Order of Victory
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The Order of Victory (Russian: Орден Победы) was the highest military decoration in the Soviet Union, and one of the rarest orders in the world. The order was awarded only to Generals and Marshals for successfully conducting combat operations involving one or more army groups and resulting in a "successful operation within the framework of one or several fronts resulting in a radical change of the situation in favor of the Red Army." In its history, it has been awarded twenty times to thirteen leaders (plus five foreign leaders), with one revocation.
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[edit] History
The order was proposed by Colonel N. S. Neyelov, who was serving at the Soviet Army Rear headquarters around June of 1943. The original name that Colonel Neyelov suggested was Order for Faithfulness to the Homeland; however, it was given its present name around October of that year.[1] The order was officially adopted on November 8, 1943. The first awarding of the order was on April 10, 1944 and it was presented to Marshalls Aleksandr Vasilevsky and Georgy Zhukov, and Joseph Stalin as Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Armed Forces. The order was also bestowed to top commanders of the Allied forces. Every order was presented during World War II, except for the 1978 award to Leonid Brezhnev. Brezhnev's award was revoked posthumously in 1989 for not meeting the requirements for the award.
Like other orders awarded by Communist nations, the Order of Victory could be awarded more than once to the same individual. In total, the order was presented twenty times to sixteen people (including Brezhnev).
Unlike all other Soviet orders, the Order of Victory had no serial number on it, the number was only mentioned in the award certificate. After a holder of the Order of Victory died, the award, unlike any other Soviet decoration, was to be given back to the state. The awards are now preserved by the Diamond Fund in the Moscow Kremlin.
[edit] Construction details
The Order is made out of platinum in the form of a pentangular star with rays between the arms, measuring 72 mm in diameter. The star is studded with 174 diamonds weighing a total of 16 carats (3.2 g), while the arms of the star are made out of synthetic rubies. In the center of the star is a silver medallion, with the Moscow Kremlin wall, the Spasskaya Tower, and Lenin's Mausoleum depicted in gold surrounded by bands of laurel and oak also colored in gold. The laurel and oak are bound with a red banner. The sky in the background is inlayed with blue enamel.[2] Against the sky, the letters "CCCP" (USSR) appear in gold centered on the top of the medallion, while the word "Победа" (Victory) is displayed on the red banner at the bottom.
Who the main designer of the order was remains uncertain; however, the current design was chosen by Joseph Stalin on October 20, 1943. Instead of being made at a mint, each Order was made in a jeweler's workshop.
[edit] Ribbon
The ribbons of various Soviet orders have been combined to create the Order Ribbon. The total length of the ribbon is 44 mm and it is mostly worn on the field uniform. [3] The following featured orders are depicted on the ribbon (read from outside towards the center):
- Order of Glory (Орден Славы). Orange with black center stripe
- Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky (Орден Богдана Хмельницкого). Light blue
- Order of Alexander Nevsky (Орден Александра Невского). Dark red
- Order of Kutuzov (Орден Кутузова). Dark blue
- Order of Suvorov (Орден Суворова). Green
- Order of Lenin (Орден Ленина). Red (center section)
[edit] Recipients
[edit] List of recipients
[edit] References
- ^ Dmitry Markov, Order of Victory - 1943 (Russian-medals.net)
- ^ Voice of Russia, World Service in English (2005) The Order of Victory
- ^ (Russian) Awards and medals of the Soviet Union Орден "Победа"
