Victory Day is a holiday that commemorates the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. It was first inaugurated in the 15 republics of the Soviet Union following the signing of the German Instrument of Surrender late in the evening on 8 May 1945 (9 May Moscow Time). The Soviet government announced the victory early on 9 May after the signing ceremony in Berlin. Although the official inauguration occurred in 1945, the holiday became a non-labor day only in 1965, and only in certain Soviet republics.
The German Instrument of Surrender was signed twice. An initial document was signed in Reims on 7 May 1945 by Alfred Jodl (chief of staff of the German OKW) for Germany, Walter Bedell Smith, on behalf of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, and Ivan Susloparov, on behalf of the Soviet High Command, in the presence of French Major-General François Sevez as the official witness.
Since the Soviet High Command had not agreed to the text of the surrender, and because Susloparov, a relatively low-ranking officer, was not authorized to sign this document, the Soviet Union requested that a second, revised, instrument of surrender be signed in Berlin.
A second surrender ceremony was organized in a surviving manor in the outskirts of Berlin late on 8 May, when it was already 9 May in Moscow due to the difference in time zones.
During the Soviet Union's existence, 9 May was celebrated throughout it and in the Eastern Bloc. Though the holiday was introduced in many Soviet republics between 1946 and 1950, it became a non-working day only in the Ukrainian SSR in 1963 and the Russian SFSR in 1965
The celebration of Victory Day continued during subsequent years. The war became a topic of great importance in cinema, literature, history lessons at school, the mass media, and the arts. The ritual of the celebration gradually obtained a distinctive character with a number of similar elements: ceremonial meetings, speeches, lectures, receptions and fireworks.
Victory Day in modern Russia has become a celebration in which popular culture plays a central role. The 60th and 70th anniversaries of Victory Day in Russia (2005 and 2015) became the largest popular holidays since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
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Vladimir Putin's's address during the military parade today:
Edit: wrong mega ..
spoiler
Dear citizens of Russia! Dear veterans!Comrades soldiers and sailors, sergeants and petty officers, warrant officers and ensigns! Comrades officers, generals, and admirals! Fighters, commanders, front-line soldiers – heroes of the special military operation!
I congratulate you on Victory Day – our most important, truly national, sacred holiday!
We honor our fathers and grandfathers, great-grandfathers. They defended the motherland and crushed Nazism, liberated the peoples of Europe, and reached the heights of military and labor valor.
Today, we see attempts to distort the truth about World War II. It interferes with those accustomed to building their essentially colonial policy on hypocrisy and lies. They demolish memorials to the true fighters against Nazism, elevate traitors and collaborators of the Nazis, erase the memory of the heroism and nobility of the liberating soldiers, of the great sacrifice they made for life.
Revanchism, mockery of history, the attempt to justify the current followers of the Nazis – this is part of the general policy of Western elites to ignite new regional conflicts, interethnic and interreligious enmity, to restrain sovereign, independent centers of global development.
We reject the claims of any state or alliance to exclusivity, knowing where such disproportionate ambitions lead. Russia will do everything to prevent a global conflict, but at the same time, we will not allow anyone to threaten us. Our strategic forces are always combat-ready.
The West would like to forget the lessons of World War II, but we remember that the fate of humanity was decided in the grand battles near Moscow and Leningrad, Rzhev, Stalingrad, Kursk, and Kharkov, near Minsk, Smolensk, and Kyiv, in the bloody battles from Murmansk to the Caucasus and Crimea.
For the first three long, hardest years of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet Union, all the republics of the former Soviet Union, practically alone fought against the Nazis, while practically all of Europe worked for the military might of the Wehrmacht.
However, I emphasize: Russia has never diminished the significance of the second front and the assistance of the allies. We honor the courage of all the soldiers of the anti-Hitler coalition, members of the Resistance, underground fighters, partisans, the bravery of the Chinese people, who fought for their independence against the aggression of militaristic Japan. And we will always remember, never, never forget our common struggle and the inspiring traditions of alliance.
Dear friends!
Russia is now going through a difficult, pivotal period. The fate of the Motherland, its future depends on each of us.
Today, on Victory Day, we realize this even more acutely and distinctly and invariably look up to the generation of victors – courageous, noble, wise, for their ability to cherish friendship and steadfastly endure hardships, always be confident in themselves and their country, to love the Motherland sincerely and selflessly.
We celebrate Victory Day amid the special military operation. All its participants – those on the front line, on the line of combat contact – are our heroes. We bow to your resilience and self-sacrifice, dedication. All of Russia is with you!
Our veterans believe in you, worry about you. Their spiritual kinship with your fates and feats unbreakably links the generations of the Motherland's heroes.
Today we bow our heads in memory of all whose lives were taken by the Great Patriotic War. In memory of sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, relatives, friends.
We bow our heads in memory of the veterans of the Great Patriotic War who have passed away. In memory of civilians killed by barbaric shelling and terrorist acts of neo-Nazis. In memory of our combat comrades who fell in the fight against neo-Nazism, in the righteous battle for Russia.
When you're such evil bastards that Putin can give a 100% true jingoistic propaganda speech.
Putin can't help but mention China and I think that's great from a propaganda standpoint. Sino-russo relations at an all time high.