How did the International Women’s Day – BBC

In the spring, March 8 science department “Gazety.Ru” tells the story of the origins of International Women’s Day.

If during the XIX century, the emancipation of women but said that with the beginning of the new century, an increasing number of countries are in varying degrees become equal to men in rights. That’s International Women’s Day was an outgrowth of the women’s movement protest the beginning of XX century. Contrary to popular belief the first International Women’s Day is widely celebrated in the United States February 28, 1909 with a light hand of representatives of the American socialist movement.

According to the UN, the International Women’s Day dates back to March 8, 1857, when the factory women of New York for the first time took part in the strike, and then created their own union.

However, research shows that basic value date and had occurred over the past years events have become tied to it until later. Is that the feminist movement in the United States in the XIX century developed a much more active than in the Old World. The culmination of all this activity was the collection of a thousand activists, held on March 3, 1908 in Chicago. It ladies decided to celebrate Women’s Day on the last Sunday of February, and also supported the need to empower women everywhere to elect and be elected.

In 1910, the International Women’s Day has been celebrated in New York’s Carnegie Hall in the presence of more than 3 thousand. ladies. However, a truly international festival has become thanks to the communist movement activist Clara Zetkin. It was she during the Second International Socialist Women’s Conference has put forward the idea that it is necessary to celebrate Women’s Day on an international scale.

Draw comrade Rosa Luxemburg proposed to the American experience. And to celebrate – March 8.

The emphasis Zetkin made on the need to give all women the right to vote. Then, of course, did not happen, but the holiday was celebrated – albeit rather selectively. Somewhere it continued to celebrate the old-fashioned Feb. 28, somewhere – March 8, and in some countries and at all dated to the end of this month. Often celebration suppressed by the authorities, and activists were detained.

This was due to the fact that the festival did not lose his socialist color, and above the requirement give women the right to vote in many countries then laughed openly. It is recognized that in some countries of the Middle East situation with gender equality over the last century has not changed. Moreover, Saudi Arabia, women can not even drive a car.

Ironically, it was March 8, 1917 in the Julian calendar began in Russia February revolution.

After the Bolsheviks came to power this changed to the Gregorian calendar – according to him, the February events already began on February 23, making the dates indicated doubly symbolic. Although it does not associate them with the most controversial event in the history of Russia of XX century.

Finally, at the international level celebration was released in December 1977, when the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming the Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace of the United Nations. Since March 8th is celebrated in more countries than ever before. However, the trend tends to change. For example, in Ukraine plan to not only get rid of the remaining monuments to Lenin, but also from that preserved the tradition of the Soviet era.