Who received the order? Which foreigners were awarded the Order of Victory

Established by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on November 8, 1943. The decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated August 18, 1944 approved the sample and description of the ribbon of the Order of Victory, as well as the procedure for wearing the bar with the ribbon of the order.

The Order of Victory is the highest military order of the USSR, which was awarded to members of the senior command staff of the Red Army for the successful conduct of such military operations on the scale of one or several fronts, as a result of which the situation radically changed in favor of the Red Army.

It was created according to the sketches of the artist Alexander Kuznetsov.

Order of Glory

Established by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of November 8, 1943. Subsequently, the Statute of the order was partially amended by Decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of February 26 and December 16, 1947 and August 8, 1957.

The Order of Glory is a military order of the USSR. It was awarded to privates and sergeants of the Red Army, and in aviation, to persons with the rank of junior lieutenant, who showed glorious feats of bravery, courage and fearlessness in battles for the Soviet Motherland.

The statute of the Order of Glory indicated the feats for which this insignia could be awarded. It could be received, for example, by the one who was the first to break into the enemy’s position, who in battle saved the banner of his unit or captured the enemy’s, who, risking his life, saved the commander in battle, who shot down a fascist plane with a personal weapon (rifle or machine gun) or destroyed up to 50 enemy soldiers, etc.

The Order of Glory had three degrees: I, II and III. The highest degree of the order was I degree. The awards were made sequentially: first with the third, then with the second and finally with the first degree.

The badge of the order was created according to the sketches of the chief artist of the CDKA, Nikolai Moskalev. It is a five-pointed star with a relief image of the Kremlin with the Spasskaya Tower in the center. The Order of Glory is worn on the left side of the chest; in the presence of other orders of the USSR, it is located after the Order of the Badge of Honor in the order of seniority of degrees.

The badge of the order of the 1st degree is made of gold, the badge of the order of the 2nd degree is made of silver, with gilding, the badge of the order of the 3rd degree is entirely silver, without gilding.

The Order is worn on a pentagonal block covered with a St. George ribbon (orange with three black longitudinal stripes).

The right to award the Order of Glory III degree was granted to commanders of divisions and corps, II degree - to commanders of armies and fronts, I degree was awarded only by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

The first full holders of the Order of Glory, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 22, 1944, were soldiers of the 3rd Belorussian Front - sapper Corporal Mitrofan Pitenin and intelligence officer Senior Sergeant Konstantin Shevchenko. The Orders of Glory, 1st degree, for No. 1 and No. 2 were awarded to soldiers of the Leningrad Front, Guard infantryman Senior Sergeant Nikolai Zaletov and Guard reconnaissance Sergeant Major Viktor Ivanov.

In January 1945, for the only time in the history of the award, the Order of Glory was awarded to the entire rank and file of a military unit. This honor was awarded to the first rifle battalion of the 215th Red Banner Regiment of the 77th Guards Chernigov Rifle Division for heroism in breaking through enemy defenses on the Vistula River.

In total, about 980 thousand people were awarded the Order of Glory of the 3rd degree, about 46 thousand became holders of the Order of the 2nd degree, 2,656 soldiers were awarded the Order of Glory of three degrees (including those re-awarded).

Four women became full holders of the Order of Glory: guard gunner-radio operator Sergeant Nadezhda Zhurkina-Kiek, machine gunner Sergeant Danute Staniliene-Markauskiene, medical instructor Sergeant Matryona Necheporchukova-Nazdracheva and sniper of the 86th Tartu Rifle Division Sergeant Nina Petrova.

For subsequent special feats, four holders of three Orders of Glory were awarded the highest distinction of the Motherland - the title of Hero of the Soviet Union: guard pilot junior lieutenant Ivan Drachenko, infantryman sergeant major Pavel Dubinda, artillerymen senior sergeant Nikolai Kuznetsov and guard senior sergeant Andrei Aleshin.

On January 15, 1993, the law “On the status of Heroes of the Soviet Union, Heroes of the Russian Federation and full holders of the Order of Glory” was adopted, according to which the rights of those awarded these awards were equalized. Persons awarded these awards, as well as members of their families, received the right to certain benefits in housing conditions, in the treatment of wounds and illnesses, in the use of transport, etc.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

When you study history highest Soviet military order "Victory" , you are sure to ask yourself: Why was “Victory” established and began to be awarded long before the Victory itself?

Marshal Zhukov , the first holder of the order, received the award on April 10, 1944. Until May 9, 1945, 9 awards were made, and 7 people managed to become holders of the order: twice - Vasilevsky, Stalin (he received the second Order of Victory after the end of the Great Patriotic War - June 26, 1945), again - Zhukov, and also Rokossovsky, Konev, Malinovsky and Tolbukhin.

