The "third" side of the coin
"Dust of the Ages"
Military awards have existed for a very long time, they were most clearly identified among the Romans, especially after the reform of Guy Mary. Roman "dona militaria" included a variety of distinctions: wreaths of various degrees (coronae), flags (vexilla), honorary spears not used in combat (hasta pura), necklaces (torques), bracelets (armillae) and medals (phalerae).
Roman phalerae (phalerae, phalera) are large and small plates of a round or oval shape. In ancient Rome, they were originally used to decorate horse harness, and later - as a military award, which can be considered the ancient forerunner of modern medals.
Speaking about the appearance of orders, we must again remember historywhere the word "order" came from the knights. All modern orders, one way or another, owe their appearance to the medieval communities of knights.
The Warriors of Christ (milites Christi) are the knights of the countries of medieval Europe.
The first such knightly orders appeared at the end of the early Middle Ages, from the beginning of the Crusades, which united knight-monks. Initially, the concept of "order" and meant a group of people bound by a common vow and common goal.
The organizations of the knights of the period of the Crusades (XI-XIII centuries) were under the leadership of the Catholic Church. The main task was to control the borders of the Christian world, protect the pilgrims on the way to the Holy Land, the crusades themselves and other campaigns in the interests of the church.
For example, the Order of Bethlehem, the Teutonic Order, the Order of Alcantara, the Order of Calatrava, the Order of the Johannites, the Templars and others belonged to the spiritual and knightly orders. Knightly orders had their own rituals and symbols.
The figure shows the Knights of Malta, known as the Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem (John of Jerusalem), and photos of modern representatives of the order.
It is interesting that the knightly order of the Johannites was connected with Russia by Emperor Paul I, who received the title of Protector of the Order of Malta and the insignia. In addition to the emperor, a number of high-ranking officials in Russia were awarded the order, including the sons of Paul, Nikolai Pavlovich and Konstantin Pavlovich. To this we can add that after the capture of Malta by the French and the expulsion of the representatives of the order from it, Emperor Paul was even elected Grand Master of the order.
After the assassination of Emperor Paul I by the conspirators, the order will remain part of the Russian award system, taking a special place in it - this order in importance will stand behind the Order of St. Anne of the first degree.
In the photo, the cross of the Order of Malta of St. John of Jerusalem, Empress Maria Feodorovna.
Birth of orders in Russia
Orders, as a reward, began to be approved and awarded for special services in most countries of the world.
The main differences between the orders are in the history of their origin, in purpose and in the way they are motivated. What all orders have in common is that the order grants its owner certain privileges and an honorable position in society.
The following elements were mainly used: the sign of the order, the star, the ribbon and the order's clothes.
Each order had its own charter and motto, representing the organization of the knights of the order. The head of the order, as a rule, was the highest official of the state. The order established official ceremonies and a holiday of the day of the order.
I would like to consider the birth of Russian orders in more detail.
The era of Peter I gave Russia the first two domestic orders: Andrew the First-Called (1698) and St. Catherine (1714).
The third - the Order of Alexander Nevsky (1725), was established by Empress Catherine I after the death of her husband. The order became an award one step lower than the order of St. Andrew the First-Called.
The fourth - the military order of the Holy Great Martyr and Victorious George (1769) was established by Catherine II, becoming an order that could only be obtained for military exploits.
Fifth - the Imperial Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir (1782), Catherine II approved for the 20th anniversary of her reign.
The rest of the orders were supplemented by Russian awards later, mainly borrowed awards (the already mentioned Maltese Cross, the dynastic award of the Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp - St. Anne, Polish - the White Eagle, St. Stanislaus and Virtuti militari).
In total, ten different orders in the Russian Empire will actually be used, including the early awards of the Maltese cross and occasionally Virtuti militari (for suppressing the uprising in Poland in 1831).
These orders were enough for all distinctions in the service of Russia.
The orders had their own status and rank, highlighting the recipient.
