International Workers Day01 May

International Workers' Day (also knownas May Day) is a celebration of the in-ternational labour movement and left-wing movements. It commonly seesorganized street demonstrations andmarches by working people and theirlabour unions throughout most of theworld. May 1 is a national holiday inmore than 80 countries. It is also cele-brated unofficially in many other coun-tries.

HistoryInternational Workers' Day is the com-memoration of the 1886 HaymarketMassacre in Chicago, when, after an un-known person threw a dynamite bombat police as they dispersed a publicmeeting, Chicago police fired on workersduring a general strike for the eight hourworkday, killing several demonstratorsand resulting in the deaths of several po-lice officers, largely from friendly fire. In1889, the first congress of the SecondInternational, meeting in Paris for thecentennial of the French Revolution andthe Exposition Universelle, following aproposal by Raymond Lavigne, calledfor international demonstrations on the1890 anniversary of the Chicagoprotests. May Day was formally recog-nized as an annual event at the Interna-tional's second congress in 1891.Subsequently, the May Day Riots of1894 and May Day Riots of 1919 oc-curred. In 1904, the International Social-ist Conference meeting in Amsterdamcalled on "all Social Democratic Party or-ganizations and trade unions of all coun-tries to demonstrate energetically onMay First for the legal establishment ofthe 8-hour day, for the class demands ofthe proletariat, and for universal peace."The congress made it "mandatory uponthe proletarian organizations of all coun-tries to stop work on May 1, wherever itis possible without injury to the workers." In many countries, the working classessought to make May Day an official hol-iday, and their efforts largely succeeded.May Day has long been a focal point fordemonstrations by various socialist,communist and anarchist groups. Insome circles, bonfires are lit in com-memoration of the Haymarket martyrs,usually at dawn. May Day has been animportant official holiday in Communistcountries such as the People's Republicof China, Cuba and the former SovietUnion. May Day celebrations typicallyfeature elaborate popular and militaryparades in these countries.In the United States and Canada, how-ever, the official holiday for workers isLabor Day in September. This day waspromoted by the Central Labor Unionand the Knights of Labor, who organizedthe first parade in New York City. Afterthe Haymarket Square riot in May, 1886,US President Grover Cleveland fearedthat commemorating Labor Day on May1 could become an opportunity to com-memorate the riots. Thus he moved in1887 to support the Labor Day that theKnights supported. In 1955, the Roman Catholic Churchdedicated May 1 to "Saint Joseph TheWorker". The Catholic Church considersSaint Joseph the patron saint of (amongothers) workers, craftsmen, immigrantsand "people fighting communism".Right-wing governments have tradition-ally sought to repress the message be-hind International Workers' Day, withfacist governments in Portugal, Italy,Germany and Spain abolishing theworkers' holiday, and the Conservativeparty in the UK currently attempting toabolish the UK's annual May Day BankHoliday.

AmericasBrazilIn Brazil, Workers' Day is an official hol-iday, and unions commemorate it withday-long public events. It is also whensalaries for most professional categoriesand the minimum wage are traditionallyreadjusted.

CanadaAlthough celebrations by socialist, anar-chist and anti-globalization activistsoccur on May 1 in Canada, the govern-ment of Prime MinisterJohn SparrowDavid Thompson declared in 1894 thefirst Monday in September as Canada'sofficial Labour Day. May Day, however,remains an important day of trade-unionand community group protest in theprovince of Quebec. Celebration of theInternational Labour Day (or Workers'Day, fête des travailleurs) in Montrealgoes back to 1906, organised by the Mu-tual Aid circle. The tradition had a ren-aissance at the time of a mass strike of1972. On the 1973 May Day, the firstcontemporary demonstration was organ-ised by the major trade union confeder-ations. Over 30,000 trade unionists tookpart in this demonstration.

United StatesIn the United States, efforts to officiallyswitch Labor Day to the internationaldate of May 1 have failed. In 1921, fol-lowing the Russian Revolution of 1917,May 1 was promoted as "Americaniza-tion Day" by the Veterans of ForeignWars and other groups as a counter tocommunists. It became an annual event,sometimes featuring large rallies. In1949, Americanization Day was re-named to Loyalty Day. In 1958, Con-gress declared Loyalty Day a nationalholiday; that same year, U.S. PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed May1 Law Day as well.Some unions and union locals in theUnited States — especially in urbanareas with strong support for organizedlabor — have attempted to maintain aconnection with more radical labor tradi-tions through their own unofficial obser-vances on May 1. Some of the largestexamples of this occurred during theGreat Depression of the 1930s, whenthousands of workers marched in MayDay parades in New York's UnionSquare. Smaller far left groups have alsotried to keep the May Day tradition alivewith more radical demonstrations insuch cities as New York and Seattle,without major union backing.In 2006, May 1 was chosen by mostlyLatino immigrant groups in the UnitedStates as the day for the Great AmericanBoycott, a general strike of illegal immi-grant workers and supporters to protestH.R. 4437, immigration reform legisla-tion which they felt was draconian. FromApril 10 to May 1 of that year, millions ofimmigrant families in the U.S. called forimmigrant rights, workers rights andamnesty for undocumented workers.They were joined by socialist and otherleftist organizations on May 1. On May1, 2007, a mostly peaceful demonstra-tion in Los Angeles in support of illegalimmigrant workers ended with a widelytelevised assault by police officers. InMarch 2008, the International Longshoreand Warehouse Union announced thatdockworkers will move no cargo at anyWest Coast ports on May 1, 2008, as aprotest against the continuation of theIraq War and the diversion of resourcesfrom domestic needs. For May Day2010, marches were being planned inmany cities uniting immigrant and nativeworkers including New York , San Fran-cisco, Boston, Albany Chicago and LosAngeles most of whom protestedagainst the Arizona Senate Bill 1070.

AsiaChinaIn the People's Republic of China, May1 marked the start of one of the country'sthree "Golden Weeks". Three days offwork were given, and one of the sur-rounding weekends was, for no morethan 3 days. From 2008, only one daywould still be given, with the other twodays being rescheduled on Qingming inearly April and Duanwu in early June, re-spectively.PakistanMay 1 is globally acknowledged and cel-ebrated as the 'Labour Day' every yearwith great zeal and fervour in commem-oration of economic and social achieve-ments of Labour Union Movement,which started from the United States ofAmerica in 19th century. The main rea-

son of existence of this movement wasthat there was a practice of taking unlim-ited working hours by the workers in theindustrial areas of Chicago in those dayswithout giving them any weekly holidayand additional financial incentives.It was an extreme of cruelty that theworkers usually worked in unsecuredcondition in industrial premises due towhich the accidents were common. Sim-ilarly, there was no legal binding on ex-ploitation and child labour. The commonstatus of a worker was just like a slavein the eyes of his employer. This injusticesystem compelled the Labour UnionMovement to launch struggle against theemployers for acceptance of its demandthrough eight hours for work, eight hoursfor recreation, and eight hours for rest.The history of this Movement is basedon the fact that some labours were killedon the issue of an eight-hour workday inChicago in 1886, which turned theLabour Movement into strong drive.Thereafter, a mass meeting of industrialworkers was held at Haymarket Squareto protest against the inhuman treatmentof the police force. Unfortunately, an un-known person threw bomb on the policeat the end of peaceful meeting, whichkilled one police man and injured sev-enty.

IndiaThe first May Day celebration in Indiawas organised in Madras by the LabourKisan Party of Hindustan on May 1,1923. This was also the first time the redflag was used in India. The party leaderSingaravelu Chettiar made arrange-ments to celebrate May Day in twoplaces in 1923. One meeting was heldat the beach opposite to the MadrasHigh Court; the other meeting was heldat the Triplicane beach. The Hindunews-paper, published from Madras reported,The Labour Kisan party has introducedMay Day celebrations in Chennai. Com-rade Singaravelar presided over themeeting. A resolution was passed statingthat the government should declare MayDay as a holiday. The president of theparty explained the non-violent princi-ples of the party. There was a requestfor financial aid. It was emphasized thatworkers of the world must unite toachieve independence. May Day is a nationwide bank holiday inIndia. The holiday is tied to labour move-ments for communist and socialist polit-ical parties. InMaharashtra and Gujarat,it is officially called Maharashtra Day andGujarat Day respectively, since on thisday in 1960 each attained statehood,after the old Bombay State became di-vided on linguistic lines.

JapanMay Day is not officially designated bythe Japanese government as a nationalholiday. But because it lies betweenother national holidays, it is a day offwork for the vast majority of Japaneseworkers. Many employers give it as aday off by, and otherwise workers take itas "paid leave". May 1 is occurs in the"Golden Week" of holidays, togetherwith April 29 ("Shōwa Day", birthday offormer Emperor Hirohito), May 3 ("Con-stitution Memorial Day"), May 4 ("Green-ery Day") and May 5 ("Children's Day").Workers generally take May 1 off worknot so much to join street rallies or laborunion gatherings, but rather to take afew days of vacation in an uninterruptedstring. In the Japanese corporate cul-ture, taking weekdays off for personalpleasure is widely frowned upon.Usually on this day, some of the majorlabor unions organize rallies and demon-strations in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya.In 2008, the National Confederation ofTrade Unions, known also as Zenrōrenheld a rally in Yoyogi Park attended by44,000 participants, while the NationalTrade Unions Council, also known asZenrōkyō held its May Day rally at HibiyaPark. However the largest Japanesetrade union, the Japanese Trade UnionConfederation, better known as Rengō,held its May Day rally on the followingSaturday (May 3), allegedly to distanceitself from the more radical labor unions.MalaysiaMalaysia began observing the holiday in1972 following an announcement by thelate Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister,Ismail Abdul Rahman. NepalMay Day has been celebrated in Nepalsince 1963. The day became a publicholiday in 2007.SingaporeIn Singapore, it is known as Labor dayand it is a public holiday.

EuropeEastern bloc under Commu-nist governmentsEastern bloc countries such as the So-viet Union and most countries of centraland eastern Europe that were under therule of Communist governments held of-ficial May Day celebrations in every townand city, during which party leadersgreeted the crowds. Workers carriedbanners with political slogans and manycompanies decorated their companycars. The biggest celebration of May 1usually occurred in the capital of a par-ticular communist country and usually in-cluded a military display and thepresence of the president and the sec-retary general of the Party. In Poland,since 1982, party leaders led the officialparades, and in 1990,, May 1 was re-named "State Holiday". In Hungary, MayDay was officially celebrated under theCommunist regime, and remains a pub-lic holiday. Traditionally, the day wasmarked by dancing around designated"May trees."

