Orders, medals and badges

The museum items combined in the “Orders, Medals, Badges” group number about 6,500 units in all and represent different countries and individual historical periods. By type they are divided into military, service, jubilee and commemorative awards, academic and membership badges, souvenirs and tokens.

A significant part of the collection belongs to the period of the Russian Empire and the USSR, bears witness to specific historical events and to the participation of the population in various processes, and also characterises award systems.

Unfortunately, the phaleristics collection of the Kharkiv Historical Museum does not include the full range of orders of the Russian Empire’s award system.

The first order of the Russian Empire was the “Order of St Andrew the First-Called”, founded by Peter I in 1698. The order had the motto “For Faith and Loyalty”, and its star became the highest award of the Russian state for high state and military ranks “…as a reward for some for loyalty, bravery and various services rendered to us and the fatherland, and for others as encouragement to every noble and heroic virtue”. The museum’s collection keeps three stars of the order.

The fourth order of the Russian Empire (by date of founding) was the “Military Order of the Holy Great Martyr and Victorious George”, founded in 1769 by Empress Catherine II in four classes under the motto “For Service and Bravery”. Officers were awarded it for military exploits. Officers were proud of the Order of St George, 4th class, as of no other, because it was won at the price of one’s own blood and was a recognition of the recipient’s personal courage. The museum’s collection can be proud of 8 badges (crosses) of the Order of St George, 3rd and 4th classes.

Catherine II also founded the fifth order in 1782 to mark the 20th anniversary of her reign. It became the Imperial Order of St Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles, in four classes, for military and civil merit. It had the motto “Benefit, Honour and Glory” and until 1917 was an award for a wide circle of military men up to the rank of lieutenant colonel and officials of middle rank. The collection presents a dress-coat badge of the Order of St Vladimir and 3 badges of the order.

In 1797 Emperor Paul I introduced into the award system the “Imperial Order of St Anne” in four classes, under the motto “To Those Who Love Truth, Piety and Loyalty”; it was given “as a reward for exploits performed in the field of state service”. The order had existed since 1735 in the German duchy of Holstein. Under Catherine II it became a dynastic order of the Russian Imperial House. The first awards of this order were made only as an imperial dynastic award. (The essence of an imperial dynastic award is that from the late 18th century all children and grandchildren of emperors received the order at baptism, that is, a few days after birth.) Paul I introduced the Order of St Anne into the system of state awards nominally, and the order, remaining dynastic, additionally received state status. The order is one of the most widely awarded; the museum’s collection keeps 8 such awards.

After Poland joined the Russian Empire, Tsar Nicholas I introduced Polish orders into the Russian system of state awards in 1831: the Order of the White Eagle, founded as early as 1325, under the motto “For Faith, Tsar and Law”, and the Order of St Stanislaus, the most widely awarded order, first of all to officials, with the motto “By Rewarding, It Encourages”. The collection includes 1 star of the Order of the White Eagle and 5 badges of the Order of St Stanislaus, among them a dress-coat badge.

In the 19th century, alongside orders, award medals also appeared in the Russian Empire. They can conventionally be called “general”, since they marked various services to the tsar and the Fatherland. Such distinctions were given to both military and civilian persons.

The successful end of the Russo-Swedish Great Northern War of 1700–1721 is reflected in the museum’s collection by the medal “In Memory of the Peace of Nystad” of 1721. The Seven Years’ War of 1756–1763 brought Russia a number of victories over Prussia, as attested by medals in honour of the victory over Prussia and the medal “Victor over the Prussians” of 1759 in the museum’s collection. The Russo-Swedish War of 1788–1790 left its mark in the museum’s collection in the medal “For Bravery on the Finnish Waters” of 1789. The period of the Persian War of 1826–1828 is illustrated in the museum collection by the medal “For the Persian War” of 1828. The theme of the military victories of the Russian army in the Patriotic War of 1812 and the foreign campaign of 1813–1815 is marked in the collection of the Kharkiv Historical Museum by medals and dress-coat badges: “In Memory of the Patriotic War of 1812” and “For the Capture of Paris”.

The events of the Crimean War of 1853–1856 are reflected in the collection by the medals “In Memory of the War of 1853–1856” and “For the Defence of Sevastopol 1854–1855”, and the events of the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 by a medal in honour of the signing of peace with the Turks in 1774. The museum’s collection also keeps the medals “In Memory of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878” and the badge “Red Cross for the War of 1877–1878”.

The final subjugation of the Eastern Caucasus during the Caucasian War of 1817–1864 was marked by the introduction in 1860 of the medal “For the Conquest of Chechnya and Dagestan” and the award cross “For Service in the Caucasus”, examples of which are kept in our collection.

After the October coup, on 10 November 1917, the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People’s Commissars of the RSFSR “On the Abolition of Estates and Civil Ranks” ended the awarding of the orders and medals of the Russian Empire in Soviet Russia.

In the USSR’s award system, state awards were the highest form of encouragement of citizens for significant services in defending the Fatherland, in state building, the economy, science, culture, art, upbringing, education, health care and other outstanding services to the state.

The state awards of the USSR were the titles Hero of the Soviet Union and Hero of Socialist Labour, orders and medals of the USSR, and distinctions and honorary titles of the USSR.

