May Day
Today, May Day
usually refers to an internationally-celebrated holiday in
commemoration of the Haymarket Riot of 1886 in Chicago, Illinois,
United States and connected with a celebration of the more general
social and economic achievements of the international working class
and labor movement. May Day became established as the traditional
socialist holiday during the 20th century; in these circles, the
holiday is often known as International Workers' Day or Labour
Day.
Separately, the
term May Day also refers to any of several traditional pagan
holiday in many parts of pre-Christian Europe, including the
celebrations of Beltane in Celtic countries and Walpurgis Night in
Germanic countries. These were seasonal religious celebrations,
unrelated to the later workers' holiday. Their celebration faded as
Europe became Christianized. Some local traditions, such as the
Maypole, remain common, though now usually divested of any explicit
references to paganry. Many neopagans today celebrate reconstructed
versions of those old holidays on May 1st.
International Workers' Day
International
Workers' Day (a name used interchangeably with May Day) is the
commemoration of the Haymarket Riot of 1886 in Chicago, and a
celebration of the social and economic achievements of the
international labor movement. May Day commonly sees organized
street demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of working people
and their labor unions throughout Europe and most of the rest of
the world — though, as noted below, not in either the United
States or Canada. More radical leftist groups such as communists
and anarchists are also given to widespread street protest and
violence on this day as well.
The 1 May date is
used because in 1884 the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor
Unions, inspired by labor's 1872 success in Canada, demanded an
eight-hour workday in the United States to come in effect as of May
1, 1886. This resulted in a general strike and the riot in Chicago
of 1886, but eventually also in the official sanction of the
eight-hour workday.
In 1889, the first
congress of the Second International called for international
demonstrations on the 1890 anniversary of the Chicago riot. These
were so successful that May Day was formally recognized as an
annual event at the International's second congress in 1891. The
May Day Riots of 1894 and May Day Riots of 1919 occurred
subsequently.
In 1904 the
International Socialist Conference meeting in Amsterdam called on
"all Social-Democratic Party organizations and trade unions of all
countries to demonstrate energetically on May First for the legal
establishment of the 8-hour day, for the class demands of the
proletariat, and for universal peace." As the most effective way of
demonstrating was by strking, the congress made it "mandatory upon
the proletarian organizations of all countries to stop work on May
First, wherever it is possible without injury to the workers."
May Day has long
been a focal point for demonstrations by various socialist,
communist, and anarchist groups. In some circles, bonfires are lit
in commemoration of the Haymarket Riot usually right as the first
day of May begins.
In countries other
than the United States and Canada, resident working classes fought
hard to make May Day an official holiday, efforts which eventually
largely succeeded. For this reason, in most of the world today, May
Day is marked by massive street rallies led by workers, their trade
unions and various socialist and communist parties.
The Red Scare
periods ended May Day as a mass holiday in the United States,
somewhat ironic given that May Day originated in Chicago.
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