In late 2004, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the Federal Law approving the date when the Day of National Unity is celebrated. According to this document, this holiday, dedicated to one of the victorious days of Russia, should be celebrated every year on November 4. And for the first time Russians celebrated this national holiday already in 2005.
The history of the holiday of national unity
The history of the Day of National Unity with its roots dates back to 1612, when the People's Army, led by the Minin and Pozharsky, liberated the city from foreign invaders. In addition, it was this event that triggered the end of the Time of Troubles in Russia in the 17th century.
The cause of the commotion was the dynastic crisis. Since the death of Ivan the Terrible (1584) and before the wedding of the first Romanov (1613), the epoch of crisis dominated the country, which was caused by the interruption of the Rurikovich family. Very quickly the crisis became national-state: a single state was divided, massive looting, robberies, theft, corruption and the country were engulfed by general drunkenness and chaos. Numerous impostors began to appear, trying to seize the Russian throne.
Soon the power was seized by the "Semiboyar", headed by Prince Fedor Mstislavsky. It was he who let the Poles into the city and tried to marry the kingdom of the Catholic - the Polish prince Vladislav.
And then the patriarch Hermogen raised the Russian people to fight against the Polish invaders and the defense of Orthodoxy. But the first anti-Polish popular uprising under the leadership of Prokopy Lyapunov fell apart because of the strife between the nobles and the Cossacks. This happened on March 19, 1611.
The next call for the creation of a people's militia was heard only six months later - in September 1611 from the petty "trading man" Kuzma Minin. In his famous speech at the city meeting, he proposed not to spare people either their lives or property for the sake of a great cause. At the call of the Minin city residents responded and voluntarily began to take thirty percent of their income to create a militia. However, this was not enough, and people were forced to pay another twenty percent for the same purposes.
The main militia commander Minin suggested inviting the young Novgorod prince Dmitry Pozharsky. And the assistants Pozharsky townspeople chose Minin himself. As a result, the people elected and clothed in full confidence two people who became the head of the second nationwide uprising.
Under their banners, a huge army was gathered for those times, including more than 10,000 people liable for service, about 3,000 Cossacks, 1,000 archers, and many more peasants. And already in early November 1612, with a miraculous icon in the hands of a nationwide uprising, it managed to storm the city and drive out the invaders.
This is what the Day of National Unity is celebrated, which is celebrated in our country very recently, but in fact this holiday is not one hundred years old.
The celebration of the Day of National Unity traditionally consists of holding mass and socio-political events, including marches, rallies, sporting events and charitable actions, the President's placing flowers on the monument to Minin and Pozharsky, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, the Divine Liturgy in the main church of the city Uspensky Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. And the evening ends with an evening concert. All these events take place in different cities of the country and are organized by political parties and public movements of the country.