The Soviet Presidium made March 8 a non-working public holiday on 8 May 1965.
The decree elevated International Women’s Day from an established commemorative occasion to a formal day off across the Soviet Union. Its stated rationale praised Soviet women’s achievements in building communism, defending the country during the Great Patriotic War, and contributing to international friendship and peace.
The date of the decree is easy to confuse with the date of the holiday itself. The Presidium issued the decision on 8 May, but the non-working holiday was March 8. That distinction matters: the decree announced a status change for an annual observance rather than moving the holiday to May.
International Women’s Day already had deep revolutionary associations in Soviet history. On 8 March 1917—23 February in the Julian calendar then used in Russia—women textile workers demonstrated in Petrograd, helping ignite the February Revolution. The date was fixed internationally in 1921, and Soviet Russia had promoted the observance long before the 1965 decree.