List of October Revolution Parades in Moscow

The annual October Revolution Day Parade on 7 November (Russian: Военный Парад на 7 Ноября) on Moscow's Red Square was a military parade of the Moscow Military District of the Soviet Armed Forces that took place every year from 1919–1990 commemorating the anniversary of the 1917 October Revolution.^[1] Led by representatives from the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks), the insurrectionists overthrew the liberal Russian Provisional Government led by Alexander Kerensky, on 6–7 November 1917 (N.S., 24–25 October O.S.).

History

On 1 May 1918, on International Workers' Day, the first parade of the Red Army took place on Khodynka Field.^[2][3] Subsequently, many military parades were traditionally held, mainly on Red Square. At first, these events were held on the anniversary of the October Revolution. On 7 November 1919, a parade was held in honor of the second anniversary of the events of 1917. Columns of cadets, infantry, cavalry, and units, as well as horse-drawn artillery took part in the procession. Starting in 1922, parades began to be held twice a year: on 1 May and 7 November. There were no parades held from 1942-1944 due to occupation of Soviet territories by the German Wehrmacht. The last May Day parade took place in 1968, and the November parade ended in 1990.^[4][5]

List of parades

1910s

There were military parades held in 1918 and 1919.

1920s

There was no military parades held in 1920 and 1921. On 7 November 1922, a parade was held in honor of the fifth anniversary of the revolution, with the Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council Leon Trotsky who inspected the parade and gave the keynote speech. In 1923, the first aerial filming of Moscow and Red Square was made and for the first time, artillery tractors participated in the parade. In 1924, the parade was opened by students of the Red Army Academy, who marched past Lenin's Mausoleum. The 1925 parade was not held due to the mourning period for Mikhail Frunze.

In 1926, The Parade Troops of The Moscow Garrison was received by Kliment Voroshilov.

In 1927, Red Square hosted the huge parade that took place on the 10th anniversary of the revolution. A consolidated regiment of sailors from the

In 1928, The Parade was hosted by Mikhail Kalinin.

In 1929, The Parade was hosted by Kliment Voroshilov. Ieronim Uborevich commanded the parade. Cars, motorcycles, mechanized artillery, armored cars, light and heavy tanks passed in front of the central tribune. Squadrons flew across the sky.

1930 - 1940

1930 would see the beginning of the wide armored columns passing thru Red Square provided by the men from the then Mechanized Brigade of the Moscow Military District.

There were military parades held in 1931 and 1932.

In 1933, the newest additions to the parade were former partisans and bomber aircraft, plus the

In 1934, The parade was opened by students of military academies, infantry and mechanized units, pilots, signalmen, engineers, chemists, cadets of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee school, units of the Proletarian Division, Red Navy and border guards, work detachments of former Red Guards and partisans, young workers of Osoaviahim. Then there was a turn of mechanized troops and tanks. Completed the parade flight of aircraft.

In 1935, Academies and schools, units of the Moscow Proletarian Rifle Division, battalions of Moscow proletarians, and artillery passed to the sound of a military band. Squadrons of the Special Cavalry Division named after I. V. Stalin passed. Air defense equipment was widely represented at the parade - anti-aircraft machine guns and guns, searchlights and sound pickups. Armored cars, trucks with motorized infantry and artillery crews, high-speed light tanks, amphibious amphibious vehicles, medium tanks, multi-gun tanks passed. The column of heavy tanks was led by the Kirov tank. Units of the mechanized corps named after K. B. Kalinovsky showed coherence and skill. Due to bad weather, the aviation part of the parade did not take place.

1936 celebrated the eleventh anniversary of the revolution. The parade was opened by a consolidated regiment of the commanding staff of the central departments of the People's Commissariat of Defense, then military academies and schools, a consolidated detachment of sailors, battalions of the Moscow Proletarian Rifle Division, squadrons of the Cavalry Division named after I.V. Stalin, a consolidated cart regiment, cyclists, motorcyclists, a detachment of armored cars, artillery. The procession was completed by units of the mechanized corps named after K. B. Kalinovsky and other tank units.

1937 celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the revolution. The parade was commanded by

The Moscow parade of 1941 was significant in that it was the sole parade ever to be held during the

There were no parades hosted in 1942, 1943, 1944 and 1945 respectively.

In the post-war years, the selection of parade participants was carried out according to a strict criteria, including an age requirement of a soldier that being not older than 30 years and a height that is no less than 176 cm. In 1953, the tradition of receiving parades on horseback ended, with Marshal Nikolai Bulganin being the first to complete the inspection in an open car (specifically a

In November 1967 Minister of Defense Marshal Andrei Grechko announced his gratitude and of the Ministry of Defence to all those who marched on Red Square in 1967 as the country marked the golden jubilee anniversary year of the Revolution and for the first time, together with the text of gratitude, they were presented with commemorative badges "Participant of the military parade".^[2] Colour television broadcasts of the parade began that year in phrases, with the Moscow parade being seen only within the capital metropolitan area.

1968-1971

The parade began to have a live nationwide broadcast via satellite in 1969.

1972

The 1972 parade was the 100th parade ever to be held, marking the golden jubilee of the

The 1974 parade dedicated to the 57th anniversary was the last to feature heavy nuclear missiles such as ballistic missiles. Due to the rain that took place that day the parade of workers and athletes after the parade finale was cancelled.

Although military vehicles were present in 1976, there was no display of tanks.[17]

1977

The 1977 parade took place to commemorate the

Ethiopian leader Mengistu Haile Mariam was in attendance at the parade of 1980.^[22] The 1981 parade was the first to introduce a new massed bands formation within Moscow. This included the full implementation of the sousaphone in the back row, as well as drummers added to the front line, spaced in between the fanfare trumpets. A new model ZiL limousine used for the inspection tour was also included.^[23] The 1982 parade marked the 65th anniversary of the revolution, as well as the diamond jubilee of the USSR. It was the last parade attended by Leonid Brezhnev as he would die three days later. In 1983, Yuri Andropov (the Soviet leader at the time) did not attend the parade due to a sickness prior to the parade, which became the first parade not to be attended by a Soviet leader.^[24][25] 1984 saw the participation of the Kaliningrad Higher Naval School.

1987