"Workers of all countries, unite!" - who said and what do these words mean?

To study the history of the phrase "Workers of all countries, unite" you need to understand the meaning of the words "proletarian" or "proletariat".

Proletarian. Origin of the word

According to history, the word "proletarian" has Latin roots: proletarius. It means "producing offspring". Poor citizens of Rome, describing their property, wrote the word "children" - "proles". That is, they, except for children, had no other wealth. So behind the word the value was fixed: the poor, the poor, the beggar. In the dictionary of V. Dal, the term is described even more harshly: "homeless or landless, homeless zabrebetnik." It sounds, at least, offensively.

The French in the time of the "Great Revolution" have already begun to use the term "proletariat", referring to them all idle people who freely live life, they are not worried about tomorrow.

F. Engels, one of the founders of the Marxist theory, in 1847 "ennobled" the term, asked his new political direction, brought out a new semantic content. In the interpretation of Engels, the proletariat became an honest worker, a worker, ready to sell his strength, but lacking the material basis for his own business. Since then, the meaning of the word "proletariat" has remained unchanged, during the Great October Socialist Revolution in Russia it sounded proud. And in the days of the existence of the USSR was on hearing and in the sight of all Soviet citizens.

Unite or unite?

Who said "Workers of all countries, unite" for the first time? Let's figure this out.

Working together to write the "Manifesto of the Communist Party," K. Marx and F. Engels wrote there the slogan, which later became popular: "Workers of all countries, unite!" And so the words sound in an arbitrary translation into Russian.

How to speak correctly? "Workers of all countries, unite?" Or "unite?". In German, the word vereinigt means "to unite", "to unite". That is, you can speak both versions of the translation.

So, there are two variants of the ending of the Marxist appeal: "unite" and "unite".

Proletarians and unity

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a multinational state, comprising 15 friendly territories.

Back in 1920, an appeal appeared, directed to the East, with the aim of bringing closer together, rallying the peoples who had previously been oppressed. Lenin, the leader of the Land of Soviets, agreed with his formulation and considered the call for unity to be true, since it corresponded to the political vectors of the state. Thus, the slogan in the familiar form began to be realized.

The multinational state - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics - was, in its essence, the result of unification. The friendliness of the fraternal peoples, united by a single goal-the building of socialism and communism, was the special pride of the Land of Soviets. This political action became an example and a confirmation of the vitality of the theory of Marxism.

The slogan and symbols of the state

It so happened that after the October Revolution, in Soviet times, the slogan "Workers of all countries and oppressed peoples, unite!" Declined, "oppressed peoples" fell out of him, a shortened version remained. He fit well with the concept of state policy, thereby deserved his popularization. The Government of the Land of Soviets adopted a decision on state symbols. They were: the sun, the sickle and the hammer, in addition to them - the proletarian slogan.

The emblem of the USSR consisted of symbols, and the text was written in the languages of the territorial units that were part of the state. And the number grew, starting with six (1923 - 1936 gg.). After them, there were already eleven (1937-1940), and even later - fifteen (1956).

The republics, in turn, also had a coat of arms with the slogan of the famous manifesto both in the language of the autonomous territory (Republic) and in Russian.

This slogan was everywhere

In the Soviet Union, the famous slogan was even on postage stamps. There is a well-known brand, on it the call for a union of the proletariat was portrayed with the help of the Morse code, the text was placed along an oval frame.

Citizens of the USSR are accustomed to seeing the motto of interest to us everywhere - on a multitude of stands and posters. Often people had to carry in their hands banners with text in demonstrations. Such processions were held regularly on May 1 (International Workers' Day), on November 7 (the day of the October Revolution). After the collapse of the USSR, these parades were abolished.

The "unifying" text was printed on party cards (covers), it was regularly placed in the cap of any printed media outlets related to politics and state historical subjects. And the newspaper Izvestia distinguished itself from the others - allowed itself the above-mentioned text to be depicted in all languages (republics that were part of the USSR).

Orders, medals, honorary signs

Everyone loved the phrase shone on the Order of the Red Star. The Order of the Red Banner of Labor was also awarded such honor.

The medal "Workers of all countries, unite" was issued.

On the commemorative insignia of the Red Army depicted the leader - VI Lenin and the banner with the text about the union of the proletariat.

This phenomenon and finances were touched. The same inscription was cast on fifty kopecks (1924 ) and placed on banknotes (one chervonets).

The famous phrase "absorbed into the blood" and remained in the memory of several generations of people, they built socialism, dreamed of communism and sacredly believed in the power of the united proletariat.