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VICTORY PARADE

Historic Victory Parade on Red Square in Moscow June 24, 1945

The first Victory Parade on Red Square in Moscow took place 68 years ago, on June 24, 1945. Watch the archive video of how the historical parade of victorious soldiers in the Great Patriotic War took place.

Order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of June 22, 1945: "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 troops of the army, the Navy and the Moscow garrison - Victory Parade ..." To participate in the parade consolidated regiments from each front were formed and prepared. As part of these regiments, headed by front commanders, there are Heroes of the Soviet Union holders of the Order of Glory, and the most distinguished order bearers. In addition to them, military academies and military schools participated.

Exactly at 10 o'clock in the morning, Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov rode a white horse from the Spassky Gates to Red Square. After the report of the parade commander Konstantin Rokossovsky and the detour of the troops, Georgy Zhukov delivered a welcoming speech. At the end of the parade, to the beat of drums, a consolidated column of Soviet soldiers threw 200 banners of the defeated Nazi troops to the foot of the mausoleum.

71 YEAR LATER. UNKNOWN DETAILS OF THE FIRST VICTORY PARADE

Why Stalin himself could not accept the parade, which is why the Banner of Victory was not brought to Red Square, how scarce brown gloves were obtained for the "porters" of Hitler's standards, and why cameramen had to film the Victory Parade.

June 24, 1945 over Moscow was overcast, drizzling rain. Zhukov, barely waking up, called the commander of the Air Force - will the planes be able to fly over Red Square? The capital was preparing for the grandiose Victory Parade, recalls Adjutant Marshal Rokossovsky Mikhail Klykov.

“At eight o’clock we went by car to the Kremlin. All of Moscow is in festive attire, all the streets are crowded with jubilant people. Troops lined up on Red Square and the streets adjacent to it. Our horses with grooms were already in the Kremlin and were ready for the parade,” Mikhail Klykov later recalled.

For the host of the Victory Parade, Marshal Zhukov and his escort, they picked up beautiful white horses named “Idol” and “Celebs”. For the parade commander and his escort, black horses named "Pole" and "Orlik" were picked up. All these horses were from the personal stable of Marshal of the Soviet Union Budyonny.

11 little-known facts about the legendary parade on June 24, 1945

The parade was attended by 24 marshals, 249 generals, 2536 officers, 31,116 privates, sergeants. More than 1,850 units of military equipment passed through Red Square.

1. The Victory Parade was hosted by Marshal Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, not Stalin. A week before the day of the parade, Stalin called Zhukov to his dacha and asked if the marshal had forgotten how to ride. He has to drive more and more on staff cars. Zhukov replied that he had not forgotten how and in his spare time he tried to ride. - That's what, - said the Supreme, - you will have to take the Victory Parade. Rokossovsky will command the parade. Zhukov was surprised, but did not show it:

- Thank you for such an honor, but wouldn't it be better for you to host the parade?

And Stalin to him:

- I'm already old to take parades. Take it, you are younger.

The next day, Zhukov went to the Central Airfield on the former Khodynka - a parade rehearsal was taking place there - and met with Vasily, Stalin's son. And it was here that Vasily marshal was amazed. He told me in secret that my father was going to host the parade himself. He ordered Marshal Budyonny to prepare a suitable horse and went to Khamovniki, to the main army riding arena on Chudovka, as Komsomolsky Prospekt was then called. There, the army cavalrymen arranged their magnificent arena - a huge, high hall, all in large mirrors. It was here that on June 16, 1945, Stalin came to shake up the old days and check whether the skills of a dzhigit had been lost over time. At a sign from Budyonny, a snow-white horse was brought up and Stalin helped to hoist himself into the saddle. Gathering the reins in his left hand, which always remained bent at the elbow and only half active, which is why the evil tongues of his party comrades called the leader "Sukhorukim", Stalin spurred the restive horse - and he jerked off ... The rider fell out of the saddle and, despite on a thick layer of sawdust, hit his side and head painfully ... Everyone rushed to him, helped him up. Budyonny, a timid man, looked with fear at the leader ... But there were no consequences.

2. The Banner of Victory, brought to Moscow on June 20, 1945, was to be carried through Red Square. And the calculation of the flagmen specially trained. The keeper of the Banner at the Museum of the Soviet Army A. Dementiev claimed that the standard-bearer Neustroev and his assistants Yegorov, Kantaria and Berest, who hoisted it over the Reichstag and seconded to Moscow, were extremely unsuccessful at the rehearsal - they had no time for drill training in the war. The same Neustroev, by the age of 22, had five wounds, his legs were injured. Appointing other standard-bearers is ridiculous, and too late. Zhukov decided not to take out the Banner. Therefore, contrary to popular belief, there was no Banner at the Victory Parade. The first time the Banner was taken to the parade in 1965.

3. The question arose more than once: why does the Banner lack a strip 73 centimeters long and 3 centimeters wide, because the panels of all assault flags were cut to the same size? There are two versions. First: the strip was cut off and taken as a keepsake on May 2, 1945, by the former on the roof of the Reichstag, Private Alexander Kharkov, a Katyusha gunner from the 92nd Guards Mortar Regiment. But how could he know that it was this, one of several, cotton cloth that would become the Banner of Victory? The second version: The banner was kept in the political department of the 150th Infantry Division. Mostly women worked there, who began to be demobilized in the summer of 1945. They decided to keep a souvenir for themselves, cut off a strip and divided it into pieces. This version is most likely: in the early 70s, a woman came to the Museum of the Soviet Army, told this story and showed her piece.

4. Everyone saw footage of Nazi banners being thrown at the foot of the Mausoleum. But it is curious that the fighters carried 200 banners and standards of the defeated German units with gloves, emphasizing that it is disgusting to even take the shafts of these standards into the hands. And they threw them on a special platform so that the standards would not touch the pavement of Red Square. The first to throw was Hitler's personal standard, the last - the banner of Vlasov's army. And in the evening of the same day, the platform and all the gloves were burned.

5. The directive on preparing for the parade went to the troops a month before, at the end of May. And the exact date of the parade was determined by the time required by the clothing factories of Moscow to sew 10 thousand sets of parade uniforms for soldiers, and the timing of tailoring uniforms for officers and generals in the atelier.

6. In order to participate in the Victory Parade, it was necessary to pass a tough selection: not only feats and merits were taken into account, but also the appearance corresponding to the appearance of the victorious warrior, and that the warrior was at least 170 cm tall. No wonder in the newsreel all participants in the parade are simply handsome especially the pilots. Going to Moscow, the lucky ones did not yet know that they would have to do drill for 10 hours a day for the sake of three and a half minutes of an impeccable march along Red Square.

7. Fifteen minutes before the start of the parade, it began to rain, turning into a downpour. It cleared up only in the evening. Because of this, the air part of the parade was canceled. Standing on the podium of the Mausoleum, Stalin was dressed in a raincoat and rubber boots - according to the weather. But the marshals were soaked through. Rokossovsky's wet dress uniform, when dry, sat down so that it was impossible to take it off - he had to rip it open.

8. Zhukov's ceremonial speech survived. It is interesting that on its margins someone carefully painted all the intonations with which the marshal had to pronounce this text. The most interesting notes: “quieter, more severe” - in the words: “Four years ago, the Nazi hordes of robbers attacked our country”; “Louder, with an increase” - on the boldly underlined phrase: “The Red Army, under the leadership of its brilliant commander, launched a decisive offensive.” And here: "quieter, more penetrating" - starting with the sentence "We won the victory at the cost of heavy sacrifices."

