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Victory Day in Europe: different dates and different names
European countries celebrate victory in World War II in Europe on different May dates and under different names. Denmark and the Netherlands celebrate Liberation Day on May 5th. But most countries chose the date May 8th.
In particular, Norway celebrates Veterans Day, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia celebrate Remembrance Day. The public holiday in France is called Victory Day (Victoire 1945), in Great Britain – Victory Day in Europe. Since 2015, Poland has moved the celebration from May 9 to May 8 and celebrates it as National Victory Day.
Ukraine inherited Victory Day on May 9 from the USSR; it was celebrated until 2015 inclusive. From 2016 to 2023, the Day of Victory over Nazism in World War II was officially celebrated, established as part of a package of decommunization laws.
Last year, President Vladimir Zelensky signed a decree on celebrating Europe Day on May 9, and also submitted a draft to the Verkhovna Rada, according to which May 8 is the Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in World War II 1939 – 1945. The law was adopted at the end of May and signed in June. Thus, on the eve of Ukraine for the first time celebrated May 8 as the Day of Remembrance and Victory.
The Russian Federation and Belarus continue the Soviet tradition and celebrate the holiday on May 9. Moreover, in Russia it has turned into a propaganda tool, when the so-called “victory” overshadows the honoring of veterans, and instead of realizing all the horrors of the deadliest war, calls are made “To Berlin!” and “We can do it again.”
The reason for the difference in dates is politics. In May 1945, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin insisted that Germany surrender unconditionally to the USSR.
“The Soviet Union wanted Germany to sign this document separately. When it was signed, it was already May 9, Moscow time,” historian Roman Kabachy explained to RBC-Ukraine.
Photo: Commander-in-Chief of the British Royal Air Force Arthur Tedder and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the USSR Georgy Zhukov re-signing the Instrument of Surrender of Germany on May 8, 1945 (Courtesy of the Library of Congress Collection)
After the suicide of Adolf Hitler (April 30, 1945), Germany was led by Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz. At first he proposed partial surrender in the north-west of the country, in Denmark and the Netherlands. The initial surrender took place on May 4, was signed by British Field Marshal Bernard Lowe Montgomery on the Allied side, and came into force the next day.
And already on May 7 at 02:41, the American commander Dwight Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of the entire Wehrmacht with the participation of the representative from the USSR, General Ivan Susloparov. Stalin refused to recognize the act and demanded a new one be signed in Berlin, which was controlled by the Red Army.
The British and American leaders – Winston Churchill and Harry Truman – refused, but eventually agreed when Stalin said that surrender should be accepted where the aggression came from – in Berlin.
The second act was signed in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst on May 8 at 22:43 Central European time or May 9 at 00:43 Moscow time. His text repeated the previous one almost word for word. For example, confirmed the ceasefire May 8 at 23:01 (Central European Time).
Russia vs Ukraine. How the victory was celebrated and what were the differences
The Victory Day holiday in the Soviet Union was established on May 8 before the signing of the second act. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the date of May 9 was declared a day of national celebration and a day off.
True, there were no special celebrations on May 9, 1945. The first parade was held in Moscow on the orders of Stalin only on June 24. In subsequent years, there were no parades or processions of veterans on Red Square. And in 1947, the status was completely changed – the holiday remained a state holiday, but became a working day. At the same time, the authorities canceled payments and benefits for veterans.
Until 1965, May 9 was not a day off, but certain events took place. Artillery salutes were fired in the capitals and union republics, and congratulations on Victory Day were published on the front pages of newspapers. Attention to the date remained, although Labor Day on May 1 and the anniversary of the October Revolution on November 7 were celebrated on a much larger scale.
“At a pathetic level, they began to celebrate already under Leonid Brezhnev, since, for example, the anniversary of the Revolution was already leaving the mass consciousness. The Soviet Union clearly wanted to create a certain myth that would overshadow the bitter truth about the war. They wanted to hide the dark side of the war and create a cheerful celebration of victory.” , says Kabachy.
Victory Day became a public holiday again in 1965. At the same time, a jubilee parade was held to mark the 20th anniversary of the victory. This was the second parade after the end of the war. The third took place in 1985, the fourth in 1990. The victory parade has become an annual event in the Russian Federation since 1995.
Photo: first post-war parade in Moscow, June 24, 1945 (mil.ru)
In Ukraine there was no tradition of military parades on May 9, either in Soviet times or after gaining independence. Until the end of the 1960s, two parades were held annually in the Ukrainian SSR – on May 1 and November 7. “Unscheduled” were held on Khreshchatyk in Kyiv on the occasion of special events. For example, in June 1934, when the capital was moved from Kharkov, or in 1954 on the 300th anniversary of the “reunification” with Russia.
On anniversary dates under the USSR, parades on May 9 were also not held in Ukraine. For 20 years after the war, Ukrainians celebrated the holiday privately: veterans in the family circle, carefully recalling certain episodes of the “truth of the trenches,” and relatives of the dead – remembering the fallen.
