A militant celebration Women's Day or Working Women's Day is a day of international solidarity and a day for reviewing the strength and the organisation of working But this is not a special day for women alone. nesi or marco Is a historic and memorable day for the workers and peasants for all the Russian workers and for the workers of the whole world. In 1917, on this day, the great February revolution broke out. It was the working women of Petersburg who began this revolution; it was they who first decided to raise the banner of opposition against the tsar and his Working And sa Women's Day is a double celebra.
How and why was Women's Day organised?
Not very long ago, in fact, about women's equality, and the question of whether women could take pari in government alongside men was оск пону аоса. ас working eled for the rights of women store: in capitalist countries strug ers: the bourgeoisie did not want to accept these rights.
It was not in the interest of the bourgeoisie to strengthen the voice of the working class in parliament, and in every country they hindered the passing of laws that gave the vote to working women. Socialists in Nort America insisted on their demands for the vote for women with particular persistence.
On February 28 1907, the women socialists of the USA organmeetings all over the country, demanding poncal TiDEs for work ing women. This was the first "Women's Day". The initiative in organising a women's day thus be. longs to the working women of America.
In 19i0 at tae sccond Interna tional Conference of Socialist Working Women, Clara Zetkin brought forward the question of organising an International Working Women's Day. The Conference decided that every year, in every country, they should celebrate on the same day a Women's Day under "The vote for womer will unite our strength in the struggle tor socialism.
But in the last years before the war the rise in prices forced ever the most peaceful housewife to take an interest in questons oponues and to protest loudly against the bourgcoisic's cconomy of plunder. "Housewives' uprisings" became Jun that tacy nao to ask maic work ers to give up their places to the This was certainly the first show of militancy by the working Men stayed at home with the children for a change, and their went to meetings. In Austria there ing the largest street demonstra. tion in which 50.000 were taking part, the police decided to remove women workers made a stand. In shed was averted only with the help of the socialist deputies of parlia. ment.
In 1915 International Women's Day was transferred to March 8. This date has remained the work. ing women's day of militancy Women Workers' Day In Russia Russian working women first took part in "Working Women's Day" in 1913. This was a time of reaction when tsarism held the work.
in its vice-like grip. There could be no thought of celebrating "Working Women's Day" by open demonstration.
But both the legal newspapers of the working class - the Bolsheviks' Prada and the Mensheviks' Looch - carried articles about International Women's Day: with portraits of some of those fighting and taking part in toe working womeas movement, and greetings from foreign comrades such as Bebel and Zetkin In those bleak years meetings were forbidden. But in Petrograd at the Kalashaikovsky Exchangc,
those women workers who belonged to the Party organised a "Morning Teach-In on the Woman Question". Entrance was kopecks.
This was an illegal meeting, but the hall was absolutely packed. Members of the Party spoke. But this animated "closed" meeting had hardly finished when the police, alarmed at such proceedings, intervened and arrested many of the It was of great significance that the women of Kussia, who lived under tsarist repression, should someInternational Women's Day. Russia cialism.
In the Soviet Republic working women and the peasants don't need to fight for the franchise and for their civil rights. They have already won these rights. The Russian women workers and peasant women are equal citizens - in their hands is a powerful weapon to make the struggle for a better life casier - the right to vote, to take part in the Soviets and in all collective organisatons.
But rights alone are not enough. We have to learn to make use of them. The right to vote is a weapon which we have to learn to master for A job and a decent minimum wage would make a useful start WOMENS I8• 8 £4.15 ca, 15)