9. Few people know that there were four landmark parades in 1945. The first in importance, of course, is the Victory Parade on June 24, 1945 on Red Square in Moscow. The parade of Soviet troops in Berlin took place on May 4, 1945 at the Brandenburg Gate, hosted by its military commandant of Berlin, General N. Berzarin. The Allied Victory Parade in Berlin was held on September 7, 1945. It was Zhukov's proposal after the Moscow Victory Parade. A composite regiment of a thousand men and armored units participated from each allied nation. But 52 IS-2 tanks from our 2nd Guards Tank Army aroused universal admiration. The Victory Parade of the Soviet troops in Harbin on September 16, 1945 was reminiscent of the first parade in Berlin: our soldiers marched in field uniforms. Tanks and self-propelled guns closed the column.

10. After the parade on June 24, 1945, Victory Day was not widely celebrated and was an ordinary working day. Only in 1965 did Victory Day become a public holiday. After the collapse of the USSR, Victory Parades were not held until 1995.

11) Why at the Victory Parade on June 24, 1945, one dog was carried in their arms on a Stalinist overcoat?

During World War II, trained dogs actively helped sappers clear mines. One of them, nicknamed Dzhulbars, discovered 7468 mines and more than 150 shells while clearing mines in European countries in the last year of the war. Shortly before the Victory Parade in Moscow on June 24, Dzhulbars was wounded and could not pass as part of the military dog ​​school. Then Stalin ordered to carry the dog across Red Square on his overcoat.

STALIN IS NOT A JIGIT!

In an exclusive interview with the Zvezda TV channel about why Zhukov, and not Stalin himself, hosted the 1945 Victory Parade, a participant in that same Parade, Hero of the Soviet Union Alexei Prokhorovich Voloshin, said:

“When I served in the General Staff, the son of Marshal Konev, he was still a varmint, told me that he often practiced riding in the Manege with Stalin’s son Vasily, and he secretly gave him a story about how his father disgraced himself before the Parade Victory. So Joseph Stalin arrived in the Manege in the summer of 1945, they brought him a horse, and Budyonny said: "This one is the calmest."

Two people put Stalin on at once, but as soon as he got on the horse, she threw him off. I think that it is not accidental - horses feel the rider very subtly. Iosif Vissarionovich was offered to try again, but he replied: "I'm already crippled, let Zhukov take the Parade."

13 days before the Parade

The order to hold the Victory Parade in Moscow was signed by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Marshal of the Soviet Union I. Stalin on June 22, 1945. But the soldiers and officers chosen to participate in it began to arrive in the capital on special trains as early as June 10, because rehearsals for this solemn event were to begin a day later. The personnel were placed in the Chernyshevsky, Aleshinsky, Oktyabrsky and Lefortovo barracks, in the towns of Khlebnikovo, Bolshevo, Likhobory.

Sergei Shipkin, holder of two Orders of Glory, recalled: “We were drilled like recruits, our tunics did not dry out with sweat. But we were 20-25 years old, and the great joy of victory easily overcame fatigue. The classes were beneficial, and we were sincerely grateful to the guys from the Dzerzhinsky division, who helped us remember drill training after the front.

War veteran Shipkin was one of the 200 "porters" - that was the name of those who carried captured German banners to Red Square during the legendary Parade. Here is a rare photo of the rehearsal of the Victory Parade on Khodynka field.

The soldiers and officers on it look really tired. The “porters” passed the exam on June 21 personally to Zhukov, who was pleased with them.

Set aside the removal of the Banner of Victory!

The Moscow Victory Parade of 1945 was supposed to begin with the removal of the Banner of Victory, which was hoisted over the Reichstag by Neustroev, Samsonov, Yegorov, Kantaria and Syanov, but this did not happen. And only 30 years later, shortly before his death, the veteran of the Great Patriotic War, Stepan Andreevich Neustroev, found the strength to admit who and why such a decision was made: “The music began to play a military march, the drums beat ... all the people of the Earth see the invincible power of my Motherland! I walked in front, high carrying the Banner of Victory. He walked, as it seemed to me, with a clear drill step. I passed the stands where the high command was headed by Marshal Zhukov, but the concrete path of the central airfield did not end. No one told me where to stop or turn. I walk and mint a step, especially with my left foot: the right one at the front was broken, it hurt, and I stepped carefully with it. Assistants - Egorov, Kantaria, Syanov - are following me (Samsonov did not participate in the dress rehearsal).

Whether to move on - I doubt, to stop - I'm afraid. Hands no longer hold the shaft - they are ossified, it hurts the lower back. The foot of the left foot burns with fire, the right foot does not walk, but drags along the road. Decided to stop. He looked back - and the blood hit his head: he had come off too far from the Karelian combined regiment. Before I had time to realize what had happened, a colonel drove up to me along the side path and said: “Marshal Zhukov ordered not to put the banner on the parade tomorrow. You, Comrade Captain, should immediately go in my car to the Museum of the Armed Forces and hand over there a banner for eternal storage.

The failed participants of the famous parade were given passes to the guest podium. The front-line soldier bitterly recalled this moment: “I was not offended that I would not be a participant in the Victory Parade, but I thought to myself: “How to go on the attack, so Neustroev is the first, but I’m not fit for the parade.”

For the first time, the Banner of Victory will be brought to Red Square only in 1965. This honor will be entrusted to only three of the famous "five". The banner was carried by Colonel Konstantin Samsonov, Hero of the Soviet Union. His assistants were Heroes of the Soviet Union Sergeant Mikhail Yegorov and Senior Sergeant Meliton Kantaria. Here they are, 20 years older, at the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin.

Participants of the Victory Parade, hand over orders and medals!

Starting from June 10, 1945, the medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945", established on May 9, 1945, was the first in the Armed Forces to be awarded to front-line soldiers - participants in the Victory Parade. Along the way, orders and medals that had defects, as well as those awarded back in 1941-1943, were exchanged for new ones that appeared after the introduction of order bars in 1943.

To participate in the Victory Parade, it was necessary to pass a tough selection: not only exploits and merit were taken into account, but also the appearance corresponding to the appearance of a victorious warrior, and height - at least 170 cm. Although the directive of the General Staff determined the strength of each consolidated regiment in the amount of 1059 people with 10 spares, during the recruitment it increased to 1465 people, but with the same number of spares.

In honor of the Victory Parade, a 26-meter Fountain of Winners was erected on the Execution Ground of Red Square. It was built specifically for the Victory Parade and then was removed from Red Square. Navy blue uniforms on Soviet marshals, generals and officers were first worn at this particular parade. Prior to this, dress uniforms were gray. After the parade, this color, also called royal, became the usual color of the full dress uniform for Soviet officers.

“The parade uniform seemed pretentious to me at first - green, with a lot of all sorts of stripes ... When it started to rain, I even thought that everyone was so cold, maybe because of this uniform. And these helmets instead of caps, but they just came in handy - it was pouring like a bucket, ”says 95-year-old war veteran Alexei Voloshin.

15 minutes before the start of the parade, it began to rain, turning into a downpour. It cleared up only in the evening. Because of this, the air part of the parade was canceled. Standing on the podium of the Mausoleum, Stalin was dressed in a raincoat and rubber boots - according to the weather. But the marshals were soaked through. Rokossovsky's wet dress uniform, when dry, sat down so that it was impossible to take it off - he had to rip it open.

Even during training, when the "porters" learned about their mission, they began to flatly refuse to take up enemy banners. No one dared to order the front-line heroes, but the ceremony could not be canceled either. Gloves were the solution. And not just gloves, but thick leather gloves. This is where the difficulty arose. According to the Charter, the leather gloves of military personnel should be brown, and brown leather was bad in the country for many years after the war.

I even had to fly a plane somewhere for this leather, then urgently sew gloves. And after the parade, both the gloves and the platform, on which the banners were thrown, so as not to desecrate Red Square, were burned like a plague, far outside the city.

Tankers and Katyushas in "work clothes"

In order to single out the tankers at the parade and make them recognizable, the organizers had to go against the charter and dress them in helmets and overalls. In fact, tank overalls are work clothes and, of course, it was not intended not only for parades, but in general for wearing outside of part or outside the march of tank columns. The overalls were not provided for wearing insignia. However, for the sake of the parade, an exception was made and insignia were attached directly to the overalls.