Why did the reward appear so early?

The Order was established after the decisive turning point in the war, namely November 8, 1943 . The statute stated that the basis for the award could be successful conduct of military operations, as a result of which the situation at the front radically changes in favor of the Red Army. That is, the award was given not for a global victory in the war, but for very great successes during its course.

True, later the order was awarded to several foreign commanders and statesmen. It is this fact that has slightly confused those who read the history of the order today.
By the way, the original name of the order was not “Victory” at all, but “For Loyalty to the Motherland.”

In total, the holders of the order were: 17 people (more precisely, now it’s 16, but more on that a little later).

Most of the holders of this high award are our compatriots. In addition to the above, Marshals Govorov, Timoshenko, Meretskov and General Antonov were awarded the “Victory” (he became the only Soviet holder of the order who did not have the rank of marshal, but Army General Antonov planned virtually all military operations of the Red Army, especially in the last two years of the war).

Here are all the Soviet holders of the Order of Victory, indicating the reason for the award and its date:

No. 1. Marshal of the Soviet Union:

G. K. Zhukov

March 30, 1945 - "for the skillful fulfillment of tasks of the Supreme High Command." No. 2.:

Marshal of the Soviet Union
A. M. Vasilevsky

April 10, 1944 - “for the liberation of right-bank Ukraine”; April 19, 1945 - “for planning military operations and coordinating the actions of the fronts, the capture of Königsberg and the liberation of East Prussia.”:

No. 3. Marshal of the Soviet Union, Generalissimo of the Soviet Union (from June 27, 1945)
I. V. Stalin

July 29, 1944 - “for the liberation of right-bank Ukraine”; June 26, 1945 - “for Victory over Germany.”:

No. 4.

Marshal of the Soviet Union I. S. Konev:

March 30, 1945 - “for the liberation of Poland and crossing of the Oder.” No. 5.:

Marshal of the Soviet Union K. K. Rokossovsky:

No. 6.

Marshal of the Soviet Union R. Ya. Malinovsky:

May 31, 1945 - “for the defeat of German troops near Leningrad and in the Baltic states.”

No. 9. Marshal of the Soviet Union:

S. K. Timoshenko No. 10.:

Army General A. I. Antonov:

No. 11.

Marshal of the Soviet Union K. A. Meretskov September 8, 1945 - "for successful leadership of troops in the war against Japan."

More five holders of the Order of Victory are foreigners:

: British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and US Army General Dwight Eisenhower, as well as Marshal of Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito and Polish Minister of National Defense Michal Rolya-Zimierski.

No. 12. Field Marshal of Great Britain:

Bernard Law Montgomery July 5, 1945 - “for outstanding success in conducting large-scale military operations, as a result of which the victory of the United Nations over Nazi Germany was achieved.”:

No. 13.

US Army General Dwight David Eisenhower:

No. 14.

Marshal of Poland Michal Rolya-Zimierski August 9, 1945 - “for outstanding services in organizing the armed forces of Poland and for the successful conduct of military operations of the Polish Army in decisive battles against the common enemy - Nazi Germany.”
No. 15.
This hour struck in August 1944. The Red Army at this time was approaching the Romanian border. Mihai, united in the anti-fascist opposition, arrested Antonescu and the generals loyal to him, sided with the Allies and declared war on Germany. Mikhai's act was considered in the USSR to be worthy of the title of "a fundamental turning point in favor of the Red Army." However, this really greatly facilitated its advance to the west, and we must not forget that it was the Romanian oil-bearing region of Ploiesti that by 1944 remained for Germany the only source of fuel for tanks and aircraft, without which it was no longer possible to count on any success in the war .

No. 16. King of Romania:

Michael I of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen

July 6, 1945 - “for the courageous act of a decisive turn in the policy of Romania towards a break with Nazi Germany and an alliance with the United Nations at a time when the defeat of Germany had not yet been clearly determined.” 16 As mentioned above, at first there were gentlemen 17 , Then - 16 .
, and in the end - again

Who is this mysterious 17th? It's simple. This:

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev
During the war he was a colonel (since November 1944 - major general). He, of course, had military merits, but not those that would correspond to the status of the Order of Victory. Nevertheless, the Secretary General emphasized in every possible way that he played a noticeable, even outstanding role in the war.

