National Unity Day is a national holiday in Russia. Established on the initiative of the Interreligious Council of Russia, it is celebrated on November 4 every year since 2005.
On this day, in different cities of Russia, political parties and social movements organize rallies, processions and concerts, charity events and sporting events.
In South Ossetia, National Unity Day is included in the calendar of memorable dates and holidays, but is not a day off.
History of the holiday
The immediate reason for the introduction of the new holiday was the government's planned cancellation of the celebration of November 7, which in people's minds is associated with the anniversary of the October Revolution of 1917.
The idea to make November 4 a holiday as National Unity Day was expressed by the Interreligious Council of Russia in September 2004. The initiative was supported by the Duma Committee on Labor and Social Policy and, thus, acquired the status of a Duma initiative. Later, the initiative of the Duma to establish a celebration on November 4 was publicly supported by Patriarch Alexy of Moscow and All Rus'.
In November of the same year, a bill was submitted to the Duma for consideration of amendments to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation: the abolition of the celebration of November 7 - the anniversary of the October coup and December 12 - Constitution Day, an increase in the New Year holidays from 2 to 5 days, as well as the introduction of a new holiday 4 November.
On the same day, members of the Presidium of the Interreligious Council of Russia appealed to the Chairman of the State Duma, Boris Gryzlov, with a request to consider the Council’s statement on establishing the date November 4 as a holiday. The Council supported the initiative to introduce a new holiday. The corresponding appeal, along with the text of the statement, was distributed in the Duma in connection with the consideration in the first reading of amendments to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation related to the revision of holiday dates.
At the Duma meeting, the bill was adopted in the first reading. The communists opposed it.
On December 27, 2004, the draft was adopted in the third reading and became law. 327 deputies voted in favor, 104 (all communists) voted against, two abstained.
In memory of the Time of Troubles
National Unity Day was established in memory of the events of 1612, when the people's militia led by Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky liberated Moscow from Polish invaders.
Historically, this holiday is associated with the end of the Time of Troubles in Russia in the 17th century. The Time of Troubles - the period from the death of Tsar Ivan the Terrible in 1584 until 1613, when the first of the Romanov dynasty reigned on the Russian throne - was an era of deep crisis in the Moscow state caused by the suppression of the royal Rurik dynasty.
The dynastic crisis soon developed into a national-state crisis. The united Russian state collapsed, and numerous impostors appeared. Widespread robberies, robbery, theft, bribery, and widespread drunkenness struck the country.
Power in Moscow was usurped by the “Seven Boyars” led by Prince Fyodor Mstislavsky, who sent Polish troops into the Kremlin with the intention of placing the Catholic prince Vladislav on the Russian throne.
In this difficult time for Russia, Patriarch Hermogenes called on the Russian people to defend Orthodoxy and expel the Polish invaders from Moscow. The first people's (zemstvo) militia was headed by the Ryazan governor Prokopiy Lyapunov. But due to infighting between the nobles and the Cossacks, who killed the governor on false charges, the militia disintegrated. The anti-Polish uprising that began prematurely in Moscow on March 19, 1611 was defeated.
Minin-Pozharsky's militia
In September 1611, the “trading man”, Nizhny Novgorod zemstvo elder Kuzma Minin, appealed to the townspeople to create a people's militia.
At Minin’s suggestion, the 30-year-old Novgorod prince Dmitry Pozharsky was invited to the post of chief governor. Pozharsky did not immediately accept the offer; he agreed to be a governor on the condition that the townspeople themselves would choose an assistant for him who would be in charge of the treasury of the militia. And Minin became “the elected man of the whole earth.” So at the head of the second zemstvo militia were two people elected by the people and invested with their complete trust.
Under the banners of Pozharsky and Minin, a huge army for that time gathered - more than 10 thousand serving local people, up to three thousand Cossacks, more than a thousand archers and many “dacha people” from the peasants.
Liberation of Moscow and the first Romanov
With the miraculous icon of the Kazan Mother of God, revealed in 1579, the Nizhny Novgorod zemstvo militia managed to storm Kitay-Gorod on November 4, 1612 and expel the Poles from Moscow. This victory served as a powerful impetus for the revival of the Russian state. And the icon became the subject of special veneration.
The liberation of Moscow created the conditions for the restoration of state power and the election of a new tsar - in November 1612, the leaders of the militia sent letters to the cities convening the Zemsky Sobor. At the end of February 1613, the Zemsky Sobor, which included representatives of various strata of the country's population (clergy, boyars, nobility, Cossacks, black-growing peasants, etc.), elected young Mikhail Romanov (son of Metropolitan Philaret), the first Russian Tsar from the Romanov dynasty, as the new Tsar .
After the expulsion of the Poles from Moscow, Prince Dimitry Pozharsky, according to the Nikon Chronicle, placed the holy Kazan icon in his parish church of the Entry into the Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Lubyanka in Moscow. Later, with the money of Prince Pozharsky, the Kazan Cathedral was erected on Red Square. The holy icon, which was in Pozharsky’s troops during the liberation of Moscow, was transferred to a newly built church in 1636, where it was kept for almost 300 years.
Now this holy image is in the Epiphany Cathedral in Moscow.
Old new holiday
In memory of the liberation of Moscow from foreign invaders, by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who ruled in 1645-1676, a holiday was established - the Day of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, who was in the militia and became its main symbol. It became an Orthodox state holiday in Moscow Rus' and was celebrated until 1917. This day was included in the church calendar as a celebration in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (in memory of the deliverance of Moscow and Russia from the Poles in 1612). Celebrated on November 4 (October 22, old style).