Zhukov's parade speech

Zhukov's ceremonial speech survived. It is interesting that on its margins someone carefully painted all the intonations with which the marshal had to pronounce this text. The most interesting notes: “quieter, more severe” - in the words: “Four years ago, the Nazi hordes of robbers attacked our country”; “Louder, with an increase” - on the boldly underlined phrase: “The Red Army, under the leadership of its brilliant commander, launched a decisive offensive.” But: "quieter, more severe."

At 9:47, Georgy Zhukov was on horseback at the Spassky Gate. A command swept over Red Square: “Parade, at attention!”. Following the team - a roar of applause. The chimes begin to strike ten o'clock in the morning - ten strikes.

“What can I say, my heart was beating fast ... I sent my horse ahead and headed for Red Square. The powerful and solemn sounds of the melody "Slavsya!", so dear to every Russian soul, burst out. Glinka. Then absolute silence immediately reigned, clear words were heard from the commander of the Parade, Marshal of the Soviet Union Rokossovsky, who, of course, was no less worried than me. His report absorbed all my attention, and I became calm, ”the marshal later recalled the first minutes of the 1945 Victory Parade.

The Victory Parade went exactly according to plan, not a single failure. The parade was attended by 24 marshals, 249 generals, 2536 officers, 31,116 privates, sergeants. As soon as the last ranks of the combined regiments passed the Mausoleum, the solemn music was replaced by a dry drum roll, to the accompaniment of which an amazing column moved towards the Mausoleum: 200 Soviet soldiers carried the battle banners of the defeated fascist divisions bowed to the ground. To the thunder of the drums, the soldiers, firmly typing a step, caught up with the Mausoleum, clearly turned towards it and threw the enemy banners at its foot. The final part of the parade - 1850 units of military equipment passed through Red Square.

The parade lasted two hours. The rain poured like a bucket. But the thousands of people who crowded Red Square did not seem to notice him. However, the passage of columns of workers was canceled due to bad weather. The demonstration, as Zhukov had feared in the early morning, did not take place.

The parade was also cancelled. All 216 aircraft remained at the airfields: 81 La-7, 81 Yak-3 and 54 Yak-9. By evening, the rain had stopped, and a holiday reigned on the streets of Moscow again. High in the sky, in the rays of powerful searchlights, scarlet banners fluttered, and the sparkling Order of Victory majestically floated. Orchestras thundered in the squares, artists performed. The people rejoiced.

The holiday is not over!

“After the parade, wet but in good spirits, we returned to the Academy. Without changing wet uniforms, we went to the dining room, where festive tables were waiting for us. On each of them were two half-liter bottles of "Special Moscow" for four (not front-line 100 grams of diluted alcohol in fuel barrels). The Head of the Academy was the first to make a toast to the Victory, to the World and thanked us for the excellent military bearing, a clear march across Red Square. Everyone was thanked. The parade, as usual, ended with a holiday that was really great. He went to the army, the people at a great price.

And the next day, June 25, a reception was held in the Grand Kremlin Palace in honor of the participants in the Victory Parade.

“I had the pleasure of attending this reception. The big bosses, headed by Stalin, were located in the St. George Hall, and the officers and soldiers - in the Faceted Chamber. I was then a major, and therefore celebrated the Victory with the soldiers. Tables were full of snacks and drinks. I also noticed that there were a lot of foreign products - French wines, American whiskey and so on. It was fun, everyone congratulated each other ... An unforgettable evening! ”, Hero of the Soviet Union Alexei Voloshin told Zvezda TV channel. The reception in the Kremlin lasted all night, until the morning of June 26, 1945.

The Victory Parade must be completed!

The Victory Parade was filmed by more than 100 cameramen and photojournalists at once. The parade, shot on captured German color film, was decided to be processed, edited and voiced in Berlin in order to speed up the release of the color version of the film.

Thunder struck when the government screening was over, and Stalin asked the head of Russian cinematographers Bolshakov: “Why are not all front commanders shown in the picture about the parade? Where did Bagramyan and Eremenko go? The directors of the film were required to correct the "political mistake".

The lot to shoot Eremenko fell to the front-line cameraman Mikhail Poselsky, and he followed the general to Krakow: “The general asked:“ What do you need from me? And it was necessary for the commander to put on a ceremonial uniform and against the background of red banners that would cover the GUM that was absent in Krakow. It was decided to shoot outside the city, away from human eyes. Filming was in jeopardy, but the weather turned out to be exactly the same as at a real parade in Moscow.”

“Covering the camera with my hand to keep water out of the lens, I got ready to shoot. For several seconds, Eremenko stood in front of the banners and quickly took shelter from the rain under the roof of the car. Now it was necessary to load a black-and-white film into the camera instead of a color film and repeat everything from the beginning. While reloading the camera, the rain turned into a downpour. I looked at the wet dress uniform of the commander and with a pleading voice said: "We need to stand for a few more seconds - and we will finish!". Eremenko quickly jumped out of the car and for a moment stood under the banner again, ”the military operator Mikhail Poselsky later recalled.

In such a simple way, the “political mistake” was corrected, and as a result, at the behest of Stalin, two episodes appeared in the chronicle of the 1945 Victory Parade, which can be classified not as a documentary, but as a feature film.

By the way, at a reception in the Kremlin on June 25, 1945, who by this time had become Generalissimo, Stalin made only one toast: to the “cogs”, without which there would be no Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Of course, Bagramyan and Eremenko were among those “cogs” ...

, Kalinin , Voroshilov and other members of the Politburo . On behalf of and on behalf of the Soviet government and the CPSU (b), G. K. Zhukov congratulated the valiant Soviet soldiers "on the Great Victory over German imperialism".

Contrary to popular belief, there was no Victory Banner during the Victory Parade on Red Square. The combined regiment of Suvorov drummers was the first to pass through the area, followed by the combined regiments of the fronts (in order of their location in the theater of operations - from north to south): Karelian, Leningrad, 1st Baltic, 3rd, 2nd and 1st th Belorussian, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Ukrainian, combined regiment of the Navy. As part of the regiment of the 1st Belorussian Front, representatives of the Polish Army marched in a special column. The commanders of the fronts and armies walked ahead of the combined regiments of the fronts, the Heroes of the Soviet Union carried the banners of famous units and formations. For each consolidated regiment, the orchestra performed a special march.

The consolidated regiments were staffed by privates, sergeants and officers (in each regiment, in total, including command personnel, over a thousand people) of various branches of the military, who distinguished themselves in battles and had military orders. Bannermen with assistants carried 36 combat colors of the formations and units of each front that distinguished themselves in battles. The combined regiment of the Navy (regiment commander Vice Admiral Fadeev) consisted of representatives of the Northern, Baltic and Black Sea fleets, the Dnieper and Danube flotillas. A combined military band of 1,400 people also participated in the parade.

The march of the combined regiments was completed by a column of soldiers carrying 200 lowered banners and standards of the defeated German troops. These banners were thrown to the beat of drums on a special platform at the foot of the Lenin Mausoleum. The first to be thrown by Fedor Legkoshkur was the Leibstandarte of the LSSAH, the SS battalion of Hitler's personal guard.

Then, units of the Moscow garrison marched in solemn march: the combined regiment of the People's Commissariat of Defense, the military academy, military and Suvorov schools, the combined cavalry brigade, artillery, motorized, airborne and tank units and subunits.

Units from seven more fronts of the USSR Armed Forces operating as of May 09, 1945 (Transcaucasian Front, Far Eastern Front, Transbaikal Front, Western Air Defense Front, Central Air Defense Front, Southwestern Air Defense Front, Transcaucasian Air Defense Front) were not involved in the parade. But two consolidated regiments from two fronts disbanded before the end of World War II participated in the Victory Parade (combined regiments of the Karelian and First Baltic Fronts)

Organization of the parade

The general leadership in organizing the Victory Parade was entrusted to the commander of the troops of the Moscow Military District and the head of the garrison of the city of Moscow, Colonel-General P. A. Artemyev.