Memorial events consisted of laying flowers at the monuments to the Unknown Soldier and a minute of silence on TV and radio at 18:50. The most touching moments were away from officialdom – people thanked the veterans right on the streets and gave flowers.
“For me, a touching moment was when women veterans hugged in my village in the Kherson region. Their sincere hugs said “we survived all this and live now.” And all the pretentious speeches are for show. As in principle now, when in In Russia, after the “Immortal Regiment” actions, portraits of war participants are thrown into the trash,” the historian said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
In independent Ukraine, for the first decade and a half, May 9 was celebrated as before. Under Viktor Yushchenko, a format appeared with a procession of veterans along Khreshchatyk with the presidential orchestra and a rally-concert. During these events, a national minute of silence was announced.
Military equipment first appeared at the May 9 parade in 2010 under Viktor Yanukovych. There was also an attempt to oblige the use of the “red banner of victory” at the state level, but the bill was declared unconstitutional. Until 2014, the St. George ribbon was used among the symbols, but after it became a symbol of Russian aggression, the red poppy appeared. Further The holiday in Ukraine was celebrated with thousands of people participating in rallies, prayer services, car rallies, etc.
How Moscow turned victory into a cult
After the 1960s, May 9 became the main holiday in the Soviet Union. The Communist Party and Secretary General Brezhnev personally began to actively exploit the theme of the “great victory” as a component of increasing the authority of the ruling elite in society, notes the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory.
Gradually, the memory of World War II turned into a cult. And in modern Russia, essentially the myth of the “Great Patriotic War” remains the only marker of identity in the absence of other more significant achievements. Modern celebration of events, images and personalities of the past, often imbued with grotesque and profanity, is called “victory”.
Under Vladimir Putin, especially after 2014, it became clear that Moscow was using the memory of the war as a way to mobilize in a revanchist and aggressive military tone. Unlike Ukraine, where the European slogans “Never Again” and “Remember and Win” have taken root. Recently, the model of respect has become increasingly popular in Ukrainian society – less pathos, more human.
Before Putin, there were not many working value ideas at the level of Russian society. The memory of World War II is one of them that neither nationalists, nor liberals, nor conservatives can question. But it was with his coming to power victory over Nazism became a propaganda tool. Ignoring Soviet totalitarianism, the human dimension of the war and its victims.
Why is the perception so different? According to historian Roman Kabachy, the reason is that the entire territory of Ukraine was under German occupation, and as for Russia, only a few percent of the European part.
“The Russians don’t know what occupation is. They didn’t burn villages there like we do, the Russians didn’t see scorched earth tactics. The Dnieper Hydroelectric Power Station, Khreshchatyk, factories, and so on were blown up during the retreat by both the Red Army and the Germans. Therefore, Russians initially have a different attitude towards this war. Actually, that’s why for us “Never Again” is not just a sound,” he explained.
In his opinion, Ukraine’s transition to celebrating the Day of Remembrance and victory over Nazism on May 8 is far from being about being away from the aggressor and closer to Europe.
“The Second World War is a separate page in the history of Ukraine. Every year we discover something new. And we approach the Second World War with the desire to understand and realize, and not “grandfathers fought” or something else. Because when our grandfathers fought , then they were thrown into battle, including without weapons, as was done with the same Chernosvitniki (mobilized into the Red Army from territories previously occupied by the Nazis – ed.). We look at it all differently“, he added.
Today, Russian propaganda is actively cultivating its myths, spreading them not only within its own country, but also in the former Soviet republics, in Europe and the world. The aggressor is using the victory and his supposed “exclusive role” in it as an indulgence to commit mass crimes in Ukraine and seize it.
The myth about the supposedly exceptional role of Moscow is shattered by dry facts. More than 6 million Ukrainians defeated the Nazis in the ranks of the USSR army, more than 100 thousand fought against them as part of the UPA, and tens of thousands more in the military formations of Poland, the USA, Canada and France.
Direct human losses of Ukraine in World War II are estimated at more than 8 million people. The well-known crimes of the Nazis – the Holocaust, executions of civilians and deportations – were committed in particular in territory of Ukraine.
Will “victoriousness” last? When will Russia get rid of him?
The current Russian perception of the victory over Nazism is a banal misunderstanding that war is evil.
“Gathering the impudence and shouting “To Berlin!” in Berlin itself is psychosis and the cult of war, a mixture of good and evil. Cultivating victorious insanity in kindergartens is a failure to understand that tomorrow your child will die in the war in Ukraine, where he will be thrown Putin,” Kabachy noted in a conversation with RBC-Ukraine.
According to the historian, this will continue until the Russians get rid of centuries-old imperialism. Until their “cozy state” is limited to a few regions around Moscow and the enslavement of the colonized peoples of the Caucasus, Siberia, the Urals and other regions stops.
“I don’t know whether this imperialism will fade in our time… Most likely, Russia must collapse, the creation of a Russian state, and not a multinational cocktail with conventional Evenks, Buryats and Ingush. Then the Russians will feel that they are not a “big brother”, but only one of the nations. When they feel this, the veil of imperialism and “victory” will fall,” the historian added.