Marshal Zhukov was even forced to mention Brezhnev in his “Memoirs and Reflections” (published for the first time precisely in Brezhnev’s times), indicating that he allegedly consulted with the head of the political department of the 18th Army, Colonel Brezhnev, on Malaya Zemlya in 1943.
"Colonel Brezhnev on Malaya Zemlya"

(painting by D. Nalbandyan): February 20, 1978 year L. I. Brezhnev (by this time already a marshal and three times Hero of the Soviet Union) was solemnly awarded the Order of Victory with the wording: .
"For his great contribution to the Victory of the Soviet people and their Armed Forces in the Great Patriotic War..." So Brezhnev became 17th

Knight of the Order. 1989 IN This award was cancelled, and the late Secretary General was excluded from the list of holders of the order. It is worth noting that the formal procedure for canceling the award was not spelled out anywhere. Gorbachev in his decree of September 21, 1989

simply stated that the award itself was contrary to the statute of the order (which, however, is fair).
Even the eccentric Khrushchev did not agree to this, who, by the way, ended the war as a lieutenant general, and during it, being a member of the Military Councils of different fronts (though very unsuccessful!), did not even think about awarding himself the Order of Victory.

However, comparing the contribution to the Victory of Brezhnev and the above-mentioned figures (of course, I’m not talking about Khrushchev!) is quite absurd.

Should have become another holder of the Order of Victory, but never did Charles de Gaulle - leader of the French Resistance. Its leader, of course, had grounds to at least claim “Victory”. However, the Soviet leadership was in no hurry to award the award.
Everything could have changed in 1966, when the general, who was at that time the president of the Fifth French Republic that he actually founded, was going on an official visit to Moscow. It was then that the idea arose at the Soviet Foreign Ministry to still award de Gaulle “Victory”.

A corresponding appeal was written to the CPSU Central Committee. They finally gave the go-ahead. An order was even made for the production of an order for de Gaulle. What happened next is unknown, but de Gaulle returned to Paris without the order.
Some historians believe that the Soviet leaders were embarrassed by the rank of general of the French president. In France they are still arguing about whether this rank was awarded to de Gaulle according to all the rules, or whether he took it for himself. So, when the president resigned, the new French leadership issued him a colonel's pension, not a general's. The colonel for "Victory", even despite all his merits, apparently seemed too small, unless, of course, his last name is Brezhnev.

With the abolition of Brezhnev's award in 1989, the history of the order ends. Nevertheless, the signs of the order themselves continue to exist. The location of most of them is known. The orders of all Soviet cavaliers and Rol-Zhimersky are in Russia, the Montgomery Order is in London, the Tito Order is in Belgrade, the Eisenhower Order is in the town of Abelin, in Kansas, where the American general and president was born.

And here's what concerns Order of the Romanian King Michael I , very similar to the mysterious one detective story .

Some claim that Mihai, who had not been the king of Romania for a long time (since December 1947), sold his order in difficult times and allegedly received 4 million dollars for it. However, in 2010, Mikhai was seen wearing the Order of Victory at a parade in Moscow.

We were together then, but not much time had passed...

This story is confusing and mysterious. There is a version that a duplicate was made somewhere for Mihai, exactly similar to the original. In response, the argument is that to make a copy it would be necessary to spend an amount comparable to the 4 million that Mihai allegedly received for the sale (which is generally true: only the rubies and diamonds with which the order is decorated, not counting platinum, gold and silver, from which it is made cost quite a lot, and also the work of making an exact copy would be very expensive, given the need to keep it secret).

The former king of Romania will celebrate his 95th birthday this year:

Not so long ago, a certain Order of Victory actually appeared on the black market, which was not a fake and went into someone’s private collection. Just what kind of order could it be if the whereabouts of 19 are known, and the 20th is kept by the last living gentleman. And what’s the point for a collector to buy a real Order of Victory if it can’t be shown to anyone or put up at auction anyway?

This post is based on the article Alexey Durnovo "Order of Victory" in the magazine "Diletant" (No. 006, June 2016), errors and inaccuracies in which were corrected by me.

Sergey Vorobiev.
Thank you for attention.

Among Soviet military orders, a special place is occupied by the Order of Victory, which was awarded only for leadership of operations of strategic importance.

The idea of ​​creating a higher military order appeared in July 1943. Its initial sketch was developed by one of the officers of the rear headquarters - N. S. Neelov. At first the order was supposed to be called “For Loyalty to the Motherland.” The Chief of Logistics of the Red Army, Army General A.V. Khrulev, instructed the artist A.I. Kuznetsov, who took part in the creation of the sketch of the Order of Lenin and other state awards, to develop another sketch. On July 20, the sketches were submitted to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief for consideration. The artists were asked to continue working on them, bearing in mind that the new award would already be called the Order of Victory.

On October 18, only the fifteenth sketch was recognized as the most successful, and yet J.V. Stalin approved it only on October 29 during a secondary discussion.

