In 1919, on Moscow's Red Square, the first parade of athletes and
Vsevobuch detachments took place. It was the most ambitious parade to be held in the Russian capital during the early years of the
Soviet Union. Parades were also held in some other cities of the USSR. In particular, in 1927, the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the
October Revolution was marked with a parade of athletes was held in
Barnaul. Beginning in 1931, parades began to be held annually, first in
Moscow and
Leningrad, and then in many cities across the nation, including republican capitals. At the 1935 parade,
Soviet General Secretary Joseph Stalin was referred to as the "best friend of the pioneers" and in 1936, the slogan "Thanks to Comrade Stalin for our happy childhood!" began to be featured during the parades whenever the Young Pioneers marched. Since 1936, All-Union physical fitness culture parades began to be held in Moscow, involving athletes from all the
Union republics. Since 1939, the parades have been timed to coincide with Athletes' Day, which fell every 12 August. The first post-war parade of athletes (and the last on Red Square) took place on 12 August 1945. It was dedicated to the
Victory over Nazi Germany as well as the oncoming
military victories over Japan in the
Second World War. 25,000 participants from 16 union republics took part. The sports and gymnastics part of the parade featured 22 performances, lasting 4 hours 20 minutes combined. Among the guests of honor were
Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov,
General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower and
United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union W. Averell Harriman. In the 40s, the sketches of costumes and compositions of the Physical Culture Parade on Red Square were created by the famous theater artist
Fyodor Fedorovsky. The last parade of athletes was held in 1954. == Expanded summary ==