Victory parade symbol. Special Parade. The meaning of these signs
The Victory Parade is the spectacle that is recommended for viewing live. For objective reasons, few people get such an honor on May 9, and the only opportunity to watch the passage of military personnel and military equipment is two rehearsals, which, as a rule, take place in early May. The first - takes place late in the evening, and the second - in the morning. This year the evening rehearsal took place on May 3 at 22:00. For the first time, the Ministry of Defense conducted a stream broadcast on the Odnoklassniki social network. Moreover, the camera was installed on the Msta-S self-propelled howitzer, which moved as part of the parade crew. By the way, on May 4, the Ministry of Defense promises to conduct a stream broadcast of the preparation of the aviation part of the Victory Parade. Morning rehearsal will take place on May 7th. On May 3, cadets of the Suvorov schools and higher military walked along the paving stones educational institutions, as well as officers of various units of the Armed Forces, the Russian Guard, the FSB and the Ministry of Emergency Situations. It has become a wonderful tradition to participate in the Parade of Suvorov soldiers (they walk first) and women who serve in communications and material support units. From the equipment at the Parade, in addition to the mentioned self-propelled guns "Msta-S", you can see the latest self-propelled guns "Coalition-SV", tanks T-72B3 and T-14 "Armata", BTR-MD "Rakushka", airborne combat vehicle BMD-4 , tracked platform "Kurganets-25", armored personnel carriers BTR-82A, armored vehicles "Tiger" and "Typhoon", anti-aircraft missile systems "Buk-M2", "Tor-M2U", "Pantsir-S1", operational-tactical complexes "Iskander ”, S-400 air defense systems and Yars mobile strategic systems, which are replacing Topol-M. However, the first technique that drove through Red Square was the legendary T-34 - the brainchild of Mikhail Koshkin, who worked at the Kharkov Transport Engineering Plant No. 183. The brilliant designer put a huge modernization potential into the car, which made it possible to improve the tank, adapting it to the changing conditions of the war. I was lucky for the first time in my life to visit the rehearsal of the Victory Parade and feel the power of the equipment that moved along the cobblestones of the main square of the country. The ranks of walking soldiers and massive weapon structures make an indelible impression on the layman. This is not surprising, because the meaning of the military parade was originally to demonstrate military power. The state, as it were, makes it clear to the whole world that jokes are bad with it. Before the First World War, military parades were held quite often, but then this fashion was gone. It should be understood that organizing a parade is a laborious and costly business. It is necessary to collect, dress and teach how to perfectly march several thousand military personnel. If the state attracts heavy military equipment, then drivers work out synchronous movement in urban conditions for at least several days. In addition, the passage of convoys of vehicles adversely affects the infrastructure: asphalt deteriorates, almost the entire city center is blocked, inconvenience is created for the movement of citizens, airplanes disperse clouds with the help of chemicals, the police, the Ministry of Defense and the mayor's office are on their ears. It is for this that the liberal public of Russia criticizes the May 9 parades. Why, they say, can't the victory over Nazism be celebrated more modestly? Why are we like some kind of North Korea and spend large resources on organizing a procession of military personnel and military equipment? A person who has been at a rehearsal or at the Victory Parade itself will unequivocally answer - you cannot celebrate this day in a different way! Without a demonstration of military power, it is impossible to feel many things that are beyond the mind. For those who now remotely remember the war, the Victory Parade is undoubtedly a tribute to memory and respect. In turn, post-war generations, and especially citizens born after 1991, need the Parade as a spiritual connection with the Soviet past. It is foolish to count on any interest of youth and children in the Great Patriotic War if there is no Parade and worthy films about that period of history in the country. At the Parade, songs and marches are performed that are associated with a great holiday, although some of them were not composed during the Second World War. The essence of the Victory Parade is not this, but that every citizen is aware of the importance of historical continuity. Over the years, the name of the state changes, political power changes, ideology changes, the economy changes, military equipment and the structure of the Armed Forces, but the memory of the heroic past and the great feat of the people must always remain unshakable. This is a simple truth, but it is very difficult to keep. Russian youth and the mature generation are infinitely far from a more or less deep understanding of what happened in the first half of the 1940s, and this is not their fault. There are fewer and fewer eyewitnesses to WWII. A certain unconsciousness is a natural process, and therefore, whatever the economic and political situation in our country, the tradition of holding the Victory Parade should be inviolable. Another important gestalt that the Victory Parade carries in itself is pride in the army and awareness of the unity of the Armed Forces and the people. Red Square is crossed by both long-standing military equipment and the latest. There is some guile in this. For example, Russia is not yet able to launch serial production of the Armata, Kurganets and Koalitsiya-SV, probably due to problems identified in the tests. Our country boasts of the weapons that it will not be able to use even in the coming years. This is an unpleasant truth, but it does not mean that the Russians cannot be proud of the achievements of the domestic defense industry. In all the leading ratings, Russia is second only to the United States, and our servicemen had no problems with motivation even in the 1990s. The topic of the Armed Forces has always been of particular importance for our country due to the countless number of threats of a military nature. The army, in fact, has always been popular and served him. And it's not just the recruiting system. A sacred duty is entrusted to a person in uniform, and only during the Victory Parade does the whole country feel this, including the military personnel themselves.