A large part of the awards collection consists of Soviet awards of the Second World War period. Awards of this kind actually appear in April 1942; at the beginning of the war there were very few awards and the orders and medals that already existed at that time were used. Among them were:

• the Order of the Red Banner, the first of the Soviet orders, approved in the RSFSR on 16 September 1918. It was given for special bravery, selflessness and courage shown in defending the socialist Fatherland;
• the Order of the Red Banner of Labour, approved on 7 September 1928;
• the Order of Lenin, approved on 6 April 1930. It was the highest award of the USSR;
• the Order of the Badge of Honour, approved on 25 November 1935.

These orders were given for revolutionary and labour merit, merit in defending the socialist Fatherland, the development of friendship and cooperation between peoples, the strengthening of peace and other services to the Soviet state and society.

The Order of the Red Star, approved on 6 April 1930, was given for courage and valour in defending the socialist Fatherland and for other military services.

By a decree of 20 May 1942 of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Order of the Patriotic War in two classes was approved. About 344,000 people were awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class, and more than a million generals, officers, soldiers and partisans the 2nd class. The museum’s collection keeps 28 Orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st and 2nd classes. From 1985, for the 40th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War, jubilee Orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st and 2nd classes appear.

In 1942 the commanders’ orders were introduced: the Order of Suvorov in three classes, given to Red Army commanders for outstanding success in commanding troops; the Order of Kutuzov in three classes, for Red Army commanders for an excellent plan and conduct of an operation, whether of a front, an army or a separate formation, as a result of which a heavy defeat was inflicted on the enemy while our troops preserved their fighting capacity; and the Order of Alexander Nevsky, which had no classes, for Red Army commanders who showed personal valour, courage and bravery in battles for the Fatherland in the Patriotic War and for skilful command that ensured the successful actions of military units.

The museum collection keeps one Order of Suvorov, 3rd class, and one example of the Order of Alexander Nevsky.

The collection also has the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi in three classes, introduced on 10 October 1943. By the statute of the order, it was given to commanders and fighters of the Red Army and the Navy, commanders of partisan detachments and partisans who showed special determination and skill in operations to rout the enemy, high patriotism, courage and selflessness in the struggle to liberate their native land from the German invaders. During the war there were only 8,423 awards: 323 people received the 1st class, 2,400 the 2nd class and 5,700 the 3rd class.

Among the orders of the Soviet Union, the museum collection keeps the Order of Glory, 3rd class. This order was founded on 8 November 1943 and became the most valued soldier’s award. A full cavalier of the Order of Glory was equal in rights to a Hero of the Soviet Union.

In February 1943 the medal “Partisan of the Patriotic War” in two classes was introduced; partisans and underground fighters of Kharkiv region were awarded it.

During the war, the following medals created for specific events were introduced and approved by the order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 22 December 1942: the medal “For the Defence of Leningrad”, of which the museum collection keeps five; the medal “For the Defence of Odesa”, of which the museum collection keeps, unfortunately, only one example; the medal “For the Defence of Sevastopol”, of which the museum collection keeps two; and the medal “For the Defence of Stalingrad”, of which the museum collection has seventeen.

On 1 May 1944 the order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR approved the medal “For the Defence of Moscow” and the medal “For the Defence of the Caucasus”. More than 1 million people were awarded the medal “For the Defence of Moscow”; eight examples are kept in the museum’s holdings. The medal “For the Defence of the Caucasus” was given to 600,000 participants in the defensive battle for the Caucasus in 1942–1943; ten examples of this medal are kept in the museum’s holdings.

The museum collection also has one example of the medal “For the Defence of the Soviet Arctic”, approved by an order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 5 December 1944.

The medal “For the Defence of Kyiv” was introduced only after the war, by an order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 21 June 1961. The collection keeps two examples.

After the end of the Great Patriotic War, an order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 9 June 1945 approved the following three medals for the liberation of the capitals of Yugoslavia, Poland and Czechia and three medals for the capture of Königsberg and of the capitals of Hungary and Yugoslavia:

• the medal “For the Liberation of Belgrade”. At present the medal is considered rather rare; the collection keeps only one such medal;
• the medal “For the Liberation of Warsaw”. The collection has seven such medals;
• the medal “For the Liberation of Prague”, the last European capital liberated from the Nazis, on 9 May 1945. 400,000 people were awarded this medal. The collection has two medals;
• the medal “For the Capture of Königsberg”. The museum collection has six examples;
• the medal “For the Capture of Budapest”. The collection has two medals;
• the medal “For the Capture of Belgrade”. The museum collection has seven examples.

After the USSR’s victory in the Great Patriotic War, mass awards began of two medals approved by an order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 9 May 1945, namely:

• the medal “For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945” (61 medals in the collection);
• the medal “For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945” (71 medals in the collection). More than 10 million examples of each of these medals were struck.

After the defeat of the Kwantung Army and of Japan, an order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 30 September 1945 founded the medal “For the Victory over Japan”, five examples of which are kept in the museum’s collection.

The award system of the Great Patriotic War period also includes the orders “Mother Heroine” and “Maternal Glory”, introduced by an order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 8 July 1944 to reward mothers for having many children and bringing them up. The museum’s collection keeps five examples of the order “Maternal Glory” of three classes.