One of the main organizers of the parade was the Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff, Colonel General S. M. Shtemenko and the Chief of the General Staff, General of the Army A. I. Antonov.

List of unit commanders at the Victory Parade

Data

• The decision to hold the Victory Parade was made by Stalin in mid-May 1945 (May 24, 1945), almost immediately after the defeat of the last non-surrendering group of German troops on May 13.
• The total number of troops at the parade was about 40,000.
• An order for sewing full dress uniforms for participants in the Victory Parade on Red Square was placed at the Bolshevichka factory in Moscow.
• Zhukov's horse was the Kumir of the Terek breed, light gray in color. There is a version that the horse of Marshal Zhukov was an Akhal-Teke breed, light gray in color, named Arab. However, this version has not been confirmed. Rokossovsky's horse is a thoroughbred riding karakov suit, nickname - Polus.
• Marshal Zhukov, who was hosting the parade, was accompanied by Major General P.P. Zelensky on a white horse named Celebes. Marshal Rokossovsky, who commanded the parade, was accompanied by an adjutant - Lieutenant Colonel Klykov on a horse named Eaglet.
• G.K. Zhukov immediately violated two ancient traditions that forbid riding and with a covered head through the gates of the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin.
• It was pouring rain during the Victory Parade, which is clearly visible on the newsreel. Many participants in the Victory Parade remember that rain.
• Due to heavy rain, the air part of the parade and the passage of columns of workers of the capital were canceled.
• The Victory Parade was hosted not by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief (Stalin), but by his deputy (Zhukov). S. M. Shtemenko, who was in charge of preparing the parade, argued that Zhukov was supposed to take the parade from the very beginning. A number of sources claim that Stalin did not accept the parade due to the fact that he did not have sufficient riding skills. In the memoirs of Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov “Memories and Reflections”, according to Stalin’s son, Vasily, it is stated that just before the parade, the Supreme Commander tried to learn how to handle a horse, but she carried him, and Stalin fell. This episode is missing from the first editions of the book; Viktor Suvorov believes he was rigged.
• The deposition of the German banners was deliberately carried out with gloves to emphasize the disgust for the defeated enemy. After the parade, gloves and a wooden platform were solemnly burned.
• Enemy banners and standards thrown onto the platform near the Mausoleum were collected by Smersh trophy teams in May 1945. All of them are of the outdated model of 1935 (new ones were not made until the end of the war; the Germans never went into battle under the banners at all), taken from regimental storage places and arsenals. The dismantled Leibstandarte LSSAH is also an old model - 1935 (the cloth from it is stored separately in the FSB archive). In addition, among the banners are almost two dozen Kaiser's, mostly cavalry, also the flags of the NSDAP party, the Hitler Youth, the Labor Front, etc. All of them are now stored in the TsMVS.
• At the 1990 parade in honor of the 45th anniversary of the victory, during the performance of the “Glory” orchestra (when the Minister of Defense hosting the parade goes to the podium to inform the Supreme Commander of the readiness of the parade), for the first time in the history of USSR parades, the bell ringing “Blagovest” was performed from the bell tower of Ivan the Great (Even despite the fact that mourning continued in the Russian Orthodox Church for Patriarch Pimen, who died on May 3). In the period from 1995 to 2005, this tradition was repeated, with the difference that the bell ringing was performed by a portable bell tower near the government platform. In recent years, "Glory" is performed without bell accompaniment.
• By personal order of I.V. Stalin, a service dog-sapper Dzhulbars was carried on his tunic, who discovered more than 7 thousand mines and 150 shells, wounded shortly before the end of the war.
• The only foreign general who was awarded the right to lead, together with Soviet generals, a column of the combined regiment of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, the commander of the 1st Bulgarian Army, Lieutenant General Vladimir Stoichev. In the city he received both the highest military orders of the USSR - Suvorov 1st class. and Kutuzov 1st class.
• The combined orchestra ended the parade with the march of Semyon Chernetsky “Glory to the Motherland”.

Modern Victory Parade

20 years after Victory Day, the parade took place in 1965. The first parade after a long break was held in 1985 in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Great Victory. On this day, the Banner of Victory was carried across Red Square for the first time. After 5 years, the parade was again held on Red Square. In 1995, a parade of veterans of the Great Patriotic War was held on Red Square, and a military parade was held on Poklonnaya Hill. In 1996, the Lenin Mausoleum was last used as a tribune, and since 1997, a special tribune has been built near the Mausoleum for the duration of the parade. After the anniversary celebrations in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Victory, the parade is held annually. Until 2008, the parade was held without the participation of military equipment in connection with the repair work on Red Square. Since 2008, military equipment has been participating in the parade again. At the beginning of the parade on May 9 at 10 am, the Banner of Victory is brought in. At the same time, the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, receiving the parade, leaves the gates of the Spasskaya Tower. The commander of the parade leaves to meet him and reports to the Minister on the readiness of the troops. Then the detour of the troops of the Moscow garrison begins. After the detour of the troops, just as in the parade on June 24, 1945, the melody “Glory” sounds (except for 2010, since “Glory” sounded in the finale of the parade to the output of the orchestra), then the President of the Russian Federation, who is also Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Then, under the thunder of volleys of artillery salute, the National Anthem of the Russian Federation is played. After the performance of the anthem, the troops begin to march across Red Square. Then military equipment enters the square. The culmination of the parade is its air part, in which many military aircraft and helicopters participate. In the final, aviation equipment paints the sky over Red Square in the colors of the State Flag of the Russian Federation. The parade is broadcast on Channel One, as well as Rossiya-1, TVC, Moscow-24 and Rossiya-24.

Memory

In philately

Stamp of USSR 1027.jpg

Postage stamp of the USSR,
1946, 60 kopecks.

Stamp of USSR 1028.jpg

Postage stamp of the USSR,
1946, 2 rubles.

In art

• "Victory Parade" - a documentary filmed in 1945

The outside

In Kazakhstan, in the city of Almaty, next to Abay Avenue, there is a street on June 24, named after the First Victory Parade.

see also

Write a review on the article "Victory Parade"

Notes

Literature

• Order of the Supreme Commander of the USSR Armed Forces No. 370, June 22, 1945.

Books

• One hundred military parades / Ed. Gen.-Regiment. K. S. Grushevogo .. - M .: Military Publishing House, 1974. - 264, p. - 50,000 copies.(in lane, superregional)
• . - Tver: ZAO Khleb, 2005.
• Varennikov V. Victory parade. - Moscow: Vagrius.
• Military parades on Red Square / Ed. V. M. Arkhipova, I. P. Repin. 3rd ed. M., 1987. - M. : Military Publishing House, 1987. - 255 p.
• Drozdov G. Parade of the winners: reports on parades on Red Square in Moscow: photo album / G. Drozdov, E. Ryabko; under total ed. V. I. Petrov. - M., 1985. - 287 p.: ill.
• Parade of winners, 1945-1985: collection / comp. A. D. Davydov. - Dnepropetrovsk, 1985. - 110 p.
• Victory Parade // Great Patriotic War, 1941-1945: encyclopedia for schoolchildren / comp. I. Damaskin, P. Koshel; intro. Art. O. A. Rzheshevsky. - M. : OLMA-PRESS, 2000. - S. 384-392.

