Better Know a Holiday: 28 May

Parade in front of the Elmler Akademiyası Metro Station

If you read about Azerbaijan enough, you'll probably come across the fact that, on May 28, 1918, it became the first successfully established secular Islamic democratic republic in the world (following the short-lived Transcaucasia Democratic Federative Republic consisting of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia).  You may also hear that during this time (1919) Azerbaijan became the first Islamic nation to grant voting rights to women, predating national women's suffrage in the U.S. by about one year.  Obviously, the birth of the republic was not celebrated during Soviet times, but it was revived as a national holiday upon independence in 1991.

Not to diminish these historical achievements, but what is often left unmentioned in the same breath uttering this bit of trivium is that this republic lasted only about two years, from 28 May 1918 (collapse of the Russian empire) to 1920 (Bolshevik / Soviet / communist conquest) and that no one involved in the practical operation of the country today actually remembers how a fully-functional democratic republic works.  

In the spirit of short-lived things in history involving the 28th of May:

• 1503 - Margaret Tudor wed James IV of Scotland and the Treaty of Everlasting Peace between England and Scotland was signed.  The peace lasted 10 years.
• 1533 - Marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn was declared valid by the Archbishop of Canterbury.  The marriage lasted 3 years.
• 1588 - The Spanish Armada set sail for the English Channel from Lisbon.  Less than three months later, it was defeated by the English at the decisive battle of Gravelines.
• 1940 - The 18-day Battle of Belgium ended with Belgium's surrender to Germany.