The Presidential Library spotlights the history of the Spring and Labor Day

The Spring and Labor Day is celebrated annually in Russia on May 1. The history of the First of May in Russia and abroad is covered by a rare 1924 edition of the May Day Anthology, presented on the Presidential Library’s portal.

The prototype of May 1 as a holiday of spring arose in ancient Rome, when on that day women made sacrifices to the goddess of spring and fertility Maya, in whose honor the month May was named. With the departure of paganism, this tradition was lost.

The modern history of the holiday began in the 19th century. On May 1, 1886, a wave of protest demonstrations and rallies of workers swept in the USA and Canada demanding the introduction of an 8-hour working day. The Russian workers were in solidarity with them: the Presidential Library’s collectionы contain agitation cards with the heading “Eight hours for work, eight for sleep, eight for free!” As a result, “in the month of July 1889 at the International Labor Congress in Paris, it was decided to demand in all countries of the educated world that the working day be reduced to eight hours. Then it was also decided that the workers of all countries annually on the day of May 1 (April 19) should remind this demand to their governments”, - wrote George Plekhanov, whose words are quoted in the May Day Anthology. May 1 was declared the Day of Solidarity of Workers of the World.

In the Russian Empire, the holiday was first celebrated in 1890 in Warsaw (which was part of the empire at that time) with a strike of many thousands. Since 1897, mass demonstrations began to be held regularly. After the February Revolution of 1917, May Day was celebrated openly: millions of workers took to the streets with slogans for freedom and in support of the war to a victorious end.

May Day in Russia has changed its name for many times. In 1918, it received the status of a national holiday as International Day, in 1972 the name was changed to International Workers' Solidarity Day, and in 1992 it was renamed the Spring and Labor Day. A similar name was used back in 1905 by the revolutionary Felix Volkhovsoy in his poem: “The first of May! May Day! / Feast of Labor and Spring!” cited in the May Day Anthology. 

Solemn parades, holiday demonstrations with the slogans "Peace, Work, May!" and posters depicting politicians - such was this holiday in the RSFSR and the USSR. 

Gradually, the celebration lost its political character, which was reflected in its last name - the Spring and Labor Day.

The Presidential Library’s portal features numerous visual materials - photographs, posters and postcards illustrating the celebration of the holiday in different years. The collection “May Day Celebration”, which is part of the “1917” one, presents rare photographs of the celebration of this day in many areas of Petrograd. These are photographs taken by different photographers in the city center: “First May Celebration. The Field of Mars", "May 1 (April 18) 1917 on St. Isaac's Square. Petrograd", "Mariinsky Square. National holiday May 1, 1917”, “First May Celebration. The Trinity bridge", and on the outskirts of the factory - "May 1 (April 18). 1917 Instrumentalnaya metro station P. Z. Petrograd". Among them are the works of such famous photographers of the time as Alexander and Victor Bulla, for example, “May 1, 1917 on Palace Square”, and so on.    

During the Great Patriotic War, artists combined the May Day holiday with a front-line theme: a poster by Alexander Chechnev “May Day gift: from a rifle woman and a rifle man - death to the German invader!”, Victor Govorov “Long live May 1! Everything for the front, everything for the victory over the enemy!” and others. They are available on the Presidential Library’s portal in the “Posters” section of the “Memory of the Great Victory” electronic collection.