Thus, National Unity Day, in fact, is not a new holiday at all, but a return to an old tradition.
Long weekend and thousands of people marching
This year, in connection with the celebration, Russians will have three days off in a row - directly on the holiday, which falls on Friday this year, as well as on Saturday and Sunday, November 5 and 6.
A procession and rally-concert “We are United!” will be held in Moscow on November 4. They will gather more than 10 thousand participants and may become an annual event.
Public order on National Unity Day will be protected by more than 17 thousand police officers, along with law enforcement officers, troops of the National Guard will also serve.
Dear readers! On November 4, 2017, Russia will celebrate the Day of the Liberation of Russia from foreign invaders. The names of Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky will remain in the grateful memory of the Fatherland forever. The role of Nizhny Novgorod residents in the liberation of the state from foreign invaders in 1611–1612 is invaluable.
Troubled time in the history of Russia
Russia greeted the seventeenth century with turmoil, blood, and famine. Crop failures 1601-1603 resulted in famine throughout Rus'. Seizure of the throne by False Dmitry, rebellion of service people led by Ivan Bolotnikov. Pogroms, robberies, and food riots began in the capital. The boyars and the nobles did not agree. Alarm bells rang throughout Russia, and chaos raged everywhere. Poles, Lithuanians, and Swedes moved towards the fragmented Russian state.
With the connivance of the boyar elite, Moscow was captured by the army of the Polish king Sigismund.
In this difficult time for Rus', Patriarch Hermogenes called on the Russian people to defend Orthodoxy and expel the Polish invaders from Moscow. “It’s time to lay down your soul for the House of the Most Holy Theotokos!” – wrote the patriarch. His call was taken up by many, and a movement arose to liberate the capital from the Poles.
The first people's (zemstvo) militia was headed by the Ryazan governor Prokopiy Lyapunov. But due to infighting between the nobles and the Cossacks, who killed the governor on false charges, the militia disintegrated. The anti-Polish uprising that began prematurely in Moscow on March 19, 1611 was defeated. And then the Nizhny Novgorod merchant, a native of Balakhna, and patriot Kuzma Minin, revered among the common people, called out.
At Minin’s call, the townspeople voluntarily gave “a third of their money” to create a zemstvo militia. Convoys with weapons and clothing for soldiers reached Nizhny Novgorod. At Minin’s suggestion, the 30-year-old Novgorod prince Dmitry Pozharsky was invited to the post of chief governor. So at the head of the second zemstvo militia were two people elected by the people and invested with their complete trust. A huge army for that time gathered under the banners of Pozharsky and Minin. At the end of the winter of 1612, the militia got ready to set out. The militia stood in Yaroslavl for about six months, preparing for the campaign against Moscow. Detachments from other cities flocked to this city, replenishing the forces of the militia, and a Zemstvo government was created here. With the miraculous icon of the Kazan Mother of God, revealed in 1579, the Nizhny Novgorod zemstvo militia managed to storm Kitay-Gorod on November 4, 1612 and expel the Poles from Moscow. The Great Zemsky Council of 1613 was the final victory over the Troubles, the triumph of Orthodoxy and national unity. By decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who ruled in 1645-1676, a holiday was established in honor of this great event, which became the Orthodox state holiday of Moscow Rus' (celebrated until 1917). This day was included in the church calendar as the Celebration of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in memory of the deliverance of Moscow and Russia from the Poles in 1612. Monuments were erected to D. Pozharsky and Kuzma Minin in Moscow on (Red Square) and Nizhny Novgorod.
Kuzma Minin
Kuzma (Kozma) Minin is a Russian national hero, organizer and one of the leaders of the Zemsky militia of 1611-1612 during the struggle of the Russian people against Polish and Swedish intervention.
Kuzma Minin was born between 1562 and 1568 in the family of a Balakhna salt miner. Kuzma was 12 years old when his father and his family moved to Nizhny Novgorod. Little is known about Minin's early years.
Details about the activities of Kuzma Minin became known only in the fall of 1611, when a letter from Patriarch Hermogenes arrived in Nizhny Novgorod, calling on him to stand up for the defense of the Motherland and expel enemies from the borders of his country. The city council convened to discuss the charter was attended by the clergy and senior people in the city. Among the participants was Kuzma Minin, who was elected zemstvo elder in September. The day after the meeting, the contents of the letter were announced to the townspeople. Archpriest Savva convinced the people to “stand for the faith,” but Minin’s speech turned out to be much more convincing. In September 1611, a small “trading man”, Nizhny Novgorod zemstvo elder Kuzma Minin, appealed to the townspeople to create a people’s militia. At a city meeting, he made his famous speech: “Orthodox people, we want to help the Moscow state, we will not spare our bellies, and not just our bellies - we will sell our yards, we will pawn our wives and children and we will beat our heads so that someone will become our boss. And what praise will all of us receive from the Russian land that such a great thing will happen from such a small city as ours.”
Every day his influence grew; Nizhny Novgorod residents were carried away by Minin’s proposals and finally decided to form a militia, convene service people and collect money. On October 22-26, 1612, the people's militia, equipped with everything necessary, liberated Moscow from the invaders.
Minin participated in the Zemsky Sobor of 1613, was proclaimed a nobleman of the Duma, and was granted an estate in the Nizhny Novgorod district (the villages of Bogorodsky and Vorsma). In December 1615, the Boyar Duma sent him to Kazan to establish peace and harmony between non-Russian peoples. Having completed his mission, he died in the spring of 1616. He was brought to Nizhny Novgorod and reburied several times. In 1962, it was laid in the Kremlin St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral - a temple-monument to the people's militia.
