Russia scraps holiday marking Bolshevik revolution from calendar
The public holiday which celebrated the 1917 Bolshevik coup was yesterday scrapped in Russia and replaced by new public holidays.
In years past the celebration of the October Revolution was the prime holiday of the USSR. It brought the Bolsheviks to power in a largely bloodless coup and saw the end of multi-party democracy and the introduction of Lenin’s form of socialism for over 80 years. Large parades through Moscow’s Red Square were often the main focus of the holiday watched by the Communist Party and government leaders from the Lenin Mausoleum.
President Putin signed the bill after the Duma, and Federation Council passed it earlier this week. Most deputies voted for the abolition of the holiday with only the communist deputies voting against it saying that the 7th November holiday was part of Russia’s cultural heritage and history and should be retained.
After the USSR ended in 1991, the holiday was renamed, The Day of Reconciliation and Accord but celebration of the holiday was held only by a dwindling number of hard-line communist supporters and elderly individuals nostalgic for the Soviet days under red flags.
A new People’s Unity Day will replace the public holiday on the 4th November celebrating the day in 1612 when Polish soldiers left Moscow ending the Time of Troubles during which decades of strife and civil war divided Russia.
The new law also abolished Constitution Day on 12th December introduced by President Yeltsin in 1993 to celebrate the new post communist-era constitution accepted into law by public referendum.
To compensate, the New Year holiday period is extended to a 10 days including Orthodox Christmas on the 7th January.
International Women’s Day on March 8th, Victory Day on 9th May and Russia Day on 12th June all remain.
President of Russia
Russian Duma
Russian Council of the Federation