Victory Day- celebration of the victory of the people Soviet Union over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Celebrated May 9th.
Abroad, Victory Day is celebrated not on May 9, but on May 8.
War-torn Europe celebrated Victory Day sincerely and publicly. On May 9, 1945, in almost all European cities, people congratulated each other and the victorious soldiers.
In London, Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square were the center of celebrations. People were congratulated by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
Winston Churchill delivered a speech from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
In the USA, there are two whole Victory Days: V-E Day(Victory Day in Europe) and V-J Day(Victory Day over Japan). Both of these Victory Days in 1945 were celebrated by the Americans on a grand scale, honoring their veterans and remembering President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Victory Day coincided with the birthday of President Harry Truman. He dedicated the victory to the memory of his predecessor, Franklin Roosevelt, who died of a cerebral hemorrhage a month before the German surrender.
Now the veterans are celebrating like this - they are going to lay wreaths and salute the dead in the city of Washington to the memorial to the heroes of World War II. And the real Victory Day in the USA is September 2, 1945.
On this day, September 2, 1945, at 9:02 Tokyo time, on board the American battleship"Missouri" in Tokyo Bay signed the Act of Surrender of the Japanese Empire. On behalf of Japan, the document was signed by Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and Chief of the General Staff Yoshijiro Umezu. Representatives of the Allied Powers were Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers Douglas MacArthur, American Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander of the British Pacific Fleet Bruce Fraser, Soviet General Kuzma Nikolaevich Derevyanko, Kuomintang General Su Yong-chang, French General J. Leclerc, Australian General T. Blamey, Dutch Admiral K. Halfrich, New Zealand Air Vice-Marshal L. Isit and Canadian Colonel N. Moore-Cosgrave .
In addition to the USSR, May 9 was officially recognized as Victory Day only in Great Britain. This country waged a war against fascism from 1939 and until 1941 fought Hitler almost alone.
The British clearly did not have enough strength to defeat Germany, but, faced with the terrible machine of the Wehrmacht, it was they who were able to appreciate the feat of the Soviet people who crushed it.
After the end of the war, many of our veterans remained in the UK, so now England has the largest diaspora of Soviet veterans in Western Europe. It is worth noting that although Victory Day is celebrated in Britain, it is not done so pompously and loudly. There are no crowds of celebrating people, big processions and parades on the streets.
On May 9, in London, in the park near the Imperial War Museum, a traditional wreath-laying ceremony is held at the monument to Soviet soldiers and citizens who died in the war, as well as a meeting of veterans of the Northern convoys on board the Belfast cruiser.
The northern convoys and the naval fraternity, which connected the British and Soviet sailors, rallied the veterans even more strongly. The celebrations are not distinguished by splendor, but they are very worthy, with the participation of members of the royal family and senior government officials. The living survivors of the air battles with the Luftwaffe, icy, but no less hot campaigns in the northern seas and those who happened to swallow the hot sand of the African desert, after meeting on the Belfast cruiser, listen to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. There are fewer and fewer veterans, and if earlier music sounded only for them, now there are more free seats, and everyone who wants to enjoy it is invited to enjoy.
