Betty MacDonald Fan Club. Join fans of the beloved writer Betty MacDonald (1907-58). The original Betty MacDonald Fan Club and literary Society. Welcome to Betty MacDonald Fan Club and Betty MacDonald Society - the official Betty MacDonald Fan Club Website with members in 40 countries.
Betty MacDonald, the author of The Egg and I and the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle Series is beloved all over the world. Don't miss Wolfgang Hampel's Betty MacDonald biography and his very witty interviews on CD and DVD!
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
Russia's October Revolution Anniversary in November
Russia's October Revolution Anniversary Is Marked In November: Here's Why
Russia will mark 100 years since its 1917 October Revolution on Tuesday—which, confusingly, is November 7. It goes without saying that a great deal changed when Vladimir Lenin
led the Bolsheviks in their overthrow of the Russian state on 25
October, 1917, not least the fact that from then on the anniversary of
'Red October' would be marked in November. That is because prior
to 1917, the Russian Empire and its Tsars followed Eastern Orthodox
Christianity in contrast to Western Christian nations, which retained an
allegiance to Rome. The primary reason for this split, bizarrely, was
due to calendars.
Orthodox
nations—many among the first to adopt Christianity—had been marking
their calendar with the help of a system that dated back to 45 AD.
Called the Julian Calendar, it remained in force across much of Eastern
Europe, including Russia. But most of Catholic and Protestant Europe had broken with the Orthodox world over the calendar. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII recommended an update
of the Christian calendar which would fix a small miscalculation of the
Julian calendar, by which it was out of step with each solar year by 11
minutes.
The Russian national flag flies at half mast with a statue of the
founder of the Soviet state Vladimir Lenin in the foreground in the
centre of Stavropol during the day of national mourning for the victims
of the weekend crash, April 12, 2010. Eduard Korniyenko/Reuters This
“new style” became the standard in much of Europe, adopting the Pope’s
so-called Gregorian calendar. But kingdoms in the east disliked the
revision and overruled the pope’s orders. Russia, still ruled by a
religiously conservative monarch, Nicholas II, kept the “old style” into the 1900s, at which point the two calendars were off kilter from one another by full days. When Vladimir Lenin and his atheist Bolsheviks fully seized power from the royal family in 1917, the time for change came. Lenin
vowed to do away with the philosophy of the former regime and as
part of many breakneck changes to make the empire an international,
Marxist state, announced that the Soviet Union's calendar would change
to the Gregorian one. By the end of January 1918, the Soviet Union
only marked events in the “new style” and the revolution that set the
state up to begin with, in October last year, had now been uprooted to
November. But since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992, the
anniversary of the October Revolution being held in November is the
least of its troubles—indeed, the issue has been a reluctance on the
part of Moscow to celebrate the at at all. Russian President Vladimir Putin, reluctant to either promote Lenin’s message—in
particular his leading of a government-toppling revolutions—has
introduced cooked up 'Unity Day,' to be marked each year on November 4.
The date marks a pre-Soviet victory over Polish forces and now is meant
to embody a collective spirit of Russia’s people, without encouraging
revolutionaries. On the date of Lenin’s final triumph—November
7—Putin has also booked the venue where the Red Army would once march
and salute the Soviet Union’s founding leader. Today, forces dressed in
historic uniforms will still gather in front of the walls of the
Kremlin, but will instead re-enact a World War II parade.
Betty MacDonald Fan Club, founded by Wolfgang Hampel, has members in 40 countries.
Wolfgang Hampel, author of Betty MacDonald biography interviewed Betty MacDonald's family and friends. His Interviews have been published on CD and DVD by Betty MacDonald Fan Club. If you are interested in the Betty MacDonald Biography or the Betty MacDonald Interviews send us a mail, please.
Several original Interviews with Betty MacDonald are available.
We are also organizing international Betty MacDonald Fan Club Events for example, Betty MacDonald Fan Club Eurovision Song Contest Meetings in Oslo and Düsseldorf, Royal Wedding Betty MacDonald Fan Club Event in Stockholm and Betty MacDonald Fan Club Fifa Worldcup Conferences in South Africa and Germany.
Betty MacDonald Fan Club Honour Members are Monica Sone, author of Nisei Daughter and described as Kimi in Betty MacDonald's The Plague and I, Betty MacDonald's nephew, artist and writer Darsie Beck, Betty MacDonald fans and beloved authors and artists Gwen Grant, Letizia Mancino, Perry Woodfin, Traci Tyne Hilton, Tatjana Geßler, music producer Bernd Kunze, musician Thomas Bödigheimer, translater Mary Holmes and Mr. Tigerli.