GermanyIn Germany, May Day celebrations havebeen organized independently by theSocial Democratic Party (SPD) since thelate 19th century, and by the CommunistParty since 1918. However, for a longtime the day was not made an officialstate holiday, even when the Social De-mocrats came to power in the years afterWorld War I, because both the social de-mocrats and the communists believedthat the workers should organize theirown holiday without the involvement ofthe (traditionally conservative) Germanstate bureaucracy.In 1929, the SPD government prohibitedthe annual May Day workers' demon-strations in Berlin. The Communist Party,which was the strongest party in Berlin,called demonstrations nonetheless. Bythe end of the day, 32 demonstrators,workers and bystanders had been killedby the police, at least 80 were seriouslyinjured. The Berlin police, under controlof the supposedly pro-labour social dem-ocratic government, had fired a total of11,000 rounds of live ammunition. Thisincident, remembered in the Germanlanguage as Blutmai ("Blood May")deepened the split between the SPDand the Communist Party, which indi-rectly helped the German right wing par-ties and the eventual rise of the NaziParty in the German parliament.In April 1933, the recently installed Nazigovernment declared May 1 the "Day ofNational Work," an official state holiday,and announced that all celebrationswere to be organized by the govern-ment. Any separate celebrations bycommunists, social democrats or labourunions were banned. After the WorldWar II, May 1 remained a state holidayin both East and West Germany. In com-munist East Germany, workers were defacto required to participate in largestate-organized parades on Mayday.Today in Germany it is simply called the"Day of Labour" ("Tag der Arbeit"), andthere are numerous demonstrations andcelebrations by independent workers' or-ganizations. Today, Berlin witnessesyearly demonstrations on May Day, thelargest organized by labour unions, po-litical parties and others by the far leftand Autonomen.Since 1987, Mayday has also becomeknown for riots in some districts of Berlin.After police actions against radical left-ists in that year's annual demonstrations,

the Autonome scattered and soughtcover at the ongoing annual street fair inKreuzberg. Three years prior to there-unification of Germany, violent protestswould only take place in the former WestBerlin. The protesters began tipping overpolice cars, violently resisting arrest, andbegan building barricades after the po-lice withdrew due to the unforeseen re-sistance. Cars were set on fire, shopsplundered and burned to the ground.The police eventually ended the riots thefollowing night. These violent forms ofprotests by the radical left, later increas-ingly involved participants without politi-cal motivation.Annual street fairs have proven an effec-tive way to prevent riots, and May Dayin 2005 and 2006 have been among themost peaceful known to Berlin in nearly25 years. In recent years, neo-Nazis andother groups on the far right, such as theNational Democratic Party of Germany,have used the day to schedule publicdemonstrations, often leading to clasheswith left-wing protesters, which turnedespecially violent inLeipzig in 1998 and2005.May Day violence flared again in 2010.After an approved far right demonstra-tion was blocked by leftists, a parade byan estimated 10,000 leftists and anar-chists turned violent and required an ac-tive response by Berlin police.

SwedenThe 1st of May has been an importantpart of Swedish 19th century history. Theday was made public holiday in 1938 buthad been celebrated by the Swedish So-cial Democratic Party since 1890. Thefirst May day celebration gathered morethan 50.000 people in central Stock-holm. The crowd went to hear speechesheld by the leading characters of theSwedish labour movement, HjalmarBranting (later prime minister), AugustPalm and Hinke Bergegren. DuringWorld War I the demonstrations mainlyhad a peace message and the LiberalParty also joined the demonstrations.The 8-hour working day and women'ssuffrage were the main messages duringthe troubled times after World War I.When the Social Democratic Party wonthe election in 1932 they started an eraof social democratic rule that wasn't bro-ken until the election in 1976, when thecentre-right parties won after nearly 50years in opposition. During the long so-cial democratic rule the May Daydemonstrations continued and greweven stronger, in despite that the partyde facto now was demonstrating againstitself.The May Day demonstrations are still animportant part of Swedish politics andthe leaders of the social democratic andleft-wing parties use the May Day to dis-cuss their politics. In Stockholm the So-cial Democratic Party always marchestowards the Norra Bantorget ("NorthernRailway Square"), which is the centre ofthe Swedish labour movement, to holdspeeches in front of the Trade UnionPalace.PortugalIn Portugal, the 1st of May celebrationwas harshly repressed during the fascistdictatorship regime of António deOliveira Salazar, although, since theCarnation Revolution in the 25th of Aprilof 1974, it's now celebrated by the sev-eral leftist political parties with paradesand demonstrations. It was an opportu-nity for the several precarious workersgroups to show their discontent for ex-isting working conditions, in a paradecalled Primeiro de Maio (1st of May), al-though in the present the Worker's Dayin Portugal is a holiday for parents tospend some time with their children. The1st of May also represents the unionizedworkers that try to improve the workingconditions of emmigrant workersabroad.SpainIn Spain, the 1st of May celebration wasestablished after the end of Franco's dic-tatorship in 1975; before that, it hadbeen celebrated during the SpanishSecond Republic period (1931–1939),but it was banned afterwards by the fas-cist Franco regime. The first time it wascelebrated was in 1977, when the Com-munist Party of Spain was legalized.Since then, it has become an official hol-iday that has been traditionally used bytrade unions and leftist parties for socialand labour vindications. Commonly, pa-cific demonstrations and parades aremade in most big cities.GreeceIn Greece, May 1 celebrations are char-acterized by demonstrations. All majorpolitical parties participate. On May Day2010 there were major protests all overGreece, most notably Athens and Thes-saloniki, by many left, anarchist andcommunist supporters and some violentclashes by riot police who were sent outto contain the protesters. They de-manded economic reform, an end to joblosses and wage cuts in the face of thegovernment's proposals of massive pub-lic spending cuts. These cuts are to fallin line with the EU-IMF loan proposalswhich demand that Greece liberalize itseconomy, cut its public spending andopen it up further to the EU and worldmarkets, which many believe will de-crease living standards. ItalyThe first May day celebration in Italy tookplace in 1890. It started initially as an at-tempt to celebrate workers' achieve-ments in their struggle for their rights andfor better social and economic condi-tions. It was abolished under the FascistRegime and immediately restored afterthe Second World War. (During the fas-cist period, a "Holiday of the Italianlabour" (Festa del lavoro italiano) wascelebrated on the 21st of April, the dateof Natale di Roma, when ancient Romewas allegedly founded.) Now, May Dayis an important celebration in Italy. Verypopular is the Concerto del Primo Mag-gio ("1 May's Concert"), organized byItalian Labour Unions in Rome in PiazzaSan Giovanni. It is attended by morethan 300,000 people every year and in-volves participation of many famousbands and songwriters. The concert isusually broadcasted live by Rai Tre.

RussiaMay Day was celebrated illegally in Rus-sia until the February Revolution en-abled the first legal celebration in 1917.The following year, after the Bolshevikseizure of power, the May Day celebra-tions were boycotted by Mensheviks,Left Socialist Revolutionaries and anar-chists. It became an important officialholiday of the Soviet Union, celebratedwith elaborate popular parade in thecentre of the major cities. The biggestcelebration was traditionally organizedon the Red Square, where the GeneralSecretary of the CPSU and other partyand government leaders stood atopLenin's Mausoleum and waved to thecrowds. Since 1992, May Day is officiallycalled "The Day of Spring and Labour",and remains a major holiday in the pres-ent-day Russia.United KingdomIn the United Kingdom in recent years,the anti-capitalist movement has organ-ised a number of large protests in Lon-don, Glasgow,Edinburgh, andDoncaster. In London, these have re-sulted in clashes with the police. In 2000,the clashes ended with a branch of Mc-Donalds being smashed and a statue ofWinston Churchill being given a grassMohawk hairstyle. The Cenotaph wasalso defaced with graffiti. In the last fewyears, demonstrations have been morepeaceful, with marches and gatherings,particularly in central London. The cur-rent Conservative-led coalition govern-ment in March 2011 announced plans tomove the May Day bank holiday to Oc-tober in order to lengthen the tourist sea-son. A London rally on May Day isorganised by the London May Day Or-ganising Committee (LMDOC).Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interna-tional_Workers'_Day

Law Day, U.S.01 May

On May 1 the United States celebrates Law Day, U.S.A.. It is meant to reflect onthe role of law in the foundation of the country and to recognize its importance forsociety.

HistoryLong before President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared it, May 1st was May Day.A day to remember the struggles of workers who were killed or oppressed in theirfight for better wages and working conditions.Improving on this, Eisenhower proclaimed May 1 (Previously known as May Dayor International Workers' Day) would now be known as Law Day, U.S.A. in 1958.Its observance was later codified into law by Public Law 87-20 on April 7, 1961. In contrast, most countries celebrate May Day on the same date, as it is desig-nated Labour Day or International Workers Day. Law Day, U.S.A., along with Loy-alty Day, was created to counterbalance these celebrations, which were perceivedas communist. On February 5, 1958, President Eisenhower recognized the firstLaw Day when he proclaimed that henceforth May 1 of each year would be LawDay. He stated “In a very real sense, the world no longer has a choice betweenforce and law. If civilization is to survive it must choose the rule of law.Now, many local bars and legal education associations, such as the Florida LawRelated Education Association and the New York State Bar Association, use LawDay as a legal education tool, particularly for students.Like Earth Day, Law Day is not a government holiday. In fact, few outside thelegal community in the United States are even aware of the existence of Law Day.To celebrate Law Day, some local bar associations hold a luncheon, featuringspeakers who discuss topics such as justice or the liberties provided for by theUnited States Constitution. Also, attorneys might visit schools and talk to studentsabout the American legal system.Law Day, U.S.A., is a special day of celebration by the people of the UnitedStates—(1) in appreciation of their liberties and the reaffirmation of their loyalty to theUnited States and of their rededication to the ideals of equality and justice underlaw in their relations with each other and with other countries; and(2) for the cultivation of the respect for law that is so vital to the democratic wayof life.Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_Day,_U.S.A.

Loyalty Day, U.S.01 May

Loyalty Day is observed on May 1 in the United States. It is a day set aside forthe reaffirmation of loyalty to the United States and for the recognition of the her-itage of American freedom.

