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Herald Reporter
Russia yesterday celebrated the National Unity Day, a relatively new state holiday, albeit one with deep historical roots.
National Unity Day was first celebrated on November 4, 2005 and established in memory of the events of 1612, when a Russian merchant Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky led a volunteer army to liberate Moscow from Polish occupation. Dmitry Pozharsky was even heralded as the “Saviour of the Motherland” for his merits.
These events were connected to the end of the period in Russian history called the Time of Troubles. It began with the death of Ivan the Terrible, from the Rurik dynasty, in 1584 and continued until the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty in 1613.
The liberation of Moscow created conditions for the restoration of state power and the election of a new tsar. In late February 1613, the Zemsky Sobor, comprising representatives of all classes of Russian society, elected Mikhail Romanov as the new tsar, the first of the Romanov Dynasty.
National Unity Day is not a new holiday, but rather, an old tradition recently revived. It was marked as an Orthodox and state holiday until 1917 and was celebrated on November 4 annually in memory of the 1612 liberation of Moscow.
On this day political parties and public movements around Russia hold demonstrations, marches, concerts, as well as educational, charity and sports events.
Online Reporter