Dmitry Pozharsky
Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky (November 1, 1578 - April 30, 1642) - Russian national hero, military and political figure, head of the Second People's Militia, which liberated Moscow from the Polish-Lithuanian occupiers.
Born November 1, 1578. Descendant of the appanage princes of Starodubsky. His homeland was the town of Podgar (near Suzdal). At the age of 15 he began palace service. He was literate and educated. In 1608 he was sent to protect Kolomna; in 1609, acting against bandits in the vicinity of Moscow, he defeated their ataman Salkov on the Pekhorka River; in 1610 he was appointed governor of Zaraysk; in 1611, participating in an attack on the Poles who captured Moscow, he was wounded at Lubyanka and went for treatment to his Nizhny Novgorod Puretsky volost, where he was invited by Kuzma Minin on behalf of the Nizhny Novgorod residents to lead the Nizhny Novgorod militia.
Having liberated the capital from the interventionists (October 22-26, 1612), he actively participated in the election of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov as Tsar. The Tsar elevated him from steward to boyar. In 1614 -1619 he participated in the fight against marauders and Poles; in 1628 – 1631 was a governor in Veliky Novgorod; in 1635 he was in charge of the court order, in 1638 he was the governor in Pereyaslavl-Ryazan. He died on April 20, 1642, and was buried in the family tomb of the Spas-Evfimiev Monastery in Suzdal. In 1885, at the grave of Prince Pozharsky in the Spas-Evfimievsky Monastery in Suzdal, a monument was erected using funds raised by public subscription.
In grateful memory of the Fatherland
One of the most famous monuments in Moscow. Located on Red Square, next to St. Basil's Cathedral. The author of the monument to Minin and Pozharsky is I. P. Martos. The monument to Minin and Pozharsky was the first monument in Moscow erected not in honor of the sovereign, but in honor of national heroes. Funds for the monument were collected by popular subscription. Martos worked on the monument from 1804 to 1817. This is the best creation of I. P. Martos, who managed to embody in it the high ideals of civic valor and patriotism. The sculptor depicted the moment when Kuzma Minin, pointing his hand towards Moscow, hands Prince Pozharsky an ancient sword and calls on him to stand at the head of the Russian army. Leaning on the shield, the wounded governor rises from his bed, which symbolizes the awakening of national self-awareness in a difficult hour for the Fatherland.
Obelisk in honor of Minin and Pozharsky
Obelisk in honor of Minin and Pozharsky is a monument perpetuating the memory of Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky in Nizhny Novgorod. Installed in 1828 in the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin instead of the originally planned monument. Designed by architect A. I. Melnikov, bas-reliefs depicting Minin and Pozharsky were created according to sketches by I. P. Martos.
St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral
St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral is the oldest stone church in Nizhny Novgorod, dating back to the founding of the city. A wooden cathedral was built in 1221, and a white stone cathedral in 1227.
Rebuilt in 1359. On April 23, 1628, under the leadership of architects Lavrenty Semenov and stepson Antipas, construction of the existing building began. The restoration was carried out in memory of the Nizhny Novgorod militia and was completed in 1631. In 1962, after restoration, the ashes of Kuzma Minin were transferred to the cathedral. In September 2009, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' visited the temple. The Patriarch honored the memory of the patriot Kuzma Minin, whose ashes rest in the cathedral, and performed a funeral litany. In memory of his visit, he presented the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God to the cathedral.
Monument to Dmitry Pozharsky in Suzdal
Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky was born on November 1, 1578 on the land of Suzdal into a princely family, a distant branch of the Rurikovichs. But his fate, despite his princely origin, was not easy. Left an orphan at the age of 6, he experienced all the hardships of an orphan's life, but managed to survive and even learned to read and write, which at that time was quite a difficult task. Fate gave Dmitry Mikhailovich a special place in the history of Russia - to become the head of the people's militia and liberate his native land from the Polish-Lithuanian invaders.
Dmitry Mikhailovich was buried in the Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery according to his will, along with his parents and children. The monument to Dmitry Pozharsky in Suzdal was erected in the square of the same name near the walls of the Spaso-Evfimev Monastery. The monument was opened in 1950. The author of the bust is People's Artist of the USSR and Belarus Zair Isakovich Azgur. On the bas-relief it is written “To Dmitry Pozharsky. Grateful Motherland." A nearby street is named after Pozharsky.
Monument to Kuzma Minin in his homeland in Balakhna
The highest pride and glory of the city of Balakhna is its native Kuzma Minin, who was named the first citizen of Russia in ancient years, and this alone gives Balakhna the right to occupy the brightest page of national history, dedicated to the heroism of our people. On November 7, 1943, a monument to Kuzma Minin was unveiled in Nizhny Novgorod on Minin Square. The author of the monument is sculptor Alexander Kolobov. This monument was located on Minin and Pozharsky Square until the end of the 80s. In 1989 they moved to Balakhna, Minin’s homeland.
The National Unity Day holiday was established in memory of the events of 1612, when the people's militia led by Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky liberated Moscow from Polish invaders. Historically, this holiday is associated with the end of the Time of Troubles in Russia in the 17th century.
In December 2004, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law declaring November 4 as National Unity Day. For the first time in Russia, this new national holiday has been celebrated since 2005.
