The annualOctober Revolution Day Parade on 7 November (Russian:Военный Парад на 7 Ноября) onMoscow'sRed Square was amilitary parade of theMoscow Military District of theSoviet Armed Forces that took place every year from 1919–1990 commemorating the anniversary of the 1917October Revolution.[1] Led by representatives from theRussian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks), the insurrectionists overthrew the liberalRussian Provisional Government led byAlexander Kerensky, on 6–7 November 1917 (N.S., 24–25 October O.S.).
On 1 May 1918, onInternational Workers' Day, thefirst parade of theRed Army took place onKhodynka Field.[2][3] Subsequently, many military parades were traditionally held, mainly on Red Square. At first, these events were held on the anniversary of the October Revolution. On 7 November 1919, a parade was held in honor of the second anniversary of the events of 1917. Columns of cadets, infantry, cavalry, and units, as well as horse-drawn artillery took part in the procession. Starting in 1922, parades began to be held twice a year: on 1 May and 7 November. There were no parades held from 1942–1944 due to occupation of Soviet territories by the GermanWehrmacht. The last May Day parade took place in 1968, and the November parade ended in 1990.[4][5]
There were military parades held in 1918 and 1919.
There was no military parades held in 1920 and 1921. On 7 November 1922, a parade was held in honor of the fifth anniversary of the revolution, with the Chairman of the Revolutionary Military CouncilLeon Trotsky who inspected the parade and gave the keynote speech. In 1923, the first aerial filming of Moscow and Red Square was made and for the first time, artillery tractors participated in the parade. In 1924, the parade was opened by students of the Red Army Academy, who marched past Lenin's Mausoleum. The 1925 parade was not held due to the mourning period forMikhail Frunze.
In 1926, The Parade Troops of The Moscow Garrison was received byKliment Voroshilov.
In 1927, Red Square hosted the huge parade that took place on the 10th anniversary of the revolution. A consolidated regiment of sailors from theBaltic Fleet and theBlack Sea Fleet, as well as the North Caucasian Cavalry Regiment, theJoint State Political Directorate, and thePeople's Commissariat of Railways. There were no armored cars and tanks and due to inclement weather, the flypast over Red Square was canceled. Mikhail Kalinin was that year's parade inspector, and it would prove to be the last time the inspection was done on foot.
In 1928, The Parade was hosted byMikhail Kalinin.
In 1929, The Parade was hosted byKliment Voroshilov.Ieronim Uborevich commanded the parade. Cars, motorcycles, mechanized artillery, armored cars, light and heavy tanks passed in front of the central tribune. Squadrons flew across the sky.
1930 would see the beginning of the wide armored columns passing through Red Square provided by the men from the then Mechanized Brigade of the Moscow Military District.
There were military parades held in 1931 and 1932.
In 1933, the newest additions to the parade were former partisans and bomber aircraft, plus theVladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organization and OSOAVIAKhIM.
In 1934, The parade was opened by students of military academies, infantry and mechanized units, pilots, signalmen, engineers, chemists, cadets of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee school, units of the Proletarian Division, Red Navy and border guards, work detachments of former Red Guards and partisans, young workers of Osoaviahim. Then there was a turn of mechanized troops and tanks. Completed the parade flight of aircraft.
In 1935, Academies and schools, units of the Moscow Proletarian Rifle Division, battalions of Moscow proletarians, and artillery passed to the sound of a military band. Squadrons of the Special Cavalry Division named after I. V. Stalin passed. Air defense equipment was widely represented at the parade - anti-aircraft machine guns and guns, searchlights and sound pickups. Armored cars, trucks with motorized infantry and artillery crews, high-speed light tanks, amphibious vehicles, medium tanks, multi-gun tanks passed. The column of heavy tanks was led by the Kirov tank. Units of the mechanized corps named after K. B. Kalinovsky showed coherence and skill. Due to bad weather, the aviation part of the parade did not take place.