In addition, the awarding of one order or another gave various privileges, for example, the appropriation of the nobility.
So, in Russia (until 1826), the assignment of an order of any degree gave the right to receive hereditary nobility.
However, starting in 1845, only those who were awarded the Orders of St. Vladimir and St. George (of any degree) received the right of hereditary nobility, while other orders required the award of the highest first degree.
In the future (decree of May 28, 1900), those awarded the order of the fourth degree of St. Vladimir already received the rights of only personal, and not hereditary nobility.
For example - the image of the Order of St. Vladimir from IV to I degree and the star of the order. The star was worn in the presence of the first degree of the order (the Order of St. George had a star for the second degree).
The order of the first degree is depicted on the shoulder ribbon on the left (while the star of the order replaced the order on the chest), the second and third degree - on the neck ribbon (the order of the third degree is smaller and lower), the fourth degree - on the last, was worn on the chest (bottom right) ... For military merits, crossed swords were added to the order (the same was done for the orders of St. Anne and St. Stanislav).
With the subsequent awarding of the same order of a higher degree, if not for military merits, then the swords were located in the upper part of the order, emphasizing the previous award. As a rule, more often only the senior degree of the order was worn.
The orders of St. George, St. Anne and St. Stanislaus also had degrees from the fourth to the first (after 1839 this order had only three degrees). Together with the Order of St. Vladimir, this was the prevalence of the main orders of the Russian Empire, with similar proportions of the sizes of orders and the way they were worn (on the chest, neck, shoulder strap).
It is interesting to note that the Order of St. Anne of the fourth degree differed from other orders, it was often located on weapons (premium Anninsky weapon).
There was one more nuance in the award system - on orders for non-Christians, the image of saints was replaced by a two-headed eagle.
The photo shows the collectible stylization of orders and order stars of the Russian Empire (they were included in the collection, on the bottom right - the insignia of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga (1913) and the White Guard Order of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (1920)).
Great and funny
In the USSR, as in the countries that emerged as a result of revolutions and wars for independence, orders of a new type are characteristic. This type of orders is distinguished by its democratic awarding and free from monarchical elitism, nevertheless having common origins.
The first order of the USSR was the Order of the Red Banner (1924), which inherited its origins from the Order of the Red Banner of the RSFSR (1918). The second was the Order of Lenin (1930), which became the highest award of the USSR along with the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union medal.
In total, 20 orders and two gold medals of Heroes were used in the USSR, plus 55 medals, 19 honorary titles. The photo shows a collectible stylization of Soviet orders and two stars of Heroes.
The most decorated man of the Soviet Union was Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev: four times the Hero of the Soviet Union and twice the Hero of Socialist Labor, eight Orders of Lenin, the Order of Victory, two Orders of the October Revolution, two Orders of the Red Banner and many other Soviet and foreign awards.
Our North Korean friends had someone to take an example from here.
How great can become funny and ridiculous? Probably so…
Awards are a mirror of achievements and deeds. When rewards are devalued, making them an adornment, a fetish, the idea itself is devalued. Is it about the number of awards and, if not, then what?
We look at the old images. Here is General Brusilov.
Head Captain Nesterov.
Russian sergeant major, full Knight of St. George of the First World War.
Are they all lesser heroes than our dear Leonid Ilyich was?
Ever since the Roman legions, great importance in the army was acquired not by the material value of the award itself, but by the very assessment of military merits. And really deserved. And the importance of the assessment was determined not so much by civil society as a whole, but by the colleagues themselves and the command. In the view of legionnaires, the respect of comrades - the prestigious value of military awards, far exceeded their monetary value.
In this, we also need a well-thought-out system of awards and incentives, from the highest orders to badges and honorary fasteners, sleeve patches, award ribbons, even honorary army bracelets. Plus award-winning weapons, the privilege of wearing a certain uniform or additional parts in it.
This should ensure distinction in awards without allowing devaluation of the highest awards. In addition, the orders themselves could have additions that increase their status, excluding repeated awards.