On November 8, 1943, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR established the highest military order - “Victory”.

The badge of the Order of Victory is a convex five-pointed ruby ​​star bordered with diamonds. In the spaces between the ends of the star there are diverging rays studded with diamonds. The middle of the star is a circle covered with blue enamel, bordered by a laurel-oak wreath. In the center of the circle is a golden image of the Kremlin wall with the Lenin Mausoleum and the Spasskaya Tower in the center. Above the image there is an inscription in white enamel letters “USSR”. At the bottom of the circle on a red enamel ribbon there is an inscription in white enamel letters “VICTORY”.
The badge of the order is made of platinum. The decoration of the order uses platinum, gold, silver, enamel, five artificial rubies in the rays of a star and 174 small diamonds. Each of the five rubies weighs 5 carats. The total weight of diamonds on the sign is 16 carats. The size of the star between opposite vertices is 72 mm. On the reverse side, the badge has a threaded pin with a nut for attaching the order to clothing.
Silk moire ribbon for the Order of Victory. In the middle of the tape there is a red stripe 15 mm wide. On the sides, closer to the edges, there are stripes of green, blue, burgundy and light blue. The ribbon is bordered with orange and black stripes. The total width of the tape is 46 mm. Height - 8 mm. The ribbon of the Order of Victory is worn on the left side of the chest, on a separate bar, 1 cm higher than other order ribbons.

The Order of Victory was awarded to senior commanders of the Red Army for the successful conduct of military operations on the scale of several fronts or one front, as a result of which the situation radically changed in favor of the Red Army.

The establishment of the new order occurred in the year of the radical turning point in the Great Patriotic War. In the summer of 1943, the Nazis’ attempt to organize the last strategic offensive on the Kursk Bulge was thwarted. The enemy suffered a crushing defeat here and began to retreat to the west.

In the summer of 1943, the first victorious fireworks went off in honor of the liberation of Orel, and two days before the establishment of the highest military order, Kyiv was liberated.

The Order of Victory was twice awarded to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the USSR I.V. Stalin, Marshals of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov and A.M. Vasilevsky. Ten more outstanding Soviet military leaders who led operations of strategic importance during the war and achieved decisive successes in the fight against the enemy became holders of this order.

On April 10, 1944, the first awarding of the new order took place. The first holder of the Order of Victory was the Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov. The second was the Chief of the General Staff, Marshal of the Soviet Union A. M. Vasilevsky.

The name of Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, an outstanding Soviet commander, has already appeared several times in this book. In the story about the Heroes of the Soviet Union, he was mentioned in connection with the battles at Khalkhin Gol, where he commanded an army group and played a large role in the defeat of the Japanese militarists. In the story about military orders - due to the fact that he became the owner of the Order of Suvorov, 1st degree No. 1. By the time he was awarded the highest military order, G. K. Zhukov had won a number of brilliant victories: under his leadership, Soviet troops inflicted defeat in 1941 to the Germans near Moscow; in 1942, he coordinated the actions of the fronts to defeat the Nazi troops at Stalingrad; in 1943, he coordinated the actions of the Volkhov and Leningrad fronts to break the blockade of Leningrad and the actions of four fronts in the Battle of Kursk. On the day of awarding the Order of Victory, G. K. Zhukov commanded the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front, conducting a large-scale operation in Right Bank Ukraine. The Order of Victory No. 1 was rightfully awarded to the best commander of the Great Patriotic War, with whose name outstanding victories of Soviet weapons were associated.

The name of Alexander Mikhailovich Vasilevsky was found next to the name of G.K. Zhukov when it came to awarding him the Order of Suvorov, 1st degree. Since 1940, he served together with G.K. Zhukov in the General Staff, and from June 1942 he headed it. Together with G.K. Zhukov, Vasilevsky coordinated the actions of the fronts at Stalingrad and Kursk. In the summer of 1943, A. M. Vasilevsky coordinated the actions of the 4th Ukrainian, Southern and Southwestern Fronts during the liberation of Donbass, and on the day of awarding the Order of Victory he directed the actions of the 4th Ukrainian Front and the Black Sea Fleet. A. M. Vasilevsky rightfully shared with G. K. Zhukov the glory of an outstanding commander.

On March 30, 1945, front commanders Marshals of the Soviet Union I. S. Konev and K. K. Rokossovsky became holders of the Order of Victory.

Ivan Stepanovich Konev, a participant in the Civil War, joined the Red Army from the first days of its existence. He was the commissar of an armored train, brigade, division and headquarters of the People's Revolutionary Army of the Far Eastern Republic.

