1941 October Revolution Parade

Last updated
Footage of the parade.
A stamp in honor of the parade. Stamp of USSR 0973.jpg
A stamp in honor of the parade.
Vehicles on parade. RIAN archive 669659 Soviet troops head to front lines after 1941 Red Square parade.jpg
Vehicles on parade.

The 1941 October Revolution Parade of November 7, 1941 was a parade in honor of the October Revolution 24 years earlier. [note 1] It is most famous for taking place during the Battle of Moscow. The Communist Party General Secretary, Joseph Stalin, delivered a speech to the soldiers on the parade on Red Square, who would go to battle immediately after the parade. Many of the soldiers on the parade would be killed in battle. [1] Every year in modern Russia, November 7th is a holiday in honor of the 1941 parade as a substitute for celebration of the October Revolution, [2] as a Day of Military Honour.

Contents

Parades held on that year that are more memorable are the parades in Moscow's Red Square and in Kuybyshev Square, Samara [3] (formerly Kuybyshev in the Soviet period). Both are marked today by commemorative parades to honor their historical importance.

Order of the Moscow parade march past

The parade was inspected by the commander of the Reserve Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union Semyon Budyonny, with musical accompaniment by a combined band made up of the Central Military Band of the People's Commissariat of Defence, the Band of the Dzerzhinsky Division, and the Staff Band of the Moscow Military District, both under the baton of Colonel Vasily Agapkin, then the Director of Music, Staff Band of the Moscow Military District.

Ground column

Following Colonel General Pavel Artemyev riding on horseback, the parade marched past in the following order: [4]

Stalin's speech

Video of Stalin's speech to the Red Army.
Soldiers cheering on Stalin. Moscow Strikes Back 11-25 cheering Red Army parade, bayonets fixed.jpg
Soldiers cheering on Stalin.

Before the parade commenced the then General Secretary of the All-Union Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks) and Premier of the USSR Joseph Stalin delivered the following address to the nation: [5]

"Comrades, men of the Red Army and Red Navy, commanders and political commissioners, working men and working women, collective farmers-men and women, workers in the intellectual professions, brothers and sisters in the rear of our enemy who have temporarily fallen under the yoke of the German brigands, and to our valiant men and women guerillas who are destroying the rear of the German invaders!

On behalf of the Soviet Government and our Bolshevik Party, I am greeting you and congratulating you on the twenty-fourth anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution.

Comrades, it is in strenuous circumstances that we are to-day celebrating the twenty-fourth anniversary of the October Revolution. The perfidious attack of the German brigands and the war which has been forced upon us have created a threat to our country. We have temporarily lost a number of regions, the enemy has appeared at the gates of Leningrad and Moscow. The enemy reckoned that after the very first blow our army would be dispersed, and our country would be forced to her knees. But the enemy gravely miscalculated. In spite of temporary reverses, our Army and Navy are heroically repulsing the enemy’s attacks along the entire front and inflicting heavy losses upon him, while our country—our entire country—has organized itself into one fighting camp in order, together with our Army and our Navy, to encompass the rout of the German invaders.

There were times when our country was in a still more difficult position. Remember the year 1918, when we celebrated the first anniversary of the October Revolution. Three-quarters of our country was at that time in the hands of foreign interventionists. The Ukraine, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Urals, Siberia and the Far East were temporarily lost to us. We had no allies, we had no Red Army—we had only just begun to create it; there was a shortage of food, of armaments, of clothing for the Army. Fourteen states were pressing against our country. But we did not become despondent, we did not lose heart. In the fire of war we forged the Red Army and converted our country into a military camp. The spirit of the great Lenin animated us at that time for the war against the interventionists. And what happened? We routed the interventionists, recovered all our lost territory, and achieved victory.

To-day the position of our country is far better than twenty-three years ago. Our country is now many times richer than it was twenty-three years ago as regards industry, food and raw materials. We now have allies, who together with us are maintaining a united front against the German invaders. We now enjoy the sympathy and support of all the nations of Europe who have fallen under the yoke of Hitler’s tyranny. We now have a splendid Army and a splendid Navy, who are defending with their lives the liberty and independence of our country. We experience no serious shortage of either food, or armaments or army clothing. Our entire country, all the peoples of our country, support our Army and our Navy, helping them to smash the invading hordes of German fascists. Our reserves of man-power are inexhaustible. The spirit of the great Lenin and his victorious banner animate us now in this patriotic war just as they did twenty-three years ago.

