Soviet Victory Parade—from Stalin to Putin

Quote from Timothy Fitzpatrick on October 6, 2023, 15:53

“ The years of the Great Patriotic War are the years of the spiritual revival of our people AFTER many years of domination by the godless regime. And this revival was manifested not only in the restoration of church structures and the opening of religious educational institutions. All these were just consequences. Already at the very beginning of the war, the Church, in the person of the locum tenens of the Patriarchal Throne, Metropolitan Sergius, blessed the defenders of the Fatherland, blessed the upcoming national feat, and then throughout the war years, the hierarchy, clergy and laity made their feasible contribution to the fight against the enemy. It is symbolic that victory over fascism was granted precisely on the Day of Remembrance of St. George the Victorious on May 6, 1945 " (Patriarch Alexy II)

The Generalissimo received the entire PARADE standing, and the current Supreme Command, to the indignation of the front-line soldiers, sitting! Such is the “de-Stalinization” 🙂 And how the military sailor, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, standing out from the general background of the “sitting” stands, stood out and saluted the military units with military equipment passing through Red Square (see 2 videos ) .

Last year, the whole country celebrated the 65th anniversary of the Great Victory with great enthusiasm. It’s a pity that there was a “fly in the ointment”, and instead of the heads of allied states, NATO troops ended up on Red Square... When looking at the parade squad of the 1st battalion of the Welsh Guards Regiment, historical facts about the treachery of Great Britain inevitably came to mind, when the British Prime Minister Churchill planned to attack our army in May 1945, replenishing his ranks with Nazi units: http://www.youtube.com/user/expertmus#p/u/46/rHOqG-0eX30

Let us remember that during the Great Patriotic War, W. Churchill said: “I get up every morning and pray to God that Stalin is alive and well. Only Stalin can save the world... No matter what they say about Stalin, history and people do not forget such people.” In his memoirs, Churchill admitted how irresistibly Stalin’s will acted on him, how everyone involuntarily stood up when Stalin appeared in the meeting room during the Yalta Conference, how he, Churchill, once tried to convince himself not to do this, but again at the next meeting he stood up with places when the Supreme Commander-in-Chief appears...

Meanwhile, Stalin himself once remarked to the American Ambassador A. Harriman about who the Soviet people were fighting for. “Do you think they are fighting for us? No, they are fighting for their mother Russia.” It is no coincidence that at the Victory Parade the Soviet army marched in tsarist military uniform, to the sounds of Glinka’s “Hail”: http://expertmus.livejournal.com/36438.html

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 group of Nazi troops resisting on May 13th. On June 22, 1945, the Pravda newspaper published an order from Supreme Commander-in-Chief I.V. Stalin for No. 370:
“In commemoration of the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War, I appoint on June 24, 1945 in Moscow on Red Square a Parade of the Active Army, Navy and Moscow Garrison - Victory Parade. Bring to the Parade: consolidated regiments of the fronts, consolidated regiment of the People's Commissariat of Defense, 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. The combined regiment of each front consisted of a “box” - twenty by twenty people. Requirements for candidates: presence of at least two orders, personal courage and courage in battle, appropriate physical characteristics. There were no discounts for anyone: Heroes of the Soviet Union, whose names were known to the whole country, like everyone else, did drill for eight to ten hours a day - raise their legs 40 cm, pull their socks, raise their arms to shoulder level, focus their eyes on the level of the second floor . According to the recollections of veterans, rehearsals took place for 1.5 months. Soldiers and officers, who had been accustomed for 4 years to crawling on their bellies and moving in short dashes, had to be taught to take a step with 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 strings that helped set the height of the step.

The Parade began at 10 o'clock in the morning, almost all this time it was raining, at times turning into downpour, which was recorded by newsreel footage ( see video ). About 40 thousand people took part in the Parade. Zhukov and Rokossovsky rode to Red Square on white and black horses, respectively. Joseph Vissarionovich himself only watched the Parade from the rostrum of the Lenin Mausoleum. Stalin stood on the podium of the mausoleum on the left, giving up the middle to the front-line victorious generals. Also present at the podium were Kalinin, Molotov, Budyonny, Voroshilov and other members of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee.

