In 2005, the Russian government announced the introduction of a new public holiday - National Unity Day, which will be celebrated on November 4th. During this short period of time, despite the efforts of the state, there were no stable traditions of celebrating this day. Largely because many still do not know what kind of people united more than four hundred years ago and what was the purpose of this union.
National Unity Day. Prerequisites
The history of the holiday begins on November 4, 1612. In the years preceding this, Russia suffered a series of social and political catastrophes that threatened the very existence of the once united country. More recently, the centuries-old Rurik dynasty was interrupted: the son of Ivan the Terrible, Tsarevich Dmitry died (according to some versions, he was killed). The place on the throne was taken by Boris Godunov, during whose reign there were terrible lean years and numerous peasant uprisings. Then, two impostors, False Dmitry I and False Dmitry II, managed to visit the role of pretenders to the throne, and by 1612 the rule of boyars was established in the country, calling on the people to swear allegiance to the Polish prince Vladislav. The non-religious, alien power, imposed by the hands of the Polish garrisons in a weakened country, was not to many people 's taste, and as a result, a national militia was assembled in Nizhny Novgorod, under the leadership of Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky.
His goal was to end the "seven-boyars" and the complete liberation of Moscow from the Polish troops, ensuring the security of the authorities under their control and the establishment of order throughout the country. The assembled detachment, numbering about 3,000 thousand people, moved from Nizhny Novgorod towards Moscow. During a long stay in Yaroslavl, the "Council of All the Land" was convened, which included representatives of many noble boyar families. At this council, the final action plan was adopted, as well as a project for the future structure of the country. When the militia again set out on a campaign, its number already numbered more than 10,000 people. Representatives of all classes and many peoples who made up the population of a huge country entered its ranks. The militias were well equipped, paid and had a clear plan of action, which ultimately led them to success.
About the events of 1611-1612 MN Zagoskin wrote the historical novel "Yuri Miloslavsky, or Russians in 1612".
National Unity Day. Battle for Moscow
On August 24, 1612, on the outskirts of Moscow, a decisive battle took place between the forces of the militia and the army of Hetman Chodkevich. Minin and Pozharsky managed to win, and after that the outcome of the company was a foregone conclusion. The remnants of the Polish troops in the capital were hiding behind the walls of Kitay-gorod and the Kremlin, and during the decisive assault on November 4, 1612, the garrison of Kitay-gorod was defeated by the people's militia. The Kremlin surrendered four days later.
The celebration of the anniversary of these events was first introduced by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in 1649.
The result of this event was not only the liberation of the capital from the invaders, the overthrow of the boyar regime and the beginning of the establishment of order in the country. By the end of February 1613, Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, elected by the Zemsky Sobor, entered the throne, whose descendants will rule the country for more than three hundred years. The country has entered a new era.
