Victory Day
There are many countries that celebrate the Victory Day, though the date itself or even the occasion for which it is celebrated may vary greatly. The ambiguity is marked by the name of the celebration itself – it doesn't indicate what type of victory and victory over whom is celebrated. Thus, there are multiple completely different Victory Days in different countries throughout the year. There are official Victory Days in such countries as Cambodia, Vietnam, USA, Russia, Estonia, North Korea, Croatia, Turkey, Mozambique, Malta, India, Egypt and some others. And all of them relate to different historical events. In Europe, both Eastern and Western, the Victory Day most often relates to the day of victory of Soviet and European armies over the Nazi Germany and the end of the World War II. But there is one slight difference between the dates of celebration in Europe (and the USA) and Russia together with all post-soviet countries. For Europe the unconditional surrender of Germany was signed on the 8th of May, 1945, at 10:43 p.m. and for Russia this happened at 0:43 a.m. on the 9th of May, that's why all Eastern European countries celebrate this day on the 9th of May. In USA this day is called V-E Day, or Victory in Europe Day. As all military celebrations in Russia, this day is accompanied by pompous parades showing potential enemies the military force and power of Russia. Since 2008 such 'boasting' parades were renewed again by President Dmitry Medvedev and the actual ruler in Russia Vladimir Putin.