She is old as the world and is known to everyone. Just in case, she clarified with her colleagues and realized that many know only the official version. On the eve of Women's Day, we decided to collect all the stories that, one way or another, relate to the creation of International Women's Day. Some of them may shock and even discourage celebrating this day.

Version One, Official: Women's Day of Solidarity

The official version of the USSR says that the tradition of celebrating March 8 is connected with the "empty pot march", which was held on this day in 1857 by textile workers of New York. They protested against unacceptable working conditions and low salaries. Interestingly, there was not a single strike notice in the then press. And historians have found that March 8, 1857 was completely Sunday. It’s very strange to organize a strike on the weekend.
In 1910, at a women's forum in Copenhagen, German Communist Klara Zetkin called on the world to establish International Women's Day on March 8th. She meant that on this day women would hold rallies and processions, and thereby draw public attention to their problems. Well, yes, we all know this story.
Initially, the holiday was called International Day of Women's Solidarity in the fight for their rights. The date of March 8th was summed up by the very strike of textile workers, which, perhaps, actually never happened. More precisely, it was, but not the textile workers on strike. But more on that later.
In the USSR, this holiday was brought by a friend of Zetkin, a fiery revolutionary Alexander Kollontai. The one who conquered the Soviet Union with a "great phrase": "Surrendering to the first man he meets is as easy as drinking a glass of water."

Second Version, Jewish: Praise of the Jewish Queen

Historians did not agree on whether Klara Zetkin was a Jew. Some sources claim that she was born into the family of a Jewish shoemaker, while others are a German teacher. Go figure it out. However, Zetkin’s desire to connect March 8 with the Jewish holiday of Purim cannot be silenced.
So, the second version says that Zetkin wanted to connect the history of Women's Day with the history of the Jewish people. According to legend, the beloved Persian king Xerxes, Esther, saved the Jewish people from extermination, using their spells. Xerxes wanted to exterminate all the Jews, but Esther convinced him not only not to kill the Jews, but, on the contrary, to destroy all their enemies, including the Persians themselves.
It happened on the 13th day of Arda according to the Jewish calendar (this month falls on the end of February - the beginning of March). Praising Esther, the Jews began to celebrate Purim. The date of the celebration was moving, but in 1910 it fell on March 8th.

Version three, about women of the most ancient profession

The third version, perhaps the most scandalous for all the fair sex, with awe awaiting International Women's Day.
In 1857, in New York, women did protest, but they were not textile workers, but prostitutes. Representatives of the ancient profession demanded that salaries be paid to sailors who used their services, but did not have money to pay.
In 1894, on March 8, in Paris, prostitutes again held a demonstration. This time they demanded to recognize their rights on an equal basis with those women who sew clothes or bake bread, and establish special unions. This was repeated both in 1895 in Chicago and in 1896 in New York - shortly before the memorial congress of suffragists in 1910, where it was decided to declare this day feminine and international at the suggestion of Zetkin.
By the way, Klara herself carried out similar actions. All in the same 1910, together with her friend Rosa Luxemburg, she brought prostitutes to the streets of German cities demanding to stop police atrocities. That's only in the Soviet version of prostitutes replaced by "working women."

Why implemented March 8?

Many historians agree that March 8 is the usual political campaign of the Social Democrats.
At the beginning of the 20th century, women protested throughout Europe. And in order to attract attention, they did not even need to show their breasts. It was enough just to walk through the streets with posters on which the socialist slogans are written, and public attention is provided. And the leaders of the Social Democratic Party, a tick, they say, progressive women are in solidarity with us.
Stalin also decided to add popularity and ordered to recognize March 8 as International Women's Day. But since it was difficult to tie it to historical events, I had to slightly adjust the history. And no one really understood. Once the leader said - then it was so.

March 8 is the world day of women, a holiday of love, female beauty, wisdom and tenderness. Today this day is considered a holiday of spring and attention to the female sex, regardless of its status and age. We thank the women for being in our lives. On this day, it is customary to pay attention to your beloved women, to compliment them, to please them with care and gifts.

