International Women's Day (IWD) has been observed since in the early 1900's -- a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies.
International Women's Day is a collective day of global celebration. No one government, NGO (non-governmental organization), charity, corporation, academic institution, women's network, or media hub is solely responsible for International Women's Day. Many organizations declare an annual IWD theme that supports their specific agenda or cause, and some of these are adopted more widely with relevance than others.
"The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights," says world-renowned feminist, journalist, and social and political activist Gloria Steinem.
Thus International Women's Day is all about unity, celebration, reflection, advocacy, and action -- whatever that looks like globally at a local level. But one thing is for sure, International Women's Day has been occurring for well over a century -- and continues to grow from strength to strength.
1908
Great unrest and critical debate was occurring among women. Women's oppression and inequality was spurring women to become more vocal and active in campaigning for change. Then in 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay, and voting rights.
1909
In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman's Day (NWD) was observed across the United States on February 28th. Women continued to celebrate NWD on the last Sunday of February until 1913.
1910
In 1910 a second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen. A woman named Clara Zetkin (leader of the "Women's Office" for the Social Democratic Party in Germany) tabled the idea of an International Women's Day. She proposed that every year in every country there should be a celebration on the same day -- a Women's Day -- to press for their demands.
The conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, representing unions, socialist parties, working women's clubs -- and including the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament -- greeted Zetkin's suggestion with unanimous approval and thus International Women's Day was the result.
1911
Following the decision agreed at Copenhagen in 1911, International Women's Day was honored the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland on March 19th. More than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office, and end discrimination.
However, less than a week later on March 25th, the tragic "Triangle Fire" in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working women, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This disastrous event drew significant attention to working conditions and labor legislation in the United States that became a focus of subsequent International Women's Day events. The year 1911 also saw women's Bread and Roses' campaign.
1913-1914
On the eve of World War I campaigning for peace, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. In 1913 following discussions, International Women's Day was transferred to March 8th, and this day has remained the global date for International Women's Day ever since.
In 1914 further women across Europe held rallies to campaign against the war and to express women's solidarity. For example, in London in the United Kingdom there was a march from Bow to Trafalgar Square in support of women's suffrage on March 8, 1914. Sylvia Pankhurst was arrested in front of Charing Cross station on her way to speak in Trafalgar Square.
1917
On the last Sunday of February, Russian women began a strike for "bread and peace" in response to the death of over 2 million Russian soldiers in World War I. Opposed by political leaders, the women continued to strike until four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional government granted women the right to vote.
The date the women's strike commenced was Sunday, February 23 on the Julian Calendar then in use in Russia. This day on the Gregorian Calendar in use elsewhere was March 8th.
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