Editing Red Square (section)

=== Soviet era and modern era ===
During the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] era, Red Square maintained its significance, becoming a focal point for the new state. Besides being the official address of the Soviet government, it was renowned as a showcase for military parades from 1919 onward. [[Lenin's Mausoleum]] would from 1924 onward be a part of the square complex,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-03-03 |title=Discover Moscow's Colorful Cathedrals and Striking Palaces |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/world-heritage/article/kremlin-red-square |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=Travel |language=en}}</ref> and also as the grandstand for important dignitaries in all national celebrations. In the 1930s, [[Kazan Cathedral, Moscow|Kazan Cathedral]] and [[Resurrection Gate and Iverskaya Chapel|Iverskaya Chapel with the Resurrection Gates]] were demolished to make room for heavy military vehicles driving through the square (both were later rebuilt after the fall of the Soviet Union). There were plans to demolish Moscow's most recognized building, [[Saint Basil's Cathedral]], as well to make way for a larger Red Square, as well as the [[State Historical Museum]]. The legend is that [[Lazar Kaganovich]], [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]]'s associate and director of the Moscow reconstruction plan, prepared a special model of Red Square, in which the cathedral could be removed, and brought it to Stalin to show how the cathedral was an obstacle for parades and traffic. But when he jerked the cathedral out of the model, Stalin objected with his rather famous quote: "Lazar! Put it back!". However, no documented evidence exists of this encounter.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rbth.com/history/326919-st-basil-cathedral-architect-stalin|title=How did an architect convince Stalin to spare St. Basil's Cathedral from destruction?|last=Shevchenko|first=Nikolay|date=2017-12-04|website=www.rbth.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-06}}</ref>

In 1963, a group of African students organized a [[1963 Moscow protest|protest on Red Square]] in response to the alleged murder of a medical student named Edmund Assare-Addo. This was the first recorded political protest on Red Square since the late 1920s.<ref>{{cite web | url =http://www.cairn.info/zen.php?ID_ARTICLE=CMR_471_0033| title =Death of an African Student in Moscow|publisher =CAIRN.info|author=Julie Hessler| access-date =15 July 2014}}</ref> On 28 May 1987 a West German pilot named [[Mathias Rust]] landed a [[Cessna 172|Cessna F172P]] light aircraft at St.&nbsp;Basil next to Red Square, causing a major scandal in the [[Soviet Air Defense Forces]].

In 1990 the Kremlin and Red Square were among the first sites in the USSR added to [[UNESCO]]'s [[World Heritage Sites|World Heritage List]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/545/|access-date=2020-10-14|website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|language=en}}</ref>

Red Square has also served as a venue for high-profile concerts. [[Linkin Park]], [[The Prodigy]], [[t.A.T.u.]], [[Shakira]], [[Scorpions (band)|Scorpions]], [[Paul McCartney]], [[Roger Waters]], [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]], and other celebrities performed there. For the New Year 2006, 2007, and 2008 celebrations, a skating rink was set up on Red Square. Paul McCartney's performance there was a historic moment for many, as [[The Beatles]] were banned in the Soviet Union, preventing any live performances there of any of The Beatles. The Soviet Union also banned the sales of Beatles [[music album|records]]. While McCartney's performance was historic, he was not the first Beatle to perform in Russia. Former Beatle Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band performed at Moscow's Russia Hall in August 1998. On 4 December 2008 the [[KHL]] announced they would be holding their first all-star game outdoors on 10 January at Red Square.<ref>[http://sports.espn.com/nhl/news/story?id=3745399 Sports.espn.com]{{dead link|date=December 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>

==== Venue for parades ====
{{Wide image|Panorama 360 Red Square_edit.jpg|1200px|360° Panorama of Red Square: Kremlin  (direction: SE), Saint Basil with Lenin Mausoleum (from 1930) in front, State Historical Museum (NW) and GUM store. Hardly seen are Voskresensky gates just to the right of museum, Kazan Cathedral just to the left of GUM store and the Minin-Pozharsky monument in front of Saint Basil (originally it was in front of GUM store).}}
Two of the most significant [[military parades]] on Red Square were [[1941 October Revolution Parade]], when the city was besieged by Germans and troops were leaving Red Square straight to the front lines, and the [[Moscow Victory Parade of 1945|Victory Parade in 1945]], when the banners of defeated [[Nazism|Nazi]] armies were thrown at the foot of [[Lenin's Mausoleum]]. The [[Soviet Union]] held many parades in Red Square for [[International Workers' Day#Russia|May Day]] (until 1969), [[Victory Day (9 May)|Victory Day]], and [[October Revolution Day]], which consisted of propaganda, flags, labor demonstration, marching troops, and showing off of tanks and missiles. Individual parades have been held on [[Defender of the Fatherland Day]] (23 February 1925),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://libraria.ua/numbers/984/83372/?PageNumber=5&ArticleId=3056403&Search=%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%B9%20%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%80 |title=Доступ закрито - LIBRARIA - Цифровий архів періодики |publisher=Libraria.ua |date= |accessdate=2022-03-14 |archive-date=October 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022064316/https://libraria.ua/numbers/984/83372/?PageNumber=5&ArticleId=3056403&Search=%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%B9%20%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%80 |url-status=dead }}</ref> the [[Day of Tankmen]] (8 September 1946),<ref>{{Citation|title=Soviet Military Parade {{!}} Day of Tankmen, 8 September 1946| date=3 August 2019 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwNlD1AyTkw|language=en|access-date=2020-06-13}}</ref> and the [[Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin|state funeral of Joseph Stalin]] (9 March 1953). On Victory Day in 1945, 1965, 1985, and 1990, there were Soviet military marches and parades as well, and since 1995, the annual [[Moscow Victory Day Parade]] has been held on the square, marking anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in [[World War II]].

In January 2008, Russia announced it would resume parading military vehicles through Red Square,<ref>{{cite news |title=Tanks to return to Red Square|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7200669.stm|author=Aksyonov, Pavel|date=January 21, 2008|access-date=June 14, 2009 |work=BBC News }}</ref> although recent restoration of [[Resurrection Gate and Iverskaya Chapel|Iverski Gate]] complicated this, by closing one of existing passages along [[State Historical Museum|Historical Museum]] for the heavy vehicles. In May 2008, Russia held its annual Victory day parade, during which for the first time since the collapse of the [[Soviet Union|USSR]] in 1991, Russian military vehicles paraded through the square. On 9 May 2010, to commemorate the [[2010 Moscow Victory Day Parade|65th anniversary]] of the capitulation of Germany in 1945, the armed forces of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States marched in the Moscow Victory Day parade for the first time in history.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/05/09/russia.parade/|title=Western troops join Russia's Victory Day parade|publisher=CNN|access-date=May 9, 2010|date=May 9, 2010|first=Matthew|last=Chance}}</ref>

<gallery widths="230" heights="170" style="float:left;margin:0em 0em 0em 0em;">
File:Victory Day Parade 2008-14.jpg|2008 Military parade marking the sixty-third anniversary of Victory in the [[Great Patriotic War]]
File:Moscow Strikes Back 11-25 cheering Red Army parade, bayonets fixed.jpg|[[Red Army]] soldiers cheer [[Joseph Stalin]] in Red Square in a scene from the 1942 film ''[[Moscow Strikes Back]]''
File:Military parade on Red Square 2017-05-09 001.jpg|A soldier during a parade on Red Square in 2017.
</gallery>{{Clear}}