March 8 Wikipedia holiday story: versions of the holiday's appearance

World Women's Day was not always considered a holiday of spring. Initially, it was associated with the struggle in the political, economic and social fields. Then, the goal was to assert their rights, and to establish equality between a man and a woman.

In 1966, in the USSR, this day was not only a holiday, but also, respectively, a non-working day. Over time, the holiday ceased to be attached to politics and the struggle of women for their rights, but simply without any explanation became a holiday on March 8.

There are several versions of how this holiday came about.

According to the official version - “Day of Solidarity of Working Women”. By tradition, celebrating March 8th was associated with the "march of empty pots." It was conducted by textile workers from New York in 1857. They wanted to achieve equality, so they went out to protest against unacceptable working conditions and low pay.

In 1910 in Copenhagen, the German communist Klara Zetkin raised the issue of choosing one day a year when a woman could express her problems, thereby attracting society to pay attention to her. From the very beginning, the holiday was called the International Day of Women's Solidarity in the Struggle for Their Rights, and the date of March 8 refers specifically to the performance of working women.

According to the Jewish version, Klara Zetkin wanted the events related to Women's Day to be connected with the history of the Jewish people. According to legend, Xerxes wanted to destroy all the Jews, and Esther, who was his lover, on the contrary convinced him to destroy all Jewish enemies, including the Persians themselves. Glorifying Esther, the Jews began to celebrate Purim, which fell on March 8 in 1910.

Version of the oldest female profession. This option is the most unpleasant for women. According to this version, not the textile workers, but the prostitutes came to the protest, which was in New York in 1857. They insisted that the sailors who used their services be paid a salary.

Such demonstrations were held in Paris in 1894, in Chicago in 1895 and in New York in 1896, Wordyou reports. This time, prostitutes demanded that they have the same rights as women of other professions. And in 1910 this day was still recognized as feminine and international, as Clara Zetkin suggested.

March 8 wikipedia holiday history: how is the holiday celebrated today

After the collapse of the USSR, March 8 remained the state holiday of the Russian Federation and is considered a day off. According to tradition, on this day, the most desirable and sought-after gift is flowers.

Fresh flowers are the most universal way to show attention to the beloved woman.

March 8 - "International Women's Day", a holiday of spring and attention to women. On this day, we are freed from work, and our "beautiful halves" expect us to receive signs of attention, flowers and gifts. That is the tradition. We rejoice at the holiday, not particularly delving into its meaning. Time passes, the meaning of the holiday finally disappears, and sometimes we ask ourselves: what, in fact, and why are we celebrating?

The holiday of March 8 was conceived not as a day of glorification of the Beautiful Lady, but of a revolutionary woman. The Pravda newspaper called this holiday at the dawn of the revolution "the day of the female Workers' International," it is the holiday of women striving to be equal in rights with men, this is the day of emancipation. Today, the holiday has lost its historical destiny. Although on this day in many countries mass rallies of feminists are still taking place, and this day is considered by many to be the day of the struggle against the stronger sex ...

America, or the first women's union

March 8, 1857 in New York gathered for a manifestation of workers sewing and shoe factories. They demanded a shorter working day, better working conditions, equal wages with men. At that time, women worked up to 16 hours a day, receiving pennies for their labor. Men after decisive speeches managed to achieve the introduction of a 10-hour working day. Many enterprises in the United States have unions. And after March 8, 1857, another was formed - for the first time, women became its members. On this day, in many cities in New York City, hundreds of women marched for demonstration of suffrage.

Europe, or Klara Zetkin

We traditionally connect the history of this holiday with Klara Zetkin, who created a revolutionary detachment of women, so to speak, decided to include the unstoppable energy of women in the struggle against the exploiters. And although its creation was a matter of more than one day, it was decided to choose a day that could be considered the birthday of the "female proletariat."