This is what Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus' said in connection with the establishment of a new holiday in Russia related to the events of 1612: “Let the new holiday serve the unity of the people, the awareness that Russia is our common Motherland. Worldview, national, social and other differences that are inevitable in any modern state should not hinder our common efforts for the prosperity of the Fatherland and the well-being of the people living in it.” In 2005, a copy of the world-famous monument to Minin and Pozharsky, made by sculptor Zurab Tsereteli, was installed in Nizhny Novgorod (the size of the monument is 10% smaller than the Moscow one).
In 1911, Russia celebrated the 300th anniversary of the people's militia. The Silver Age poet Boris Sadovsky wrote a hymn in honor of the heroes of the Nizhny Novgorod militia.
On this significant day for our entire state, I would like none of us to forget that only in unity and harmony our people are a great strength, that only together we can achieve the prosperity and well-being of our country. Let's congratulate each other, wish more happiness, kindness, love, less adversity and more unity. Happy upcoming holiday!!!
Russia greeted the seventeenth century with turmoil, blood, and famine. Crop failures 1601-1603 resulted in famine throughout Rus'. The Russian throne was seized by False Dmitry, and there was a rebellion of service people under the leadership of Ivan Bolotnikov. Pogroms, robberies, and food riots began in the capital. There was no agreement between the boyars and the nobles. Alarm bells rang all over Russia, and turmoil raged everywhere. Poles, Swedes, and Lithuanians advanced on the fragmented Russian state. With the connivance of the boyar elite, Moscow was captured by the army of the Polish king Sigismund.
In this difficult time for Rus', Patriarch Hermogenes called on the Russian people to stand up for Orthodoxy and expel the Polish invaders from Moscow. “It’s time to lay down your soul for the House of the Holy Mother of God!” - wrote the patriarch. His call was taken up by many, and a movement arose that fought for the liberation of the capital from the Poles.
The first zemstvo, people's militia was led by the Ryazan governor Prokopiy Lyapunov, but due to strife between the Cossacks and the nobles, who killed the governor on false accusations, the people's militia disintegrated. The anti-Polish uprising that began prematurely in Moscow on March 19, 1611 was defeated.
That’s when the Nizhny Novgorod merchant, a native of Balakhna, a patriot revered among the common people, called out Minin Kuzma. Listening to Minin’s calls, the townspeople voluntarily gave “a third of their money” to create a zemstvo militia. Convoys with weapons and clothing for soldiers reached Nizhny Novgorod. At Minin’s suggestion, the 30-year-old Novgorod prince Dmitry Pozharsky was invited to the post of chief governor. So at the head of the second zemsky militia were two people who were elected by the people, and they enjoyed their complete trust.
A huge army for that time gathered under the banners of Dmitry Pozharsky and Kuzma Minin. At the end of the winter of 1612, the militia got ready to set out. The militia stood in Yaroslavl for about six months, preparing for the campaign against Moscow. Detachments from other cities flocked to this city, replenishing the forces of the militia, and a Zemstvo government was created here. With the miraculous icon of the Kazan Mother of God, revealed in 1579, the Nizhny Novgorod Zemstvo militia was able to storm Kitay-Gorod on November 4, 1612 and expel the Poles from Moscow.
The Great Zemsky Council of 1613 became the final victory over the Troubles, the triumph of Orthodoxy and national unity. By decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who reigned from 1645 to 1676, a holiday was established in honor of this great event, which became an Orthodox state holiday of Moscow Russia, which was celebrated until 1917. This day was included in the church calendar as the Celebration of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in memory of the deliverance of Moscow and Russia from the Poles in 1612.
Monuments were erected to Dmitry Pozharsky and Kuzma Minin in Moscow, on Red Square, and in Nizhny Novgorod.
Minin Kuzma
Kuzma (Kozma) Minin is a Russian national hero, organizer and one of the leaders of the Zemsky militia of 1611-1612 during the period of the Russian people’s struggle against Polish and Swedish intervention. Kuzma Minin was born between 1562 and 1568 in the family of a Balakhna salt miner. Kuzma was 12 years old when his father and his family moved to Nizhny Novgorod. Little is known about the early years of Minin Kuzma.
Details about the activities of Kuzma Minin became known only in the fall of 1611, on this day a letter arrived in Nizhny Novgorod from Patriarch Hermogenes, who called for standing up for the defense of the Motherland and expelling enemies from the borders of his country. The city council convened to discuss the charter was attended by the clergy and senior people in the city. Among the participants was Kuzma Minin, who was elected zemstvo elder in September.
The day after the meeting, the contents of the letter were announced to the townspeople. Archpriest Savva convinced the people to “stand for the faith,” but Minin’s speech turned out to be much more convincing. In September 1611, a small “trading man”, Nizhny Novgorod zemstvo elder Minin Kuzma appealed to the townspeople to create a people's militia. At a city meeting, he made his famous speech: “Orthodox people, we want to help the Moscow state, we will not spare our bellies, and not just our bellies - we will sell our yards, we will pawn our wives and children and we will beat our heads so that someone will become our boss. And what praise will all of us receive from the Russian land that such a great thing will happen from such a small city as ours.”
His influence grew every day, the people of Nizhny Novgorod were carried away by Minin’s proposals and finally decided to form a militia, call together service people and collect money. Equipped with everything necessary, the people's militia liberated Moscow from the invaders in the period from October 22 to October 26, 1612.