1936 celebrated the nineteenth anniversary of the revolution. The parade was opened by a consolidated regiment of the commanding staff of the central departments of the People's Commissariat of Defense, then military academies and schools, a consolidated detachment of sailors, battalions of the Moscow Proletarian Rifle Division, squadrons of the Cavalry Division named after I.V. Stalin, a consolidated cart regiment, cyclists, motorcyclists, a detachment of armored cars, artillery. The procession was completed by units of the mechanized corps named after K. B. Kalinovsky and other tank units.
1937 celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the revolution. The parade was commanded byMarshal of the Soviet UnionSemyon Budyonny and inspected by MarshalKliment Voroshilov. Training aircraft from theZhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy flew in visual formations "USSR" and theRoman numeral "XX" in the skies of the capital. It was the first ever Revolution Day parade to be started by the cadet drummers coming from the newly establishedMoscow Military Music College, which opened its doors that year.
In 1938, cadets of theFelix Dzerzhinsky Artillery Academy took part in the parade for the first time.
There were military parades held in 1939.
In 1940, subdivisions of the 1st Moscow motorized rifle division passed (the soldiers of the division were armed with PPD assault rifles), squadrons of the Special Cavalry Brigade of the NPO, military sailors, border guards, NKVD troops, pilots, soldiers of air defense units, tankers (medium tanks T-28, heavy combat vehicles T-35, fast tanks BT-7). Armored cars BA-20 and BA-10 passed by.
The Moscow parade of 1941 was significant in that it was the sole parade ever to be held duringWorld War II (known in Russia as theGreat Patriotic War). Marshal Semyon Budyonny, the commandant of the Reserve Front, was assigned by Soviet leaderJoseph Stalin to become the parade inspector that year, with Colonel General Pavel Artemyev commanding the formations present. Stalin would become the first Soviet leader to directly give the keynote address in a national parade.
There were no parades hosted in 1942, 1943, 1944, and 1945, respectively. The 1945 October Revolution Day parade was held behind closed doors in selected cities, in which Moscow was excluded.
In the post-war years, the selection of parade participants was carried out according to a strict criteria, including an age requirement of a soldier that being not older than 30 years and a height that is no less than 176 cm. In 1953, the tradition of receiving parades on horseback ended, with Marshal Nikolai Bulganin being the first to complete the inspection in an open car (specifically aZIS-110B).[6] That same year, cadets of theKiev Suvorov Military School in theUkrainian Soviet Socialist Republic took part for the first time.[7] The first ever television broadcasts of the parade began in 1955. Intercontinental ballistic missiles were displayed for the first time at the ruby jubilee parade of 1957.[6] The practice of foreign leaders began in that year withMao Zedong attending that year's parade as part of astate visit. In 1960,Che Guevara attended the parade that year.[8] Among the guests at the46th anniversary parade in 1963 wasValentina Tereshkova.[9] The parade that year has one of the earliest records of the full parade to exist, as well as was the last parade attended byNikita Khrushchev before he was deposed the following October.[10] In 1964, a newICBM was unveiled. It was alsoBrezhnev's first parade as leader.[11] For the first time, at the military parade in 1966, a mobile ground missile system equipped with an intercontinental ballistic missile (the prototype of the future Topol-M) was demonstrated.[12]
From 1965–1968, theDzerzhinsky Division was represented by soldiers from theUrals andSiberia.[13]
In November 1967 Minister of Defense MarshalAndrei Grechko announced his gratitude and of the Ministry of Defence to all those who marched on Red Square in 1967 as the country marked thegolden jubilee anniversary year of the Revolution and for the first time, together with the text of gratitude, they were presented with commemorative badges "Participant of the military parade".[2] Colour television broadcasts of the parade began that year in phrases, with the Moscow parade being seen only within the capital metropolitan area.
The parade began to have a live nationwide broadcast via satellite in 1969.
