01.05.2017, Russia.
To celebrate the 1st of May, many demonstrations, rallies, and festivities took place in the Russian Far East, the Interfax news agency reported on May 1.
Thousands of festive processions and rallies organized by trade unions were held in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, and other cities. Over 35 thousand people gathered together to celebrate May 1st in Khabarovsk.
In Saint Petersburg, 95,000 people participated in the demonstration. 25,000 people joined the May Day procession in Sevastopol. According to Interfax News Agency, 90,000 people took part in the festive events in Moscow.
The Second International declared May 1st, May Day, as International Workers’ Day in Paris, in July 1889. This day was chosen in memory of the workers in the city of Chicago. On May 1st in 1886 Chicago workers stood up to defend their rights, and they were shot by the American police. Since 1890, the 1st of May has been celebrated in Russia. However, for a long time, the celebration of the Day of Solidarity of All Workers was officially banned in many countries, including in the Russian Empire. At that time, most rallies and demonstrations where workers demanded respect of their rights to have an eight-hour working day, decent wages, and safe working conditions, were brutally dispersed by police, with participants often being arrested afterwards.
In 1917, May 1st was openly celebrated in Russia for the first time. But only after the Great October Socialist Revolution did this day become one of the main public holidays in Russia. From 1918 to 1968 the celebration of May 1st included military parades and festive processions on Red Square in Moscow. However, starting from 1969 until 1997 only festive processions of working people took place. In 1997, the May 1st holiday has been renamed and it is currently celebrated as the Spring and Labor Day of the Russian Federation.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