The history of the Victory Day holiday has been going on since May 9, 1945, when in the suburbs of Berlin, the Chief of Staff of the Supreme High Command, Field Marshal V. Keitel from the Wehrmacht, Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief Marshal of the USSR Georgy Zhukov from the Red Army and Air Marshal of Great Britain A. Tedder from the Allies, signed an act of unconditional and complete surrender of the Wehrmacht.
Berlin was taken on May 2, but the German troops resisted the Red Army for more than a week before the fascist command, in order to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, finally decided to surrender.
On May 7 at 2:41 am in Reims, the act of unconditional surrender of Germany was signed. On behalf of the German High Command, the Act of Surrender was signed by General Jodl in the presence of General Walter Smith (on behalf of the Allied Expeditionary Force), General Ivan Susloparov (on behalf of the Soviet High Command) and General of the French Army Francois Sevez as a witness.
General Susloparov signed the act in Reims at his own peril and risk, as he did not have time to contact the Kremlin and receive instructions. Stalin was outraged by the signing of the surrender at Reims, in which the Western Allies played a leading role.
Representatives of the allied command (from left to right): Major General I.A. Susloparov, Lieutenant General Walter Smith, Army General Dwight Eisenhower and Air Marshal Arthur Tedder. Reims, 7 May 1945.
The document signed at Reins came into force at 11 p.m. on 8 May. Many believe that due to the time difference between the USSR and Europe, it turned out that we celebrate this holiday on different days. However, not all so simple.
The act of surrender was signed again.
Stalin ordered that Marshal Zhukov accept a general surrender in the capital of the defeated state, Berlin, from representatives of the branches of the German armed forces.
On May 8 at 22:43 CET (May 9 at 0:43 Moscow time) in the suburbs of Berlin, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, as well as the representative of the Luftwaffe, Colonel General Stumpf and the Kriegsmarine, Admiral von Friedeburg, signed the act of complete surrender of Germany again .
“I can’t help but brag,” photographer Petrusov later wrote. - It took a lot of effort for me to break away from the close-up shots of Marshal Zhukov, Keitel and others, to give way to the hard-worn seat at the very table, to go to the side, climb on the table and take this picture, which gives a general picture of the signing. I am rewarded - there is no such second picture.
However, all these details, which are of interest to researchers, in no way affect our attitude to the very fact of the Great Victory.
Berlin, May 1945
Red flags on the quadriga of the Brandenburg Gate. Berlin. May 1945. (Archive photos)
Soviet soldiers on the streets of Berlin. May 1945. (Archive photos)
Salute in honor of the Victory. On the roof of the Reichstag, soldiers of the battalion under the command of Hero of the Soviet Union Stepan Andreyevich Neustroev. May 1945. (Archive photos)
Red Army troops on the streets of Bucharest, 1944. (Archive photos)
And before all these events, Stalin signed a decree of the Presidium Supreme Council USSR that from now on May 9 becomes a public holiday Victory Day and declared a holiday. At 6 o'clock in the morning Moscow time, this Decree was read out on the radio by the announcer Levitan. The first Victory Day was celebrated by people on the streets congratulating each other, hugging, kissing and crying.
On May 9, in the evening, the Victory Salute was given in Moscow, the largest in the history of the USSR: thirty volleys were fired from a thousand guns.
But May 9 was a day off for only three years. In 1948, the war was ordered to be forgotten and all forces to be thrown into the restoration of the national economy destroyed by the war.
Only in 1965, already in the relatively prosperous era of Brezhnev, in the 20th anniversary of the Victory, the holiday was again given its due. May 9 again became a day off, Parades resumed, large-scale fireworks in all cities - Heroes and honoring veterans.
Banner of Victory
The banner taken from the Reichstag, where Yegorov and Kantaria hoisted it, did not participate in the first Victory Parade. The name of the 150th division, where the soldiers served, was displayed on it, and the country's leadership considered that such a banner could not be a symbol of the Victory, which was achieved by the whole people, and not by one division. And in fact, this is correct, since in those days this Banner was not the only one that was hoisted soviet soldiers on the day of the capture of Berlin.
