Ashley Johnson Blog Entry 2: Unity Day

Unity day is a recently adapted holiday in Russia celebrated on November 4th, where peace among different religious and ethnic groups is advocated. The day is a spin off of a holiday that was usually celebrated on November 4th which commemorated the uprising which freed Moscow from the Polish-Lithuanian occupational forces on November 4, 1612. The czar, Alexei Mikhailovich established the holiday that was celebrated until 1917 when the Bolsheviks replaced the holiday in 1918, having it celebrated on November 7th instead of the 4th. The day officially became Unity Day in 2005 when the parliament decided to take the November 7th holiday of the list of public holidays and then replaced it again to Unity Day on November 4th. The day is celebrated greatly by the Russian orthodox Christians who usually hold a church service to honor Our Lady of Koran. Afterward there is a feast where people speak about unity among social groups. Others still celebrate the holiday as they did before, still considering it a place marker for the November 7th holiday.