In 1910, in Copenhagen, at the 2nd International Conference of Women Socialists in Copenhagen, on the proposal of Clara Zetkin on the establishment of a "day for women's rights," a resolution was adopted to annually celebrate Women's Day, "which primarily serves as an agitation for providing women suffrage. " This sounded like a call to all women of the world to rise to the struggle for equality. Responding to this call, women of many countries are joining the fight against poverty, for the right to work, respect for their dignity, for peace.

The date of International Women's Day, on the proposal of a member of the Central Committee of the Social Democratic Party, Elena Greenberg, was approved on March 19. And the first International Women's Day was celebrated in 1911 in Germany, Austria, Denmark and Switzerland on March 19th. In 1912, it took place in the same countries, but on May 12. In 1913, because of organizational difficulties, it turned out to be a complete disagreement: in Germany they celebrated March 12, in Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Switzerland, the Netherlands on March 9, in France and Russia on March 2. And only in 1914, for the first time ever, International Women's Day was held on March 8, since it coincided with Sunday, that is, with a day off. Yes, and fixed on this date.

Anti-Semitism, or A Little Dirt ...

But there is a fairly popular theory of deacon Andrei Kuraev that the choice of number belonged to Klara Zetkin, who connected the birth of a new detachment fighting against injustice with the history of the Jewish people (for me personally, at least with the history of the Martian-Venusian people). Many centuries ago, Queen Esther saved her people from destruction by cunning. She is dedicated to the annual, most fun Jewish holiday - the holiday of Purim. It is celebrated at the turning point from winter to spring, and in 1909 it was celebrated on the eve of March 8 ...

I will not retell this article, which is clearly trying to sow the seeds of hostility and hatred. But what can you do? After all, the Church is also struck by all those ailments that our society is suffering today. If the general declares his party "Movement against the Jews", if the head of the largest faction in the State Duma, the Communist-Internationalist Zyuganov, declares that "the intelligentsia has been divided into two parts, which I conventionally call for myself" Ivan Ivanychi "and" Abram Abramychi ", then why and the Orthodox priest does not have his "private opinion"? In the end, the extremes always converge ...

The official position of the Russian Orthodox Church was unequivocally expressed by Alexy II at the end of 1991 in New York at a meeting with American rabbis: “The unity of Judaism and Christianity has a real basis for spiritual and natural kinship and positive religious interests. We are one with the Jews, without giving up Christianity, not contrary to Christianity, but in the name and by virtue of Christianity, and the Jews are one with us not contrary to Judaism, but in the name and by virtue of true Judaism ... The Jewish people are close to us by faith. Your law is our law, your prophets - these are our prophets. The Ten Commandments of Moses oblige Christians, as well as Jews. We wish to live in peace and harmony with you, so that there are no misunderstandings, enmities and hatreds between us. "

Feast of Purim, or "Sibling" of Shrovetide

Purim does not belong to religious holidays, he is the brother of our Pancake week, the European Carnival, the Greek Dionysius (or Bacchanalia), the Bulgarian Kukere, the Persian Novruz Bayram. This is a celebration in honor of the beating of enemies and dates back to 480 BC, when the Old Testament people, the people of "cruel", with the help of the cunning of Esther, freed from the power of the Persians. The story of Queen Esther is described in detail in the book of the same name, which is part of the Bible.

Queen Esther is revered by our Church along with other Old Testament righteous people in the Forefather week (two weeks before the birth of Christ).

Briefly, this story sounds something like this:

After the end of the Babylonian captivity of the Jews, everyone could return to Jerusalem. But, having taken root over centuries in Babylon, thousands of Jews did not want to leave their homes and remained to live in the cities of the Persian empire.