Can there be any doubt that we can, and are bound to, defeat the German invaders?

The enemy is not so strong as some frightened little intellectuals picture him. The devil is not so terrible as he is painted. Who can deny that our Red Army has more than once put the vaunted German troops to panic flight? If one judges, not by the boastful assertions of the German propagandists, but by the actual position of Germany, it will not be difficult to understand that the German-fascist invaders are facing disaster. Hunger and impoverishment reign in Germany to-day; in four months of war Germany has lost four and a half million men; Germany is bleeding, her reserves of man-power are giving out, the spirit of indignation is spreading not only among the peoples of Europe who have fallen under the yoke of the German invaders but also among the German people themselves, who see no end to war. The German invaders are straining their last efforts. There is no doubt that Germany cannot sustain such a strain for long. Another few months, another half-year, perhaps another year, and Hitlerite Germany must burst under the pressure of her crimes.

Comrades, men of the Red Army and Red Navy, commanders and political instructors, men and women guerillas, the whole world is looking to you as the force capable of destroying the plundering hordes of German invaders. The enslaved peoples of Europe who have fallen under the yoke of the German invaders look to you as their liberators. A great liberating mission has fallen to your lot. Be worthy of this mission! The war you are waging is a war of liberation, a just war. Let the manly images of our great ancestors—Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Kuzma Minin, Dmitry Pozharsky, Alexander Suvorov and Mikhail Kutuzov—inspire you in this war! May the victorious banner of the great Lenin be your lodestar!

For the complete destruction of the German invaders! Death to the German invaders!

Long live our glorious Motherland, her liberty and her independence!

Under the banner of Lenin, forward to victory!"

Parade in Kuybyshev

The parade in Kuybyshev Square, Samara Kuybyshev battle parade 1941 05.jpg
The parade in Kuybyshev Square, Samara

The other national parade held was at Kuybyshev (today Samara), at the grounds of Kuybyshev Square, attended by officials of the All-Union Communist Party, the Council of People's Commissars and the Supreme Soviet, high-ranking officers of the Soviet Armed Forces and the diplomatic corps, on the grounds of the city being a wartime national capital in the case of Moscow having fallen into Axis hands. The parade commander was then-Lieutenant General Maksim Purkayev, commanding general of the 60th Army, while it was inspected by the former People's Commissar of Defense, Marshal Kliment Voroshilov, who later gave the national holiday message following the inspection. It was his final inspection of an October Revolution parade and the only one he inspected outside the capital. An estimated 15,000 military servicemen took part, alongside more than 140 military vehicles and equipment and 217 aircraft, followed by a civilian demonstration of citizens from the city as well as refugees from the western cities. A 360-man massed bands contingent of the Volga Military District provided the ceremonial music.

Full order of the Kuybyshev Parade

Parade in Voronezh

In Voronezh, the parade of the troops of the Southwestern Front took place on October Square (currently Lenin Square), and was presided over by Marshal Semyon Timoshenko. [6] The rostrum was filled with the leaders of regional party organizations, among other guests such as Polish communist writer Wanda Wasilewska, the Ukrainian literary figure Oleksandr Korniychuk, and future Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. At 11:30 am, to the sounds of a 300-member military band led by the famous Voronezh composer Konstantin Massalitinov, the parade of the Voronezh Garrison began. Tanks marched in white camouflage to the sound of the Cavalry Trot by Semyon Tchernetsky. The parade lasted no more than an hour and a half. [7] After the war, the parade took a backseat in historical importance. [8] [ clarification needed ]

Full order of the Voronezh parade

[10]

Legacy of the parades of 1941

Today, the legacy of the twin parades held during the first year of the Great Patriotic War in the cities of Moscow and Samara serves as a reminder of the resistance of the Russian people and her armed forces, as part of the wider Soviet Union, against the aggression brought upon by Nazi Germany, in the Eastern Front of the Second World War. Millions of Russians who live in the wider areas of these two cities have or had family members and relatives who marched in these parades and/or fought during the conflict and consider these parades part of the wider history of Russia and of their families. Thus, the anniversaries of the parades of 1941 are for many Russians held in high esteem as a show of force against the fascist enemy and of Russia's determination to defeat any form of international aggression, as well as for the country to show to her people and the young the values of patriotism, remembrance of the fallen, love of country, and service in the armed forces. Every year, on 7 November, the two cities hold commemorative parades not just to remember the hundreds of thousands of their residents who fought and died in the Second World War, but to forever maintain the memories that these two parades had on their cities' long history.

