Defender of the Fatherland Day

Defender of the Fatherland Day

Defender of the Fatherland Day (Russian: День защитника Отечества / Dyen' zashchitnika Otechestva, Ukrainian: День захисника Вітчизни) is a holiday observed in Russia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine,[1] Belarus and several other former republics of the Soviet Union. It is celebrated on February 23.

Contents

History

The holiday marks the date in 1918 during the Russian Civil War when the first mass draft into the Red Army occurred in Petrograd and Moscow. It was originally known as Red Army Day (Russian: День Красной Армии / Dyen' Krasnoy Armii). In 1949, it was renamed Soviet Army and Navy Day (Russian: День Советской Армии и Военно-Морского флота / Dyen' Sovyetskoy Armii i Voyenno-Morskogo flota). Following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the holiday was given its current name.

Celebrations

The 2008 holiday, with ceremonies being performed by President Putin.

In Russia

Officially, as the name suggests, the holiday celebrates people who are serving or were serving the Russian Armed Forces (both men and women), but unofficially, nationally it has also more recently come to include the celebration of men as a whole, and to act as a counterpart of International Women's Day on March 8.

The holiday is celebrated with parades and processions in honor of veterans, and women also give small gifts to the Russian men in their lives, especially husbands (or boyfriends), fathers and sons. As a part of the workplace culture, women often give gifts to their male co-workers. Consequently, in colloquial usage, the holiday is often referred to as Men's Day (Russian: День Мужчин, Den' Muzhchin).

In Chechnya and Ingushetia this holiday is celebrated with mixed feelings,[2] because February 23, 1944 is the date of the mass deportations of Chechens and Ingush to Central Asia.[3] (See also, Operation Lentil, Population transfer in the Soviet Union) The entire holiday is extremely controversial for Chechens and Ingush because of the date.[citation needed]

In Tajikistan

In Tajikistan, the holiday is known as Tajik National Army Day (Tajik: Рӯзи Артиши Миллӣ Тоҷик).

In Ukraine

In Ukraine it is not a public holiday, but most women do give some extra attention to male relatives, friends, husbands and boyfriends.[4][5][6] The Ukrainian army has its own Army Day on December 6.[6]

Notes

  1. ^ Law regarding Defender of the Motherland Day Legislation of Ukraine
  2. ^ Global Voices Online [1]
  3. ^ Remembering Stalin's deportations, BBC News, [2]
  4. ^ Ukrainian Holidays, Optima Tours
  5. ^ Feminists Contest Politics and Philosophy (Philosophy and Politics), Peter Lang, 2005, ISBN-13: 978-9052012520 (page 197)
  6. ^ a b Culture Smart! Ukraine by Anna Shevchenko, Kuperard, 2006, ISBN 9781857333275

External links

Calendar icon.svg Holidays portal



Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • International Women's Day — Poster for Women s Day, March 8, 1914 Observed by Men and Women worldwide Type International …   Wikipedia

  • Father's Day — For other uses, see Father s Day (disambiguation). Father s Day Observed by Many countries Type Historical Date In Australia First Sunday in September,Third Sunday in June (many countries) and other dates Related to Mother s Day …   Wikipedia

  • New Year's Day — For other uses, see New Year s Day (disambiguation). New Year s Day Observed by Users of the Gregorian calendar and others Significance The first day of the Gregorian year Date January 1 Celebrations …   Wikipedia

  • Armed Forces Day — Several nations of the world hold an annual Armed Forces Day to recognize, venerate, and honor their military forces. It is similar to the Veterans Day of the United States or the Remembrance Day in many other nations. Australia and New Zealand… …   Wikipedia

  • Victory Day (9 May) — For the song, see Den Pobedy. Victory Day Victory Day celebrations in Moscow, 9 May 2005 Official name Russian: День Победы, Den Pobedy …   Wikipedia

  • Unity Day (Russia) — Unity Day, Day of People’s Unity or National Unity Day (Russian: День народного единства) was celebrated in the Russian Empire until 1917 and in Russia from 2005. Held on November 4 (October 22, Old Style), it commemorates the popular uprising… …   Wikipedia

  • International Men's Day — is an international holiday, celebrated on the first Saturday of November. It was suggested by Mikhail Gorbachev and was supported by the United Nations in Vienna, and other organisations [http://www.calend.ru/holidays/0/0/167/ (in Russian)] .… …   Wikipedia

  • Soviet Army Day — was a holiday every February 23 in the Soviet Union from 1945 till its break up. It commemorated the army of the Soviet Union. Before end of WWII, it was called Red Army Day. It is the counterpart of International Women s Day [citation needed] on …   Wikipedia

  • HISTORICAL SURVEY: THE STATE AND ITS ANTECEDENTS (1880–2006) — Introduction It took the new Jewish nation about 70 years to emerge as the State of Israel. The immediate stimulus that initiated the modern return to Zion was the disappointment, in the last quarter of the 19th century, of the expectation that… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Allegations of state terrorism by the United States — Articleissues citationstyle = March 2008 POV = July 2007 original research = April 2008|The United States government has been accused of having directly committed acts of state terrorism, as well as funding, training, and harboring individuals… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”