May Day Celebrations. Russia's Rise or Potemkin Village?

I'm glad Sam sent this Russian produced video (scroll for link) of the 2024 Russian May Day celebrations in Red Square. The video is particularly interesting as the martial May Day celebrations correlate to ongoing gains by the Russian military in Ukraine (Kharkov) and Putin's appointment, yesterday, of a new defense minister.

I watched most of the video, just over an hour long, notwithstanding Sam's admonition to start at minute fourteen. During the first fourteen minutes, the focus on Putin, as he greeted foreign leaders, showed him to be in command of his world. The well produced video seems an impressive symbol of Russia's ongoing attempt to revive its culture, nearly destroyed during eighty years of Bolshevik rule. But then, Russia is also the source of the Potemkin Village. Who knows if the video "symbol" seen here is representative of Russia's progress, a Goebbels-like propaganda tissue of lies, or a Potemkin veneer overlay on top of a post Bolshevik disintegrating culture? As a betting man, I would be inclined to credit the video as a more authentic representation than not of Russia's growing military strength, particularly considering reports of Russia's military gains in Ukraine, Russia's surprisingly strong wartime economic performance, and her growing positive reputation in the global south.

Martial military public demonstrations are designed to buttress citizens' feelings of national pride. Watching this video of Moscow's May Day celebrations of military valor, I recalled having attended India's Republic Day Parade on Rajpath in New Delhi on 26 January 2017. There, as thousands of parade goers lined Rajpath, the Gurkhas, marching proudly in tight formation, prompted mental images of their fierce fighting history including their placing the heads of their defeated enemies on pikes held high in post battle celebration. Then came the magnificent Indian Camel Corps which patrols the Pakistani border in the Thar Desert. Each passing military unit was greeted with cheers from parade onlookers.

Standing on the Champs Elysee 24 July 1965, Bastille Day, I witnessed a uniformed Charles De Gaulle pass by in an open vehicle, kepi topped, standing 6'6" tall, followed by a phalanx of mobile weaponry and precision marching soldiers. In Paris, as in New Delhi, thousands of cheering parade goers lined the Champs' (sic). Symbolic demonstrations of French military might on Bastille Day have attenuated since I saw de Gaulle pass by fifty-nine years ago.

Ever since I marched as a member of the Provo High School marching band, in 1962 as lead trombone, in the local Fourth of July parade, I have long been a sucker for the precision choreography of military like marching drills. I still get goose bumps and throat lumps watching the well-coordinated staging of a Big Ten marching band at a football game half-time (Hang on Sloopy, Ohio State University Marching Band). There is a special pride amongst the participants that derives from an intricately choreographed group performance. The staging of the Russian troops seen in this video is top notch. Anyone who appreciates synchronized military drills will be impressed. No doubt the troops were proud of their accomplishment.

On the national level, the US has long given up large, public demonstrations of its military prowess due to the fact that substantial segments of the American public are uncomfortable with what they see as war mongering imagery. This is puzzling, since most who think this way regularly vote for a cohort of leaders who lead the US into a seeming endless sequence of costly, unsuccessful wars, proxy or direct. It is probably a good thing that the US does not tout its military in large scale, celebratory military drills or parades. Considering the beleaguered, weakened state of the US military today, I'm not sure if a marching brigade of pregnant F16 pilots would strike fear into the nation's enemies or inspire confidence of the citizenry in America's military deterrence capability. In contrast to the absence of military imagery at the national level, in some parts of the US, state national guard military vehicles are featured in Fourth of July parades much to the delight of passé, patriotic, parade going "deplorables."

In the video, check out the cool Bentley convertibles used by the Russian military brass. Also, I've long been intrigued by the oversized flat topped Russian military hats. The presence of Russian Orthodox Church clergy in the video, mingling with military brass and political functionaries, contrasts with the near absence in the US of positive coverage of religion by US state-controlled media. Speaking of the oppressive Bolshevik times, the ongoing streaming video presentation of Amor Towle's "The Gentleman from Moscow," on Paramount+ is terrific. Circa 2006 I sat at the bar at the Half Moon Bay Ritz Carlton jabbering with Ewan McGregor (star of "The Gentleman from Moscow) about motorcycles. The event was a motorcycle Concours D'Elegance. By the way, TIMDT says, read the book before watching the video performance.

https://www.youtube.com/live/a28IQLva9yQ?si=KQe3Ex2GtFn86BTD