Zhukov received the Parade from Rokossovsky, rode along with him along the soldiers lined up in ranks and greeted them with three “hurrays,” then climbed to the podium of the Mausoleum and read out a welcoming speech dedicated to the victory of the USSR over Nazi Germany. Combined regiments of the fronts: Karelian, Leningrad, 1st Baltic, 3rd, 2nd and 1st Belorussian, 1st, 4th, 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian, consolidated regiment solemnly marched across Red Square 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 swords drawn. The banners of the formations were carried by 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 battle. They carried banners and standards of defeated Nazi Germany, which they threw at the foot of the Mausoleum and set fire to. The culmination of the paradePravda described it this way: “The orchestra suddenly falls silent. The sharp beat of drums is heard. An unforgettable, deeply symbolic picture is presented to the eye. A column of fighters approaches the podium. Everyone is holding a German banner in their hands. 200 captured enemy banners are carried by a column. Now they are the only thing that reminds us of Hitler’s former regiments and divisions. Having reached the podium, the fighters make a turn to the right and, with a contemptuous gesture, forcefully throw enemy banners onto the pavement, at the foot of the Mausoleum.” The first to be thrown at the leader’s tomb was Hitler’s personal standard, the last, as many eyewitnesses claim, was the banner of Vlasov’s army, the familiar Russian tricolor to all of us. Subsequently, the defeated banners were carefully collected and sent to museums, and the platform itself, as well as the gloves of the standard bearers, were burned.                                

Further along Red Square, units of the Moscow garrison passed, then cavalrymen galloped, legendary carts passed, air defense formations, artillery, motorcyclists, light armored vehicles and heavy tanks followed. Airplanes piloted by renowned aces flew through the sky.

In 1948, the tradition of holding festive parades on Red Square was interrupted and resumed with its former strength and splendor only in the anniversary year of the 20th anniversary of the Victory - in 1965. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Victory Day parades ceased again for some time. They were revived again only in the anniversary year of 1995, when two parades were held in Moscow at once: the first (on foot) on Red Square and the second (with the participation of vehicles) at the Poklonnaya Gora memorial complex.

This year, 2011, the holding of the Victory Parade in Moscow was a big question, because they tried to cancel it “due to reconstruction work on Red Square.” Presidential Administration Manager Vladimir Kozhin stated this on May 18, 2010 in an interview with the Ekho Moskvy radio station. However, as the official noted, such a decision has not yet been made. However, according to him, Red Square “should take a break” from the annual parades. “The issue has not been finally resolved, but I think that this could happen,” he said. “We need to put Red Square in order, and if we hold (the parade) every year, then this is simply impossible to do”: http://rublev_museum.livejournal.com/49423.html

Be that as it may, at 10 o’clock in the morning, the traditional Victory Parade began to the sound of the Kremlin chimes, which was opened by the banner group with a solemn procession with the State Flag of Russia and the Victory Banner. At that moment, the orchestra performed “The Holy War” (1916, 1941): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JmYIIdf4T0

Hearing the familiar melody, the veterans stood up, followed by everyone in the stands.

The Victory Parade was SITTING , as it was said in reports from the accredited press, by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin under the watchful eyes of the FSO ( see illustration ). In the stands are generals, admirals, military attaches of several dozen countries, State Duma deputies, representatives of the defense industry, as well as famous “Russian spies” ( see illustration ).

This year the Parade on Red Square broke a record for the number of military personnel participating ( see video). Almost 20 thousand soldiers and officers marched solemnly near the walls of the Kremlin. The movement of the parade crews, according to tradition, was opened by the linemen, followed by a company of drummers. She set the pace for all the ranks: 120 steps per minute. Combined regiments of the ground forces, air force, and navy walked along the paving stones. Among them are representatives of the missile, space, airborne, engineering troops, as well as radiation, chemical and biological defense troops. The parade crews included operational divisions of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and cadets from educational institutions of the Ministry of Defense. This year all parade participants are wearing berets. And the separate 45th operational airborne regiment, which Dmitry Medvedev visited in March of this year, is wearing a new “sandy” camouflage. The Parade was commanded by Colonel General Valery Gerasimov and hosted by Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov.

After the foot boxes, a mechanized column (more than 106 units) entered Red Square. It contains everything that the Russian Army is proud of: Tiger armored vehicles, BTR-80 armored personnel carriers, T-90 tanks, Iskander self-propelled operational-tactical missile systems, the latest Pantsir-S1 air defense missile and gun systems, S-S anti-aircraft missile system 400 Triumph, MSTA-S self-propelled howitzers, Buk-M2 air defense combat vehicles. When the successors of the Katyushas, ​​the Smerch multiple launch rocket system, appeared in front of the stands, the orchestra performed the famous melody, which became a hymn both to this weapon and to women’s lot in the war. At the end of the column is the most formidable weapon - the Topol-M mobile soil complex. According to the developers, this weapon can handle any missile defense ( see video ).

Following the military equipment, 5 Mi-8 transport and combat vehicles are already over Red Square. At a speed of about 90 km/h and a distance of about 50 m, they carried the flags of Russia, the ground forces, the air force and the navy. The parade was completed, and this is also a tradition, by the musicians of the Composite Orchestra, consisting of one and a half thousand people, who played the solemn march “Farewell of the Slav”.

Source: https://expertmus.livejournal.com/74346.html