Minin Kuzma participated in the Zemsky Sobor of 1613, was proclaimed a nobleman of the Duma, and was granted an estate in the Nizhny Novgorod district - the villages of Bogorodskoye and Vorsma. In December 1615, the Boyar Duma sent him to Kazan to establish peace and harmony between non-Russian peoples.
Having completed his mission, he died in the spring of 1616. He was brought to Nizhny Novgorod and reburied several times. In 1962, it was laid in the Kremlin St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral - a temple-monument to the people's militia.
Prince Pozharsky Dmitry Mikhailovich(11/1/1578 - 04/30/1642) - Russian national hero, military and political figure, led the People's Guard that liberated Moscow from the Polish-Lithuanian occupiers.
Pozharsky Dmitry born November 1, 1578. He is a descendant of the appanage princes of Starodubsky. His homeland was the town of Podgar near Suzdal. At the age of 15 he began his palace service. He was literate and educated.
In 1608 he was sent to defend Kolomna, and in 1609, acting against bandits in the outskirts of Moscow, he defeated their ataman Salkov on the Pekhorka River. In 1610, he was appointed governor of Zaraysk; in 1611, while participating in an attack on the Poles who had captured Moscow, he was wounded at Lubyanka and went for treatment to his Nizhny Novgorod Puretskaya volost, where he was invited by Kuzma Minin on behalf of the Nizhny Novgorod residents to lead the Nizhny Novgorod militia.
Having liberated the capital from the interventionists on October 22-26, 1612, he actively participated in the election of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov as Tsar. The Tsar elevated him from stewards to boyars. From 1614 to 1619 he participated in the fight against marauders and Poles, from 1628 to 1631 he was a governor in Veliky Novgorod. In 1635 Pozharsky Dmitry was in charge of the court order, and in 1638 became a governor in Pereyaslavl-Ryazan.
He died on April 20, 1642, and was buried in the family tomb of the Savior-Evthymius Monastery in the city of Suzdal. In 1885, at the grave of Prince Pozharsky in the Spas-Evfimievsky Monastery in Suzdal, a monument was erected using funds collected through public subscription.
In grateful memory of the Fatherland
This is one of the most famous monuments in Moscow, located on Red Square next to St. Basil's Cathedral. The author of the monument to Minin and Pozharsky is I. P. Martos. The monument to Minin and Pozharsky was the first monument in Moscow erected not in honor of the sovereign, but in honor of national heroes. Funds for the monument were collected by popular subscription. Martos worked on the monument from 1804 to 1817. This is the best creation of I.P. Martos, who managed to embody in it the high ideals of civic valor and patriotism. The sculptor depicted the moment when Kuzma Minin, who points his hand towards Moscow, hands Prince Pozharsky an ancient sword and calls on him to stand at the head of the Russian army. Leaning on the shield, the wounded governor rises from his bed, which symbolizes the awakening of national consciousness in a difficult time for the Fatherland.
The monument, which immortalized the memory of Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky in Nizhny Novgorod, was erected in 1828 in the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin instead of the originally planned monument. It was designed by the architect A. I. Melnikov, and the bas-reliefs depicting Minin and Pozharsky were created according to the sketches of I. P. Martos.
This oldest stone temple in Nizhny Novgorod dates back to the founding of the city. In 1221, a wooden cathedral was erected, and in 1227, a white stone cathedral. Rebuilt in 1359. On April 23, 1628, under the leadership of architects Lavrenty Semyonov and stepson Antipas, construction of the existing building began. The restoration was carried out in memory of the Nizhny Novgorod militia and was completed in 1631. In 1962, after restoration, the ashes of Kuzma Minin were transferred to the cathedral. In September 2009, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' visited the temple. The Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church honored the memory of the patriot Kuzma Minin, whose ashes rest in the cathedral, and performed a funeral litany. In memory of his visit, he donated the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God to the cathedral.
Pozharsky Dmitry Mikhailovich was born on November 1, 1578 on the land of Suzdal into a princely family, a distant branch of the Rurikovichs. But his fate, despite his princely origin, was not easy. Having been left an orphan at the age of 6, he experienced all the hardships of an orphan's life, but managed to survive and even learned to read and write, which at that time was quite a difficult task. Fate gave Dmitry Mikhailovich a special place in the history of Russia - to become the head of the people's militia and liberate his native land from the Polish-Lithuanian invaders. Pozharsky Dmitry Mikhailovich was buried in the Spaso-Evfimyev Monastery according to his will, along with his parents and children. The monument to Dmitry Pozharsky in Suzdal was erected in the square of the same name near the walls of the Spaso-Evfimyev Monastery. The monument was opened in 1950. The author of the bust is People's Artist of the USSR and Belarus Zair Isakovich Azgur. On the bas-relief it is written “To Dmitry Pozharsky. Grateful Motherland." A nearby street is named after Pozharsky.
The highest pride and glory of the city of Balakhna is its native Kuzma Minin, who was named the first citizen of Russia in very ancient years, and this alone allows Balakhna to occupy the brightest page of Russian history, dedicated to the heroism of our people. On November 7, 1943, a monument to Kuzma Minin was unveiled in Nizhny Novgorod on Minin Square. The author of the monument was the sculptor Alexander Kolobov. This monument was located on Minin and Pozharsky Square until the end of the 80s. And in 1989 he was transported to Balakhna, Minin’s homeland.
November 4 – National Unity Day
Holiday National Unity Day was established in memory of the events of 1612, when the people's militia under the leadership of Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky liberated Moscow from Polish invaders. Historically, this holiday is associated with the end of the Time of Troubles in Russia in the 17th century.