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, I. S. Konev acquired extensive experience in leading large military formations. In June 1941 he was commander of the 19th Army, and in September he became commander of the Western Front. Then I. S. Konev commanded the Kalinin, North-Western, Steppe, 2nd and 1st Ukrainian fronts. His troops took part in the battle of Moscow, the battle of Kursk, and the liberation of Ukraine and Poland. On the day of awarding the Order of Victory, the 1st Ukrainian Front of Marshal I. S. Konev set its sights on Berlin, preparing to crush the enemy’s lair.

Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky, as I. S. Konev, served in the Red Army since 1918. He began the Great Patriotic War as commander of a mechanized corps. Then for a year he commanded an army that was part of the Western Front. From the summer of 1942 until the end of the war, he led a number of fronts, participated in the battles of Moscow and Stalingrad, Kursk and Belarus, in the East Prussian and East Pomeranian operations. On March 30, 1945, the troops of K.K. Rokossovsky liberated the land of Poland from the Nazis.

On April 26, 1945, the family of holders of the highest military order of the USSR was replenished with two more commanders - front commanders Marshals of the Soviet Union R. Ya. Malinovsky and F. I. Tolbukhin.

Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky began serving in the Red Army during the Civil War. In 1937–1938 he fought in Spain, began the Great Patriotic War as a corps commander, and in August 1941 he began to command the 6th Army. Until the end of the war he held the posts of army commander, deputy commander and commander of various fronts. From the beginning of 1943, he led combat operations on a number of fronts and by the time he was awarded the Order of Victory he had traveled from Stalingrad to Czechoslovakia. Troops under his leadership took part in the liberation of Romania, Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia.

Fyodor Ivanovich Tolbukhin is one of the largest Soviet military leaders, who successfully combined the experience of staff and team work. He served in the Red Army since 1918. From March 1943 he commanded the troops of the Southern Front, and from October - the 4th Ukrainian Front. On the day of awarding the Order of Victory, F.I. Tolbukhin was the commander of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. Troops under his command took part in the battles of Stalingrad, the Caucasus, Crimea, and the liberation of Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary and Austria. A Bulgarian city was named after him, and he was elected an honorary citizen of Sofia and Belgrade.

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on May 31, 1945, the Order of Victory was received by the front commander, Marshal of the Soviet Union, Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov. G.K. Zhukov and A.M. Vasilevsky were awarded the second Order of Victory.

G.K. Zhukov at this time was already the Commander-in-Chief of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. After being awarded the first Order of Victory, he brilliantly carried out Operation Bagration to liberate Belarus, led the Vistula-Oder operation, which led to the liberation of Poland and access to the center of Germany. Finally, he had the historical mission of defeating the Berlin group and signing the act of surrender of Germany.

After being awarded the first Order of Victory, A. M. Vasilevsky also led a number of strategic operations that led to the liberation of Belarus, Latvia and Lithuania. In April 1945, commanding the 3rd Belorussian Front, he successfully completed the East Prussian operation, taking the Königsberg fortress and clearing the Samland Peninsula of the enemy.

L. A. Govorov also served in the army since the Civil War. From April 1942 to May 1945, he commanded the Leningrad Front, and in February-March 1945, at the same time, the 2nd Baltic Front. L. A. Govorov proved himself to be an outstanding military leader during the defense and liberation of Leningrad, during the liberation of part of the Baltic states and in the defeat of Hitler’s “North” group.

On June 4, 1945, the Order of Victory was awarded to the Chief of the General Staff, Army General A. I. Antonov, who replaced A. M. Vasilevsky in this post, and the representative of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, Marshal of the Soviet Union S. K. Timoshenko.

Alexey Innokentyevich Antonov, who joined the Red Army in the spring of 1919, went from chief of staff of a brigade to chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR. With his participation and under his leadership, various large-scale operations of the Second World War were planned and coordinated. A. I. Antonov took part in the work of the Yalta and Potsdam conferences.

Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko is one of the oldest military leaders of the Red Army, a comrade-in-arms of K. E. Voroshilov and S. M. Budyonny. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he was the People's Commissar of Defense, and then commanded a number of fronts and directions. Since March 1943, as a representative of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, S.K. Timoshenko coordinated the actions of the fronts in the Iasi-Kishinev and Budapest operations.

On September 8, 1945, the commander of the troops of the First Far Eastern Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union Kirill Afanasyevich Meretskov, also became a Knight of the highest Soviet military order for the defeat of the Japanese militarists in China and Korea.

