Hello dear friends!
Today, I want to tell you about the holiday, which will be celebrated in Russia and in several other countries tomorrow - the 8th of March, or international women's day.
On this day it is customary to congratulate all women, to give them gifts and to admire their beauty :))
This holiday is considered just a good spring holiday now. But was it so when it was created?
Let's plunge into history a bit and see what was the beginning of the celebration of the international women's day.
The first official version:
In the years of the existence of the Soviet Union, the main version of the holiday on March 8 was a dedication to the "march of empty pots", held by women - textile workers in New York in 1857. They protested against unacceptable working conditions and low salaries.
In 1910, at a forum of women in Copenhagen, the German Communist Clara Zetkin called on the world to establish an International Women's Day on March 8.
She had in mind that on that day, women will organize rallies and processions, and thereby draw public attention to their problems.
The date of March 8 was brought to the very strike of textile workers, which in fact never was. It was more accurate, but then the women-textile workers did not go on strike at all.
In the USSR, the 8th of March began to be an official holiday in 1921.
The second version, the Jewish version: the praise of the Jewish queen:
Historians did not agree on whether Clara Zetkin was Jewish or not. Some sources claim that she was born in the family of a shoemaker, and others - a German teacher. However, Zetkin's desire to connect March 8, with the Jewish holiday of Purim, ambiguously hints at that she was Jewish.
So, the second version says that Zetkin wanted to connect the history of the women's day with the history of the Jewish people. According to legend, the beloved of the Persian king Xerxes, Esther, saved the Jewish people from extermination, taking advantage of her charms. Xerxes wanted to exterminate all Jews, but Esther persuaded him not to kill the Jews, but rather to destroy all the Jewish enemies, including the Persians themselves. It happened on the 13th day of Arda of the Jewish calendar (this month falls at the end of February - early March). Praising Esther, the Jews began to celebrate Purim. The date of the celebration was not concrete, but in 1910 it was on 8th of March.
The third version is about the women of the ancient profession:
The third version of the origin of the holiday, perhaps, the most scandalous and unpleasant for all the fair sex, who waiting for the International Women's Day with the thrill. In 1857, in New York, women really protested, but they were not textile workers, but they were prostitutes. Women of the oldest profession demanded to pay salaries to sailors who used their services, but they did not have the money to pay.
In 1894 on 8th of March, in Paris, prostitutes held a demonstration again. This time they demanded to recognize their rights on an equal basis with those who sew clothes or bake bread, and to establish special trade unions. This was repeated in 1895 in Chicago, and in 1896 in New York - shortly before the commemorative congress of suffragettes in 1910, where it was decided to declare this day to be a female and international day, as it was suggested by Zetkin.
By the way, Clara conducted similar actions herself. In the same year of 1910, together with her friend Rosa Luxemburg, she brought prostitutes to the streets of German cities with the demand to stop the police excesses. Prostitutes were replaced with "working women" only in the Soviet version.
Why the holiday on March 8 was implemented in life?
Apparently, March 8 is an ordinary political campaign of the Social Democrats. At the beginning of the 20th century, women protested all over Europe. And to attract attention to themselves, they did not even need to show their breasts. It's enough just to go through the streets with posters on which socialist slogans are written - and public attention is ensured. Stalin also decided to add this holiday to his popularity and ordered to recognize March 8 as International Women's Day.
But since it was difficult to link it to historical events, it was necessary to slightly correct the history. And nobody objected. Once the leader said - then it was done.
Now, at present, this holiday has become just a holiday of women, spring and beauty. And I like this option more than any of the above! Happy holiday, dear women of the world! :)