The Presidential Library marking Defender of the Fatherland Day. From the victories of Peter the Great to the present day

Defender of the Fatherland Day, celebrated in our country on February 23, is a relatively young holiday, associated with the first years of the existence of Soviet power. It was officially established in 1922 and was originally called Red Army Day.

But even a few centuries before its appearance, the anniversaries of significant battles and the days of the regiments became holidays in Russia.

The tradition of celebrating the dates of the most significant victories of Russian weapons - the Victory Days - began with Peter the Great. The choice of holidays by Peter was not accidental.

Russia received the status of a great European power largely as a result of the Northern War with Sweden of 1700–1721, so Peter ordered to celebrate the capture of the Noteburg fortress on October 11, 1702 which became the first major victory in the Northern War and the capture of Narva on August 9, 1704, the key line of defence of the Swedes in Baltic, the defeat of the Swedish corps of General Levengaupt near the village of Lesnaya on September 28, 1708 the triumph of Russia in the famous Battle of Poltava - June 27, 1709.

The last Victory Days of Peter the Great were reminiscent of Russian naval battles on July 27: the battles at Cape Gangut in 1714 and at Grengam Island in 1720. Gangut was the first victory of the Russian navy, and the battle at Grengam established its dominance in the Baltic.

And yet the main battle of the Northern War was the battle of Poltava. Having lost an army here, although Sweden continued the war for almost 12 more years, in the further struggle it was forced to limit itself solely to the defense of its territories. The Battle of Poltava not only turned the tide of the Northern War, but also changed the place and role of the Russian Empire in the European arena.

The well-known explorer of St. Petersburg Sergey Knyazkov told about how the Victory Day near Poltava was celebrated under Peter in the book Pictures about Russian History (1913). On the morning of June 27, on the day of the "glorious Victoria", a divine service was held on the square in front of the Trinity Cathedral. Here they set up a huge tent with a camping altar, and “at a distance from the altar stood Tsar Peter, dressed as he was during the battle itself: in a colonel’s caftan with red lapels, with a black leather belt over his shoulder, in green stockings, in old shoes ... and an old hat shot through in battle under the arm.

In the evening the celebration continued in the Summer Garden. It began at about five o'clock - the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments lined up on the Tsaritsyn Meadow, "the tsar treated the soldiers, bringing them wine and beer with his own hand in wooden cups". Later, the gates were locked, and a procession passed along the main avenue: “the tall grenadiers of the guard carried tubs of plain bread vodka; the majors of the guard followed the soldiers and offered everyone to drink a large glass for the health of their colonel.

It is worth noting that starting from 1710 it was decided to make the celebration of the “glorious Victoria” in the Battle of Poltava an annual event.

As time went on, the Russian army won more and more new victories, and new military holidays appeared - under Emperor Peter III following the results of the Seven Years' War, and under Catherine the Great - on the day of the brilliant naval victory over the Turkish fleet at Chesma on July 7 (June 26, according to Stromic style) 1770 of the year.

The first celebration in memory of the victory won near Chesma, according to the writer, historian Sergei Glinka, author of Russian History (1823) took place on September 15, 1770. Catherine II arranged this celebration not for herself, but in honor of Peter I.

Along with the Victory Days, regimental holidays were also celebrated in Russia. Holiday dates in honor of the armed forces are now familiar - Border Guard Day, Navy Day, Airborne Troops Day and others. There was no such tradition in the Russian army, but the days of each of the regiments were celebrated. They were usually approved on the occasion of the patronal feast of the regimental church, so they were associated with the days of memory of Russian saints. The celebration was always held on a large scale, especially in the guards. It included a special ceremonial church parade that combined prayer and a solemn march. This was followed by a solemn prayer service in the regimental church.

Time passed, the country changed, the army also changed. But always its fighters, from the private to the commander, were valiant and faithful defenders of the Fatherland. Many military trials fell to the lot of our country, for example, the war with the Napoleonic troops, which the collection "Patriotic War of 1812" is dedicated to on the Presidential Library’s portal.

The most difficult of these tests - the Great Patriotic War - lasted four years and claimed, according to the latest data, 20 million lives. The materials and documents dedicated to the Great Patriotic War digitized by the Presidential Library made up an extensive collection Memory of the Great Victory, which has been formed since 2010. In addition, the Presidential Library continues to work on the creation of the World War II in Archival Documents (Collection of Digitized Archival Documents, Film and Photo Materials) which today contains about 5.5 thousand digitized archival documents, photographs and newsreels.

The richest history of the glorious victories of the national army is also presented in the electronic collection of the Presidential Library Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA). It includes decrees, military regulations, studies about the history of the creation of the Red Army, its participation in hostilities and many other materials.