![]() ![]() It is important to remember that the main Soviet political holiday during the entire history of the USSR since 1918 was the anniversary of the October Revolution marked on 7 November. This Day was mostly celebrated through civilian parades, fireworks, commemorative events, and meetings with veterans. A military parade commemorating Victory Day was something very rare and unusual. Regarding Victory Parades on Red Square, there were only four military parades in Soviet history – in 1945, 1965, 1985, and 1990. Since 1965, Victory Day has been increasingly celebrated as a ‘happy’ holiday. Thus, it took two decades for the USSR to come to terms with the enormous catastrophe of WWII. Apparently, Soviet authorities decided to boost ‘patriotism’ and manifest Soviet glory with the use of the victory over Nazism. On, he organised the second Victory Parade on Moscow’s Red Square. In 1965, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev declared Victory Day a public holiday. Today’s slogan flashed by Russian leaders that ‘We can repeat it’ would have seemed barbaric and unacceptable as society was in a deep post-war shock for years. The Parade took place only once, in 1945. Within the first two post-war decades, there were no large-scale public celebrations of Victory Day. ![]() In this context, 9 May was a regular working day until 1965. The Soviet people, especially in the western parts including Ukraine and Belarus, paid for this war with tens of millions of casualties, enormous destruction, and suffering. Victory had been achieved, but at a terrible and catastrophic price. Immediately after the War, Soviet authorities and the Soviet population apparently believed that there was little to celebrate on 9 May. In 1945, 9 May was declared a public holiday in the USSR, a status that it kept only until 1947. On, a large fireworks display in Moscow commemorated the defeat of Nazi Germany, while a historical Victory Parade on Red Square took place on 24 June 1945. In the Soviet Union, the public commemoration of Victory Day was limited, especially before 1965. The scale and intensity of World War II’s glorification and of the Kremlin as an eternal defender against ‘Nazism’ have become unprecedented. Since 2008, Victory Day celebrations of the defeat over Nazi Germany have become yearly and has turned into what some Russian opposition observers call ‘Victory Madness’ ( победобесие). ![]()
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