In 2007, a dispute flared up again around the banner of Victory: after all, you can see a sickle and a hammer on it - symbols of a state that no longer exists. And again common sense prevailed, and the banner again proudly flew over the ranks of soldiers and cadets, minting a step across Red Square.
In addition to the festive victory parades in the cities of the country, Victory Day has other attributes and traditions:
Laying wreaths and flowers at memorial cemeteries and monuments to soldiers of the Great Patriotic War. Traditionally, flowers are laid on Poklonnaya Hill and at the monument to the Unknown Soldier; in St. Petersburg, the main laying ceremony takes place at the Piskarevsky cemetery and at the memorial plaque on Nevsky Prospekt, in Volgograd on Mamaev Kurgan. And throughout the country, thousands of thousands of monuments, commemorative plaques and memorial places, where on Victory Day on May 9, everyone, young and old, bring flowers.
A moment of silence. Solemn and mourning flower-laying ceremonies are traditionally accompanied by a minute of silence in memory of all those who died during the Great Patriotic War. A moment of silence is a sign of respect for all the people who gave their lives so that today we could have a peaceful sky above our heads.
Salute of victory. Victory Day ends fireworks. The first salute in Moscow was given in 1943 in honor of the successful offensive of the Red Army, after which a tradition arose to arrange salutes after successful operations with the Nazi troops. And, of course, one of the most grandiose salutes was the salute on May 9, 1945, on the day the complete surrender was announced. fascist troops. Fireworks began at 22:00 Moscow time, since then, every year at 22:00, Victory salutes begin in many cities, reminding that the country has survived, overthrown the invaders and rejoices! 
St. George Ribbon.
Fewer and fewer living witnesses to that war remain, more and more often the political forces of some foreign countries trying to denigrate the heroic soldiers of our victorious army. And in order to pay tribute to the memory and reverence for the exploits of our heroes, so that the younger generation knows, remembers and is proud of its history, a new tradition was introduced in 2005 - to tie a St. George ribbon on Victory Day. The action is called “I remember! IM proud of!"
St. George ribbon - bicolor (two-color) of orange and black. It traces its history from the ribbon to the soldier's order of St. George the Victorious, established on November 26, 1769 by Empress Catherine II. This tape, with minor changes, was included in reward system The USSR as the “Guards Ribbon” is a sign of special distinction for a soldier.
She is covered with a block of a very honorable "soldier's" Order of Glory. The black color of the ribbon means smoke, and the orange color means flame. In our time, an interesting tradition has appeared associated with this ancient symbol. On the eve of the Victory Day holiday, young people wear a ribbon as a sign of respect, memory and solidarity with the heroic Russian soldiers who defended the freedom of our country in the distant 40s.
For disrespectful attitude to the symbol, they can easily issue a fine
The new rules for wearing the symbol of Victory are being distributed among the country's population by volunteers. From the very beginning of the St. George Ribbon action, on April 24, volunteers have been warning about the strict rules that are associated with wearing the symbol.
“It is strictly forbidden to attach a ribbon to a bag or a car, wear it below the waist, on the head, tie it around the arm or treat it disrespectfully,” the website of the “Volunteers of Victory” project says, “ In case of a neglectful attitude, a citizen may face a fine.».
You can wear a St. George ribbon only on the lapel of a jacket, near the heart. This is reported to everyone who decides to take part in the St. George Ribbon campaign.
“It is a symbol of respect and memory. Therefore, we believe that it is the place on the left side of the chest. This is how we demonstrate our recognition to the departed heroes,” the volunteers add.
Metronome sounds. In St. Petersburg there is a special attribute of Victory Day - the sound of a metronome from all radio broadcasting points. During the most difficult 900 days of the siege of Leningrad, the sounds of the metronome did not stop for a minute, announcing that the city lives, the city breathes. These sounds gave vitality to the exhausted siege residents of Leningrad, it can be said without exaggeration that the sounds of the metronome saved thousands of lives.
