Today, according to my trusty Google Calendar alert, is Unity Day in Russia. Hmmm. I'm reasonably conversant in Russian holidays by this point, but Unity Day had me stumped. And so I invite you to follow me into a bit of research into Russia's newest holiday. Well, sort of.

Unity Day was only celebrated for the first time two years ago, but it is ostensibly based on something that happened nearly 400 years ago. Two Moscovites, Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky, led an uprising that chased out Polish and Lithuanian troops who had invaded the city. Russians call this period the Time of Trroubles. Tsar Feodor Ivanovich had died without an heir, so the country's nobles elected one of their own, Boris Godunov (cue the baritones) his successor. Godunov proved unequal to the task of governing, but he didn't get much help from Mother Nature. There were several years of poor harvests and starvation, as well as a Polish pretender to the crown. After the invaders were ejected by Mssrs. Minin and Pozharsky, the Romanov dynasty came to power, and we all know how that ended. One more bit of trivia: There's a statue of Minin and Pozharsky in front of St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square.

(Though Pozharsky was a prince, he did not lend his time to one of the most popular dishes at an elegant Russian dinner, pozharskiye kotleti. The chicken and veal croquettes apparently took their name from a creative chef.)

At any rate, this is what Unity Day is supposed to be marking. Except that, until 1917, the uprising against the Poles and Lithuanians was celebrated on October 22. Then it was nudged aside by a holiday marking the Bolshevik revolution, which was celebrated on November 7. In picking November 4 for the new celebration of Unity Day, President Vladimir Putin deliberately or inadvertently layered the holiday on top of one of the holiest days on the Russian Orthodox calendar.

Unity Day has had some trouble settling in as a new holiday. Given what it commemorates, it is perhaps not surprising that it has caught the attention of nationalist groups. Last year, the Russian government tried to keep the nationalists from marching in the main Moscow parade. They rallied anyway and, according to the RIA Novosti newswire, 200 people were arrested. According to RussiaToday, there was a nationalist march in Moscow again today, but more peaceful.

That hasn't kept Russia's ethnic minorities and immigrants from being on guard. According to a report on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, there has been a spate of violence against both lately.

Let's hope everybody minds their manners this year.


Image, credit: Kazan Cathedral on Red Square, commissioned by Prince Pozharsky. Wikimedia Commons