The current situation began to annoy the Persians. Looking around, they ceased to understand: who won whom. The Persians conquered Jerusalem, or the Jews captured Babylon? Persian Minister of Defense General Aman goes to the royal Xerxes and shares his sad observations. Xerxes reaction was decidedly pagan: to exterminate all Jews. His wife Tsarina Esther, who hid her nationality from the king, learns about Xerxes’s plan. She did not directly ask the king for mercy, but decided to use the king’s love for herself. At a time when the king was all under the influence of her irresistible charms, she demanded from him a promise that he would destroy all the enemies that encroached on her people. And Xerxes, without much thought responding with consent to all these questions, now with surprise finds that he agreed to destroy all the enemies of the Jews he hates ...

  “all the princes in the provinces, and the satraps, and the executors of the king’s affairs supported the Jews. And the Jews beat all their enemies, and destroyed and acted with enemies of their own free will” (Esther. 9.3-5).

As a result, Day 13 of Adar is considered among the Jews a holiday of deliverance from mortal danger and punishment of all enemies. And this holiday is considered the greatest. Among the Talmudic sages, "there is even an opinion that when all the books of the prophets are forgotten, the book of Esther will still not be forgotten, and the holiday of Purim will not cease to be observed."

Russia, or Woman Loader

In Russia, for the first time, International Women's Day was celebrated in 1913 in St. Petersburg. The petition addressed to the mayor announced the organization of "... a scientific morning on the women's issue." The authorities gave permission and on March 2, 1913, a thousand and a half people gathered in the building of the Kalashnikovskaya bread exchange on Poltava Street. The agenda of the scientific readings included the following issues: voting rights for women; state support of motherhood; about the high cost of life.

From the first years of Soviet power, March 8 became our state holiday. In March 1917, Russian women gained the right to vote, and the 1918 Constitution enshrined the policy of women's equal rights as a state and the Soviet authorities began to implement it (we can recall that the Soviet idea of \u200b\u200b"gender equality" led us to the emergence of such a "purely female "professions as pavers ...).

Gradually, International Women's Day was losing its political coloring.

Since 1965, this day became non-working. There was also its festive and official ritual: at the celebrations, the state was accountable to the public on the implementation of the state policy on women.

But then perestroika broke out and many women were literally thrown to the sidelines of life. The terms appeared: “female face of unemployment”, “violence against women”, “male parliament”, “maternal family”, “maternal mortality”, “social orphanhood”, “female alcoholism”. Discrimination against women in the labor market was officially recognized.

The Government of the Russian Federation announced at its IV World Conference on the Status of Women (Beijing, 1995) its obligations to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women. In 1996, the Concept for the Advancement of Women and the National Action Plan for the Advancement of the Status of Russian Women were adopted. Similar documents were adopted in the constituent entities of the Federation. However, neither on March 8, nor on Mother's Day in November, we hear any reports on the implementation of these important state documents.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, March 8 remained on the list of public holidays of the Russian Federation. Women's Day is also celebrated in the CIS countries: in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine as International Women's Day; in Belarus and Uzbekistan as Mother's Day; in Armenia, April 7, celebrate Motherhood and Beauty Day.

Russia, century XXI, or the Declaration of Human Rights

  "And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them" (Genesis, chap. 1, v. 27). If human society in its development was guided by these words, the need for an International Women's Day would not have arisen, since women would not need to prove that they are people too, and fight for their human rights.

But, alas, it was only in the 20th century that humanity, in the person of its best representatives, grew to the realization of this truth, and in 1948 the United Nations adopted a document - the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights", which says:

Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and must act towards each other in a spirit of brotherhood.
   Article 2: Everyone must have all the rights and freedoms proclaimed by this Declaration, without any distinction, such as in relation to race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other beliefs, national or social origin , property, estate or other situation.

The Declaration became the basis on which other international documents aimed at protecting the social, political, economic and human rights of women were adopted (on September 1, 1985, the governments of 88 countries signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women).

However, declaring the right and ensuring its implementation is far from the same thing. Indeed, even today women and children are subjected to violence and humiliation: this is trafficking in human beings, coercion to prostitution, and cruelty in armed conflicts and wars. Growing poverty and neglect of human rights are the root causes of violence, and poverty itself is already a form of violence. And the victims of poverty, as we know, are primarily women and children.