HistoryThe holiday was first observed in 1921 as "Americanization Day," and was in-tended to counterbalance the celebration of Labour Day on May Day (May 1), aninternationally celebrated holiday for the commemoration of the Haymarket Mas-sacre in Chicago in 1886.Loyalty Day is celebrated with parades and ceremonies in several U.S. commu-nities, like Batavia, Illinois, although many people in the United States remain un-aware of it. Although a legal holiday, it is not a federal holiday, and is not commonlyobserved.It was made an official holiday by the U.S. Congress on July 18, 1958 (PublicLaw 85-529). Following the passage of this law, President Dwight D. Eisenhowerproclaimed May 1, 1959 the first official observance of Loyalty Day. In 2007 President George W. Bush issued an official proclamation of the May 1,2007 Loyalty Day in accordance with the 1958 Congressional declaration, as havemany of his predecessors:� Bill Clinton, proclamation 6556 (May 1, 1993) � George H. W. Bush, proclamation 5962 (April 28, 1989) � Ronald Reagan, proclamation 4836 (April 14, 1981) � Jimmy Carter, proclamation 4493 (March 23, 1977) � Gerald Ford, proclamation 4354 (March 4, 1975) � John F. Kennedy, proclamation 3528 (April 18, 1963) Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loyalty_Day

Dos de Mayo Uprising- Spain02 May

On the second of May (Spanish: Dos de Mayo), 1808, the people of Madrid rebelled against theoccupation of the city by French troops, provoking a brutal repression by the French Imperialforces and triggering the Peninsular War.

BackgroundThe city had been under the occupation of Napoleon's army since 23 March of the same year.King Charles IV had been forced to abdicate in favour of his son Ferdinand VII, and at the timeof the uprising both were in the French city of Bayonne at the insistence of Napoleon. An attemptby the French general Joachim Murat to move the daughter and youngest son of Charles IV toBayonne led to a popular rebellion that was harshly suppressed by French troops after hours offierce street fighting. The uprising in Madrid, together with the subsequent proclamation as kingof Napoleon's brother Joseph, provoked resistance across Spain to French rule.

The beginning of the uprisingThe spark that provoked the rebellion was the move by the French Marshal in command of Madrid,Joaquim Murat, to send the daughter of Charles IV and the Infante Francisco de Paula to theFrench city of Bayonne. Murat was the brother-in-law of Napoleon, and would later become kingof Naples. Initially the governing council of the city refused the request from Murat, but eventuallygave way after receiving a message from Ferdinand VII who was also in Bayonne at this time.On 2 May a crowd began to gather in front of the Royal Palace in Madrid. Those gathered enteredthe palace grounds in an attempt to prevent the removal of Francisco de Paula. Marshal Muratsent a battalion of grenadiers from the Imperial Guard to the palace along with artillery detach-ments. The latter opened fire on the assembled crowd, and the rebellion began to spread to otherparts of the city.What followed was street fighting in different areas of Madrid as the poorly armed population con-fronted the French troops. Murat had quickly moved the majority of his troops into the city andthere was heavy fighting around the Puerta del Sol and the Puerta de Toledo. Marshal Murat im-posed martial law in the city and assumed full control of the administration. Little by little theFrench regained control of the city, and many hundreds of people died in the fighting. The paintingby the Spanish artistGoya, The Charge of the Mamelukes, portrays the street fighting that tookplace.There were Spanish troops stationed in the city, but they remained confined to barracks. The onlySpanish troops to disobey orders were from the artillery units at the barracks of Monteleón, whojoined the uprising. Two officers of these troops,Luis Daoíz de Torres and Pedro Velarde y Santillánare still commemorated as heroes of the rebellion. Both died during the French assault of the bar-racks, as the rebels were reduced by vastly superior numbers.

The aftermathThe repression following the crushing of the initial rebellion was harsh. Murat created a militarycommission on the evening of 2 May to be presided over by General Grouchy. This commissionissued death sentences to all of those captured who were bearing weapons of any kind. In astatement issued that day Murat said: "The population of Madrid, led astray, has given itself torevolt and murder. French blood has flowed. It demands vengeance. All those arrested in the up-rising, arms in hand, will be shot." All public meetings were prohibited and an order was issuedrequiring all weapons to be handed in to the authorities. Hundreds of prisoners were executedthe following day, a scene that has also been captured in a famous painting by Goya, The Thirdof May 1808.On the same 2 May, in the nearby town of Móstoles, the arrival of the news of the repressionprompted Juan Pérez Villamil, who was secretary of the Admiralty and prosecutor of the SupremeWar Council, to encourage the mayors of the town, Andrés Torrejón and Simón Hernández, tosign a declaration of war calling all the Spaniards against the invaders. The name of this decla-ration was "Bando de los alcaldes de Móstoles" or "bando de la Independencia".

The impact of the uprisingWhile the French occupiers hoped that their rapid suppression of the uprising would demonstratetheir control of Spain, the rebellion actually gave considerable impetus to the resistance. In theweeks that followed there were further rebellions in different parts of the country.

Commemoration2 May was chosen as a public holiday in the region of Madrid. The place where the artillery bar-racks of Monteleón was located is now a square called the Plaza 2 de mayo, and the district sur-rounding the square is known as Malasaña in memory of one of the heroines of the revolt, theteenagerManuela Malasaña, who was executed by French troops in the aftermath of the revolt.Several memorials to the heroes are located over the city, including the Monumento a los Caidospor España.Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dos_de_Mayo_Uprising

National Flag Day-POLAND02 MAY

Flag of PolandThe flag of Poland consists of two horizontal stripes of equal width, the upper one white and thelower one red. The two colors are defined in the Polish constitution as the national colors. A vari-ant of the flag with the national coat of arms in the middle of the white stripe is legally reservedfor official use abroad and at sea. A similar flag with the addition of a swallow-tail is used as thenaval ensign of Poland.White and red were officially adopted as national colors in 1831. They are of heraldic origin andderive from the tinctures (colors) of the coats of arms of the two constituent nations of the Pol-ish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, i.e. the White Eagle of Poland and the Pursuer (Lithuanian:Vytis,Polish: Pogoń) of Lithuania, a white knight riding a white horse, both on a red shield. Prior tothat, Polish soldiers wore cockades of various color combinations. The national flag was officiallyadopted in 1919. Since 2004, Polish Flag Day is celebrated on May 2.The flag is flown continuously on the buildings of the highest national authorities, such as theparliament and the presidential palace. Other institutions and many Polish people fly the nationalflag on national holidays and other special occasions of national significance. Current Polish lawdoes not restrict the use of the national flag without the coat of arms as long as the flag is notdisrespected.Horizontal bicolor of white and red being a relatively widespread design, there are several flagsthat are similar but unrelated to the Polish one, most notably those of Bohemia in the Czech Re-public and Tyrol in Austria, and two national flags with the red stripe above the white one: thoseof Indonesia and Monaco. In Poland, many flags based on the national design also feature thenational colors.Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Poland

Constitution Day-POLAND03 MAY

Constitution of May 3, 1791Constitution of May 3, 1791 (Polish: Konstytucja Trzeciego Maja;Lithuanian: Gegužėstrečiosios konstitucija) is generally regarded as Europe's first and the world's secondmodern codified national constitution, following the 1788 ratification of the United StatesConstitution (however, see also: Corsican Constitution and Constitution of San Marino).The May 3, 1791, Constitution was adopted as a "Government Act" (Polish: Ustawarządowa) on that date by the Sejm (parliament) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.It was in effect for only a year, until the Russo-Polish War of 1792.The May 3 Constitution was designed to redress long-standing political defects of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and its traditional system of "Golden Liberty" conveyingdisproportionate rights and privileges to the nobility. The Constitution introduced politicalequality between townspeople and nobility (szlachta) and placed the peasants under theprotection of the government, thus mitigating the worst abuses of serfdom. The Consti-tution abolished pernicious parliamentary institutions such as the liberum veto, which atone time had put the sejm at the mercy of any deputy who might choose, or be bribed byan interest or foreign power, to undo legislation passed by that sejm. The Constitutionsought to supplant the existing anarchy fostered by some of the country's magnates witha more democratic constitutional monarchy. The document was translated into Lithuanian. The adoption of the May 3 Constitution provoked the active hostility of the Common-wealth's neighbors. In the War in Defense of the Constitution, the Commonwealth lost itsPrussian ally, Frederick William II, when the Commonwealth failed to live up to territorialagreements made in their treaty and also failed to consult Prussia before agreeing on theconstitution. It was then defeated by Catherine the Great's Imperial Russia allied with theTargowica Confederation, a coalition of Polish magnates and landless nobility who op-posed reforms that might weaken their influence. Despite the Commonwealth's defeatand the consequent Second Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the May3 Constitution influenced later democratic movements. It remained, after the demise ofthe Polish Republic in 1795, over the next 123 years of Polish partitions, a beacon in thestruggle to restore Polish sovereignty. In the words of two of its co-authors, Ignacy Potockiand Hugo Kołłątaj, it was "the last will and testament of the expiring Motherland."

BackgroundThe May 3 Constitution responded to the increasingly perilous situation of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, only a century earlier a major European power and indeedthe largest state on the continent. Already two hundred years before the May 3 Constitu-tion, King Sigismund III Vasa's court preacher, the Jesuit Piotr Skarga, had famously con-demned the individual and collective weaknesses of the Commonwealth. Likewise, in thesame period, writers and philosophers such as Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski andWawrzyniec Grzymała Goślicki, and Jan Zamoyski's egzekucja praw (Execution-of-the-Laws) reform movement, had advocated reforms.By the early 17th century, the magnates of Poland and Lithuania controlled the Common-wealth—or rather, they managed to ensure that no reforms would be carried out thatmight weaken their privileged status (the "Golden Freedoms"). They spent lavishly onbanquets, drinking bouts and other amusements, while the peasants languished inabysmal conditions and the towns, many of which were wholly within the private propertyof a magnate who feared the rise of an independent middle class, were kept in a state ofruin. Many historians hold that a major cause of the Commonwealth's downfall was the peculiarinstitution of the liberum veto ("free veto"), which since 1652 had in principle permittedany Sejm deputy to nullify all the legislation that had been adopted by that Sejm. Thusdeputies bribed by magnates or foreign powers, or simply content to believe they wereliving in some kind of "Golden Age", for over a century paralysed the Commonwealth'sgovernment. The threat of the liberum veto could, however, be overridden by the estab-lishment of a "confederated sejm", which operated immune from the liberum veto. TheFour-Year, or "Great", Sejm of 1788–92, which would adopt the Constitution of May 3,1791, was such a confederated sejm, and it was due only to that fact that it was able toput through so radical a piece of legislation.The Enlightenment had gained great influence in certain Commonwealth circles duringthe reign (1764–95) of its last king, Stanisław August Poniatowski, and the King had pro-ceeded with cautious reforms such as the establishment of fiscal and military ministriesand a national customs tariff. However, the idea of reforms in the Commonwealth wasviewed with growing suspicion not only by the magnates, but also by neighboring coun-tries, which were content with the Commonwealth's contemporary state of affairs and ab-