Marches of the "Immortal Regiment"
In an endless stream through the squares and streets of cities on Victory Day, soldiers who died during the war walk along with the living participants in the processions. " Immortal Regiment"consists of photographs of these people. Descendants have found a way to once again remember dear relatives and friends, pay tribute to them, bow low for their feat.
Festive Parade. The Victory Parade in Russia is traditionally held on Red Square in Moscow. In addition to Moscow, on May 9, parades are held in other cities - the heroes of the former USSR.
The first parade in honor of the Victory of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War on June 24, 1945 on Red Square.
The decision to hold the Victory Parade on Red Square was made by Stalin in mid-May 1945, almost immediately after the defeat of the last resisting group of Nazi troops on May 13th.
June 22, 1945 the Pravda newspaper published the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief I.V. Stalin No. 370: “In commemoration of the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War, I appoint June 24, 1945 in Moscow on Red Square the Parade of the troops of the Army, Navy and Moscow garrison - Victory Parade. To bring to the Parade: consolidated regiments of the fronts, a consolidated regiment of the People's Commissariat of Defense, a consolidated regiment of the Navy, military academies, military schools and troops of the Moscow garrison. The Victory Parade will be hosted by my Deputy Marshal of the Soviet Union Zhukov. Command the Victory Parade to Marshal of the Soviet Union Rokossovsky.
The first Victory Parade was prepared very carefully. According to the memoirs of veterans, rehearsals took place a month and a half. Soldiers and officers, accustomed to four years of crawling and moving in short dashes, had to be taught to mint a step at a frequency of 120 steps per minute. First, stripes were drawn on the asphalt along the length of the step, and then they even pulled the ropes to help set the height of the step. The boots were covered with a special varnish, in which the sky was reflected like in a mirror, and metal plates were nailed to the soles, which helped to mint the step. The parade began at ten o'clock in the morning, almost all this time it was raining, at times turning into a downpour, which was recorded by newsreel footage. About forty thousand people participated in the Parade. Zhukov and Rokossovsky went to Red Square on white and black horses, respectively.
Iosif Vissarionovich himself from the podium of the Lenin Mausoleum only watched the Parade. Stalin stood on the podium of the mausoleum on the left, yielding the middle to the front-line generals - the winners.
Kalinin, Molotov, Budyonny, Voroshilov and other members of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee were also present on the podium. Zhukov “received” the Parade from Rokossovsky, together with him rode along the fighters lined up in ranks and greeted them with three “cheers”, then went up to the podium of the Mausoleum and read out a welcoming speech, dedicated to victory USSR over Nazi Germany. Consolidated regiments of the fronts solemnly marched across Red Square: Karelian, Leningrad, 1st Baltic, 3rd, 2nd and 1st Belorussian, 1st, 4th, 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian, consolidated regiment Navy. As part of the regiment of the 1st Belorussian Front, representatives of the Polish Army marched in a special column. In front of the marching columns of the fronts were the commanders of the fronts and armies with drafts drawn. The banners of the formations were carried by the Heroes of the Soviet Union and other order bearers. Behind them moved a column of soldiers of a special battalion from among the heroes of the Soviet Union and other soldiers who especially distinguished themselves in battles. They carried the banners and standards of the defeated Nazi Germany, which they threw at the foot of the Mausoleum and set it on fire. Further along Red Square, units of the Moscow garrison marched, then cavalrymen rode, legendary carts rode, air defense formations, artillery, motorcyclists, light armored vehicles and heavy tanks followed. Airplanes piloted by famous aces swept through the sky.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, parades on Victory Day stopped again for a while. They were reborn again only in the jubilee 1995 year, when two parades were held in Moscow at once: the first on Red Square and the second on the Poklonnaya Gora memorial complex.
Happy Victory Day, my dears!
The Victory Banner is the state relic of Russia, the official symbol of the victory of the Soviet people and its Armed Forces over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. It is an assault flag of the 150th Order of Kutuzov II degree of the Idritsa Rifle Division, hoisted on May 1, 1945 over the Reichstag building in the city of Berlin by Soviet soldiers.
On May 9, 1945, the name of Victory was removed from the Reichstag and on June 20, on a Lee 2 plane, it was sent to Moscow. His place in the Reichstag was taken by another scarlet banner.
