March 8 is a favorite women's holiday. On this day, men are instructed to give gifts, be obedient and please their women in everything. Many people associate March 8 with the Soviet period, but this holiday arose long before the revolutionary 1917 year. Clara Zetkin is considered the founder of the holiday.
March 8 - fight day
In the middle of the 19th century, women took up the realization of their rights properly. In America at that time, many women worked hard in factories and factories. At the same time, they received less wages than men, since it was believed that the weaker sex worked part-time and did not make a significant contribution to the family budget. The 16-hour workday, low wages, and harsh working conditions forced women to take to the streets and demand that their rights be respected.
The day on March 8, 1857 became a landmark, when workers of New York shoe and garment factories took to the demonstration. They made simple demands: the provision of dry and clean work spaces, equalization of wages by gender, reduction of working hours to 10 hours a day. Industrialists and politicians had to meet the ladies halfway, and the demands were met. March 8 became a landmark date for all workers of that time: trade unions, including women's ones, began to open at enterprises.
Clara Zetkin's proposal
In 1910, a conference of socialist women was held in Copenhagen. The conference was attended by women from different countries. One of the delegates was Clara Zetkin. The activist called on women to take their fate into their own hands and to seek full equality from men: suffrage, respect, work on equal terms. Clara Zetkin proposed establishing March 8 as International Women's Day.
Already in the next year, 1911, the holiday on March 8 began to be widely celebrated in many European states: Switzerland, Germany, Denmark. Millions of people took to the streets, demanding a complete overhaul of gender policy: the right to vote and be elected, equal opportunities, the adoption of laws to protect motherhood.
March 8 in Russia
For the first time, International Women's Day was celebrated in Russia in 1913. In the petition filed to the mayor of St. Petersburg, there was a request for permission to hold a dispute on the women's issue. The event took place on March 2 at the premises of the Kalashnikovskaya grain exchange. Gathered for the debate about one and a half thousand people. During the discussions, the women demanded that they be granted electoral rights, ensure motherhood at the state level, and discussed the existing market prices.
In the 1917 revolution, women took the most effective part. Tired of war and hunger, they took to the streets and demanded "bread and peace." Significant was the fact that Emperor Nicholas II abdicated the throne on February 23 according to the old calendar or March 8, 1917 according to the new calendar. In the Soviet Union, March 8 became a public holiday. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, this day remained a festive day in many newly formed states, including Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus.