horred the thought of a resurgent and democratic power on their borders. Accordingly Russia's Empress Catherine the Great and Prussia's King Frederick the Greatprovoked a conflict between some members of the Sejm and the King over civil rights forreligious minorities. Catherine and Frederick declared their support for the Polish nobility(szlachta) and their "liberties," and by October 1767 Russian troops had assembled out-side the Polish capital,Warsaw. The King and his adherents, in face of superior Russianmilitary force, were left with little choice but to acquiesce in Russian demands and duringthe Repnin Sejm (named after unofficially presiding Russian ambassador Nicholas Rep-nin) accept the five "eternal and invariable principles" which Catherine vowed to "protectfor all time to come in the name of Poland's liberties": the election of kings; the right ofliberum veto; the right to renounce allegiance to, and raise rebellion against, the king(rokosz); the szlachta's exclusive right to hold office and land; and a landowner's powerof life and death over his peasants. Thus all the privileges of the nobility that had madethe Commonwealth's political system ("Golden Liberty") ungovernable were guaranteedas unalterable in the Cardinal Laws. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth thus becamean effective protectorate of the Russian Empire. Nonetheless, several minor beneficialreforms were adopted, and the need for more reforms was becoming increasingly recog-nized. Not everyone in the Commonwealth agreed with King Stanisław August's acquiescence.On February 29, 1768, several magnates, including Kazimierz Pułaski, vowing to opposeRussian intervention, declared Stanisław August a "lackey of Russia and Catherine" andformed aconfederation at the town of Bar. The Bar Confederation began a civil war withthe goal of overthrowing the King and fought on until 1772, when overwhelmed by Russianintervention. The Bar Confederation's defeat set the scene for the next act in the unfolding drama. OnAugust 5, 1772, at St. Petersburg, Russia, the three neighboring powers—Russia, Prussiaand Austria—signed the First Partition treaty. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth wasto be divested of about a third of its territory and population (over 200,000 km2 (77,220sq mi) and 4 million people). This was justified on grounds of "anarchy" in the Common-wealth and her refusal to cooperate with its neighbors' efforts to restore order. The threepowers demanded that the Sejm ratify this first partition, otherwise threatening furtherpartitions. King Stanisław August yielded under duress and on April 19, 1773, called theSejm into session. Only 102 deputies attended what became known as the Partition Sejm;the rest, aware of the King's decision, refused. Despite protests, notably by the deputyTadeusz Rejtan, the First Partition of Poland was ratified.

The first of the three successive 18th-century partitions of Commonwealth territory thatwould eventually blot Poland from the map of Europe shocked the inhabitants of the Com-monwealth, and had made it clear to progressive minds that the Commonwealth must ei-ther reform or perish. Even before the First Partition, a Sejm deputy had been sent to askthe French philosophes Gabriel Bonnot de Mably and Jean-Jacques Rousseau to drawup tentative constitutions for a new Poland. Mably had submitted his recommendationsin 1770–71; Rousseau had finished his (Considerations on the Government of Poland)in 1772, when the First Partition was already underway. Supported by King Stanisław August, a new wave of reforms were introduced. The mostimportant included the establishment, in 1773, of a Komisja Edukacji Narodowej ("Com-mission of National Education")—the first ministry of education in the world. New schoolswere opened in the cities and in the countryside, uniform textbooks were printed, teacherswere educated, and poor students were provided scholarships. The Commonwealth'smilitary was modernized, and a standing army was formed. Economic and commercialreforms, previously shunned as unimportant by the szlachta, were introduced, and thedevelopment of industries was encouraged. The peasants were given some rights. A newPolice ministry fought corruption. Everything from the road system to prisons was re-formed. A new executive body was created, the Permanent Council (Polish: RadaNieustająca), comprising five ministries. In 1776, the Sejm commissioned Chancellor Andrzej Zamoyski to draft a new legal code,the Zamoyski Code. By 1780, under Zamoyski's direction, a code (Zbiór praw sądowych)had been produced. It would have strengthened royal power, made all officials answerableto the Sejm, placed the clergy and their finances under state supervision, and deprivedlandless szlachta of many of their legal immunities. Zamoyski's progressive legal code,containing elements of constitutional reform, facing opposition from conservative szlachtaand foreign powers, failed to be adopted by the Sejm. Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_May_3,_1791

Kempo Kinenbi, japan03 May

Constitution Memorial DayConstitution Memorial Day (憲法記念日 Kenpō Kinen-bi) is a national holidayin Japan. It takes place on May third in celebration of the promulgation of the1947 Constitution of Japan. It is a part of the collection of holidays known asGolden Week. A holiday since the current Japanese constitution came into effect on May 3, 1947,this is the only day of the year that the National Diet Building is open to the public.Being a day that draws its significance from the Japanese constitution, Constitu-tion Memorial Day is often chosen as a day to reflect on the meaning of democ-racy and Japanese government. For instance, in 2003, a number of newspapersfeatured editorials regarding the constitution's embattled Article 9. Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_Memorial_Day

World Press Freedom Day-International-03 May

The United Nations General Assembly declared 3 May to be World Press FreedomDay to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remindgovernments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expressionenshrined under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights andmarking the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek, a statement of free pressprinciples put together by African newspaper journalists in 1991.UNESCO marks World Press Freedom Day by conferring the UNESCO/GuillermoCano World Press Freedom Prize on a deserving individual, organization or in-stitution that has made an outstanding contribution to the defence and/or promo-tion of press freedom anywhere in the world, especially when this has beenachieved in the face of danger. Created in 1997, the prize is awarded on the rec-ommendation of an independent jury of 14 news professionals. Names are sub-mitted by regional and international non-governmental organizations working forpress freedom, and by UNESCO member states.The Prize is named in honour of Guillermo Cano Isaza, a Colombian journalistwho was assassinated in front of the offices of his newspaper,El Espectador, inBogotá, on 17 December 1986. Cano's writings had offended Colombia's powerfuldrug barons.UNESCO also marks World Press Freedom Day each year by bringing togethermedia professionals, press freedom organisations and UN agencies to assessthe state of press freedom worldwide and discuss solutions for addressing chal-lenges. Each conference is centred around a theme related to press freedom, in-cluding good governance, media coverage of terrorism, impunity and the role ofmedia in post-conflict countries.The 2011 World Press Freedom Day celebration is being held in Washington,D.C., USA on May 1-3. This will be the first time the United States has hosted theWorld Press Freedom Day celebration. The theme of this year's event is 21stCentury Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers. The event will affirm fundamentalprinciples of media freedom in the digital age—the ability of citizens to voice theiropinions and access diverse, independent information sources—20 years afterthe original declaration was made in Windhoek, Namibia. The World Press Free-dom Day 2011 program and agenda are available here.Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Press_Freedom_Day

Greenery Day-JAPAN04 MAY

Greenery DayGreenery Day (みどりの日Midori no hi) is a Japanese holiday. Between 1989 and 2006it was celebrated on April 29. In 2007 Greenery Day was moved to May 4.The present observation of Greenery Day as a national holiday in Japan stems from thecelebration of the Emperor Shōwa's birthday on April 29 every year during the Shōwa era.In 1989, following the ascension of the current Emperor Akihito to the ChrysanthemumThrone, the name of the holiday was changed from "Birthday of the Emperor" to "GreeneryDay". Officially, as its name suggests, it is a day to commune with nature and to be thankfulfor blessings. The day was renamed to "Greenery Day" to acknowledge the controversialwartime emperor's love for plants without directly mentioning his name.[2] However, inpractice it is seen as just another day that expands the Japanese Golden Week vacation.In 2007, Greenery Day moved to May 4, and April 29 was changed to Shōwa Day in ac-cordance with a 2005 revision of the law pertaining to public holidays. The Shōwa Emperorreigned for 62 years and 2 weeks. On May 3, 1947, he became a symbol of Japan by thenew constitution of the country.Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenery_Day

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Proclamation of Independence,Declaration of the Republic

Latvia-04 MayThe Declaration "On the Restoration of Independence of theRepublic of Latvia" (Latvian:Deklarācija Par Latvijas Republikasneatkarības atjaunošanu) was adopted on 4 May 1990, by theSupreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR. The Declaration statedthat, although Latvia had de facto lost its independence in1940, when it was annexed by the Soviet Union, the countryhad de jure remained a sovereign country as the annexationhad been unconstitutional and against the will of the people ofLatvia. Therefore it resolved that the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pactand the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940were illegal, andannulled the declaration on the accession of Latvia to the So-viet Union of 21 July 1940, re-instituted the Constitution ofLatvia of 1922, which was thereupon partly suspended, andset a period of transition to de facto independence, which wouldend upon the first session of Saeima. It also ruled that duringthe transitional period the Constitution of the Latvian SSR andother laws would remain applicable as long as they did not con-tradict articles 1, 2, 3, and 6 of the Constitution of Latvia, whichwere reinforced by the declaration. It was provided that a com-mittee to elaborate a new edition of the Constitution of Latviashould be created. Social, economic, cultural and political rightswere granted to citizens and residents of Latvia in accordancewith international human rights. The declaration also stated thatLatvia would form its relationship with the Soviet Union on thebasis of the Latvian–Soviet Peace Treaty of 1920, in which theSoviet Union had recognized the independence of Latvia asinviolable "for all future time".

Historical and juridical backgroundIn its beginning the Declaration establishes several historicalfacts and on the basis of these facts concludes that the Re-public of Latvia de jure is a sovereign country. It observes thatthe Republic of Latvia proclaimed independence on 18 Novem-ber 1918, and was internationally recognized in 1920, and thatLatvia was admitted to membership in the League of Nationsin 1921. The first country to recognize the independence ofLatvia de jure was Soviet Russia on 11 August 1920, when theSoviet-Latvian Peace treaty was signed (it is generally consid-ered that the independence of Latvia de jure was internationallyrecognized on 26 January 1921, when it was recognized bythe Allies of World War I). The declaration notes that in April1920 the Latvian nation followed the principle of self-determi-nation by electing a Constitutional Assembly of Latvia, whichadopted the Constitution of Latvia on 15 February 1922, in gen-eral, equal and direct elections, based on proportional repre-sentation. On 23 August 1939, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germanysigned the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which included a secretprotocol dividing Eastern Europe into spheres of influence.Latvia was apportioned to the Soviet sphere and on 5 October1939, signed a mutual assistance pact. On 16 June 1940, theSoviet Union issued an ultimatum to Latvia accusing it of notcarrying out the treaty, namely of forming amilitary allianceagainst the USSR, and requested a new government to beformed and to guarantee Soviet military free entrance in Latvia.The Latvian government decided to give in to the ultimatumand on 17 June 1940, Soviet forces entered Latvia. The Dec-laration states that the Soviet ultimatum and military aggressionon 17 June 1940, should be viewed as an international crime,which led to the occupation of Latvia and loss of its sovereigntyand points out that the new government was formed as dictatedby the Soviet Union and by international law should not beviewed as executive of Latvia as it represented Soviet, not Lat-vian, interests. On 14-15 July 1940 a parliament called the "People's Saeimaof Latvia" was elected, which on 21 July 1940, declared acces-sion to the Soviet Union. The declaration states that the elec-tion of the People's Saeima took place on the basis ofunconstitutional and illegally adopted election law in a state ofpolitical terror and notes that out of 17 lists submitted for theelection only one was allowed to participate in the election,which had not stated prior to the election that Soviet powershould be established in Latvia and it should join the SovietUnion and that results of the election were falsified. The dec-laration observes that the People's Saeima was formed by mis-leading the people and therefore did not express the sovereignwill of people of Latvia. It also notes that the People's Saeimahad no right to change the political system in Latvia and liqui-date its sovereignty as only the people have such right and theissue was never submitted to a national referendum. Thereforethe Declaration rules that, in accordance with international law,the annexation of Latvia to the Soviet Union was not valid andthe Republic of Latvia is still de jure subject to international lawas recognized by more than 50 countries.