The banner of Victory was made in military field conditions and is an improvised State flag of the USSR. It is a single-layer rectangular red cloth attached to the pole, measuring 82 cm by 188 cm, on the front side of which, at the top of the pole, a silver five-pointed star, a sickle and a hammer are depicted, on the rest of the cloth, before being sent to Moscow, an inscription was added in white letters in four lines: "150 lines of the Order of Kutuzov II st. Idritsk. div. 79 C.K. 3 U.A. 1 B.F" (150th rifle order of Kutuzov II degree Idritskaya division of the 79th rifle corps of the 3rd shock army 1 th Belorussian Front), on the reverse side of the panel in the lower corner near the flagpole there is an inscription "No. 5".
On the Victory Parade on June 24, 1945, the Victory Banner was not taken out. By order of the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army dated July 10, 1945, the Victory Banner was sent to the Central Museum of the Armed Forces for eternal storage.
For the first 20 years, it was only an exhibit for the public to see, no one ever took it out of the museum. It was first carried at a military parade on Red Square on May 9, 1965 on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Victory. Before the parade, the Victory Banner was restored - a mesh was sewn in instead of the torn off lower edge.
On April 15, 1996, Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree "On the Banner of Victory", according to which during public holidays Russian Federation, days of military glory (victory days) of Russia, during military rituals, as well as mass events related to military victories Russian people, The Banner of Victory must be used along with the State Flag of the Russian Federation. According to the decree, the Banner of Victory, hoisted over the Reichstag in May 1945, is taken out only on May 9 - on the Victory Day of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 and on February 23 - on the Day of Defenders of the Fatherland, and for other purposes the "symbol Banner of Victory", which was a red cloth with a length to width ratio of 2: 1. On both sides in the upper corner there is an image of a five-pointed star.
On April 15, 2000, additions were made to the decree, according to which the symbol of the Banner of Victory can be temporarily exported to the territory of the CIS states by order of the president.
In 2007, an attempt was made to legitimize the status of the symbol of the Victory Banner in the federal law "On the Banner of Victory". However, the concept of "the symbol of the Banner of Victory" and its inconsistency with the original caused a sharply negative public reaction, which prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin to make serious adjustments to the law, in particular, to replace the concept of "symbol of the Banner of Victory" with "a copy of the Banner of Victory." As a result, the Federal Law of May 7, 2007 assigned the status of the official symbol of the victory of the Soviet people and its Armed Forces over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 to the Banner of Victory, the status of a state relic of Russia.
According to the law, during the celebrations dedicated to Victory Day and other days associated with the events of the Great Patriotic War, as well as for putting on display instead of the Banner of Victory, if it is removed from view for restoration work, copies of the Banner of Victory can be used. The type of copies of the Victory Banner must correspond to the type of the Victory Banner.
The law defines the place and procedure for storing the Banner of Victory.
The original Victory Banner is stored in the Central Museum of the Armed Forces. Due to the fragility of the material, it must not be stored in an upright position. The Banner of Victory lies unfolded on a horizontal surface and is covered with special paper. For better preservation, all nails have been removed from its shaft. Their heads began to rust and injure the fabric.
A "pocket" was sewn to the pole for attaching the Banner. Take it only by wearing gloves. Transported in a special case.
A unique display case with climate control was made to store the Banner of Victory.
A duplicate of the Banner is currently available for public viewing, exhibited in a glass case of the museum and exactly repeating the original.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources
The first Victory Parade, which took place 73 years ago, on June 24, 1945, four years after the troops of Nazi Germany attacked the borders of the USSR, became a symbolic end to the struggle against the forces of Europe united under the Nazi banner.
Month of preparation
The decision to hold the parade was made, of course, by the Supreme Commander shortly after May 9, 1945. Stalin was well aware of the importance of this holiday for a people who had just got rid of a mortal danger, perhaps the worst in their history, and who were on the verge of hard work to revive the country lying in ruins. That is why he hurried the military command to hold a parade in Moscow, in which, at his request, all fronts and all branches of the military were to be represented.