Today, the festive mood of women directly depends on the economic situation of the family, its real income. And prices are rising, motherhood is becoming a luxury, for children's goods are becoming more expensive, education and health care are becoming paid, child allowances are ephemeral. Poverty and poverty have become the norm for most families with children; the stratification of society into rich and poor is growing. The country cultivates the spirit of violence, permissiveness, and women's dignity is violated. As a result, in Russia there are up to 4 million street and street children, 15 thousand women die every year from violent acts, the birth rate is half that of mortality.

Therefore, it is hardly appropriate to consider March 8 only as a holiday of spring and reduce the whole range of problems to one thing: what to give to your beloved woman.

The twentieth century was marked by socialist, scientific, technical, cultural and sexual revolutions, and it remains only to regret that in this series there was no place for a spiritual revolution. And without this, all declarations and appeals of the UN, UNESCO and other organizations will remain the voice of one crying in the desert.

The founders of the Soviet state were militant atheists, and were unlikely to be guided by Jewish religious motives when choosing a date for "Women's Day." They needed to create their own system of beliefs, rites and rituals as opposed to the Church. Soviet traditions - a parody of spiritual life, fake, propaganda dummy. The party instead of the Church, the corpse of the leader instead of the Savior, portraits of leaders instead of icons, party congresses instead of church Councils, demonstrations instead of religious processions ... Instead of venerating the Most Holy Mother of God, a lumpenized labor-peasant crowd was offered a "women's day" that fit so well into the Soviet calendar . Yes, and it’s hard to choose a better time to celebrate than the early spring, when nature awakens from winter sleep, the sun begins to shine in spring and the first snowdrop flowers bloom.

Our contemporaries do not particularly think about the origins of the March 8th celebration, but simply perceive this day as an occasion to give flowers to their dear women. But it is worth remembering and honoring traditions, especially since in the Orthodox Church the third Sunday after Easter is dedicated to the memory of myrrh-bearing women, who in the morning of the Resurrection hurried to the Sepulcher of Christ and were the first to receive the joyful news of His rebellion from the dead. And if so, then let us remember that we can congratulate our wives and mothers, sisters and colleagues when the Church glorifies the care and loyalty of myrrh-bearing women. And even better: let's not forget them on other days! Therefore - give gifts and flowers to beloved women not only on March 8.
  March 8 holiday story (facts only)

Why is International Women's Day celebrated on March 8th? It turns out that there are no special reasons for this.

It all started in early spring of 1857 ... when the textile workers of New York marched through the "empty pot march" across Manhattan. They demanded higher wages, better working conditions and equal rights for women. The demonstration was naturally dispersed, but it made a lot of noise due to its unusualness. This event was even called Women's Day ...

More than 50 years passed and on the last Sunday of February, already in 1908, thousands of women again took to the streets of New York. This demonstration, as you might guess, was timed to coincide with the very "Women's Day" of 1857. Women again began to demand a selective vote, opposed the terrible working conditions, and especially against the work of children. Police received orders to disperse the demonstration. Hoses with dirty ice water were launched.

The following 1909, Women's Day was again marked by marches and strikes of women. In 1910, socialists and feminists held Women's Day throughout the country. Later that year, delegates traveled from the United States to Copenhagen to the Second International Conference of Women Socialists, where they met with Clara Zetkin ...

Inspired by the actions of the “American socialist sisters,” Klara Zetkin suggested raising the question at the conference that women all over the world choose a certain day when they will draw public attention to their demands. The conference, which was attended by more than 100 women from 17 countries, warmly supported this proposal by roll-call, which resulted in the emergence of the International Day of Women's Solidarity in the struggle for economic, social and political equality. It should be noted that the exact date of this day at this conference has not been determined.

For the first time, International Women's Day was held on March 19, 1911 in Germany, Austria, Denmark and some other European countries. This date was chosen by the women of Germany, because on this day in 1848, the king of Prussia, in front of the threat of armed insurrection, promised to carry out reforms, including the unfulfilled introduction of suffrage for women.