Military memorial parade in Moscow's Red Square

Commemorative parades have since the late 1990s marked the more memorable and famous 1941 parade on Moscow's Red Square with personnel of the Moscow Garrison, cadets of armed forces academies, servicemen of military units, the Young Army Cadets National Movement, cadets of military cadet schools and young men and women under youth uniformed and volunteer organizations within the capital city and its environs, with over 5,800 taking part. [11] The march of veterans of the 1941 parade was first held in Russia in 2000. [12] In 2003, the City Government of Moscow revamped that event as a parade of youth organizations and cadet schools. Two years later, the parade's anniversary was marked with a demonstration of wartime equipment and vehicles. A nationally televised event, it is attended by the few living veterans of the war, families of deceased servicemen and veterans, the diplomatic corps, cadets of the armed forces, and veterans of recent conflicts, with the Mayor of Moscow as the guest of honor. The parade commander, since 2014, has been a Colonel in active service of the armed forces. The ceremonial music for the parade is provided by the massed military bands of the Moscow Capital Garrison, under the baton of the Senior Director of Music of the Military Band Service. Since 2015, the parade begins with the march on in slow time of the Flag of Russia and the Victory Banner, imitating that of the Victory Day Parade earlier in the year. The 2012 parade was also marked as the final event concluding a year of celebrations of the bicentennial jubilee of the French invasion of Russia and the historic Battle of Borodino.

The 2020 parade, earmarked as the final event in a year of celebrations of the diamond jubilee of the victory in the Second World War in Europe, was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia. [13] Alternative small celebrations are slated to take its place as a local kick-off to the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the parade slated in 2021, which by itself represent the end of a year of national commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of the war in the territories of the former Soviet Union.

Following the order to commence the march past in quick time, the order of the parade is as follows:

Civil-military memorial parade in Kuybyshev Square, Samara

The Samara parade of 1941 has been remembered more recently beginning in 2011; the city government hosts a large civil-military parade at Kuybyshev Square in the city proper to honor the thousands who marched before state, political, and military leaders on that square in the winter of 1941. Also a televised event, the Mayor of Samara is the parade's guest of honor, reviewing more than 10,000 marchers from the armed forces, civil services, veterans, and students of cadet schools in Samara and neighboring regions of the country, making it far larger than the Moscow parade. Beginning in 2014, the parade has also included a civil march of students, professionals, athletes, and distinguished citizens in memory of the civilian marchers of the memorable 1941 parade. Since the city became the de facto wartime capital of the Soviet Union when the Axis forces approached Moscow, the Samara parade is a chance for the city's people to recall one of the more famous chapters of its long history. Since its commencement in 2011, it has adopted the march in the slow time of the Moscow parade. After a two-year break due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the commemorative parade resumed in 2022.

Starting with the parade of 2017, the city garrison's massed bands play The Internationale as the colour guard, including the naval ensign of the Amur Military Flotilla and the flags of the two infantry divisions which took part in the original parade, marches into the square to take its place of honor in the lead of the formation.

Notes

  1. ↑ Russia and later the Soviet Union adopted the Gregorian calendar after the October Revolution, so that the anniversary now fell on 7 November.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Moscow</span> World War II campaign in Russia

The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a 600 km (370 mi) sector of the Eastern Front during World War II, between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated Hitler's attack on Moscow, the capital and largest city of the Soviet Union. Moscow was one of the primary military and political objectives for Axis forces in their invasion of the Soviet Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military parade</span> Procession of soldiers

A military parade is a formation of soldiers whose movement is restricted by close-order manoeuvering known as drilling or marching. Large military parades are today held on major holidays and military events around the world. Massed parades may also hold a role for propaganda purposes, being used to exhibit the apparent military strength of a country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1945 Moscow Victory Parade</span> Parade commemorating Soviet victory against Nazism in 1945

The 1945 Moscow Victory Parade, also known as the Parade of Victors, was a victory parade held by the Soviet Armed Forces after the defeat of Nazi Germany. This, the longest and largest military parade ever held on Red Square in the Soviet capital Moscow, involved 40,000 Red Army soldiers and 1,850 military vehicles and other military hardware. The parade lasted just over two hours on a rainy June 24, 1945, over a month after May 9, the day of Germany's surrender to Soviet commanders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volga–Ural Military District</span> Military unit