Already on May 24, 1945, the General Staff submitted proposals to Stalin and requested two months for preparation. but Supreme Commander I gave him only thirty days.
In total, in the upcoming solemn march, ten combined regiments of the fronts and a combined regiment Navy. In addition, students of military academies, cadets of military schools and troops of the Moscow garrison, as well as military equipment, including aircraft, took part in the parade.
Front-line soldiers were ill-suited for the parade
The selection of fighters for the consolidated regiments began immediately. One of the main criteria for a candidate for the parade crew was personal heroism and military merit. First of all, holders of the Orders of Glory, Heroes of the Soviet Union, participants in the storming of Berlin, distinguished soldiers and officers were considered. But that wasn't enough. Parade participants had to be no older than 30 years and not less than 176 centimeters and be fit in the drill plan.
How serious the demands were, is evidenced by the dramatic history of the banner group of the Banner of Victory, hoisted over the Reichstag, with the removal of which it was planned to start the parade.
Hero scouts Egorov, Kantaria and Berest, who were supposed to be assistants to the standard-bearer, turned out to be rather weak in drill training - they needed other skills at the front. And their brave battalion commander Stepan Neustroev, who was supposed to carry the banner, had many severe wounds and limped. However, the fact that the Banner of Victory was carried by someone else was out of the question. And Marshal Zhukov ordered to transfer it to the Central Museum of the Armed Forces. For the first time, the Banner of Victory was brought to the parade only in 1965.
In addition to the difficulties with the combat training of front-line soldiers, there were certain problems with the ceremonial uniforms of the participants. Thousands of front-line soldiers arriving in the capital had to be provided with dress uniforms. And carefully fitted, which would sit on them like a glove. Garment factories in Moscow and the Moscow region were thrown to solve this problem in the shortest possible time.
Standards for consolidated regiments, hundreds of sashes for 360 combat banners were made the best specialists art and production workshops of the Bolshoi Theater.
March warning
The "special parade", as Stalin called it, marked not only the triumph of the Soviet people. A month before Stalin ordered to prepare for the Victory Parade, Winston Churchill in April 1945, when Germany had not yet signed an unconditional surrender, ordered to begin planning an attack on the USSR.
The plan for this operation was prepared and presented to the British Prime Minister on May 22, 1945. According to this document, the attack on the USSR was to begin on July 1, 1945 with a surprise attack by 47 British and American divisions, which were supposed to support 10-12 German divisions, which the "allies" kept undisbanded.
Of course, these plans were known to the Kremlin, and the parade was also supposed to be a very specific message to the "allies" - the power of the Soviet Union is invincible. Everyone should have seen: along Red Square there are ranks of invincible, as if cast from steel warriors who defeated the hordes of a united Europe. And all subsequent conquerors will have exactly the same fate. And so everything had to be absolutely perfect. Everyone - both the parade participants and its organizers - perfectly understood its significance and prepared for it, perhaps even more scrupulously than for a military operation. And everything went as it should.
There is no doubt that this message was received and correctly understood. In any case, today, after every Victory Parade in the West, we are accused of "saber-rattling" and "aggressiveness."
Two dragoon marshals
There is a well-known legend: when Stalin was offered to take over the parade as the Supreme Commander, he said that he was old for riding, that we had two cavalry marshals, let one command the parade, the second accept it. Georgy Zhukov and Konstantin Rokossovsky were indeed both dragoons in their youth and once passionate riders. However, they also had many other things in common: they were the same age and classmates (according to the Cavalry advanced training courses for the command staff of the cavalry of the Red Army in Leningrad), they repeatedly turned out to be colleagues. Relations between them, however, were not always smooth, but both marshal-heroes deeply respected each other. It is known that Zhukov, already a very old man himself, came to say goodbye to the dying Rokossovsky at the Kremlin hospital.
But in the 45th it was far from that, the Victory Parade was, among other things, a personal triumph of two great commanders. So it was by no means the dragoon past of the marshals (there were other cavalry commanders in the Red Army) that was the reason that Stalin decided to associate this historical event with their names.