BasisAfter concluding that the Republic of Latvia de jure is a sover-eign country the Declaration makes note of previously adopteddocuments and explains that the Supreme Soviet is acting ac-cording to the will of inhabitants of Latvia. First it notes two pre-vious declarations of the Supreme Soviet — "On sovereigntyof state of Latvia" of 28 July 1989, which declared that the Lat-vian SSR will act as a sovereign state and that laws adoptedby the Soviet Union will come in force in the territory of LatvianSSR only if the Supreme Soviet has ratified them and "In ques-tion of independence of Latvia" of 15 February 1990, in whichthe Supreme Soviet condemns declaration "On accession ofLatvia to Soviet Union" of 21 July 1940, however none of theseexplicitly called for secession from the Soviet Union. Secondlyit notes Appeal of All-Latvian congress of people deputies of21 April 1990, which called for restoration of independence.Then it is stated that the Supreme Soviet is acting in accor-dance with the will of inhabitants of Latvia, which had beenclearly expressed by electing as a majority those deputies, whohad stated that they will restore independence of the Republicof Latvia in their reelection programme.

ActAfter establishing that the Republic of Latvia de jure is a sov-ereign country and that by the will of its people it should be in-dependent, the Supreme Soviet ruled:1. To recognize the priority of international laws over nationallaws. To hold to be illegitimate the treaty between the USSRand Germany of 23 August 1939, and the consequent liquida-tion of independence of Latvia resulting from Soviet military ag-gression on 17 June 1940.2. To proclaim the declaration "On accession of Latvia to SovietUnion" of 21 July 1940, to be void from the moment of adop-tion.3. To re-establish the authority of the Constitution of Latvia. Theofficial name of the state of Latvia is the Republic of Latvia, inshort Latvia.4. To suspend the Constitution of Latvia until a new edition isadopted, except for the articles, which in accordance with the77 article of the Constitution can only be amended if submittedto a national referendum:

1. Latvia is an independent democratic republic.2. The sovereign power of the State of Latvia is vested in thepeople of Latvia.3. The territory of the State of Latvia, within the borders estab-lished by international agreements, consists of Vidzeme, Lat-gale, Kurzeme and Zemgale.6. The Saeima shall be elected in general, equal and directelections, and by secret ballot based on proportional represen-tation.Article 6 shall be applied when the governmental institutionsof independent Latvia have been restored, which grant freeelections.5. To set a period of transition to de facto independence untilthe first session of the new Saeima. During the transitional pe-riod the highest power of the state shall be the Supreme Coun-cil of the Republic of Latvia.6. During the transitional period the Constitution of the LatvianSSR and other laws of the Latvian SSR in force at the timewhen the declaration was made may be applicable as long asthey do not contradict articles 1, 2, 3, and 6 of the Constitutionof Latvia. Disputes over the applicability of laws shall be re-solved by the Constitutional Court. During the transitional pe-riod laws shall be made or amended only by the SupremeCouncil.7. To constitute a committee, which will elaborate a new editionof the Constitution of Latvia, suitable to the current political,economic and social state of Latvia.8. In accordance with international human rights, to grant so-cial, economic and cultural rights, as well as political freedoms,to the citizens of Latvia and other countries, who reside in theterritory of Latvia. This shall fully apply to those citizens of theSoviet Union who chose to reside in Latvia without its citizen-ship.9. To build Latvian-Soviet relationships upon the Latvian-Sovietpeace treaty of 11 August 1920, in which the Soviet Union rec-ognizes eternal independence for Latvia and which is still inforce. To constitute a committee for negotiations with USSR.

Further developmentsOn 21 August 1991, after the Soviet coup d'état attempt, theSupreme Council adopted a Constitutional law, "On statehoodof the Republic of Latvia", declaring Article 5 of the Declarationto be invalid, thus ending the transitional period and restoringde facto independence. However some elements which de-fined the transitional period remained in force until the first ses-sion of the 5th Saeima on 6 July 1993 - The Supreme Councilremained the highest power of the state and the constitutionwas suspended. On 31 July 1990, the Supreme Council formeda work group of 22 deputies, which had to elaborate a new edi-tion of the Constitution until 1 January 1990, though a new edi-tion was never drafted and the Constitution was restoredunamended. The Constitutional Court which was intended toresolve Constitutional disputes during the transitional periodwas only founded in 1996. To comply with international humanrights as indicated in Article 8, the Supreme Council adopted adeclaration of human rights immediately after the Declarationof independence.

AdoptionThe Supreme Soviet was elected on 18 March 1990; it was thefirst election in Soviet Latvia in which multiple parties were al-lowed to participate. 201 deputies were elected. The declara-tion was adopted on 4 May 1990, in an open vote, a majorityof two thirds — 132 votes — was required, 138 deputies votedfor adoption of the declaration, 1 abstained, while others didnot participate in the vote and therefore there were no votesagainst the declaration.

ResponseOn 4 May 1990, after the declaration was adopted, the Com-munist Party of Latvia resolved that it was unconstitutional, con-tained notable contradictions and historical inaccuracies, andnoted that such issues should be decided by referendum. TheCommunist Party deemed that the declaration might trigger thePresident of the Soviet Union to take countermeasures, there-fore the party should launch a propaganda campaign againstthe declaration and ask the President of the Soviet Union toannul the declaration of the Supreme Soviet. On 14 May 1990,the President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev issued adecree stating that the declaration violated the Constitution ofthe Soviet Union and the Constitution of the Latvian SSR andthus stood void from the moment of adoption. The SupremeCouncil answered that the Constitution of the Soviet Union didnot grant the president the right to annul acts adopted bySupreme Soviets of Soviet republics. Furthermore theSupreme Council announced that the Supreme Soviet, as thelegal successor of the People's Saeima, had the right to annulits decisions which contradicted the Constitution of Latvia whichwas in force at the time these decisions were made and as theConstitution of the Soviet Union ruled that the Soviet Unionwas founded upon principles of self-determination, but Latviawas forcibly annexed, reference to it had no juridical basis re-garding the Latvian SSR. It also noted that the law of the SovietUnion regarding secession from the Soviet Union to which thedecree also referred was not in force in the territory of the Lat-vian SSR as the Supreme Soviet had not ratified it and that thelaw contradicted the Constitution of the Soviet Union and theConstitution of Latvian SSR, which provided that Soviet re-publics can freely secede from the Soviet Union. It was statedthat the call for a referendum on secession from the SovietUnion to take place has neither a legal or a political basis, be-cause Latvia had been annexed by the Soviet Union withoutholding a referendum, which was required by the Constitutionof Latvia and Latvia was not seceding from the Soviet Union,but restoring its independence. It was noted that the Constitu-tion of the Latvian SSR did not call for a referendum as it hadbeen stated in the decree, but recommended two alternatives- either a referendum or a public debate which had de factotaken place as it had been discussed in the press and severalpublic opinion polls had taken place showing that a majority ofthe public supported independence. Similarly in the All-Latviancongress of people deputies of 21 April 1990, 8003 had votedfor restoration of independence and the declaration had beenadopted by a vote of two thirds of members of the SupremeSoviet which was required for constitutional amendments. Fur-thermore, the Supreme Council referred to the result of elec-tions of Supreme Soviet as a clear indicator of public opinionthat supporters of independence had won the election. TheSupreme Council stated that by 28 May 1990, it had receivedletters and telegrams from 646,726 residents of the Republicsupporting the declaration and only 8,993 people had ex-pressed opposition. Given these provisions, the SupremeCouncil stated that the Declaration was legitimate and in force. Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Restoration_of_Inde-pendence_of_the_Republic_of_Latvia

In the Netherlands, Liberation Day (Dutch: Bevrijdingsdag) is celebrated each year on May 5th, to mark the end of the occupationby Nazi Germany during World War II.The nation was liberated largely by Canadian troops, with the assistance of the British and American Armies (see Operation MarketGarden) and French airborne (see Operation Amherst). On the 5th of May 1945, the Canadian General Charles Foulkes and theGerman Commander-in-Chief Johannes Blaskowitz reached an agreement on the capitulation of German forces in the Netherlandsin Hotel de Wereld in Wageningen. One day later, the capitulation document was signed in the auditorium of Wageningen University,located next-door to the hotel.After the liberation in 1945, Liberation Day was commemorated every 5 years. Finally, in 1990, the day was declared to be a nationalholiday, when the liberation would be commemorated and celebrated every year.On May 4th, the Dutch hold the Remembrance of the Dead for the people who fought and died during World War II, and in wars ingeneral. There is a remembrance gathering in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam and at the National Monument on Dam Square inAmsterdam. Throughout the country, two minutes of silence are observed at 8:00 p.m. On May 5th, the liberation is celebrated andfestivals are held at most places in the Netherlands. Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_Day_(Netherlands)

Remembrance DayNETHERLANDS - 04 MAY

Remembrance of the Dead (Dutch: Dodenherdenking) is held annually on May 4 intheNetherlands. It commemorates all civilians and members of the armed forces of the King-dom of the Netherlands who have died in wars or peacekeeping missions since the outbreakof World War II.Until 1961, the commemoration only related to the Dutch victims of World War II. Since 1961,the victims of other military conflicts (such as the Indonesian National Revolution in Indone-sia) and peacekeeping missions (such as in Lebanon or Bosnia) are remembered on May4 as well.Traditionally, the main ceremonies are observed in Amsterdam at the National Monumenton Dam Square. This ceremony is usually attended by members of the cabinet and the royalfamily, military leaders, representatives of the resistance movement and other social groups.At 8:00 p.m., two minutes of silence are observed throughout the Netherlands. Public trans-port is stopped, as well as all other traffic. Radio and TV only broadcast the ceremonies from19.00 until 20.30. Since May 4, 1994, the flags, having hung at half-staff during the day, arethen hoisted to the music of the "Wilhelmus", the Dutch national anthem. Since 2001 thenew protocol says it is correct to let the flag hang half-staff.The main celebrations in Amsterdam are broadcast by the public broadcasting companyNOS, but there are ceremonies in other cities and places as well. Especially notable arethose at the Waalsdorpervlakte near the Hague, where many Dutch resistance fighters wereexecuted during the war, and at the war cemetery Grebbeberg, which are broadcast by thecommercial broadcasting companies. In many towns, before or after the two minutes of si-lence, people gather around a monument, listen to speeches, and lay down flowers to re-member the dead.The next day, on May 5, Dutch people celebrate the liberation of the nation from the Germanoccupation of 1940 to 1945.