In December 2004, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law declaring November 4 as National Unity Day. For the first time in Russia, this new national holiday has been celebrated since 2005.
This is what Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus' said in connection with the establishment of a new holiday in Russia related to the events of 1612: “Let the new holiday serve the unity of the people, the awareness that Russia is our common Motherland. Worldview, national, social and other differences that are inevitable in any modern state should not hinder our common efforts for the prosperity of the Fatherland and the well-being of the people living in it.”
In 2005, a copy of the world-famous monument to Minin and Pozharsky, made by sculptor Zurab Tsereteli, was installed in Nizhny Novgorod (the size of the monument is 10% smaller than the Moscow one).
In 1911, Russia celebrated the 300th anniversary of the people's militia. The Silver Age poet Boris Sadovsky wrote a hymn in honor of the heroes of the Nizhny Novgorod militia.
ABOUT THE HEROES OF OLD TIMES. (DAY OF NATIONAL UNITY. POSTSCRIPT)Calendars indicate that November 4 - National Unity Day is a Russian national holiday celebrated since 2005. Moreover, for a long time, according to the Orthodox church calendar, the “Celebration of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God” is celebrated on this day (in memory of the deliverance of Moscow and Russia from the Poles in 1612).
Dmitry Pozharsky and Kuzma Minin
On October 22 (November 1 according to the Gregorian calendar), 1612, militia fighters led by Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky took China Town by storm, the garrison of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth retreated to the Kremlin. Prince Pozharsky entered China - the city with the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God and vowed to build a temple in memory of this victory. On October 26 (November 5 according to the Gregorian calendar), the command of the interventionist garrison signed a capitulation, releasing the Moscow boyars and other nobles from the Kremlin at the same time. The next day (October 27) the garrison surrendered. At the end of February 1613, the Zemsky Sobor elected Mikhail Romanov, the first Russian Tsar from the Romanov dynasty, as the new Tsar. In 1649, by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the day of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, October 22 (according to the Julian calendar), was declared a public holiday, which was celebrated for three centuries until 1917.
Ernst Lissner Expulsion of the Poles from the Kremlin.
According to scientists, due to the increase over the past centuries in the difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars, this day has shifted to November 4. When deciding on the celebration, our politicians argued for a long time. On the one hand, the liberation of Moscow from Polish invaders by the people's militia led by Minin and Pozharsky demonstrated the heroism and unity of the entire people, regardless of origin, religion and position in society. As one of the initiators of the introduction of the holiday, Patriarch Alexy, said, “this day reminds us how in 1612 Russians of different faiths and nationalities overcame division, overcame a formidable enemy and led the country to a stable civil peace.”
Mikhail Scotti Minin and Pozharsky. 1850
Yuri Pantyukhin For the Russian Land! Minin and Pozharsky (right side of the triptych).
Nella Genkina Minin and Pozharsky 2006
Lithograph by Datsiaro based on the original by F. Benoit Upper Trading Rows in the mid-1850s. 1850s..
By the way, not many people know that initially in 1818 the monument to Minin and Pozharsky, on the instructions of the sculptor Martos, was erected in the middle of Red Square, opposite the entrance to the Upper Trading Rows (now the GUM building), and only in 1931 the monument was considered an obstacle to demonstrations and parades military equipment and moved to St. Basil's Cathedral.
Ivan Martos Monument to Minin and Pozharsky 1818
Philip Moskvitin Citizen Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky. 1612. 2009
Rudolf Baranov Minin and Pozharsky 2007
On the other hand, it was pointed out that the holiday of November 4 has no historical connection with the events described above, that it is incorrect to date old holidays in the new style, and that it is even more incorrect to give the church holiday of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God state status. In addition, it was clear that the main purpose of adopting a new holiday was the abolition of the Soviet holiday - the next anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution.
Mikhail Peskov Minin's appeal to the people of Nizhny Novgorod in 1611. 1861
Konstantin Makovsky Kozma Minin (sketch). Late 1850s
Ilya Repin Kuzma Minin (sketch). 1894
Nevertheless, the holiday was accepted and has been celebrated for six years now, but according to many political scientists, the new holiday has not taken root in Russia. Since 2005, the main forms of celebration have been (listed according to statistics): religious processions in different cities with the participation of heads of administrations, charity events, children's creativity festivals, rallies. In 2006, a grandiose show was planned in Nizhny Novgorod, in which more than 1,000 actors were supposed to take part, but it did not take place.
Konstantin Makovsky Appeal of Kuzma Minin to the people of Nizhny Novgorod in 1611.
Konstantin Makovsky Kozma Minin on the square of Nizhny Novgorod, calling on people for donations. 1890s
Boris Chorikov Minin's call to Pozharsky.
The “apotheosis” of the celebration was in 2007, when Vladimir Khotinenko shot the historical film “1612”, a demonstration battle of “militia” with “invaders” was staged in the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, and in St. Petersburg a thematic quest game “Minin and Pozharsky entered into a battle with enemy." But four years have passed since that moment, and the holiday has not been popularized.
Wilhelm Kotarbinsky Ill Prince Dmitry Pozharsky receives Moscow ambassadors. 1882
1603 Tsar Boris Godunov is on the throne, and famine is raging on Russian soil. The royal decrees and measures taken by the sovereign to reduce hunger were unsuccessful. People died like flies, and three years of suffering did not pass without leaving a mark on the people's consciousness and even gave rise to gloomy legends and omens.
