of coloring the twenty-third number in red on calendars lead the researcher during the years of the beginning of the October Revolution. According to one of these versions, February 23rd is the day of the creation of the Workers 'and Peasants' Army. However, her organization was officially formalized by decree of January 15 of the eighteenth year of the twentieth century. Hence another version. It is believed that we are marking a stop of German troops near the city of Pskov. However, there is documentary evidence that on February twenty-fifth the city was occupied without a fight. In view of this, the Bolshevik government agreed to sign a separate peace with Germany. So what does the whole state celebrate on Defender of the Fatherland Day? The history of the holiday goes back to the very beginning of the twentieth century.
Creation of the Red Army
First, more about the first version: KA day. Although historians are a little confused in the dating, as mentioned above, the festival day in this case was chosen completely wrong. The celebration would have to be celebrated in January. But nevertheless, this event was extremely important and expensive. The fact is that twenty million rubles were allocated for the creation of the Soviet Army — colossal money for those times. But only order in the ranks of the soldiers for a long time was almost impossible to achieve. The fact is that many did not particularly understand who they were fighting for, there were many new recruits, but historians now question the first victories won by this army. The history of the holiday (Day of Defenders of the Fatherland) has just begun.
Changing the date
A year after this event, it was decided to establish a celebration, but due to certain circumstances, it was first postponed to February 17th. Then it was decided to move the date again, but not so much, next Sunday. It turned out to be the twenty-third number. True, then the celebration was forgotten for several years, but in nineteen twenty-two the celebration was resumed. And since then the holiday has been celebrated already on a global scale, by the whole country, regularly.
Victory near Pskov
There is not much to say about the second version. In the year nineteen thirty-eighth, when the formidable I. Stalin was in power in the country, a treatise on the history of the party was published, there was nothing to observe about the establishment of this holiday. And indeed, party censorship seemed to be trying to surround this date with some mystery and erase it from the memory of the people. No, the holiday itself remained, only now officially on February 23 the USSR celebrated the victory over German troops near Pskov. It may well be that in this way, having deleted some facts from the history of the country, the party censors tried to make the citizens more likely forget the signing of the ultimatum with Germany. The history of the holiday (Day of Defenders of the Fatherland) was slightly distorted.
Then the holiday has already taken root so that no one really delved into the roots of this date. Only after a grand victory over fascist Germany they decided to rename the date again. And now it was customary to honor all military people on this day. But after the Second World War almost any citizen could rank himself as one of them. Even women.
Nowadays…
The history of the holiday continued on February 23. Defender of the Fatherland Day was celebrated even then, in the ninety-fifth year of the twentieth century, when the State Duma of the Russian Federation issued a bill that spoke about the former military glory of Russia. And again the holiday was renamed, but the name, not only was it extremely long (the Victory Day of the spacecraft over German troops in the year nineteen eighteen - Day of the Defender of the Fatherland), was still not entirely true. Therefore, this name also did not last long.
The history of Defender of the Fatherland Day in modern Russia is known for certain. Already in two thousand and two, the State Duma again passed a law on renaming the holiday. And the best part is that it was then that date became a day off, no matter what day of the week it falls. Now, on this day, everyone is resting: from schoolchildren to workers. Also, this law very appropriately terminated any connection between dating and the victories of the Soviet troops over Germany.
Who should be congratulated?
Of course, now this day has a certain military coloring. And some young people even say: “Why haven’t you served me yet?” But after all, any young man is a defender, therefore, no matter what profession a man has, whatever his age, even very young, it is necessary to congratulate men anyway. It is necessary to congratulate any patriot who is not alien to courage, honor, dignity and courage.
And it is also worth noting that this day, if you look, is not entirely masculine, not fully. After all, women are often also defenders of the Fatherland. Many of the fair sex have served or are serving in the army, saving their country and its borders from war and disaster. Defender of the Fatherland Day (the history of the holiday is very confused) is essentially a holiday that is less related to gender characteristics.
Honoring
The history of the holiday of February 23 is very informative. Defender of the Fatherland Day is celebrated now. The leadership of the state, according to tradition, addresses all military personnel on this bright day; veterans of the Great Patriotic War and other wars and military clashes hear it. On this day, as on the ninth of May, it is customary to lay wreaths with honors at the memorials dedicated to the wars and their participants - the defenders of the country. Congratulations are broadcast in the media and on all news programs. And on television they show documentary and feature films about the exploits of the sons of the Fatherland. In the evenings, on this holiday, traditionally in all large settlements, especially where the headquarters of a military circle, navy or combined arms army, a solemn festive salute is launched.
Defender of the Fatherland Day: history and features of the holiday
Why was this number chosen? The history of the holiday Defender of the Fatherland Day is due to the change of the Julian calendar to the Gregorian. The celebration was celebrated for several years, and when the transition dates changed. Initially, the day was dedicated to women. The dates are gone, but the desire and feeling of the holiday remained. Therefore, a new holiday was introduced, which later received the name "Spacecraft and Fleet Day". This happened on the fifth anniversary of the creation of the Red Army.
The history of the holiday Defender of the Fatherland Day in the Soviet period was replenished with propaganda. In order to maintain the morale of the fighters and spacecraft officers, numerous holidays were introduced. Including this one. In the nineteenth year of the twentieth century in Petrograd, during a meeting of the new public authority - the Council, a proposal was made to celebrate the anniversary of the creation of the army of the Soviets. In addition, they created a Red Gift Day, delayed it with a decree on the anniversary, and then it was decided to combine these two dates.
Today, Defender of the Fatherland Day is covered in great detail, the history of the holiday, poems and congratulations for men can be found very easily. And, perhaps, it’s not so important now, where did the tradition to celebrate this day come from. The main thing is that the courage, courage and dignity that our citizens possess are honored.