The March of the Defenders of Moscow (russian: Марш защи́тников Москвы́) or the Song of the Defenders of Moscow (russian: Песня защитников Москвы) is a Russian military march originally used by the

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 appeared first during the 1941

Battle of Moscow The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between September 1941 and January ...

. The words to the march were written by

Alexey Surkov Alexey Alexandrovich Surkov (russian: Алексе́й Алекса́ндрович Сурко́в; October 13, 1899 in Yaroslavl Province, Russian Empire – June 14, 1983 in Moscow, USSR) was a Russian poetry, Russian Soviet poet, editor, lite ...

while the music was composed by

Boris Mokrousov Boris Andreyevich Mokrousov (russian: Бори́с Андре́евич Мокроу́сов; 27 February 1909 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet and Russian composer. Biography He was born in Kanavino, Nizhny Novgorod. He died in Moscow, and wa ...

. In early October 1941, the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

began their offensive to take control of

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 ...

. In shock, Surkov composed a poem he titled ''Defenders of Moscow''. The poems were first published in the newspaper of the ''Krasnoarmeiskaya Pravda'' on 3 November 1941. A week later, it was printed by ''

Vechernyaya Moskva ''Vechernyaya Moskva'' (russian: Вечерняя Москва, literally ''Evening Moscow'') is a Russian local newspaper published in Moscow since 6 December 1923 daily (except Saturday and Sunday). It was founded as an organ of the Mossovet, la ...

''. Drawing the attention of the Central Studio of Documentary Film of USSR, the text was set to music by Mokrousov and was broadcast in a documentary on the defense of the cities of

Volokolamsk Volokolamsk (russian: Волокола́мск) is a town and the administrative center of Volokolamsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Gorodenka River, not far from its confluence with the Lama River, northwest of Moscow. Pop ...

and

Mozhaysk MozhayskAlternative transliterations include ''Mozhaisk'', ''Mozhajsk'', ''Mozhaĭsk'', and ''Možajsk''. ( rus, Можа́йск, p=mɐˈʐajsk) is a town and the administrative center of Mozhaysky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located to th ...

. It was later performed in an orchestra setting in the 1942 Soviet film, ''

Moscow Strikes Back ''Moscow Strikes Back'' (russian: Разгром немецких войск под Москвой, ''Razgrom Nemetskikh Voysk Pod Moskvoy'', "Rout of the German troops near Moscow") is a Soviet war documentary about the Battle of Moscow made du ...

''. It was also used in the 1944 film '' Six P.M.''. The song is part of the traditional repertoire of many

Russian military bands Russian military bands fall under the jurisdiction of the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of Russia, which is the official music service for the Russian Armed Forces, and led by the Senior Director of Music, a billet of an officer wit ...

and is one of many composed during the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sout ...

(known in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

as the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

). Today, it is frequently performed during the annual

Victory Day Parade ukr, Парад Перемоги be, Парад Перамогі , nickname = Victory Parades , observedby = Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, some former Soviet countries , duration = 1 day , frequency = annual , scheduling = same d ...

(performed as recently as

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

) 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 ...

. The melody to the march was taken again to be that of the hymn of the Turkish Communist Party.

Lyrics

The march is composed of four verses and a chorus which is as follows:

References

{{Authority control 1941 songs Choral compositions Russian patriotic songs Russian military marches