2010 incidentThe 2010 ceremony on Dam Square was disrupted towards the end of the two-minute silenceby a 39-year-old man with a history of violent crimes and drug trading. Standing on the Rokinside of the square dressed as an Orthodox Jew, he refused to end a loud conversation ona cell phone during the two-minute silence, then pushed his way through the crowd whilemuttering unintelligibly and issued an extended loud scream that was heard all over thesquare. A person nearby dropped a suitcase in the resulting panic which prompted a cry of"Bomb, bomb, run!" which caused a panicked stampede among the 20.000 people crowd.Many people were trampled and some ended up trapped underneath crowd control barriersthat were pushed over in the chaos. The sounds of the barriers falling were mistaken forgunshots by many people and added to the chaos. A total of 63 people were treated for in-juries, mostly minor ones and some broken bones. The panic reaction was explained bymany as resulting from the tension after the attack on the Dutch royal family that killed eightpeople just over a year before the incident.Queen Beatrix, who had been rushed to safety with the rest of the royal family, returnedonce the situation was under control and the ceremony was continued. The owner of thedropped suitcase was arrested but released because his suitcase contained only personalbelongings. The 39-year-old man was also arrested and charged with disrupting public orderand indirectly causing bodily harm. He later confessed to the police that he had been drinkingand had screamed because of "frustrations in his personal life." He professed to be sorryand claimed there was no deeper meaning or thought behind his action. Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_of_the_Dead

Hidirellez FestivalTURKEY - 06 MAY

Kvetnove povstani ceskeho lidu - 1945CZECH REPUBLIC - 05 MAY

May the people of the Czech uprising was an armed uprisingof the Czech people against the German invaders in the sec-ond World War II in the Czech Republic, which took place inearly May 1945 . Actively attended by about 130 000 peopleplus 14 000 (part of them were Russian, Ukrainian and Belaru-sian ethnicity) guerrillas. Another 100 000 people helped buildbarricades in Prague.

Preparing for the insurgencyWith the approaching end of the war, the military leaders ofHitler's Germany realized that the end of the Third Reich is un-avoidable, and their only hope was the desire to create rift be-tween the Allies and German troops involved in the fightingagainst the Soviet Union alongside the U.S. , Britain andFrance . On the territory of Bohemia and Moravia should becreated "Fortress" where it should be worth millions Schörnerarmy stopped the procedure the Red Army , which was impor-tant to avoid the expected uprising of the Czech population,which was prepared by the Czech resistance .Already in 1944the aktivizovala guerrilla war that led to the western, easternrevolt there. Conditions were prepared for the transportationof weapons from abroad and capture the weapons they pro-duced Czech arms factories. In the second half of the yearplayed an increasingly important role in resistance organization, the Council of three . There was výsadkům penetration andguerrilla groups in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ,among which played a big role to play, Guerrilla Brigade JanŽižka , partisan divisions Jermak , Miroslav Tyrš , John Kozina, and Jan Hus . Other guerrilla groups began to occur mainlyin March and April 1945 , when the culmination of a guerrillastruggle against the German occupiers, and particularly in theeastern and western Moravia (Wallachia and Highland ), therewere also open to guerrilla warfare. There were more assaultsGerman columns were discharged from the fuel tank, vykole-jovány trains, blown bridges. Eg. 10th April was an importantrail track fired Brno - Jihlava , which was not until the end ofthe war corrected. At this event, was blown up by a Germanmilitary transport which killed or injured nearly 200 people. Inaddition to the actions of diverse assaults on the track werethe Nazi crew, ammunition depots, military installations, waspunctuated by electric and telephone and telegraph lines.

The outbreak of the uprisingBy late April Soviet troops has two operations - Ostrava andPrague-Brno liberated part of Moravia, with a subsequent re-port on Hitler's death given us reason for defiance. uprisingbegan on 1 May Přerov when spread wrong messages aboutthe surrender of Germany . It was disarming German and Hun-garian troops took the power of the National Committee . Therevolt spread to the same day in Olomouc and the surroundingcommunities, but are affected unit SS . But insurgents havemanaged to stop the transport and disposal of industrial equip-ment and supplies that the Germans wanted to take away fromOstrava, Vsetínsko and Zlín. 2nd May rose Nymburk , Pode-brady , Chlumec over Cidlinou , Upice next day Semily ,Zelezny Brod , Turnov , Jilemnice , Old and New Paka , Pri-bram , Beroun , Vizovice , 4th May Vsetin andKladno , 5th MayLouny , Jindrichuv Hradec , Rokycany , Klatovy , Domazliceetc. for about a thousand sites have been reported anti-occu-pation demonstrations, which consisted of posting Czechoslo-vak flags, banners, Germany's disposal, destruction indicativetables to celebrate the liberation demonstrations, protest ac-tions against the occupation authorities Were also like to strikesin factories and confiscating weapons from the arms race infavor of the insurgents. The negotiations on the takeover tookplace more than 120 locations Protectorate. In some areas ofthe insurgency burst through the activities of guerrilla groups,which are increasingly entering into open warfare. Eg. in Vsetínfourth attack May Guerrilla Brigade Jan Žižka the Germans ,who began to perform the work in the city of destruction, whichhad to be stopped. The city was the fourth the afternoon freeunits first Czechoslovak Army Corps . Guerrilla groups have

also played a major role in the foothills and elsewhere.Prague (and others) Rebellion

On 5 broke out in May uprising in the capital city of Prague .The Czech National Council issued a statement about the endof the Protectorate and the takeover of government and exec-utive power. Here first demonstration took place, but soonmoved into open opposition.Insurgents in Prague and through-out the territory of Bohemia and Moravia in strength of arms,occupies the post, rail and major road intersections. The odbo-jovým and guerrilla groups were added one thousand rebelsfrom the Czech population, ex-military, gendarmerie, and theSoviet liberation of prisoners working at menial jobs in the Pro-tectorate. Occupiers were prevented from removal made ma-chinery, equipment and vehicles to Germany , to prevent thedestruction of factories, etc. (plan ARLZ - scorched earth tac-tics). Insurgents prevented a continuous supply of the front anda retreat organized by the Wehrmacht .The uprising, which erupted in 37 cities and 240 villages, gotin some tough places Counterstrike - German troops began tooccupy the major roads, streets, intersections, railway stationsand posts, was announced by the state of emergency , the oc-cupants hostage and murdered interested to intimidate theCzech population. Their goal was not to allow the creation of acontinuous rebel territory. However, insurgents have managedto bind itself with great force of German troops that could beused to suppress the uprising in Prague . Countryside Praguesupplied not only food but also medical equipment and lightweapons were zbudovávány roadblocks thrown bridges thatWehrmachtunits and the Waffen SS as much as transport isdifficult. The resistance of the population continued in the coun-tryside, where he is constantly expanding. In many places therewas an open battle, elsewhere only to sabotage actions. Ger-mans are increasingly resorting to assassinations and mas-sacres of the Czech population, which took as hostages ordecapitating the warning, not only in Prague , but virtuallythroughout the occupied territories of Bohemia and Moravia.On 8 May 1945 began a retreat Staff Field Marshal FerdinandSchorner , who was at Hořic rebels attacked and partially scat-tered. A day later, the crew was broken at the Saaz tank armiesRed Army . 8th May at 16.00 pm was among the German lead-ership and the Czech National Council signed a protocol thatallowed the Germans to Prague with a passage that is to stopfighting.However, the fighting lasted even after the signing of the un-conditional surrender of Germany on the 8th May 1945 , whenGerman troops tried to surrender to the U.S. Army because ofSoviet captivity, fears. These fighting units of the participantsin the Waffen SS , but it was the exception that the names ofthe participating units and the Wehrmacht . Even from 9 to 11May there was sporadic fighting and killings of civilians Czech.Eg. in the village Lejčková Tabor shot on the ninth May the Ger-man troops to the people who came to watch the road retreatof German army to shoot unarmed civilians there and else-where. Last shots fell on the 11th May 1945 Milína in Pribram, where units of the SS elicited a white flag partisan parliamen-tarian and shot them. 1945th Then the battle began, in whichan open confrontation with the Germans fell 60 Czech parti-sans.In total, Czech uprising required in Prague 3700 lives, in theCzech and Moravian countryside died about 8000 other peo-ple, while thenumber of victims are included as people whofought against the invaders, the Nazis and murdered civilians.Czech uprising in May significantly undermine the Germanleadership's intentions to build a "fortress" that should be de-fended to the rift between Western powers and the USSR .Avoid the widespread and devastating military engagementsin the Czech Republic and probably was also shortened thewar.Ref:http://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kv%C4%9Btnov%C3%A9_povst%C3%A1n%C3%AD_%C4%8Desk%C3%A9ho_lidu

Nationale Bevrijdingsdag - NETHERLANDS - 5 MAY

Martyr's DaySYRIA, LEBANON - 06 MAY

Syria shares the celebration of Martyr’s Day with Lebanon on the 6th of May every year.The holiday commemorates the death of both Syria and Lebanon’s nationalists during theoccupation by the Ottoman Empire. The nationalists were executed on May 6, 1916 in MarjehSquare (Damascus, Syria) and Burj Square (Beirut, Lebanon) respectively by the OttomanYoung Turk Ahmed Djemal or more commonly known as Jamal Pasha.

HISTORYSyria has been under the control of the Ottoman Empire since the latter part of the 15th cen-tury until the downfall of the latter on May 1916.The march towards Syrian independence was long and bloody. The earlier part of the 20thcentury saw the birth of Syrian intellectuals who heavily campaigned for the independenceof Syria from the Ottoman rule. The clandestine conferences and meetings they had withother intellectuals in Paris, France were made known to the Turks. As a result, Sultan AbdulHamid ordered the arrest of these Arab leaders and forced to renounce their nationalistideals and plans towards a democratic and independent Syria. However, the nationalistsbravely stood by their resolve and bravely faced their destiny so that in May 6, 1916, all ofthem were executed by hanging in Damascus and Beirut.The nationalists executed were Shukri al-Assali, Omar al-Jazairi, Rushdi al-Shamaa, Ab-delhamid al-Zahrawi, Shafiq al-Muayyad, and. Abdel Wahab al-Englizi. Their martyrdom hascreated strong international ties between the Syria and Lebanon since then.