In 1912, women celebrated this day not on March 19, but on May 12. And only since 1914 this day began to spontaneously be celebrated for some reason on March 8th.

Since Russia then lived in contrast to the whole of Europe according to the Julian calendar, the International Women's Day in our country was celebrated not on March 8, but on February 23.

In Russia, women have been celebrating this day annually since 1913. And so, on February 23, 1917, the year in Russia this day again came the women of Petrograd took to the streets of the city protesting against the war. Some spontaneous rallies turned into mass strikes and demonstrations, clashes with Cossacks and police. On February 24-25, mass strikes escalated into a general strike. On February 26, individual skirmishes with the police resulted in battles with troops called into the capital. On February 27, a general strike turned into an armed uprising, a mass transfer of troops to the side of the rebels, which occupied the most important points of the city, and government buildings, began. A Council of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies was created; at the same time, an Interim Committee of the State Duma was created, which formed a government. March 2 (15), Nicholas II abdicated. On March 1, a new government was established in Moscow, during March - throughout the country.

Thus, the International Women's Day of 1917 was the trigger that led to the February Revolution, which in turn led to the October Revolution and the emergence of the USSR ...

March 8 was a normal working day in the USSR for a long time, but May 8, 1965, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, International Women's Day was declared a holiday on March 8 in the USSR.

By the way, since 2002, International Women's Day has been celebrated in Russia as a “non-working holiday”, not according to the Decree of 1965, but according to Article 112 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation on the list of the other nine state holidays of the Russian Federation.

P.S. Many doubt that this holiday is truly "international". However, back in 1977, the UN adopted resolution 32/142, calling on all countries to proclaim March 8 as the day of the struggle for women's rights - International Women's Day. This day is declared a national holiday in the republics of the former USSR, as well as in: Angola, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Cambodia, China, Congo (there is not a holiday of "international" but Congolese women), Laos, Macedonia, Mongolia, Nepal, North Korea and Uganda. In Syria, March 8 is marked as the Day of the Revolution, and in Liberia it is celebrated as Memorial Day of the fallen.

The holiday of dishes washed once a year by the husband, the holiday of Mimosa pudica (popularly referred to as “mimosa”), the holiday of obligatory attendance of children's morning performances .... One of my friends speaks of this date exceptionally dismissively shaking her lips: "We do not celebrate gender holidays in the family." At the same time, the word “gender” at this stage in the development of society has a derogatory, and sometimes offensive, meaning. That is, the holiday of women, Women's Day, in her view - and not only in her - a day that degrades women's honor and dignity. Is it so? Let's get it right.

Ancient Rome

The celebration of life, the celebration of rebirth and the birth, the celebration of the hearth is the celebration of women. No, not like that: Woman's holiday. Holiday of the goddess Vesta and her "wards." A holiday in which all women of Rome and its environs, regardless of their social status (both free-born and slaves), enjoyed incomparably more freedom than on other days (Roman women, even free-born, did not have the rights that we have today women). Dressed up in the morning, matrons and slaves decorated themselves with wreaths of flowers and went to the Vesta temple to offer sacrifices and worship the goddess. In addition, donkeys (jokes to the side) had special rights that day - they had an official day off, because, according to mythology, it was the donkey that saved Vesta from rape by Priapus, the deity responsible for fertility, but who had, let's say, oddities in the psyche. Among other things, Priapus was measured by the size of a member with a talking donkey and, losing, in a rage, killed the latter.
  Despite the fact that the holiday was previously celebrated on June 9, that is, in the beginning of summer, after its ban in 382, \u200b\u200bthe holiday gradually shifted to spring. In fact, there was no official holiday, but the habit remained and it was put “at the service of the Fatherland”, having connected the spring with women and forgetting about donkeys who suffered for the honor of women.

