May 9: Russian Victory Day: a report and pictures.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_Day_%289_May%29

The Soviet Victory Day  (Russian: ? , or May 9) marks the capitulation of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union in the Second World War (also known as the Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and some post-Soviet states). It was first inaugurated in the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union, following the signing of the surrender document late in the evening on 8 May 1945 (9 May by Moscow Time). It happened after the original capitulation that Germany earlier agreed to the joint Allied forces of the Western Front. The Soviet government announced the victory early on 9 May after the signing ceremony in Berlin. Though the official inauguration happened in 1945 (which means it has been celebrated since 1946), the holiday became a non-labour day only in 1965 and only in some of the countries.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union it ceased to be observed in Uzbekistan as from 1988, but was partially restored in 1999 as Memorial/Remembrance Day. After their separation from the Soviet Union, the Baltic countries now commemorate the end of WWII on May 8, the Victory in Europe Day.

HISTORY

Two separate capitulation events took place at the time. First, the capitulation to the Allied nations in Reims was signed on 7 May 1945, effective 23:01 CET 8 May. This date is commonly referred to as the V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day) in most western European countries. The other World War II victory day, the V-J day (Victory in Japan Day) is commemorated in August, and is of considerably lesser significance in Europe.

However, the Soviet Union's only representative in Reims was General Ivan Susloparov, the Military Liaison Mission Commander. General Susloparov's scope of authority was not entirely clear, and he had no means of immediate contact with the Kremlin, but nevertheless decided to sign for the Soviet side. Susloparov was caught off guard; he had no instructions from Moscow. But if he did not sign, he risked a German surrender without Soviet participation. However, he noted that it could be replaced with a new version in the future. Joseph Stalin was later displeased by these events, believing that the German surrender should have been accepted only by the envoy of the USSR Supreme command and signed only in Berlin and insisted the Reims protocol be considered preliminary, with the main ceremony to be held in Berlin, where Marshal Zhukov was at the time, as the latter recounts in his memoirs:

Therefore, another ceremony was organized in a surviving manor in the outskirts of Berlin late on 8 May, when it was already May 9 in Moscow due to the difference in time zones. Field-Marshal Wilhelm Keitel submitted the capitulation of the Wehrmacht  to the Marshal Georgy Zhukov in the Soviet Army headquarters in Berlin-Karlshorst. To commemorate the victory in the war, the ceremonial Moscow Victory Parade was held in the Soviet capital on 24 June 1945.

CELEBRATION

During the Soviet Union's existence, May 9 was celebrated throughout the USSR and in the countries of the Eastern Bloc. Though the holiday was introduced in many Soviet republics approximately between 1946 and 1950, it only became a non-labour day in Ukrainian (1963) and Russian (1965) SSRs. In the latter one, a weekday off (usualLy a Monday) was given starting 1966 if 9 May was to fall on a weekend (Saturday or Sunday).

After the fall of the communism in Central and Eastern Europe, most former USSR countries retained the celebration as a national holiday even though it was not openly celebrated by some of them. Today and traditionally, ceremonial military parades are held on the day, such as the one in Moscow on the Red Square.

Countries in which May 9 is celebrated:
    * Armenia has officially recognized 9 May since 1946;
    * Azerbaijan has officially recognized 9 May since 1946;
    * Belarus has officially recognized 9 May since 1946 and considered it non-labor in the past;
    * Bosnia and Herzegovina Republika Srpska, one of two entities constituting Bosnia and Herzegovina has officially recognized May 9 as the V-Day over Fascism and considers it a non-working day.[6]
    * Serbia celebrates 9 May as the Victory Day over Fascism but it's a working holiday. Still many people gather to mark the anniversary with the war veterans, including Serbian army, Minister of Defense and the President.
    * Georgia (country) has officially recognized 9 May since 1946;
    * Germany has never officially recognized the holiday, however 9 May was celebrated by Russian and Jewish communities in East Berlin up until 1990.
    * Israel has officially recognized 9 May since 2000.
    * Kazakhstan has officially recognized 9 May since 1947. It's a non-working day. The holiday is sometimes celebrated in connection with other national holidays on May 10 and 11.
    * Kyrgyzstan has officially recognized 9 May since 1946;
    * Moldova has officially recognized 9 May since 1951;
    * Russia has officially recognized 9 May since 1946 and considers it a non-working day even if it falls on a weekend (in which case any following Monday will be non-working);
    * Tajikistan has officially recognized 9 May since 1946;
    * Turkmenistan has officially recognized 9 May since 1946;
    * Ukraine has officially recognized 9 May since 1946 and considers it a non-working day;
    * Uzbekistan has officially recognized 9 May from 1946 until 1988. Starting 1999, the holiday was restored as "Memorial/Remembrance Day".