The two-hour parade was held in continuous rain, because of which the aviation part had to be abandoned, but everything else went like clockwork - grandiose, solemn, majestic. Everything said that it was no longer just a young worker-peasant army, and the heiress of the victorious regiments of Peter the Great, Suvorov and Kutuzov, consecrated by numerous glorious traditions of the Imperial Army, centuries of victories.
After the passage of the consolidated regiments, the gigantic orchestra of almost one and a half thousand people fell silent, and in unexpected silence the fraction of 80 drums rumbled. 200 soldiers carried the lowered banners and standards of Hitler's defeated army and threw them to the foot of the Mausoleum, on which the rostrum of the top leadership of the USSR was located. All the fighters carrying enemy banners were wearing gloves, which symbolized disgust and disgust for Nazi regalia. German standards were thrown onto a specially made platform, so as not to desecrate the sacred Moscow land, to thunderous applause from the guest stands.
The "Thousand-Year Reich" did not last even fifteen years. Russia has once again become a graveyard of conquerors striving for world domination.
Myths and facts
Often, Marshal Zhukov, and indeed the entire Soviet command, is accused of "the tactic of flooding with corpses," of striving to mark the next date by "taking the frontier," regardless of losses. They say that Berlin was also "taken head on", exclusively - just to get ahead of the allies.
These accusations are not always true. During Berlin operation as a result of a brilliant maneuver, our troops were cut off from the capital of the Third Reich, and then surrounded by units of the 9th German army. The Marshal of Victory, like other military leaders, did not at all "cover with bones" the road to the Reichstag and the Reich Chancellery, but minimized losses. Near Berlin, a 200,000-strong Wehrmacht group was surrounded and destroyed. As a result, the capital of the Reich itself was defended not so much by battle-hardened front-line soldiers as by the Volkssturm, SS security units, police, and air defense units. Of course, fighting in a city, especially one as big as Berlin, always involves casualties. But if not for Zhukov, there would be incomparably more of them.
On the same example of the "Halb cauldron", as it is called in Western historiography, the balance of power: our troops had an advantage in manpower by 1.4 times, in artillery - by 3.7 times, in armored vehicles there was approximate equality. These figures should say something about the skillful leadership of a grandiose military operation.
Document
1. To participate in the parade in the city of Moscow in honor of the victory over Germany, allocate a consolidated regiment from the front.
2. Form a consolidated regiment according to the following calculation: five two-company battalions of 100 people in each company (ten squads of 10 people). In addition, 19 commanding officers from the calculation: regiment commander - 1, deputy regiment commanders - 2 (for combat and political affairs), regimental chief of staff - 1, battalion commanders - 5, company commanders - 10 and 36 deputies of flagmen from 4 assistant officers. In total, there are 1059 people in the consolidated regiment and 10 spare people.
3. In the consolidated regiment, have six companies of infantry, one company of artillerymen, one company of tankers, one company of pilots and one company of combined (cavalrymen, sappers, signalmen).
4. The companies are to be equipped so that the commanders of the departments are middle officers, and in each department - privates and sergeants.
5. Personnel for participation in the parade should be selected from among the soldiers and officers who have most distinguished themselves in battles and who have military orders.
6. Arm the consolidated regiment: three rifle companies with rifles, three rifle companies with machine guns, a company of artillerymen with carbines behind their backs, a company of tankers and a company of pilots with pistols, a company of sappers, signalmen and cavalrymen with carbines behind their backs, cavalrymen, in addition, with checkers .
7. The front commander and all commanders, including aviation and tank armies, arrive at the parade.
8. The consolidated regiment to arrive in Moscow on June 10, 1945, having 36 combat banners, the most distinguished in the battles of formations and units of the front, and all enemy banners captured in battles, regardless of their number.
9. Ceremonial uniforms for the entire regiment will be issued in Moscow.
Dzhulbars on the tunic of the Supreme Commander
One of the most touching moments of the Victory Parade was the carrying of the heroic sapper dog Dzhulbars. Wounded shortly before, he could not walk on his own, which was reported to Rokossovsky, who informed Stalin about this, who, in turn, ordered to carry the dog in his arms. Or rather, not on his hands, but on his own tunic, turned into a stretcher.