Ancient persia

Xerxes - the very one that crushed the number of three hundred Spartans and Tsar Leonid - is not important to us now. But his wife, Esther, is interesting without any connection with Sparta. She was Jewish and a worthy daughter of her people. In fact, she saved the Jews from another total annihilation, directing the anger of her husband at her subjects and a loyal general to the king.
  480 BC is the death of Esther with about 75,000 Persians “with a light hand” instead of about the same number of Jews. There is a book about this woman, which is included in the Old Testament - the Book of Esther.
There is a legend that Klara Zetkin - who “appointed” us to celebrate March 8, proposed this date in honor of the Purim holiday - the day that marks the next preservation of the Jewish people in the Jewish and Babylonian lands, a day dedicated to Esther. A woman who managed to save an entire nation.
  Where is the humiliation of honor and dignity? ..

America

1857 year. March 8. There is literally nothing. Women's working day is 16 hours. Remuneration is scanty. The right to vote and "did not smell." “March of empty pots” - they will say later about textile workers who took to the streets of New York in protest against working conditions. They didn’t want so much: a working day of 10 hours, dry and lighted jobs ... Think about this word - “dry”.
  On March 8, 1908, those who had the power to protest further demanded a ban on the use of child labor and the right to vote for women. The very rights that Roman women have never had: neither the right to vote, nor the right to real estate, nor the right to children.
  And already in 1909, the Socialist Party of America decided to proclaim the last Sunday of February as National Women's Day.

Pre-revolutionary Russia

So, that same Klara Zetkin. The same woman, who for some reason is now called a “prostitute,” as if someone was standing next to a candle. The same woman who in Copenhagen in 1910, at an international women's conference, proposed annually celebrating March 8 in honor of those events that happened fifty-odd years ago. Her proposal was supported, although the date in different countries was postponed to other days. So, in 1911, for the first time, International Women's Day was celebrated in Austria, Germany, Denmark and Switzerland on March 19, then, in 1912, other countries joined in on May 12. In Russia, it was first celebrated on March 2 in 1913 with the permission of the authorities. As a result, one and a half thousand women gathered to discuss pressing issues: women's suffrage, state maternity support (maternity leave), etc. First World War.
In 1917, it was women on the last Sunday of February (in honor of American National Women's Day) who came out with the slogans “Bread and Peace”, and after the abdication of Nicholas II from the throne, they “claimed” their voting rights from the interim government. It so happened that this truly historic day fell on 23 in the old style and on March 8 in the new style.

There is probably no person in our country who, with the words “March Eighth,” did not recall International Women's Day. Of course, after all, even at the most tender age, preparing for the "mother's" holiday in kindergartens, we carefully deduced on homemade postcards "From March 8!". And then glued on top small pieces of foam and painted them with yellow gouache - it turned out mimosa. We also studied poems with the teachers and read them at the matinee with expression. The most kind and bright memories from childhood are connected with this holiday.

Of course, then we did not even think about where this holiday came from. Meanwhile, the history of its occurrence is quite interesting and unusual. If we try to recall everything that we know about the origin of International Women's Day, then Clara Zetkin comes to mind and fragmentary memories that she fought for the rights of women around the world. This ideological communist was really the first to put forward the idea of \u200b\u200buniting women in the struggle for their equal rights with men, on her initiative at the beginning of the 20th century. International conferences of women socialists were held. At one of them, in 1910, Klara Zetkin made a proposal to celebrate March 8 of each year as the Day of Solidarity of Working Women, that is, in fact this holiday was originally a political one.

Why did Clara choose the eighth day of spring?   In this regard, there are three versions that are not mutually exclusive.

