Russia Day: Independence, or a Day in the Dacha?

News and photos from the Moscow News (12/06/2004)
 
On June 12, Russia will celebrate yet another ambiguously named state holiday. The foreign press calls it “Russia’s Independence Day,” which

Photo by Alexander Reshetilov / WayToRussia.Net

justifiably raises the question, independence from what? So ambiguous is the answer that many Russians just celebrate Extra Dacha Day.
The only considerable time Russians spent under arguably foreign rule was 300 years under “the Tartar yoke” that ended with the Middle Ages. Some also say the “independence from” implies Soviet rule — although it would be an understatement to say that most Russians don’t see the Bolsheviks as occupiers.

Others stick with the more literal rendering that the declaration was meant to gain autonomy from a wobbly Soviet Union.
Officially on this date in 1991, Russia adopted its declaration of sovereignty from the Soviet Union. Hence, the official name of the holiday used to be Day of the Adoption of the Declaration of Russia’s State Sovereignty, frequently misnamed as Independence Day. Three years ago, the name confusion got to be too much and the day became simply Russia Day.
The official line, however, doesn’t clarify too well what exactly Russians are celebrating: “On this day we honor our motherland, our Russia. We honor the country of a thousand years history and unique heritage, the country which united on a huge space many peoples, territories and cultures,” President Vladimir Putin was quoted by AP as saying in an address to the participants in the festivities last year.

A poll by Romir (Russian Public Opinion and Market Research) showed that 33% of Russians didn’t give the day a second thought, simply enjoying a day off. Another six percent thought it was just a holiday to celebrate the beginning of summer. In reality, this day marks the first official step of the falling apart of the Soviet Union, which was disbanded in the months to follow.

City festivities on June 12 are typical of practically any national holiday. Last year, the Red Square ceremony featured a military parade of soldiers, sailors and airmen. The presidential band played and singers performed the most popular songs in Russian history, including tunes from the Soviet era.
All this against a backdrop of suspicion among some that there are just too many holidays in Russia. As Pravda quipped last year, “at present, state holidays in Russia make up about one month of days off in a year. According to the information from the Ministry for Labor, every holiday costs about 12-14 billion rubles to the Treasury.”

But that’s not exactly a problem for the nation’s GDP. The catch is quite simple: while too many holidays may mean time off work for city people, it’s a life savor for the provinces, where many can use the time as a good opportunity to work in their gardens.

And gardens — whether for growing potatoes or petunias — are something a lot of Russians, even city dwellers, have. Many of those not so well off depend on their plot of land — often given in Soviet times to city dwellers with country roots — to make ends meet, providing vegetables and a ruble or two after the extra cucumbers are sold off.
With that in mind, the Extra Dacha Day may not be so useless after all.