Like S.K. Timoshenko, he fought in the ranks of the First Cavalry during the Civil War, and in 1939–1940 he commanded the army that broke through the Mannerheim Line. From December 1941, A.K. Meretskov commanded the Volkhov and Karelian fronts, and in August 1945, the 1st Far Eastern Front. His troops played a decisive role in the defeat of the Kwantung Army, the main Japanese land group in Manchuria.

In addition to Soviet commanders, the Order of Victory was awarded to major foreign military and political figures: the Commander-in-Chief of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia, Marshal J. Broz Tito, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Army, Marshal M. Rolya-Zimierski, the commander of the Allied Expeditionary Armed Forces, US Army General D . Eisenhower, commander of the Allied forces of the 21st Army Group in Europe, British Field Marshal B. L. Montgomery, King Michael I of Romania.

After the end of the Great Patriotic War, Marshal of the Soviet Union L.I. Brezhnev was also awarded the Order of Victory. However, this award, carried out in complete violation of the statute of the order, was perceived from the very beginning as odious, explained only by the fact that L. I. Brezhnev was not only a marshal, but also the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, who concentrated all power in his hands.

Of the 17 holders of the highest military award of the USSR - the Order of Victory, two are directly related to the Vologda region. Marshal of the Soviet Union Ivan Konev was not only born on our land, but in 1918 he was the district military commissar in Nikolsk. Marshal of the Soviet Union Konstantin Rokossovsky fought in Vologda in 1918 against deserters and anarchists.

How “For Loyalty to the Motherland” became “Victory”

A year and a half before the end of the war, on November 8, 1943, an award appeared in the award system of the Soviet Union, which then had a very bold name - the Order of Victory. Nazi Germany was still too strong, the USSR had just seized the strategic initiative.

During the celebration of the 26th anniversary of the October Revolution, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was issued on the establishment of the Soldier's Order of Glory of three degrees and the highest military award of the Motherland for the supreme generals of the Red Army. Almost a year later - in August 1944 - the sample and description of the ribbon of the Order of Victory, as well as the procedure for wearing the bar with the ribbon of the order, were approved.

A total of 20 Orders of Victory were awarded. 17 people became its cavaliers, three of whom were awarded the highest military award twice. One person was posthumously deprived of the Order of Victory.

In mid-1943, the country's leadership came up with the idea of ​​establishing an award for the most distinguished commanders. Several artists were assigned to work on the sketch. Initially, the award was supposed to be called “For Loyalty to the Motherland.”

Preference was given to the sketch of the chief artist of the technical committee of the Main Quartermaster Directorate of Logistics A.I. Kuznetsov, author of the Order of the Patriotic War. The first example of the order, which was a five-pointed star with profile bas-reliefs of Lenin and Stalin in the central circle, was presented by I.V. Stalin October 25, 1943. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief expressed a wish to place an image of the Kremlin's Spasskaya Tower in the center of the medallion.

On October 29, Kuznetsov presented several new sketches, of which Stalin chose one - with the inscription “Victory”. The artist was instructed to enlarge the size of the Spasskaya Tower and a fragment of the Kremlin wall, make the background blue, and also change the size of the diverging rays between the tops of the red star. On November 5, a trial copy of the order, made of platinum, diamonds and rubies, was ready, which was finally approved.

Not an award - a work of art!

Since platinum and gold, diamonds and rubies were needed for the production of the order, the execution of the order for the production of insignia of the order was entrusted to the craftsmen of the Moscow Jewelry and Watch Factory. “Victory” was the only one of all Russian orders not made at the Mint. It was planned to produce 30 badges of the order. By order of the Council of People's Commissars, Glavyuvelirtorg was given 5,400 diamonds, 1,500 roses and 9 kilograms of pure platinum.

The total weight of the Order of Victory is 78 grams. Platinum content in the order -
47 grams, gold - 2 grams, silver -
19 grams. Each of the five rubies weighs 5 carats. The total weight of diamonds on the sign is 16 carats.

The order ribbon combines the colors of six other Soviet orders, separated by white spaces half a millimeter wide: orange with black in the middle - the Order of Glory, blue - the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, burgundy - the Order of Alexander Nevsky, dark blue - the Order of Kutuzov, green - the Order of Suvorov, red - Order of Lenin.

All holders of the Order of Victory

The first award took place on April 10, 1944. The holder of Order No. 1 was the commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov. Order No. 2 was received by the Chief of the General Staff, Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky. Order "Victory"

No. 3 was awarded to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Marshal of the Soviet Union I.V. Stalin. All of them were awarded this award for the liberation of Right Bank Ukraine.

The following awards took place only a year later: on March 30, 1945, the commander of the 1st Belorussian Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K., became holders of the order. Zhukov - for skillfully fulfilling the tasks of the Supreme High Command (second order), commander of the 2nd Belorussian Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union K.K. Rokossovsky - for the liberation of Poland and commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union I.S. Konev - for the liberation of Poland and the crossing of the Oder.

