The 1918 May 1 Parade (russian: Парад 1 мая 1918 года) was a

military parade A military parade is a formation of soldiers whose movement is restricted by close-order manoeuvering known as drilling or marching. The military parade is now almost entirely ceremonial, though soldiers from time immemorial up until the lat ...

of the

Moscow Garrison The Order of Lenin Moscow Military District was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The district was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1968. In 2010 it was merged with the Leningrad Military Di ...

on 1 May 1918 on

Khodynka Field Khodynka Field (russian: Ходынское поле, ''Khodynskoye pole'') is a large open space in the north-west of Moscow, at the beginning of the present day Leningradsky Prospect. It takes its name from the small Khodynka River which used t ...

. It was the first parade of the recently established

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

and the first military parade held in modern

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. As of 2019, the parade is the only one of its kind to not have been held on Red Square. The parade was attended by the

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian SFSR

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

, his spouse

Nadezhda Krupskaya Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya ( rus, links=no, Надежда Константиновна Крупская, p=nɐˈdʲeʐdə kənstɐnˈtʲinəvnə ˈkrupskəjə; 27 February 1939) was a Russian revolutionary and the wife of Vladimir Lenin ...

and his sister

Maria Ilyinichna Ulyanova Maria Ilyinichna Ulyanova (russian: Мари́я Ильи́нична Улья́нова; , Simbirsk – 12 June 1937, Moscow) was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary, politician, and the younger sister of Vladimir Lenin and Anna Ulyanova. Biogra ...

. The site of Khodynka was chosen due to the holiday of

International Workers' Day International Workers' Day, also known as Labour Day in some countries and often referred to as May Day, is a celebration of labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement and occurs every year on 1 May, ...

and its status as a peaceful holiday rather than a military one. Musical accompaniment was provided by the Massed

Military Band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the tit ...

s led by Lyudomir Petkevich. The ceremonies began at 10:00 AM ( MSK) with the performance of ''

The Internationale "The Internationale" (french: "L'Internationale", italic=no, ) is an international anthem used by various communist and socialist groups; currently, it serves as the official anthem of the Communist Party of China. It has been a standard of th ...

'', the then Soviet anthem. British diplomat and Unofficial Ambassador to the Bolsheviks

R. H. Bruce Lockhart Sir Robert Hamilton Bruce Lockhart, KCMG (2 September 1887 – 27 February 1970) was a British diplomat, journalist, author, secret agent and footballer. His 1932 book ''Memoirs of a British Agent''Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart, ''Memoirs of a Br ...

described the mood during the parade as "May was excited and feverish". Immediately after the parade, a demonstration of workers took place on

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical build ...

, where a temporary tribune was erected in what is now

Lenin's Mausoleum Lenin's Mausoleum (from 1953 to 1961 Lenin's & Stalin's Mausoleum) ( rus, links=no, Мавзолей Ленина, r=Mavzoley Lenina, p=məvzɐˈlʲej ˈlʲenʲɪnə), also known as Lenin's Tomb, situated on Red Square in the centre of Moscow, is ...

External links

Оформление Красной площади на параде 1 мая 1918 года

Кинохроника парада

References

{{Reflist Vladimir Lenin May 1918 events 1918 in Russia Military parades in Russia

See also

External links

References