TRADITIONS, CUSTOMS AND ACTIVITIESLeaders of Syria and Lebanon celebrate this day by visiting the war memorial in Damascus,Syria, particularly the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier a memorial tomb dedicated to the Syriansoldiers who perished in the war against the Ottoman Empire. Tomb of the Unknown Soldierwas built in 1994 shape like a dome with an arch right above it.The monument is famous for the five large paintings displayed along the hall which depictsthe five heroic battles fought in the history of Arab nations namely: Battle of Yarmouk, Battleof Sultan Yacoub, Battle of Mount Hermon, Battle of Maysaloun, and the Battle of Hattin.The government of Syria may hold a luncheon or banquet for the children or relatives of themartyrs as a way of paying respects to the bravery of martyrs. Public speeches coming fromlocal government officials delivered in behalf of the president are held every year in the Tombof the Unknown Soldier in Damascus.Ref: http://aglobalworld.com/holidays-around-the-world/syria-martyrs-day/

Samuel K. Doe DayLIBERIA - 06 MAY

Samuel Kanyon Doe (May 6, 1951 – September 9, 1990) was the 21st President of Liberia,serving from 1986 until his assassination in 1990. He had previously served as Chairman ofthePeople's Redemption Council from 1980 to 1986. He was the first indigenous head ofstate in Liberian history.Doe was a part of a rural tribe in inland Liberia. The Krahn are a minority ethnic group butpart of the large majority of the Liberian population that are of indigenous descent. Thesegroups faced economic and political domination by the Americo-Liberian elites, who weredescended from free-born and formerly enslaved blacks from America who founded Liberiain 1847.Under Doe, Liberian ports were opened to Canadian, Chinese and European ships, whichbrought in considerable foreign investment from foreign shipping firms and earned Liberia areputation as a tax haven.Doe attempted to legitimize his regime with a new constitution in 1984 and elections in 1985.However, opposition to his rule only increased, especially after the 1985 elections whichwere declared to be fraudulent by the U.S. and other foreign observers. In the late 1980s,as fiscal austerity took hold in the United States and the threat of Communism declined withthe waning of the Cold War, the U.S. became disenchanted with entrenched corruption inDoe's government and began cutting off critical foreign aid to Doe. This, combined with thepopular anger generated by Doe's favoritism toward his native Krahn tribe, placed him in avery precarious position.A civil war began in December 1989, when rebels intent on toppling Doe entered Liberia.Doe's forces were defeated, and in September 1990 he was captured, tortured, and killed.Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Doe

When looked at antiquity (ancient times) in Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Iran, Greece andeven in countries surrounding the Mediterranean it has been seen that rituals andcelebrations had been performed in the name of some Gods in relation with arrival ofspring or summer. Documents showing that one of the oldest of these rituals had beenperformed in Ur city of Mesopotamia by the end of III. Thousand B.C.. The said ritualhad been performed at the end of Winter in the name of “Tammuz” representing stim-ulating power of Euphrates (Fırat) and Tigris (Dicle) irrigating Mesopotamia plain.Upon arrival of Spring revival of nature and prosperity and abundance and productivityhad been celebrated by festivals in the name of the God called “Dumuzi”. It has beenknown that culture of “Tammuz” had been transferred to the ancient Greece and Ana-tolia via Hebrew over Syria and Egypt.Arrival of Spring or Summer which means revival of Nature and its starting to liveagain is an important event in the life of human being in every corner of the World. Awidespread belief in connection with tradition of “Hıdırellez” is performance of a cel-ebration for commemoration of the date on which “Hızır” and “İlyas” came together.The day of “Hıdırellez” has been generally celebrated on May 6th. In some regionsMay 5th has been accepted as the day of Festival and May 6th as the day of“Hıdırellez” and ceremonies have been arranged accordingly. The day of “Hıdırellez”(Ruz-ı Hızır) has been considered as the beginning of Summer in the Public Calendar.According to the Public Calendar among Turks one year has been divided into twosections. The period from the day of “Hıdırellez” (May 6th) to November 8th is 186days and mentioned under the name of “Hızır Days”. This period has been named asthe Summer season. The second period extending from November 8th to May 6this the Winter season and named as “Days of November”, lasting 179 days.Traditions, beliefs, ceremonies established around “Hıdırellez” have been confusedgenerally with “Sultan Nevruz” and other traditions and ceremonies performed formeeting the Spring. Because Spring Festivals have been concentrated on severalimportant days. In this connection it is possible to see whole of “Hıdırellez” or otherSpring ceremonies in the course of celebration of any one of them.In Turkish communities both in Anatolia and out of Anatolia with the approach of“Hıdırellez” assorted preparations have been made. Houses have been thoroughlycleaned up, household effects, kitchenware, clothes have been cleaned from top totoe. These works have been performed in order to have “Hızır” (A.S.) visit the house.On the other hand on “Hıdırellez” day lamb or kid, assortment of dishes have beencooked, and in the mean time preparation of a lot of food has been completed. Insome regions there are some people who meet “Hıdırellez” by fasting (oruç) one daybefore the day of “Hıdırellez”. Upon completion of all preparations people go to thenearest picnic places full of trees and having spring and try to pass the day of“Hıdırellez” happily with various plays, entertainments.Places where “Hıdırellez” has been celebrated are generally watery and green areas.In conformity with the tradition there are picnic places called “Hıdırlık” at various re-gions of Anatolia. At these regions such customs as visiting tombs of great religiousleaders, vowing or tying a piece of cloth at such places as graveyard, tomb of a holyperson (saint), etc. which have been considered sacred places by indigenous peoplehave also been exercised.Of course the most important ceremony exercised in “Hıdırellez” is the “play of wish”.It has been exercised in order that young girls become lucky, determine their fortune.According to regions the play has different names: drawing lots of wish, fortune pot,lucky, prosperity, etc. The play has been performed as follows: water brought in apitcher is poured in a pot. Everybody throws a sign into the pot holding water. Suchsigns may be also sweet basil, mint, “mantuvar” flower in addition to usually ring, ear-ring, etc. The pot is covered with a cloth on the eve of “Hıdırellez” and placed undera rosewood. A lock is put on the pot and locked as a custom. On the other day girlscoming together again take the pot under rosewood. Lock is opened and one of themstarts to draw lots. In the mean time folk songs are sung. Each folk song is acceptedfor the fate of the girl whose sign is drawn. This play goes on until the last sign isdrawn. In folk songs which have been sung during performance of the play suchthemes as hope, joy, firmness, love, affection, tenderness, goodness, brotherhood,living abroad, patriotism, etc have been treated.One of the widespread beliefs concerning the day of “Hıdırellez” has shown itself inthe tradition of making yoghurt. On the day of “Hıdırellez” yoghurt is made withoutusing ferment. If it becomes yoghurt it is believed that “Hızır” visited home.Contributed by: Nursen AskinRef: http://www.kultur.gov.tr/EN/belge/2-1531/hidirellez.html

National Nurses DayU.S.A. - 06 MAY

National Nurses Day, also known as National RN Recognition Day, is always celebrated onMay 6thand opens National Nurses Week. National Nurses Week begins each year on May6th and ends on May 12th, the birth date of Florence Nightingale. National Nurses Week is one of the nation's largest health care events, recognizing the con-tributions and commitments nurses make and educating the public about the significant workthey perform. The American Nurses Association (ANA) supports and encourages NationalNurses Week through state and district nurses associations, educational facilities, and in-dependent health care companies and institutions. The week-long celebration is designedto accommodate the variety of schedules nurses are required to work. Activities during National Nurses Week typically include banquets and recognition dinners,state and city proclamations, continuing education seminars, and other community events.Nurses are typically honored with gifts, dinners, and flowers by friends and family members,coworkers such as doctors and administrators, and patients who want to show their appre-ciation.The history of Nurses Day can be traced back to 1953 when Dorothy Sutherland of the U.S.Department of Health, Education, and Welfare sent a proposal to President Eisenhower toproclaim a "Nurse Day" in October of the following year. The proclamation was never made,but the following year National Nurses Week was observed from October 11 – 16, markingthe 100th anniversary of Florence Nightingale's mission to Crimea.In 1974, President Nixon proclaimed a "National Nurse Week." In 1981, a resolution wasinitiated by nurses in New Mexico to have May 6th declared "National Recognition Day forNurses." This proposal was promoted by the ANA Board of Directors and in 1982, with ajoint resolution, the United States Congress designated May 6th to be "National RecognitionDay for Nurses." The proposal was signed by President Reagan, making May 6 the official"National Recognition Day for Nurses." It was later expanded by the ANA Board of Directorsin 1990 to a week-long celebration (May 6-12) known as "National Nurses Week."National Student Nurses Day is celebrated each year on May 8th. At the request of the Na-tional Student Nurses Association, the ANA Board of Directors designated May 8th as Na-tional Student Nurses Day beginning in 1998. And as of 2003, the ANA has declared thatNational School NurseDay is celebrated on the Wednesday within National Nurses Week.International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world on May 12th of each year. The In-ternational Council of Nurses (ICN) commemorates this day each year with the productionand distribution of the International Nurses' Day Kit which includes educational and publicinformation materials for use by nurses everywhere. The ICN has celebrated InternationalNurses Day since 1965. Ref: http://www.calendar-updates.com/info/holidays/us/nurse.aspx

Liberation Day - 08 MAYNORWAY, FRANCE, SLOVA-

KIA, CZECH REPUBLIC Victory in Europe Day

Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day or VE Day) commemorates May 8, 1945 (in commonwealthcountries; May 7,1945), the date when the World War II Allies formally accepted the uncon-ditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's ThirdReich. The formal surrender of the occupying German forces in the Channel Islands wasnot until May 9, 1945. On 30 April Hitler committed suicide during the Battle of Berlin, andso the surrender of Germany was authorized by his replacement, President of Germany KarlDönitz. The administration headed by Dönitz was known as the Flensburg government. Theact of military surrender was signed on 7 May in Reims, France, and ratified on 8 May inBerlin, Germany.

