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The Soviet changes are often described as a new calendar. The definition of "calendar" in this matter is a question of perspective and semantics. The Soviet changes affected only the unit of the week and did not touch the structure of the Gregorian month or year. The key question which defines the issue is, "Is the seven-day week an integral unit of the Gregorian calendar?" There are two possible responses: |
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Yes. The Gregorian calendar is an ecclesiastical calendar. The Gregorian reform carefully preserved the week, since an unbroken cycle of seven days is essential to the definition of Sunday. This might be termed the historical perspective. |
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No. The Gregorian calendar is defined completely by the number and structure of its months and its rule for intercalation (the leap year rule). The week is a separate development and epiphenomenal to the calendar. This might be termed the structural perspective. |
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From the historical perspective, the Soviet changes constitute calendar reform. In so far as a calendar is a means of arranging time for social purposes, the changes did constitute calendar reform. From the structural perspective, the Soviet changes were not calendar reform, but a series of work schedules. |
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However one wishes to view the changes, the result was highly unusual and completely unworkable. Saturday and Sunday were eliminated as days of the week, leaving a truncated five-day week. The names of the remaining days of the week were eliminated. Each day of the week was given instead a color and a number: |
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| Day Number | Day Color | Day Number | Day Color | | 1 | Yellow | 4 | Purple | | 2 | Orange | 5 | Green | | 3 | Red | | |
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Next, each person was assigned one of the five colors, and this color designated that person's day of rest in the week. The intention of this scheme was to eliminate the weekend and thus guarantee continuous work and production. The system also had the intended effect of preventing people from adhering to former patterns of religious observance by the seven-day week. The colors were assigned without regard to social ties, so family members and friends found it difficult to spend time together. |
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There were five general holidays during the year: |
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| Soviet Holiday | Equivalent Gregorian Date | | Lenin's Day | 31 January | | Day of the Proletariat I | 1 May | | Day of the Proletariat II | 2 May | | Day of the Revolution I | 31 October | | Day of the Revolution II | 1 November | | New Year | 1 January |
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