The Volga–Ural Military District was a military district of the Russian Ground Forces, formed on 1 September 2001 by the amalgamation of the Volga Military District and the Ural Military District. The headquarters of the Ural Military District, located at Yekaterinburg became the new headquarters of the merged district. In 2010 the District was merged with part of the Siberian Military District to form the new Central Military District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Moscow Victory Day Parade</span>

The 2008 Moscow Victory Day Parade was held on Victory Day on the occasion of the 63rd anniversary of the Great Patriotic War ending in the defeat of Nazi Germany. This was the first time the Russian Federation opened its vehicle showcase since 1991, and the airshow since the Cold War. The parade was commanded by Army General Vladimir Bakin, Commander of the Moscow Military District, and reviewed by Anatoliy Serdyukov of the Russian Ministry of Defence. A speech was made by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who took office just two days prior. This would be notable to be the first ever major Russian military parade seen on television worldwide when RT carried a live broadcast of the parade for the first time in its history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Moscow Victory Day Parade</span>

The 2014 Moscow Victory Day Parade took place in Red Square on 9 May 2014 to commemorate the 69th anniversary of the capitulation of Nazi Germany in 1945, which formally ended hostilities in the Second World War in Europe. The annual parade marks the Allied victory in the Great Patriotic War on the same day as the signing of the German act of capitulation to the Allies in Berlin, at midnight of May 9, 1945. President of Russia Vladimir Putin delivered his eleventh holiday address to the nation on this day.

The 34th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army during and before World War II. The division was formed in 1923. It fought in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945. Postwar, it became the 11th Machine Gun Artillery Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moscow Victory Day Parade</span> Celebration of the anniversary of the Great Patriotic War

The Moscow Victory Day Parade is an annual military parade of the Russian Armed Forces on Moscow's Red Square on May 9 during the Victory Day celebrations. The most important parade of those being held on May 9 is the one held on Moscow's Red Square, with the President of Russia as the guest of honor and keynote speaker in virtue of his constitutional mandate as Supreme Commander of the Russian Armed Forces. The parade is a commemoration of the capitulation of Nazi Germany to the Red Army, marking the end of the Eastern Front of World War II, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War.

The 1975 October Revolution Parade was a parade on Red Square dedicated to the 58th anniversary of the October Revolution on November 7, 1975. Marshal of the Soviet Union Andrei Grechko gave his last speech on the grandstand of Lenin's Mausoleum, before he died the following April. Commanding the parade was the head of the Moscow Military District Colonel General Vladimir Govorov. Providing the music for his final parade, was conducted by Major General Nikolai Nazarov of the combined massed bands of the Moscow Garrison. A scaled down display of military technologies that excluded tanks was also present, which cut the parade down to 30 minutes as a result. General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Leonid Brezhnev and Soviet Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin were present at the parade.

The 1987 October Revolution Parade was a parade on Red Square to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the October Revolution of 1917. It took place in Moscow on November 7, 1987. Marshal of the Soviet Union and the Minister of Defence Dmitry Yazov inspected the parade. Commanding the parade was the commander of the Moscow Garrison Vladimir Arkhipov. Music was performed by the head of Moscow Garrison's central band, Major General Nikolai Mikhailov. General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev and other members of the Politburo were on the grandstand of Lenin's Mausoleum in Red Square.

The 1990 October Revolution Parade was the last parade commemorating the 1917 October Revolution during the Soviet Union's existence. It celebrated the 73rd anniversary of the revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 October Revolution Parade</span> 55th anniversary October Revolution Parad organized in 1972

The 1972 October Revolution Parade was held in commemoration of the 55th anniversary of the 1917 October Revolution and the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Soviet Union in 1922. Notable attendees were Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev and Soviet Prime Minister Nikolai Podgorny. The parade's commander was Colonel General Vladimir Govorov, the Commander of Troops of the Moscow Military District, while its presiding officer was Marshal of the Soviet Union Andrei Grechko.