Articles

• Bernaskoni E. From the trenches to the parade, to Red Square / Elena Bernaskoni, Valery Jalagonia: [history of the military. parades in Moscow in 1941 and 1945] // Echo of the Planet. - 2005. - June 24-30 (No. 26). - S. 34-37.
• Koloskova E. / Elena Koloskova // Motherland. - 2015. - No. 6 (June). - S. 50-52. (Historic Victory Parade on Red Square June 24, 1945)
• Kulakov V.// Parliamentary newspaper: newspaper. - 2010. - May 14 (No. 24).
• Frost V.// Red star: newspaper. - 2010. - June 24. - S. 1-2.
• // Motherland. - 2015. - No. 6 (June). - S. 36-43: photo. - 06/23/2015.
• Toporkov L. Envoys of the Polish Army. The only foreign participants in the Victory Parade. Who are they? // News: newspaper. - 1985. - No. 4 (21161) dated March 25. - S. 5.
• Shtemenko S. (General-Regiment).// VIZH, 1968, No. 2.

Links

An excerpt characterizing the Victory Parade

Sonya's letter to Nicholas, which was the fulfillment of his prayer, was written from the Trinity. That's what caused it. The thought of Nicholas marrying a rich bride occupied the old countess more and more. She knew that Sonya was the main obstacle to this. And Sonya's life of late, especially after the letter from Nikolai, who described his meeting in Bogucharovo with Princess Marya, became harder and harder in the countess's house. The countess did not miss a single opportunity for an insulting or cruel allusion to Sonya.
But a few days before leaving Moscow, moved and agitated by everything that was happening, the countess, calling Sonya to her, instead of reproaches and demands, with tears turned to her with a plea that she, sacrificing herself, would pay for everything, what was done for her was to cut off her ties with Nikolai.
“I will not be at peace until you make this promise to me.
Sonya burst into tears hysterically, answered through her sobs that she would do everything that she was ready for anything, but she did not make a direct promise and in her soul could not decide what was demanded of her. It was necessary to sacrifice oneself for the happiness of the family that nurtured and raised her. Sacrificing herself for the happiness of others was Sonya's habit. Her position in the house was such that only on the path of sacrifice could she show her virtues, and she was used to and loved to sacrifice herself. But before that, in all acts of self-sacrifice, she was gladly aware that, by sacrificing herself, she thereby raises her own worth in the eyes of herself and others and becomes more worthy of Nicolas, whom she loved most in life; but now her sacrifice had to consist in giving up what for her was the whole reward of sacrifice, the whole meaning of life. And for the first time in her life she felt bitterness towards those people who did her good in order to torture her more painfully; she felt envious of Natasha, who had never experienced anything like this, never needed sacrifices and forced others to sacrifice herself and still loved by everyone. And for the first time, Sonya felt how out of her quiet, pure love for Nicolas a passionate feeling suddenly began to grow, which stood above both rules, and virtue, and religion; and under the influence of this feeling, Sonya involuntarily, having learned secrecy by her dependent life, answered the countess in general indefinite words, avoided conversations with her and decided to wait for a meeting with Nikolai so that in this meeting she would not free, but, on the contrary, forever connect herself with him .
The troubles and horror of the last days of the Rostovs' stay in Moscow drowned out the gloomy thoughts that weighed on her in Sonya. She was glad to find salvation from them in practical activities. But when she found out about the presence of Prince Andrei in their house, despite all the sincere pity that she felt for him and for Natasha, a joyful and superstitious feeling that God did not want her to be separated from Nicolas, seized her. She knew that Natasha loved one Prince Andrei and did not stop loving him. She knew that now, brought together in such terrible conditions, they would fall in love again, and that then Nicholas, due to the relationship that would be between them, would not be able to marry Princess Mary. Despite all the horror of everything that happened in the last days and during the first days of the journey, this feeling, this consciousness of Providence intervening in her personal affairs, pleased Sonya.
In the Trinity Lavra, the Rostovs made the first day of their trip.
In the hotel of the Lavra, the Rostovs were assigned three large rooms, one of which was occupied by Prince Andrei. The wounded man was much better that day. Natasha sat with him. The Count and Countess were sitting in the next room, conversing respectfully with the rector, who had visited his old acquaintances and investors. Sonya was sitting right there, and she was tormented by curiosity about what Prince Andrei and Natasha were talking about. She listened to the sound of their voices through the door. The door to Prince Andrei's room opened. Natasha, with an agitated face, came out of there and, not noticing the monk who rose to meet her and took hold of the wide sleeve of his right hand, went up to Sonya and took her by the hand.
- Natasha, what are you? Come here, said the Countess.
Natasha came under the blessing, and the abbot advised to seek help from God and his saint.
Immediately after the rector left, Nashat took her friend by the hand and went with her into an empty room.
Sonya, right? will he be alive? - she said. - Sonya, how happy I am and how unhappy I am! Sonya, my dear, everything is the same as before. If only he were alive. He can't ... because, because ... because ... - And Natasha burst into tears.
- So! I knew it! Thank God, said Sonya. - He will be alive!
Sonya was excited no less than her friend - both by her fear and grief, and by her personal, unspoken thoughts. She, sobbing, kissed and consoled Natasha. "If only he were alive!" she thought. After weeping, talking, and wiping away their tears, the two friends approached Prince Andrei's door. Natasha carefully opened the door and peered into the room. Sonya stood next to her at the half-open door.
Prince Andrei lay high on three pillows. His pale face was calm, his eyes were closed, and you could see how evenly he breathed.
- Oh, Natasha! Sonya suddenly almost screamed, clutching her cousin's arm and stepping back from the door.
- What? what? Natasha asked.
“This is this, that, this…” said Sonya with a pale face and trembling lips.
Natasha quietly closed the door and went with Sonya to the window, not yet understanding what she was being told.
“Do you remember,” Sonya said with a frightened and solemn face, “remember when I looked for you in the mirror ... In Otradnoye, at Christmas time ... Do you remember what I saw? ..
- Yes Yes! - Natasha said, opening her eyes wide, vaguely remembering that Sonya had said something about Prince Andrei, whom she had seen lying.
– Do you remember? Sonya continued. - I saw then and told everyone, both you and Dunyasha. I saw that he was lying on the bed,” she said, making a gesture with her hand with a raised finger at every detail, “and that he closed his eyes, and that he was covered with a pink blanket, and that he folded his hands,” Sonya said, making sure as she described the details she saw now, that these same details she saw then. Then she saw nothing, but said that she saw what came to her mind; but what she thought up then seemed to her just as real as any other memory. What she then said, that he looked back at her and smiled and was covered with something red, she not only remembered, but was firmly convinced that even then she had said and seen that he was covered with a pink, precisely pink blanket, and that his eyes were closed.
“Yes, yes, exactly pink,” said Natasha, who also now seemed to remember what was said in pink, and in this very she saw the main unusual and mysterious prediction.
“But what does that mean? Natasha said thoughtfully.
“Ah, I don’t know how extraordinary all this is! Sonya said, clutching her head.
A few minutes later, Prince Andrei called, and Natasha went in to him; and Sonya, experiencing a feeling of excitement and tenderness rarely experienced by her, remained at the window, pondering the whole unusualness of what had happened.
On this day there was an opportunity to send letters to the army, and the countess wrote a letter to her son.
“Sonya,” said the countess, looking up from her letter as her niece passed her. - Sonya, will you write to Nikolenka? said the countess in a low, trembling voice, and in the look of her tired eyes, peering through glasses, Sonya read everything that the countess meant by these words. This look expressed both prayer, and fear of refusal, and shame at what had to be asked, and readiness for irreconcilable hatred in case of refusal.
Sonya went up to the countess and, kneeling down, kissed her hand.
“I will write, maman,” she said.
Sonya was softened, agitated and touched by everything that happened that day, especially by the mysterious performance of divination that she just saw. Now that she knew that on the occasion of the resumption of relations between Natasha and Prince Andrei, Nikolai could not marry Princess Marya, she gladly felt the return of that mood of self-sacrifice in which she loved and used to live. And with tears in her eyes and with joy in the consciousness of committing a generous deed, she, interrupted several times by tears that clouded her velvety black eyes, wrote that touching letter, the receipt of which so struck Nikolai.