At the end of 1604, an unusually bright comet shone in the sky.
In the Nizhny Novgorod region, she was visible even in broad daylight.
"The fat is in the fire!" - people interpreted it. At the same time, popular uprisings flared up like comets, which were difficult to extinguish. And the news that Tsarevich Dmitry was alive and heading with an army to Moscow completely gave rise to turmoil among the people. Who is the true king?
The death of Boris Godunov opened the door to the Kremlin for those who had powerful support among the boyars. From this moment until 1610, the period of False Dmitrys and boyar betrayal began in Rus'. And the people humbly expected a reasonable and fair decision from the boyar duma. And he waited silently until, in August 1610, the boyars, secretly from the people, called the Polish king Vladislav to the Moscow throne.
And in September the interventionists had already entered the Kremlin. Alarm bells are ringing all over Rus' - the future of the Moscow state is under threat. Moscow was captured by the Polish-Lithuanian gentry. The Swedes entered Veliky Novgorod, English troops were preparing to land in the north, Rus' was falling apart before our eyes.
The ataman of the Cossack freemen, the Tushino boyar Ivan Zarussky, while besieging Moscow, thought to place Maria Mnishek on the throne, with her young son. The boyars and the nobles did not have agreement.
And at this time, truly great events took place in Nizhny Novgorod that were significant for establishing the strength and glory of the Russian state.
In February 1611, the Nizhny Novgorod army of 1,200 people, which included soldiers from Kazan, Yaroslavl, and Cheboksary, moved towards Moscow.
Nizhny Novgorod volunteer Kozma Minin was also among the warriors. However, the first campaign of the militia suffered a defeat, which haunted the patriot of the Russian land Kozma Minin.
Deciding to move from thought to action, the townsman began talking in the zemstvo hut with visitors coming on business. Kozma pointed out the need to create a treasury and offered to make donations.
So he collected the first amount to equip the militia. But this money was not enough, and Minin decided to appeal to the entire Nizhny Novgorod people.
It is known that Minin was greatly influenced by the messages of Patriarch Hermogenes, who rejected the demands of the Poles to call the people to obedience and humility.
On the descent that goes from the Ivanovo Gate to the market, people began to gather. No one remained indifferent to the appeal of a fellow countryman: “We want to help the Moscow state, so we should not spare our name!”
Minin: “Don’t spare anything, sell your yards, pawn your wives and children, beat anyone who would stand up for the true Orthodox faith and be our boss.” This appeal left no one indifferent.
Donations poured in in a wide wave. Many brought the latter.
So, after the events that took place on the square near the Ivanovo Tower of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, Nizhny began to prepare for the militia.
In winter, the city looked more like a large military camp.
On Minin’s advice, Nizhny Novgorod residents began to give a third of their property to the militia.
At his suggestion, the experienced warrior Prince Dmitry Pozharsky was chosen as the leader of the campaign.
On October 28, 1611, Pozharsky decided to lead the Nizhny Novgorod army, and arrived in Nizhny Novgorod.
The core of the militia was the Smolensk people, hardened in battles. They found temporary shelter in Arzamas. Together with the Russians, Tatars, Chuvash, Mordovians, and Cheremis joined the militia.
All Great Rus', at the call of the people of Nizhny Novgorod, came to the defense of Moscow.
“Purchase for one. Together for one thing!” - these words became the motto of the army.
At the end of winter 1612, the militia set out on a campaign. It was small: only a few thousand people. We went to Yaroslavl, bypassing the dangerous places occupied by the Cossacks. Along the way, more and more warriors joined the militia.
The largest detachments joined the army in Yaroslavl.
With the icon of the Kazan Mother of God and under the banner of Prince Pozharsky, the militia entered Moscow. Meanwhile, the interventionist forces near Moscow opposing Pozharsky’s army had a numerical advantage. The militia encamped at the Arbat Gate, between two fires.
On one side the regiments of Hetman Khatkevich were advancing, on the other the Poles were advancing. But Pozharsky had no other position. All that remained was either to win, or to put the entire army on the battlefield. The bloody slaughter lasted two days.
The chronicler tells how “Minin, not skilled in military desire, but brave with daring,” at a critical moment of the battle asked Pozharsky for three horse-mounted noble hundreds.
He crossed the Crimean ford of the Moscow River and struck the enemy from the rear. The Hetman's army did not have time to prepare for the rebuff. In panic, the enemy company flew into the reitar riding horses and crushed their formations. The Cossacks came to Minin's aid. Meanwhile, Minin’s warriors had already reached the city’s outer rampart. The Poles retreated to the Donskoy Monastery.
At the end of October 1612, they left the outskirts of Moscow in disgrace.
After the victory, Dmitry Pozharsky, together with Prince Trubetskoy, headed the provisional government.
Beginning in 1628, for almost three years, Dmitry Mikhailovich was the governor in Novgorod.
Minin was granted the title of Duma nobleman by the new Tsar Mikhail Romanov and awarded the estate - the village of Bogorodskoye in Nizhny Novgorod district.
Since 1613, the hero of the Nizhny Novgorod militia lived at the royal court, participated in meetings of the Boyar Duma.
On January 20, 1616, upon returning from the Cheremis lands, Minin died suddenly. He was buried in one of the cemeteries in Nizhny Novgorod. Then the ashes were transferred to the tomb of the Transfiguration Cathedral.
Until the middle of the 19th century, the central place on the tomb was occupied by the inscription - “Deliverer of Moscow - Lover of the Fatherland.” Now the cathedral is destroyed. Now the ashes are in the Archangel Michael Cathedral of the Kremlin.
