May Day
an international holiday of the working people; a day of solidarity among workers throughout the world, and a day for the combat review of the forces of the working people of all countries. The decision to make May 1 a day of annual demonstrations was made in July 1889 by the Paris Congress of the Second International, to commemorate an action by the workers of Chicago, who organized a s...trike for May 1, 1886, demanding an eight-hour workday, and held a demonstration that ended in a bloody confrontation with the police. May 1 was celebrated for the first time as an international holiday in 1890 in Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Italy, the USA, Norway, France, Sweden, and several other countries. (In Great Britain, the first May Day celebration was held on May 4, 1890.) The main demand of the first May Day demonstrations was the eight-hour workday. The form of May Day demonstrations and the content of May Day slogans were often the subject of sharp disagreements between representatives of the revolutionary and reformist tendencies in the working-class movement.
The enormous revolutionizing effect of the Great October Socialist Revolution on the international working-class movement was reflected in the character of May Day celebrations, which became more massive and, in many countries, took on a clearly revolutionary, anticapitalist tendency. After World War II (1939–45) the formation of the world socialist system, the breakup of the colonial system of imperialism, and the strengthening of the forces of socialism and democracy throughout the world determined the particular features of May Day celebrations in different countries and regions.
The socialist countries celebrate May Day by mobilizing the working people in the struggle to build socialism and communism. In the developing countries that have been freed from colonial rule, as well as in countries struggling for political independence, May Day is celebrated as a day of struggle against imperialism and internal reaction, for the elimination of colonialism and neocolonialism, and for the establishment in the former colonies of an independent economy and a progressive approach to socioeconomic development. On May Day the working people in the developed capitalist countries advance demands for improved working and living conditions and hold demonstrations in favor of democratic transformations and socialism. In all countries the international brotherhood of peoples and the struggle for peace are celebrated on May Day.
In prerevolutionary Russia and the USSR. In the Russian Empire, May Day was first celebrated in 1890 with a strike by 10,000 workers in Warsaw. In 1891 an illegal May Day meeting of workers was organized in St. Petersburg by M. I. Brusnev’s Social Democratic group. From 1892 to 1894, May Day was marked by meetings and gatherings of workers in St. Petersburg, Tula, Warsaw, Lódz, Vilnius, Kazan, Kiev, and Nizhny Novgorod. Beginning in the mid-1890’s the number of May Day strikes organized by the workers increased steadily. From 1900, May Day was celebrated not only by strikes but also by demonstrations in Kiev, Warsaw, Vilnius, Helsinki, and Kharkov. In 1901, Iskra initiated the publication of the May Day general party proclamation of the RSDLP. May Day demonstrations held in 1901 in St. Petersburg, Tbilisi, Gomel’, Kharkov, and other cities were the first to be accompanied by the slogans “Down with the autocracy!” and “Hail to the republic!” and the first to bring confrontations with troops.
The workers’ May Day demonstrations took on an all-Russian character. In 1905, May Day was celebrated in 177 cities and industrial centers. Peasants, soldiers, and sailors began to join the workers in May Day events. During the years of reaction, May 1 was celebrated primarily with meetings and gatherings. In 1912, after the Lena massacre, 400,000 workers went on strike during the May days. Their main slogans called for the eight-hour workday, confiscation of the landlords’ estates, and the overthrow of the autocracy. In 1913, 420,000 workers joined in May Day strikes; in 1914, 500,000 workers participated. After the victory of the February Revolution of 1917, May Day was freely celebrated for the first time. Millions of working people took to the streets under the Bolshevik slogans “All power to the Soviets!” and “Down with the imperialist war!”
The character and content of May Day celebrations changed with the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution. On May Day the working people of the Soviet Union show their solidarity with the revolutionary struggles of the working people in capitalist countries and with national liberation movements. They express their determination to use all their power for the struggle for peace and the building of communist society. In the USSR, May 1 was proclaimed a holiday in the 1918 Labor Code of the RSFSR. May 2 was declared a holiday in a decree issued on Apr. 23, 1928, by the Central Executive Committee of the Council of People’s Commissars.
REFERENCES
Lenin, V. I. Poln. sobr. soch., 5th ed. (See Index, part 1, p. 459.)
Pervoe Maia v tsarskoi Rossii 1890–1916 gg.: Sb. dok-tov.[Moscow] 1939.
