On May 1, 1886, workers in the American city of Chicago protested the existing working conditions. People demanded that the working day be reduced to 8 hours. The demonstration ended with violent clashes with law enforcement and the execution of four innocent participants.
Three years later, the Paris Congress of the Second International proposed to perpetuate these tragic events in world history. In June 1889, May 1 received the status of International Workers' Solidarity Day. It was proposed to celebrate it by holding demonstrations with the advancement of social demands. The first demonstrations dedicated to the Day of Workers' Solidarity were held in Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain and other countries. The main requirement of the participants was, as before, the introduction of an 8-hour working day in production.
A little later, celebrations on May 1 began to be held in Russia. The first years they took place mainly in the form of "Mayevoks". On this day, everyone went out of town for picnics, which, in addition to entertainment, were also of a political nature. From the beginning of the 1900s, workers began to organize rallies and demonstrations in the central streets and squares. And in 1918, the first of May holiday received the status of an official one and became known as the Day of the International. Rallies and processions began to be held annually and more massively: thousands of people took part in them. Along with the processions of workers demonstrating success in production, military parades were held on the streets of cities. Creative teams performed actively.
After another 10 years, in 1928, the holiday expanded its time frame. The country has already celebrated 2 International Days - May 1 and 2. Both days were days off: on the first, rallies, concerts, processions and demonstrations were held, on the second, they usually went out into the countryside and went to visit.
During the Great Patriotic War, May Day was not celebrated, but in the post-war years the tradition of holding meetings and processions was revived. Mass demonstrations were held under slogans that were proclaimed from the rostrum by politicians, veterans and production leaders. Since the mid-1950s, processions and parades of workers began to be broadcast on television. In 1970, the holiday changed its name to International Workers' Day. This expressed a different semantic load, which was now invested in the celebration.
With the change of the political regime in Russia, May Day lost its ideological character, and in 1992 the authorities renamed May 1 the "Holiday of Spring and Labor". In 2001, May 2 ceased to be a day off. The tradition of holding rallies and demonstrations on May 1 has been preserved to this day in many parts of the world: in Russia, a number of European countries, in Africa and America.