The 1972 parade was the 100th parade ever to be held, marking the golden jubilee of thefoundation of the Soviet Union. TheSoviet Navy at the parade was represented by the cadets of theBlack Sea Higher Naval School and theLeningrad Nakhimov Naval School. Another commemorative badge was also awarded in this year. A number of naval schools also had custom made badges made in honor of their participation in the celebrations, including the Higher Naval School of Radio Electronics named afterAlexander Stepanovich Popov, and theCaspian Higher Naval School named after Sergei Kirov.[2]
The 1974 parade dedicated to the 57th anniversary was the last to feature heavy nuclear missiles such as ballistic missiles. Due to the rain that took place that day the parade of workers and athletes after the parade finale was cancelled.[14] Although the demonstrations onRed Square were cancelled, the demonstrations onPalace Square inLeningrad continued following the parade there.[15]
With 1975 marking the 30th anniversary of theMoscow Victory Parade of 1945, theMoscow Military Music College debuted what would be a 27-year tradition of leading the parades with its fanfare trumpeters and fifers, as well as itsTurkish crescent and a pair ofglockenspiels. The parade that year acted as thede factoVictory Day Parade for that jubilee year.[16]
Although military vehicles were present in 1976, there was no display of tanks.[17]
The 1977 parade took place to commemorate thediamond jubilee of the October Revolution. TheSoviet Communist Party General SecretaryLeonid Brezhnev andSoviet Prime MinisterAlexei Kosygin attended the parade, among other foreign leaders fromWarsaw Pact and allied countries who decided to fly in for the celebrations.[18] As per tradition, 14 other Soviet Cities (includingLeningrad) held their parades on this day. A folding stock version of theAK-47 notably appeared in the contingent from the Airborne troops.[19] This parade included the updatedanthem of the Soviet Union for the first time.[20] The parade saw the return of military tanks after a two-year hiatus,[21] the highlight of which was theT-72 tank that was first publicly seen at this parade. The parade also featured a full return to the iconic armor columns and missiles in the second half of the parade.
Ethiopian leaderMengistu Haile Mariam was in attendance at the parade of 1980.[22] The 1981 parade was the first to introduce a new massed bands formation within Moscow. This included the full implementation of the sousaphone in the back row, as well as drummers added to the front line, spaced in between the fanfare trumpets. A new modelZiL limousine used for the inspection tour was also included.[23] The 1982 parade marked the 65th anniversary of the revolution, as well as thediamond jubilee of the USSR. It was the last parade attended byLeonid Brezhnev as he woulddie three days later. In 1983,Yuri Andropov (the Soviet leader at the time) did not attend the parade due to a sickness prior to the parade, which became the first parade not to be attended by a Soviet leader.[24][25] 1984 saw the participation of theKaliningrad Higher Naval School.
The 1987 parade celebrated the 70th anniversary of the October Revolution.[26] General SecretaryMikhail Gorbachev, other members of thePolitburo and the heads of foreign states were present on the grandstand ofLenin's Mausoleum for the jubilee parade. It saw the participation of a Russian Revolution historical regiment (including a color guard consisting of 50 Civil War era colors as well soldiers in the uniforms ofRed Guards and the formerImperial Russian Army) led by Major Nikolai Kravchenko as well as aGreat Patriotic War Regiment (led by a 12-member tri-services color guard of theVictory Banner) led by Major General Vasily Zdunov.
From 1988 to 1990, on the Second Program of theState Television and Radio Broadcasting, it was broadcast with sign language translation. The1989 parade was the only one to have a drill routine by the massed bands take place.
The 1990 parade celebrated the 73rd anniversary of the revolution. Among those present were PresidentMikhail Gorbachev, PremierNikolai Ryzhkov, Russian leaderBoris Yeltsin, and Moscow MayorGavriil Popov.[27] It is the only Soviet parade when the inspection of troops are held after the President's speech and anthem. It was also the last military parade to feature military equipment, something that would not be seen until the2008 Moscow Victory Day Parade.[28][29][30][31] During the final parade, an assassination attempt was made on the life of President Gorbachev.[32]
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