CelebrationsIn the United Kingdom, more than one million people celebrated in the streets to mark theend of the European part of the war. In the UK, crowds massed in Trafalgar Square and upThe Mall toBuckingham Palace, where King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, accompaniedby Prime MinisterWinston Churchill, appeared on the balcony of the Palace before the cheer-ing crowds. PrincessElizabeth (the future Queen Elizabeth II) and her sister Princess Mar-garet were allowed to wander anonymously among the crowds and take part in thecelebrations. In the United States, President Harry Truman, who turned 61 that day, dedicated the victoryto the memory of his predecessor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had died of a cerebral hem-orrhage less than a month earlier, on 12 April. Flags remained at half-mast for the remainderof the 30-day mourning period. Truman said of dedicating the victory to Roosevelt's memoryand keeping the flags at half-staff that his only wish was "that Franklin D. Roosevelt hadlived to witness this day." Massive celebrations also took place in Chicago, Los Angeles,Miami, and especially in New York City'sTimes Square. Victory celebrations in Canada weremarred by the Halifax Riot.

Soviet Victory DayAs the Soviet Union was to the east of Germany it was May 9 Moscow Time when Germanmilitary surrender became effective, which is why Eastern European countries like Russiaand former Soviet republics commemorate Victory Day on May 9 instead of May 8.

May 8 as public holiday(United Kingdom - 1995 May Day Bank Holiday was moved from 1 May to 8 May to com-memorate the 50th anniversary of the ending of the Second World War.(The former East Germany as Tag der Befreiung (Day of Liberation), a public holiday from1950 to 1966 and in 1985. Between 1975 and 1990, as Tag des Sieges (Victory Day (May9)).(The German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, since 2002, a commemorative day as Tagder Befreiung vom Nationalsozialismus und der Beendigung des 2. Weltkrieges (Day of Lib-eration from National Socialism, and the End of the 2nd World War). (France as Victoire 1945(Slovakia as Deň víťazstva nad fašizmom (Victory over Fascism Day) (Czech Republic as Den vítězství or Den osvobození (Day of Liberation)(Norway as "Frigjøringsdagen" (Liberation Day)(Denmark (May 5) as "Befrielsen" (The Liberation)(The Netherlands (May 5) as "Bevrijdingsdag" (Liberation Day)(Ukraine (9 May) Victory Day Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_in_Europe_Day

World Red Cross DayINTERNATIONAL - 08 MAY

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an international human-itarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff world-wide which was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for allhuman beings, and to prevent and alleviate human suffering, without any discrimina-tion based on nationality, race, sex,religious beliefs, class or political opinions.The movement consists of several distinct organizations that are legally independentfrom each other, but are united within the movement through common basic principles,objectives, symbols, statutes and governing organs. The movement's parts are:(The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a private humanitarian in-stitution founded in 1863 in Geneva, Switzerland, by Henry Dunant. Its 25-membercommittee has a unique authority under international humanitarian law to protect thelife and dignity of the victims of international and internal armed conflicts. The ICRCwas awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on three occasions (in 1917, 1944 and 1963). (The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) wasfounded in 1919 and today it coordinates activities between the 186 National RedCross and Red Crescent Societies within the Movement. On an international level,the Federation leads and organizes, in close cooperation with the National Societies,relief assistance missions responding to large-scale emergencies. The InternationalFederation Secretariat is based inGeneva, Switzerland. In 1963, the Federation (thenknown as the League of Red Cross Societies) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prizejointly with the ICRC. (National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies exist in nearly every country in theworld. Currently 186 National Societies are recognized by the ICRC and admitted asfull members of the Federation. Each entity works in its home country according tothe principles of international humanitarian law and the statutes of the internationalMovement. Depending on their specific circumstances and capacities, National So-cieties can take on additional humanitarian tasks that are not directly defined by in-ternational humanitarian law or the mandates of the international Movement. In manycountries, they are tightly linked to the respective national health care system by pro-viding emergency medical services.Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Red_Cross_and_Red_Crescent_Movement

Celebration of War Veterans DayAZERBAIJAN - 09 MAY

Victory Day is celebrated on May 9 in Azerbaijan, a day to celebrate and rememberthe victory over the Nazi forces that capitulated on May 8, 1945 during World War II.

HISTORYAzerbaijan participated in World War II as a Republic of the Soviet Union. In 1941,Azerbaijan produced 25.4 million tons of oil to help the war efforts. Thousands of Az-eris joined the People’s Voluntary Army and fought alongside the Soviet Army. In theend, 400, 000 Azeris died from the conflict.World War II started with the German occupation of Poland in September 1939, onlyto be ended after six years of a worldwide conflict. Azeris were part of the Soviet RedArmy and participated in the Eastern Front of the conflict, in what is known as theGreat Patriotic War. As the Allied forces entered Milan, Mussolini was caught, and hewas eventually executed on April 28. Later on April 30, Hitler committed suicide asthe Allies began to close in on Berlin.German forces started to surrender all over Italy and Germany, culminating with thesurrender of Nazi armies throughout Europe. Finally on May 7, General Alfred Jodl,Chief of Staff of the German Armed Forces High Command, signed the unconditionalsurrender of the German forces to the Allies. News of the surrender spread to theWest on May 8, and celebrations began all over Europe.In the Soviet Union, the end of the war was considered to be on May 9. As it was al-ready May 9 in Moscow time when the surrender took place, the date has since beencelebrated as Victory Day in all Soviet Republics. After the end of the Soviet Union,Azerbaijan kept the same date for the countrywide celebration of Victory Day, a re-membrance of the participation of Azeris and the influence of Azerbaijan’s oil in theGreat Patriotic War. Ref: http://aglobalworld.com/holidays-around-the-world/victory-day-azerbaijan/

Victory Day - 09 MAYRUSSIA, BELARUS, KAZAKHASTAN,

KYRGYZSTAN, MOUTENEGRO, TAJIKISTAN,TURKMENSTAN, UKARINE

The Soviet Victory Day or 9 May marks the capitulation of Nazi Germany to the SovietUnionin the Second World War (also known as the Great Patriotic War in the SovietUnion and somepost-Soviet states). It was first inaugurated in the fifteen republics ofthe Soviet Union, following the signing of the surrender document late in the eveningon 8 May 1945 (9 May by Moscow Time). It happened after the original capitulationthat Germany earlier agreed to the joint Alliedforces of the Western Front. The Sovietgovernment announced the victory early on 9 May after the signing ceremony in Berlin.Though the official inauguration happened in 1945 (which means it has been cele-brated since 1946), the holiday became a non-labour day only in 1965 and only insome of the countries.In communist East Germany, a Soviet-style "Victory Day" on 9 May was an officialholiday from 1975 until the end of the republic in 1990. Prior to that, "Liberation Day"was celebrated on 8 May, between 1950 and 1966, and again on the 40th anniversaryin 1985. Since 2002, the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has observed acommemoration day known as the "Day of Liberation from National Socialism, andthe End of the Second World War".In 1988 just before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Victory Day ceased to be ob-served in Uzbekistan, but was partially restored in 1999 as Memorial/RemembranceDay. After their separation from the Soviet Union, the Baltic countries now commem-orate the end of WWII on 8 May, the Victory in Europe Day.

HISTORYTwo separate capitulation events took place at the time. First, the capitulation to theAllied nations in Reims was signed on 7 May 1945, effective 23:01 CET 8 May. Thisdate is commonly referred to as the V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day) in most westernEuropean countries. The other World War II victory day, the V-J day (Victory in JapanDay) is commemorated in August, and is of considerably lesser significance in Eu-rope.However, the Soviet Union's only representative in Reims was General Ivan Sus-loparov, the Military Liaison Mission Commander. General Susloparov's scope of au-thority was not entirely clear, and he had no means of immediate contact with theKremlin, but nevertheless decided to sign for the Soviet side. Susloparov was caughtoff guard; he had no instructions from Moscow. But if he did not sign, he risked a Ger-man surrender without Soviet participation. However, he noted that it could be re-placed with a new version in the future. Joseph Stalin was later displeased by theseevents, believing that the German surrender should have been accepted only by theenvoy of the USSR Supreme command and signed only in Berlin and insisted theReims protocol be considered preliminary, with the main ceremony to be held in Berlin,where Marshal Zhukov was at the time, as the latter recounts in his memoirs:

“ [Quoting Stalin:] Today, in Reims, Germans signed the preliminary act on an un-conditional surrender. The main contribution, however, was done by Soviet peopleand not by the Allies, therefore the capitulation must be signed in front of the SupremeCommand of all countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, and not only in front of theSupreme Command of Allied Forces. Moreover, I disagree that the surrender was notsigned in Berlin, which was the center of Nazi aggression. We agreed with the Alliesto consider the Reims protocol as preliminary. “Therefore, another ceremony was organized in a surviving manor in the outskirts ofBerlin late on 8 May, when it was already 9 May in Moscow due to the difference intime zones. Field-Marshal Wilhelm Keitel submitted the capitulation of the Wehrmachtto Marshal Georgy Zhukov in the Soviet Army headquarters in Berlin-Karlshorst. Tocommemorate the victory in the war, the ceremonial Moscow Victory Parade was heldin the Soviet capital on 24 June 1945 (four years and two days after the beginning ofOperation Barbarossa - the invasion of the Soviet Union).Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_Day_(9_May)

Ridvan the “King of Festivals”02 MAY

Baha'is around the world are celebrating the Festival of Ridvan, which marks the an-niversary of Baha'u'llah's declaration in 1863 that He was the promised one. Ridvan –21 April to 2 May each year – commemorates the 12 days that Baha'u'llah, the founderof the Baha'i Faith, camped on the banks of the Tigris River near Baghdad and, whilethere, proclaimed his mission to a small group of followers. Every year, on the first dayof Ridvan, Baha'is in thousands of localities around the globe vote for their local governingcouncils. Also during the festival, national conventions are held in some 180 countriesand territories, during which delegates vote for the national governing bodies of the Baha'iFaith. In 1863, He was in Baghdad, already exiled from His native Iran for a decade,when authorities ordered Him to move to Constantinople (now called Istanbul) Beforeleaving, He spent 12 days by the Tigris in a garden which he called Ridvan while prepa-rations were made for the journey and farewells said to people in Iraq. "The thoroughfareto the riverside brimmed with people, men and women, young and old, from all walks oflife, who had gathered to see Him go and bewail His departure," wrote H.M. Balyuzi in abiography of Baha'u'llah. Today, in addition to electing local and national governing bod-ies, followers of Baha'u'llah often celebrate Ridvan with devotional meetings, artistic andmusical presentations, or other types of gatherings, depending on the country.Contributed by: ASHAR MEHBOOB

ZARB-E-JAMHOOR\LAHORE\PAKISTAN, 01 MAY 2011 TO 14 MAY 2011, Edition: 17-18, Editor in Chief: Noor Ali, Mob: +92-341-7000111, Email: editor@zarbejamhoor.com

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