Pochebut, G. A. Penomai. Leningrad, 1961.
an international holiday of the working people; a day of solidarity among workers throughout the world, and a day for the combat review of the forces of the working people of all countries. The decision to make May 1 a day of annual demonstrations was made in July 1889 by the Paris Congress of the Second International, to commemorate an action by the workers of Chicago, who organized a s...trike for May 1, 1886, demanding an eight-hour workday, and held a demonstration that ended in a bloody confrontation with the police. May 1 was celebrated for the first time as an international holiday in 1890 in Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Italy, the USA, Norway, France, Sweden, and several other countries. (In Great Britain, the first May Day celebration was held on May 4, 1890.) The main demand of the first May Day demonstrations was the eight-hour workday. The form of May Day demonstrations and the content of May Day slogans were often the subject of sharp disagreements between representatives of the revolutionary and reformist tendencies in the working-class movement.
The enormous revolutionizing effect of the Great October Socialist Revolution on the international working-class movement was reflected in the character of May Day celebrations, which became more massive and, in many countries, took on a clearly revolutionary, anticapitalist tendency. After World War II (1939–45) the formation of the world socialist system, the breakup of the colonial system of imperialism, and the strengthening of the forces of socialism and democracy throughout the world determined the particular features of May Day celebrations in different countries and regions.
The socialist countries celebrate May Day by mobilizing the working people in the struggle to build socialism and communism. In the developing countries that have been freed from colonial rule, as well as in countries struggling for political independence, May Day is celebrated as a day of struggle against imperialism and internal reaction, for the elimination of colonialism and neocolonialism, and for the establishment in the former colonies of an independent economy and a progressive approach to socioeconomic development. On May Day the working people in the developed capitalist countries advance demands for improved working and living conditions and hold demonstrations in favor of democratic transformations and socialism. In all countries the international brotherhood of peoples and the struggle for peace are celebrated on May Day.
In prerevolutionary Russia and the USSR. In the Russian Empire, May Day was first celebrated in 1890 with a strike by 10,000 workers in Warsaw. In 1891 an illegal May Day meeting of workers was organized in St. Petersburg by M. I. Brusnev’s Social Democratic group. From 1892 to 1894, May Day was marked by meetings and gatherings of workers in St. Petersburg, Tula, Warsaw, Lódz, Vilnius, Kazan, Kiev, and Nizhny Novgorod. Beginning in the mid-1890’s the number of May Day strikes organized by the workers increased steadily. From 1900, May Day was celebrated not only by strikes but also by demonstrations in Kiev, Warsaw, Vilnius, Helsinki, and Kharkov. In 1901, Iskra initiated the publication of the May Day general party proclamation of the RSDLP. May Day demonstrations held in 1901 in St. Petersburg, Tbilisi, Gomel’, Kharkov, and other cities were the first to be accompanied by the slogans “Down with the autocracy!” and “Hail to the republic!” and the first to bring confrontations with troops.
The workers’ May Day demonstrations took on an all-Russian character. In 1905, May Day was celebrated in 177 cities and industrial centers. Peasants, soldiers, and sailors began to join the workers in May Day events. During the years of reaction, May 1 was celebrated primarily with meetings and gatherings. In 1912, after the Lena massacre, 400,000 workers went on strike during the May days. Their main slogans called for the eight-hour workday, confiscation of the landlords’ estates, and the overthrow of the autocracy. In 1913, 420,000 workers joined in May Day strikes; in 1914, 500,000 workers participated. After the victory of the February Revolution of 1917, May Day was freely celebrated for the first time. Millions of working people took to the streets under the Bolshevik slogans “All power to the Soviets!” and “Down with the imperialist war!”
The character and content of May Day celebrations changed with the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution. On May Day the working people of the Soviet Union show their solidarity with the revolutionary struggles of the working people in capitalist countries and with national liberation movements. They express their determination to use all their power for the struggle for peace and the building of communist society. In the USSR, May 1 was proclaimed a holiday in the 1918 Labor Code of the RSFSR. May 2 was declared a holiday in a decree issued on Apr. 23, 1928, by the Central Executive Committee of the Council of People’s Commissars.
REFERENCES
Lenin, V. I. Poln. sobr. soch., 5th ed. (See Index, part 1, p. 459.)
Pervoe Maia v tsarskoi Rossii 1890–1916 gg.: Sb. dok-tov.[Moscow] 1939.
Pochebut, G. A. Penomai. Leningrad, 1961.
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