2009 celebrations and parade in Moscow:
part I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5i5s6T0tNY

part II

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxZwzBePHCE

pt V

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENKjiSmJnvY

pt VI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le9K_vZdVo0

I am terribly sorry to be a PITA here, but as this crucial day happens to be my birthday, the date of victory was MAY 8, not 9, whatever the Russians or Wikipedia make of it (check all relevant documents below) at this time there was *no* LSTS, so the best would be they were on hour behind, not more (rather, the doc being in GMT, the surrender was still one hour more early.

The final (inconditional) document got signed MAY 7, 0241J (the other partial ones MAY 6, 0440 in the morning), that makes the goal still MAY 8, and it has been officilly accepted as this (that Stalin wanted the victory festivities on another day than everybody else is another story, but does not change the fact, even if the Russians (and Wikipedia) until today state differently, it is a Stalin thing aand not hisotrically correct.

Surrender and victory was MAY 8th, 1945, 2201 GMT, which is the *official* date (see below from the surrender document, I think you mentioned the fact also).



Rattler

I told you before to wait at least 5 min to reply to my posts as I am correcting my DRAFT always on proof reading, corrected above, no doubt it is MAY 8 and not 9, you were 2 min early...

For "This Day in Military History", I suggest you make MAY 8 the inconditional surrender of Germany in WWII, not may 9.

R.

It was:


Simply not true historically, that is propaganda (and should be treated as such from my POV). Also it is not RUSSIAN but SOVIET victory day (contrary to the thread title which is the base I am complaining about), which confuses issues even more...

Also:


Their community thing and, again, simply not true: Germany has officially recognized MAY 8 as the holiday since 1949 (our foundation date as nation after WWII - and we celebrate it on May 8 !) and after 1990 the mentioned groups also decided on MAY 8. That Israel as state later in 2000 (!) changed MAY 8 to 9  (until then it was MAY 8th for them also) has to do with diplomatic issues with Russia and the Russian Jewish Community, not with historical facts.

Get your facts on an official line, plz, 15 republics that all were USSR (quoting you: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina Republika Srpska, Serbia, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan) does not mean a thing fact wise (except that they *had* to follow Stalins decision on WWII end day) when 177 other UN nations recognize MAY 8 as surrender date, and they - from my POV - are right: The official document actully was signed on MAY 7th, marking the end on MAY 8th:


I don´t have a problem with that, you might as well say APR 1991 (when finally the peace treaty was signed, all before was a truce as now in the Koreas) is the official end of WWII, but I think we should not get caught by Stalin propganda (he wanted a different date as he was - understandably so - too drunk to attend MAY eighth) and keep historical facts as facts.

There is only one universal time that all (minus the Russians in this case) intl community adhere to, and that is GMT.

You might wonder why I insist, but there is a true economic problem behind it: Up tp MAY 8, 1945, by German law victims are recognized as WWII victims of German agression and can demand recompension under several international treaties (and have, sufficiently or not been compensated), MAY 9th new victims (?) are not recognized for recompensation under this law. Of cause, SU -  and now Russia - claim there were more than 600.000 new victims on that day (MAY 9), this when our German women got violated in Berlin by their troops and no Germn soldier was anywhere near the Motherland. As you can see, it - as so often - is all about cash...  



Basically this is my complaint, there was no SIGNING of a surrender document on MAY 8 !!

Rattler

yes, this is a very good sign, we should be positive about it.

and Merkel travelled, in the middle of elections, to Moscow