In the guardhouse, where Pierre was taken, the officer and soldiers who took him treated him with hostility, but at the same time respectfully. There was also a sense of doubt in their attitude towards him about who he was (isn't he a very important person), and hostility due to their still fresh personal struggle with him.
But when, on the morning of another day, the shift came, Pierre felt that for the new guard - for officers and soldiers - he no longer had the meaning that he had for those who took him. And indeed, in this big, fat man in a peasant's caftan, the guards of the other day no longer saw that living person who fought so desperately with the marauder and the escort soldiers and uttered a solemn phrase about saving the child, but they saw only the seventeenth of those held for some reason, according to the order of the higher authorities, taken by the Russians. If there was anything special in Pierre, it was only his timid, concentrated, thoughtful look and the French language, in which, surprisingly for the French, he spoke well. Despite the fact that on the same day Pierre was connected with other suspects taken, since the officer needed a separate room that he occupied.
All the Russians kept with Pierre were people of the lowest rank. And all of them, recognizing the gentleman in Pierre, shunned him, especially since he spoke French. Pierre sadly heard ridicule over himself.
The next day, in the evening, Pierre learned that all these detainees (and, probably, including himself) were to be tried for arson. On the third day, Pierre was taken with others to a house where a French general with a white mustache, two colonels and other Frenchmen with scarves on their hands were sitting. Pierre, along with others, was asked questions about who he is with that allegedly exceeding human weaknesses, accuracy and definiteness with which defendants are usually treated. where was he? for what purpose? etc.
These questions, leaving aside the essence of life's work and excluding the possibility of disclosing this essence, like all questions asked at the courts, aimed only at substituting the groove along which the judges wanted the defendant's answers to flow and lead him to the desired goal, that is, to the accusation. As soon as he began to say something that did not satisfy the purpose of the accusation, they accepted the groove, and the water could flow wherever it wanted. In addition, Pierre experienced the same thing that the defendant experiences in all courts: bewilderment, why did they ask him all these questions. He felt that it was only out of condescension or, as it were, courtesy that this trick of the substituted groove was used. He knew that he was in the power of these people, that only power had brought him here, that only power gave them the right to demand answers to questions, that the only purpose of this meeting was to accuse him. And therefore, since there was power and there was a desire to accuse, there was no need for the trick of questions and trial. It was obvious that all answers had to lead to guilt. When asked what he was doing when they took him, Pierre answered with some tragedy that he was carrying a child to his parents, qu "il avait sauve des flammes [whom he saved from the flame]. - Why did he fight with a marauder? Pierre answered, that he defended a woman, that the protection of an offended woman is the duty of every man, that... He was stopped: it did not go to the point. Why was he in the yard of the house on fire, where witnesses saw him? He answered that he was going to see what was being done in Moscow. They stopped him again: they did not ask him where he was going, but why he was near the fire? Who is he? They repeated the first question to which he said that he did not want to answer. Again he answered that he could not say this .
- Write it down, it's not good. Very bad, - the general with a white mustache and a red, ruddy face said sternly to him.
On the fourth day, fires began on Zubovsky Val.
Pierre was taken with thirteen others to the Crimean Ford, to the carriage house of the merchant's house. Walking through the streets, Pierre was choking on the smoke that seemed to be rising over the whole city. Fires were visible from all sides. Pierre did not yet understand the meaning of the burned Moscow and looked at these fires with horror.
In the carriage house of a house near the Crimean Ford, Pierre stayed for another four days, and during these days, from the conversation of the French soldiers, he learned that everyone contained here was expecting the decision of the marshal every day. What marshal, Pierre could not learn from the soldiers. For a soldier, obviously, the marshal seemed to be the highest and somewhat mysterious link in power.
These first days, until September 8, the day on which the prisoners were taken for a second interrogation, were the most difficult for Pierre.

X
On September 8, a very important officer entered the barn to the prisoners, judging by the respectfulness with which he was treated by the guards. This officer, probably a staff officer, with a list in his hands, made a roll call to all Russians, calling Pierre: celui qui n "avoue pas son nom [the one who does not speak his name]. And, indifferently and lazily looking at all the prisoners, he ordered the guard it is proper for the officer to properly dress and tidy them up before taking them to the marshal. An hour later a company of soldiers arrived, and Pierre and thirteen other men were led to the Maiden's Field. The day was clear, sunny after the rain, and the air was unusually clean. Smoke did not creep down, as in the day when Pierre was taken out of the guardhouse of the Zubovsky shaft, smoke rose in pillars in the clear air, the fire of fires was nowhere to be seen, but pillars of smoke rose from all sides, and all of Moscow, all that Pierre could see, was one conflagration. wastelands with stoves and chimneys and the occasional burnt walls of stone houses could be seen on all sides. Pierre looked at the conflagrations and did not recognize the familiar quarters of the city. In some places one could see the surviving churches. The Kremlin, undestroyed, whitened from afar with its towers and Ivan Ve face. Nearby, the dome of the Novo Devichy Convent shone merrily, and the bells and whistles were heard especially loudly from there. This Blagovest reminded Pierre that it was Sunday and the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin. But it seemed that there was no one to celebrate this holiday: the ruin of the conflagration was everywhere, and from the Russian people there were only occasionally ragged, frightened people who hid at the sight of the French.
Obviously, the Russian nest was ruined and destroyed; but behind the destruction of this Russian order of life, Pierre unconsciously felt that his own, completely different, but firm French order had been established over this ruined nest. He felt it from the look of those, cheerfully and cheerfully, marching in regular rows of soldiers who were escorting him with other criminals; he felt it from the look of some important French official in a twin carriage, driven by a soldier, who rode towards him. He felt this from the cheerful sounds of regimental music coming from the left side of the field, and he especially felt and understood this from the list that, calling the prisoners, was read by the French officer who arrived this morning. Pierre was taken by some soldiers, taken to one place, to another with dozens of other people; it seemed they could forget about him, mix him up with the others. But no: his answers given during interrogation returned to him in the form of his name: celui qui n "avoue pas son nom. And under this name, which was terrible for Pierre, he was now led somewhere, with undoubted confidence, written on their faces that all the other prisoners and he were the very ones they needed, and that they were being led where they needed.Pierre felt like an insignificant chip that fell into the wheels of an unknown to him, but correctly operating machine.
Pierre and other criminals were led to the right side of Maiden's Field, not far from the monastery, to a large white house with a huge garden. It was the house of Prince Shcherbatov, in which Pierre often used to visit the owner and in which now, as he learned from the conversation of the soldiers, the marshal, Duke of Ekmul, was standing.
They were brought to the porch and one by one they began to enter the house. Pierre was brought in sixth. Through a glass gallery, a vestibule, a front hall familiar to Pierre, he was led into a long, low office, at the door of which an adjutant stood.
Davout sat at the end of the room, above the table, his glasses on his nose. Pierre came close to him. Davout, without raising his eyes, seemed to be coping with some paper lying in front of him. Without raising his eyes, he quietly asked:
Qui etes vous? [Who are you?]
Pierre was silent because he was unable to utter words. Davout for Pierre was not just a French general; for Pierre Davout was a man known for his cruelty. Looking at the cold face of Davout, who, like a strict teacher, agreed to have patience and wait for an answer for the time being, Pierre felt that every second of delay could cost him his life; but he didn't know what to say. He did not dare to say the same thing that he had said at the first interrogation; to reveal one's rank and position was both dangerous and shameful. Pierre was silent. But before Pierre had time to decide on anything, Davout raised his head, raised his spectacles to his forehead, narrowed his eyes and looked intently at Pierre.
“I know this man,” he said in a measured, cold voice, obviously calculated to frighten Pierre. The cold that had previously run down Pierre's back seized his head like a vise.
– Mon general, vous ne pouvez pas me connaitre, je ne vous ai jamais vu… [You couldn't know me, general, I never saw you.]
- C "est un espion russe, [This is a Russian spy,] - Davout interrupted him, turning to another general who was in the room and whom Pierre did not notice. And Davout turned away. With an unexpected boom in his voice, Pierre suddenly spoke quickly.
“Non, Monseigneur,” he said, suddenly remembering that Davout was a duke. - Non, Monseigneur, vous n "avez pas pu me connaitre. Je suis un officier militionnaire et je n" ai pas quitte Moscou. [No, Your Highness… No, Your Highness, you couldn't have known me. I am a police officer and I have not left Moscow.]
- Votre nom? [Your name?] repeated Davout.
- Besouhof. [Bezukhov.]
- Qu "est ce qui me prouvera que vous ne mentez pas? [Who will prove to me that you are not lying?]
- Monseigneur! [Your Highness!] Pierre cried out not offended, but in an imploring voice.
Davout raised his eyes and looked intently at Pierre. For a few seconds they looked at each other, and this look saved Pierre. In this view, in addition to all the conditions of war and judgment, a human relationship was established between these two people. Both of them in that one minute vaguely felt countless things and realized that they were both children of humanity, that they were brothers.
At first glance, for Davout, who only raised his head from his list, where human affairs and life were called numbers, Pierre was only a circumstance; and, without taking the bad deed into his conscience, Davout would have shot him; but now he saw him as a man. He thought for a moment.
– Comment me prouverez vous la verite de ce que vous me dites? [How will you prove to me the justice of your words?] – said Davout coldly.
Pierre remembered Rambal and named his regiment, and his last name, and the street on which the house was.
- Vous n "etes pas ce que vous dites, [You are not what you say.] - Davout said again.
Pierre, in a trembling, broken voice, began to give evidence of the validity of his testimony.
But at that moment the adjutant entered and reported something to Davout.
Davout suddenly beamed at the news given by the adjutant, and began to button up. He apparently completely forgot about Pierre.
When the adjutant reminded him of the prisoner, he, frowning, nodded in the direction of Pierre and told him to be led. But where he was to be led - Pierre did not know: back to the booth or to the prepared place of execution, which, passing through the Maiden's Field, was shown to him by his comrades.
He turned his head and saw that the adjutant was asking something again.
– Oui, sans doute! [Yes, of course!] - said Davout, but Pierre did not know what "yes" was.
Pierre did not remember how, how long he walked and where. He, in a state of complete senselessness and stupefaction, not seeing anything around him, moved his legs along with others until everyone stopped, and he stopped. One thought for all this time was in the head of Pierre. It was the thought of who, who, finally, sentenced him to death. These were not the same people who interrogated him in the commission: none of them wanted and, obviously, could not do this. It was not Davout who looked at him so humanly. Another minute, and Davout would have understood what they were doing badly, but this minute was prevented by the adjutant who entered. And this adjutant, obviously, did not want anything bad, but he might not have entered. Who, finally, executed, killed, took away his life - Pierre with all his memories, aspirations, hopes, thoughts? Who did it? And Pierre felt that it was nobody.
It was an order, a warehouse of circumstances.
Some kind of order was killing him - Pierre, depriving him of his life, of everything, destroying him.

