March 8: from the history of the holiday (according to the documents of the institution «State Archive of the Mogilev Region»)

March 8 is celebrated in the Republic of Belarus as Women’s Day (Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus dated March 26, 1998 No. 157).

In the BSSR and the USSR, as well as in the rest of the world, this day was a weekday for quite a long time, although it was very memorable for all working people. The history of the holiday goes back to the women’s rights movement. On March 8, 1857 in New York, thousands of women took to the so-called empty pot march. Most of the participants were textile workers and protested against harsh working conditions and low wages. And in 1910, the communist Clara Zetkin at the international conference of women socialists in Copenhagen proposed to make women’s day international, and since then the holiday has spread to many countries of the world and every year was accompanied by strikes and actions in support of women’s rights.

In accordance with the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, since 1966, March 8 has become a public holiday and a day off. Thus, the Soviet Union became the first European country where the holiday was celebrated at the state level, and this day was declared a day off.

In the institution «State Archive of the Mogilev Region» in the archival fund of the Mstislavsky District Committee of Peasants’ Associations of Mutual Assistance there is a rare document – the instruction of the Central Committee of Peasants’ Associations of Mutual Assistance «Ab udzelu kamitetaў uzemamadapamogi ў pravadzenni International zhanochaga day» for 1932.

Alexander Vasilievich Petukhov,
archivist of the 1st qualification category
of the Department for the Scientific Use of Documents and Information,
Master of Historical Sciences

List of sources used:
Institution «The State Archive of the Mogilev Region» (GAMog), Fund 94, Op. 1, D. 1, L.20-21.

Photo: Clara Zetkin and Rosa Luxembourg, 1910.