November 4th marks Russia’s National Unity Day, a public holiday that symbolizes age-old traditions of patriotism and solidarity. On this day in 1612, the people’s volunteer army upheld the country’s independence in the fight against foreign invaders. Those events still indicate that the future of Russia depends on civil unity and people’s cohesion.
In 1612, the entire territory of Russia turned into a battlefield. The country’s western areas were annexed by its bellicose immediate neighbors, while Moscow was occupied by Polish troops. The united Russian state was on the verge of collapse at the time, with numerous self-proclaimed tsars contributing to the looming disintegration. Back then, Russia was on the verge of destruction, something that could be an unprecedented event in the country’s history, according Andrei Sakharov, head of the Moscow-based Institute of Russian history.
"The people’s best forces managed to stand up for their Motherland in the face of rift, spiritual devastation and moral degradation of Russian society, Sakharov says. Plenty of people of various confessions, ethnicities, and social strata united under the leadership of Minin and Pozharsky to save their homeland from foreign invaders, Sakharov says, citing peasants, tradesmen and noblemen from all across the country. They loved their Motherland and they finally saved it in the Time of Troubles," he concludes.
On November 4, 1612, the people’s volunteer army liberated Moscow from Polish occupants. Several months later, a new Russian tsar was anointed at the Kremlin Assembly of the Land in Moscow, which added significantly to the future of Russia’s statehood. As of the middle of the 17th century, the Russian Orthodox Church started honoring November 4 as the Feast Day of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, which, according to the legend, helped the people’s volunteer corps. The tradition came to a standstill in Soviet era, but was revived by leaders of religious confessions in 2005, when National Unity Day was officially established in Russia.
According to opinion polls, some Russians still play this holiday down, instead preferring to celebrate the November 7 event, known as the Day of the Great October Socialist Revolution during the Soviet period. National Unity Day’s turning into a nation-wide holiday is a question of time, believes Leonid Reshetnikov, head of the Institute of Strategic Studies in Moscow.
"The 1917 Bolshevik Revolution saw the beginning of the November 7th celebrations, Reshetnikov says. In Soviet era, the very discussion of the necessity of celebrating the event was out of the question, something that was fraught with being put behind bars at the time. Not now. The discussions surrounding the November 4th celebrations are still under way, with many agreeing that the main thing is the Russian people’s cohesion in their thriving country," Reshetnikov wraps up.
Meanwhile, Russia’s spiritual leaders have urged their compatriots to turn National Unity Day into Good Deeds Day, which should contribute to the self-identity and solidarity of people of various nationalities, creeds and social strata. The November 4th holiday will see divine services performed all across Russia, with Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill due to lead a service at the Cathedral of the Mother of God of Kazan in central Moscow later on Friday.
In another development on Friday, President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin of Russia will pay a visit to the city of Nizhny Novgorod, where they will take part in festivities dedicated to National Unity Day. In 1612, the city was the rallying point for the people’s volunteer army that defeated the Polish invaders and saved the Moscow state.
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