International Women's Day (IWD), originally c
alled International Working Women’s Day, is marked on March 8 e
very year.[1] In different regions the focus of the celebrations r
anges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards wo
men to a celebration for women's economic, political and social achievement
s. Started as a Socialist political event, the holiday blended in the cultu
re of many countries, primarily Eastern Europe, Russia, and the former Soviet bloc. In many regions, the day lost its political flavou
r, and became simply an occasion for men to express their love for women in
a way somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother's Day and Valentin
e's Day. In other regions, however, the original political and human ri
ghts theme designated by the United Nations runs strong, and politica
l and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out
and examined in a hopeful manner.
The first national Women's D
ay was observed on 28 February 1909 in the United States following a declar
ation by the Socialist Party of America.[1] In August 1910, an International Women's Conference was organized t
o precede the general meeting of the Socialist Second Interna
tional in Copenhagen. Inspired in part by the American socialists, German
Socialist Luise Zietz proposed the establishment of an annual 'Internation
al Woman's Day' (singular) and was seconded by communist Clar
a Zetkin, although no date was specified at that conference.[2]<
/a> Delegates (100 women from 17 countries) agreed with the idea as a
strategy to promote equal rights, including suffrage, for women.[3] T
he following year, on 18 March, 1911, IWD was marked for the first time, by
over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. In the Austro-Hungarian Empire
alone, there were 300 demonstrations.[2] In Vienna, women
paraded on the Ringstrasse and carried banners honouri
ng the martyrs of the Paris Commune.[2] Women demanded
that women be given the right to vote and to hold public office. They also
protested against employment sex discrimination.[1] Americans con
tinued to celebrate National Women's Day on the last Sunday in February.
Freedom Day is an unofficial holiday in Belarus, which is ce lebrated on March 25 to commemorate the creation on that date in 1918 of th e Belarusian People's Republic (BPR).
People and groups opposed to the current Belarusian government under < a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Lukashenko" title="Alexander Lukashenko">Alexander Lukashenko celebrate the holiday. The government does not recognize it for the stated reason that the BPR was created by th e Germans, who were occupying Belarus in 1918. Celebrations of the holiday are an a nnual occasion of demonstrations against the rule of president Alexander Lu kashenka.
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