The 1989 October Revolution Parade was a parade that took place in Red Square in Moscow on 7 November 1989 to commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the socialist revolution in the Russian Empire in 1917. Mikhail Gorbachev and the Soviet leadership watched the parade from Lenin's Mausoleum. General of the Army and Minister of Defence Dmitry Yazov made his third holiday address to the nation after he inspected seven sets of armed battalions and academies. Col. Gen. Nikolai Kalinin the head of the Moscow Military District was the 1989 parade commander.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1967 October Revolution Parade</span>

The 1967 October Revolution Parade was the parade on Moscow's Red Square devoted to the 50th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution on 7 November 1967. Commanding the parade was First Deputy Commander of the Moscow Military District, Colonel General Yevgeny Ivanovsky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1977 October Revolution Parade</span>

The 1977 October Revolution Parade was a military parade that took place in Red Square in Moscow on 7 November 1977 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution. The annual parade marks the protest of the Bolsheviks against the Tsarist autocracy of the Russian Empire. The Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev and Soviet Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin attended the parade, among other foreign leaders from the Warsaw Pact and allied countries who decided to fly in for the celebrations. Marshal Dmitry Ustinov delivered his second holiday address to the Soviet people on this day, right after the parade inspection that had been presided over by him and led by the commander of the Moscow Military District Colonel General Vladimir Govorov. Music was performed by the Combined Military Band of the Moscow Garrison conducted by Colonel Nikolai Mikhailov. As per tradition, 14 other Soviet Cities held their parades on this day. A folding stock version of the AK-47 appeared in the contingent of troops from the Soviet Airborne Forces. This parade included the updated anthem of the Soviet Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victory Day Parades</span> Typical military parades

Victory Day parades are common military parades that are held on 9 May in some post-Soviet nations, primarily Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and formerly Ukraine. They are usually held to honor the traditional Victory Day holiday. In 2015, the Ukrainian government renamed the holiday as "Victory Day over Nazism in World War II" as part of decommunization laws and in 2023 moved the holiday to 8 May.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">October Revolution Day</span> Public holiday in the Soviet Union

October Revolution Day was a public holiday in the Soviet Union and other Soviet-aligned states, officially observed on November 7 from 1927 to 1990, commemorating the 1917 October Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Moscow Victory Day Parade</span>

The 2019 Moscow Victory Day Parade was a military parade that took place in Red Square in Moscow on 9 May 2019 to commemorate the 74th anniversary of the capitulation of Nazi Germany in 1945. It was the largest of all the parades held on this day in Russia and in many former republics of the Soviet Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 Moscow Victory Day Parade</span> A military parade

The 2020 Moscow Victory Day Parade was a military parade that took place in Moscow's Red Square on 24 June 2020 to commemorate the 75th Diamond Jubilee of both the capitulation of Nazi Germany in the Second World War in 1945 and the historic Moscow Victory Parade of 1945.

References

  1. ↑ RedSamurai84 (2016-05-24), Soviet October Revolution Parade, 1941 Парад 7 Ноября , retrieved 2016-10-23{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ↑ AnydayGuide. "Anniversary of the 1941 October Revolution Day Parade in Russia / November 7, 2016". AnydayGuide. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
  3. ↑ RedSamurai84 (2016-11-07), Soviet October Revolution Parade 1941, Kuybyshev Парад 7 Ноября , retrieved 2017-01-27{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ "Военный парад на Красной площади в Москве 7 ноября 1941 г. стал великолепным примером мужества и отваги : Министерство обороны Российской Федерации".
  5. ↑ Stalin. "Speech at the Red Army Parade on the Red Square, Moscow". www.marxists.org. Retrieved 2017-03-21.
  6. ↑ "Календарь событий: 7 ноября 1941 года в Воронеже прошёл парад в честь годовщины Октябрьской революции". Вести Воронеж (in Russian). 2016-11-07. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  7. ↑ "Незаслуженно забытый. Как прошел парад 7 ноября 1941 года в Воронеже". РИА Воронеж (in Russian). 6 November 2016. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  8. ↑ "Historic reenactment of 1941 Voronezh Parade gathered over 500 people". 7 November 2016.
  9. ↑ "В Воронеже реконструировали незаслуженно забытый парад 7 ноября 1941 года". gorcom36.ru. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  10. ↑ "Парад 7 ноября 1941 года в Воронеже - Конкурс молодых историков "Наследие предков - молодым"". ist-konkurs.ru. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  11. ↑ "Russia re-enacts legendary World War II parade in Moscow". ABC News .
  12. ↑ "На Красной площади 7 ноября пройдет реконструкция парада 1941 года" (in Russian). Интерфакс. 2018-10-03. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
  13. ↑ "Власти Москвы отменили марш в честь парада на Красной площади 7 ноября 1941 года". 31 October 2020.
  14. ↑ "Торжественным маршем под музыку военного оркестра — Спасская башня". spasstower.ru. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.