For example: the German Knight's Cross assumed only supplementary pendants like oak leaves, oak leaves with swords and oak leaves with swords and diamonds. At the same time, there was one wearable order, only the pendants changed.
In the photo there is a pendant "Oak Leaves with Swords and Diamonds" to the order.
The order was attached to the pendant from below, a neck ribbon was threaded through the pendant from the back, like through a ring.
It was also not easy to receive the Russian Order of St. George. In the photo - the Order of St. George III degree on a neck ribbon threaded through the ring.
In general, no one wore two identical orders around their necks, twice the same degree was not awarded. An exception can be considered "soldier George", but this is already a reward of a different status and a phenomenon that was more manifested at the very end of the degrading empire.
Awards of modern Russia
It is gratifying that among the awards of the Russian Federation, in fact, there are revived orders, for example, the Order of St. George (since August 8, 2000), but at the same time it is a pity that the real military order of the Red Star has sunk into oblivion. They could have kept it, if only for the fact that many of our soldiers and officers received it, both during the war years and after. This order has been washed in the blood of heroic deeds, and there should not be anything for the sake of bourgeois ideology.
Now in the Russian Federation there are 16 main orders, plus the Star of the Hero of the Russian Federation and the Star of the Hero of Labor of the Russian Federation, to which there are about 63 medals. To all this - a lot of departmental and religious awards. In the photo there are stamps with images of all orders and stars of the Russian Federation.
We even have comic awards that you can buy in the store.
At the same time, one should not be surprised at such an appearance of awards and distinctions among those who are popularly called "mummers", with a constant "iconostasis" on their chest, for beauty and solidity from "everything that was" and did not exist.
One should not be surprised at such a well-known phenomenon that the army endlessly gave birth to the work of its weary "old-time heroes" awaiting the cherished demobilization.
Such individuals not only dishonor themselves, even without realizing it, but also discredit their commanders, the armed forces themselves.
The abundance of various commemorative medals and the appearance of "gift" awards also hardly strengthens the reputation of the award system and the government itself.
Probably, one can rejoice for the "king" of pop music (Order of Honor), as well as the decree of the President of the Russian Federation (of March 24, 2014), according to which the head of Gazprom Miller and the head of Sberbank Gref were awarded the Orders of Alexander Nevsky ...
Apparently, one must believe that worthy people were given well-deserved awards.
Like a maroon beret
Is it possible, instead of the well-known "creativity" of our fighters in anticipation of demobilization, to make sure that there is a legitimate incentive, both to the elements of prestige in clothing and to a special status?
This could be given not by tastelessly invented decorations of the form, but, again, legalized stripes, chevrons, aiguillettes, the right to wear which would have to be earned, such as, for example, a maroon beret.
Starting with small things, you can strive to ensure that the military or civil awards themselves are a real achievement in serving the Fatherland, and not a semblance of gifts, decoration or formal attention to merit.
And yet, without in the least belittling the feats of our people, their labor and military merits, it’s hard for me personally to understand how you can be a hero of your country more than once? In this, how is it that “four times a hero” is more a hero than three times? So, theoretically, with such an approach, a “hundredfold hero” may appear ... In fact, this is “blurring” the very meaning of the heroic deed. You are either a hero or you are not. You are either a man or you are not.
Naturally, no one should be left without a well-deserved reward, but rewards should be differentiated. We need a clear line between duty and heroism, professional duty and something that requires special distinction.
Maybe you shouldn't distribute orders for various anniversaries or cover up the mistakes of the command to comfort widows and mothers, but have strict norms and principles that separate selfless courage from self-preservation, material assistance or bonus rewards from the very awarding of the order, military, civil or political?
Rewards are a very important question, when we deal with all this - I suppose it will be easier to deal with everything else.
- Sergey Vladimirov (Per se.)
- https://gwar.mil.ru/informations/awards/orden и https://yandex.ru/images
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