By decree of April 19, 1945, the commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M., was awarded the second order. Vasilevsky - for the capture of Konigsberg and the liberation of East Prussia.

On April 26 of the same year, the commander of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union R.Ya., was awarded. Malinovsky and the commander of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union F.I. Tolbukhin. Both were honored for their liberation in the difficult, bloody battles of Hungary and Austria.

On May 31, 1945, for the defeat of German troops near Leningrad and in the Baltic states, the commander of the Leningrad Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union L.A., became a holder of the order. Govorov.

On June 4, 1945, the Order of Victory for planning military operations and coordinating the actions of the fronts during the war was awarded to the representative of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, Marshal of the Soviet Union S.K. Timoshenko and the Chief of the General Staff, Army General A.I. Antonov. Alexey Innokentyevich, by the way, is the only holder of the order in the USSR who did not have the rank of marshal.

Following the war with Japan, on September 8, 1945, the commander of the Far Eastern Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union K.A., became a holder of the Order of Victory. Meretskov.

After the end of the war, it was decided to award the Order of Victory to the military leaders of the Allied forces. By decree of June 5, 1945, US Army General Dwight Eisenhower and Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery were awarded “for outstanding achievements in conducting large-scale military operations that resulted in the victory of the United Nations over Hitler’s Germany.”

On July 6, 1945, with the wording “for the courageous act of a decisive turn in the policy of Romania towards a break with Nazi Germany and an alliance with the United Nations at a time when the defeat of Germany had not yet been clearly determined,” the King of Romania Mihai I of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was awarded the Order of Victory . On August 23, 1944, he arrested members of the Romanian government who collaborated with Nazi Germany.

Marshal of Poland Michal Rolya-Zimierski was awarded the order on August 9, 1945 “for outstanding services in organizing the armed forces of Poland and for the successful conduct of military operations of the Polish Army in decisive battles against the common enemy - Nazi Germany.”

The last foreign holder of the Order of Victory was on September 9, 1945, Marshal of Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito.

Ilyich was left without “Victory”

In 1966, the Order of Victory was supposed to be awarded to French President Charles de Gaulle during his visit to the USSR, but the award never took place.

But 12 years later - on February 20, 1978 - the award was presented to the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Chairman of the Defense Council of the USSR, Marshal of the Soviet Union L.I. Brezhnev. The wording from the Decree of the Supreme Council of the USSR - “for the great contribution to the victory of the Soviet people and their Armed Forces in the Great Patriotic War, outstanding services in strengthening the country’s defense capability, for the development and consistent implementation of the foreign policy of the world of the Soviet state, which reliably ensures the development of the country in peaceful conditions” .

September 21, 1989 M.S. Gorbachev signed a Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the abolition of awarding Brezhnev the Order of Victory with the wording “as contrary to the statute of the order.” Leonid Ilyich, indeed, did not take part in the development of operations that influenced the outcome of the war. He celebrated Victory Day with the rank of major general.

The fate of the awards

Today, all orders awarded to Soviet military leaders, as well as Marshal of Poland M. Rolya-Zhimierski, are in Russia. The Central Museum of the Armed Forces houses five Orders of Victory: two by Zhukov, two by Vasilevsky and one by Malinovsky. In the Victory Hall of this museum, copies of orders are displayed; the orders themselves are in storage. The remaining copies of the Order of Victory are in Gokhran. Order of K.K. Rokossovsky and M. Rolya-Zhimersky - in the Diamond Fund.

Eisenhower's award is kept in the 34th President of the United States Memorial Library in his hometown of Abilene, Kansas.

Field Marshal Montgomery's decoration is on display at the Imperial War Museum in London.

The fate of the Order of Victory, owned by King Michael I, is unclear (he arrived without the order to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Victory). According to one version, he sold it more than 30 years ago for $4 million. According to the official version, the Order of Victory is located on the estate of King Michael I in the town of Versoix, in Switzerland.

Prepared by Evgeny Starikov

Who is it awarded to? to senior officers of the Red Army Reasons for the award for the successful conduct of such military operations on the scale of one or several fronts, as a result of which the situation radically changes in favor of the Red Army Status not awarded Statistics Options the distance between the opposite vertices of the star is 72 mm,
total weight - 78 g:
platinum - 47 g,
gold - 2 g,
silver - 19 g,
rubies - 25 carats,
diamonds - 16 carats. Establishment date November 8, 1943 First award April 10, 1944 Last award September 9, 1945
(February 20, 1978) Number of awards 20 (19) Senior Award Junior Award Compliant

Order "Victory"- the highest military order of the USSR, was established by the Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces of November 8, 1943, simultaneously with the Soldier's Order of Glory. The decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated August 18, 1944 approved the sample and description of the ribbon of the Order of Victory, as well as the procedure for wearing the bar with the ribbon of the order. In total there were 20 awards and seventeen gentlemen (three were awarded twice, one was deprived of the award posthumously).