From the house of Prince Shcherbatov, the prisoners were led straight down the Maiden Field, to the left of the Maiden Monastery, and led to the garden, on which stood a pillar. Behind the post was a large pit with freshly dug earth, and a large crowd of people stood in a semicircle around the pit and the post. The crowd consisted of a small number of Russians and a large number of Napoleonic troops out of order: Germans, Italians and French in heterogeneous uniforms. To the right and left of the pillar stood fronts of French troops in blue uniforms with red epaulettes, boots and shakos.
The criminals were placed in a certain order, which was on the list (Pierre was the sixth), and brought to the post. Several drums suddenly struck from both sides, and Pierre felt that with this sound, a part of his soul seemed to be torn off. He lost the ability to think and think. He could only see and hear. And he had only one desire - the desire that something terrible be done as soon as possible, which had to be done. Pierre looked back at his comrades and examined them.
Two people from the edge were shaved guards. One is tall, thin; the other is black, furry, muscular, with a flattened nose. The third was a courtyard, about forty-five years old, with graying hair and a full, well-fed body. The fourth was a peasant, very handsome, with a bushy blond beard and black eyes. The fifth was a factory worker, yellow, thin fellow, eighteen years old, in a dressing gown.
Pierre heard that the French were discussing how to shoot - one at a time or two at a time? “Two,” the senior officer answered coldly and calmly. There was a movement in the ranks of the soldiers, and it was noticeable that everyone was in a hurry - and they were in a hurry not in the way they are in a hurry to do a task that is understandable to everyone, but in the same way as they are in a hurry to complete a necessary, but unpleasant and incomprehensible task.
A French official in a scarf approached the right side of the line of criminals and read the verdict in Russian and French.
Then two pairs of Frenchmen approached the criminals and, at the direction of the officer, took two guards who were standing on the edge. The watchmen, going up to the post, stopped and, while they brought the bags, silently looked around them, as a downed animal looks at a suitable hunter. One kept crossing himself, the other scratched his back and made a movement like a smile with his lips. The soldiers, hurrying with their hands, began to blindfold them, put on bags and tie them to a post.

70 years ago, on June 24, 1945, the Victory Parade took place on the Red Square of Moscow. It was the triumph of the victorious Soviet people, who defeated Nazi Germany, which led the united forces of Europe in the Great Patriotic War.

The decision to hold a parade in honor of the victory over Germany was made by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin shortly after Victory Day - in mid-May 1945. The Deputy Chief of the General Staff, General of the Army S.M. Shtemenko recalled: “The Supreme Commander ordered us to think over and report to him our thoughts on the parade to commemorate the victory over Nazi Germany, while he pointed out: “We need to prepare and hold a special parade. Let representatives of all fronts and all branches of the armed forces take part in it ... "

On May 24, 1945, the General Staff presented to Joseph Stalin their views on holding a "special parade." The Supreme Commander accepted them, but postponed the date of the parade. The General Staff asked for two months to prepare. Stalin ordered the parade to be held in a month. On the same day, the commanders of the Leningrad, 1st and 2nd Belorussian, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Ukrainian fronts received a directive from the Chief of the General Staff, General of the Army Alexei Innokentyevich Antonov, to hold a parade:

The Supreme Commander ordered:

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 officers from the calculation: regiment commander - 1, deputy regiment commanders - 2 (for combat and political affairs), regiment chief of staff - 1, battalion commanders - 5, company commanders - 10 and 36 deputies 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. Equip 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 - 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.

Ten combined regiments of the fronts and a combined regiment of the Navy were to participate in the festive event. Students of military academies, cadets of military schools and troops of the Moscow garrison, as well as military equipment, including aircraft, were also involved in the parade. At the same time, the troops that existed as of May 9, 1945 of seven more fronts of the USSR Armed Forces did not take part in the parade: the Transcaucasian Front, the Far Eastern Front, the Transbaikal Front, the Western Air Defense Front, the Central Air Defense Front, the Southwestern Air Defense Front and the Transcaucasian Air Defense Front.

The troops immediately began to create consolidated regiments. The fighters for the main parade of the country were meticulously selected. First of all, they took those who showed heroism, courage and military skill in battles. Such qualities as height and age mattered. For example, in the order for the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front dated May 24, 1945, it was noted that height should not be less than 176 cm, and age should not be older than 30 years.

