[R-G] International Women's Day

[viren]

http://www.marxists.org/archive/kollonta/1920/womens-day.htm

An excerpt from an article written in 1920 by the Russian communist 
leader Alexandra Kollontai on the history and significance of 
International Women's Day.

Rajesh

A MILITANT CELEBRATION
Women's Day or Working Women's Day is a day of international
solidarity, and a day for reviewing the strength and organization of
proletarian women.

But this is not a special day for women alone. The 8th of March is a
historic and memorable day for the workers and peasants, for all the
Russian workers and for the workers of the whole world. In 1917, on
this day, the great February revolution broke out.[2] It was the
working women of Petersburg who began this revolution; it was they who
first decided to raise the banner of opposition to the Tsar and his
associates. And so, working women's day is a double celebration for
us.

But if this is a general holiday for all the proletariat, why do we
call it "Women's Day"? Why then do we hold special celebrations and
meetings aimed above all at the women workers and the peasant women?
Doesn't this jeopardize the unity and solidarity of the working class?
To answer these questions, we have to look back and see how Women's
Day came about and for what purpose it was organized.

HOW AND WHY WAS WOMEN'S DAY ORGANIZED?
Not very long ago, in fact about ten years ago, the question of
women's equality, and the question of whether women could take part in
government alongside men was being hotly debated. The working class in
all capitalist countries struggled for the rights of working women:
the bourgeoisie did not want to accept these rights. It was not in the
interest of the bourgeoisie to strengthen the vote of the working
class in parliament; and in every country they hindered the passing of
laws that gave the right to working women.

Socialists in North America insisted upon their demands for the vote
with particular persistence. On the 28th of February, 1909, the women
socialists of the U.S.A. organized huge demonstrations and meetings
all over the country demanding political rights for working women.
This was the first "Woman's Day". The initiative on organizing a
woman's day thus belongs to the working women of America.

In 1910, at the Second International Conference of Working Women,
Clara Zetkin [3] brought forward the question of organizing an
International Working Women's Day. The conference decided that every
year, in every country, they should celebrate on the same day a
"Women's Day" under the slogan "The vote for women will unite our
strength in the struggle for socialism".

During these years, the question of making parliament more democratic,
i.e., of widening the franchise and extending the vote to women, was a
vital issue. Even before the first world war, the workers had the
right to vote in all bourgeois countries except Russia. [4] Only
women, along with the insane, remained without these rights. Yet, at
the same time, the harsh reality of capitalism demanded the
participation of women in the country's economy. Every year there was
an increase in the number of women who had to work in the factories
and workshops, or as servants and charwomen. Women worked alongside
men and the wealth of the country was created by their hands. But
women remained without the vote.

But in the last years before the war the rise in prices forced even
the most peaceful housewife to take an interest in questions of
politics and to protest loudly against the bourgeoisie's economy of
plunder. "Housewives uprisings" became increasingly frequent, flaring
up at different times in Austria, England, France and Germany.

The working women understood that it wasn't enough to break up the
stalls at the market or threaten the odd merchant: They understood
that such action doesn't bring down the cost of living. You have to
change the politics of the government. And to achieve this, the
working class has to see that the franchise is widened.

It was decided to have a Woman's Day in every country as a form of
struggle in getting working women to vote. This day was to be a day of
international solidarity in the fight for common objectives and a day
for reviewing the organized strength of working women under the banner
of socialism.

THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
The decision taken at the Second International Congress of Socialist
Women was not left on paper. It was decided to hold the first
International Women's Day on the 19th of March, 1911.

This date was not chosen at random. Our German comrades picked the day
because of its historic importance for the German proletariat. On the
19th of March in the year of 1848 revolution, the Prussian king
recognized for the first time the strength of the armed people and
gave way before the threat of a proletarian uprising. Among the many
promise he made, which he later failed to keep, was the introduction
of votes for women.

After January 11, efforts were made in Germany and Austria to prepare
for Women's Day. They made known the plans for a demonstration both by
word of mouth and in the press. During the week before Women's Day two
journals appeared: The Vote for Women in Germany and Women's Day in
Austria. The various articles devoted to Women's Day - "Women and
Parliament," "The Working Women and Municipal Affairs," "What Has the
Housewife got to do with Politics?", etc. - analyzed thoroughly the
question of the equality of women in the government and in society.
All the articles emphasized the same point: that it was absolutely
necessary to make parliament more democratic by extending the
franchise to women.

The first International Women's Day took place in 1911. Its success
succeeded all expectation. Germany and Austria on Working Women's Day
was one seething, trembling sea of women. Meetings were organized
everywhere - in the small towns and even in the villages halls were
packed so full that they had to ask male workers to give up their
places for the women.

This was certainly the first show of militancy by the working woman.
Men stayed at home with their children for a change, and their wives,
the captive housewives, went to meetings. During the largest street
demonstrations, in which 30,000 were taking part, the police decided
to remove the demonstrators' banners: the women workers made a stand.
In the scuffle that followed, bloodshed was averted only with the help
of the socialist deputies in Parliament.

In 1913 International Women's Day was transferred to the 8th of March.
This day has remained the working women's day of militancy.....



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