One of the first, in July 1943, to submit a draft order for consideration was Colonel N. S. Neelov, an officer at the headquarters of the rear department of the Soviet Army. However, this project was not approved and work on creating a design for the award continued. Among the various options, preference was given to the sketch of the chief artist of the technical committee of the Main Quartermaster Directorate of Logistics, A.I. Kuznetsov, who was already the author of the Order of the Patriotic War. The first example of the order was presented to Stalin on October 25, 1943. The design of the order, which was a five-pointed star with a central round medallion on which chest-length profile bas-reliefs of Lenin and Stalin were placed (as in Neyolov’s previous project), was not approved by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Stalin expressed a wish to place an image of the Kremlin's Spasskaya Tower in the center of the medallion. On October 29, Kuznetsov presented several new sketches, of which Stalin chose one - with the inscription “Victory”. In addition, the artist was instructed to slightly adjust the appearance of the order: enlarge the size of the Spasskaya Tower and a fragment of the Kremlin wall, make the background blue, and also change the size of the diverging rays between the tops of the red star (the so-called shtrali). On November 5, a trial copy of the order, made of platinum, diamonds and rubies, was ready, which was finally approved. In total, Kuznetsov proposed more than fifteen different versions of the order.

Since precious metals were needed for the production of the order: platinum and gold, diamonds and rubies, the execution of the order for the production of insignia of the order was entrusted to the craftsmen of the Moscow Jewelry and Watch Factory, which was a unique case - “Victory” became the only one of all domestic orders not made at Mint. It was planned to produce 30 badges of the order. According to experts, each order required 180 (including damage) diamonds, 50 roses and 300 grams of platinum. By order of the Council of People's Commissars, Glavyuvelirtorg was given 5,400 diamonds, 1,500 roses and 9 kilograms of pure platinum. In the process of making the order, the highly qualified master of the Moscow Jewelry and Watch Factory, I. F. Kazennov, faced the following problem: natural rubies had different shades of red and it was not possible to assemble even one order from them while maintaining the color. Then it was decided to use artificial rubies, from which it was possible to cut the required number of blanks of the same color.

From the memoirs of master I. F. Kazennov:

The production of the order actually began with me. I made preparations. First, it was necessary to cut out the main star and the one from which the shtrals were later made from sheet platinum. With a small hand, using a homemade drill, he drilled out and then hammered out sockets for diamonds and rubies. Next, the workpiece went into grinding. The grinder prepared a place for each stone and made a “mirror”. These are the “mirrors” that Ya. I. Batin polished to create diamonds for “Victory”. Then the stars went to the setting, where the masters A. O. Gosudarev, P. M. Maksimov, M. I. Filinov worked. All day long they labored over workbenches, as if implanting hundreds and hundreds of pebbles into the metal. Lastly, the fixers applied decorations made of small transverse tubercles and indentations to the contours of the star and trawls.

First awards in 1944

The first award took place on April 10, 1944. The owner of Order No. 1 was the commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov. Order No. 2 was received by the Chief of the General Staff, Marshal of the Soviet Union A. M. Vasilevsky. The Order of Victory No. 3 was awarded to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Marshal of the Soviet Union I.V. Stalin. All of them were awarded this award for the liberation of Right-Bank Ukraine.

Allied awards

After the end of the war, it was decided to award the Order of Victory to the military leaders of the Allied forces. By decree of June 5, 1945 "for outstanding success in conducting large-scale military operations, which resulted in the victory of the United Nations over Nazi Germany" were awarded:

The fate of the awarded orders

Current position of the order

Order of "Victory" on the anniversary medal "60 years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"

The Order of Victory is not included in the system of awards of the Russian Federation. Now only one recipient remains alive: the former King of Romania, Mihai I.

At the same time, the rules for wearing the Order of Victory are formally still preserved in a number of current regulatory legal acts of Russia.

In particular, according to Appendix 2 (“Procedure for wearing state awards, insignia and other signs of security agencies by military personnel”) to the Rules for wearing military uniforms, insignia and insignia by military personnel of the Federal Security Service, approved by the Order of the FSB of Russia dated March 31, 2008 No. 130, “...the highest military Order of Victory is placed to the left of the star