The feat of citizen Minin and Prince Pozharsky is written in golden letters in the history of Russia. Their names have always been associated with true patriotism and selflessness. It is no coincidence that during difficult periods for the country, the memory of the heroic militia raised Russians to new exploits.
At the beginning of the 19th century, after the disgrace at Austerlitz, Emperor Alexander I signed peace with Napoleon. But the wise diplomat Alexander understood perfectly well that France would still attack Russia. It was necessary to prepare for war. It was then that the ideas of Minin and Pozharsky again came to the aid of the state. On November 30, 1806, the emperor issues a manifesto on the creation of a militia following the example of his great ancestors.
By the time of Napoleon’s attack, Russia had not only regular troops, but also 612 thousand militia warriors, among them were Nizhny Novgorod residents. Another, no less important decision was made.
In order to cultivate the patriotic spirit, on the advice of Tsar Alexander, the president of the Academy of Arts, Count Stroganov, introduces an indispensable section into the charter - all students of the academy must perform work on patriotic subjects. Then works appeared with images of Dmitry Donskoy, Alexander Nevsky, Kozma Minin, Dmitry Pozharsky.
In 2005, on November 4, our country celebrated for the first time a new all-Russian holiday - National Unity Day.
The date was not chosen by chance: November 4, 1612 went down in Russian history as a significant day of the liberation of Moscow from the Polish-Lithuanian invaders by the Nizhny Novgorod militia led by Minin and Pozharsky in alliance with other patriotic forces.
This holiday has deep historical roots. In honor of the liberation of Moscow in the old days, Nizhny Novgorod residents celebrated two dates - the Memory of Prince Dmitry Pozharsky and the Memory of the great citizen Kuzma Minin.
Before the revolution of 1917, in these significant days, the mayor of Nizhny Novgorod invited honorary citizens to the Transfiguration Cathedral, where the tomb of Kuzma Minin was located.
There, in the presence of members of the city council, officers, officials, nobles, merchants, clergy and eminent guests, a divine service was performed. Then the funeral table was set in the Duma building. Special honor was given to veteran soldiers, who were given gifts in front of a large crowd of townspeople.
In the twentieth century, these traditions were lost for a long time.
But in recent years, thanks to the patriotic movement of the public in Nizhny Novgorod and Balakhna, the celebration of the days of memory of the heroes of the people's militia has begun to be revived.
Since 2001, in honor of the feat of the people's militia, the cultural and patriotic event “Altar of the Fatherland” began to be held in the Nizhny Novgorod region.
Over the past few years, it has become a good tradition that from November 1 to 4, participants in this action walk along the entire heroic route of the militia.
The purpose of the action is to attract everyone's attention to the spiritual values of the Fatherland, its heroic past, and to demonstrate the diversity of Russian culture. The motto of the campaign was the words of Kuzma Minin, which he said in an appeal to the people: “Buy for one!” (“Together for One”).
In 2003, participants in the action, paying tribute to the leaders of the Nizhny Novgorod militia and laying flowers at their monument on Red Square in Moscow, proposed declaring November 4 an all-Russian national holiday.
On December 16, 2004, the State Duma of the Russian Federation simultaneously adopted amendments to the federal law “On Days of Military Glory” in three readings. One of the amendments was the introduction of a new holiday, National Unity Day, and the transfer of the state holiday from November 7 to November 4.
On November 4, 1612, soldiers of the people's militia under the leadership of Kozma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky took Kitay-Gorod by storm, liberating Moscow from Polish invaders and demonstrating an example of heroism and unity of the entire people, regardless of origin, religion and position in society. The militia assembled by Minin united “Russian people, Volga and Siberian Tatars, Bashkir and Mari archers, Mordovian and Udmurt warriors.
That is why the holiday is called National Unity Day.
In 2005, as part of the celebration of National Unity Day in Nizhny Novgorod, a monument to Kozma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky was unveiled at the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist, which is a smaller copy of the monument installed on Red Square in Moscow.
The monument is installed on a pedestal near the Church of John the Baptist. According to historians and experts, it was from the porch of this church that Kozma Minin called on Nizhny Novgorod residents to gather and equip a people’s militia to defend Moscow from the Poles.
Recommendation list:
Berezov P. Minin and Pozharsky. - Moscow: Moscow Worker, 1957. - 344 p.: ill.
Princes Pozharsky and the Nizhny Novgorod militia: the family of princes Pozharsky from Rurik to the present day / Comp. A. Sokolov, archpriest. - N. Novgorod, 2006. - 236 p.: ill.
Porotnikov V.P. 1612. Minin and Pozharsky - Moscow: Yauza, 2012. - 256 p.
Skrynnikov R.G. Minin and Pozharsky. Chronicle of the Time of Troubles. - Moscow: Young Guard, 1981. - 352 pp.: ill. - (ZhZL).
Bondarev V. Holiday of the Resurrection of Russia // Rodina - 2007 - No. 10 - p. 10 -12.
Doroshenko T. Overcoming the “great ruin of the Russian state.” Militia of 1611-1612. // Science and life - 2006 - No. 1 - p. 92 – 101.
Shishkov A. Troubles in Russia. 17th century // Motherland - 2005 - No. 11.
Photo source: tonkosti.ru, kstnews.ru, naganoff.livejournal.com, encyclopedia.mil.ru, ljrate.ru, rus-img2.com, www.books.ru, www.pravmir.ru
