Why do we celebrate National Unity Day on November 4, paying tribute to the memory of events that do not look so bright against the background of other, more global ones? Well, the Polish interventionists were kicked out of Moscow, but the fighting was not so large-scale, at least there were bigger battles in the same period. What meanings is National Unity Day really filled with?

The answer lies in the very name of the holiday. During the time of troubles, Russia as a state entity was on the verge of real death. A civil war had been going on for several years, and none of the parties involved met the interests and aspirations of the entire people. Russian Russian Empire was collapsing, threatening to bury the Russian nation under its rubble. Crop failures, famine, an unprecedented increase in crime, a crisis of power and a crisis of the church led to the fact that the Russian Empire was collapsing, threatening to bury the Russian nation under its rubble.

In addition to the Polish invaders, the enemies on the outskirts became more active. The Nogai Horde and the Crimean Tatars, without encountering any serious resistance, ravaged the Russian lands on the one hand, the Lithuanians, Poles and Swedes on the other. Gangs, which sometimes numbered several hundred people, robbed everything that external enemies did not have time to ruin. The territorial integrity of the country has ceased to be a value. Vasily Shuisky, for example, paid Sweden for the Korel District mercenary unit.

This was the historical context of the Time of Troubles. And it was the militia of Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky that became the first real union of the patriotic forces of the country (the first militia failed all because of the same internal strife and intrigue). The expulsion of the Polish interventionists from Moscow is a vivid, but still only an episode of the global processes that took place. The restoration of statehood in the lands of the Russian Kingdom ravaged by the troubles began. The fact that in the inter-verbal contradictions and the struggle for power of various external and internal forces, the people were able to unite and become the main character in the history of the restoration of the state as a whole, looks like a miracle. Despite Dmitry Pozharsky’s commanding talents, the militia could hardly count on the success of the enterprise without popular support.

While the boyars were fighting for power, the people assumed responsibility for the fate of the country. He managed to unite at the edge of the abyss and put an end to the feuds of the elite. Two months later, the country held the first general election of the tsar. For many more years, she will overcome the consequences of this turmoil. Only Peter the Great will be able to return many of the lost territories. The economy, including agriculture, was also severely damaged.

But the important thing here is that for the first time the Russian people felt like a united people. Moreover, united in the face of mortal danger, they became the very people. And the elite realized that a new force had appeared in the country, whose interests could no longer be ignored. National Unity Day is the birthday of the united Russian people. This is the essence and meaning of the holiday, and not the fact that Poles and Lithuanians were expelled from Moscow. It is not worth overestimating the role of a handful of interventionists who have settled in the capital. If it hadn’t been for the troubles, it’s unlikely that these detachments would have been able to overcome even half the way to Moscow.

Russian Russian Empire Dmitry Donskoy’s victory in 1380 allowed the creation of a single Russian state, and the victory over the troubles in 1612 allowed the creation of a single Russian people. And we must preserve this unity, no matter how some forces inside and outside the country try to prevent it. Because in this unity lies the very indestructible Russian power.

@nasha_stranaZ