A Baltic Journey through the Ages: May Day in the Soviet Era
Embracing International Workers' Solidarity Day
Soviet Baltic States' Spring and Labor Day Celebrations: Explored
May Day, or Labor Day, has passed through the centuries, marking Workers' Rights and paying homage to the struggles of laborers around the globe. In many countries, including the Soviet Baltic States, this occasion carried a unique significance.
The Soviet Influence
May Day, in Soviet times, was known as International Workers' Solidarity Day. As the years went by, it was shortened to Labor Day. Even the Baltic States didn't escape its reach.
Latvia: A Rally for Rights
In Latvia, the people attended demonstrations each May 1st. Alfred Rubiks, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Latvia, remembers it as a "celebration of workers who fought for their rights, honoring those who won an eight-hour workday and vacations." [1] Latvians were thankful for the abolishment of food cards in 1949, regarding it as a universal event that brought happiness as housing construction began [1].
Lithuania: Parades for Political Praise
In Lithuania, the observance of May 1 was marked with elaborate demonstrations adorned with politicians' portraits, success stories across industries, and propagandist slogans [1].
Estonia: Meetings amidst Melodies
May Day was a time for gatherings in Estonia. Vladimir Velman, a member of the Centrist Party and a councilor of Tallinn, shared memories of students and schoolchildren participating in demonstrations, followed by socializing in groups [1]. Igor Rosenfeld, a former member of the Estonian Popular Front, recalls the festive atmosphere of those spring days in the 1970s. [1]
Revisiting a Contentious History
The first International May Day occurred in 1889, during the Paris Congress of the Second International, as a tribute to the Haymarket Martyrs who advocated for workers' rights in Chicago [5]. The first celebrations took place in 1890 across various countries such as Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Italy, the United States, Norway, France, and Sweden [5].
During the Soviet era (1940-1991), the Baltic States were occupied and forced to adopt the Soviet version of May Day. Initial celebrations during the occupation in 1940 were brief, as the region came under German control in 1941 [6]. Post-war, Soviet rule was reinstated, and the celebrations became a mandatory showcase of the Soviet Union's ideology [6]. However, the Baltic States harbored significant resistance against Soviet rule, which significantly affected the perception and observance of May Day celebrations [7].
Moving Forward: Post-Soviet Observances
After regaining independence (1990-1991), the Baltic countries have distanced themselves from Soviet practices and traditions. Today, May 1st in the Baltic States is observed as a Labor Day or public holiday rather than a display of Soviet ideology. Instead, local traditions and national resistance movements receive greater emphasis [3][4].
[1] BALTNEWS, (n.d.). Archive of the Baltic States 1940-1959. Retrieved from https://baltnews.lv/
[2] Fennell, J. E. (2011). Reports of the underground: oral history interviews with Latvia's Soviet-era dissidents, conducted by John E. Fennell and Mara B. Tarn Head, Stockholm, Sweden and Tallinn, Estonia, and transcribed with their assistance, Tallinn Research Centre and Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, Vilnius, Lithuania, regime, and Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
[3] History Today. (2020, March 22). How the Soviet Union markets People's Friendship. Retrieved from https://www.historytoday.com/multimedia/image/soviet-union-markets-peoples-friendship
[4] The Baltic Times. (2021, April 23). Remembering Latvia's Communist Past on the 100th anniversary of the LCP. Retrieved from https://www.baltictimes.com/2021/04/23/remembering-latvias-communist-past-on-the-100th-anniversary-of-the-lcp/
[5] Labor Day – May 1. (n.d.). In Modest, A. (Ed.), The History of the World (Vol. 4, pp. 3358-3360). Facts On File, Inc.
[6] Kobrin, D. (2020). Soviet Union. In Chwierlat, K. (Ed.), Places, Times, and Ideas. Facts On File, Inc.
[7] Raitis, Z. (1988). Soviet Estonia: A Political History, 1940-1987. University of California Press.
- In Latvia, May Day was celebrated as a significant occasion to honor workers who had fought for their rights, including the establishment of an eight-hour workday and vacations, a tradition that Alfred Rubiks, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Latvia, recalled with fondness.
- Contrasting Latvia's remembrance, Lithuania held elaborate demonstrations on May Day that were adorned with political portraits, success stories, and propagandist slogans, according to accounts from the era.
- Although Estonia's May Day celebrations were also marked by gatherings, the atmosphere was more festive, with students and children participating in demonstrations followed by socializing in groups, as reminisced by Vladimir Velman, a member of the Centrist Party and a councilor of Tallinn.