At the end of May, the regiments were formed. By order of May 24, there should have been 1059 people and 10 spare people in the consolidated regiment, but in the end the number was increased to 1465 people and 10 spare people. The commanders of the consolidated regiments were determined:

From the Karelian Front - Major General G. E. Kalinovsky;
- from Leningradsky - Major General A. T. Stupchenko;
- from the 1st Baltic - Lieutenant General A. I. Lopatin;
- from the 3rd Belorussian - Lieutenant General P.K. Koshevoy;
- from the 2nd Belorussian - Lieutenant General K. M Erastov;
- from the 1st Belorussian - Lieutenant General I.P. Rosly;
- from the 1st Ukrainian - Major General G.V. Baklanov;
- from the 4th Ukrainian - Lieutenant General A. L. Bondarev;
- from the 2nd Ukrainian - Guard Lieutenant General I. M. Afonin;
- from the 3rd Ukrainian - Guard Lieutenant General N. I. Biryukov;
- from the Navy - Vice Admiral V. G. Fadeev.

The Victory Parade was hosted by Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov. Marshal of the Soviet Union Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky commanded the parade. The entire organization of the parade was led by the commander of the Moscow Military District and the head of the Moscow garrison, Colonel-General Pavel Artemyevich Artemyev.

During the organization of the parade, a number of problems had to be solved in a very short time. So, if students of military academies, cadets of military schools in the capital and soldiers of the Moscow garrison had parade uniforms, then thousands of front-line soldiers had to sew them. This task was solved by garment factories in Moscow and the Moscow region. And the responsible task of preparing ten standards, under which the consolidated regiments were to come out, was entrusted to a unit of military builders. However, their project was rejected. In an emergency order, they turned for help to specialists from the art and production workshops of the Bolshoi Theater. The head of the art and props shop V. Terzibashyan and the head of the locksmith and mechanical shop N. Chistyakov coped with the assigned task. On a vertical oak shaft with a silver wreath that framed a golden five-pointed star, a horizontal metal pin with “golden” spiers at the ends was fixed. A double-sided scarlet velvet banner of the standard was hung on it, bordered with gold patterned hand knitting and with the name of the front. Separate heavy gold tassels fell down on the sides. This sketch was accepted. Hundreds of ribbons, which crowned the shafts of 360 combat banners, which were carried at the head of the consolidated regiments, were also made in the workshops of the Bolshoi Theater. Each banner represented a military unit or formation that distinguished itself in battles, and each of the ribbons marked a collective feat, marked by a military order. Most of the banners were guards.

By June 10, special trains with parade participants began to arrive in the capital. In total, 24 marshals, 249 generals, 2536 officers, 31,116 privates, sergeants participated in the parade. Hundreds of units of military equipment were prepared for the parade. The training took place at the Central Airfield named after M.V. Frunze. Soldiers and officers trained daily for 6-7 hours. And all this for the sake of three and a half minutes of an impeccable march through Red Square. Parade participants were the first in the army to be awarded the medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945", established on May 9, 1945.

At the direction of the General Staff, about 900 units of captured banners and standards were delivered to Moscow from Berlin and Dresden. Of these, 200 banners and standards were selected, which were placed under guard in a special room. On the day of the parade, they were taken to Red Square in covered trucks and handed over to the soldiers of the parade company of "porters". Soviet soldiers carried enemy banners and standards with gloves, emphasizing that it was disgusting to even take the shafts of these symbols into the hands. At the parade, they will be thrown onto a special platform so that the standards do not touch the pavement of the sacred Red Square. Hitler's personal standard will be the first to be thrown, the banner of Vlasov's army will be the last. Later, this platform and gloves will be burned.

The parade was planned to start with the removal of the Victory Banner, which was delivered to the capital on June 20 from Berlin. However, the standard-bearer Neustroev and his assistants Yegorov, Kantaria and Berest, who hoisted him over the Reichstag and sent to Moscow, went extremely poorly at the rehearsal. The war was not up to drill. The same battalion commander of the 150th Idritsa-Berlin Rifle Division, Stepan Neustroev, had several wounds, his legs were damaged. As a result, they refused to take out the Banner of Victory. By order of Marshal Zhukov, the banner was transferred to the Central Museum of the Armed Forces. For the first time, the Banner of Victory was taken to the parade in 1965.

On June 22, 1945, the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief No. 370 was published in the central newspapers of the Union:

Order of the Supreme Commander

“In commemoration of the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War, I am appointing a parade of troops of the army, the Navy and the Moscow garrison on Red Square on June 24, 1945 - the Victory Parade.

Bring the combined regiments of the fronts, the combined regiment of the People's Commissariat of Defense, the combined regiment of the Navy, military academies, military schools and troops of the Moscow garrison to the parade.

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.

I entrust the general leadership for organizing the parade to the commander of the troops of the Moscow Military District and the head of the garrison of the city of Moscow, Colonel General Artemyev.

Supreme Commander
Marshal of the Soviet Union I. Stalin.

The morning of June 24 was rainy. It started to rain fifteen minutes before the start of the parade. The weather improved only in the evening. Because of this, the aviation part of the parade and the passage of Soviet workers were canceled. Exactly at 10 o'clock, with the battle of the Kremlin chimes, Marshal Zhukov rode on a white horse to Red Square. At 10:50 a detour of the troops began. The Grand Marshal greeted the soldiers of the combined regiments in turn and congratulated the Parade participants on the victory over Germany. The troops responded with a mighty "Hurrah!" Having traveled around the shelves, Georgy Konstantinovich went up to the podium. The Marshal congratulated the Soviet people and their valiant armed forces on their victory. Then the anthem of the USSR was played by 1,400 military musicians, 50 volleys of artillery salute rolled like thunder, and three Russian “Hurrah!” resounded over the square.

The solemn march of victorious warriors was opened by the parade commander, Marshal of the Soviet Union Rokossovsky. He was followed by a group of young drummers, pupils of the 2nd Moscow Military Music School. They were followed by the combined regiments of the fronts in the order in which they were located during the Great Patriotic War, from north to south. The regiment of the Karelian Front went first, then the Leningrad, 1st Baltic, 3rd Belorussian, 2nd Belorussian, 1st Belorussian (it had a group of soldiers of the Polish Army), 1st Ukrainian, 4th Ukrainian, 2nd th Ukrainian and 3rd Ukrainian fronts. The combined regiment of the Navy brought up the rear of the solemn procession.

Then the orchestra played again. Parts of the Moscow garrison, the consolidated regiment of the People's Commissariat of Defense, students of military academies and cadets of military schools marched along Red Square. The students of the Suvorov schools, the future of the victorious Red Empire, brought up the rear.

Heavy tanks IS-2 pass through Red Square during the parade in honor of the Victory on June 24, 1945

The parade lasted 2 hours in heavy rain. However, this did not bother people and did not spoil the holiday. Orchestras played, the celebration continued. The fireworks began late in the evening. At 11 p.m., out of 100 balloons raised by anti-aircraft gunners, 20 thousand rockets flew in salvos. Thus ended the great day. On June 25, 1945, a reception was held in the Grand Kremlin Palace in honor of the participants in the Victory Parade.

It was a real triumph of the victorious people, the Soviet civilization. The Soviet Union survived and won the most terrible war in mankind. Our people and army have defeated the most efficient military machine in the Western world. They destroyed the terrible embryo of the "New World Order" - the "Eternal Reich", in which they planned to destroy the entire Slavic world and enslave humanity. Unfortunately, this victory, like others, was not eternal. New generations of Russian people will again have to stand in the fight against world evil and defeat it.

As Russian President Vladimir Putin rightly pointed out in his written address to visitors of the Victory Parade June 24, 1945 exhibition, which opened at the State Historical Museum on the eve of the 55th anniversary of the Victory Parade: “We must not forget this powerful parade. Historical memory is the key to a worthy future for Russia. We must adopt the main thing from the heroic generation of front-line soldiers - the habit of winning. This habit is very necessary in our today's peaceful life. It will help the current generation build a strong, stable and prosperous Russia. I am confident that the spirit of the Great Victory will continue to protect our Motherland in the new, 21st century.”