Firstly, Zetkin came up with the proposal to create such a holiday on March 8, 1910. Secondly, half a century earlier, on March 8, 1857, a protest rally was held in New York by factory workers who were unhappy with the terrifying conditions of their work: the working day lasted as long as 16 hours, and pennies were paid for it. And finally, thirdly, the history of the holiday of March 8 is associated with biblical events. Around the V century. Before Christmas, King Xerxes, whose wife was called Esther, ruled Persia. She was Jewish, but hid her descent from her husband. The Persian ruler, known for his cruelty, preferred radical measures in everything: to get rid of the former Jewish captives who inhabited Babylon and did not want to leave, he ordered them to be exterminated. Esther, learning about this, decided at all costs to save her compatriots. She cheated: persuaded her husband to destroy the enemies of her people. Xerxes, of course, did not assume that we were talking about the Persians themselves. But the promise he had to fulfill. And so, just at the beginning of March according to our calendar, the Persian tyrant issued a decree that allowed Jews to exterminate all their enemies. Of course, the Jews did not miss such a chance: more than 50,000 Persians, the richest and most influential, were killed in the shortest possible time. The Persian empire never recovered from this blow, having lost the entire top of its society. And for the Jews, the day of the issuing of the salvation decree was the greatest holiday, they still celebrate Purim at the very beginning of spring - a celebration dedicated to Esther.

Klara Zetkin, being Jewish by nationality, probably took into account this moment in the history of her people. And although the Purim holiday is celebrated every year with a small calendar shift of several days (like Easter, for example), Zetkin proposed a fixed date for the celebration - the eighth day of March. Perhaps she made just such a choice, taking into account not only biblical legends, but also the events of the 19th century, about which we spoke earlier. Clara Zetkin's proposal was accepted, and the holiday was introduced. In 1911, it was already marked by two continents: North America and Europe (more precisely - Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Austria).

In Russia, this day was first celebrated in 1913 in St. Petersburg. On this day, a meeting was organized in the building of the bread exchange. 1,500 people came to him. Among the issues discussed were problems related to women's rights. But it became a public holiday after the 1917 revolution, during the Soviet era. Gradually, year after year, International Women's Day more and more lost its political significance and acquired a universal significance. After the collapse of the USSR, March 8 is celebrated both in the Russian Federation and in some CIS countries. By the way, this day is a national celebration in such countries as Cambodia, Angola, Macedonia, China, Burkina Faso, North Korea, and some others.

Now we no longer think about the original purpose of this holiday and its origin. For us, this day is the triumph of female beauty, love and the coming spring. On this day, men give all their attention, care and tenderness to the ladies around them. And since this wonderful tradition gives pleasure to the representatives of both sexes, we can be sure that the holiday of March 8 has long entered our lives.

Festive interior for March 8

Since March 8 is a spring, feminine holiday, the decoration should also correspond to the spirit and mood of this celebration. Let it be light, weightless, tender. To decorate the interior, choose accessories in pastel colors: pale pink, light blue, light green, lilac and other soft shades.

If the hall for the celebration is large enough, then you can order a garland of balls. Colors such as milky white and pink, beige and light green are very beautifully combined. To decorate the space, multi-colored ribbons are suitable, which can be used in different ways. You can make a curtain of them: tie them to the fishing line, which then pull them under the ceiling. Then you need to collect the ribbons with beautiful laces with tassels in two bundles, as is usually done with curtains. In addition, you can make compositions of ribbons and balloons and decorate the hall with them already. This idea is good for small spaces that need to be decorated. And, of course, do not forget about flowers - you can’t do without them. After all, the holiday is not only female, but also spring, and flowers are the main symbol of spring, love and beauty.

A composition of fresh or dried flowers can be ordered in any floristic salon - the plot must be sure that the performance will be at its best. You can do something similar with your own hands, using various improvised materials: ribbons, beads, sparkles.

The main flower of the holiday, of course, is mimosa. Therefore, try to use it in your creative experiments, but remember that this plant should not be placed in a vase with others, since such a bouquet will quickly fade.

If you ordered several compositions of flowers, then you can “revive” them yourself. Cut butterflies out of paper, paint them in bright colors, glue pieces of foil to the wings and put them on the flowers, attaching them with a needle or pin. “Butterflies” can “fly” to the windows, window sills, office desks of your employees - anywhere. For a long time they will delight with their presence and remind of the coming spring.